Deep Energy Orchestra "Playing With Fire"

Hello fellow progheads; welcome once again to The Closet Concert Arena!  Spring is in full bloom and the prog garden is bursting with some incredible music.  This week the search for all things prog goes off on a bit of a tangent to check in with a musician I have respected and admired for many years.  His career has crossed paths with several great bands and many talented artists...for the next 168 hours I celebrate the music of Trey Gunn and Deep Energy Orchestra.

Trey is probably best known for his time in King Crimson, and followers of this blog will (hopefully) remember a 2013 review I wrote of his amazing work in KTU.  But for now we celebrate Trey's latest project, Deep Energy Orchestra, and their debut release "Playing With Fire."

Opening track "The Return" is a soothing balm for all that ails you.  The strings are mesmerizing as they float between an inner stillness and an uptempo train ride through Bangladesh.  I feel a Ravi Shankar vibe flowing through this piece, albeit with a bit more flair.  The percussion gels with the bass line in such a seamless synergy you might think it all flows from one body...this band is as tight as Ebeneezer Scrooge...

Next piece of music to fill the headphones is "Mysterious World." This one leaps out of the gate and completely surrounds the perimeter of your skull with an aura that is as relaxing as it is stimulating.  Deep Energy Orchestra channels King Crimson on this cut; Trey celebrates his roots rather than leave them behind.

Liner Notes...in addition to Trey Gunn on Warr guitar, Deep Energy Orchestra is Jason Everett/AKA Mr. E on 7-string fretless and 6-string acoustic bass, Radhika Iyer on 7-string electric violin, Anil Prasad on tabla, Rachel Nesvig on violin, Aleida Gehrels on viola, Phil Hirschi on cello, and V. Selvaganesh on konjira and custom drum kit.  You get the idea that the group is heavy on strings, but that can almost be misleading.  The soundscapes and images created flow so effortlessly and work so well together you forget how many people are required to put it all together; the band becomes an aside to the music...

The album was recorded live in Seattle, WA over a two-day period as part of an Artist Residency Award.  Classical meets funk meets jazz meets Indian-style is a section of the prog garden I would consider at best scarcely populated...so the awe factor is in play.

Final selection is "Awakening" and the title is quite apropos.  As the guitar nudges you and drums gently poke your ribs, the canvas begins to fill with the brightness of the day. I cannot emphasize enough how tight this group is; they seem to draw strength from and feed confidence to each other.  Trey has always been one to venture far from the conventional and with Deep Energy Orchestra he is absolutely blazing a new trail.

There is a tranquil intensity to the entire album and you can make your purchase at DeepEnergyOrchestra  and bandcamp.  There is also the proverbial Facebook link and you will find Trey on Twitter @treygunn.

To fill your mind and soul this week I bring you "The Return."  I chose this cut because it offers insight into the Deep Energy Orchestra world; a glimpse not just behind the curtain but inside the creative minds of what this band is all about.  You are privy firsthand to the pleasure and joy this group exudes; Trey is a beacon of positive energy and Mr. E has found his happy place.  Let this one play on a loop a few times and all the negative aura in your world will fall away.  Somewhere George Harrison and Ravi Shankar are smiling...


                   

Thus ends another week of music and mind exploration in the prog garden.  Deep Energy Orchestra is a great example of why the prog genre casts such a wide net; the soundscapes developed here fused with that funk and jazz heartbeat make this an album unlike any I have played in quite a long time--if at all.  Trey took the road less traveled and working with giants in their own right put together a wonderful album that you will want to play over and over.

Of course the search for all things prog doesn't stop so the journey continues...until next time...

Machines Dream "Revisionist History"

Good evening fellow progheads! So far The Closet Concert Arena 2019 Edition has brought to light a superb cross section of new and under-the-radar progressive rock bands, artists, and music.  Keeping this trend going I travel this week to the Canadian tundra hoping to avoid the "Philippines-Canada Trash War" as I visit with friends making a return visit.

Machines Dream is another member of the Progressive Gears Records prog rock stable (told you there were a lot of talented bands over there).  They recently released "Revisionist History," a remixed/remastered collection of their first two albums.  This is a band that caught my attention when they first appeared in the prog garden so this stroll back to their beginnings should be interesting...

 My first morsel is "Trading Stars for Solitude."  The song opens softly, much like a morning sunrise coming into full view over a hillside.  The guitar leads you down the path and keyboards begin to pick up the pace.  Machines Dream comes into full bloom as the music fills the canvas with a cool, bright, pleasing  array of color.  The beginning of a soothing roller coaster ride...

The second song to emit from the headphones, "Mad for All Seasons," moves the tempo meter a bit.  I like a song that builds momentum like this...top notes of Rush in that regard.  Starcastle seems to splash across this cut; there is a carefree vibe that resonates like wading along the beach mid low tide.

Machines Dream travels across the prog garden deliberately and purposefully, leaving their mark in the metal and cinematic sections while traipsing through the more ominous and brooding sections as well.  This is a band firmly in control of their own destiny taking their sound to the masses.

Liner Notes...Machines Dream resides in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario, Canada.  Having been featured here a few times in the past, Machines Dream should be known to the Concert Closet faithful.

This being their first two albums remixed/remastered to "sound as they deserve to be with original missing tracks included"  it seems only logical to mention Will Geraldo for the mastering and Craig West for the producing.  The music was of course played by Keith Conway, Craig West, Marco Pierucci, Ken Coulter, Brian Holmes, and Shayne Wigglesworth.

One more cut for review; "Toronto Skyline."  One of the things Machines Dream does so well is make you think; the opening lyrics go straight to your thought processors, firing up the cerebellum.  The resulting imagery is quite striking as the canvas fills with dark hues that are highlighted with bright streaks of starlight piercing the veil of night.  There are top notes of Pink Floyd flowing through this cut and emotions drip from the music like raindrops running down the kitchen window...

You can purchase this album and the entire Machines Dream library at these websites; progressive gears records,
big cartel and bandcamp.  Tune in to Facebook and Twitter @MachinesDream to keep up with all the latest on the band.

The musical interlude this week is "The Session."  The opening voice over is hauntingly Big Brotherish as the tempo begins to build...and then the proverbial smack in the head.  Machines Dream looks at everything the world can throw at you through a different lens, reflecting on how chance can make life almost temperamental; here today gone tomorrow with no rhyme or reason as to why.  I like it when the music makes you think and entertains all at once...

                     

Once again my fellow progheads the sand has slipped through the hourglass quicker than the sun dropping below the horizon on a clear night...and as we reflect on the music we feel sated.

Machines Dream has done justice to their early recordings; consider "Revisionist History" the cleaned up version of what actually was a pretty darn good first draft.  With time, experience, and some talented friends behind the curtain this is an excellent collection.  The band no doubt feels some satisfaction in saying, "This is the way we meant these songs to be heard" without coming off pretentious.  Knowledge is a mighty sword, and Machines Dream wields it like few other up and coming bands do...I appreciate that.

Now of course the search for all things prog carries on...until next time...