Silas & Saski "Power of Three"

       Hello again fellow progheads!  The Closet Concert Arena is jam packed and excited to bring you more of what the prog garden has been cultivating, so let's get started.  Lots of great music has graced these pages over time and that trend continues.  This week the search for all things prog went back to the well with new friend Silas Neptune who just released a duet with Saskia Maxwell.  Time to  venture into the prog garden and settle in with Silas & Saski and their latest, "Power of Three."

I open with the lead-in song "Magic of Words."  The curtain rises on a celestial atmosphere; almost immediately you can sense yourself being transported to another world.  The imagery is bold and vibrant, the canvas dancing with striking colors.  Listening to this piece I am reminded of what drew me to Silas' music in the first place--serenity wrapped in so much energy and passion.  It isn't often that a song will excite your senses and soothe your inner being at the same time.  

Next up, "In Reverse."  This song opens as if you're watching a movie about the universe, creation, and the wonder of it all.  The vocals wrap themselves around you like a silk scarf, gentle and caressing.  To say Silas & Saski are transcendental is almost cheating--it's too easy and simplistic.  There are so many more layers to their music and while it's soothing, it's also highly imaginative.  I get a sense of Brian Eno and Can  woven gently into the mood here; so much going on yet your senses are keen to every sound floating through the headphones.   

Liner Notes...as I stated earlier, Silas Neptune and Saskia Maxwell are the "mystics behind the curtain."  In addition to playing synthesizers, lead guitar, and bass guitar on this album, Silas is also the keyboard master for Ozric Tentacles.  Saskia performs lead vocals and acoustic guitar here and is also quite an accomplished dancer.  Ed Ozric, Tom Brooks, and Paul Hankin round out the guest musicians on the album.  

Learn more about Silas & Saski at Silas&Saski and Facebook.  Music can be purchased at their bandcamp site.  You can also follow along on Twitter @silasandsaski.  

Finally, I bring you the title cut, "Power of Three."  Listening to this album is a combination of time travel back to a calmer, more serene era on the planet and a transcendental music-scape; think Robert Fripp having an improv jam with Ravi Shankar.  Saski comes through again with lyrics as soothing as aloe on a sunburned shoulder while Silas continues the musical magic on his carpet ride across the universe, opening your soul and your mind.  This is an album perfect for those times when you just want to relax body and spirit.  

      

There are definite top notes of Adrian Belew's "anything's possible" attitude coming through all three songs.  Combined with soundscape aromatics of Robert Fripp, the creativity of Frank Zappa, and the ornate stylings of Pandora, this is definitely music to pacify your aura.  

The ear candy this week is "Magic of Words."  The calm that washes over you as the song opens will guide you through the entire EP.  Let Saski's soothing voice sweep you across the prog garden as gentle and free as an eagle soaring across the wide open sky.  One of the pleasures of Silas & Saski is their ability to make you forget the madness and mayhem of the moment and allow you to fall into that gentle abyss of mystery and imagination...

                

So fellow progheads I hope you enjoyed this week's interlude.  Silas & Saski will take you to the transcendental side of the prog garden and expand your musical boundaries, much like the Beatles did with Ravi Shankar in the 60's.  Every now and then a mind cleanse can be a very good thing... 

So the search for all things prog continues...the prog garden is flush with new music and the Closet Concert Arena is the perfect forum for presenting it all to you.  I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I do...until next week...

Pattern-Seeking Animals "Prehensile Tales"

Hello once again fellow progheads and welcome back to the Concert Closet!  I trust you are all staying safe and practicing whatever form of social distancing keeps you COVID-19 free and sane all at the same time.  This week the search for all things prog stops in with Pattern-Seeking Animals 
to check out their second album "Prehensile Tales," recently released on Inside Out Music.

Under the headphones straightaway for an infusion of "Raining Hard in Heaven."  This song opens with a bass riff as smooth as meringue on Baked Alaska and just as rich; vocals come over the top while keyboards make their way into your consciousness.  The top notes veer farther from the band's Spock's Beard roots than their debut release; planting their own stake in the ground it seems.  I detect aromatics of The Strawbs and a touch of Camel in the air.  The keyboards seem to enjoy teasing your senses...this should be quite the refreshing week.

Next up is "Why Don't We Run."  The curtain rises and the listener is swept into a whirlwind of  ardor as the song leaps across origins, backgrounds, and emotions...you feel pulled back from one reality only to find yourself falling into another.  The music tastes of western, Asian, and flamenco roots; as if
Pattern-Seeking Animals jetted  across the prog garden in search of essential parts necessary to create a greater whole.  The top notes here, as with most of the album, are difficult to pin down.  There are the obvious whiffs of Spock's Beard, but Pattern-Seeking Animals are cutting themselves free of the umbilical cord as it were with this second release.

Liner Notes...John Boegehold, Ted Leonard, Dave Meros, and Jimmy Keegan returned to the studio for the band's second album.  However, they expanded their sound with the addition of violin, cello, flute, trumpet, saxophone, and pedal steel guitar. The band has really come together on this album and sound as though they've been playing together for years.  As with their debut release, everybody takes and shares the spotlight; neither the stage nor the recording studio is overcrowded with egos...which makes for a fantastic listening experience.

Last song in the queue this week is "Soon But Not Today."  The violins are breaking through on this one; the song opens as if darkness is giving way to a new dawn, a new day...a new hope.  The tempo picks up and the music takes you on an adventure similar to the one Alice took through the looking glass...nothing is as it seems and everything is yours for the taking.  The canvas is splattered with bright hues in no particular sequence or pattern accompanied by streaks of grey that bolster the entire trip.  Pattern-Seeking Animals cross many sections of the prog garden as they continue to forge their own unique identity.

Learn more about the band at their website PSA as well as facebook and Twitter @psanimals1.  Links to buy both of their albums are on the website.

The listening teaser this week is "Elegant Vampires."  The upbeat tempo is somewhat surprising but very much welcome.  Pattern-Seeking Animals land somewhere between U.K. and 10cc with this song.  Stretch out in the Concert Closet and enjoy...   


                    

And thus fellow progheads another week roaming the prog garden is in the rear view mirror.
Pattern-Seeking Animals has brought their own sound and style to the forefront with this album.  The music gets under your skin and inside your head, taking up full residency in your entire being.  Might as well go with the flow and ride it out; expanding your prog boundaries is never a bad thing.

Now off to the next adventure in the search for all things prog.  The journey continues; there is so much more to discover...until next time...