Electric Mud "Quiet Days on Earth"

Hello and welcome to the Concert Closet fellow progheads!  We are now officially winding down the "dog days of summer" as the prog garden continues to reap a mighty harvest.  This month I venture back to Germany for a visit with a band I discovered a few years ago.  It has been very enjoyable to listen to Electric Mud and experience first-hand how their sound has grown, expanded, and matured.

Germany isn't exactly known as a "prog hotspot" the way other countries are perhaps, but it is home to some excellent music and artists nonetheless.  Electric Mud is such a band so I am excited to listen in on their latest release "Quiet Days on Earth."  Their music has ventured all over the prog garden on their previous albums; hard-hitting blues, avant-garde jam sessions, dark post rock, and jazz fusion to stir your memory.  So my curiosity is piqued; what surprises are in store this time around?

First song queued up is "Adventures in a Liquid World."  The song opens as gentle as a stone skimming across a lake; the serenity of the scene broken by the quiet interruption of a guitar rippling through the headphones.  There are genuine top notes of the Discipline-era King Crimson bantering across this piece; the ambient tranquility is beautiful.  The canvas is streaked with soft hues meant to calm the listener.  The tempo changes are striking mainly because the mood continues to caress your inner being. 

The next song to ebb through the headphones is "Eyes Watching Skies."  The keyboards that open the piece immediately take me to an Alan Parsons Project-like concept...something along the lines of a macabre dance to the story's epilogue .  However; the mood changes quickly yet subtly and you feel yourself floating in space--indeed watching the sky change from that gentle crystal blue to a mild gray to a darkness lit by the stars.  So much happening in less than four minutes.  The drums are surrounded on all sides by keyboards that at first seem to channel Keith Emerson in that moment before he slays the organ, fading smoothly into Jordan Rudess caught in one of his deeper moments of poignant thought...

Liner Notes...the mind behind the conceptual sounds belongs to one Hagen Bretschneider who also plays bass.  He is joined by Nico Walser who performs all other instruments, is co-composer, and engineers the album.  Guitar riffs on the album are performed by Lennart Hueper.

This latest release from Electric Mud is ambient music meets 70's prog meets post-progressive music.  Think Brian Eno working with Tangerine Dream   with hints of Talking Heads on their "Remain In Light" tour edging on the perimeter.  Hagen and Nico have created a sound and accompanied it with striking visuals; the canvas runs vividly with many hues.  Emotion is brought to life a la Abstract Aprils, albeit with a bit more flair.

Learn more about Electric Mud, check out their entire catalog, and make a purchase at their website
ElectricMud and bandcamp.  You can follow the band on Facebook and Twitter @Electricmudd.

One more song to captivate your senses;  "The Loneliness of the Somnambulist."  There is an odd, almost foreboding mood flowing through the headphones on this cut.  Electric Mud captures your attention by painting vivid pictures with every color of the spectrum; the dark hues are tinged with the exuberant colors of daylight dancing on the horizon.  In much the way Robert Fripp and Eno, Moebius, and Roedelius brought music to life without using words, so to Electric Mud has tapped that vein.

I chose "Wading Through the Waters of Time" as your aural teaser this week because it puts on full display all the genius behind the curtain.  Hagen and Nico have crossed into yet another section of the prog garden with this album.  Electric Mud doesn't reinvent itself every time out per se, but they are very good at stretching the boundaries and expanding their soundscape...please to enjoy...


                      

I hope you enjoyed the music this week fellow progheads.  Electric Mud comes at you with visuals as well as sounds; images to translate the music and allow you to focus and submerge yourself...forgetting the world around you even if it's just for a little while.  Prog rock in this section of the prog garden is nothing short of an out-of-body experience...

Now the search for all things prog starts out on a new journey...until next time...

Caligula's Horse "Rise Radiant"

Hello again fellow progheads!  The Closet Concert Arena continues its journey through the prog garden with a stop in Australia this week.  A band I visited a while ago and have had on my radar ever since, Caligula's Horse, recently released "Rise Radiant," the fifth album in their catalog and third on the Inside Out Music label.  I enjoy catching up with bands that have expanded their acreage in the prog garden, so let the journey begin...

"The Tempest" opens things up with a quick energy shot; the needle approaches red as soon as the curtain is lifted.   Heavy guitar wraps itself around the lining of your skull as drums work like bumpers, allowing the keyboards to bounce around the perimeter and all the while the guitar holds everything in its grasp.  There are top notes of Dream Theater and Spock's Beard running through the music; the high energy and color explosions that hit the canvas keep the adrenaline going...

Next up is "Autumn."  With this song you can (almost) forget everything I just said about Caligula's Horse blowing the doors off the barn--this song is the newborn colt stumbling to stand on matchstick legs while mom watches, ready to break the fall.  There are subtle top notes of Steely Dan and I am reminded of Fire on Dawson as well.  The soft overtones of this song complement the band's ability to roam the entire prog garden  expanding their sound and pushing the envelope.  The vocals are rough silk; smooth with a deceptively frayed edge.

Liner Notes...calling Brisbane, Australia home, Caligula's Horse is Jim Grey on vocals, Sam Vallen on lead guitar, Adrian Goleby on guitar, Dale Prinsse on bass, and Josh Griffin on drums.  With four albums on their resume prior to the release of "Rise Radiant," Caligula's Horse has established themselves firmly within the contemporary metal section of the prog garden.

This album explores the human experience--no blinders here; nothing one dimensional or limiting the view.  And much like the human experience, "Rise Radiant" strikes deep, skims the surface, explodes across the canvas with a boldness that can be blinding, and then looks through an introspective lens that is reticent and reserved.  Yes, Caligula's Horse has been busy traversing the prog garden gaining valuable insight.

Learn  more about Caligula's Horse at Facebook  and purchase the album at Inside Out.  You can also follow them on Twitter @CaligulasHorse and Instagram caligulashorse.

Finally this week I piped "Dream the Dead" through my headphones.  The immediate head rush came full tilt; Caligula's Horse is very adept at thumping the perimeter of your skull to prepare you for the music onslaught that is about to invade the premises.  But this song goes one better; it leads you on a journey through darkness punctuated with bright strobe lights your mind races to follow.

Top notes of Opeth run rampant across the canvas until the song takes a reflective tangent and hooks you with a touch of The Mute Gods.  The drums and guitar are ornate while the music as a whole rides the mood elevator up and down your spine...a most invigorating feeling...

For your ear candy this week I chose "Slow Violence."  The song comes at you like the title suggests; slow and deliberate with the intention of leaving you changed for the experience.  There are faint top notes of Transatlantic flowing through this piece, as if the urge to break out and let loose is pulsating in Sam's temple.  The restraint does the song justice as Jim picks up the vibe and carries it through strong vocals.  I am reminded of Between the Buried and Me musically; the unity is evident and everyone builds off the others' energy.

Start the day with a bit of high velocity...

                    

And that, fellow progheads, puts one more week of the dystopian world of 2020 in the record books.  Seems the best, and possibly safest, place to spend time these days is in the prog garden.  Luckily there is quite a bountiful harvest just waiting for you.  So enjoy Caligula's Horse and sit back and enjoy the rest of the journey.  The search for all things prog continues...until next time...