Category: Reviews & Commentary

5 Best Mark Dwane CDs

A Journey through the music of #16 among 20 Icons of Echoes. While so many electronic musicians have headed off into the drone zone of sonic abstraction, Mark Dwane is an artist who still believes in the power of melody, the grandeur of a big crescendo and the stories held within a dramatic turn. His…

MOOGFest

MOOGfest, a festival celebrating the invention of Robert Moog will be taking place October 29-31 in Asheville, NC.  It’s being produced by the same people who produce Bonnaroo and the early line-up suggests it might be a little more mainstream than I’d like.  Hopefully they’ll expand their musical horizons a bit.  Good opportunity to have…

Nels Cline Singers Scream

The Nels Cline Singers, who don’t really sing, ignite Johnny Brenda’s On a day when Philadelphia hit 103 degrees, the guitar of Nels Cline often sounded like it had been left to bake on the sun heated sidewalk, emitting the squawks, squeals and crunch of fried circuits and melted strings screaming in agony.  Nels Cline,…

5 Best from Afro Celt Sound System.

https://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/echoes.org/podcasts/EchoesPodcast-Afrocelts-Icons.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS#15 of 20 Icons of Echoes: Afro Celt Sound System Afro Celt Sound System are one of the defining exponents of world fusion and their sound magic is as potent now as it was nearly 15 years ago when they released their debut album.    It’s not hard picking…

Last Thoughts & Merit Awards for NEARfest 2010

Another NEARfest is over, and a festival I avoided for its first 6 years because it seemed too retro and nostalgic has become an annual event for me in the last six years.  NEARfest 2010 was one of the best, a great mix of old and new, nostalgic reunions  and edgy directions.  A tip of…

NEARfest 2010 Finale: Eddie Jobson’s Cover Band

A Rock Orchestra playing the music of the Masters or A Glorified Tribute band. I was telling my friend that I thought it would be compelling  if some of these NEARfest bands would occasionally play  cover tunes, paying homage to the masters with modern interpretations.  As they say, be careful what you wish for, because…

NEARfest Day Three: Pineapple Thief Steals the Show.

Surprising sets from a lost elder statesman and a band that should be much bigger, The Enid & The Pineapple Thief. They were only the third act on the bill, but The Pineapple Thief stole the day for me with the most atypical set of  NEARfest 2010. No extended guitar solos, keyboard orchestrations or complex…

The Ghost of Gentle Giant Haunts NEARfest 2010

Three Friends, Iona, Forgas Band Phenomena and Astra Supercharge Saturday’s NEARfest. It was a day of nostalgic memories, faithful recreations, and technical ferocity on the second day of NEARfest 2010 Three Friends is essentially a reconstituted Gentle Giant, the  venerable 70s progressive rock band who played some of the most complex music of the era.…

Nearfest Night One: Steve Hackett & Riverside.

Nearfest 2010 is underway, and it started out spanning generations with a musician who started his career in 1970 and a band who started in 2002 . Riverside is a Polish band that mixes elements of progressive rock, heavy metal and a touch of screamo in a sound that had me floored when they played…