{"id":8745,"date":"2015-11-10T05:30:25","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T10:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=8745"},"modified":"2015-11-10T13:11:42","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T13:11:42","slug":"november-100-word-reviews-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2015\/11\/10\/november-100-word-reviews-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"November 100-word Reviews, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Aaaand<\/em> we&#8217;re back for another fistful of shortish CD reviews. Today&#8217;s five \u2013 mostly with odd names, as it happens \u2013 are in the rock idiom; maybe a bit of prog here and there as well (okay, a <em>lot<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p><center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/filligar.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"280\" vspace=\"10\" \/><\/center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"float: right; padding: 10px; width: 120px; height: 240px;\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ss&amp;ref=ss_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=musoscribe-20&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=B01541DS5I&amp;asins=B01541DS5I&amp;linkId=AIWFUOKLCEAXGMS3&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Filligar \u2013 <\/strong><em><strong>Keepsakes of the Interior<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nFrom what I can gather looking at the album sleeve and credits, it seems Filligar doesn&#8217;t\/don&#8217;t want us to know much about who he\/she\/it\/they is\/are. Fair enough; that leaves the music. <em>Keepsakes of the Interior<\/em> features appealing, midtempo rock with all sorts of pleasing instrumental flourishes. There&#8217;s a minor-key shading to most of the disc&#8217;s eleven tracks. Folky textures that recall <strong>Fleet Foxes<\/strong> are given more oomph by lead vocals that suggest an American <strong>Ian Astbury<\/strong>. Hooks are downplayed throughout. The gauzy, contemplative feel of \u201cPhotos of Madrid\u201d are a good example of the soft-focus approach used throughout this disc.<\/p>\n<p><center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/nan_madol.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"280\" vspace=\"10\" \/><\/center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"float: right; padding: 10px; width: 120px; height: 240px;\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ss&amp;ref=ss_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=musoscribe-20&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=B014X78L5G&amp;asins=B014X78L5G&amp;linkId=RSZ3DRSTYZ5KKYAE&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Nan Madol \u2013 <\/strong><em><strong>Feathered Serpent<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nThis progressive rock from T\u00f8nsberg, Norway cites <strong>Mastodon<\/strong> and <strong>Tool<\/strong> as influences, and while I can certainly hear that in their bone-crushing arrangements, there&#8217;s an emphasis on songcraft and memorable melody that sets Nan Madol apart from much of the uber-heavy rock crowd. Named after one of Earth&#8217;s odder historic monuments (a ruined city in Micronesia) the band&#8217;s lyrical concerns focus on mythology and such, but it&#8217;s all couched in catchy music so as not to be ponderous. Hypnotic in its intensity, Nan Madol&#8217;s music (sung in English by the group&#8217;s drummer <strong>Kolbj\u00f8rn Enge<\/strong>, by the way) is worth exploring.<\/p>\n<p><center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/dreaming_tree.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"280\" vspace=\"10\" \/><\/center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"float: right; padding: 10px; width: 120px; height: 240px;\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ss&amp;ref=ss_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=musoscribe-20&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=B00UYZM8W4&amp;asins=B00UYZM8W4&amp;linkId=NYGLSR3HFZNCDF2B&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Dreaming Tree \u2013 <\/strong><em><strong>Silverfade<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nIt&#8217;s difficult to describe the music on this disc. In many ways, it&#8217;s modern rock, with a propulsive and busy backbeat. But the songwriting and arrangement are highly polished (which isn&#8217;t the same as the pejorative \u201cslick\u201d), recalling <strong>Todd Rundgren<\/strong>&#8216;s preternaturally tuneful approach. This four-piece-plus-vocals group also sounds a bit like <strong>New Radicals<\/strong> (remember <strong>Gregg Alexander<\/strong>?). Sweeping arrangements, sharp hooks, hard rocking, and strong vocals abound, as do left-field flourishes like the trumpet outro on \u201cYesterday&#8217;s Tomorrow.\u201d Tricky time signatures will please those who like a bit of prog, but the melodies are ear candy. Listening is time well spent.<\/p>\n<p><center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/exovex.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"280\" vspace=\"10\" \/><\/center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"float: right; padding: 10px; width: 120px; height: 240px;\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ss&amp;ref=ss_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=musoscribe-20&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=B00VQCZNVW&amp;asins=B00VQCZNVW&amp;linkId=QOIDUHELEYLSCDOC&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Exovex \u2013 <\/strong><em><strong>Radio Silence<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nExovex is South Carolinian <strong>Dale Simmons<\/strong>; he plays guitars, basses and keyboards on all six of the album&#8217;s original tracks. The midtempo, soaring music isn&#8217;t (strictly speaking) progressive, but it has the classic\/prog-influenced feel of <strong>Porcupine Tree<\/strong>. And that sonic connection is heightened when one learns that <strong>Richard Barbieri<\/strong> plays keys on one track (the opening \u201cStolen Wings\u201d) and <strong>Gavin Harrison<\/strong> is behind the drum kit on the album closer, \u201cDaylight (Silent Key).\u201d Anyone who enjoys <strong>Pink Floyd<\/strong>, <strong>Steven Wilson<\/strong>, <strong>Blackfield<\/strong>, or <strong>Opeth<\/strong>&#8216;s more melodic side should seek out this disc. Simmons&#8217; strong songwriting makes <em>Radio Silence<\/em> a standout release.<\/p>\n<p><center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/consider_source.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"280\" vspace=\"10\" \/><\/center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"float: right; padding: 10px; width: 120px; height: 240px;\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ss&amp;ref=ss_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=musoscribe-20&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=B00VX222K0&amp;asins=B00VX222K0&amp;linkId=IPTXLXCMQKOLRL7Z&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Consider the Source \u2013 <\/strong><em><strong>World War Trio (Parts II-III)<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nStay at this album reviewing game long enough, and you&#8217;ll develop an ability to develop preconceptions based on the cover art and title. And more often than not you&#8217;ll be spot-on. But sometimes you&#8217;re wrong: I initially expected this to be humorless concept-laden progressive rock. It <em>is<\/em> concept-based, and it <em>certainly<\/em> is prog. But it&#8217;s not humorless; while not comedy by any means, the players (musical heavyweights all, and no keyboards) don&#8217;t seem to take themselves overly seriously. They play like an ensemble. Two discs is a lot of musical ground to cover; these guys pull it off in style.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/the_musoscribe\">Follow \u201cthe_musoscribe\u201d on <\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/the_musoscribe\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/icon_twitter_small.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"18\" height=\"18\" name=\"graphics3\" align=\"BOTTOM\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"1\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/the_musoscribe\"> Twitter<\/a> and get notified<br \/>\nwhen new features, reviews and essays are published.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aaaand we&#8217;re back for another fistful of shortish CD reviews. Today&#8217;s five \u2013 mostly with odd names, as it happens \u2013 are in the rock idiom; maybe a bit of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,51,56,62,65],"tags":[577,721,798,825,1557],"class_list":["post-8745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-release","category-pop","category-prog","category-rawk","category-review","tag-consider-the-source","tag-dreaming-tree","tag-exovex","tag-filligar","tag-nan-madol","cat-49-id","cat-51-id","cat-56-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8745"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9615,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8745\/revisions\/9615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}