[Hanafuda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by asmox /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you're looking for the new King Crimson, that would probably be Upsilon Acrux.

I like this band, very very much. Thanks for the tip, as this is turning me on more than anything else suggested in the thread. (I'm listening to Galapagos Momentum) However, I will say they do not remind me so much of King Crimson. It's more like what you would've gotten if Beefheart's Magic Band, circa the Troutmask Replica lineup, tried to make a mainstream album.

 

[milkweg]

You know, there is always King Crimson still.

King Crimson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A new King Crimson line-up was announced in late 2007 and scheduled for rehearsals in 2008[56], consisting of Fripp, Belew, Mastelotto, Levin and [57] Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree.

 

[intoart]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gordolindsay /img/forum/go_quote.gif All I have to say is Umphrey's McGee. Well, what are you waiting for.....GO!! Seriously, go to archive.org and download a few shows.

Oh yeah, they are great! I have Anchor Drops, Safety in Numbers (I think!), and The Bottom Half. All are excellent. They do not remind me of King Crimson, however, so much as a more rocking Steely Dan.

 

[Andrew H]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hanafuda /img/forum/go_quote.gif I like this band, very very much. Thanks for the tip, as this is turning me on more than anything else suggested in the thread. (I'm listening to Galapagos Momentum) However, I will say they do not remind me so much of King Crimson.

Based on a quick listen to their MySpace samples, I hear elements of Fripp, Yes, Philip Glass maybe. But that's also the problem for me so far, elements of others but without their own apparent strong identity. And I worry they may be falling in the trap that's so easy for "progressive" bands: focusing too much on creating various sonic landscapes, but forgetting that at the end of the day, it's still about composition and developing the song. Something that Fripp clearly understands well. But again, it's only my first impression, and will investigate more.

I'm glad you mentioned Tool. I think they take a lot from the best of Crimson and Rush (and maybe NIN and Metallica?) and distill it down into something extremely effective. Anyone else doing something close to that? What passes for hard rock or metal these days seems unbelievably trite.

And speaking of which, I wonder if you know Alan Holdsworth? They claim he's from England, but I'm not fully convinced he's even from Earth. Or if so, maybe a few centuries in the future? Anyway, he very much comes from the same school as Bill Bruford (and did some projects together) of constantly creating new boundaries between rock and jazz.

 

[chadbang]

I listened to Porcupine Tree for the first time. Stupid Dream and In Absentia. Talk about a blast from the past. Really retro sounding ala British 60-70s. I thought I had found a lost Moody Blues record. I thought Stupid Dream was a tad subdued and it didn't blow me away, but In Absentia was very good. Very well produced and intelligent -- and retro sounding. If younger listeners are responding to that group - there's hope for new "classic rock". I'm going to listen to In Absentia again today, but my reaction was very positive. It's not Fripp or Crimson wild, but very good progessive rock. The guy has a classic British voice.

 

[Hanafuda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadbang /img/forum/go_quote.gif I listened to Porcupine Tree for the first time.

that's funny. I listened to "Stupid Dream" for the first time last night myself. I have to agree with you, not quite what you call knife-edged intensity, but their style is agreeable. I'll have to give in absentia a try, based on your comments. I was hoping for something a bit more aggressive & technical.

Ironically, I also listened to King Crimson's "THRAK" for the first time last night. Even though it was released in 1996, i.e. 26 years after the first KC album, it did have that 'knife-edge' at times that "Stupid Dream" was lacking. Not bad for a band full of geezers, but then again not quite cutting the mustard like "In the Wake of Poseidon" or even "Discipline." I'm looking forward to auditioning 'The ConstrucKtion of Light' and 'The Power TO Believe' soon.


I also dug deep in my closet yesterday and dug out my CD of David Byrne's "The Catherine Wheel." What a wild ride that is.

 

[chadbang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hanafuda /img/forum/go_quote.gif I also dug deep in my closet yesterday and dug out my CD of David Byrne's "The Catherine Wheel." What a wild ride that is.

That is a cool album. I just put it on my iPod after finally getting around to ripping it all these years later. I used to love it. Now I need to give it a listen when I'm at work.

 

[madmax7]

5- Buckethead - "Welcome To Bucketheadland 1 & 2"

I'm 41 as well and grew up with much of the same. The King Crimson HDCD's get played a lot. But I am a huge Buckethead fan. When I first saw a picture of him I was like, uhhhh What? But this guy is a true genius.

He writes and composes all of his music and simply amazes me the amount of great music he writes and plays on his 60's custom Les Paul. Now that said, he does have some stuff that is very unusual and isn't quite my style.

If you would like some suggestions just let me know. But some quick suggestions would be, Population Override "Earth Heals Herself" or "Too Many Humans". Or of course, the Mellow albums Colma or Electric Tears.

I think he has over 30 CD's out.

 

[immtbiker]

The OP asked for music that is being made today that can be compared to Crimson.
The last two Porcupine Tree Albums, "Nils Recurring" and "Futile" bring back some of my "Return to Forever" and "Gentle Giant" memories. The talent isn't even close to yesteryear, but they give me hope.

Also, Radiohead "In Rainbows" is excellent. I hated it the first couple of times I heard it, and now I can't get enough. They have them playing it From the Basement on Palladia, the Hi-Def Music concert channel.

If you are looking for some real talent in a rock/jazz fusion genre, try "Front Page" featuring drummer Dennis Chambers, guitarist Bireli Lagrene and bassist Dominique Di Piazza. You will not find better talent than this trio. This album riffs! Dennis Chambers is one of the best drummers of all time, and Bireli Lagrene is so good, I think that he comes from another planet. He played at the Montreaux Jazz Festival when he was 12...a prodigy.

Amazon.com: Front Page: Dennis Chambers, Bireli Lagrene, Dominique Di Piazza: Music

Also, Al Dimeola's "Kiss My Axe (older) and "Flesh on Flesh"(current) is up there on my "old fart trying to relieve the past" charts.

I've got a ton (I am on a constant quest for talented fusion) but definitely start out with these 6 albums.

 

[DavidMahler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hanafuda /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm 41 years old and at risk of sounding just like my dad from 25 years ago ... What is this crap they call music today??? OK, I know there's gotta be some geniuses making music, but its helps a lot to be young and surrounded by people with some actual TASTE to know what's out there. Once you're married, have a few kids, and work with people who think American Idol is damned good stuff, you lose touch like it or not. I listen to Floyd (especially pre-Darkside, you should see my ROIO collection), King Crimson, Steely Dan, Zappa, Beefheart, Supertramp, Stones, Rush, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, and etc. .... basically the kind of music you were likely to hear in the 70's and 80's at college parties where bongs were in use. So, what new stuff is out there for a guy like me? I'm open to good, but not mainstream music, and as you can see I'm not interested in Britney's latest. I did discover The Mars Volta's album "De-Loused in the Comatorium" ... fantastic. Their other albums, not so much. But maybe that gives you some idea of what does work for me. I'd appreciate suggestions. No promises I'll like any of it, but I always give music a fair shot. Ya gotta admit though, there was something special going on between '55 and '75, and we're not likely to see the like again. [/uncle rico mode]

I'm likely to be "banned" from this thread for saying such a thing but in my opinion there are no active artists currently making music on the level of the best recordings made by the bands/artists you named. Sad, but to me....it's true.........Radiohead's about as close as you're going to get....

Porcupine Tree eh, I'll pass on that, Dream Theatre I'll pass again. Technical wizards without substance.

 

[csroc]

Personally I feel that way about Radiohead but not Porcupine Tree.

Whatever you like though, Porcupine Tree is in my collection as well so I'll agree with that suggestion. Their style has changed some over the years, I've got almost all of their albums now (I think I'm short one or two). I listen to a broad variety of things though, branching off from Porcupine Tree one of the members is in Blackfield. Lately I've been hunting down a lot of post rock and similar instrumental style music and have been checking out Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed You Black Emperor and continuing to look for more.

Of course Pink Floyd remains in regular rotation for me and so do a handful of other contemporary groups.

 

[intoart]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidMahler /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm likely to be "banned" from this thread for saying such a thing but in my opinion there are no active artists currently making music on the level of the best recordings made by the bands/artists you named. Sad, but to me....it's true.........Radiohead's about as close as you're going to get.... Porcupine Tree eh, I'll pass on that, Dream Theatre I'll pass again. Technical wizards without substance.

You may be partly right. There are some great bands/albums out there, but can anybody today even remotely approach the genius of Close to the Edge, Tarkus, Dark Side of the Moon, In the Court of the Crimson King, A Trick of the Tail, etc.?

 

[Andrew H]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidMahler /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm likely to be "banned" from this thread for saying such a thing but in my opinion there are no active artists currently making music on the level of the best recordings made by the bands/artists you named. Sad, but to me....it's true.........Radiohead's about as close as you're going to get.... Porcupine Tree eh, I'll pass on that, Dream Theatre I'll pass again. Technical wizards without substance.

True, I'm sure a few of us could use another Romantic Warrior or Birds of Fire. But at least the good news seems to be that the "(don't call me fusion) jazz" monsters generally seem to be happy to keep playing forever. (At least those who didn't get a little nuts and try to take on plate glass windows and club bouncers.) So the supergroups are a little harder to come by (although RTF did do that revival tour recently), but at least most of the usual suspects are out there, doing smaller projects.

Agree that Dream Theater and too many others seem to have the misdirected idea that technique is more of an end rather than a means. But it is interesting at least to investigate others mentioned on this thread. So far I didn't have very much luck with Buckethead, as his 3-4 MySpace samples seemed to be pretty basic speedmetal. Seems pretty prolific though, so will need to try more samples first. (Even Steve Morse must've had a bad day or 2...)

 

[Andrew H]

Quote:

Originally Posted by intoart /img/forum/go_quote.gif You may be partly right. There are some great bands/albums out there, but can anybody today even remotely approach the genius of Close to the Edge, Tarkus, Dark Side of the Moon, In the Court of the Crimson King, A Trick of the Tail, etc.?

Agree that supergroups seem to be running a little thin these days, but folks like Holdsworth and Johnny Mac still seem to be doing pretty well, single-handedly. And some other players out there who are supposed to be pretty huge and need further investigation...

 

[chadbang]

I was shufflng on my ipod today and a song popped up from a group you might like. It's not as challenging as Crimson, but its very listenable in a lounge/Tom Waits/acoustic/avant guarde way. Instrumentation seems to consist of a drum, bass guitar and sax. The group is called Morphine and the album I have is called "Cure for Pain". It's nice and mellow for old farts like us. Not a wild as primus, more like Mark Knopler meets Tom Scott -- if that makes any sense. Anyway, I think its the only time I've ever heard anyone play a sax through a wah-wah pedal!