[OverHillandDale(Admin)]

COTM - Feature #97 - NOT Pink Floyd

Hello my friends.

They say emulation is the highest form of flattry. In Progressive Rock everyone seems to be either judged or simply categorized by who they sound like. This is in comparison to the early giants of the industry, Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues and Gentle Giant. Today, I bring you a feature of a pair of groups that, in their early stages, have been categorized as using the Pink Floyd sound. Personally, I define that as full and rich atmosphere setting that is led by a simple melody line, but a syncopated rhythm. Needless to say, echo and reverb tend to be a given and the atmosphere is usually created from syntheziers and other keyboards.

In the mid-ninties, a mild mannered guitarist named Steve Wilson began a series of solo-projects that grew into one of the most influential bands of our times. The description on the back of the album "Signify". It says "Porcupine Tree have managed to defy genres and blend together numerous ambient, rock and avant-garde styles to create a musical landscape that is both refreshing and compulsively seductive".... "The hypnotic rhythms, spacy synthesizers, glissando guitar and crazy voices which made the style successful are all contained here." That certainly seems to fit the bill.

Today I am going to play an early album that was a compilation of a pair of cassette tape releases: "Tarquin's Seaweed Farm" (1989) and "The Nostalgia Factory" (1990). The album is called On the Sunday of Life... I think you'll find this a nice introduction to the group and a great comparison to what they have evolved into. Certainly they are currently one of the most popular groups in our genre that are still active.

Our second group of artists started out in the late 90's (1997) as a Pink Floyd tribute band. They evolved from there into their own unique style which is still heavily influenced from that of PF. The group is RPWL (the acronym for their last names: Risettio Postl Wallner Lang. Of the current guitarists in our genre, I consider Wallner the most David Gilmour-like. It's a unique style that he uses to the hilt and then puts his own spin on the sound. Lang is the vocal force of the group. He too has a unique sound that fits perfectly. Their first album release was God Has Failed (2000). Again, it is a raw version of what they have now evolved to, but it is still powerful and unique.

I do hope you will join us this week. This show will make a great soundtrack for the March Madness basketball games. Turn down Dick Vitale and turn UP Aural Moon.

See you on the radio.

dale