Rickter Scale Show 201 - Stuff from 2008

[Rick and Roll]

airing Sunday, November 2 from 8-11 PM EST and Monday, November 3 from 1-4 PM EST

As I was constructing this show several weeks back, I noticed that 3/4 of the way through that all of the music was from 2008. So I figured I make the whole show new music. On the both last show of 2008 and the first show of 2009 I will be featuring a song or two from all 2008 artists, and will be much more comprehensive. This week features five artists.

Matthew Parmenter - from "Horror Express":

O Cesare
Polly New

I will be seeing him (and nephew Ryan and the band Discipline) back to back to back in Detroit next month. I have featured this record when it came out in full - here is the second song and the longest song from the record.

Gongzilla - from "Five Even":

Say Hey
French Grass
American Dream
Five Even
So High

Been looking forward to this since I heard the songs at 3RP. Bon Lozaga and Hansford Rowe used to play the Of Sound Mind record store, and have put out great music for a long time. Hansford has a lot of vocal tracks - quite a departure from their prior work. His voice is raspy and perfectly suited for the "cool fusion" of the songs. "French Grass" is a killer instrumental.

Octopus - from "Coda":

Part 1 - Slussen
Part 3 - VI-I-VII

Peruvian prog-metal! Some of this is brutal, but mostly instrumental with some blistering instrumentation. The CD is only 23 minutes long but includes a 90-page booklet of sheet music.

Uli Jon Roth - from "Under A Red Sky":

Land of Dawn
Stay In The Night
Light And Shadows
Tanz In Die Dammerung

Former Scorpions guitarist (until 1978), he's put out some interesting music over the years. Before a month ago, I'd only seen him in 1982, with Clive Bunker as his drummer. This record features operatic vocals (by two established singers) and the usual amazing fretwork. The last cut is an 18-minute epic.

Tempano - "Selective Memory"

Victoria Pirrica
Falling Senses
Argos
Despair, Shout
The Farmers
Irus
The Blind Crow
Path
Embestida
Cristalizado
Aguas Redondas

This is on the Moon - and you can get this from their myspace. I have only heard this once, but I really liked it - also, it gave me the impression that subsequent listens will yield many more highlights - the music is that involved and satisfying. Great prog fom Venezuela.

Not living in the past.....