Vektor: Lineup News

Everyone but the lead singer leaves the band.

I guess this brings up a number of thoughts.

#1 I'm sad to see this still 1st and foremost. Vektor are a band who I've been a fan of for nearly 6 or 7 years. Not immense, but still I enjoy their music. All of their albums are of high quality, and among the extreme metal bands I'm into, they certainly are among my favorites (say 30-50 at least).

#2 As much as I am happy to see their exposure and success, I can't deny, they kind of became a hipster metal band in some respects. The Needle Drop among others probably helped that. What I wonder is if the hipster demographic stay with them or the members new projects, or do they jump ship?

#3 Terminal Redux was in a lot of ways their most impressive record, both sonically and creatively. In other words, I'm not sure how much more or better they could get for what they do. I suppose the ego-centric/selfish artist still says of course a ton better, etc. Which I totally see why, but I guess it seemed to be somewhat of a leap forward in a lot of ways creatively, I kind of wonder, somewhat like Between the Buried and Me and Colors, if it would require too much of them to equal if not top it.

#4 These situations happen a lot, especially around the end of the year. I guess not necessarily everyone but the singer, etc but I guess it doesn't come as, as big a shock I guess as one might think. Now what does this mean for Vektor and the other members? I of course will try to keep up with both going forward, but I suppose my hopes for what they do next isn't necessarily what it might be had this splitting of the roster hadn't happened of course.

That all being said, I do hope this is all for the best and want to support them still.


edit:

The below Facebook Post has been deleted, but replaced by a new post from David

New Facebook Post

I apologize to anyone who was concerned about the post from earlier today. Vektor is not stopping. I started writing Vektor songs in 1999 and I'm still writing Vektor songs. As long as I live, Vektor will not die.
I appreciate everything that Blake, Frank, and Erik have done to help this ship take off. I also appreciate all of my band mates before them: Willy, Pablo, Adam, Mike, and Kian.
See you on the road!
-Dave


Original but now Deleted FACEBOOK Post


Greetings Vektonauts. With sadness we must inform you that we, Blake, Frank, and Erik, are all departing from Vektor effective immediately. It has been a completely incredible 10-ish years that has brought us all around the world and introduced us to so many super generous, passionate, friendly people and produced three albums of which we are extremely proud. Seeing the reception for Terminal Redux in particular after all of the hard work put into it has been very humbling. Sadly we've reached a point where we can't continue with the working arrangement we have, for a number of reasons that we find unnecessary to discuss publicly. There's no big story or drama, people and personalities simply change and drift apart and we've reached our limit. 

The three of us are lifer musicians and will continue to be. You'll be seeing us in other contexts, other bands, recordings, tours, and more. Our time in Vektor has been a major part of our lives and parting with that will be a serious adjustment, but ultimately we're excited to see other new ways we can put our ideas to use. We are -hugely- grateful to everyone that came out to shows, picked up merch, listened to the music, showed us a great time and kept us going. We accomplished more than we ever thought was possible when we joined and we hope you'll stay tuned for what we do next - you have certainly not seen the last of us. 

We don't know if this means Dave will seek new members and continue Vektor or not, that is for him to decide and announce in his own time. 

Given that it's the holidays and the future of the band is out of our hands, we'd appreciate some space for the time being as we enjoy time with friends and family (please don't message our personal pages about it, we won't reply). All the best and we'll see you down the road. 
-Blake, Frank, and Erik 

George Michael - Rest in Peace

12/27/16 11:50PM

Documentary Freedom is coming out in March on Showtime in the States (BBC in the UK).

factmag.com

Michael was making Freedom in conjunction with Channel 4, to be released alongside a reissue of the 1990 album. The film will reportedly focus on the late artist’s career, rather than his personal life, and features interviews with Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Tony Bennett, James Corden, Ricky Gervais and more. It has been narrated by Michael himself.

usatoday.com


12/25/16 6:17PM



http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38432862

There's a lot to the reasons I'm sharing this Celebrity Death, but I'll fully admit to only being a mild fan at best. And I grew up in the 80's and new  both Wham! and albums like Faith at least. My band in grade school even played Faith the song.

"Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" was almost an Anthem or a daily thing to hear on WLOL in the morning when I was a kid,

But no, MY WIFE, who I've known for nearly 6 years, is an ENORMOUS fan of George or as she calls him HORE-HAY MEE-GELL.

Really beyond The Monkees and Michael Nesmith, and probably Michael Jackson, George Michael is her favorite singer/musician of all-time.

More than Prince, Whitney Houston, Robert Palmer, Mayer Hawthorne and Hall and Oates.

She has wanted to collect all the Picture Discs and 12" singles she could from him, and more or less anything on Vinyl, which we don't find too often at Record Stores in Minnesota. Her  belief is they are all in his native England, and possibly at stores on the Coasts. Hopefully when we finally take our honeymoon in the coming months, we will get to 1 of the Amoeba Records in California and she may find some.

Otherwise, there's the less enjoyable and possibly more expensive route of stuff like Ebay, Discogs, Amazon Marketplace of course.

But no, this is a HUGE SHOCK and a TERRIBLE thing to find out, on Christmas no less. Kind of ruining her X-Mas, and by extension, mine in some ways.

Really so sorry Mama, and to all the other fans out there.

I will add though, it's rather hypocritical to see so many Media Sources come out about this when it happens. Stuff like Pitchfork and 89.3 namely, when they probably had no fucking clue he was PLANNING A NEW DOCUMENTARY, NEW ALBUM AND TOUR.

http://www.georgemichael.com/some-news-from-george/

George Michael is busy putting the finishing touches to his special documentary film ‘Freedom’. He has discovered some incredible, unseen archive footage and is shooting additional interviews for the project so the film will now air in March 2017.

It promises to be a real treat for fans! To coincide with the film’s broadcast, George and Sony Music have decided to move the reissue of the Listen Without Prejudice album to the same time.

I mean was a George Michael or Wham album on 89,3's 893 ALBUMS LIST??? no..And there;s very little about him on Pitchfork.

The Grammys"..jeez, Prince, Bowie? and George Michael (Glen Frey, 2/3 of ELP, George Martin and so many others I'm not remembering off the top of my head right now).

I also feel like saying, I'm getting a huge sense of Melancholy about the 80's with this one, like with Prince and Bowie to an extent. Much like Whitney Houston back in 2012. Sort of the sad feeling of wanting to go back in time, when all these people were alive. Time seems to be gaining on myself and my wife who are just in are early 40's.

I sometimes think the day we do die, we'll return to the time when they were all around.

But it has hit myself and many others of late. I would say almost to the point I met my wife, or a few years earlier and since, about the Celebrity Deaths. Or even just people we know. Time is catching up on us, and if we are still alive, so many we are used to being alive with us, won't be.

By the time we reach say even age 60, it might not be weird to think the large majority of the celebrities and people of our Youth will be dead. Which makes me think, why don't we all just die anyway?..it's almost self-depressing torture. But I guess part of living is learning to live with others not being around anymore, as hard and sad as that can be. But we'll know that the younger folks will go through the same thing in later years with us, as our parents and older generations did, or learned to do.

But in the mean time, it is time to remember George Michael and celebrate his life. And also look forward to possibly a posthumous album and documentary of some kind.

Where's Andrew Ridgely?..he might feel a little like Krist Novoselic (not that I care for Nirvana, but the analogy sort of fits).

Also this has got to be, besides Eli Stone, one of my favorite uses of his music. Rather funny.



Also these are pretty funny from the film Keanu.

Matisyahu - Miracle (Catchy Channukah/Holidaze song)

I was just looking up Channukah related songs and haven't paid attention to Matisyahu's music in a number of years. But I stumbled across this song/video from 2010 which I take it to be about not just Channukah, but more of Holidaze/Festivus ideal.
 
"Miracle" very catchy track!

It also got me thinking about a couple of things related to Channukah and music. What are the best songs involving/related to Channukah?

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings have a nice one in "8 Days of Channukah," but otherwise, there's not many beyond say the Adam Sandler comedy-track.

But given Matisyahu was able to write and record a song that is good, why haven't other Jewish musicians?

Orphaned Land
Aviv Geffen/Blackfield
Mike Portnoy
Jordan Rudess
Bill Joel
Paul Simon
many others just from googling

Also Greg Herriges wrote a tune, although it's more about culture than the holiday, and I don't believe it's been recorded and released, just played live.

And additionally, I haven't thought a lot about Matisyahu in many years, but this song may get my interest back with him.

Teamrock.com (including PROG) RIP?

12/23/16 9:56AM
justgiving.com campaign

at 390% of the goal which says something/ Hopefully it will help a lot of the people involved, now out of work the week of X-Mas.

There has been talk that PROG and the other magazines they published, could get picked up by another firm, which adds optimism.

12/19/16 2:08PM
BBC Story

As much as I have issues with PROG magazine and the conglomerate of Team Rock and the Classic Rock Magazine Umbrella, it is sad to see this happen.

I guess I have a few thoughts about this:

1) Their magazines, at least it seemed, including PROG were published at a HIGH COST. Color paper, including compact discs, artwork done up, etc, I can't help but wonder if these people were having to be laid off, could the magazine been made FOR LESS or even having LESS ADS if it wasn't so demanding of the material and style it was made in?

I mean I'm hardly someone whose an expert in Business, but that just is 1 perception in just how their magazines were manufactured. Paying so many people, etc.

2) I guess along that same thinking, their comeback could be that like newspapers, Magazines are sadly somewhat of a dying industry. The 3-dimensional kind anyway, and they may say they had to publish something more colorful and glitzy just to garner enough sales. Which would lead back to the Online stuff anyway.

3) The Price. Their prices, at least in North America were always too much for my thinking for what it included. $15 + tax, etc. But apparently that may not have been enough? lol.

Which makes me wonder what the future of that firm is and anything involving any of their magazines from the past. Maybe online only? I know you can buy them for your Tablet/Ipad, etc. Maybe doing that could be more cost-effective?

Also I wonder WHY they did this now and not say, AFTER X-MAS?

And if they cease to exist and be printed or even be online, what will the people laid do? Maybe something new will startup?

At least you do still have people like myself, altprogcore, The Prog Report, That Drummer Guy, etc still covering the world of progressive rock without financial demands. But if somehow something new pops up within a year or 2, and it's online, I would again say I would love to in some way contribute if they would have me.

And the PROG and Classic Rock Awards, I imagine will not happen again barring some kind of financial help from people (a Pledgemusic campaign?) Maybe they could be held On Cruise to Edge every February/March? That would be my suggestion anyway. Maybe renamed them the Cruise to the Edge Awards or something.

just for reference, here's a video I made earlier this year. I may make a new one now, sort of rehashing this current entry soon.

Yes FINALLY get into the Rock HOF!

Rollingstone.com Article

Much more to add later in this entry, but just to initially pass it along. Ding Dong the witch is finally fucking dead.

I mean to write-up more thoughts about this, the ceremony coming up, my previous prediction being right below.

 And I'll likely make a video about this and the Rock Class, etc. The video below is still relevant, even if Yes finally did get in. But at least having them finally in along with Rush and Genesis, Prog is finally being represented like it should have decades ago.

React To (C McGuire)/Lists WMJ Won't Make: Top 10 Fates Warning Songs

Hmm, I was thinking like I did with some other React-To and Top 10 Lists WatchMojo won't make, to link the actual songs, but meh, I'm too lazy right now to go that far.

So, Christian McGuire made this top 10 Fates Warning songs list

10. So
9. Part of the Machine
8. Monument
7. The Apparition
6, A Pleasant Shade of Gray VI
5. Epitaph
4. The Ivory Gate of Dreams
3. At Fates Hands
2. Exodus
1. Nothing Left to Say Good list, but it's Fates Warning, which in my mind, it's hard to pick bad songs.

Watchmojo.com of course will never make a Top 10 songs list for them (yet they make top 10 lists about flavor-of-the-month garbage like Loney Island, Sum 41 and BTS..in other words, WHO??)

But it is splitting hairs and there's many I'm not including even outside of the Top 10 or 20, but just for the sake of making this somewhat accurate list, here it is.

It does include of course the John Arch and Arch / Matheos stuff along with regarding A Pleasant Shade of Gray as 1 song, as I, many other fans and the band themselves consider it just 1 or Song-suite, etc.
Outside of the top 20, there are so many other good ones

Firefly (Darkness in a Different Light, 2013)
Guardian (Awaken the Guardian, 1986)
Monument (Inside Out 1994)
Pieces of Me (Disconnected, 2000)
Prelude to Ruin (Awaken the Guardian, 1986)
Seven Stars (Theories of Flight, 2016)
Through Different Eyes (Perfect Symmetry, 1989
Traveler In Time (The Spectre Within, 1985(
Silent Cries (No Exit, 1988)
Sorceress (Awaken the Guardian, 1986)


20. Left Here (FWX, 2004)

19. Damnation (Night on Brocken, 1984)

18. Point of View (Parallels, 1991)

17. So (Disconnected, 2000) 16. Another Perfect Day (FWX, 2004)

15. Ghosts of Home (Theories of Flight, 2016)

14. Fata Morgana (Awaken the Guardian, 1986)

13. Heal Me (FWX, 2004)

12. The Apparition (The Spectre Within, 1985)

11. The Eleventh Hour (Parallels, 1991)

10. Stained Glass Sky (Sympathetic Resonance, 2011)

9. Nothing Left to Say (Perfect Symmetry, 1989)

8, Something from Nothing (Disconnected, 2000)

7. Epitaph (The Spectre Within, 1985)

6. The Ivory Gate of Dreams (No Exit, 1988)

5. Relentless (A Twist of Fate, 2003)

4. The Light and Shade of Things (Theories of Flight, 2016)

3. Cheyenne (A Twist of Fate, 2003)

2. Still Remains (Disconnected, 2000)

1. A Pleasant Shade of Gray (A Pleasant Shade of Gray, 1997)

2016-2017 New Album Anticipation/Spec (Frequent Updates in 2017)

12/17/16 6:34PM

So like the actual Calendar with confirmed titles, release dates and artwork, this entry will be frequently bumped/updated.

The 1st list below is a list of artists who it seems very likely will be releasing a new album, but it's not been confirmed with the date/month or even the title yet. But the recent evidence points towards that information could be right around the corner.

The 2nd list is more of artists that either have talked about writing new music in the last few years and they seem due for one.

Of course this list, even more than the Calendar Entry, is a work-in-progress per there's likely dozens if not more artists I am not remembering at this point.

There also may be removals for various reasons (breakups, artists mentions a new album coming in a few years, etc).

And like the Calendar Entry, I should make a new video about the stuff from this entry. Speculation, etc.

As far as the Bluechips: Fjokra and Pepe Deluxe still stand out the most. The Reign of Kindo also, but receiving 1 track every so often per their Patreon is already happening, it's just officially release and hopefully a physical copy, etc will hopefully come, likely in the Spring.

Kimbra, Subterranean Masquerade, Galactic Cowboys, In Vain, Small Leaks Sink Ships,  are among the biggest likely to come out. Tiny Giant and Bullet Height from ex-Pure Reason Revolution members also have me intrigued.

Anathema, dredg, The Family Crest are some of the other hopefuls that will be a big deal if/when they come out.

And that's hardly all of the stuff I am hoping for, as I'm sure I'll be remembering many others to add in here soon (and removing, and adding to The Calendar Entry).

Confirmed/Likely to be Released (but no Title or Release Date Yet)
Ayreon FB
Bent Knee FB Tw
Bullet Height (Spring) FB Tw
Diablo Swing Orchestra FB Tw
Flying Colors FB Tw
Galactic Cowboys FB Fan Pg Tw
In Vain FB
Kimbra  FB Tw
Major Parkinson FB Tw (low activity)
George Michael FB Tw (low activity)
Native Construct FB Tw

Reign of Kindo, The FB Tw

Small Leaks Sink Ships FB Tw
"Small Leaks Sink Ships will release their forthcoming album (their first on vinyl) next year via Lefse Records"
Solstafir (1st Half) FB
Spock's Beard
Subterranean Masquerade FB
Tiny Giant FB Tw
Typhoon FB Tw

------------------------------

*speculation/hope*
Anathema FB Tw
Arch / Matheos FB Tw
Barnum Meserve, The FB Tw
Bend Sinister FB Tw
Brice Plays Drums FB Tw
Broken Social Scene FB Tw
Bubblemath FB Tw (last update 2014)
Capital Cities FB Tw
Chromeo FB Tw
Disillusion FB Tw
Dissociatives, The FB (Paul Mac) Tw (Paul Mac)
dredg FB Tw
East of the Wall FB Tw
Faceless, The FB Tw
The Family Crest FB Tw
Fjokra FB Tw
Godspeed You Black Emperor FB (last update 2015)
House of Fools FB Tw (not updated since 2015)
Jazzkamikaze FB Tw
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings (Post-Humous) FB Tw
Journal FB
Karnivool FB Tw
Live FB Tw
Spencer Ludwig  Tw
Mastodon FB Tw
Mew FB Tw
Mutemath FB Tw
Ne Obliviscaris FB Tw
Neverending White Lights FB Tw
Pepe Deluxe FB Tw (not updated since 2012)
Ramona Falls FB Tw
Red Paintings, The  FB Tw
RisingSide Tw
Sigur Rós FB Tw
SikTh FB Tw
System of a Down FB Tw
Roger Waters Tw
Steven Wilson FB Tw

I'll believe it when I hold it in my hand
Guns N Roses
Tool

10 Years 12/4/06 to 12/4/16. FAQ/INTERVIEW PART 2

Albums of the Year and Albums Anticipation: Is it the focus and why? And should it be?
It has a lot to do with news, new music and the interest in it. People love to look at "Albums of the Year Lists," which seemed common in the 90's but even more in the 2000's.

And new music is news. The Albums of the Year have or had become almost like the albums of the month or even albums of the week. I sort of wanted that.

But it's not fully about rating/ranking, but just ANNOUNCING. It seems people want announcements and anticipations, and I'm totally guilty of that myself. What's coming in the future? What album can I get excited about? Because it's a combination of bands you love having something fresh and new from, and then there's the unknown new albums. Whether they're from artists you didn't know had a new album coming, or just an artist I or others had never heard of.

There's something magical about that to me and others.

Should I include more about older artists and releases? sure time permitting. The different series/projects etc I've done do that. Anniversaries, concert reviews add some to that. I dunno, I may try to focus more on nostalgia and history with older artists or bands. Or just older artists I am discovering like Kate Bush recently, or XTC among others.

Envy of other blogs, YouTube Channels, media/social media?

Yes and know. Without compromise, definitely no. But I can't help but be miffed by the success of people like The Needle Drop or even Consequence of Sound. But the time and efforts they have to acquire that level of success, I can't regret.

But I do find it sad and even unfair to a point how much buzz and referencing they receive.

I think the YouTube experiment probably is illustrated even more. My feeling about it when I started using YouTube was bring at least a percentage of the audience here to my YouTube Channel. And while I'm sure some have followed me over there too, especially per passing the videos I make in here, 73 subscribers in 3 years sort of speaks for itself. Whereas there are some people on YouTube who've been there for half that amount of time who have 100's if not 1000's of subscribers.

I dunno. I recall The Needle Drop saw his subscriber numbers escalate exponentially when he reviewed 1 or 2 mainstream hip-hop albums around 2013. I forget which ones, but I remember that more or less got his name out there. 

Now would I do that? unlikely, unless it was controversial or something. But chances are any review I make that could find a wider audience, would also have dozens of other reviews as well.

It almost would have to be of some band who I know and love, and then it gets shared and they get mainstream. A bit like Gotye or Kimbra I suppose, but maybe even smaller.

But that was also 4 years ago for TND, and more people like myself are using YouTube now anyway.

But it's a double edged sword because in some ways, if Bend Sinister or Fjokra got enormous, they might not feel like my little band that could. Sad, psychologically, but it's a bit of being careful what you wish for, etc.

Overall I've concluded it's better to for those obscure favorites of mine, even like Pepe Deluxe or Hotel of the Laughing Tree to stay obscure. Or just BABY STEPS, kind of like The Dear Hunter, or dredg. Even Dream Theater in the 90's to a point.

I dunno, I struggle with it, with whether I'd prefer them to find a larger following or not.

But after 10 years in here and 3 on YouTube, seeing slow amounts of interest can be frustrating. When you invest hours into something, and barely anyone else finds it or cares for it. But then it goes back to the whole documentation for sake and years later. Ultimately, if stuff is found years later, it still has value to myself and others.

Other Media both attempts and success?

YouTube of course, Radio on KFAI and even podcasting I tried. Podcasting was fun but I never could get it to work with the Audacity software. Plus playing copy-written music on it was a bit of a hurdle. What site to host it on, etc.

I guess I see podcasts shared on YouTube, and that makes me curious. I may consider just doing that if I ever try just audio again.

Or look into finding another kind of software to record with.

1 site that worked for 1 I did with That Drummer Guy and some other friends, was archive.org. It worked well, just was time consuming.

I was trying to use KFAI's studio for it (actually the original reason I went back), but I haven't had the time to go back down there the last couple of years.

That Drummer Guy and I and my friend John did them. But neither were 100% about this blog, whereas the YouTube Channel is.If I tried a new podcast, I would probably have it reflect the stuff in this blog like that channel does. But the advantages of a podcast (like the length and HD space) over a video.

Another thing I can add is there was 1 or more attempts to write for other sites/blogs. They ended up failing. The 1 local blog, I tried to fit into my scope of writing, and wrote some stuff for them, but they didn't exactly care for it. Which was weird because they wanted me to write for them initially. I get the sense they didn't go for what I submitted to them for a couple of reasons.

1) the style of writing. Like talking and such. As I mentioned in the 1st part of the FAQ, it's the way I write, I'm not going to change that. And frankly, don't foresee wanting an editor at this point.

2) The content. Prog and in Minnesota. I don't get the sense they cared for it as much. And the focus 100% on LOCAL music. As opposed to music things/happenings in Minnesota such as concert tours, or just what local music fans enjoy. Local people in Minnesota who like progressive rock, etc. 

But ultimately that site failed, and I'm still here. It speaks to the site and the people who ran it than me. At least I like to feel that way. Now whether my services could be used for other sites, magazines, newspapers, books in the future? remains to be seen. I wouldn't expect it, but I have felt for almost the duration of the time this blog's been kept, I would be up for 1 of these sites or magazines like PROG magazine or something to have me write for them. But without compromise. I.e. I would get to write about WHAT I want and HOW I want. Not what they want me to write about.

Progression magazine did contact me a few years ago, and John Collinge sent me cds to review, but it was a struggle. It was not the way I wanted to work. I kind of thought if I wrote some reviews of cds for him once, then he would allow me to write stuff for what I wanted, etc. But it didn't get that far. I recall I sent him reviews of most of the cds he sent me and they never got published. And I just gave up. I forget, maybe they did get published and I never saw it. But that process I found to be not worth doing. If he contacted me again, and would allow me to write about the albums I would want to, etc. I might consider it again, but I highly doubt that would ever happen unless the magazine got taken over by someone else and became a little more liberal in taste.

Is this blog a lot of Hyperbole? Soapbox prattle? Diarrhea of the mouth/keyboard? (was that why it was started?)
Yes, quite clearly it is. It's honest and detailed. It's a space for me to not pull many if any punches. I tend to babble on sure, but I'm a chatty Kathy and have a lot to say. My wife would highly agree with that.

I think some people enjoy people going on soapboxes. It makes for good reads at times. It is not clich-ed, and certainly was not at the time it came out in 2006, 2007, 2008.

I guess it was similar on the livejournal, but this has at least become more focused on music, rather than go off on 27 tangents like the LJ seemed to.

And yes, it was started in part to be able to include extensively what I think and feel about certain bands and albums.

Now occasionally I have been caught saying stuff a bit over the top about a band, and I have some regrets. Both the Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree entry and 1 or 2 entries recently involving Portnoy, Progressive Nation at Sea and The Dear Hunter got me inserting my proverbial foot in my mouth. And from those, I have learned to use more tact, to a point. Or just use metaphors and other things just to cover my ass a bit.

Even refraining from the Turkey blogs, and instead of taking a shot at a band or album I don't care for, I either don't say anything, or just not much.

OSI though was 1, that has bitten me in the ass as Kevin Moore has even blocked me on twitter, lol. I feel bad about that, but I don't know if I even apologized to him in here and on twitter, if it would make a difference. And this is the 1st I'm even admitting to it. Plus it was a few years ago, so I find it's not worth digging up anytime soon. Even if a new OSI album comes out, etc.

But that has been very few and far between, I don't anticipate it happening much if at all anytime soon.

Did you ever want to add collaborators/other writers?

Like a month or 2, or maybe as late as the Spring of 2007 of that 1st year, Rob decided to jump ship. He had a kid, and didn't find he had the time to write in here anymore.

I guess I saw more advantages than disadvantages to going solo at that point. I tend to function best on my own when it comes to opinions and taste with something I'm passionate about.

I suppose I haven't mentioned it yet, but 1 blog I drew inspiration from was the somewhat short-lived blog called The Medium of Music which had multiple writers. But I found 1 writer in particular the best on it, named Shane. But I noticed the blog activity died down after a couple of years, likely like Rob's issue of time, priorities, etc.

So I wondered if the same might happen to this blog with someone else, which got me to conclude it was best to go 100% of it being me.

I also kind of wondered if another writer would have started talking about bands and albums I didn't care for, I would wonder if this blog reflected my passion and interest fully, which probably also could have led to me starting another new blog of my own.

The counter thought to that is if someone else wanted to write in this blog with me, and were okay with me okay-ing what they wrote ahead of time, that may have helped.

I dunno, I suppose that person would find it best just to start their own blog anyway, which I think blogging has become almost a single-writer venue for content now. Whether that's good or bad is debate-able, but I guess I found it ultimately to work best for me. At some point down the road, if I stopped, etc and someone else wanted to help/take-over, I might be up for that. But that could be many years from now.

Why were projects like "All Media Reviews Music Essentials," "Significant Albums" "Retro Album Favorites" started? Why are they not finished/completed and may they be?

These are some of my favorite entries actually, as they read as being very passionate and time consuming. The Time Consuming part obviously has a lot to do why they never were fully finished.

I guess especially once the next milestone is reached, I will consider really trying to go back to them, and/or starting more new projects.

But in the mean time, maybe some self-discipline is needed just to try and do some of them maybe even a couple times a year if not like once a month.

2016 I did the Artist Reviews on YouTube at least, but I'd like to do more writing in here like those. The Retro Album Favorites especially was a fun one, just doing the research seeing Release dates of each year..

Time Time and Time. 2016 I dealt with my wedding cost and time-consumption.
2017 likely will be dealing with finding a new living space with my wife. But comparably, that may not require as much as the Wedding did in 2016. So the time issue may be less for those in 2017, which adds optimism.

But certainly, my goal would be to finish every single Calendar Year on the Retro Album Favorites, leading up to the present year. I left off with 1975, and did 1 special one for 1991.

The Significant Albums, I have a list that I maybe did 1/3 of, so the other 2/3 are still left. All my 5-star albums, and they were being chosen randomly.

The All Media Reviews Music Essentials I may just have to combine with the Artist Reviews, and while there's a decent list of those to do, those are certainly something that I plan to work on regularly soon (Pain of Salvation being the latest).

Albums of the Year: "List" "Index" "Countdown" why change the term?
Annoying terms. I used "Index" just to emphasize the size (well over 50), but then I realized how silly it sounded, even though when I did I found it unique sounding. "Index" infers like a listing at the back of a book, etc. But I was thinking more along the lines of the RPI for College Basketball which is a Ranking, etc.

But then I realized most of the End of Year Lists don't refer to them as a "Countdown" which if it is given in reverse order, it makes sense.

Why do you say you are wasting your time (life) away?
I mainly say that out of modesty and sarcasm,, and being realistic about what this blog is or can be seen as, at least to me. It's a place for documenting my interest, taste and passion for music. But it is, or has been at times time-consuming, at least comparing it to what I could have done instead I guess.

Is it truly a waste? I suppose that is however I want to see it. I don't get paid for it obviously, at this point. I guess I it's a valuable source of information to me. And I also think a lot of it can be the old cliche "about the journey rather than the destination."

I also think it's just an Easy-Out for myself, just to say I've spent all this time. "10 years have gone by" etc..Floyd/dredg.

Any specific people or things (websites/forums, etc) you'd like to name-drop or reference both having helped you and you may have helped either in this blog or in your life?

I typically don't name drop much in here, but I suppose I can to extent. I have to admit there are definitely people and places/websites/forums who have helped me shape my own taste in music, and then there are people who I am very happy enjoy what I have done to introduce them to different bands.

I guess 1st and foremost, Mike Portnoy had a ton to do with getting into progressive rock for me. Going back to his forum and even before that in interviews, opening bands, etc.

As much as his taste and my own differ or have seemed to have differed frequently the last 10 years, I'd say from at least 1995-2008 or 2009, he was introducing a lot of bands to me that I came to love. Ours for example was a biggie (a user on his forum named Alfred Packer also helped).

Shane/Spectre1982 from that  the Medium of Music blog on Wordpress, who I also knew from the Incubus Forum. His Albums of the Year list in 2005 posted here was a great read and I'll admit introduced me to many bands I came to love.

Here's many notables, shout-outs, etc although I'm sure I'm forgetting a handful of folks

John C
Tom Shy
Diana G
Creighton (Cr8tron)
Tim the Glommer
Will (Bill Gonz..)
Gino
Elmar

Mike Portnoy's forum: 
JRundquist (Josh/That Drummer Guy)
Zoso (Alan)
MetalliJedi (Elena)
JasonB
Vacant_Mind
Ink
FoH
Kisersore
Octavariballs (Travis)
shadowborn11
Scherztastic
FranticDav
vanFurlay

Dream Theater forums: 
Lordixor (Nate)
ZeppelinDT (also on the The Dear Hunter fans forum)

Twitter:
Neesh
Lorenzo B (altprogcore)
Zedblack
Lou
Almar Hulsegge
Zoyns
Coren42 (orig from RemedyLane)
Dharma L (AmrahdArawsel)
Jahgust

Facebook:
Joseph Ab
Lee and Meryl (from my hometown)
Donna (from dtf as well, Shadowgirl)
Nicoli (from JLB forum, when she was Michelle)
Anna L
Diana + Mike Gal..
Maria M
Heidi H
Ben A
Eppy Gibbon (Ian, orig from Progressive Ears)
Hayley (Fiasco! from the Ours forum)
Rick Cas
Sarah L (Sars, orig from last.fm)
Alex S (Stretts, also on The Mars Volta and The Dear Hunter fans forum)
George Will (Mew fan)

Progressive Ears:
MitchG

Rateyourmusic.com
Polyeuphony
RichTaylor52
Magnumforce2006
elnimio
nacho220
Flyingwill
russtopher
Softparable

YouTube:
MinistryofMusic
many others I've talked about in the YouTube and Podcast Update Entries (40 or 50 I guess at least. I suppose many of them connected to people like Downfall, Superior Reviews, Christian McGuire)
Velocities in Music
The Album Man
EQPTV/Hamish Observes/Daniel Flux
VinylFury (Dan Fury on other Social Media)
jammindude (also from mp.com/dtf)

Used Bin Radio
Brad and Joe
Andy Toland
David Flear

Websites/Forums/Message Boards not listed above:
Yahoo Club/Groups. Colorado Art Rock Society, Midwest Art Rock Society
Fiveeightforums
last.fm
Incubusview
Traversingboard
Crimson Solitude
Absolutepunk.net
Killtheband Ours Forum
Decoymuisc
The Comatorium
mforums
The Lake and the River
Sound Opinions Message Board
Drowned in Sound
Prog Power USA Forum on Ultimatemetal.com
PM:X Perpetual Motion boards and it's related
Paul from A Good Day for Airplay

where do you see this blog and yourself in 5 years? 10? 20?
Realistically, in 5 years, doing a lot of the same stuff, but maybe not as focused on Albums of the Year and upcoming releases, and maybe more on nostalgia, history, and new discoveries/researching older artists I have yet to fully digest. Some examples:

The Moody Blues
Dire Straits
Sparks
ELO
Nina Simone
Dave Brubeck
Steely Dan
Talking Heads
The Cardiacs
Gentle Giant
Frank Zappa
Todd Rundgren
Kate Bush
Nick Drake
Supertramp
10cc

In 10 or 20 years, I could see this blog being similar to what it'll be like in 5 years, or like I posted before, maybe more work with other media like my YouTube Channel and/or a podcast.

And I think there's good chance I will try and devote more time to Movies and Television. Even Books if time allows. I enjoy reading, but also am not the fastest reader, even recreation-ally, so it often requires more time for me. I have a few novels I own that I never have been able to find the time to read like Snow Crash for example.


Why did you never change to wordpress? or tumblr?
I think this is largely per established url and possibly traffic levels.

As I came to learn after a couple of years using this blog, Google would find it often, largely due to Google owning Blogspot if I recall. If I switched to Wordpress or Tumblr, the traffic levels might not be the same.

When I went to the Blogger Conference, most there used Wordpress, and they were trying to talk me into it, but I guess I didn't find there to be a huge reason based on the differences, etc.

Tumblr to me has always come across more like Livejournal but just for Photos. There doesn't seem to be a lot of actual Text content in it, so I questioned why I'd want to use it. 

For what it's worth, I did sign up on both of those sites from memory, but just didn't find the reason to use them at this point.

Tumblr though, I may want to consider, just per it seems to connect bloggers better and with Social Media. Like LJ in that sense, but I also get the sense it is for people on Tumblr, so it's sort of insulated, which isn't my 1st choice.

But I would not question it is the most hip and buzzed about blog site. which for better or for worse, I may be selling my potential audience short by not trying to use it.

How have your tastes changed in music both within the time frame writing in this blog and before?
This is maybe the biggest thing I think about since not quite the start of this blog, but since about 2003 or the mid 2000's (by the way, I hate the word "Naught" and feel like the word "tweet," should never have been or be used again).


Basically when The Mars Volta showed up on my Radar and then dredg, that whole college prog/progressive college rock style just started to exponentially grow on my radar. And in late 2006, it was still quite new and a ton of bands were showing up and I couldn't both get enough of them, and find enough of them.

To go along with that, within 10 months of this blog launching my acceptance and interest in Extreme Metal of the progressive variety got opened up when I got attached to Between the Buried and Me's Colors album (Mike Portnoy and his forum had a lot to do with that).

Like The Mars Volta, by enjoying the screaming vocals, I then found the ability to seek out other bands with screams/growls/shrieks etc. I got into a lot of them like Burst, maudlin of the Well, SikTh, Protest the Hero, Cynic, Spawn of Possession, etc.

I guess the last 6 years with my wife, I have opened up some taste to Soul music with Mayer Hawthorne, Chromeo, Capital Cities, Fitz and the Tantrums and some others. Although I would include Kimbra and Janelle Monae in there as well, even though I kind of discovered them on my own. The Michael Jackson and Prince influence helps, who were 2 artists I enjoyed before meeting her.

Did you ever play music yourself? Would you want to play or write music of your own?
I played trumpet in Grade School, High School and College. I am decent enough at it, but never would have considered pursuing it professionally. When I got to College, I felt a little more out of my league with the level of dedication required. For example My band director required me to learn Miles Davis "So What" from memory, which I will admit to almost always using Sheet Music.


I had an acoustic Gibson 6-string guitar I got at a Flea Market near my family's Cabin in Central MN when I was 15 or 16. I learned some chords, and even bought some Guitar and Tablature books (a Rush songbook, and a couple of Led Zeppelin ones, 1 being the complete Physical Graffiti).

But after not being able to fully play it well nor distinctly, I decided to trade it in for an electric bass guitar when I was in College. I took bass lessons 1 semester and got somewhat competent. I wanted to play like Geddy Lee of course. But beyond that 1 period of time, I never pursued it extensively. I do still have it with a small amp, and have used it to jam/improvise with friends at times. SciFi Cons and such, etc.

I also bought a Casio keyboard when I was working at Best Buy in the late 90's, but will admit to never taking piano lessons. Which changed in 2011, I think it was, when I saw Sarah from Cloud Cult offering lessons on Facebook. I did take lessons from her for like 2 months, but found I didn't have the time to practice enough.

My biggest reason for pursuing the keyboard was the interest to write my own songs. And I wondered if I could just learn some fundamental stuff on keyboard, I would have that chance.

Sadly, it wasn't that easy. I struggled with playing with both hands simultaneously. Namely my left hand.

Every time I see Sarah at a Cloud Cult concert/event she says I need to get back at it. And I can't disagree with her. But my time and even ability to practice at home is limited. But that may not always be the case.

But I guess the biggest thing I have concluded is my goal is to before I die, to write, record and release 1 song. Anything more is gravy. I have ideas for songs. The styles, etc. Melodic, busy, moody, technical, pretty, dynamic, etc.

Why are comments disabled?
Largely to avoid spam. But I'll admit, also it was a safeguard for Trolls. I have thought of enabling them, but I came to conclude after doing so, if someone really wants to say something to me, they can contact me on Twitter or Facebook.


Would You Ever Want to Write a Book?
Most definitely Yes! but I'm realistic. I look at Lorezno from altprogcore and someone like Jeff Wagner or Martin Popoff and wonder why not (or Rich Wilson). However, unlike myself,  it seems most of those people have worked professionally in some form of Journalism. Magazines namely.

I guess if I ever was serious about it, I would assume I'd have to self-fund most of it, or apply for a grant from the government. I mean sure, I could start a Campaign, but I hate that idea. Which adds to another question.

But first on the possible/longshot of a book, I guess I could see trying to do it if the logistics were laid out and I had the time. I possibly foresee that when I am retired in a couple of decades perhaps, but until then, I don't expect it soon, barring I win the Mega Millions. But also in which case I would try and go back to college anyway.

Why have you never introduced Ads? Try to make any money?
I guess I see this blog like other sites. I wouldn't/don't want to deal with ads, so why add them? It may get people to not want to come here, etc.

I mean I think I did a projection once a couple of years ago just to find out possibly how much money I could earn from this blog if I introduced ads, and it wasn't a ton. Probably less than $2,000 a year, if even close to that. And so it doesn't seem worth it at this point.

I know some places, YouTube namely, have a Patreon now, and even if I set that up, I really wouldn't expect many people willing to sign up to that anyway. So, it seems pointless and almost ill-intention-ed at this point. If I was getting traffic levels a lot higher, I suppose help supporting the publishing of that book, I suppose would have possible justification.

Name a few things you think about, especially music-wise, in the last 10 years writing in this blog.

I think about the great bands and albums I discovered.

Kaddisfly - Set Sail the Prairie
Apes and Androids - Blood Moon
The River Empires - The River Empires: Epilogue
Hotel of the Laughing Tree - Terror and Everything After
Pepe Deluxe - Queen of the Wave

I think of these albums among many others fondly, and would love to go back in time to the points where I 1st discovered my love for them. I suppose at least the writing in this blog does offer that glimpse into that past at that point. The nostalgia, etc.

I guess I will conclude this part of the FAQ/Interview. But just want to thank anyone whose found this blog over the last 10 years and benefited/enjoyed what I have done in it.

Artist Review: Pain of Salvation

I may have forgot to fully show the gatefold for Remedy Lane but so be it. This was a 2nd attempt anyway, lol.

I'll try and make Part 2 this week.

Blackfield - Blackfield V (2016-2017)

12/11/16 10:42AM

"How Was Your Ride?" and "Sorrys."

HWYR is pretty dreamy.

All 3 of the new tracks are also on Spotify.




12/9/16 9:43PM

New song "Family Man"..it's okay, although I need to hear it with headphones which I should tomorrow at work.



recent interview with Aviv.

some clips and a lot of details about Blackfield V, comparing it to the 1st album. "October" may end of being 1 of SW top 5 songs ever, etc.

11/12/16 11:50AM

another clip with talking. Also that description below says February 10th, 2017.





Blackfield V is the new album from Aviv Geffen alongside Steven Wilson on Kscope
Pre-order for 10th Feb 2017 - http://bit.ly/BlackfieldStore
Download pre-order - http://smarturl.it/BLACKFIELD_V_DIGITAL

Kscope went behind the scenes at Trevor Horn's studio in London whilst the trio, Aviv Geffen with Steven Wilson and producer Alan Parsons, were recording the newest Blackfield album - V. Aviv and Alan explain how all three of them came together, and what can be expected from the new record.

Written and recorded over a period of 18 months in both Israel and England, Blackfield V contains 13 linked songs that form a flowing 45 minute ocean themed song cycle. With the pair expertly handling vocals, guitars, and keyboards, they brought in Tomer Z from the Blackfield band on drums, Eran Mitelman on keys, and string arrangements were performed by the London Session Orchestra. Blackfield V is a powerful journey through catchy melodies, lush arrangements, and stunning production, with legendary producer / engineer Alan Parsons working on three of the album’s key tracks.

Watch the official album teaser here - https://youtu.be/OtCrRZDJhkk

More information on the February release to follow. Subscribe to Kscope so as not to miss out on any essential news!

Support the band online:
https://www.facebook.com/blackfieldhq
https://twitter.com/blackfieldband
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

9/28/16 7:12PM
Facebook Update

pushed back until January 20th.

Unfortunately the release of the new Blackfieldalbum has been delayed, and Kscope have rescheduled it for 20th January. We apologise profusely for this, but it is due to circumstances beyond our control. Frustrating though it is, hopefully when you hear the album you will agree it was worth the wait! In the meantime we hope to bring you more audio and video preview material from the finished album soon.

9/15/16 6:00AM

why an album this long is a double lp? kind of surprising other than for vinyl thickness, etc.

From Facebook

Blackfield V will soon be available to pre-order. There will be a gatefold vinyl edition (on 2 LPs cut at 45rpm for maximum quality), a standard CD, and a deluxe CD/Blu-Ray edition. The Blu-Ray includes the album in both high resolution stereo and 5.1 surround sound. The 13 track album runs approximately 45 minutes, track listing as follows:

1. A Drop in the Ocean (1.23)
2. Family Man (3.37)
3. How Was Your Ride? (3.58)
4. We’ll Never Be Apart (2.54)
5. Sorrys (2.58)
6. Life is an Ocean (3.26)
7. Lately (3.24)
8. October (3.31)
9. The Jackal (3.56)
10. Salt Water (2.39)
11. Undercover Heart (4.02)
12. Lonely Soul (3.42)
13. From 44 to 48 (4.31)



9/2/16 7:20AM
Sounds intriguing, and like that write-up says, I agree that the 1st 2 albums were favorites or their best to me. Steven Wilson's involvement has a lot to do with that.



Steven Wilson's Facebook Page

Blackfield V will be released on 18th November byKscope, and sees a return to the full partnership that made the first two albums such firm favourites with fans. Written and recorded over a period of 18 months in both Israel and England, Blackfield V contains 13 linked songs that form a flowing 45 minute ocean themed song cycle. With Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen expertly handling vocals, guitars, and keyboards, Tomer Z from the Blackfield band on drums, and string arrangements performed by the London Session Orchestra, the album is a powerful journey through catchy melodies, lush arrangements, and stunning production. Legendary producer / engineer Alan Parsons produced three of the album’s key tracks.

Both musicians consider Blackfield V to be their best collaboration to date. The album will be released by Kscope as a Digipack CD with a 16 page booklet, CD/Blu Ray with high resolution audio, and double vinyl.

Cover photography by Lasse Hoile.

10 YEARS: December 4th, 2006 - December 4th, 2016 FAQ/INTERVIEW PART 1

http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/m1482251.aspx 

A self-composed and conducted:

Question and Answer or aka Frequently Asked Questions:

So I've been working on this entry for awhile, and naturally its taken me more time than I probably intended and so I've decided to make into multiple parts.

This is Part 1.

I've never done something like this, at least to this detail and specifically. I don't give much in the "About" and Info section of this blog, per I kind of just want to actual content to speak for me.

But, its been 10 years, and so I figure why not?

And 10 years, jeez, it both flew by, but also things have changed a fair amount since late in 2006. Social Media and blogging alone. And myself, my relationship status, my living status, and my taste even to a point.

And even how I blog to an extent.

I was 30 years old then, and I'm 40 now. A lot of things happen in your 30's, as this blog is evidence of. This FAQ interview does illustrate that.

Nostalgia:

livejournal
myspace

When did this blog start?
December 4th, 2006 by the original only-owner. The link above is a reference to how it started.

Were you the one who created/started it?
No I was not, but the owner I think like other blogs, wanted to start something that was active and thought it could help to have more than one writer.

Why did you write in the blog?
It really was a timing thing as I have written my own commentary on forums, message boards and email lists for years. And I kept a more personal livejournal for many years as well, I recall starting in 2001 or 2002. [add more]

What was your background in writing prior to starting this blog?
http://soundscapemn.livejournal.com/ aka "I don't often get people." That was a livejournal which acted more as a venting spot for me. It was not intended to give news or even post albums of the year really. As many know, around the turn of the century, a lot of the social activities were different online.

Email Lists, Message Boards/Forums, Chatrooms and Instant Messaging were all the rage. And online journals, as opposed to on-paper or on hard-drive journals/diaries, etc.

Some of my friends through forums and whatnot used livejournal, deadjournal, diaryland and others. Livejournal or "LJ" seemed to be the most popular, and it has/had little groups and lists, much like on email lists.

But my livejournal served as a great place to escape and empty my thoughts. A lot of it reads as whiny, sure, a lot of relationship/dating highlights and frustrations, etc. Job stuff, apartment living, and even just passive aggressive stuff socially.

Did I write about music? certainly, but it wasn't so much about announcements of new albums or news, as just non-chalantly name-dropping.

I dunno, I both find it weird reading it now, yet the nostalgia has its appeal at times. I worry if LJ ever got taken down, it would all vanish (the same can be said about blogger of course), which makes me want to archive it somewhere offline at some point. It may not actually require that much time.

Prior to using LJ, I never wrote a ton other than in school. Keeping a journal in Junior High and a brief time writing in my school newspaper.

I guess 1 thing which is pretty obvious is, I write like I talk/speak. Which English and Journalism people kind of look down upon. But frankly, it's

a) the best and really the only way I know how to write

b) think their process is actually worse in a lot of ways. Communication is my focus, even if it requires a lot of words or is wordy.

I suppose the last part to add is, I do have a creative side, and have/had an idea for a novel based on some Scifi stuff and the Soundscape album "Discovery," and I wrote some parts of it around the turn of the Century. But after seeing a short film in the Scifi Channel show "Exposure" around 2000 or 2001 that more or less used a lot of my ideas, I kind of gave up on it.

That being said, I would like to write creative fiction some day again, but I have often felt my best chance of doing that is being inspired, rather than just sitting down and trying to come up with something.

Why the David Hasselhoff Avatar?

Well, I of course did not choose it. The original blog creator did. I figured it was his choice, why change it? I find it kind of funny and somewhat uncommon, so I think it allows me and this blog to be non-cliched.

Why haven't I ever changed it? again, kind of because it was unusual, and I find it funny. Am I a Hoff fan? sure. I grew up with Knight Rider and actually Bay(babe) watch. The Hoff might be sort of a guilty pleasure in a lot of ways.

I dunno, maybe I'll change it when I reach another milestone.

Why has the name remained the same?

Again, for distinction. Plus there was at 1 point a website titled http://allmediareviews.com at 1 point, although I think it went down, not too long after this 1 was setup. Pure coincidence I think.

It also is/was a general title, that would find a lot of hits as I came to learn.

Plus, maybe most importantly, it was intended to cover not just music but "All" forms of "Media" or arts/entertainment I suppose. Mostly Movie and Television I guess. Sports, Graphic Novels, maybe even food.

But after 4 or 5 years doing a lot of music and less movies and television, I decided to just to focus 100% on music. And of course I then created http://allmediareviewsnotmusic.blogspot.com/ which I have only sparingly had the time to post in. I would like to more, but it was also around that time, I started a relationship, so my free time was reduced, per why.

I do include stuff not related to music on twitter and facebook sometimes though. But ultimately, I would like to focus more on stuff like movies and tv. Even just on the YouTube channel.

Time should tell if that happens.

Why did this blog change to all-music?
See previous question

What is your background in music? Favorite Bands, Albums?
It's documented well and repeated many times. And the KFAI Wave Project covered most of it. But simply put, I grew up in the 80's listening to mostly pop music from that time, other than The Beatles. I did listen to the oldies sometimes though, which was 50's and some 60's back then.

Then I was introduced to Led Zeppelin and Classic Rock in High School which opened a lot of doors.

Then Rush, Pink Floyd

Then Dream Theater, along with Marillion, King's X and Fates Warning.\

Then a lot of the classic progressive rock, Genesis, Yes. Jethro Tull.

Then jazz-rock/fusion.

Then Kevin Gilbert and Jellyfish

Then the stuff I call College Prog, led by the likes of The Mars Volta, dredg and Ours. 

The Dear Hunter and along with many others, extreme Metal.

Post Rock, Power-Pop, etc. 

The last 10 years have more or less had a ton of that.

Favorite band: Marillion
Favorite Album: Brave
Favorite Concert: Pain of Salvation at ProgPower USA 2001
Favorite Artist/Songwriter: Kevin Gilbert 

What is your background with Movies? Favorite Movies/Cinema?
Like music, I've been fascinated and captivated by the Cinema. I grew up in the 80's, so naturally stuff like Star Wars and 80's Comedies were among my favorites movies. Fletch, Caddyshack, Trading Places, and even cult favorite of mine called Moving Violations.

And Horror movies. The Slasher series: Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, etc. And VAMPIRES. I'll confess to having a fascination for them. Largely motivated by the women in them, etc. The HAMMER SERIES with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing namely, became some of my favorites, even if they at times were a little cheesy. Almost feeling like guilty pleasures.

I guess it was around the same time my music taste or just knowledge/experience expanded, in the mid-late 90's especially, I also started to gravitate towards other kinds of movies. The Independent type largely. I had an appreciation and somewhat of an addiction to renting them or watching the Independent Film Channel.

I guess having even 1 of the lower Cable packages, I'd get enough different movie channels incl IFC, but Sundance, and some others. Namely the Encore channels which were like 6 or 7 different channels. And I would often find stuff on those, especially late at night. I would stumble upon a really moving film. Often Independent/low budget.

That whole habit along with then getting free movie passes, often advanced screenings at the Landmark Theaters in Minneapolis, that had me discover a lot of favorites. Some names: Funny Haha, The Jacket, The Science of Sleep, Wrong Side Up, Waydowntown, Buffalo'66, Palookaville, The Sound of Noise, Untitled, The Machinist, Synechdoche, NY

And then Ghost World of course. along with The Wizard of Oz, is my favorite movie of all-time. Funny as hell, and I see myself in much of it. My perception of pop-culture, etc. I've seen it probably 50 times, and could probably watch it another 500 times and I would enjoy it.

What is your background with Television? Favorite shows?
Like movies, I also was a huge television addict as a kid. Watching sports especially, but also a ton of the 80's tv. Cheers was more or less my favorite show, caught in reruns on the local NBC affiliate everynight at 10:35. I lived on Cheers. And it holds up still today. 11 Seasons, and it really never tailed off dramatically, despite cast changes and character developments.

I put along with, Beavis and Butthead and Star Trek Deep Space 9 and my other all-time favorites.
DS9 was therapy tv for me, a wonderful story, that was a perfect escape like Marillion's Brave, when I was dealing with a lot of social and psych challenges.

Babylon 5 also along with the Scifi I was getting into in the late 90's and 2000's.

In the 2000's tho Gilmore Girls and then Psych kind of became my favorites. Clever writing with tons of funny pop-cultures references made them addictive shows among other things.

The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Lost, Battlestar Galactica..the Bryan Fuller shows, Veronica Mars,. Freaks and Geeks, Party Down.

Breaking Bad and now Better Call Saul

And maybe The Goldbergs now are among my favorites.

Did you ever want to pursue this blog or a career writing in it? Why or Why Not?
As much as I have an imagination, I am a realist. I shadowed a Sports writer 1 day when I was in High School and the impression that journalism is often grunt work and work that isn't always enjoyable.

And like most fields, you have to start out at the bottom and work your way to the top, if you manage to stick with it. Or by some chance have a connection.

My cousin's written 30 or 40 books about Sports, and he told me how it's not about what you know, or where you are, but WHO you know. And you have to really have a friend or something.

That being said, I only went to College for 2 years, 1 year I took English, and actually did pretty well in it. But I dropped out at that point just to start working full-time.

At that point I realized in order to pay my bills, writing, especially about entertainment, wasn't all that good a field to pursue. Even with radio as well which I pursued briefly too.

So unlike some other folks in this day and age, I just concluded, my best bet was to use my spare time telling people about all the bands I discover, and also get a full-time job where I can listen to music all day. So while I wasn't paid to listen to music, I got to get paid while I listened to music I liked and then tried to promote later, even on a small but respectable level.


Please name some favorite entries:

God Damnit Nevada!
Porcupine Tree on Hiatus
Music Stores in Minnesota
Live Music Venues in Minnesota 

(Mostly for traffic levels, lol)
Opeth - Watershed
The Mars Volta - TBA (2012)


Please include advantages and disadvantages of this blog, and blogging. 

The advantages being it's an outlet to post news and opinions on music. This blog covers music that it seems barely or if any other blogs do. It covers a lot of obscure and underground music. Progressive rock namely. Without it, many artists would not receive much if any content about them.

And ever since the age of Twitter the social media game has directed it to be a source for new release info, trailers, etc. 

It won't always happen, but a decent chance if something is relatively popular among progressive rock circles, this is a very good source for info on it. Links, album titles and track lists, etc.

I mean sure there are popular bands in the progressive rock fan bases that are not talked about (Haken, Riverside, Leprous, Devin Townsend, Beardfish, Big Big Train, Ayreon, Neal Morse etc) but that is mostly due to very little interest I have in them. 

If you had your druthers, what would you change with this blog and your experience using it and Media?

I would try and expand on it vastly, with a more extensive YouTube Channel and/or a Radio Show. Make appearances, be promoted in magazines. And in fact print an actual periodical magazine. Or maybe a Book.

I would have a lot more interviews (which may happen).

Do guest columns on other websites and blogs, along with in newspapers and national magazines.

Name a few of the biggest frustrations about blogging and this blog.
The way "Social Media" and the game it is about being 1st to the punch and getting hits, likes, shares, etc, it kind of differs from more time-consuming with media and news.

It seemed like a year or 2 after Twitter was launched, blogs sort of became part of "Social Media" and SM became a term and thing.

I didn't start writing in this blog to break news and try to be the 1st, but I'll fully admit that I fell into that trap just out of habit.

I guess one frustrating thing is the fact this blog has been around for as long as it has, and yet it's rarely if ever referenced. Whereas some people will start a twitter account or blog and within months have more traffic, etc. Although I suspect they had to go out of their way to force-feed it to people.

I find it frustrating when certain media sources promote things and may or may not have received their info from another site or blog like my own. I believe it has happened on many occasions, but I don't have much direct evidence.

And related to that, just promoting a new artist. The examples I've given countless times are Warpaint and Local Natives. Kimbra to a point as well. There are a few others like Bend Sinister on a smaller level. I guess I almost have come to anticipate it, and when it may not happen, I'm almost more frustrated.

Having to Self-promote, shamelessly plug.

Time of course a huge one, for any blogger who doesn't try and make a living. This shit takes time to do. Why I came to using the "Edit" posts and bumping entries with updates.

What is the future of this blog?
Of course this is something I ponder probably way too frequently. The immediate future is to continue on into 2017 much like I have in recent years. This 10-year anniversary milestone is 1 of 2 milestones I wanted to reach. 

The other is a hit count (okay, I'll mention it), which based on my projection may not be reached until 2018 or possibly even 2019. But at the point that does come, I guess that hit count number probably won't mean a lot anymore to me.

At that point I may try and re-assess my activity in here. Maybe devote more time to YouTube, or maybe try a podcast again. Or maybe try and get back to blogging about movies and television.

Or maybe focus on the projects that I have yet to finish. I'm not sure.

I imagine there will come a time where I just say fuck it and stop, or change to another url or site like tumblr.

Or just take a break, possibly even for a year.

Why “Reviews” and do you like writing them? Why don’t you write more?

There's 2 parts to this (at least). One is about actual "Reviews." I honestly HATE writing them. Trying to come up with details about songs and albums. Clever adjectives and more specific things about the music. Talking or writing about music or an album shouldn't be something you have to rack your brain to sound like you are cultured or highly educated. It should just be saying what you like and maybe why you like it.

Now time is a big factor writing blurbs or even long winded details even of favorite albums.

But the "Reviews" part sort became limited once the approach to gaining traffic for "what have you done for me lately." This blog became more about passing news or videos, embeds along, rather than writing more original content I guess, which is kind of sad, but from a time standpoint and what crosses my mind, it seemed at the time and still is what I guess I want to document.

I'd like to write more reviews, but I don't know if that will happen without more time. Concert reviews as well. I suppose the name of the blog is a bit of false advertising, but I just never found I cared so much to change it to reflect the majority of the content now. Maybe at some point I will.

end of Part 1....