Living room to Wembley

This show starts and ends with a bang.

Opening cut is a pleasant little ditty :) from Nine Inch Nails. Closing cut is wretched guitar excess: Brian May captured live at Wembley (whence comes part of this show's title) at the peak of Queen's popularity performing the extended solo from Brighton Rock. Not something you're likely to hear at the next wedding reception you attend but a "must listen" for Brian May fans.

In between, we offer some fare with broader appeal, including a song from Manic Street Preachers that will linger with you, and a couple of experiments.

Experiment 1. We recently received our first promo CD in the mail (thank you Nettwerk Records - see note at end of post). The artist: Griffin House. The material: a little more rootsy/country than I'd normally listen to but three songs caught my attention. I've selected two for the show and would be curious to hear your thoughts on this material. Send me an email.

Experiment 2. We play a couple of stripped down acoustic tracks that don't fit the "rock format" yet each has a certain appeal. The first (from Stephen Stills) has an interesting story behind it and is very raw. It sounds like he set up a microphone in his living room (whence comes the other part of this show's title) and layed it down in one take. Raw yet memorable. The second is a short acoustic instrumental from Canada's Bruce Cockburn. Again, would love to hear your thoughts on these songs.

Finally, before Brian takes the stage, we have something for history buffs. A rare cut from a long forgotten British power trio whose guitar player, for a brief period, was giving the big guns from Deep Purple and Black Sabbath a stiff challenge as THE guitar player to watch.

A little more eclectic show than normal.

Hope you like it.

Side note: Nettwerk Records started as a small indie label in a basement office in Vancouver. Their first 'big hit' was signing a young unknown singer from the maritimes by the name of Sara McLachlan. Today, as major labels sink in a sea of red ink and layoffs, Nettwerk is growing in leaps and bounds. Between their record label, publishing and management divisions, they represent a very broad cross-section of artists including Sara McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne, Dido, Sum 41, Delerium, The Cardigans, The Finn Brothers and a whole host of other artists, including many 'indie' artists. What's the secret of their success? Unlike many established segments of the music industry, Nettwerk founder, Terry McBride, embraces change rather than fears it. As such, they have been very open to alternative revenue streams as CD revenue dies a not so slow death. Notably, they financed the defence costs of a teenager (and her family) who was being sued by the major labels for file-sharing music.

For information on Nettwerk, visit http://www.nettwerk.com/ and if you want cutting edge insight on where the industry is going, check out http://www.savethemusicfan.com/.

Cheers,

Michael

Transitions

Well, this show got somewhat orphaned. Uploaded on Jan 26 and no reference until late February. My apologies.

This show opens with a cut from the most recent Tears for Fears album (Everybody loves a happy ending) which sees Roland Orzabal re-united with original collaborator Curt Smith (hence the album's title?). A second TFF cut highlights both their great vocal capabilities as well as their exceptional attention to detail when it comes to production. The second cut, in particular, has a production style reminiscent of The Beatles/George Martin.

Next, a truly beautiful piece off the the newest Crowded House album. If you don't 'get it' the first time, have another listen. This will really grow on you.

The beginning section ends with the title cut off Sting's Soul Cages. Great feel.

We then visit the "Progressive Rock" arena with a few cuts from Yes and Genesis, the first of which is a live acoustic cut from Yes' Steve Howe.

The final section features 'Marshall's on 11'. Straight ahead guitar rock.

The first track is, I believe, the song Led Zeppelin opened their last North American tour with (saw them in Seattle at the Kingdom - before the roof collapsed). From there, on to Britain's Stone Roses, a sadly under-recognized band.

We close with two cuts from brilliant guitar virtuoso Andy Timmons. He is a master at a wide variety of styles. A good friend of mine saw Andy in Las Vegas filling the role of guitar player (and music director) for Olivia Newton-John ( my friend was there simply to accompany his wife and said the guitar player was the only part of the show that caught his attention). The two cuts we feature are about as far removed from mainstream pop as you could possible get. The first is a very laid back jazzy cut while the second has to rank amongst the fastest possible guitar playing humanly possible.

Let us know what you think!

Cheers,

Michael