Fall Programming
 

Hello,

It's that time again. If anyone has requests for particular countries for the Fall, e-mail me or reply here. I am currently doing another show or two on Germany, and then four on Yugoslavia (starting in September). I will probably miss a week or two between now and then as well since I have to be out of town at least once and life is busy right now.

So far on tap for the Fall I have Israel and Mexico.

Regards,
Sean

Re: Fall Programming
 

Ya know, in the promo, Alex always mentions that Bulgaria has a prog scene. I'd like to see what's out there from there, if you haven't done a show like that recently...

Roger -Dot- Lee or Estonia. Let's hear what the Baltics have to offer!

I think you should spend two years in England.

Ok not really.

uh...hrm. That's not a bad idea. Not a half bad idea at all. I wonder if Keithie's hiring...

4 shows on Yugoslvaia!?!?!
 

I didn't know that anything other than Slivovica came out of that country!!

I don't know a lot about Yugoslavia but I've been searching for Tako, as I've heard it's great prog music. Bulgaria has FSB, a jazzy-prog that I'm about to buy some of. They have quite a few albums, I'm going to start with one or two...

I request Belize, Cameroon, Outer Mongolia and the Maldive Islands.

:D







(No, I've never heard of ANY music from these places but it doesn't hurrt to ask, does it?)

"I request Belize, Cameroon, Outer Mongolia and the Maldive Islands"

LOL. So do I! :)

"I don't know a lot about Yugoslavia but I've been searching for Tako, as I've heard it's great prog music. Bulgaria has FSB, a jazzy-prog that I'm about to buy some of. They have quite a few albums, I'm going to start with one or two..."

For FSB I have the first two and like them. Be warned that apparently the later stuff is all BAD (they went disco). Tako is pretty cool.

Bulgaria could be tough to get two hours from but I'll look into it.

Estonia should be doable at some point.

And actually a show or three on England is not such a bad idea. I don't know if I should do a show about Yes and Genesis (hmm, who are they?) but something on "proto-prog", or "folky prog", or whatever could work.

You could do England by doing obscure bands. While no one's gonna complain about a Yes or Genesis show, obscure bands would rule. Or (thinking as I type), bands with one foot in prog and one foot in something else, ala Radiohead's three proggish ones: OK Computer, Kid A, and Amnesiac. As a whole, lot of variety in England/Prog.

On down the line, I request seperate shows for Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. You could do USA state by state!

Finally, I wanna see what you can dig up: I request Iranian prog.

hate to disillusion Spaz, but I'd complain about a Yes or Genesis show. I like both bands, a lot, but there's no need to waste a Progressive Shores on them. But I'm sure Sean wouldn't lower himself to that level anyway...

good point about wasting a show.

"You could do England by doing obscure bands. While no one's gonna complain about a Yes or Genesis show, obscure bands would rule."
[subsequent debate snipped]

I think probably I would avoid doing a show about the "Big Groups" unless I thought I could do a good job putting them in context of this show, i.e. cultural context. So it might be emphasizing the British aspects of these groups rather than dutifully plowing through Close to the Edge for the umpteenth time. It's something I'd want to make sure to do "right".

"Or (thinking as I type), bands with one foot in prog and one foot in something else, ala Radiohead's three proggish ones: OK Computer, Kid A, and Amnesiac. As a whole, lot of variety in England/Prog."

That kind of thing interests me, but to be honest it interests me more as a non-PS mini-series. i.e. spotlight a different musical style that is not prog but relate it back to prog every week. Shows could range from electronica to experimental indy (think Sonic Youth) to types of jazz and classical and folk.

"On down the line, I request seperate shows for Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. You could do USA state by state!"

The USA actually has a pretty small 'prog' scene, at least in the typical time frame for the show (60s-80s). But I would not be averse to doing it region by region; for example Starcastle and Yezda Urfa were both Midwest bands (Starcastle from Illinois and Yezda Urfa from Indiana).

"Finally, I wanna see what you can dig up: I request Iranian prog."

LOL, no can do. There actually is one so-called Iranian prog album (Al-Basim Revival) but it recorded in either England or the US with almost all English/American artists. The middle-East unfortunately doesn't offer much for us apart from Israel; I could probably cull together a single show from the rest of the region and it would be mostly crossover stuff, not "prog" per se. It would take a few months to get all the music too.

Regards,
Sean

Maybe a relatively small "prog" scene, but a happening experimental scene. State by state is a bit much, that's why I put that "!" mark there, as a joke. But region by region would be good.

Oh, and I'm glad I stumped you on a country! Yeah!

Cool. Or if you have problems with individual eastern bloc countries, how about something in a "Songs from the Former Soviet Union" or "Look what happened when the communists finally got the BOOT!" type of show. A couple from Estonia, Maybe something from Latvia or Lithuania, a couple from Ukraine, or if you want to expand past the former SU, maybe Czech Republic, Slovakia (most peaceful seperation of one country into two in recorded history!), Yugoslavia (the LEAST peaceful separation of one country into many in recorded history!), Hungary, etc. You might not get a whole show out of any given country, considering that many of those countries haven't BEEN countries for that long (and were under the hob-nailled boot of Lenin's finest during the prog years), but maybe something regional?

Just my $.03CN. Remember what you paid for it.

Roger -Dot- Lee, gettin' all Eastern European again.

Andorra? :D :D :D

Actually, isn't Ponty's bass player he uses now from Cameroon?

"Oh, and I'm glad I stumped you on a country! Yeah!"

Oh believe me, it's far from impossible!

"Cool. Or if you have problems with individual eastern bloc countries, how about something in a "Songs from the Former Soviet Union" or "Look what happened when the communists finally got the BOOT!" type of show. A couple from Estonia, Maybe something from Latvia or Lithuania,"

Yeah, that's the idea. I *think* I can get two hours out of Estonia if I stretch it. I have nothing from Lithuania and don't know if anything exists. I have a couple things from Latvia, both newer. I only know of one or two bands from the Ukraine and have neither. I know of one band from Belarus but don't have it. So there's work to be done. I have a couple of good contacts for East Euro stuff so I might be able to CDR-swap my way to a show at some point but the collection won't have it.

There is one band from Turkmenistan that I have, and one artist from Tuva (not prog but what the hell). The only real problem with a "former Soviet Union" show is that these areas have little to do with each other... Latvia and Turkmenistan have nothing in common (which is part of the problem of the Soviet Union frankly).

As for Russia itself... this I could do a two hour show for but it's not at the level I want it yet. The oldest prog I have from Russia is early 80s. My East Euro contacts might be able to help me with older stuff. The main delay with these shows is wanting to do them right.

"or if you want to expand past the former SU, maybe Czech Republic, Slovakia (most peaceful seperation of one country into two in recorded history!), Yugoslavia (the LEAST peaceful separation of one country into many in recorded history!), Hungary, etc."

Happily these countries all support shows. In fact I have already done a two-part series on Hungary.. one was older bands and the other "newer" bands (80s and later). Yugoslavia I am about to do a four-part series broken down into the countries as they exist today. Romania I did a show already. The Czech and Slovak stuff is in the pipeline but I still have to do the research of what was from which and how it ought to be grouped together.

"Andorra?"

This is a tough crowd.

"Actually, isn't Ponty's bass player he uses now from Cameroon?"

Not sure myself. I do want to do shows with African countries but I have so little music from there. There is definitely some cool stuff but it's just a question of figuring out what's out there, planning shows, and then finding the music.

Regards,
Sean

Is this guy (Sean) impressive or what? He should have my job, except then we might not have PS to look forward to each week. Keep up the good work, from the copycat IB...

:D

I am humbled by your praise and grateful to have a place to do this show!

Regards,
Sean

It would truly surprise me if you couldn't find anything from Lithuania. The fact that the Lithuanian Olympic Basketball Team had their jerseys designed by the Grateful Dead less than two years after being freed from communism not withstanding, they (along with their Baltic Brethren) have ALWAYS had an independent streak. In my opinion, fertile ground for prog rock.

One of the many, MANY problems, I might add. What looks good on paper doesn't necessarily work in practice, especially when you try to cram it down someone's throat. The only problem with that is you have to invest all SORTS of resources in making sure that it stays crammed.

Quote:

As for Russia itself... this I could do a two hour show for but it's not at the level I want it yet. The oldest prog I have from Russia is early 80s. My East Euro contacts might be able to help me with older stuff. The main delay with these shows is wanting to do them right.

Which is one of the reasons your show rocks to the level at which it does. You take the time to make sure that you do it right.



Again, one of the reasons your show rocks. You take the time to do it right. That's why I keep listening, even if your french isn't up to snuff. I don't worry about that, since my french borders on atrocious.


Not me. I'll stick with esoteric Eastern European. Andorran music makes my hair itch.

Roger -Dot- Lee "Where the HELL is Andorra?

Andorra....
 

is a tiny mountain kingdom between Spain and France.

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/...k/geos/an.html

I just looked it up to see really how small it is (it's 2.5 x DC).

I think San Marino or Vatican City may be smaller independent countries, but I always had a soft spot for Andorra.

First pro wrestling now Andorra. roger you're asking for the arcane!;)