Show 63 - Baltimore to Finland, and back again....
 

I went through about ten different ideas for this show, primarily wanting to bludgeon you with heavy music as a birthday present, but instead this idea just kind of fell into my lap.

I got ahead of myself last week, this is show 63. Since I was born in '63, it's only appropriate.

Sonus Umbra - Digging For Zeroes (2005)

Zero
Scream
Sleepwalkers
Children of Cain
The Laughter of the Dead
Foreshadows
Invisible World
Serial Grounds
Infestation
Spleen
Bloodstains In Paradise
Meme Puppet Waltz
Dead Numbers
Devil's Promise
Aleph
The Great Fall inwards
the music of the Primes
from the Ashes
Pariah
Infinity

Here's a CD I just bought, from a band I see quite often. This CD is already my favorite by them. Luis Nasser, a Physics Phd I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) writes all of the music and lyrics save for one song. Luis should be chiming in with some information about the CD. I read a review where the theme is described as a mathematician who spends too much time alone, eventually leading to insanity, but that's way too simplistic (hell, we all do that on word problems!). My father was a math teacher, and he's a lunatic, too. I'll defer the rest for Luis.

Luis Nasser and Jeff Laramee (drummer) form the strong rhythms, and Jeff takes a very active vocal on the record. He's got this Daltrey thing at times, sounds pretty good. Lisa Francis also has many more vocal tracks on this one, and the rest of the band and guests fit in very well. (For a more rock and roll version of the above lineup, also try Kurgan's Bane). Andy Tillotson puts in some prime guitar also.

Although Luis and Jeff come by way of Mexico and Vermont, the main base of operations is in lovely Baltimore. Lastly, I like the idea of basically one continuous theme split in twenty parts. the songs are decipherable, but fit together.

Might Could - All Intertwined

Machinery
Lapse
The Miscommunication Suite
(sorry Aaron I didn't feel like typing all 5 parts!)
Tricycle
Standoff
Instability
Puijilttatug
Interchange 3
A Horrible Croaking
Not Every Song Finds A Name
The Water Parted

This one really is a chance occurence. Might Could opened up for Frogg Cafe two weeks ago at Orion (my favorite place), and I missed most of their set. Out in the hall I recall one song sounding like "The Battle of Evermore" on speed. A bit later I wanted to get some Frogg Cafe CD's, and didn't have enough cash. I had to buy something from the Might Could table, and got this CD, the Sonus Umbra, and a dandy Frogg Cafe T-shirt.

I was really pleased when I put this on. Looking at the CD, I noticed the above-mentioned Andy Tillotson on guitar, along with Luis on bass, and Tim McCaskey and Aaron Geller on guitar. That's it. Expecting a California Guitar Trio w/ Tony Levin disc, it was jolt. The title descibes the music perfectly. It's very compelling stuff. I hope to see them in College Park (where they are from, and I'm from the class of '84) on Friday. Hopefully Andy will be chiming in here also.

Kingston Wall - II (1993)

We Cannot Move
Istwan
Could It Be So?
And It's All happening
Love Tonight
Two Of A Kind
I Feel Love
Shine On Me
You
Palekastro

Methem has been asking me for some time to play some of this band from Finland. I bought the first record over the summer, and it's bit uneven, but good rock and roll. There's some exciting moments, and expect to hear some one a later, heavier show.

The third CD is almost dancey, and sort of spacey. Except for the 18-minute "the real thing", I'm not crazy about it.

This CD (second one) is fantastic. Part fusion, some Middle-Eastern riffs, a bit of dance (the Donna Summer cover "I Feel Love" is nice!). Ther are some great instrumental jams on here by this power trio.

Don't look for a fourth, the guitarist/singer (Petri Walli) in no longer living.

This one's a good contrast to the Might Could, and stands on its own as a classic record.

Methem, please throw in some more info about them.

Re: Show 63 - Baltimore to Finland, and back again....
 

They were always a trio, AFAIK. Walli died (obviously a suicide) some time after the band had stopped playing.

The trio was originally founded in Helsinkin in the late 1980s. The music... well, you pretty much described it already... but a lot of it is quite loud with some proggish and/or psyish elements, eastern riffs, and so on. Some of their tracks have visiting artists: for example, Sakari Kukko of Piirpauke plays sax on a couple of pieces. They made the three albums and then disbanded/stopped playing in late 1994. They were never very popular but managed to achieve some sort of cult status in Finland.

At least Walli had formerly played in some punk band, which might explain why his singing, IMO, isn't the best part of their music. :)

As for some of the music being dancey (on the third album), Walli was obviously interested in some of the electronic dance music that was out there in the early 1990s.

Here are a couple of sites with more info about the band (both probably already familiar to you, Rick):

- http://www.aural-innovations.com/iss.../kingwall.html
An interview with the bassist. Take the hype in the beginning of the page with a grain of salt...

- http://www.kotiposti.net/akiko/mirrorlandv2/index.html
Claims to be the official site of the band.


-Methem

Re: Show 63 - Baltimore to Finland, and back again....
 

Love that interview. He sounds drunk! Especially the part about the bass sols and "Fire":???:

A 3 cd live one huh? hmmm

Re: Show 63 - Baltimore to Finland, and back again....
 

Hey everyone - Andy Tillotson from Might Could and Sonus Umbra here. Glad you like the discs, Rick. Re: Might could - We did make an effort to distinguish ourselves from the CGT, that being the obvious comparison. I like to think our music is very different in nature, despite the similarities in instrumentation.

If people are curious, more info/samples can be found at http://www.mightcould.net

-Andy

Re: Show 63 - Baltimore to Finland, and back again....
 

That last word ends in a "q"! I thought everyone knew that. Sheesh. :)

No, seriously, Rick, thanks for playing our stuff (I'm Tim from Might Could), and I hope the Aural Moon crowd digs it.

(Puijilittatuq: Inuktitut for "he does not know which way to turn because of the many seals he has seen come to the ice surface")

Re: Show 63 - Baltimore to Finland, and back again....
 

Well, he might have been drunk... who knows.

SonyBMG, and probably/possibly copy-protected... Better keep it far from your Windows system. Three CDs might be enough to vaporize the whole machine. :)


-Methem

Re: Show 63 - Baltimore to Finland, and back again....
 

I definitely don't know how to decipher lyrics, and even worse, you can call an instrumental anything! (the only one who can pull off a vocal weird title was Zappa)....

still trying to figure out Egocentric Molecules...

unless I get iced in, I'll be at the show tomorrow (everything else is closing:drdot: )

Re: Show 63 - Baltimore to Finland, and back again....
 

missed the Sonus, but I enjoyed the MC a lot. thanks Rick, and Andy and Tim! welcome to the moon!

now to turn up the KW.... :D

Re: Show 63 - Baltimore to Finland, and back again....
 

Might Could played at a coffeehouse in College Park on Friday night. Excellent time!

Re: Show 63 - Baltimore to Finland, and back again....
 

marco, here's the kingston Wall thread........enjoy, Rick