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Post by bambooflute on Apr 19, 2014 12:53:20 GMT
Well, after several days and multiple plays with which to come to grips with Homo Erraticus...my opinion is really the same as my initial impression. I really like about half of it, while the other half is either mediocre or worse. I have to say that I love "After These Wars." Post WW-II era history has always been an interest of mine, and the words really are Ian Anderson at (or near) his best. I've memorized the lyrics and it is really fun to sing along to (if you can call what I do singing!). Strangely, I feel the order of tracks really harms the album. I re-ordered the tracklisting on my player, and dropped the two weakest tracks, and it actually works better to my ears! But then, IA didn't ask me to co-produce, so what do I know? - David
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 19, 2014 12:45:20 GMT
A new piece I drew for Gerrald Bostock this past week: That Flute's Everywhere! -David
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 17, 2014 22:47:21 GMT
From The Independent The concept album makes surprise top ten return with neolithic opus from Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson
Adam Sherwin
It is a three-act, musical history of Britain featuring songs about a nomadic Neolithic settler, Christian monks and an Iron Age blacksmith - the “concept album” is making a comeback with the surprise chart success of the latest release from Ian Anderson, the frontman of Jethro Tull.
A “prog rock” pioneer, the 66 year-old Anderson is set to enjoy his biggest UK hit for more than 40 years with Homo Erraticus, an unashamed concept album, which examines “key events from throughout British history” and offers “a number of prophecies for the future”.
The album has shot into the top ten at number 6, according to the Official Charts Company midweek update. It is some achievement for a musical suite, divided into three sections, “Chronicles”, “Prophecies” and “Revelations”, which one review called “as close to 1970s progressive rock as is possible in 2014.”
Opening with Doggerland, a tribute to the area of the southern North Sea that used to be dry land connecting the British Isles with the rest of Europe, the meta-fictional narrative of Homo Erraticus revives characters from Thick As A Brick, Tull’s 1972 concept album which topped the US charts.
Anderson, rock’s most famous flautist, said the concept album, out of favour in an era where music fans build digital playlists from context-free single tracks, is on the way back.
“If you want to cram 8,400 years of history into 50 minutes of music only the progressive rock album can do that,” Anderson told The Independent. “No-one had written a song about Dogger. So I fleshed out bullet-points of song scenarios into the archetypal, OTT concept of a prog rock album.”
The record’s success revives memories of an era when students pored over gatefold-sleeved albums housing cod-classical rock marred by Tolkien-light lyrics.
He said: “Concept albums went out of fashion in the mid-70s but progressive music is gathering a lot of strength again. Prog’s bombastic, self-indulgent musical noodlings got a lot of people annoyed. It took punk to wash the system clean and make a fresh start.”
“The concept for this album is migration. All of us are from somewhere else. But it’s not a stern lecture. The music has to work on a foot-tapping level. For people who want to peel back the layers of the onion they can find other elements.”
The Scottish-born musician, who used to own a £10 million fish processing business on his Isle of Skye estate and enjoys an estimated wealth of £35 million, is surprised by his return to the upper echelon of the charts. “If it’s number 6 today, it will be 36 next week, then 1,006. But it’s nice to be recognised in any context.”
However, Anderson, elevated to Prog God Award by Prog Magazine last year, has retired the Jethro Tull name. The 18th-century British agronomist who invented the machine drill for sowing seed for commercial gain deserved better, the musician believes. “We didn’t know our booking agent named us after a dead guy. I didn’t do Jethro Tull in O-level history. We couldn’t change the name after we started having some success.”
He admits: “I’ve always felt a bit of embarrassment about the name and now it’s time to take a step back. When I tour this album I don’t want 20 drunk yobbos jeering because we’re not just doing their 20 favourite Tull songs: ‘Stay at home, watch the baseball game but this time don’t go to the concert.’”
Although the classic spoof movie This Is Spinal Tap mocked the absurdities of the prog rock concept album, Anderson praises the film for “helping keep alive the movement”.
The singer believes that Spinal Tap’s fictional bassist Derek Smalls was inspired by Derek Small, a character who appeared on Tull’s Thick As A Brick. Anderson said: “I once challenged Harry Shearer (who played Smalls) and asked him if he owned a copy of our album. Harry eventually said he did but he never played it. I had him, it was a Bill Clinton ‘I didn’t inhale’ moment.”www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/the-concept-album-makes-surprise-top-ten-return-with-neolithic-opus-from-jethro-tulls-ian-anderson-9268339.htmlPity they got the title to the image wrong...... That photo caption! What a HUGE gaffe on their part! D'oh!!!
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 17, 2014 19:18:48 GMT
Very amusing Q & A session; thank you for sharing it, Tulltapes!
- David
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 17, 2014 19:17:06 GMT
Great autograph card! That is surely a rare collectible. I bought this CD (not including autograph! at a Long Island record store in 1999. I thought it was cool that he got some U.S. record store distribution at the time (albeit close to NYC!). Come to think of it, I also bought "Stage Left" at a record store in Massachusetts in 2003. - David
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 17, 2014 17:57:42 GMT
David I always found it to be a pretty good venue soundwise. It was at one time the place bands aspired to play, sadly that's been lost now to the cavernous O2. A place where I have no desire to see a band play. Hammersmith had some great gigs and a quick check of my gig list shows I saw every night Tull played there bar one. I saw all of The Who's shows there from the 70's onwards, including the 'Rock for Kampuchea' gig and all their Christmas shows, REM, Cat Stevens, Wishbone Ash, Roxy Music, The Jam and stacks more. The most disappointing being David Bowie's farewell gig as Ziggy. A mate and I had tickets and gallently offered them to two girls in the hope we would achieve some sort of recognition, sadly it didn't work and we subsequntly found out they didn't use them. The best laid plans etc etc. Thanks for the info! I find this all very interesting. Maybe it's time to start a "favorite venue" thread? For years intended to visit the UK and see Tull or IA in London, but circumstances always prevented it from happening. Are you going to see the London gig(s) this year? They're not at Hammersmith, if I recall correctly... - David
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 17, 2014 17:38:39 GMT
Thank you for the kind words, Silken!
- David
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 17, 2014 17:35:02 GMT
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 17, 2014 13:47:56 GMT
Yes, I've mostly alwasy enjoyed gigs there. It's an old cinema out towards west London, holds about 2500 I think. good venue if you get the right seats, upsatirs at the back are poor, but the stalls are pretty good. Parking is awful but public transport is good. I've seen stacks of gigs there since the early-mid '70's other than Tull. I'd rate it as one of the better London venues of that size. Thanks. I have always been curious about that, due to the official recordings of Tull from there; plus there are a lot of other bands who have released live albums from that venue. I always gathered that there was something special about the place! - David
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 17, 2014 13:11:03 GMT
Nice job, indeed! I also like the sense of humor: "Reconstructed from old mandolin picks!"
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 16, 2014 22:37:46 GMT
Here is a montage concept drawing I did, featuring Ian and a fictional "flute muse." This piece has a slightly 1960s feel to it, I think, even though it features a contemporary Ian. I hope you like it. This, too, was drawn for Gerrald Bostock, who owns the original piece. Thanks for looking! -David
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 16, 2014 22:08:07 GMT
Despite having Doane on the tour, electronic drums still made the stage One of my pics from Hammersmith That venue has a great reputation; do you like as a place to see shows?
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 16, 2014 19:09:47 GMT
You've forgotten the most important one - WEYFEST, Farnham, August 30th Congratulations on booking IA for your festival! - David
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 16, 2014 19:07:45 GMT
Nice! I recognize many of the ages of Tull in there. Thank you for the kind words; keep up your great work, too! It's astonishing! - David
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 16, 2014 18:52:49 GMT
Thank you for the kind words, Tulltapes! - David
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 16, 2014 17:55:55 GMT
Here is a drawing I did in late 2013 for Gerrald Bostock; it's my version of the classic back cover of "Stormwatch," complete with some of my own little variations! I hope you like it! - David
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 16, 2014 16:04:39 GMT
After several listens I like the following songs: "Meliora Sequamur," "The Turnpike Inn," "After These Wars," and "Tripudium Ad Bellum." The flute is great throughout (but would we expect any less?), but Ryan was totally underused; if he sang most of the vocals it would have strengthened the album. "Enter the Uninvited" and "Puer Ferox Adventus" really damage the flow for me.
The biggest liability,ironically, is the concept. I listened to TAAB2 again the other day and that holds together from start to finish. In this instance it might have been better if IA had recorded "a bunch of songs" without trying to tie them all together, because it falls down as a cohesive whole. I just went back to the handful of tracks I like, and they are great. So, I'm glad to have them, but it's an album with a lot of filler.
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 16, 2014 15:50:31 GMT
It looks like the UK fans are out in force, then!
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 16, 2014 14:05:40 GMT
The T-shirt design is my favorite so far, but they're all wonderful! Thank you very much for sharing these works.
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 15, 2014 18:04:09 GMT
Hi David, welcome to the Group! I Briefly saw you talking to Charlie in Boston and didnt get a chance to say hello before you were gone. Actually I didnt know who you were until Charlie told me afterward. Glad you here. Nice drawing! Thanks for allowing us to post it. Look forward to your input and more about rapping...lol. (Loved your cartoon) Darin Thank you very much for the kind words! I look forward to the future of this site and appreciate all the hard work you guys have put into it! - David
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 15, 2014 14:04:43 GMT
It's a tasty little treat; wouldn't it be great if Ian did a tour where he did a huge pile of acoustic, instrumental reworkings of electric Tull songs? He's done semi-acoustic tours in the past, but not with that focus... (well, the second half of the Divinities concerts were kind of like that. He should revisit that territory!) I "Think" Underwraps 2" was done during an 09 Ian solo tour here in the west...pretty sure. A majority of the show was acoustic March the Mad Scientist, Dun Ringell, Nursie, Cheap Day Return, Just Trying to Be......those are what I remember But I am getting along in years. I actually remember 70s shows more definetly than some of the 90s or 2000s shows.....Im in trouble... Darin That was one of my favorite tours; yes, he played most of those out here on the East Coast when I saw it, but not Under Wraps 2, you lucky bugger! The funny thing is, as we sat down before the show I said to my friends, "I'd really like to hear Dun Ringill live again; haven't seen that one live in a while." Then, BOOM, it was the opening song. Sometimes you do get what you wish for... I just think it would be nice to see an all acoustic tour again.
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 15, 2014 13:34:59 GMT
When I was in college, I took commercial design. We were encouraged to experiment with various new (at that time) mediums like colored dyes, Design markers, etc. I usually worked a musician into my assignments, the majority being Ian Anderson! LOL!! Here's a few from the year one... (circa 1978-79)
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 14, 2014 20:52:10 GMT
Taken by my fiend Steve at the LA Forum Feb 9th 1975 Very dramatic; nice!
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 14, 2014 20:27:23 GMT
I Love Under Wrap 2, even more on "A Little Light Music", that was the highlight of that disk for me!!! It's a tasty little treat; wouldn't it be great if Ian did a tour where he did a huge pile of acoustic, instrumental reworkings of electric Tull songs? He's done semi-acoustic tours in the past, but not with that focus... (well, the second half of the Divinities concerts were kind of like that. He should revisit that territory!)
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 14, 2014 20:07:10 GMT
Welcome, illoman. Great story about how you became interested in the band!
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 14, 2014 18:46:59 GMT
I love Under Wraps, I can never understand the outright hatred some people have for it. I agree the drums aspect is, for me, the biggest downer on the album and if there was any chance of Ian revisiting this on any remaster in the future I'd be up near the the front of the queue to buy it. Under Wraps has a very special place in my heart. As a fifteen year old who had been listening to Tull for five years at that point, and was going to see them live for the first time that tour, I played it repeatedly in the weeks leading up to the concert. I'm also a fan of spy novels, so the lyrics really resonated with me on many of the songs. It's a "close your eyes and be transported" album. You're right about the drum machine, but those songs were so good!
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 14, 2014 17:49:34 GMT
Hi David I think we nmet briefly in Boston, my apologies if I'm wrong but my head was spinning at meeting so many great people in such a short space of time. Welcome here, looking forward to your contributions. Hello! Yes, that was me; Good memory! Thank you for the warm welcome; I look forward to many good times here!
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 14, 2014 17:46:53 GMT
Thank you for the warm welcome, lucas. I am very excited about this site!
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 14, 2014 17:45:23 GMT
Nice drawing indeed! Congrats David!! Really great work David. Thank you, Tulltapes! I really appreciate the feedback.
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Post by bambooflute on Apr 14, 2014 17:44:07 GMT
Nice drawing indeed! Congrats David!! Thank you for the kind words, lucas! More to come soon...
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