A Quest for Prog 23: Happy The Man - Crafty Hands

"A Quest for Prog" is a series of 50 Progressive Rock reviews to be written over a year.  The band selection is taken from the book in the first post on this blog.  And the albums I am reviewing is based on the highest user ratings for each band on Progarchives.com.

Happy The Man - Crafty Hands (1978)

Produced by Ken Scott

Stanley Whitaker – Guitars & Vocals

Frank Wyatt – Pianos, Harpsichord, Saxes & Flute

Kit Watkins – Pianos, Harpsichord, Moog, Clavinet & Recorder

Rick Kennell – Bass

Ron Riddle – Drums & Percussion

Track listing:

Side One:

01. Service with a Smile (2:44)

02. Morning Sun (4:05)

03. Ibby It Is (7:50)

04. Steaming Pipes (5:30)

Side Two:

01. Wind Up Doll Day Wind (7:06)

02. Open Book (4:53)

03. I Forgot to Push It (3:08)

04. The Moon, I Sing (Nossuri) (6:16)

Released in 1978 “Crafty Hands” is the second album by American band Happy The Man.  The band formed in Harrisonburg, Virginia in 1973 but it was early 1974 when the line-up completed.  The bands early repertoire included Genesis, King Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator covers as the band wrote original songs.  The band rehearsed with Peter Gabriel in 1976 with the possibility of backing him on solo material but even though didn’t hire the band they were offered a record detail with Arista as a result of it.  The band released a self titled album in 1977 before Crafty Hands was released in 1978 at which time their contract with Arista was dissolved.  The band carried on but could not secure another record deal so disbanded not long after.

The album begins with the upbeat “Service with a Smile”.  This track has a really nice drum groove and really great guitar playing.  The track has the feel of a film theme mixed with King Crimson.  I really liked this tune and it's a great start to the album.

“Morning Sun” begins with a nice keyboard intro which reminded me of stadium era Pink Floyd.  The Floyd feel continues when the verses arrive sound in particular like “Wish You Were Here”.  As the song continues it reminded of Super Mario Sunshine and the music played at Delfino Plaza.  The track is a little too much like wallpaper for me though.

Next up is “Ibby It Is” which picks up the pace a bit.  Musically it sounds like the kind of music guitar players like Joe Satriani or Steve Vai would shred over.  The track has some nice keyboards but seems to lack a pulse and I didn’t really connect with this tune.

Following on is “Steaming Pipes”, which is almost a Progressive Oompah Band tune.  The tune is upbeat and has a nice groove to it.  Unfortunately the track doesn't really go anywhere and would have been better served with a vocal melody over top.  Interesting playing but ultimately a fairly boring tune.

Side two begins with “Wind Up Doll Day Wind”.  The backing track is quite playful and goes from quite stark passages to being quite lush in other places.  The vocals a bit much on this track but the track would likely be worse for from not having them.  The track reminded me of early Genesis.  Again a bit long and the track doesn’t flow that well so it is hard to keep interest over 7 minutes.

Next is “Open Book” and almost Ambient tune crossed Midevil and Rock.  The guitars and Flute work really well together on this track.  Unlike other tunes this track you get a feeling from the music.  Nice tune. 

“I Forgot To Push It” is next and is quite an interesting tune.  A nice mix of guitars with what sounds like a Saxophone.  The playing intricate and thankfully the track is short so it doesn't overstay it’s welcome.  Nice tune but slightly frivolous.

The album ends with “The Moon, I Sing (Nossuri)”.  This tune is quite atmospheric and has some really nice guitar picking.  The does plod along and doesn’t seem to really have a path.  Some nice playing but it doesn’t really go anywhere. 

There are parts of this album that I really liked but it suffer greatly by songs being extended to far.  The song for the most part lack direction but there are certainly a few track to take away from this album like “Service with a Smile” and “Open Book”.

3/10

Harvest Festival, Parramatta Park, Sydney 15 November 2011

The one thing I realized upon entering the Harvest Festival gates was that this wasn't going to be your normal Australian Music Festival.  Firstly I didn't see males brandishing Southern Cross tattoos parading around topless or alternatively the fairer sex in nothing more than a bikini.

We headed to the "Secret Garden" and had a look at what it had to offer.  There were oversized Birds Nests, Rocking Chairs & A Miniature Theatre.  Then we waltzed into the tent that proclaimed “Turn Back Now” above the door and were greeted by a young lass wearing a teddy bear head and a miniature plastic face to cover most of her dignity.  Not my cup of tea but she drew a good crowd and it certainly added to the feeling that there was more to this festival than a list of bands and truck loads of piss.

We arrived at the “The Great Lawn” to see a few tunes by the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble.  The group is a made up of a drummer and seven or so Brass players from Tubas to Trumpets.  It was kind of odd seeing a really gangsta looking fella sporting a tuba but they had a great sound.  A mixture of hip Hop and Funk and they created a serious groove.  I wasn’t a big fan of the rap sections but they put on a good show and certainly got the crowd moving early on in the day. 

Off to “The Windmill Stage” to check out The Walkmen.  I was really interested to see this band after being turned onto them many years ago via their single “The Rat”.  A surprisingly large crowd turned out to see the band.  Their set was quite slow and didn’t quite make it over the conversation in the crowd.  I was pretty disappointing and the music just didn't connect but maybe this music would be better in a club or inside.

The Walkmen Setlist:

While I Shovel Snow

Woe Is Me

On The Water

In The New Year

New Song

Juveniles

New Song

Blue as Your Blood

The Rat

All Hands and the Cook

We dashed back to the “The Great Lawn” to catch the last three songs from The Family Stones set.  The band showed what veteran players can do and did these songs (M’Lady, I Want To Take You Higher & Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)) complete justice.  While watching them I thought “Sly who?”.  Wish I could have seen their whole.  Great choice to for a sunny Sunday afternoon.

It was back to the “The Windmill Stage” to check out Mercury Rev.  It’s an odd proposition to see Mercury Rev on a sunny afternoon but the band pulled a good crowd and put on a Deserters Songs heavy set.  Frontman Jonathan Donahue is totally committed to this music and really seem to be feeling it even seeming oblivious to the constant feedback coming from the stage.  The band is quite subtle and textured in their approach and never over do it.  Highlights were the lush “Endlessly” and “Opus 40”, “Goddess On A Hiway” and a great cover of Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill”.

Mercury Rev Setlist:

Snowflake In A Hot World

Holes

Endlessly

Butterfly’s Wing

Opus 40

Solsbury Hill

Goddess On A Hiway

The Dark Is Rising

Made a dash back to “The Great Lawn” to catch the remainder of the TV On The Radio set.  This is a band that I love at times but I’m quite perplexed by at others.  This is certainly the case in a live setting and with the songs fighting against themselves with Soul and Funk up against Indie and Rock.  It's a great sight to behold and gave me a new appreciation of the band’s music.  Again because of the strong line-up another bands set I missed seeing the whole thing.  “Staring At The Sun” and “Wolf Like Me” were the highlights. 

TV On The Radio Setlist:

Halfway Home

Second Song

Caffeinated Consciousness

A Method

Golden Age

Will Do

Staring at the Sun

Repetition

Wolf Like Me

The break between bands of “The Great Lawn” gave time for a fuel up of food and beer before Bright Eyes hit the stage.  Conor was in fine voice and the band were on the mark with their delivery of tracks from different points in the history. The set went from Lifted’s “Lover I Don’t Have To Love” through “Digital ash...” tracks “Take It Easy (Love Nothing)” and “I Believe In Symmetry” to more recent tracks “Jejune Stars” and “Shell Games”.  Highlights was opener “Four Winds”, the formerly electronic “Take It Easy (Love Nothing)”, the vitriolic “Lover I Don't Have to Love” and closer “Road To Joy”.

Bright Eyes Setlist:

Four Winds

Jejune Stars

Take It Easy (Love Nothing)

Lover I Don't Have to Love

Shell Games

Landlocked Blues

Cartoon Blues

Poison Oak

I Believe In Symmetry

Road to Joy

Another stage detour was taken to “The Windmill Stage” to check out 25 minutes of Scots Mogwai.  Smoke was the first thing I noticed making my way to the stage.  The band is quite an experience with a mix of build post rock music mixed with visuals of cars on streets of digital imagery and a fuck load of smoke.  This is the kind of set you could really lose yourself in.  Awesome stuff and another unfortunate clash.

Mogwai Setlist:

White Noise

Friend of the Night

Mexican Grand Prix

2 Rights Make 1 Wrong

Back again to “The Great Lawn” for personal favourite The National.  The band gets bigger and bigger everytime I see them and always put on a great show.  The set was heavily weighted to most recent effort “High Violet” with a few Boxer and Alligator track through into the mix.  It moved from slower paced tracks “Slow Show” and “Anyone’s Ghost” to upbeat tracks “Mr November” and “Mistaken For Strangers”.  The band sounded great and delivered a set with allot of energy and conviction.  Highlights were “Slow Show”, “Squalor Victoria”, “Conversation 16 “ & “Mr November”

The National Setlist:

Anyones Ghost

Mistaken For Strangers

Bloodbuzz Ohio

Slow Show

Squalor Victoria

Afraid of Everyone

Conversation 16

Apartment Story

Sorrow

England

Fake Empire

Mr November

Terrible Love

Back to the “The Windmill Stage” to see what we thought would be the remainder of The Flaming Lips set to find they hadn't even started and end up starting 20 minutes after we arrived.  Unfortunately this put the band and the audience on the back foot from the get go.  At their best “The Flaming Lips” are one of the best live acts around but on the night they were anything but.  The set started with their customary intro video and balloon frenzy which was greeted with a strong response from those who got to play.  But from this point on the band and the audience struggled to give each other what they needed.  Apart from the hits in the set the rest was made up of a very average cover of Black Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf” to some pretty boring psychedelic tunes.  This is the third time I have seen the Lips and it could very well be the last. 

The Flaming Lips Setlist:

The Fear

Sweet Leaf

Worm Mountain

She Don't Use Jelly

The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)

Is David Bowie Dying?

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1

See the Leaves

Do You Realize??

The last band of the night was of course was Portishead on “The Great Lawn”.  The sound and visuals were amazing but the band lacked the spark that a live band should have.  The sound was so perfect that it almost seemed like it was the album playing through the PA.  I’m sure that if I had more love for the band I would have been singing their praises.  A really amazing live sound just not my cup of tea so I took any early mark and headed for the train.

Portishead Setlist:

Silence

Mysterons

The Rip

Sour Times

Magic Doors

Wandering Star

Machine Gun

Over

Glory Box

Chase the Tear

Cowboys

Threads

Encore:

Roads

We Carry On

As far as festivals go this was an absolute success.  The vibe, the space, the line up and the attitude were all right and if they keep the numbers down this festival will easily become the festival I look forward to each year.  Thanks a bunch for a great day. 

A Quest for Prog 22: Gryphon – Red Queen to Gryphon Three

"A Quest for Prog" is a series of 50 Progressive Rock reviews to be written over a year.  The band selection is taken from the book in the first post on this blog.  And the albums I am reviewing is based on the highest user ratings for each band on Progarchives.com.

Gryphon – Red Queen to Gryphon Three (1974)

Produced by Gryphon & Dave Grinsted

Richard Harvey – Keyboards, Recorders & Krumhorn

Brian Gulland – Bassoon & Krumhorns

Dave Oberlé – Drums, Percussion & tympani

Graeme Taylor – Guitar

Philip Nestor – Bass Guitar

Track listing:

Side One:

01. Opening Move (9:42)

02. Second Spasm (8:15)

Side Two:

01. Lament (10:45)

02. Checkmate (9:50)

Released in 1974 “Red Queen to Gryphon Three” is the third album by English band Gryphon.  The band formed in the early 70’s by Richard Harvey and Brian Gulland.  They began as a Traditional English Folk group and expanded their sound with the addition of Graeme Taylor, Dave Oberlé & Philip Nestor joining the band by the time this record was recorded.  The toured as support act for Yes after this album was released but subsequent releases featured more conventional folk music.

The album begins with “Opening Move” a upbeat tune with an Progressive Classical feel to it.  The song is quite dynamic but also at time quite jarring with changes not flowing into each other.  The track seems like a lot of different pieces of music tried together but not creating one piece of music.  This track reminded me of early Split Enz without the structure and song writing.

Following on is “Second Spasm” which is a kind of coy Medieval track.  Again this track suffers from a lack of flow and in places it sounds like the band are playing different pieces of music at the same time.  The guitar is nice on this tune but fairly traditional.

The second side begins with “Lament”.  The track begins with a quite long Acoustic Guitar and Flute passage that doesn’t really go anywhere.  When the band comes in the track becomes quite bubbly some strong playing.  The track is dense and has quite a few layers but like the previous track the band seems to be playing parts from different tracks at the same time. 

The album ends with “Checkmate”.  The song begins with a nice Keyboard intro.  The Guitars come in with some nice interlocking signatures between Keyboards and Guitars.  The playing is quite restrained which means the song does drag quite a bit.  At the half way mark I was waiting for this song to end and the last 4 minutes really didn’t add much to the track.

 “Red Queen to Gryphon Three” is a fairly uninteresting album that I found quite hard to get through.  The songs are far longer than they really should be and don’t really have any focus even though the playing in places is really strong.

2/10