Peter Bursch has helped generations of guitarists get started in making music with his books, which have been printed in millions of copies (completely without sheet music). Back in 1968, he and friends in Duisburg founded BRÖSELMASCHINE, one of Germany's first progressive rock bands. In 2021, their highly acclaimed debut album celebrates its 50th birthday; this summer it was re-released in a sonically reworked form.
Electric Orange, active since the early 90s and with many releases on their credit side, are an integral part of the German neo-psychedelic and neo-krautrock scene that can no longer be imagined without. The quartet from Aachen, consisting of keyboarder Dirk Jan Müller, guitarist Dirk Bittner, drummer Georg Monheim and new bassist Werner Wieczorek, plays big with the current album "Psi-Hybrid" and reveals the background.
eclipsed: In contrast to your last albums, you constructed "Psi-Hybrid" less improvised and more piece by piece. Why the different approach?
Rhythm guitarist Bill Kelliher is a tree of a guy you shouldn't compete against in arm wrestling or finger hooking. Although he seems rather grumpy at first glance, he turns out to be a charming conversationalist. Unlike Tool frontman Maynard Keenan, for example, he doesn't hide behind dripping irony and artistic aloofness, but talks at length about the eighth Mastodon opus "Hushed And Grim" and the personal experiences and feelings that underlie it
Premiata Forneria Marconi, PFM for short, have been the musical figurehead of so-called Italo-Prog, along with Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, since the early 1970s. Now their new album "I Dreamed Of Electric Sheep" has been released, which refers to a science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick and the movie "Blade Runner" based on it.
"I think I've written the best songs of my career in the last three years," the 82-year-old declares right at the beginning of the interview. An astonishing statement for someone who can look back on a musical career spanning more than 60 years, which gave him some megahits right at the beginning: "Runaround Sue" and especially "The Wanderer" from 1961 are real evergreens and probably the best-known songs of Dion Francis DiMucci, who was born in 1939 in the New York Bronx
The Lower Saxon has never made a secret of the fact that Christopher von Deylen, whose project is called "Schiller", is an ardent cineaste. Nor has he ever made a secret of his love of film music. But in contrast to his earlier, incidentally highly successful albums, this time the 51-year-old has realised all the acoustic requirements for imaginary soundtracks. He composed epic clouds of sound, in the spirit of Tangerine Dream, Popol Vuh or, in places, Ennio Morricone, in order to record them with a 40-piece symphonic orchestra in Vienna's Synchron Stage Studio.
"Reutlingen was a home game, so to speak, and we were really looking forward to it. Finally performing live again is food for the soul," says Marcus Schnitzler, drummer of the Reutlingen psych'n'space trio The Spacelords, about the first concert after a long, long time. Bassist Ekhard "Akee" Kazmeier's joy about the first show in mid-November is also clear to see: "After 20 months on the sidelines, it naturally feels wonderful to be booked again. Suddenly you're standing in front of a great audience and playing live - wonderful!"
1971 marks a caesura in the history of progressive rock music: in that year, many of the bands that today are counted among the essential founders of this musical genre found their musical vision. At the beginning of a decade in which progressive rock was to play a prominent role, numerous albums were released that are today not only considered classics of the genre, but also laid the foundation for the careers of some of its central protagonists - be it "The Yes Album", "Fragile", "Aqualung" or "Pictures At An Exhibition".
The year is 1968: A young band from the British county of Kent called Caravan co-founded the so-called "Canterbury Sound", musically somewhere between folk, jazz, pop, rock and psychedelic. The self-titled first album is released. At least a commercial success. More than 50 years later the quintet still exists. And with "It's None Of Your Business" they present a studio work that seamlessly recalls the peaceful and joyful times of yesteryear. Founding member Pye Hastings, singer and guitarist of the group, now 74 years old, talks about the meaning of Caravan in a rock context.
