Keneally - the Universe Will Provide

[BarryL]

I found this Mike Keneally album in my local HMV. Given that it was recorded with the Metropole Orkest, a Dutch symphony orchestra, I was intriqued.

I've been listening to this for a few days now, and it is 'geniously' outstanding. It is a cross between early Zappa jazz and Neil Ardley's Kaleidoscope of Rainbows. The orchestral arrangements work really well, and the guitar playing is stellar. This is more an avante garde jazz album that a rock album, but it does rock in a jazz-fusion fashion.

Early Zappa fans would like this one. Hopefully Keneally will continue to explore the boundaries of rock, jazz and classical, and stay away from opera.

[Davey]

Keneally - the Universe Will Provide
More like the universe will explode ;)

Hey yeah, a bunch of us got a taste of that one via Troy's contribution of "Worrywart Spoonguy" to our last Current Rotation Sampler. As with all good music, it wasn't exactly universally loved ;)

I liked it though. Can't imagine listening to a whole CD of it, though. Seems like it would pull your head apart, no? Or at the least, result in some volume displacement.

http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=11830

[BarryL]

More like the universe will explode ;)

Hey yeah, a bunch of us got a taste of that one via Troy's contribution of "Worrywart Spoonguy" to our last Current Rotation Sampler. As with all good music, it wasn't exactly universally loved ;)

I liked it though. Can't imagine listening to a whole CD of it, though. Seems like it would pull your head apart, no? Or at the least, result in some volume displacement.

http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=11830

It's rather tame compared to Miles' *****es Brew or Malmsteen's Concerto for Exectric guitar and Orchestra. I'm sure if a track was provided by Troy it was the most outrageous of the lot. There is also some very beautiful stuff on this CD.

Surely anyone into jam bands would dig this, no? And whatever it is, it's not prog.

[Troy]

That album garnered a 5 star review from AMG:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:2sn20roaq48j~T1

I find it more than a little brilliant, but I connect with most of MKs releases on a deep and visceral level that others don't, for whatever reason. It's like I already know the songs the first time I hear them. Weird, huh?

"Spoonguy" is NOT the most off the wall track on it, nor is it the most obvious and direct. It's pretty representative.

As I recall, most listeners were a bit dazed by it, but kinda liked it, even if they thought they weren't supposed to. That thread you posted Davey does not include the posts I remember as there was more than one thread about that disc.

Keneally is sure not for everyone, but like all good art, it's not supposed to appeal to everyone. If you "get it", then you will REALLY get it.

[MindGoneHaywire]

I got about halfway through. If I hadn't known it wasn't Zappa, I sure wouldn't have been able to tell.

I'd pulled out 'Ascension' yesterday, for the first time in awhile. I have to say I don't hear a heck of a lot going on here that I don't hear on that. Maybe some of the lead guitar runs. Outside of that, I don't think a lot of new ground has been paved in this area. But then it's not exactly my cup of tea.

But I do wonder what anyone who likes this thinks of Ascension.

[Troy]

I got about halfway through. If I hadn't known it wasn't Zappa, I sure wouldn't have been able to tell.

I'd pulled out 'Ascension' yesterday, for the first time in awhile. I have to say I don't hear a heck of a lot going on here that I don't hear on that. Maybe some of the lead guitar runs. Outside of that, I don't think a lot of new ground has been paved in this area. But then it's not exactly my cup of tea.

But I do wonder what anyone who likes this thinks of Ascension.

Never heard it. Is that teh name of the band or the album?

Bake and send!

Thanks for the Bozzio disc BTW. Haven't played it yet . . .

[MindGoneHaywire]

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47B16DF4EAF7E20D7812F54CCB161E006D163 F4971D6E584792B63E45910077F35BF49B98F5B674B566ACFF 31A65A0FD686EF5CFCDA6C3E349D8EDB&sql=10:m9e097wjkrdt

[Troy]

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47B16DF4EAF7E20D7812F54CCB161E006D163 F4971D6E584792B63E45910077F35BF49B98F5B674B566ACFF 31A65A0FD686EF5CFCDA6C3E349D8EDB&sql=10:m9e097wjkrdt

While Keneally has mentioned Coltrane as an influence, the UWP is VERY different from the Trane album.

The Keneally is less jazz skronk and more orchestrated. It's more rock than jazz. It uses much more standard harmonics and stays in traditionally compatible keys that Coltrane never bothered to work in. The Keneally is not free jazz, it's very composed and structured. From where I sit there is really no comparison.

[Davey]

From where I sit there is really no comparison.
Yeah, I don't get that either. But what if something remotely similar had been done before by Coltrane, Jay? Does that invalidate what Keneally is doing? Wouldn't to me unless it was a blatant rip, and even then it might not. Lots of stuff I like, probably the majority of the stuff I like, has pretty deep roots ;)

[MindGoneHaywire]

I brought up Ascension because I heard similarities, with lots of seemingly random sounds & notes. Lots of stuff going on that most people would consider to be non-traditional, plenty of dissonance, and structures where many would hear anything but. It had nothing to do with 'free' vs. 'composed,' nor was it a suggestion that it was a rip, tribute, or anything in between. Just a similarity with regards to seemingly random sounds & notes, that's all, not that I thought the Coltrane record could or should be considered an influence on this. I did say it sounded like Zappa to me, I think. And I don't hear much Coltrane in Zappa, for the most part...but this recording had elements of what I've heard in Ascension. If you guys don't, that's fine, but I do. But since it came to mind, I was just wondering what people who like this sort of thing think of Ascension, is all. Kind of like when I started a thread asking fans of prog what they thought of Sonic Youth, more because I was curious than anything else, and I don't listen to Sonic Youth all that often, either. Invalidate Keneally's work? I don't know where you're going with that.

[Davey]

Invalidate Keneally's work? I don't know where you're going with that.
Well, I wasn't really going anywhere, it just sounded kind of like you were dismissing it because of your perception that it didn't pave any new ground, so I thought that might make for some interesting discussion since most music these days is so derivative of past works, especially some that we have both really liked recently. That's all. But you explained in more detail above about what you meant so kind of moot now ;)

[BarryL]

But I do wonder what anyone who likes this thinks of Ascension.

But thanks for the reference.