The Fusion Reactor #138 - "Firsts" and "Seconds"

Tonight we'll be looking at a bunch of "firsts" and "seconds" on the show. Not like "the first song to feature mellotron" or anything like that, but more like "songs that are about first things." And second things, as you'll see. This show also marks the first time I've used the new music/noise background Andrew Sanchez helped me out with.

Phish - First Tube
An interesting little song from the Phish guys. Neat polyrhythms, a catchy melody, a lot more musical depth than you'd expect, and almost no jamming.

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones - First Light
A beautiful composition about a beautiful time of day.

Don Caballero - First Hits
Had to put some RAWK into the show. I'm sure this is about having hits on the radio, something Don Caballero would know all about.

Tony Palacios - First Born
I wouldn't know if this song is accurate, I'm the middle child. Oh yes, pity me. Or not. Great song though, from a guitarist who could have been on last week's show.

Vangelis - First Approach
Because it's so much fun to be all over the musical map, isn't it? We're starting off on sort of a musical rollercoaster here, but that's what The Fusion Reactor is all about.

Return To Forever - Excerpt From The First Movement of Heavy Metal
Some might say this song has a misleading title. I won't argue. I guess "Excerpt From The First Movement of Piano Solo Followed By Groovy Funk" doesn't really sound as cool.

Torben Enevoldsen - First Attempt
The album is "Flying Solo" not "Solo Flight." I said the wrong thing. That's two weeks in a row I've played Torben on my show. A new trend? Perhaps, but I doubt it. I like this stuff more than his work with Section A though.

Wertico - First Bass
An odd little tune that fits its name. Are those wind chimes and rain sticks in the background?

Steve Howe - Desire Comes First
Steve is the guy who gets credit for getting me interested in playing the guitar. Not that I've reached his level of proficiency or anything. He just does some really neat things sometimes, and I love his arrangements. He does *not* sing on this song.

Cliff Martinez - First Sleep
From the excellent Solaris soundtrack. When the movie ended and the credits were rolling, I wasn't sure if I liked the film, but I knew I had to get the soundtrack. Ambient music doesn't have to be static and boring! Cliff did an amazing job of mixing the electronic sounds with the orchestra.

Patrik Skantze - Fiction at First View
...and so the "no vocal" streak is broken. After ten instrumentals, you might have suspected I was going for an all-instrumental show. But no.

Pat Metheny - First Circle
An intense, complex song from the master. What a rush this one becomes when everything breaks loose towards the end.

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Now that you've had firsts, it's time to move on to seconds. You saved room, didn't you?
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Pat Metheny - Second Thought
More laid back than First Circle, this one is a nice contemplative piece.

Ergo Sum - Second Rebirth
... and the second piece of the show with vocals. But the first from France. Now, a *second* rebirth would be a third birth, wouldn't it? Perhaps this song doesn't fit in after all.

Canvas - On Second Thought
Back to instrumental mode. Don't want to inundate you with all those vocal tunes out there. Some neat stuff here, even a horn section! I gotta do a show about songs with horn sections sometime.

Riverside - Second Life Syndrome
Vocal mode is on. This is the first of the "epics" for the show. Of course, this is the title track from the Polish group's second full album. That double-qualifies it. Come to think of it, the Canvas song was from their second album too! I don't know that I'd agree 100% with the "prog metal" label this band has been given. Heavier than the Moody Blues*, sure, but I don't know about metal. Just my opinion.

Passport - Get Yourself A Second Passport
Vocal mode off. Very early Passport, pretty sure it's their second album too. A bit more intense than some of what they later morphed into, this is some of that burning, churning funk stuff.

Rush - Second Nature
The Hold Your Fire album has a special place in my memory just because of what I was going through when it came out. It's not my absolute favorite, but it has some definite sentimental value. Upon re-listening to it, I found I know all the lyrics. Memory is an interesting thing.

Genesis - Home By the Sea/Second Home By the Sea
Our second "epic." I'd imagine they did this live like this quite a bit, although I never saw them in any lineup. But hey, if they did it on the "We Can't Dance" tour... never mind. Still, not too bad a song, especially the second part.

Isildurs Bane - The Second Step
While much of this album is very fusiony, this one is more orchestral. Almost classical, even. Still, a little variety never hurts, right? Oh yeah, we're back in no vocal mode.

Gong - Second Wind
A great live rendition of this song. Everything you'd expect from PM Gong... Keyboard percussion, kicking guitars, odd meters, etc... it doesn't get much better than this.

Spock's Beard - Second Overture
From "Snow," this is the start to the second disc. More horns! I wouldn't mind if Spock's Beard did more instrumentals rather than just one here and there.

* I absolutely *love* the Moody Blues, especially "Days of Future Past" through "Seventh Sojourn."

The Fusion Reactor #137 - Who's That Guitarist?

This show is chock full of (relatively) unknown - but still great - guitarists. You won't be hearing the likes of John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, or Joe Satriani on this show. Instead, you'll be treated to some stuff you might not have heard before. And you'll wonder why some of these guys aren't household names. The background music while I'm talking is from Suke Cerulo. It and a number of other tracks are available on his website.

Michael Harris - Battle At Storm's Edge (7:00)
Mr. Harris would fit in well with any number of metal shred bands, but seems to mostly prefer to do his own thing or collaborate with friends. We're getting the show off to a heavy fast start... can the rest of the show match up to this?

Massimo Izzizzari - The Alchemist (7:29)
This is simply a really great album. The guitarist from Misturafina's solo effort is bubbling with energy and inventiveness. And it's not just shred, it's melodic too!

Tom Grose - Seventy-Two (8:27)
With an obvious (to me anyway) nod to Frank Zappa, Tom shows off his stuff in the ensemble playing and composition here before letting loose on a tasty solo. Do yourself a favor and read his biography on his website. You'll be glad you did. Or perhaps just confused.

Alex Skolnick Trio - Tom Sawyer (6:35)
Inventive fusiony wonderfulness. Who knew that somewhere in an alternate universe there could be a version of this classic Rush song that was so opposite, yet works so well? And it's not just a fluke, the rest of the album (which, no, is not entirely covers) is just as great, if not even better. Love the drums on this one, reminds me of mid-period Lake Trout.

Alex Skolnick Trio - Revelation (Mother Earth) (7:20)
See? I told you. An Ozzy Osbourne cover, done in a jazz fusion ballad style. I can only guess that no one told him he *couldn't.* So he did, and all we can do is sit back and wonder about it. Or enjoy it, which is my preference.

Kiko Loureiro - Ojos Verdes (6:26)
Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro shows us his fusiony stuff, and boy is it tasty. I'm thinking that perhaps this is the sort of stuff Al DiMeola listens to when he's relaxing. But wait! Kiko is also in the (rather heavy) band Angra! In the business, we call that *versatile!*

Byron Nemeth Group - Be! (8:57)
Byron Nemeth is one of those bands I don't know much about. I do know from listening to Byron's playing that we'll most likely be hearing more from him in the near future. Nice compositional skills as well. I like the layers to the song that make it really interesting to listen to on so many levels.

Martone - The Four Horsemen (8:37)
Not just a song as an excuse to shred, Dave Martone gets really inventive on his "When The Aliens Come" album. For example, this song takes Robert Fripp's octave pedal to the next level. It boggles my mind (admittedly not that hard to do) to imagine trying to play this song. And yet he does. He must practice more often than I do - which wouldn't take much.

Guthrie Govan - Ner Ner (8:05)
Of course, GG is part of GPS and played in Asia for a bit, among many other things I should be aware of. I'm just plain ignorant of these things sometimes and I need to be smacked upside the head with a two by four. And this CD does just that to me. But in a good way. More of that good old-fashioned versatility at work in an amazing show of guitar chops in a variety of settings. Try it out, you'll like it.


Torben Enevoldsen - 1:49 AM (5:49)
Denmark's greatest guitarist and member of the band Section A, Torben flies solo on this album called Flying Solo. Not pure metal here by any stretch. Parts of this would fit in well on a Satriani album, with some nice progressive and neoclassical influences put in here and there.

David Gregorisch - Extreme (5:08)
More interesting rock guitar music. You're not getting bored with this, are you? Listen for the parts where he overdubs and harmonizes with himself during the solo. I love that part. Sounds real, not like a harmonizer pedal. Nice tone as well. Smooth but heavy. Like a ton of peanut butter.

Francesco Fareri - Circle (8:11)
Francesco plays a 7-string guitar, which immediately takes him up a notch in my book. This disc is half electric (like this song) and half acoustic. So it's not all crazy prog metal shred. Is the acoustic guitar 7-stringed as well? Good question, I asked that myself. If the acoustic pictured on his gear page is the one he uses on the album, no. I'm not sure why he didn't ask if he could borrow mine for the recording.

Probably because he doesn't know me from Adam.

Michael Suke Cerulo - Ice Storm (9:54)
Now Suke, on the other hand, might recognize me. I've spoken with him in person on a few occasions. Nice guy and a very talented guitarist. As you can hear in this song, it's a live solo performance using a loop pedal on the guitar. He even briefly breaks out the flute and plays that a bit. Suke also plays (or perhaps "played" but some of us don't want to give up hope that they will once again play and finish up that album) in the wonderful prog/fusion band Schleigho.

Joseph Patrick Moore - Fall [Live] (5:53)
We'll keep things a little bit mellower for a bit. There was enough smoking shredding earlier, these few songs are your reprieve. JPM is actually our oddball for the show. He's a bassist, and while shred on bass is fun, this is more laid back and melodic. I wonder when this was recorded, given the interesting synth sound. Don't know, honestly.

Randy Ellefson - Still At Large (6:18)
Ok, break's over! Back to work! Randy makes his own guitars and that's pretty cool in my book. Then apparently he uses them to make instrumental rock music. And he must find time to practice quite a bit in there somewhere. Next time you're in Maryland, stop by and say hi to him.

I don't know why I just said that.

Patrik Carlsson - Gates of Heaven (5:30)
So what's the best way to end a show like this? I used the motto "End With Something Beautiful." Not that Patrik can't rock out and impress you with his agile playing on heavier numbers(or the middle of this one), but this is a really nice one that somehow reminds me of Eric Johnson in the music style but interestingly *not* the guitar playing.

So that's my show for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and heard someone you weren't already familiar with.

The Fusion Reactor #136 - Space

It's time to consider space. I made sure to include some heavier tunes so that this doesn't sound like a "space music" show.

Chick Corea Elektric Band - Space
Rocket Scientists - Space: 1999
Panzerpappa - Spacefunkopera
Spaceseed - Heat Worshipping Space Zombies
Smokin' Granny - Alien Space Journey
Galactic Cowboys - Space In Your Face
Helmet of Gnats - Chimps in Space
Zenpool - Gridspace
Use Of Ashes, The - Spacewalking
Pixies - Space (I Believe In)
Wakeman, Rick - Space Oddity/ Life on Mars
Alex Lifeson - Deepest Space
Hawkwind - Space Is Deep
Paul Ellis - Cyberspace
Torman Maxt - Space and Time
Freehand - Spacehounds... Earthshine
Ozric Tentacles - Space Between Your Ears
Return To Forever - Space Circus, Parts 1 & 2
Threshold - Light and Space
Pink Floyd - Astronomy Domine

The Fusion Reactor #135 - Ground Transportation

Where would we be without ground transportation? Walking around, I guess. Here's a tribute to some of the things that help us get from here to there more quickly, without leaving the ground.

Phish - Cars Trucks Buses
Our theme song of sorts for the night, and also a very fusiony feel from those Phishy dudes.

David Bowie - Always Crashing In The Same Car
Ever feel like that? Yeah me too. Love the whole Low album as well.

A Minor Forest - Look At That Car, It's Full Of Balloons!
Always interesting to hear from A Minor Forest. Nothing too crazy in this tune, but it still stretches the ears a little.

Schleigho - Keep It In The Car
No other band I know of can take a tune like this that starts off in a smooth 7/8 groove and transform it so seamlessly into the intense soloing vehicle it becomes - and back. Love it. This also features a lesson from Erik Egol on "Drum Solos Done Right."

Yes - White Car
The show wouldn't have been complete without this odd little song from the Drama album.

Abdominal Snowmen - Another Song About Cars
It occurs to me that I don't usually play free-jam spoken word songs on my show. There's probably a reason for that.

Brighteye Brison - A Car
OK that's admittedly a weird one. I really have very little to say about the vocal portions of the song, but the instrumental parts are pretty cool.

Volta Do Mar - Fall Out of Moving Cars Fall Out of Night
One of those rare VDM songs that have words. Even more rare, the vocals seem to be almost audible. I'd just treat the vocal parts as more instruments rather than expect coherent lyrics. You'll probably like it better that way.

Deep Purple - Space Truckin'
Wow, I haven't heard this song in ages. Too much fun, indeed.

Nektar - On the Run (The Trucker)
I must admit that Nektar is a band I never got into very much. No idea why, because this sounds as much "up my alley" as Eloy, who I like a lot.

Lo Faber - Riding North In a VW Bus
Does anyone else catch a Genesis feel to this? Jazzier, to be sure, and not in the drum department, but this sort of melody might fit in on some of those early Genesis songs. Or maybe it's just the synth tone, or the way the synth and guitar play together so much.

Assembly of Dust - Bus Driver
You probably never expected to hear this sort of stuff on The Fusion Reactor, did you? Well take note, you might never hear it again.

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones - Bicyclops
Quirky and fun and amazing, just like you'd expect from these guys.

Pink Floyd - Bike
Famously weird. Famously quirky. Famously singable.

Steve Howe - My White Bicycle
Also pretty quirky. Yes, Steve sings, be forewarned. Solo guitar on this one - no backing band. But it works just fine.

Panzerpappa - Sykkelgnomflåtten - The Bicycle Gnome Bug
What is there to say about a Bicycle Gnome Bug. Things just get stranger and stranger here on The Fusion Reactor.

Hugh Hopper - Scooter Trash
TWO spoken word songs on one show!? Whereas the previous total was probably zero. But this one is poetry. I'd say the words are best ignored while you pay close attention to the very cool background music.

Joe Satriani - Motorcycle Driver
I think Joe wrote this one about my roommate.

Rick Wakeman - The Cycle of Life
My mp3 of this is terribly messed up. For that, I apologize. It was supposed to be here, but it's not. Perhaps I'll find a suitable replacement.

Birdsongs Of the Mesozoic - One Hundred Cycles
That's a lot of cycles, huh? Maybe they wrote it about a bike shop.

Ghost Circus - Cycles
Some hard rockin' prog here. I feel a little bit of a Porcupine Tree influence here. Maybe it's the vocals?

Niacin - Bullet Train Blues
It's a replacement for the Rick Wakeman track that failed miserably. I didn't want to open up the whole "train" can of worms, because there are simply too many to choose from, but here's a good example.