The Fusion Reactor #144 - A Voyage Between the (Parenthesis)

What lies between the parentheses? Could be lots of things. For a prog song, it could be a 5-minute acoustic instrumental section, or it could be a segue into something more symphonic. Here is a series of (parenthesis) songs. Musically they are quite diverse, although I fit in a lot of fusion and experimental rock. I tried to stay away from the parentheses that just included "(part 1)" or the titles of various sections of the song, but rather just songs where the parenthetical phrase is actually part of the title. So, presented in alphabetical order:

A Minor Forest - (Talking To The) Man From Lusk (7:17)
Probably the scariest way I could start the show. If there's an audio dictionary out there, this would be the definition of bipolar disorder.

Ahleuchatistas - (IBID.4) (5:14)
A bit more sane. Just a bit. Actually it gets more settled as it goes on, so hang in there.

Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic - Magic Fingers (25 cents) (6:08)
To me, this sounds nothing like Magic Fingers. But seen through the eyes of BOTM, I guess anything is possible.

Brand X - Why Should I Lend You Mine (When You've Broken Yours Off Already...) (11:05)
Yes indeed, we're still in weird-land. But we're also in funny title land. Like the Ahleuchatistas track, this one actually gets more coherent as it goes on for a couple minutes.

Bruford - Adios A La Pasada (Goodbye To The Past) (8:42)
Yeah, in this case the parenthetical phrase is just a translation of the title. But if you didn't speak a word of Spanish, you'd be utterly lost without it, wouldn't you? Sounds like Allan Holdsworth has his usual great time flying all over the fretboard on this one.

Stanley Clarke - Funny How Time Flies (When You're Having Fun) (6:08)
Not Stan's most fusion-oriented album, this one actually borders on smooth jazz, but I wouldn't really give it that label just because it's more laid-back and melodic rather than frenetic and showy.

Dixie Dregs - Medley (Take It Off The Top) (6:21)
This is (obviously) a medley of all sorts of songs you've heard elsewhere, so where does the parenthetical phrase come from? My guess would be that it's because most of the songs are not quoted much more than just the beginning (or "top") of the song.

Don Caballero - Cold Knees (In April) (4:14)
Another crazy piece that will probably have the listeners rolling their eyes. If I told you that no, it's not random, try to figure out the pattern, would that help you at all?

Echolyn - The Edge Of Wonder (Erad-Glitch) (4:12)
Still quite odd but I'm sure you can find some accessibility in it. Definitely a more fun sort of madness, anyway.

Bela Fleck & The Flecktones - Jekyll and Hyde (and Ted and Alice) (7:05)
Typical Flecktones humor there. Gotta love these guys. And what a nice and tastefully written song!

Forever Einstein - Bad Weather (Changed Our Plans) (7:31)
These guys are always fun. What's especially odd here is that this is pretty much an absolutely normal song title.

Glass Hammer - Mithrandir (This Fading Age) (5:10)
We're definitely moving on toward more consonant territories with this one. The only question is ... can we keep things all in one key for long?

The Hosemobile - Conglaciation (The Process Of) (7:18)
Probably the only song in existence on this topic. Pretty much still pretty consonant, especially considering the normally ... experimental ... nature of this band.

Charlie Hunter - Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) (3:05)
This is from the "Charlie Hunter Duo" album. So yeah, it's just Charlie and a drummer (Leon Parker). This is a good one to get if you'd like to explore how Charlie is able to play guitar and bass at the same time.

Kansas - Icarus (Borne On Wings Of Steel) (6:04)
I will rise each day to meet the dawn! An inspiring song from one of my favorite classic prog bands.

Kenso - Kojinteki Kikyu (Nakiwarai~Shonen No Kikyu~Syukusai) (9:00)
Sure, that's easy for you to say! You didn't have to announce the title on the air! That's some crazy-cool guitar playing there, eh?

Kerry Livgren - Xylon (The Tree) (5:55)
I actually didn't have to look it up. I knew that the xylo- prefix has to do with wood. So now you know what xylophones are made of, huh? Don't you feel smarter now?

Pat Metheny - (Cross The) Heartland (6:55)
Always interesting what Pat can come up with. He's got his own distinct style but can branch off in so many different directions while still remaining recognizable. This closes this week's show with a feeling that there is more to come...

And indeed, there probably shall be!