CCP Ep. #240: All the Way by Diamanda Galás

Today we’re surveying the front lines of musical sensibilities. Avant garde singer, pianist, composer, and painter Diamanda Galás isn’t your everyday rom-com soprano. With a voice that’s been known to induce fear in a single note, bolstered by a three-and-a-half octave range, Diamanda’s followers range from fringe jazz cats to left field metalheads. Let’s let the work speak for itself; in this case, the work consists of peculiar re-workings of traditional jazz tunes… with a couple of surprises as well. The album is called All the Way, borrowed from its titular track, a cover of the familiar Frank Sinatra tune. Follow the originals with the provided playlist! We’ll explain them as we go. Also stick around for a discussion on the necessity of surveying all sides of the spectrum—good/bad, ugly/beautiful, moral/immoral—for only then do we have sufficient context for passing judgement.

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CCP Ep. #229: Amaterasu by Corima

The groundhog has seen its shadow… and in that shadow… lurks CORIMA. If you’ve never heard of the ‘Zeuhl’ genre, then—just for the moment—spare yourself from culling through the 11-album discography of Magma (the genre’s progenitor), and instead dive into Amaterasu, the third album by a vibrant and imaginative group based out of L.A. Taking after the jazz/prog leanings of its Zeuhl predecessors and the fully-enabled “anything goes” attitude of the RIO (Rock in Opposition) movement, Corima is all about fusion, yet also free of inhibition. The result: a two-piece, multi-movement concept work called Amaterasu. In this episode, we begin with an overview of Zeuhl before taking off on a roller coaster of an album analysis.

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CCP Ep. #195: Death by Water by Yugen

There’s nothing quite like Yugen that we can find. An Italian avant-prog chamber ensemble that derived influence from the RIO movement (Rock in Opposition) of the 70s/80s, Yugen’s latest endeavor is an LP called Death by Water. With a lust for chaos and a penchant for carefully cloaking its oddball leitmotifs, Death by Water can’t be judged by its cover. Check out the album in the Spotify link and just let it happen, folks. And then, we implore you… let us happen as well. Invite Crash Chords into your lives as we reason out this behemoth of an album, from its pinnacles to its perils. And then, in our topic, hear us reason out the disparity between the terms “avant-garde” and “experimental”… if any.

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