Radio Massacre International: Lost in Transit 3rd pressing info

(Thanks to 'Webmaster Mike,' a.k.a. Michael Ostrich, for bringing this to my attention!)


Since the first two pressings sold out earlier this summer, we've have been inundated with requests to re-press Lost in Transit. We are currently looking into this and expect to possibly repress later in the autumn..but that depends on you. Any pressing will be STRICTLY limited edition, and will be on a first-requested, first serve basis. WE ARE NOT ASKING FOR ANY MONEY AT THIS TIME - just an email stating that you would like to buy one, as well as the country you are from. So, if you wish to pre-order a copy please drop Webmaster Mike an email and we'll add you to the list. We'll do our best to make sure you get a copy!


Here's what’s included:
The Gatherings 2004
National Space Center 2005
National Space Center 2006 (w/Ian Boddy)
Various live tracks with Damo Suzuki (2004 & 2006)
Rain Falls In Leicester & Baltimore (w/Martin Archer, Cyndee Lee Rule & Premik Russell Tubbs)
The Gatherings 2007 (Sets 1 & 2) (w/Cyndee Lee Rule)

NEARfest 2008 in review

NF 2008 was in some ways one of the more challenging ones for me from both a physical and emotional level. Through most of the weekend, my body seemed to be conspiring against me. Despite this, some of the most memorable musical things happened.

Koenjihyakkei was a solid Saturday opener. I had some issues with the vocal/sax interplay, both of which seemed to stay in very similar ranges, making it difficult at times to discern which was which. But they also had "the" drummer of the festival for me in Tatsuya Yoshida, and his performance was the benchmark by which I compared all others.

Sorry, Mike Portnoy.

Discipline. Not fair of me to say anything. They exceeded my expectations a thousand fold, and I wept for the first time during the festival as they played "Into the Dream." It was a transcendent set for me, one I hope will eventually see some kind of official release. I should add that the rest of the guys in the band are brilliant as well...I've known Matthew Parmenter for a few years, but Mathew Kennedy, Jon Preston Bouda and Pual Dzendel were all a joy to chat with too.

Peter Hammill was superb. It was one of the diverging performances of the weekend, as his particular brand of existential despair and doom is not for everyone. But he played 'In the Black Room,' and 'A Better Time,' and 'Still Life.' A perfect English gentleman to talk to as well. Brilliant man.

Liquid Tension Experiment was good. I know they wowed a lot of people who expected nothing from their set. I did about 90 minutes of their set, and had enough. It's just not for me anymore. But kudos for incorporating a full fledged and rearranged rendition of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" into their performance (Banco would echo this Sunday night, opening their encore with a soprano sax or clarinet solo that interpolated bits of the theme).

Morglbl on the other hand is LTE with Gallic humour. Cristopher Godin is a ham, and his stage presence was wonderful. Floral print tie and all. Great player, oozing character, and the bassist held his own! Very goofy, fun, party prog on the metal edge. Liked them a lot. I'll buy their albums I think. A perfect Sunday opener, and I think they got called out for two encores (and deservedly so), a first.

Radio Massacre International...I dig electronic music, but watching it can be tedious. It was somewhat here...and I was tired. And starting to hurt badly. Cyndee Lee Rule's violin additions helped, as did the occasional use of drums. But the set seemed disjointed.

Echolyn was also a lot of fun. they played several songs I'd never heard played before, like 'Winterthru,' 'The Great Men,' 'Entry 11-19-93' (or whatever the date in the title was). Very energetic set. No new material, but it was a blast. Again, I missed part, as before the encores I started to hurt so bad I was nauseous and crying (thankfully over the course of the rest of the evening I'd spend some time with the guys, which was brilliant as always. They are total class acts...).

Medication and food later, we had...

Banco del Mutuo Soccorso.

After their set, I walked around goofy saying "I just saw Banco." I'd walk up to someone and say "That was Banco." It was transcendent, and again, I wept. They were everything I heard on their albums and more. Far far more.

But for me, this year meant something more. This year I think I realised how important the people around me all weekend were. My friends helped me get through a very rough patch with kindness and concern and selflessness. That totally made it for me. Some of the past festivals' performances may have been individually superior, but I may remember NEARfest 2008 most fondly in the end.

NEARfest 2008 photos redux

I'm uploading the last of the pix now, so you can click on the following links to see the rest of the shots:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v478/prjt2501/nearfest_2008/5_morglbl/
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v478/prjt2501/nearfest_2008/6_rmi/
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v478/prjt2501/nearfest_2008/7_echolyn/
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v478/prjt2501/nearfest_2008/8_banco/

The dearth of RMI pix is as much an indictment of the lighting (which suited the music but made photography a touch difficult) as anything else. Plus, let's face it...looking at 3 dozen photos of two synthesists flipping switches, pushing buttons and dialing in sounds would get a mite boring.

Anyway...enjoy.

RMI: 3 new titles forthcoming

Available at Nearfest, and from July 1st to order, the following Radio Massacre International releases.

Rain Falls In A Different Way: A companion piece to Rain Falls In Grey, and a collection of new music recorded during the same time frame using similar instrumentation. Expansive and atmospheric as well as strongly rhythmic space rock.

Philadelphia Air Shot: A single performance for WXPN Radio in Philadelphia in 2007, using an arranged piece as a starting point, moving into sequencer improvisation before ending up in deep space over the luxury of an hour. From the DAT master.

Fast Forward 1993-2008: A budget priced compilation with a difference. This aims to represent every one of 30 albums over the course of a single disc whilst being a new unique listening experience of itself. Ideal as an introduction to the band or as a `spot the album' game for seasoned followers. Also a convenient way to load a career's worth of RMI into your MP3 player at a stroke.

http://www.radiomassacreinternational.com

Gagliarchives NEARfest news (and downloads too!)

The Gagliarchives will be hosting the 2008 edition of its annual NEARfest Radio Special on Saturday, March 15th. Host Tom Gagliardi will be joined by Festival Organizer Chad Hutchinson for four hours of nothing-but-NEARfest. Featured will be music from each of the bands performing at NEARfest X, plus some live nuggets from past years, and some special in-studio guests. Be sure to tune in from 10:00pm to 2:00am either on the air and online!

On the radio at z88.9 The Pulse, http://www.z889.org in the Greater Philadelphia area

Online at Aural Moon, http://live.str3am.com:2010 (Broadband) or http://live.str3am.com:2020 (Dial-up)

Call-in number: 1-609-894-8900

Visit http://www.gagliarchives.com to find out more about this excellent progressive rock radio program.



And...



Enjoy a free downloadable concert sanctioned by Radio Massacre International by going over to

http://www.gagliarchives.com/

and click on "ON DEMAND." There, you will find 3 tracks of RMI's live set on the show from a few weeks ago (Radio Massacre International will be performing at this year's NEARfest).

A selection of news bites...

Jethro Tull:
40th anniversary tour, DVD documentary on the band, and more.

Beardfish:
News on Sleeping in Traffic Part II.

Radio Massacre International:
Completely new website...

The Enid:
Two new full songs for download (well, new as of September 2007, but still) of material being worked up for possible forthcoming release.

Jade Warrior:
New album NOW nearing completion...hopefully a 2008 release.

Gryphon:
New album in the works since September...possible Summer 2008 release.