My band “The Universal” (we are a psychedelic space-rock band from Boise, ID) finally has a website up…still some work to do and a couple dead links, but the majority of it is up and running. It uses a couple of out-of-the-box open source apps which I am pretty fond of – namely Calendarix calendars and JW Flash players.Awwww….my first site. Ain’t it cute?The Universal’s Official Website
Archive for the 'Now Playing' Category
Rock Band Logos 3
October 24, 2007 From Wikipedia: “The hook-and-cross logo is that of Kronos, the king of the Titans and father of Zeus in Greek mythology, and is the alchemical symbol for lead, one of the heaviest of metals. Sandy Pearlman considered this, combined with the heavy and distorted guitar sound of the band and decided the description “heavy metal” would be aptly applied to Blue Öyster Cult’s musical sound. It was designed by Bill Gawlik and appears on all of the band’s albums.”
One of my all time favorite bands, and one of my all time favorite logos. The legend and story of this band is really pretty awesome, and literally rife with mysterious allegory. Their career is like a riddle within a riddle – with a mysterious “Sandy Pearlman” character lurking behind the curtain. Wikipedia has complied a pretty good history of Blue Oyster Cult. Look into it, I dare you. All the tie-ins with the “Stony Brook” and the Oysters, and “Sandy Pearlman” and it goes on and on.
Fascinating…
I could write thousands of words about this band and this logo – like I said, I am a huge fan.
I will try not to gush, but that is why there are rules to guide me.
HOLDS MYSTERY: Oh yeah. Just try and start googling things like “cross of questioning” and “cross of chronos”
and see what kind of results you get. Back in Jr. High, people thought I was satanic (merely posessed) because I
scrawled the symbol everywhere. Almost got beat up once, but I befuddled the bully. They made a point of hiding it on their record jackets – it became a game to find it. Spectres took forever – it was the hardest one.
Obviously a 10
DESCRIBES THE MUSIC: Well, if I saw the symbol anywhere, on anything, I am just the kind of curious person who would look into it. I think I would have to speculate that they were a thinking, brooding man’s band. Metal for sure…but something more – something not exactly metal. It’s tough to say if this symbol really evokes an imagined “sound.” It’s kind of up in the air, and I have to give it an 8.
WORKS WITH SPRAYPAINT: Hella. 10
VERSATILITY: I’ve seen it decorated a million ways, emblazoned on all manner of merchandise, and it works every time. It’s freakin ancient, dudes. Strong symbology, multiple applications, all around killer, versatile logo. Once you see it, you can’t un-see it. 10
COMPLEXITY: Not too complex, but that tight curve at the bottom takes a little practice to get just right. Simple enough to draw or scrawl, complex enough to make you have to think about it. Love it. A true ten sits squarely on the fence, and this is a great example. 10
Total score for Blue Oyster Cult: 9.6!
Banda Elastica
October 23, 2007
Banda Elastica’s second album, Banda Elastica 2 (1986) is a masterpiece of progressive fusion and symphonic prog. Hailing from Mexico, their approach to creating complex spiraling textures while employing a mix of traditional rock instruments as well as flutes and violin, etc is truly matchless in musicianship.
The marimba is deeply reminiscent of later era Frank Zappa compositions. It melds the traditional musical styles of the great nation of Mexico with modern sensibilities and very progressive thinking. Mariachi style guitars complete with lots of flamenco flatpicking and frilly scales that spiral in and out of your conscious listening. The polka is hidden well, but it peeks through the fog every now and then like a snow covered mountaintop peeking through a cloud. The melodies dart around like rainbow colored minnows in a clear sunny brook.
Great drumming, great bass player..even an occasional drum & bass breakdown that is funky and bizarre at the same time.
A lot of this material sounds like there might have been a basic “script” in place for the song structures, but also it sounds very jammy and improvisational. Lots of cool keyboards and synths, at times sounding very jazzy – ala Herbie Hancock.
All in all, this is a fantastic record and you should check it out. Unfortunately, an mp3 has not yet been submitted to progarchives.com, otherwise I’d link you to a free listen. Check them out anyways. If you are a fan of Zappa, and also a fan of symphonic prog then you should seek out Banda Elastica. They are sure not to disappoint.
Rock Band Logos 2
October 22, 2007
Today the logo is for one of my favorite bands of all time….the french prog outfit, MAGMA. A lot can be said about this terrific and spaced out bunch of weirdos, and their logo is one of my personal favorites. You should read the wiki about this band….it’s pretty awesome. They invented their own language to sing in that tied in with a vaguely scientology-esque backstory as to what the band is all about. Vander had a version of the logo cut out of brass and hung on a chain around his neck. So badass.
HOLDS MYSTERY: While there is no real occult significance to this logo, there is a good share of mystery because it ties well into the backstory of the band. It looks like hot lava erupting from a towering volcano and spilling around it, swallowing up some sort of medieval castle structure. The symbology is fierce and fairly direct. I dig it. 7
DESCRIBES THE MUSIC: If you can describe the music of Magma with words, you are doing better than most. While the logo doesn’t really suggest any particular brand of music to me, I think if I came across the logo in a record store, I’d imagine them to sound like some kind of desert-rock 90′s grunge rock metal type band. I would be pretty mistaken in doing so, though I would not have been disappointed if I had bought the record based solely on the logo. This one has to land just above the middle mark.
6
WORKS WITH SPRAYPAINT: I think I would fall over if I saw that someone had made a stencil and spraypainted this logo under the overpass. “Whoa! Someone else has heard of Magma!” It is a clean logo, and without the verbiage, the logo would work great as a stencil. 10
VERSATILITY: Vander with his big brass cutout necklace version says it all. Extremely versatile logo. Looks great in any color, on any material. Works all on it’s own with or without text. 10
COMPLEXITY: While the shape itself is fairly complex, it is one piece, which helps make it simple enough to be reproduced with a sharpee pen or a mauve colored crayola. I would love to meet the pre-teen Magma fan – pretty sure it doesnt exist, but a pre-teen absessed with early seventies frech prog could paint it on their jacket pretty easily, or draw it on their pee-chee folder. 9
Magma Logo Total Score: 8.4
