Gabriel Sabadi - Hey You

Hear The Track Here

Damn, what is it with these Mixposure guys, they are getting to be everywhere! However, to be fair to Gabriel Sabadi, he did get on this list through Soundclick, a site he has been becoming more and more visible on. Mind you, the list of musicians who collaborated on some of the tracks that make up the bulk of his Soundclick page is an absolute Who's Who of active Mixposure musicians. Try this on for size; KED, Dazed, KOR, Michael Nunley, Warren Peece, Robert Smith, Peter Mercer, RWK, Gina, Wherewolf, Budrumming, Luke Davison, Neil, Rob Grant, Gary Powers, Chris Moore, Kephas, Chris Georgiou. CSK, Peter Tamdog. Chris Moore is the name that comes up more often linked to Gabe's and both are members of the entity known as GSM whose Time Will Cure Us All (March 2010), a stunning track and not a hint of prog rock (Ed: is that an inside joke Gilmore? I thought we had discussed that kind of behaviour)

I have known Gabriel for a while and Hey You could in fact be his signature greeting, so making a track about it was a fairly obvious conclusion. The only rotting flower in this cosy picture is that Gabriel (and friends) have an endless fascination with progressive rock which has been known to test my patience. Mind you, if I HAD to listen to prog-rock then Gabriel Sabadi (and his collaborative efforts) are where I would head first. What may prove even more surprising is that Hey You is, essentially, ballad to boot and yet here I stand, unscathed and non-fuming. How is such a thing possible, you may ask? Especially if you know anything about my longstanding antipathy towards the genre.

The fact is that when musicians like Gabriel do prog-rock in its time honoured fashion, they not only pay attention to the detail, they also give a respectful nod to the musical roots. Moreover, although Hey You has some undeniably proggy moments, it is still essentially a rock ballad with elongated instrumental sections - the orchestral one being of particular not. Co-written with Chris Moore, who also contributed the vocals, the lyrics and the piano, Hey You shows exactly why Gabriel Sabadi is a cut above most wannabe proggies. This is music of depth, sonic quality and interest whatever label it may be wearing and yes, I even forgive it its balladic leanings. However, don't take that as a sign I am turning soft or I'll have to kick sand in your face. And grrrr, btw.

Highly Recommended (curse it) prog rock.