Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Thielus Grenon - The Underground

Hear The Track Here


Looking at the tumbleweed strewn desolation of Soundclick's forums (which may well be reaching their Aral Sea moment), you couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like to be busy, let alone buzzing. There was a time though, where these forums were so active, and the music flowed accordingly. As the old saying goes, everyone should get 15 minutes of fame, around 2004 was Soundclick's turn and bloody awesome it was too. It was also the spawning ground for some of those indie underground names who have become increasingly well known since then.

Therefore I am always delighted to welcome another veteran of those times, so step forward Theilus Grenon. An American prog rock artist, but one of those early pioneers who broke down my resistance to the genre back in the day. Put it like this, out of all the tracks I have reviewed from him, none has escaped with less than a Highly Recommended. It may be (kinda/sorta) proggy, true enough, but there is a really good musician under it and that will always win out over genre. Thielus is a bit of a wanderer, and those tracks are dotted sparingly over the course of many years, the last review was of Platypus on the Prowl (December 2008) but such long absences are normal for this musician.

Here is one track I swear is much enhanced by reading the lyrics, in fact I think it should be integral part of the experience because the one thing about The Underground is that is unbelieveably clever. 'Steam powered riddles' are one of the lines in the track, and that could well describe the track itself because that is where it is undeniably prog-rock in every way. However, when the man puts music and vocals behind the line that goes ' I’ll feel my feet stepping down the stairs' it will make you smile and that is why it's clever. Prog rock (without the posing) is a difficult form to create but Thielus has never had any problems with ir - even with a philistine like me.

MUST HAVE prog rock (yeah, I wrote that...)

No comments: