In The DropBox: Flying Colors, Nick Mason, Djabe with Steve Hackett, and Gazpacho

September 26, 2020 Thaddeus Wert 1 Comment

The DropBox overfloweth this week: two live sets, an interesting prog/jazz offering, and the new Gazpacho album.

First up, Flying Colors’ third live album, Third Stage: Live In London, recorded during the tour in support of 2019’s excellent Third Degree. The prog supergroup of Mike Portnoy, Steve Morse, Dave LaRue, Casey McPherson, and Neal Morse just gets better and better. This is a two-disc set featuring the cream of their crop of arena-rock style prog. The rhythm section of Portnoy and LaRue is insane, especially LaRue’s funky bass. If you aren’t familiar with Flying Colors, this is the perfect introduction. If you’re a fan, it’s the best document of their scorching live prowess yet recorded.

Next up is Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets. This is a real treat: Nick Mason, original drummer for Pink Floyd, put together a talented group of musicians to play a relaxed set of pre-Dark Side Of The Moon classics at the Roundhouse. If all you know about the Floyd is DSOTM and later, these songs (with the exception of the Meddle ones) will surprise you. They are playful and psychedelic in a very charming way. Gary Kemp, of Spandau Ballet fame, handles vocals, and he is terrific. It’s obvious both the band and the audience are having a great time, and Nick Mason has not lost his chops one bit.

The Magic Stag, by Hungarian group Djabe, is hard to categorize. The first few songs sound like some sort of raga/smooth jazz hybrid, as if Bob James found himself in Bollywood. Okay, I exaggerate, but there’s definitely an Indian feel to “Power of Wings” courtesy of a sitar jamming with trumpet. Steve Hackett lends his always tasteful guitar to seven of the eleven songs, and he and his wife wrote the lyrics to the title track.

The sixth track, “Unseen Sense” is the highlight, with some outstanding acoustic guitar work supporting a beautiful melody. This is a song worthy of stellar fusion artists such as Oregon, Weather Report, or Mark Isham. The rest of the album maintains the high standard set by this track. If you are looking for a nice album to play on a lazy Sunday morning, Djabe’s The Magic Stag is a perfect choice.

Anything new from Gazpacho is big news, and it’s been two years since we heard from them. Fireworker is their latest, and it is somewhat of a departure from previous efforts. I, for one, am glad to see them stretch out a little. The past few albums were starting to sound a little interchangeable. This one kicks off with the 20-minute epic “Space Cowboy”, which features a huge choir. It’s as if Carl Orff took his Carmina Burana and scored it for a prog rock group. That sounds ambitious, but Gazpacho pulls it off with aplomb.

This song cycle, like most of Gazpacho’s, has a unifying concept. In the words of keyboardist Thomas Andersen,

“There’s an instinctual part of you that lives inside your mind, separate from your consciousness. I call it the ‘Fireworker’ or the ‘Lizard’ or the ‘Space Cowboy.’ It’s an eternal and unbroken lifeforce that’s survived every generation, with a new version in each of us. It’s evolved alongside our consciousness, and it can override us and control all of our actions.” In order to get us to do what it wants, he clarifies, the “Fireworker” will silence the parts of our mind that feel disgust or remorse so that we’re unable to stop it. The conscious part of our mind, Andersen notes, will actually “rationalize and legitimize” those thoughts and actions so that we never discover the beast behind-the-scenes. No matter how we feel about ourselves in terms of identity, accomplishments, and value, we’re all just vessels—or “Sapiens”—that the creature uses until it no longer needs us. “If you play along,” Andersen explains, “It’ll reward you like a puppy and let you feel fantastic; if you don’t, it’ll punish you severely.”

From arena prog, through psychedelic pop, to jazz prog, and finally Norwegian choral prog (for want of a better term!), this is the most eclectic batch of music we’ve ever pulled from the DropBox. I’ll leave you with a little Djabe and Steve Hackett:

Republic of Letters

Tolkien Begins the Sequel to “The Hobbit” ~ The Imaginative Conservative

September 25, 2020 bradbirzer

Yet, as much as Tolkien kept the story a Hobbit story, unanticipated persons and scenes and moments inserted themselves into the story, as did Tolkien’s larger legendarium. “The sequel to The Hobbit has now progressed as far as the end of the third chapter,” the author informed Stanley Unwin, however, “stories tend to get out of hand, and this has taken an unpremeditated turn.”[4] Tolkien repeated this news to various letter recipients over the next several months, recognizing that his own children—for whom The Hobbit had been originally written—had aged, and thus too had the storytelling. Somehow the sequel was growing in dark and perplexing ways. The whole story, he feared by October 1938, “was becoming more terrifying than the Hobbit.” Most worrisome, “it may prove quite unsuitable” as it becomes more and more “adult.” Clearly, Tolkien admitted, though never allegorical, the story of the sequel—and its depth and intensity—reflected the “darkness of the present days.”[5] In particular, the Necromancer (that is, Sauron) was playing a much bigger role in the sequel, and he, by his very nature, “is not child’s play.”[6]
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2020/09/tolkien-begins-sequel-hobbit-bradley-birzer.html

Republic of Letters

A Wealth-and-Welfare Reading of Hesiod’s Works and Days

September 23, 2020 Alexander William Salter

“A conventional economic analysis of the text—that is, one concerned primarily with wealth and welfare—focuses on the many lines devoted to labor, mercantile activity, law, and prudence. Wealth-and-welfare economists will be drawn to these subjects because they most clearly embody conventional economic concerns with production and distribution, as well as the rules governing these processes.”

https://egnatiavia.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-wealth-and-welfare-reading-of-hesiods.html

Music

In The DropBox: Arcade Messiah, Katatonia, and Pineapple Thief

September 20, 2020 Thaddeus Wert

John Bassett was very active in the mid 2010s with his KingBathMat, solo, and Arcade Messiah projects. KingBathMat was a quirky prog group that released five excellent albums of melodic metal, while Arcade Messiah began as an instrumental outfit. AM has released a few EPs since 2016’s III, but Bassett is back with a vengeance in 2020, and it sounds like he never left. In fact, he has taken the best elements of KingBathMat and Arcade Messiah and melded them into a sleek prog-metal machine. He’s now working exclusively under the Arcade Messiah moniker, and their latest effort is The Host. It features his trademark gift for a memorable melody delivered with crunching guitars. If you like your prog rock on the heavy side while remaining hummable, then your can’t go wrong with Arcade Messiah’s latest.

Katatonia’s City Burials is their followup to 2017’s magnificent The Fall of Hearts. This is a set of songs that explore the sadness and sense of loss one gets as one realizes that the past is buried forever. “Behind The Blood” is a ferocious rocker in the tradition of past Katatonia, but the majority of tracks are more hushed and tender. Jonas Renkse’s vocals have never been more warmer and more expressive as they are here. “Vanishers” features a beautiful duet between Renkse and Anni Bernhard that is a highlight. Katatonia’s evolution from extremely dark metal to melodic prog has been fascinating, and City Burials is their strongest effort yet.

Speaking of evolutions, The Pineapple Thief has fully emerged from their Radiohead/minimalist origins, and with Versions Of The Truth they are now one of the finest prog/pop groups active today. In the early 1980s, The Police were one of the biggest groups in the world. Their secret power was letting Stewart Copeland’s drums take the lead, and having Andy Summers’ guitar provide the rhythm.

With Gavin Harrison, The Pineapple Thief have a percussionist as gifted as Copeland, and his drums are way up in the mix, propelling the entire project. Every song is credited to both Harrison and Bruce Soord, and these are the finest set PT has ever recorded. Gone are the 20+ minutes-long meandering explorations, to be replaced by perfectly crafted pop miniatures. Even the longest one – “Our Mire” at 7:26 – is a masterpiece of concision. Stylistically they range from the laconic “Driving Like Maniacs” to the pulverizing “Break It All”, and there isn’t a clunker in the lot.

Three albums, three winners. 2020 isn’t a total disaster!

Republic of Letters

Tocqueville and a New Science of Politics ~ The Imaginative Conservative

September 16, 2020 bradbirzer

When we fail to understand the choice that God has given us with democracy—that is, a science to guide, attenuate, and hone democracy—the baser instincts will rise to the fore. “So democracy has been abandoned to its wild instincts; it has grown up like those children, deprived of paternal care, who raise themselves in the streets of our cities, and who know society only by its vices and miseries. We still seemed unaware of its existence, when it took hold of power without warning.”

As such, democracy, thus far, has grown wild and licentious, on the verge of untamable. Though this process is stoppable and alterable, it will take some doing to make it work. As of the 1830s, Tocqueville fears, the material changes of democracy had far outpaced any of the spiritual restraints, customs, traditions, norms, and mores that make a thing good and acceptable, especially when dealing with a way of life. Many critics, understandably, thus see only the ills that democracy brings, failing to note its higher qualities. Habits, especially, have shown throughout history, the propensity to limit the ills of a thing, to make it acceptable to a population and to the stability of society.
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2020/09/tocqueville-new-science-politics-bradley-birzer.html

Republic of Letters

On Brad Birzer’s 9/11 Talk

September 13, 2020 Richard K. Munro

19 Years After 9/11

Wonderful, Brad. Thanks for sharing your talk with us. Of course, I knew of 9/11 and flight 93 -93 is a mystical number symbolizing courage as it was the Regimental number of the Thin Red Line of Heroes at Balaklava the 93rd Highlanders. Let’s Roll indeed. I like to think in the deep heartland of America there are still brave souls who will say Let’s Roll when big things are at stake. And of course, I know of Gettysburg (I have visited three times in my life the first time in 1961) but never thought or even knew about the connection of Hillsdale to Gettysburg -that is a great particular fact to know and one that shines credit on the heritage of Hillsdale. 9/11 remains strongly in my memory. I used to live in New York City (when I was at NYU) and I had been to the WTC numerous times. In 1993 I bought a Library of America book on the Debates on the Constitution there. It is strange and frightening that all those strong, powerful places were obliterated. Our bodies are fragile vessels but we forget civilization itself is also vulnerable and fragile. Nothing is permanent. Except perhaps the fame of our forefathers so I say NE OBLIVISCARIS….DO NOT FORGET the men who were SAN PEUR (without fear) who fought not for conquest or domination but for liberty.

Some years ago Andrew Roberts was going on a series of talks to promote his book WALKING WITH DESTINY. I asked him how many in total and he said 93. I told him that was a lucky number. He asked why then I said ask Kipling the 93rd were the Thin Red Line of Heroes. He laughed. He understood immediately (he knew my grandfather won the Military Medal at 2nd Ypres while serving with the Argylls and that my grandfather knew Willie Gallacher -the Scottish Communist and Major Ricketts (the man who composed the River Kwai March- Col.Bogey).

So old Highlanders have old memories. 42nd Highlanders (Black Watch) 91st Highlanders (Spain) 93rd Highlanders (India/Russia/South Africa). By the way, Scottish veterans of Balaklava fought at Bull Run, Antietam and Gettysburg also The 79th Highlanders was a Union Regiment. Of course, the Auld Regiments are part of family and clan history. To some historians, a regimental number is just a number on a map. To those of us who remember it is a story of the Teuchters (the Tough Ones) fighting it out with mire cath (the ancient battle frenzy). When Wallace and Bruce fought we were there. We were there at Guadalcanal, El Alamein, Dunkirk, D-Day, Korea.

“Heroes’ blood and tears bid us hold our ancient glory of free lands and of bold lands HIGHLANDS and LOWLAND ye ancient and ye free lands. Faith that dare not lie but would die for home and kithland….”.. Our splendid ancient heritage is something we shall never forget. We are not ashamed to have pride of name and descent. We face firmly towards the future and never forget the past. We contribute our measure of courage and character to the American melting pot.

Republic of Letters

19 Years After 9/11

September 13, 2020 bradbirzer 5 Comments

September 11, 2020

19 Years Later, We Still Remember

Brad Birzer

Today, we celebrate—and remember, as we promised we would never forget—the 19^th anniversary of the tragic events; that is, the brutal attack on American lives, on American rights, and on American soil led by a fundamentalist terrorist.

19 is an odd number, and yet an important number. As I give this talk, I’ve been at this college 21 years. My oldest son, Nathaniel, is a senior and 21 years old. My oldest daughter, Gretchen, is 19 years old and a sophomore.

19 years, indeed, has been a lifetime for many of you standing here.

Not atypically, I was teaching back-to-back Western Heritage courses the morning of the attacks. One 8:00 section, one 9:30 section. We were most likely on Pericles or Socrates. In between the two, a flustered student told me about the events in New York, but, of course, everything was confused. Later that morning, my wife, Dedra, and I ran into President Arnn in the old Ethen Allen Room—who informed us quite rightly that Hillsdale would continue the day in class, as it’s exactly what the terrorists would NOT want.

I’m sure no one in this crowd is shocked by Dr. Arnn’s strength of character.

2,977 Americans died on 9/11. Lives were silenced, then; and, by executive order, the skies were silenced. On that day, there were victims, there were first responders, there were heroes; all were American.

My favorite story—one that never ceases to get to me—is about one of the passengers on Flight 93: Tom Burnett—a 38-year old Wall Street Banker, father of three girls, husband to a beautiful wife, and a devout Christian. This man, a former college football player for St. John’s College in Minnesota, a lover of business as well as of ancient Greek philosophy, helped two other courageous American men drive a jet airliner into rural Pennsylvania soil on a clear September morning, 2001. “We’re all going to die, but three of us are going to do something about it. I love you honey.” These were his last words to his wife on his cell phone.

Liberty and sacrifice. I was teaching that in Western Heritage that morning, and I was witnessing it all around us.

And, here we stand at Central Hall, September 11, 2020. Right there, is our moment to men who died on Pennsylvania soil.

Indeed, numerous Hillsdale men sacrificed their lives at the Battle of Gettysburg (in and around a little Lutheran town). The 24^th Michigan on July 1; the 4^th Michigan on July 2. Each day, Hillsdale College men sacrificed themselves for something greater than each of them. They sacrificed for each other, for the college, for the republic. They sacrificed for us.

Liberty and sacrifice—these words, these themes, keep coming back to me and, I hope, to all of us.

And, I am reminded of one of the greatest of republican martyrs, Marcus Tullius Cicero, murdered by his executive in 43BC. He wrote, profoundly,

“Before our own time, the customs of our ancestors produced excellent men, and eminent men preserved our ancient customs and the institutions of their forefathers. But the republic, when it came to us, was like a beautiful painting, whose colours, however, were already fading with age, our own time not only has neglected to freshen it by renewing the original colours, but has not even taken the trouble to preserve its configuration and, so to speak, its general outlines. For what is now left of the ‘ancient customs’ one which he said ‘the republic of Rome’ was ‘founded firm’? They have been, as we see, so completely buried in oblivion that they are not only no longer practiced, but are already unknown.

And what shall I say of the men? For the loss of our customs is due to our lack of men, and for this great evil we must not only give an account, but must even defend ourselves in every way possible, as if we were accused of capital crime. For it is through our own faults, not by any accident, that we retain only the name of republic, but have long since lost its essence” [Cicero, The Republic, Book 5, Section 1]

As we live in a season of confusion, I wonder if we could write this not just of 43BC but of 2020AD.

And, yet, no matter what, the sacrifices remain. . . the voices are not silent. . . the sky is not silent.

Let us remember—those voices silenced on 9/11. Let us remember the victims. Let us remember the first responders. Let us remember the heroes. Americans all. And, let us be like Cicero. Let us be like the 4^th and the 24^th Michigan regiments. Let us be like Tom Burnett.

May our colors never fade, may our voices never cease, may our skies rage: liberty and sacrifice.

God bless, America.

[I had the grand privilege of giving this talk to the Hillsdale College community at noon on September 11, 2020.]

Republic of Letters

The Flower Kings Announce Islands

September 11, 2020 bradbirzer

Republic of Letters

Ezekiel 33 DRB

September 9, 2020 bradbirzer

1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say to them: When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man, one of their meanest, and make him a watchman over them: 3And he see the sword coming upon the land, and sound the trumpet, and tell the people: 4Then he that heareth the sound of the trumpet, whosoever he be, and doth not look to himself, if the sword come, and cut him off: his blood shall be upon his own head. 5He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not look to himself, his blood shall be upon him: but if he look to himself, he shall save his life. 6And if the watchman see the sword coming, and sound not the trumpet: and the people look not to themselves, and the sword come, and cut off a soul from among them: he indeed is taken away in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at the hand of the watchman.
— Read on biblehub.com/drb/ezekiel/33.htm

Republic of Letters

Universalizing Economics

September 8, 2020 Alexander William Salter

“If economics only applied to circumstances favoring avaricious behavior, it would be wholly proper for scholars of the humane disciplines to hold economics in contempt. Fortunately for economists, the antecedent is false.”

https://egnatiavia.blogspot.com/2020/09/universalizing-economics.html