Rickter Scale Show 195 - Minumum Vital, Don Schiff, Royal Hunt, Iona

[Rick and Roll]

airing Sunday, September 21 from 8-11 PM EST and Monday, September 22 from 1-4 PM EST

Diversity is the theme. We're all over the place this week.

Minimum Vital - "Esprit D'Amor" (1997)

Esprit D'Amor
Brazilian Light
Modern Trad'
L'Invitation
Les Voyages De Costey
Song A Cinq
Danse Pour La Nouvelle Alliance
Prelude Aux Oiseaux Tristes
Au Cercle De Pierre J'ai Danse

I know I recently played "La Source", but I just picked this up and HAD to spin it. The transformation to full vocals is complete on here. Sometimes they sing in French, sometimes in English, and sometimes in an invented tongue. But the constant is the amazing Payssan brothers (Thierry on keys and Jean-Luc on guitars). I really dig their sound.

Don Schiff - "Peering Over Clouds" (2005)

Peering Over Clouds
Winds of Fire, Winds of Change
Under The Olive Tree
Secret World
Inside the Color of Dreams
Tomorrow's Magic
Reflective View
From Where the Past Began
The Eighth Wonder
A Whiter Shade of Pale
Talking In Tongues
Between Sound and Silence
Crossing the Lines of Reason

Exhibit 17 of why I should quit voting for "top records of the year". I keep finding more candidates. The incomparable Don Schiff covers a lot of musical territory on this disc. All played by Don and percussionist Greg Ellis, there's everything you'd want. And the liner notes are superb, with detailed information. And I'm not just saying that because he signed my dollar bill at 3RP!

Check out this list, even the muppets are here!

http://www.donschiff.com/bio.htm

Enjoy some incredible stick work.

Royal Hunt - from "Paradox" (1997)

Message To God
Long Way Home
It's Over

Prog-metal with religious overtones, think Dream Theater without the flash. There are some good technical moments, I picked the tracks I thought were the best songs.

Iona - from "Journey Into The Morn" (1995)

Inside My Heart
Encircling
Heaven's Bright Sun

One of my favorite bands I've never owned anything by...well scratch Iona off the list. I've always liked the guitar work of Dave Bainbridge - the vocals tend to repeat the choruses a bit much at times, but overall it's pleasant stuff. "Inside My Heart" is a great tune, "Encircling" is an epic, and "Sun" has some unusual instrumentation.

Next week is predominantly fusion...