BRYAN BELLER’S NEW SOLO WORK, ‘SCENES FROM THE FLOOD’, AN EPIC-SCALE MODERN PROGRESSIVE DOUBLE CONCEPT ALBUM, TO BE RELEASED ON SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2019;PRE-ORDERS NOW AVAILABLE
As a bassist and composer, Bryan Beller (The Aristocrats, Joe Satriani, Dethklok, Steve Vai) has never been accused of being insufficiently driven. But nothing he’s done before can truly prepare audiences for his newest release, the massively ambitious and unapologetically progressive double concept album Scenes From The Flood, scheduled for worldwide release on September 13th, now available for pre-order at bryanbeller.com.
A work so sweeping in scale that it took Beller nearly a decade to conceive, compose, and now fully realize, the album grapples with an existential question: When the storm comes for us, the big one after which things will not be the same, who are we and what do we become in those defining moments? What do we keep, and what do we let go? Scenes From The Flood explores themes of ambition and loss, intentionality and reality, hope and disillusionment, and uses every second of its 18-song, 88-minute running order to tell an emotionally consuming and unforgettable musical story.
Realizing Beller’s vision meant enlisting 26 musicians spread across four continents to bring Scenes From The Flood to life. Special guests on guitar include legends Joe Satriani (on the optimistic, “road trip” vibed opening track “Volunteer State”), John Petrucci (who lays down a screaming lead on the 9-minute story-climactic progressive epic “World Class”), Guthrie Govan (taking the lead on the album’s closing ballad “Sweet Water”), and Mike Keneally (going from layered acoustics on one track to furious metal riffing on another), just four of fourteen total guitarists who appear on the album. Drummers include veterans Gene Hoglan (Dethklok, Strapping Young Lad, Death), Joe Travers (Zappa Plays Zappa, Joe Satriani), Ray Hearne (Haken), and Nate Morton (Cher, The Voice)
uly 1st marked the debut of the animated video for one of the album’s signature tunes, “The Storm”, a dark and heavy odyssey that serves as one of the signature compositions of Beller’s new opus. The 7-minute piece features the aforementioned metal legend Gene Hoglan on drums and an army of four guitarists to deliver the song’s urgent, powerful message. See it here:
“Not exactly light fare, is it?” chuckles Beller, who just turned 48. “But all of my truly favorite albums take me to deep, sometimes challenging places, even upon repeated listening. Especially the double albums. Somewhere inside me, in the eleven years since my last solo album, I’d absorbed and processed a series of life experiences that, I thought, could possibly inform an extended work like this. I felt like I had something big and complex to say. And then I just dove into it.”
Presented in the classic format of four vinyl sides (or four “parts” on two CD’s), Scenes From The Flood was inspired by hallowed progressive double-albums like Pink Floyd’s The Walland Yes’ Tales From Topographic Oceans, as well as more modern expanded works, such as Nine Inch Nails’ The Fragile. The deluxe packaging (2CD 8-panel digipak + two 20-page double-CD booklets; 2LP gatefold + 24-page full-size booklet) reveals not just album artwork, but unique cover-style artwork for each of the eighteen songs, or “scenes”. The resulting sense of story urgency and dramatic narrative presents like a soundtrack to a movie suspense thriller as much as it does a double album. A limited run of 200 colored (purple) vinyl will also be produced.
Scenes From The Flood is performed by: Christopher Allis, Bryan Beller, Nili Brosh, Paul Cartwright, Darran Charles, Julian Coryell, Mike Dawes, Janet Feder, Guthrie Govan, Ray Hearne, Gene Hoglan, Mike Keneally, Jamie Kime, Fred Kron, Teddy Kumpel, Jake Howsam Lowe, Evan Mazunik, Nate Morton, Rick Musallam, Mike Olekshy, Griff Peters, John Petrucci, Matt Rohde, Joe Satriani, Rishabh Seen, Joe Travers, Leah Zeger
PART ONE The Scouring Of Three & Seventeen Volunteer State Everything And Nothing A Quickening Steiner In Ellipses
PART TWO Always Worth it Lookout Mountain The Storm The Flood
PART THREE Bunkistan As Advertised Army Of The Black Rectangles The Outer Boundary Angles & Exits
PART FOUR The Inner Boundary World Class Sweet Water Let Go Of Everything
Scenes From The Flood will be released on September 13th, 2019. Pre-orders are now available. All studio and live releases from Bryan Beller can be purchased at http://bryanbeller.com
What do you call an act who blends elements of dirty rock, folk, jazz, and explosions of esoterica into one mind-melding album? The Aristocrats, of course.
The Aristocrats (guitarist Guthrie Govan, bassist Bryan Beller and drummer Marco Minnemann) are perhaps the best known instrumental rock-fusion band on the circuit and have just recorded their most ambitious and exploratory album in their eight year history. You Know What…? is the fourth studio album from the trio and includes nine new tracks recorded at Brotheryn Studios, Ojai, CA.
In true Aristocratic tradition, each band member wrote and produced three songs which were brought to life in the studio thanks to the band’s instinctive chemistry and shared musical vocabulary. Having taken a little time away to work on other projects, the band were excited to be back together doing what they do best and producing a sound that’s at once fresh and new but unmistakably the work of The Aristocrats with their trademark blend of discipline and musical freedom. True to form, the album doesn’t hitch its wagon to any one genre. The only rules the trio live by are that the music must be pleasurable for the listener and it most definitely has to be fun to play.
A glance at the track listing for You Know What…? may cause some raised eyebrows from those unfamiliar with the band. For fans however, it’s a tantalizing glimpse of the stories behind the songs that the band will soon be sharing with audiences all over the world on their upcoming world tour, which begins in North America this summer. From the filthy, greasy rock of “D Grade F*ck Movie Jam” and “Terrible Lizard”, to the quirky anything-goes madness of “Spiritus Cactus” and “Spanish Eddie”, to the lavishly arranged “Burial At Sea” and “When We All Come Together”, and to the timeless melodies of “All Said And Done” and Last Orders”, You Know What…? is an album full of addictive grooves, high energy jamming and seemingly impossible musical twists and turns.The Aristocrats are undoubtedly back and ready to blow some minds.
The band are pretty pleased with how it turned out, commenting that: “On You Know What…?, we feel like we inspired each other as songwriters and musicians to do things we’ve never done before as a band. We know each other pretty well now, and we used that familiarity to really get after it in the studio and push the boundaries of what we can accomplish on a record. And still, it’s totally, completely an Aristocrats album. We think it’s the coolest thing we’ve done yet by far.”
Track Listing
1. D Grade F*ck Movie Jam 2. Spanish Eddie 3. When We All Come Together 4. All Said And Done 5. Terrible Lizard 6. Spiritus Cactus 7. The Ballad Of Bonnie And Clyde 8. Burial At Sea 9. Last Orders
You Know What…? will be available in both standard and deluxe CD packages, in addition to digital download and streaming versions. The deluxe edition includes a bonus DVD, filmed and edited by Jon Luini, featuring exclusive studio footage and interviews with the band – as well as a 12-page booklet comprising artwork to accompany each song, in which Graphic Artist Hajo Müller continues and expands the Aristocratic tradition of illustrated artwork with a decidedly childlike vision of each of the album’s nine tunes. You Know What…? will be released on June 28th 2019. Pre-sales will be available from early June.
The Aristocrats will begin a new world tour this year in support of You Know What…?, starting with their very own music camp “The Aristocamp” in upstate New York from June 18th to 21st before heading off for their most extensive tour yet of North America. Tour dates for other continents will be announced in the coming months.
Indonesian guitar legend of Balinese ethnic heritage and balinese Hindu faith – Dewa Budjana – marks his initial Favored Nations release in grandiose style, offering his most ambitious album to date, “Zentuary.” Supported by an all-star cast of enormous proportions – including jazz drums (and occasional pianist) legend, Jack DeJohnette (Miles Davis; over forty years on the ECM label), the iconic progressive bass and stickman, Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel; King Crimson; Stick Men), and the extraordinary superstar sideman talents of Britain’s Gary Husband (Allan Holdsworth; John McLaughlin; Billy Cobham; Jack Bruce) – Budjana offers a profusion of cross-cultural delicacies which tease, cajole, enthrall and, ultimately, satisfy listeners. Special guests include guitarist Guthrie Govan (The Aristocrats; Steven Wilson; GPS), Tim Garland (Chick Corea; Bill Bruford), Danny Markovich (Marbin), Czech Symphony Orchestra and Indonesian flutist/vocalist Saat Syah and Indonesian singers Ubiet and Risa Saraswati.
Dewa Budjana, a veteran player whose 30 years career has already been marked by collaborations with a virtual “who’s who” of jazz, fusion and prog luminaries (Peter Erskine, Vinnie Colaiuta, Antonio Sanchez, Chad Wackerman, Jimmy Johnson, Jimmy Haslip, Dave Carpenter, Reggie Hamilton, Ben Williams, Joe Locke, Larry Goldings, Janis Siegel, Dwiki Dharmawan, Ron Thal Bamblefoot, Billy Sheehan, and many others), still manages to raise the stakes and elevate the level of his game on his fifth solo album.
Aside from his renowned skills on guitar, Zentuary documents Dewa Budjana’s position as one of the genre’s most prolific, accomplished composers and arrangers. The music on this 2-CD set is a magnanimous affair, where its highly skilled participants are given ample space to create and express. The net result is a soaring, synergistic mélange of brilliant, articulate instrumental progressive rock, jazz-rock fusion and world music. After 4 successful and critically acclaimed releases on MoonJune Records (“Dawai In Paradise”, 2013; “Joged Kahyangan” in 2013, “Surya Namaskar” in 2014″, and “Hasta Karma” in 2015) this is – under the auspices of MoonJune Music and MoonJune Asia – a Favored Nations debut of the Indonesian icon not to be missed!
ALBUM TO BE RELEASED WORLDWIDE ON 1OCTOBER 14, 2016 on Steve Vai’s FAVORED NATIONS label (distributed by RED) (2CD and Digital Distribution) except in Indonesia where album is released by deMajors Records (2CD) and Dewa Budjana / MoonJune Asia (HD Download).
Also available as 3 LP 180 grams gatefold vinyl limited edition released worldwide by Audio Anatomy (Poland).
Album available on Favored Nations in stores wordlwide and online, from October 14, 2016:
AMAZON USA: www.amazon.com/Zentuary-Dewa-Budjana/dp/B01KM1V47Y
AMAZON UK: www.amazon.co.uk/Zentuary-Dewa-Budjana/dp/B01KM1V47Y
AMAZON GERMANY: www.amazon.de/Zentuary-2CD-Budjana-Dewa/dp/B01KM1V47Y
AMAZON JAPAN: www.amazon.co.jp/Zentuary-Dewa-Budjana/dp/B01KM1V47Y
DISK ONE
1. Dancing Tears 09:11
2. Solas PM 09:18
3. Lake Takengon 07:45
4. Suniakala 08:40
5. Dear Yulman 08:21
6. Crack In The Sky 07:36
DISK TWO
1. Pancaroba 08:12
2. Manhattan Temple 10:00
9. Dedariku 10:45
10. Ujung Galuh 07:05
11. Uncle Jack 10:50
12. Zentuary 02:50
DEWA BUDJANA all guitars, soundscapes
TONY LEVIN electric upright NS Design bass (all tunes; except 6 on Disk One and 6 on Disk Two),
Chapman Stick (tune 6 on Disk One)
GARY HUSBAND drums (tunes 1, 2, 4 & 6 on Disk One; 1, 4 & 5 on Disk Two),
keyboards & acoustic piano (all tunes; except 5 & 6 on Disk Two)
JACK DEJOHNETTE drums (tunes 3 & 5 on Disk One; 2 & 3 on Disk Two),
acoustic piano (tune 5 on Disk 2)
DANNY MARKOVICH curved soprano sax (tune 2 on Disk One; 4 on Disk Two)
TIM GARLAND tenor sax (tune 2 on Disk Two)
GUTHRIE GOVAN guitar solo (tune 4 on Disk One)
SAAT SYAH custom made Indonesian suling flute (tune 6 on Disk One; 3 on Disk 2)
UBIET vocals (tune 3 on Disk One)
RISA SARASWATI vocals (tune 6 on Disk One)
CZECH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA conducted by Michaela Růžičková (tune 4 on Disk One; 6 on Disk Two)
(C) Museum Gitarku/MoonJune Asia (P) Favored Nations, 2016
All composition by Dewa Budjana (except ‘Crack In The Sky’ composed by Markus Reuter & Tony Levin).
Produced by Dewa Budjana for Museum Gitarku.
Associated producer Leonardo Pavkovic for MoonJune Asia.
Executive producer IGN Bagus Wijaya Santosa.
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