Is This Art Week?
I am inclined, this week, to go ahead with my proposal to air a 2-hour program on WNRB-LP (93.3 FM, Wausau) dedicated to the genre of Art Rock (see my previous blog entry below titled “Guilty Pleasure”). On Thursday night, from 7-9, my Roundtrip show will showcase music that in my estimation typifies this hard-to-pin-down musical style. Is it psychedelic? Is it jazz/rock/classical fusion? Is it some offshoot of glam rock? Do we include Roxy Music? David Bowie? Grateful Dead? Or is it more like King Crimson and Genesis? Does Pink Floyd qualify?
Musical questions … as usual, subjective. For my part, I will play tunes that go places, incorporate changes of pace and tone, ambitious arrangements, elements of suite structure, storytelling — in other words: musical adventure. Chances are, there will be long numbers mostly. Those involved, meandering compositions that start here, go there, take a side trip yonder and end up way up there. Don’t expect my usual eclectic mix with Chuck Berry mini anthems, folk/rock numbers, Rolling Stones grit, a touch of bebop jazz or the Black Keys. Instead, this will be a show for long-hairs, closet symphony lovers, fans of Tolkien’s trilogy, and people with vivid imaginations.
I need to get over to my favorite downtown record store for some more material. Please tune in this week for a Roundtrip special: Art Rock, with Neal at the Wheel.