FabricationsHQ - Putting the Words to the Music
  • Muirsical Thoughts, Muirsical News Last update: December 6th
  • Latest Articles (links)
  • Hawkwind - 02 Academy, Glasgow
  • Fat-Suit - Waifs & Strays
  • Steve Hackett (October 2019)
  • 2019AB?
  • Featured Album Reviews
    • Wayward Sons - The Truth Ain't What it Used to Be
    • Flying Colors - Third Degree
    • Steve Hackett - Genesis Revisited Band & Orchestra: Live
    • Burnt Out Wreck - This is Hell
    • Runrig - The Last Dance
    • Scarlet Rebels - Show Your Colours
    • The Blind Lemon Gators - Gatorville
    • Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars
    • Sweet Oblivion Feat. Geoff Tate
    • Rebecca Downes - More Sinner Than Saint
    • Stray - Mudanzas
    • Snarky Puppy - Immigrance
    • Aaron Buchanan And The Cult Classics - The Man With Stars On His Knees
    • 2018 Featured Album Reviews >
      • Simon Thacker's Svara-Kanti - Trikala
      • Jason Becker - Triumphant Hearts
      • Duncan Chisholm - Sandwood
      • Jawbone - Jawbone
      • Steve Perry - Traces
      • Sari Schorr - Never Say Never
      • Joe Bonamassa - Redemption
      • Ben Poole - Anytime You Need Me
      • Hawkwind - Road To Utopia
      • Rainbreakers - Face To Face
      • Frequency Drift - Letters to Maro
      • JCM - Heroes
      • Dana Fuchs - Love Lives On
      • Joe Bonamassa - British Blues Explosion Live
      • W.E.T. - Earthrage
      • The King Lot - A World Without Evil
    • 2017 Featured Album Reviews >
      • Quint Starkie - Ghost In My Heart
      • Downes Braide Association - Skyscraper Souls
      • Dirty Thrills - Heavy Living
      • King King - Exile & Grace
      • Steven Wilson - To The Bone
      • Robin Trower - Time and Emotion
      • Joe Bonamassa - Live at Carnegie Hall, an Acoustic Evening
      • Nikka Costa - Nikka & Strings, Underneath and In Between
      • The Mustangs - Just Passing Through
      • Simon Thacker & Justyna Jablonska - Karmana
      • Michael Schenker Fest Live
  • Monthly Album Reviews...
    • 2019 Reviews
    • 2018 Reviews
    • 2017 Reviews
  • Selected 2019 Gig Reviews...
    • Opeth - SWG3 Galvanizers, Glasgow
    • Félix Rabin - Nice 'N' Sleazy Glasgow
    • Anchor Lane - G2, Glasgow
    • Stray - Backstage at the Green, Kinross
    • Danny Bryant - Backstage at the Green, Kinross
    • Talon - Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow
    • Lifesigns - Smiles of Musical Travel
    • A Whole Lotta Rock 3 - featuring Rattlesnake Tattoo, Prestwick
    • Chantel McGregor - Hard Rock Cafe Glasgow
    • Pete Way Band - Customs House Hotel, Greenock
    • Raintown and Katee Kross - Village Theatre, East Kilbride
    • Danny Vaughn - DreadnoughtRock, Bathgate
    • NR Rocks 2019 - DreadnoughtRock, Bathgate
    • Arran Rock 'N' Blues Fest 2019
    • Cheap Trick - 02 Academy, Glasgow
    • The Blind Lemon Gators - Tolboth, Stirling
    • Midnight Oil - 02 Brixton Academy, London
    • Ana Popovic - Oran Mor, Glasgow
    • Joe Bonamassa - SEC Armadillo, Glasgow
    • Eden's Curse - The Garage G2, Glasgow
    • Félix Rabin - Nice N Sleazy, Glasgow
    • Her Way to Hell - DreadnoughtRock, Bathgate
    • The Quireboys and FM - The Garage, Glasgow
    • Erja Lyytinen - Backstage at the Green, Kinross
    • Wille & The Bandits - Hug & Pint, Glasgow
    • Sari Schorr - Oran Mor, Glasgow
    • Frankie Miller's Full House - Oran Mor, Glasgow
    • A Whole Lotta Rock 2 featuring Brian Downey's Alive and Dangerous, Prestwick
    • John Verity Band - Borders Blues Club, Innerleithen
    • King King (with Sari Schorr) - 02 Academy, Glasgow
    • Burnt Out Wreck (with Scarlet Rebels) - Hard Rock Cafe, Glasgow
    • Buckcherry / Hoobastank / Adelita's Way - SWG3 Glasgow
  • Selected 2018 Gig Reviews...
    • Sensational Alex Harvey Experience DreadnougthRock, Bathgate
    • Uli Jon Roth - Oran Mor, Glasgow
    • WinterStorm Rock Weekender III - Troon
    • Ben Poole - Oran Mor, Glasgow
    • Dan Reed Network - The Garage, Glasgow
    • Dapper, Paul Gemmell's Black Magic Blues Band - The Union, East Kilbride
    • Lifesigns - Backstage at The Green, Kinross
    • The Nimmo Brothers - Old Fire Station, Carlisle
    • Brian Downey's Alive And Dangerous - Cathouse, Glasgow
    • Chantel McGregor - Hard Rock Cafe, Glasgow
    • Federal Charm and Bad Flowers, Classic Grand, Glasgow
    • Rainbreakers - Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh
    • Hamilton Loomis, Mike Vernon & The Mighty Combo, Lights Out By Nine - Town Hall, Darvel
    • Kane'd - NR Rocks, DreadnoughtRock, Bathgate
    • Zal Cleminson's /sin'dogs/ - Concert Hall, Troon
    • The King Lot (with Those Damn Crows and Fragile Things) Dreadnoughtrock, Bathgate
    • Arran Rock 'N' Blues Fest
    • Kasim Sulton - Hard Rock Cafe, Glasgow
    • Danny Bryant - Oran Mor, Glasgow
    • Sari Schorr Band - Oran Mor, Glasgow
    • Bourbon Street 5 - Brig Below, Edinburgh,
    • Chris Glen & The Outfit - Concert Hall, Troon
    • Simon Thacker, Justyna Jablonska, Masha Natanson - Glad Cafe, Glasgow
    • The Greig Taylor Blues Combo - Dreadnoughtrock, Bathgate
    • King King - Town Hall, Darvel
  • Muirsical Conversations...
    • Rebecca Downes (May 2019)
    • Ben Poole & Wayne Proctor (January 2019)
    • Dan Reed (November 2018)
    • Del Bromham (October 2018)
    • Brian Downey (September 2018)
    • Raintown - Paul Bain & Claire McArthur Bain (May 2018)
    • Hamilton Loomis (December 2017)
    • Alan Nimmo (October 2017)
    • Erja Lyytinen (September 2017)
    • Suzi Quatro (September 2017)
    • Biff Byford (August 2017)
    • Dan Patlansky (June 2017)
    • Graham Bonnet (May 2017)
    • Simon Thacker (April 2017)
    • Sari Schorr (March 2017)
    • Stevie Nimmo (February 2017)
    • Dan Reed (February 2017)
    • Adam Norsworthy (January 2017)
    • Colin James (December 2016)
    • John Lees (October 2016)
    • Sari Schorr (August 2016)
    • Mike Vernon (August 2016)
    • Wayne Proctor (July 2016)
    • Laurence Jones (April 2016)
    • Chantel McGregor (March 2016)
    • John Young (January 2016)
    • Michael Schenker (November 2015)
    • Martin Barre (October 2015)
    • Chris Norman (September 2015)
    • Joanne Shaw Taylor (August 2015)
    • Fee Waybill (July 2015)
    • Ian Anderson (June 2015)
    • John Lodge (June 2015)
    • John Lawton (May 2015)
    • Steve Hackett (May 2015)
    • Manny Charlton (April 2015)
    • Ben Poole (April 2015)
    • Alan Nimmo (February 2015)
    • Popa Chubby (December 2014)
    • Paul Young (July 2014)
    • Bernie Shaw (June 2014)
    • Lee Kerslake (December 2013)
    • Pat Travers (September 2013)
    • Steve Hunter (August 2013)
    • Joy Dunlop (March 2013)
    • Gwyn Ashton (Dec. 2012)
    • Greg Lake (October 2012)
    • Ned Evett (August 2012)
    • Steven Lindsay (July 2012)
    • Dave Cureton (June 2012)
    • Jon Anderson (May 2012)
    • Jeremey Frederick Hunsicker (March 2012)
    • Amy Schugar (Feb. 2012)
    • Robert Fleischman (November 2011)
    • Ivan Drever (Sep. 2011)
    • Michael Sadler (June 2011)
    • James Evans (April 2011)
    • Alyn Cosker (Nov. 2010)
    • Scott Higham (Nov. 2010)
    • Kevin Chalfant (Oct. 2010)
    • Francis Dunnery (Sep. 2010)
    • Duncan Chisholm (Aug 2010)
    • Barbara Rubin (July 2010)
    • Alan Reed (June 2010)
  • Muirsical Q&A with...
    • Chantel McGregor (August 2019)
    • Greig Taylor (July 2019)
    • Adam Norsworthy (June 2019)
    • Erja Lyytinen (March 2019)
  • Muirsical Articles...
    • The Fool Guitar - The Fool Story
    • Alex Harvey - Framed in Words. And pictures
    • Journey - That Time Forgot
    • KISS - Elder Statesmen, Elder Statement?
    • Phil Lynott - Remembering Pt. 3
    • Freddie Mercury - The Days of His Life
    • Gary Moore - Last Exit
    • Mott - Without any of the Hoople-la
    • Muirsical Six of the Best
    • Music Town: A Decade of the Darvel Music Festival
    • Pat Travers - The Forgotten Power Trio
    • Playing Tribute
    • Gerry Rafferty - Humblebum to Multi-Million Seller
    • Cliff Richard - The Rock and Roll Juvenile
    • Slade - Thanks For the Memories
    • Talon - On Eagles Wings
    • The Sweet - A Cut Above the Rest
    • Wild Horses - Thoroughbreds or also-rans?
  • A Personal Journey: Definitive Edition (eBook)
  • Steve Perry (vocalist): One in a Million (eBook)
  • A Writer's Muirsings...
    • A Writer's Muirsings: Introduction
    • Superbowl XLVII MVP: Beyoncé (February 2013)
    • Michael Jackson: The Alternative Verdict (Nov 2011)
    • True Colours (November 2010)
    • It's a New Language, Old Bean (October 2010)
    • Finger Pointing (July 2010)
    • Suffer the Little Children (April 2010)
    • Hey 'Banker', can you spare a dime? (February 2010)
    • Earlier Muirsings... >
      • Muirsical Christmas #1's (December 09)
      • 3-D, or not 3-D, Avatar? (December 09)
      • Pains, Planes and Automobiles (November 09)
  • A Man of Letters...
    • A Man of Letters (Introduction)
    • Letter to Danbury Mint #1
    • Letter to Danbury Mint #2
    • Letter to The Catholic League
    • Letter to SKY #1
    • Letter to SKY #2
    • Letter to SKY #3
    • Letter to Leeds City Council Parking Services
  • Author Bio & Site Info
  • Contact FabricationsHQ
Where’s The Orchestra?
Pat Metheny - Orchestrion
 
As many know, Todd Rundgren and Pat Metheny are my favourite artists, certainly as regards innovation, creativity, thinking outside the box and not influenced by commercial musical trends. I also make no apologies for referring to both on occasion as musical geniuses.

Although they work in different musical fields (I hate ‘labels’ but there is no denying that Rundgren will be seen as a rock musician and Metheny a jazz exponent) they are remarkably similar in they way they stretch or continually strive to reinvent themselves in those respective fields.

So it’s no surprise that with Rundgren having recently taken center ‘stage’ (from my Muirsical perspective) with his recent ‘A Wizard A True Star’ tour (which was as much musical theatre as rock concert), Metheny comes up with something to catch the attention even beyond that innovative Todd Tour…
 
In January, Grammy Award-winning composer-guitarist Pat Metheny released his latest solo album ‘Orchestrion’ and it may be his most ambitious project to date – it’s certainly going to be one of the most talked about.
It’s unarguably a solo album, Metheny being the only musician featured on the album, but unlike his ‘One Quiet Night’ release of 2003 (featuring only one instrument – the Baritone acoustic guitar with ‘Nashville’ tuning - tricky stringing for any guitarist to come to terms with) this album features a myriad of instruments played by Metheny, but not in any conventional sense…

This album sees him perform with a diverse set of acoustic instruments, but electronically triggered, prepared and built by a team that have presented him with a ‘solenoid’ orchestra that includes, in amongst the Orchestrion collection, piano, various percussion, and a collection of tuned bottles.

Using software programming and solenoid switches Metheny controls or ‘plays’ each instrument via his guitar or various foot pedals. Although triggering such instrumentation is clearly not the same as playing them, it should be noted that Metheny scored every note and musical piece heard and does play some of the sounds through his guitar simultaneously but is, for the most part, improvising or soloing on the guitar over the Orchestrion pieces he triggers.

The Orchestrion is hardly a new invention – it was conceived as far back as the late 19th Century and driven by 'player-piano' technology.
Metheny’s fascination with this form of instrumentation has produced this new album of five pieces, or movements, which do indeed sound orchestrated and produce a soundscape of textures not heard (on a Metheny solo project) since his superb ‘Secret Story’ album of 1992 (a personal favourite).

On that album however he was assisted by other contributing musicians, conventional orchestrations, choir and more traditional instrumentation – this is a whole different set of musical mechanics but, for me, the result is the same… captivating, eminently listenable and at times quite beautiful.
And, somewhat ironically perhaps, very… human.
But don’t take my word for it – check out the making-of video from the man himself…
Metheny is touring the concept and sell-out shows are already facts of the musical matter, with dates and shows across Europe (including strongholds such as Italy and Spain), the States, and South Korea and Japan spread across 2010.

Orchestrion is already one of my favourite albums of the year, and indeed is behind only Rock Sugar’s ‘Reimaginator’ (radically different musically from Metheny’s release, but just as innovative) as regards best of the year.
And although it’s only March as I write this review and make that claim, it’s going to take an extraordinarily good ‘normal’ album to knock either of those albums from the Top 2 spots.

Ross Muir
March 2010
Website and text contents © FabricationsHQ and Ross Muir
All Rights Reserved