BY HASAN MURAT SÜMER (EE/IV)
hasan.sumer@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
I Should Have Graduated
This column is dedicated to my beloved friend Altuğ Karakurt, who, sadly, is not with us anymore. May Jon Anderson bless his further education.
I’ve noticed that I’m a little dissatisfied with my writing, most probably due to the lack of practice over the summer. So I’ve decided to get some practice by writing a themeless column in which I’ll discuss some of this year’s releases. The good thing is that 2016 is on its way to being one of the more memorable years yet for progressive rock and related genres. Musicians have put out a lot of good stuff so far, and new albums from Opeth and Marillion will arrive right after this column is printed; I’m actually sad that I can’t include them here.
The spotlight goes to the Turkish psychedelic rock band Nemrud, whose music I’ve discussed before, for their new, self-titled studio release. When I started listening, I was initially disappointed because I thought the band had abandoned their original approach and the new album had more of a hard-rock-based style. But the four 
lengthy tracks are ordered such that the album gets more psychedelic, more experimental and definitely more beautiful as you listen through it, so even though it is true that the essense of hard rock is stronger than before, my initial worries were relieved. Just like their earlier output, this is also a concept album. It tells a mythological creation story that takes place in the geography around Mount Nemrud, which might very well be a metaphor for the creation of the band. What’s new is that the distorted lead guitar segments are more frequent and more intense than before, the bass guitar and the drums are more aggressive, and the keyboards are sometimes really bizarre. What it adds up to is a repeating scenario where you are calmly listening to a hypnotizing, spacey melody, and then suddenly you find yourself headbanging to intense rock music. What I consider a step backward is that the Floydish emotional touch is toned way down compared to their previous works; maybe it was my high expectations, but the album just feels empty in some sense. Yet the band shows some clear improvements in technical and compositional aspects, so I’m glad to see that some Turkish musicians are trying hard and in fact doing well in enriching the progressive music culture.
Our savior, Jon Anderson, returns with his ridiculously sharp vocals in “The Invention of Knowledge,” a duo work with the Swedish prog guitarist Roine Stolt. The man is 71 years old, and yet I can’t differentiate his (in-studio) voice of today from the way it was in the 70s. Let’s take an hour from our lives and walk through flowery fields where the sun always shines, the rainbow never fades, and butterflies are flying everywhere. In other words, let’s listen to really bright and optimistic sounds and abstract lyrics telling us how one is all and all is one. I think the term “wholeness” is very applicable here; while you’re going with the flow and enjoying the music, you won’t even notice when one song ends and the next one starts. I’m not familiar with Stolt’s previous work, but I guess the spiritual man Anderson is the dominant songwriter, since the album features the theme music of a trippin’ hippie’s ideal view of the world. Moreover, you won’t find long, or even medium-length instrumental passages here; all the guitar and keyboard work is really lovely and pretty, but Anderson’s vocals constantly push everything else into the background. I usually find this style boring, but here I enjoyed it a lot. On the other hand, I’m a fan of Anderson, so my opinion may be biased. If you, too, like Anderson or his Turkish equivalent İlhan İrem (in terms of similarity in voice), I guarantee that you’ll really like this release.
“Folklore” by Big Big Train is a diamond-solid release that I actually recommend for everyone. These are some musicians who take their jobs seriously and apparently care a lot about their national roots. Thanks to the great harmony between acoustic and electric instruments, “Folklore” is basically an English folktale that takes place in the modern era. Lengthy tracks are sometimes slow paced, but most of the time pleasantly energetic, and a strong pop music influence makes them quite easy to follow. Vocals very similar to Peter Gabriel’s deliver a powerful emotional load, and instrument-wise, the rich content constantly offers something new: you’ll find relaxing flute, joyful violin and impressive guitar passages, as well as melancholic piano, trumpet, trombone, organ, accordion and many other colorful sounds that will stimulate your brain on absurd levels. That’s some hard work, which rightly deserves appreciation. Peace out.