Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Don Campau plays "Celestina I" by 17 Pygmies on No Pigeonholes European Edition

Featured near the end of the "No Pigeonholes" podcast, you will hear "Celestina I" from Celestina by 17 Pygmies, part one of a three-part CD series based on the short story "Celestina", written by Jackson Del Rey.

The show will be aired during the month of April 2011 on the European Edition of "No Pigeonholes" hosted by Radio Marabu, Europe's leading alternative station. They broadcast to much of the continental Europe on FM, shortwave and the internet.


For more information go to: www.radiomarabu.de


Monday, March 28, 2011

Paperlate plays three 17 Pygmies songs on Zuid-WestFM

PAPERLATE is a radioshow in the Netherlands dedicated to progressive & melodic rock.

"We try to grab the listener’s attention by playing to them, familiar music from the golden period of progressive rock. The obscure music from the past and today’s new releases of the progrock scene."

PAPERLATE 684

Zuid-West FM (formerlyBRTO-Radio)
www.zuidwestfm.nl Sunday March 27, 2011 20.00/22.00 pm (live broadcast)

Omroep Tholen
www.omroeptholen.nl repeat on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 21.00/23.00 pm

SLOS FM
www.slos.nl repeat on Friday, April 1, 2011 22.00 /24.00 pm

20.00 N E W S
20.03 ROXY MUSIC – Re-make / Re-model
From THE THRILL OF IT ALL, disc 1, track 1, Virgin 1995
20.08 the Paperlate tune
20.11 ULVER – February MMX
From radiopromo single for the album WAR OF THE ROSES, track 1, Kscope 2011
20.16 ASGARD – Starquest
From IN THE REALM OF ASGARD, track 8, Esoteric Recordings 2010
20.21 PAUL YOUNG – Your shoes
From CHRONICLES, track 2, Escape Music 2011
20.26 PAUL YOUNG & PAUL CARACK – Grace of God
From CHRONICLES, track 3, Escape Music 2011
20.30 PAUL YOUNG – Here comes the future
From CHRONICLES, track 8, Escape Music 2011
20.35 NEKTAR – Remember the future part 1
From REMEMBER THE FUTURE, disc 1, track 1, It’s about music 2011
20.52 NEKTAR – Man in the moon
From REMEMBER THE FUTURE, disc 2, track 5, It’s about music 2011
(recorded live in Brazil on November 10, 2007)
21.0 N E W S
21.03 BLACKFIELD – Waving
From radiopromo single for the album WELCOME TO MY DNA, track 1, Kscope 2011
21.08 17 PYGMIES – Celestina III
From CELESTINA, track 3, Trakwerx 2008

21.12 17 PYGMIES – Celestina XIII
From CII: SECOND SON, track 2, Trakwerx 2011
21.17 17 PYGMIES – Celestina XX

From CII: SECOND SON, track 9, Trakwerx 2011
21.23 BRIAN ROBERTSON – Mailbox
From DIAMONDS AND DIRT, track 3, Steamhammer / SPV 2011
21.28 EELA GRAIG – Circles
From ONE NIGHTER, track 1, Esoteric / Reactive 2010
21.43 NINE STONE CLOSE – Threads
From TRACES, track 2, ProgRock Records 2011
21.54 LARS ERIC MATTSSON – Forward Thinking
From AURORA BOREALIS, track 4, Lion Music 2011
22.00 N E W S

Sunday, March 27, 2011

'Lysergic Factory' radio show plays Cult With No Name




'Lysergic Factory' radio show on Radio Campus in Begium will be playing songs from "Adrenalin" by Cult With No Name over the next two weeks.

Tune in to DJ Morpheus and listen to some cool music.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

No Pigeonholes EXP Podcast plays "Celestina XIV" by 17 Pygmies

Don Campau adds 17 Pygmies "Celestina" and "CII: Second Son" to his No Pigeonholes EXP podcast playlist.
Login to podomatic, follow his shows, click on the like button, and add a comment!

"Celestina XIV" is played on the 17 March 2011 part one episode.




Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Mick Mercer reviews "CII: Second Son" by 17 Pygmies

March 16th, 2011




17 PYGMIES
CII: SECOND SON
Trakwerx


So here we are again then, with a delightfully artistic package of wax-sealed delicacies to unfold, and the second in their star-kissed trilogy with Robert and Isobel waking on a distant planet.

It starts cool and lovely, with the blissful ambient ‘Celestina XII’ and as the title run identically with a different numeral, the album ends with ‘Celestina XXII’, so singling out individual tracks become pointless. It’s about the flow, beginning with a simple synth wash and tiny, discreetly decorative notes on top. Gentle guitar can be easily absorbed or to underpin the vocals of Meg Maryatt, the one easily identifiable contribution, beyond Dirk Doucette’s drumming. Elsewhere Jeff Brenneman, Dirk and Jackson Del Ray complete the hazy picture. Their guest Heather Lockie is also strong on her cello

It’s also about the story, which comes inside the package, telling of adventurers landing on a planet with two suns and making a rather large leap of the imagination by thinking this could be the second son mentioned in the bible. They find a robot reading poetry, who happens to belong to a commune, of robots who once travelled through space themselves. This isn’t their only source of compatible interests. A robot named Herod breaks the neck of Captain Mora to prove they cannot harm one another, as killing here is a sin. They mistrust this robot who they believe once massacred some family members, justifiable cause for concern. Herod protests his/its innocence, and can prove it. Mora survives, despite discomfort. Their own ship’s robot representative turns up in neck snappy mood but soon all is well, they find their ship and are all set to take off when they become aware of other old adversaries. The story will no doubt conclude in the final part. HG Wells must be turning in his library card because, like most sci-fi, it’s pretty bland.

The music is far from bland, despite keeping to simple enough templates. It becomes woozier, doomier, grander. At times it reminds me of early movies of the Egyptian era, where a pharaoh’s tomb is being opened, or sealed. It also tilts sideways into a vengeful Celtic feel. It has a refreshingly warm glow and that’s the brave move, as it could have been all isolation and jangling nerves. ‘C XVII’ is a charming indie ballard, which then moves into the darkly swooping ‘C XVIII’ with a portentous synth atmosphere, bleeps and clanking. With recurring motifs, shifts between optimism and shadowy tensions the album drifts impressively on. Stolid bass tones underpin the gases synth mood, but nothing ever gets dour, as sunnier guitar impregnates the gloom. Things get strange during ‘C XX’ with a stand-up piano, gentle sonic scrying and some abrupt timing accompanied by Twin Peaksy twanginess. The closing track has the roughest edge to it, seemingly advancing towards the unguarded listener, a timely spot of melodrama to set us up for the final segment of the trilogy.

I don’t actually like traditional sci-fi so the story aspect doesn’t interest me at all. The music however has a superb sense of setting and mood and is consistent in its ability to transport you, bathing you in a cordial sense of abstract intrigue. Their most potent work, I should say.

http://www.trakwerx.com/label.htm
http://www.myspace.com/17pygmies
http://www.facebook.com/pages/17-Pygmies/203624375710

Monday, March 14, 2011

Babyblaue reviews "CII: Second Son" by 17 Pygmies

Von: Siggy Zielinski @


Der ersten Auflage von "Celestina II: Second son" liegt eine Sci-Fi-Kurzgeschichte bei, die die Landung von Captain Mora und Isabel auf einem fremden Planeten beschreibt. Nachdem die beiden den Planeten durch ein schwarzes Loch erreichen konnten, finden sie auf jenem Himmelskörper eine Robotersiedlung. Eine Siedlung der Bücher lesenden Roboter, wohlgemerkt. Sie werden dorthin von dem Chef-Roboter geführt, den sie am Bach liegend beim Lesen eines Buches angetroffen haben. Durch die philosophischen Diskussionen mit dem Chef-Roboter und durch eigene Beobachtungen erfahren sie, dass auf dem Planeten die ihnen bekannten physikalischen Gesetze keine Anwendung finden. Die Zeit gibt es beispielsweise nicht.

Wie alleine schon an den Tracktiteln ersichtlich, ist "Celestina II: Second son" eine Fortsetzung der 2008 mit "Celestina" begonnenen Gechichte. Dazu erklingt für meine Begriffe eine leicht ungewöhnliche Musik, die bei ihrer esoterisch-ätherischen Art die möglicherweise nicht sehr weit liegenden New Age-Banalitäten instinktsicher zu vermeiden weiss. Im Grunde bekommt man eine zwischen harmonisch und dramatisch wechselnde orchestrale elektronische Musik geboten, die hin und wieder vom Damengesang oder von zerbrechlichen Glockenspiel-Passagen bereichert wird. Auf "Celestina XVII", das aus Damengesang und sanften, dezent von Keyboards begleiteten Gitarren besteht, wird die Problematik der nicht existenten Zeit ziemlich charmant umgesetzt. Sehr ähnlich verhält es sich mit "Celestina XIX", wo die Gitarren durch spartanische elektronische Begleitung ersetzt werden. Die im Hintergrund eingesetzten Geigen sorgen für eine leicht unheimliche Stimmung. In dem alleine von Keyboards bestrittenen "Celestina XVIII" schleicht sich einiges an Dramatik in die bis dahin harmonischen Klänge ein. Das Dark Ambient-Intro von "Celestina XX" wird von einem postrockigen Klangbild aus Piano, Geigen und nach hinten gemischten Gitarren unterbrochen. Das gehört wohl zu der grossen Kunst von 17 Pygmies, dass sie die Instrumente leicht verzerrt und entrückt klingen lassen und damit eine unwirkliche Welt unter der scheinbar biederen Oberfläche suggerieren.

Da die aufdringlichen Pink Floyd-Einflüsse des ersten Teils der "Celestina"-Trilogie völlig verschwunden sind, wirkt der zweite Teil auf mich homogener und eigenständiger.

"Celestina II: Second son" bietet einen sanft-geheimnisvollen Sci-Fi-Soundtrack ohne Film, dafür mit einer vom Bandchef Jackson Del Rey verfassten Geschichte auf 25 Seiten.


LOOSE ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

From: Siggy Zielinski @

The first edition of "Celestina II: Second Son" is a sci-fi short story that describes the landing of Captain Mora and Isabel on an alien planet. After the two were able to reach the planet by a black hole, they find on that heavenly body, a robot colony. A settlement of the robots read books, mind you. They are there out of the robot head, which they found lying by the stream reading a book. By philosophical discussions with the boss robots and our own observations, they discover that they find on the planet, the known laws of physics do not apply. The time it is not, for example.

How alone you can already at the track titles, "Celestina II: Second son" is a sequel started in 2008 with "Celestina" Gechichte. This sounds to my mind a slightly unusual music, the white in their esoteric ethereal nature that may not be very far-lying New Age banalities to avoid instinctively. Basically, you get offered a varying between harmonic and dramatic orchestral electronic music that enriches every now and then by the ladies of fragile vocals and glockenspiel passages is. To "Celestina XVII," which consists of ladies and gentle vocals, subtle guitar accompanied by keyboards, the problem of non-existent time is implemented quite charming. Very similar is the case with "Celestina XIX," where the guitars are replaced by Spartan electronic accompaniment. The viola in the background used to provide a slightly sinister mood. In the disputed alone keyboards "Celestina XVIII" sneaks a lot of drama in the previously harmonious sounds. The Dark ambient intro to "Celestina XX" is interrupted by a post-rock sound of piano, violas and guitars mixed to the rear. This is probably one of the great art of 17 Pygmies that the instruments can be removed easily distorted and sound, and thus suggest an unreal world under the seemingly respectable surface.

Since the intrusive Pink Floyd influences of the first part of the "Celestina" trilogy have disappeared completely, the second part looks at me more homogeneous and independent.

"Celestina II: Second Son" a gentle, mysterious sci-fi soundtrack without a film offers, but with a gang leader from Jackson Del Rey on 25 pages written history.

Rating: 10/15

Babyblaue reviews "Celestina" by 17 Pygmies

Siggy from Babyblaue, a prog rock website, reviews "Celestina" by 17 Pygmies.

Die literarischen Inspirationen für seine musikalische "Celestina"-Trilogie reichen beim 17 Pygmies-Mastermind Jackson Del Rey von einer Novelle aus dem fünfzehnten Jahrhundert ("La Celestina: Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea" von Fernando de Rojas) bis zu einem Gerichtsfall, bei dem ein Astronaut eines versuchten Mordes beschuldigt wird. Diese, zusammen mit seinem Interesse für Sci-Fi-Filme aus den 50ern und 60ern und für die TV-Serie Twilight Zone haben Del Rey zu einer Geschichte über Verrat und Liebe in den Weiten des Universums angeregt.

Die fantastisch-geheimnisvolle Stimmung, die die eigentlich sehr ruhige Musik umhüllt, macht "Celestine" meines Erachtens immun gegen New Age-Plattheiten. Das instrumentale "Celestina I" und das mit weiblichem Gesang versehene "Celestina IV" wirken auf mich vielmehr wie eine Synthese aus frühen Pink Floyd und Tangerine Dream. In "Celestina II", "Celestina VI" und "Celestina VII" kommen eine Rhythmustruppe und weiblicher Gesang dazu. Die drei Kompositionen erinnern stark an die kommerziell erfolgreichste Schaffensperiode von Pink Floyd, als diese sich mit dem Erdtrabanten beschäftigt haben, wobei Pygmies da etwas atmosphärischer und spaciger zu Werke gehen. Mit "Celestina III", "Celestina IX" (mit mystisch angelegtem Damengesang) und "Celestina X" kommen leicht hymnische, elektronisch-orchestrale Stücke, die vielleicht auch Freunden von New Age-Musik gefallen würden, aber für meine Ohren dennoch aufbauend und mystisch und nicht etwa dahinplätschernd ausgefallen sind. "Celestina V" ist ein orientalisch angehauchtes Ambient/Retroprog-Stück mit ethnischer Perkussion und schamanenhaften Gesängen. Ähnlichkeiten zu Pink Floyds "Set the controls for the heart of the sun" sind rein zufälliger Natur. Aber selbst 17 Pygmies sind nach sieben eher bedächtigen Stücken für eine kleine Überraschung gut: die Ambient-Landschaften von "Celestina VIII" werden wiederholt von kurzen Avant-Rock-Passagen für dröhnenden Bass und geschäftiges Schlagzeug aufgemischt, wobei die ätherisch-wortlosen weiblichen Gesänge die beiden Extreme gleichsam begleiten. Zum Schluß bescheren 17 Pygmies dem geduldigen und offenen Hörer noch eine kleine Überraschung, indem sie das kurze, von sanften Gitarrenfiguren bestimmte "Celestina XI" um Flamenco-Einflüsse erweitern.

LOOSE ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

From: Siggy Zielinski @

The literary inspiration for his musical "Celestina" trilogy rich on the 17 Pygmies mastermind Jackson Del Rey on a short story from the fifteenth century ("La Celestina: Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea" by Fernando de Rojas) to a court case in which an astronaut accused of attempted murder. This, together with his interest in sci-fi movies from the 50s and 60s and for the TV series Twilight Zone Del Rey has suggested a story about betrayal and love in the vastness of the universe.

The fantastic and mysterious atmosphere that surrounds the music is actually very quiet, "Celestine" I think immune to New Age platitudes. The instrumental "Celestina I" and with female vocals provided "Celestina IV" seem to me more like a synthesis of early Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream. In "Celestina II", "Celestina VI" and "Celestina VII" come to a rhythm band and female vocals. The three compositions are strongly reminiscent of the most commercially successful period of creativity of Pink Floyd, as they have dealt with the Earth's satellite, with Pygmies something atmospheric and spacey go to work. With "Celestina III", "Celestina IX" (with mystical landscaped Ladies song) and "Celestina X" easy come anthemic, electronic-orchestral pieces, which would perhaps friends of New Age music like it, but to my ears yet uplifting and mystical and have failed not gurgling. "Celestina V" is an oriental-inspired ambient / Retroprog-piece with ethnic percussion and shaman-like chants. Similarities to Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" are purely accidental. But even 17 Pygmies are good after seven more thoughtful pieces for a little surprise: the ambient landscapes of "Celestina VIII" are mixed repeats of short avant-rock passages for booming bass and busy percussion, with the ethereal wordless female chanting the two extremes accompany it were. Finally, bring the patient and 17 Pygmies open headphones have a little surprise by the short, certain of gentle guitar figures extend "Celestina XI" to flamenco influences.

Rating: 9/15

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

R@DIO DIMENSION adds 17 Pygmies to their playlist

R@DIO DIMENSION adds 17 Pygmies songs from the 'Celestina' saga in daily rotation
"Melody, harmony and power in Rock Music!"

Monday, March 7, 2011

Jango Airplay for Trakwerx Artists

Visit Jango Airplay to listen to Cult With No Name and 17 Pygmies. Login (it's free!)and become a fan!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Aural Moon Radio adds 17 Pygmies

Aural Moon Radio adds "Celestina" and "CII: Second Son" by 17 Pygmies.

'progressive rock radio - opening ears since 1999'

create an account and request our songs!




Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Prog Positivity adds 17 Pygmies' "CII: Second Son" to playlist

Prog Rock radio station Progressive Positivity plays "CELESTINA XVI" on their internet radio station. Visit their website HERE.