Alex Temple

Alex, after a gig with his Dagmar Krause tribute band
 

Contact Info:
E-mail: fiber_optiq at yahoo dot com
AOL Instant Messenger: electricwalrus
 

Last Updated: October 2001
 

By the time I turned 15, I was already very interested in classical music, particularly of the 20th century.  I thought rock music was something inferior and never bothered to listen to it.  Then I heard the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever."  Wow.  A few months later, my father introduced me to the Mothers of Invention, and I developed an interest in 60s rock fairly quickly.  In the spring of 1999, I discovered Neutral Milk Hotel and the Olivia Tremor Control, bands who resurrected the sounds of the 60s in the context of experimental indie rock.  I started delving deeper and deeper into  the 90s underground, until a Google search for "no commercial potential" revealed a radio playlist consisting entirely of bands I'd never heard of. I downloaded mp3s by every band on the list, and was struck by the originality of an obscure band called Thinking Plague...

The rest, as they say, is history.  Web-searches for Thinking Plague led me to the rec.music.progressive FAQ, and the members of that group immediately directed me towards bands like 5uu's and Biota.  Once I discovered RIO and its derivatives, the classical me and the rock me no longer felt like two different people.  I've since become a frequent poster on r.m.p and an (even more) obsessive record collector, and I'm happy to say that I still have an enormous world of music to explore.  (Wow, that was cheesy :)

So, no, I didn't take the usual "Rush and Pink Floyd" route.  I have never liked symphonic prog, unless you count Gentle Giant.  As I see it, my mission as a reviewer is to bring to progweed.net the avant-garde slant that I feel is missing, as well as to bring some excellent and creative bands that don't normally get classified as "prog" to the attention of progressive rock fans.  In other words, traditional symph fans shouldn't bother with my reviews. I listen to music that will scare you :)
 
 
 

Geographical location: New Haven, CT / Needham, MA

DOB: 8/26/83

Enjoy these (Progressive Rock) Styles and musical qualities: RIO, experimental, "chamber symph" (i.e. Gentle Giant), some Krautrock and prog-folk

Other styles/genres/bands that I like not listed above: Indie rock, psych, post-punk, classical music (esp. 20th/21st c.), a lot of scattered miscellany

Favorite or well-respected bands/artists: Thinking Plague, Henry Cow, 5uu's, Neutral Milk Hotel, Gentle Giant, The Dismemberment Plan, The Beatles, The Science Group, Home, The Incredible String Band, Biota, The Legendary Pink Dots, Aksak Maboul, Bob Drake, etc. etc.

Dislike these (Progressive Rock) Styles and musical qualities: Symph, neo, "classical rock," most ambient.

Musical styles or qualities that I do not like: Within prog, I am generally turned off by qualities like melodrama, showiness, "washing" synths, and the "hey, let's have a big dramatic chord here and heavily accent it to prove that we're REAL musicians!" phenomenon.  More generally, I dislike most music that doesn't have some kind of "edge" to it.  Overproduction also bothers me.

Occupation: Student

Other musical activities: I compose, and I have/am a band/electronic recording project called Abi Ziva Lai.  I'm working on getting a show on WYBC, which I'll post more about when that develops.

Hobbies / obsessions: I spend way too much time online.

Other comments: I don't really think of myself as a "prog fan."  The music that appeals to me comes from a variety of genres, some of which are considered "progressive" by a somewhat arbitrary definition and some of which are not.  (I call it arbitrary because one could easily make the argument that The Dismemberment Plan has done much more to "progress" rock music than has Spock's Beard.)  As such, you won't find statements like "Any prog fan should own..." in my reviews.  I write as someone who's interested in experimental music in general, with a particular penchant for RIO and related genres, and I write mainly for an audience with similar tastes.

Favorite albums:  Changes daily. :)