..
Simon says all manifestations of music are good - that's why you'll find all kinds of friends below, and that's why some of Simon Says's songs may be of an eclectic nature. Within the band itself, the members listen to everything from folk to metal, classical, jazz, electronica, pop, singer-songwriters …
The band exists primarily as a project, focusing on studio recordings, which it has been doing occasionally since 1995. Simon Says has so far produced three full length concept albums, Ceinwen (1995) and Paradise Square (2002) and Tardigrade, 2008, plus a couple of odd jobs for French Musea and a private release (Hollow Lands, 1999).
Ceinwen is generally perceived to contain the darkest songs in Simon Says's repertoire (though the band might not agree). The ambition was to incorporate comparatively modern thinking as rap and sequencing into the traditional symphonic rock esthetic. The recordings may be flawed by inexperience, but the band still cherishes the songs and even here, the direction for what is to come is clear.
Paradise Square, took what it's predecessor delivered a little bit further. The objective was to make this the ultimate prog record, the one lacking in the band members' own collections. The music was given a more energetic push and drive, appropriate enough to develop the record's theme: religion. Paradise Square was released on Galileo Records and critical acclaim was overwhelming.
Tardigrade, a Galileo/Progrock Records joint venture, which took 4,5 years of computer crashes to finish, concludes the story of Simon, now reborn as the anti hero and against-his-will-become-revolutionary Tardigrade. Music is on an even grander scale, sometimes a bit more straightforward, but also with neurotica, pastoral beauty, trippy 12 tone hallucinations and something almost resembling a rock song.
COLLABORATIONS
2003 saw the release of Colossus/Musea's Kalevala, a triple cd where 30 bands interpreted the Finnish national epic. Simon Says's track "Som Floden Flyter" was written in a single day on a harmonium in a cottage far out in the Swedish countryside, rehearsed, recorded, mixed and mastered nine days later. The band had strict orders not to exceed seven minutes. The track ends at 07:00 precisely.
At the very end of 2005 the next Simon Says song was released, a 25 minute suite on another Colossus/Musea spaghetti epic, The Odyssey. This showed an intense, almost manic Simon Says playing at their very best during most of "Minds of Mortal Men/Meander Tales" (incidentally dealing more with sex than with The Odyssey and the title containing a little prank played on Colossus's penchant for regressive rules concerning how the music should sound).
Rock influences are apparent on "Becomes A Boy" Simon Says latest recording, this one for Colossus/Musea's Inferno. But fans will surely distinguish Simon Says trademark organ lines, classical/jazzfusion hysteria and melodic/harmonic signature through the slow rolling rock beat, escalating into satanic brutality.
2009 will – among other things – see Simon Says interpreting/twisting/violating/cheering the works of others. Scarab's "For Her Son" and Kaipa's "Tajgan" have gotten their own Simon treatment, making both classics a lot heavier. And for the instrumental Tajgan Daniel delivers some beautfiul acoustic guitar/scat song work.
Want this badge?
Want this badge?
