Deus Ex Machina

[jusune]

When I'm tired it's more difficult than ever! but I think that the melody and the power of the songs makes me feel enough from their world... and when I say I work hard to understand, I mean that I traduce most of the songs and sometimes I understand without words too!

And scat guy, it's what I mean, I'm happy to make you laugh bcause laugh it's soooo cool and sure I know the other form too!


so have a nice day adept from PPR

[Lawrie]

Now PRR have officially been announced on Superball's Myspace page, they've put up Deus Ex Machina on their player. See www.myspace.com/superballmusiclabel

It's different to the demo version PRR put up on their Myspace earlier this year - it has an extended outro bit on first listens, and I'd imagine there have been other more subtle changes in the mastering etc that will reveal themselves after a few more plays. Guessing that this will probably be the final version of the tune that will appear on the next album? If that's the case, then ladies and gents we've just had our first proper taste of Album #2: can't ****ing wait for the full thing!!! ;D

EDIT - ...or NOT! Just noticed that the description on the Myspace player describes it as a 'Demo/Unfinished' track: d'oh! It's definitely new compared to the one on the PRR site though, but it may still undergo further changes before it gets released on Album #2.

[the dark fourth]

Where does it say "demo/unfinished"? Looks like the real thing to me. Ending sounds much more like the live version.

[Lawrie]

To the left of the Myspace player (where the artwork for whatever song you're listening to on the player appears).

[Nikos]

yep. i'm sure it's a demo version. the live version had an extra reprise bit in it I'm sure.

[murphymurphy]

I'm not going to lie, and don't bash me for this, but I'm not a huge fan of Deus Ex Machina. I don't think it's the typical PRR song that I have generally loved. Of course, there are good parts: it's still freaking PRR, it's going to be good! I really don't like the opening verse(s) "She didn't want to know.." "Now take ... to the altar etc." In my opinion those are really hiccups in the flow of the music. You're going with the music then all of a sudden you get a drastic reduction in beats to half-time. Doesn't work for me. Also, I don't feel they really utilized their trademark harmonies either. On the other hand, I love some parts of the song that really flow well, have catchy riffs, and are all in all PRR-typical pieces (e.g. "Did you ever love did you ever burn ever once." I feel that that part flows well. Violin synth is nice also, but I still wish James hadn't left. So once again, sorry for bashing this song that apparently with which everyone except for me is fallen in love. Nevertheless, it's PRR, and I'm going to support them. It's just not my type of song here, and I would like for them to stay prog-ish, even though I know they don't like to limited to the prog genre, or any for that matter.

[blondeambassador]

You don't have to apologise for not liking something, we're not going to bash you! All I would say is, I think you're being very optimistic if you believe the band are going to stay on the prog road, their tastes have very much changed as a band.

[ryan]

You know what I don't dig about the tune. The swear words. I think my posting here has proved I'm not fussed about them in general (opps...) but Jon doesn't quite pull it off. He just doesn't sound agree enough. Made me cringe a little at Water Rats.

[Lawrie]

Ha ha, I really like that "she didn't wanna know, she fucking never [does?]" bit! I think it sounds really good, and Jon does pull it off. That said, I've said before I can pretty much take or leave PRR's lyrics, it's the way their vocals sound that grabs me and I honestly believe I wouldn't care if they were singing the telephone directory: surrealist lyrics aren't my thing. Luckily - like The Music, The Mars Volta, Sigur Ros and others in my record collection - I don't care what they're singing because they sound so good.

Re: Deus as a whole song and the new 'getting away from Floyd-y prog' direction the music appears to be going - I LOVE Deus, think it's chuffing fantastic. Ditto for Golden Clothes and the single appearance of Gloaming as we know it. Feel sorry for you if this isn't the type of sound you prefer PRR to play, but I genuinely love it and hope it continues... and as Blonde Ambassador pointed out, that's the way the wind appears to be blowing...

[blondeambassador]

May 7, 2008 12:50:08 GMT ryan said:

You know what I don't dig about the tune. The swear words. I think my posting here has proved I'm not fussed about them in general (opps...) but Jon doesn't quite pull it off. He just doesn't sound agree enough. Made me cringe a little at Water Rats.

Live, I think he pulls it off...on the recording, if does sound like it needs a little bit more anger, to make the swear word worthwhile, if you know what I mean.

[the dark fourth]

As I think I've posted here rather inanely in the past, I feel this song is not only brilliant in itself, but is extremely exciting in what it represents for a new an almost almost totally unexplored genre of electro-prog, in which all the best qualities of electronic music are blended with all of PRR's best qualities from the dark third, i.e. harmonies and amazing riffs etc etc. Live it is definitely one of the best songs of the set list, and I agree with BA that the swear words do come off rather better, though I also see ryan's point. Jamie was saying how the new lyrics Jon is coming up with are far less surreal (though still mostly incomprehensible) and much more dark and orientated towards hating the world etc. It's a natural progression I guess, I would predict the third album will be much more optimistic lyric-wise.

[Lawrie]

May 7, 2008 20:18:07 GMT the dark fourth said:

As I think I've posted here rather inanely in the past, I feel this song is not only brilliant in itself, but is extremely exciting in what it represents for a new an almost almost totally unexplored genre of electro-prog, in which all the best qualities of electronic music are blended with all of PRR's best qualities from the dark third, i.e. harmonies and amazing riffs etc etc. Live it is definitely one of the best songs of the set list, and I agree with BA that the swear words do come off rather better, though I also see ryan's point. Jamie was saying how the new lyrics Jon is coming up with are far less surreal (though still mostly incomprehensible) and much more dark and orientated towards hating the world etc. It's a natural progression I guess, I would predict the third album will be much more optimistic lyric-wise.

While I'm also really excited about the seemingly new musical direction PRR look to be heading in, I don't think you can really call it virgin musical territory that has been previously unexplored (or even largely unexplored) by other bands. Essentially, it looks like the new songs are going to feature a hybrid of electro and rock music: this particular mix of styles has been going on for years and from a large number of bands.

I think it's just genre-making for genre-making's sake to describe what we've heard of PRR's new sound as some kind of new genre of electro-prog. The rock parts of Deus and Gloaming are no more 'prog' than they are just straight-up rock, as I see it. Really, you could put both songs in the same category as (just a few examples from the top of my head) Muse's Take A Bow, Kasabian's Cutt Off or Klaxons' Atlantis To Interzone. All of these are songs that mix electro with a prog-flavoured strand of rock, so even in a very narrow niche description of 'electro-prog' three bands that I thought of in a matter of seconds have been there and done that, not to mention the huge probability that other bands I haven't heard of are likely to have written similar songs. And if you consider (as I do) that electro-prog is too narrow a niche description of music to have any real meaning, then electro-rock has been around for ages and ages, and been done by any number of bands.

PRR's new stuff is sounding like the puppy's privates to me (and seemingly to most other people on here), and that's all that matters at the end of the day. But as good as it is, the band aren't writing a new musical rulebook with the Album #2 material (very few bands can do that these days now that nearly everything conceivable has already been done in some form), and they don't need to either: just write good songs like they appear to be doing, and let everyone enjoy them without having to label the music somehow.

[the dark fourth]

Fair enough. I agree that electro-prog is a pretty rubbish label, and the genre needs to be better defined. But I disagree that what PRR is doing has been covered lots already. I'm not saying that it's utterly virgin or anything, but it's definitely a progression beyond the likes of Kasabian. Sure loads of rock bands have used electronic elements, and vice versa, but PRR differs from this in that a) it seems to be much more electronic than other rock bands and b) they still have that unique twist that we all love so much and that very few bands have achieved, i.e. the aforementioned harmonies and "pop-sensibilities" (I know that's not exactly brilliant music critisism, but you get what I'm saying). I guess that's why I said "prog" although in actual fact it's not really proggy at all. Fair enough it's not breathtakingly groundbreaking, but I think it's definitely a very interesting and quite original new direction, and not really in the same mould as Muse/Klaxons et al.

[Lawrie]

Well, we'll have to agree to disagree on that then! In my opinion, the new stuff (i.e. Deus and Gloaming) that we've heard from PRR has no more or less of an electro element than any of the example songs I mentioned above, they're all roughly on a par in that sense for me. And I'd say that all of those three example songs have just as much pop sensibility as the PRR material: if anything Atlantis To Interzone is more 'poppy' than Deus or Gloaming, although I don't really want to focus too closely on the particular songs I mentioned since they're only examples. So I don't think that the PRR stuff is definitely distinct from the other songs in the same ball park by being either more electro-based or more 'poppy'. The new PRR tunes sound different to my examples by the fact that they sound unmistakably like PRR gone electro (ha ha, nothing wrong with truisms! ;D), but only in the same way that a straight-up rocker by PRR doesn't sound like a straight-up rocker by, say, Muse - in just the same way that a piano song by Muse doesn't sound like a piano song by, say, Radiohead.

So yep, I agree that PRR's new sound is undoubtedly the sound of Reading's finest and no one else, but I can't agree that it's a unique or original direction: it just doesn't sound exactly the same as A.N. Other Band in the same way that very few bands sound exactly alike - not to say that it doesn't sound hugely promising. But I'm not knocking your view at all, just can't agree with it mate.

[the dark fourth]

Not knocking yours either...in fact it's probably more sensible. But I think you may have misinterpretted my point about the "pop-sensibilities" thing. I only use that word because it's what all the critics use when trying to pin down the catchier aspects of PRR...to be honest it's quite a ridiculous phrase, but it's hard to think of a better way to describe it. It definitely doesn't have anything to do with "pop music" in the broader sense of the term.

Basically, when I say that PRR's new sound is quite original, I'm not saying it exactly because of, say, the new electro feel or anything. I think really PRR's sound has always been quite original, and this new spin-off is just a different direction of originality, because, as I say, it still has all the aspects of the old material that make (or rather made) it distinctive.

Again, I'm not saying it's utterly original, just that I think it's got a distinctive flavour from more mainstream stuff, and indeed from most non-mainstream stuff too, and the combination of their old originality and the new electro-twist is really rather exciting, even if it isn't as groundbreaking as all that.