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.......THE
BAND AND RECORD OF THE MONTH
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.......THE
BAND AND RECORD OF THE MONTH
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| . | APRIL 2018 |
| Comments:
The Aaron Clift Experiment are a band that has worlds of potential and in a constant state of musical emotion. Their music is sensitve, heavy, dark, intense, melodic and atmospheric, with elaborate orchestral arrangements, including powerfull instrumental parts, mixing different styles into one extremely captivating music. All compositions are packed with tons of musical ideas, where the musicians blend an instrumental diversity full of amazing arrangements. Initially composed as a trio, The Aaron Clift Experiment develop a great work mixing together important elements of prog rock and some strands of this style, their musical references travel by many ways, where we get a sound that encompasses Symphonic Progressive Rock, Hard Rock, Art Rock, Classic Rock and also a little AOR. They are not entirely true to the progressive rock tradition from seventies, however, they have some good references from bands such as "Kansas", "Styx", "Jethro Tull", "Saga", "Pink Floyd" and "Genesis", also including "Steven Wilson", "Circu5", "Arena" and "Porcupine Tree". The Aaron Clift Experiment develops an amazing music, with symphonic keyboards, dominated by lush guitars solos in the most of arrangements, but some times the guitars have a symphonic sound, a well marcant bass together a powerfull drums, with astonishingly range of tones on vocals, very well interpreted by Aaron Clift, for me one of the main highlights. Amazing arrangements divided at the same time among heavy and melodic, with a lot of sentiment, a band of incredible depth and strength that certainly will delight all prog listeners worldwide. "If All Goes Wrong" is a ten track album, running for just over 50 minutes. The tracks are all of an evenly high quality. If I had to choose my favourites, they would be: "Last Crash", "Absent Lovers", "Castle in the Sky", "Savage in a Fancy Suit", "Dream Within a Dream" in my opinion, the best song on this album and "If All Goes Wrong". "If All Goes Wrong" have an intense musical depth, with an assurance of a strong name on the actual progressive rock music world, you must sit down and listen and listen, you'll be amazed at the musicianship and arrangement from this group. Brilliant and fantastic, an amazing album and band, highly recommendable... The
line-up on The Aaron Clift Experiment album are:
Guest Musicians: Dave
North - Electric Guitar (1, 6, 9), Acoustic Guitar (1, 9), Guitar
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THE
AARON CLIFT EXPERIMENT
The Aaron Clift Experiment is a dynamic progressive rock band based in Austin, Texas. The group's multi-faceted sound is an innovative blend of classic rock, modern rock, and classical all anchored by the band's dedication to high-quality songwriting and musicianship.
"Intricate
and subtle yet with raw passion at its heart, The Aaron Clift Experiment
is one of the most exciting and interesting bands currently writing and
playing music today," said Martin Hutchinson of
Formed in 2012 as the solo project of Aaron Clift, the band has since blossomed into a powerful live group enriched by the extensive musical background of its members. The soaring vocals of classically-trained singer and keyboardist, Aaron Clift, are grounded by the powerhouse rhythm section of Devin North (bass) and Tim Smith (drums). In the last few years, the band has carved out a significant worldwide following. Its last two albums, 2012's "Lonely Hills," and 2015's "Outer Light, Inner Darkness," were critically-acclaimed progressive rock achievements, landing on several year-end best album lists. In 2017, the band had a star-making performance at RosFest, one of the largest progressive rock festivals in the world. The Aaron Clift Experiment continues to move its dynamic sound forward in its new release, "If All Goes Wrong". The album contains the band’s most diverse and electrifying music to date – songs full of enthralling melodies, masterful epics, and addictive pop hooks. "I’ve always loved music that’s both sophisticated and immediate – challenging but also accessible, and with "If All Goes Wrong", our music has hit that balance better than at any point in our career," explained Clift. Co-songwriter, Devin North, added: "This album challenges what a rock band is capable of and deals with one of the fundamental struggles in being a progressive rock band: playing the established genre of progressive rock and actually making music that progresses forward. Nothing is done half-way on this album." As The Aaron Clift Experiment examines its relationship within its musical community in "If All Goes Wrong", the band also seeks to make sense of the larger world. "Previous ACE albums were very inward-looking, but this time around, the songs are much more focused on interpersonal relationships as well as the individual's role in society," said Clift. "The battle to find peace of mind and love when everything around us seems to be crumbling is a major theme that drives the album." In the end, the band believes that music can become a symbol of hope and a force for positive change. North explains: "While things do fall apart, in "If All Goes Wrong", we want to show that there can still be a happy ending – a sense of overcoming and coming together as something beautiful and triumphant." AARON CLIFT - VOCALS AND KEYBOARDS
Vocalist and keyboardist, Aaron Clift is a performer and songwriter who combines wide-ranging experience in classical and rock music. At age 12, he began his music career playing viola and later studied vocal performance, music composition, and Spanish at Tufts University. Aaron spent the next few years performing and composing for a variety of music ensembles as well writing demos for the songs that would make their way onto The Aaron Clift Experiment’s debut album, “Lonely Hills.” In 2012, Aaron started The Aaron Clift Experiment as a band that would build on legacy of the progressive rock he grew up listening to. As the band’s founder, he has appeared on and contributed compositions to all of the band’s albums. Today, Aaron is primarily a rock vocalist and keyboardist, but his background in classical music adds depth and sophistication to his songwriting and performances. Aaron plays a variety of keyboard instruments but primarily uses Roland controllers and amplifiers with Ableton Live and Native Instruments Komplete. DEVIN NORTH - BASS
Devin North is a bassist and songwriter versed in a multitude of different musical genres. In addition to his primary electric bass, he is versed in jazz and classical upright bass as well as electric guitar, all of which he has performed with The Aaron Clift Experiment. Devin studied jazz bass and music business at the University of Texas at Austin and has worked around the city of Austin as a sort of swiss army knife bassist – performing in rock, jazz, musical theater, country, blues, and classical ensembles. He currently teaches bass at the Austin School of Music as well as coaches young musicians at Rock Camp USA and continues to play, write, record and produce records. He is first and foremost a rock bass player, though believes that the intricacies of knowing jazz and classical music add a depth to his musical compositions and diversity to his approach to the bass. He has been a member of The Aaron Clift Experiment since 2014 and has appeared on and contributed compositions to the ACE albums, "Outer Light", "Inner Darkness" and "If All Goes Wrong". Devin primarily plays a 1966 Fender Precision bass through Fender amplifiers. TIM SMITH - DRUMS
Drummer, Tim Smith combines a keen feel for groove and influences from a broad selection of music genres to anchor The Aaron Clift Experiment’s sound. At age 11, Tim began his music career when he took up trombone in his school band. But all the while, his true dream was to learn drums and percussion. That dream came true when, at age 13, Tim bought his first drum set. Since then, he's been drumming in numerous bands – playing everything from rock, funk, R&B, and heavy metal. Today, Tim is pursuing a music minor at the University of Texas at Austin. Tim
hopes that with his nuanced feel and diverse musicianship, he can make
the music groove and extract a rhythmic reaction from the listener – whether
that's dancing, tapping their foot, or nodding
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New
Release
"If All Goes Wrong" 01)
Faith
Recorded in November – December 2017 at Antimatter Studios – Austin, Texas. Production, Mixing, and Mastering: Randy Miller Co-production:
Devin North
Photography: Thamica Photography. Major album patrons: John Blangero, Louis DeCuir Also
you can visit
Youtube If All Goes Wrong Crowdfunding Promo Video The Castaway Saga – Live at RosFest 2017 |
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For
more information and every thing about the band, please visit
THE
AARON CLIFT EXPERIMENT HOME PAGEN
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