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33A: Contrarian Debut DOWNLOADS: PLAYLIST: Dmitri Shostakovich: Contrarian: Operation Overlord, from the 2007 debut Minor Complexities Shostakovich Contrarian: Fear and Trembling (excerpt) Shostakovich Tim Boney: A Minor Prelude Contrarian: NOTES: Contrarian's debut album Minor Complexities is quite remarkable. An independant band from New Jersey, Contrarian features incredible playing, nice arrangements, powerful vocals, thought provoking lyrics -- a masterful blend of complexity and hard rock.The most obvious musical comparison (and one of their biggest influeces) is the band Kansas, especially with Conrarian's use of violin on several tracks. I had the fortune of meeting this band at the 2007 NEARfest, and as I spoke with them and listened to portions of their CD I knew I had made a good find. I paired Contrarian's music with the 8th String Quartet of Dmitri Shostakovich, as I felt the music has similar intensity and because I felt listeners would appreciate it, as it is quite proggy. The song Operation Overlord is a tribute to the Allied soldiers who fought the Battle of Normandy. The band has put together a wonderful slideshow video to accompany the song, which can be seen at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqxsUzgYa9I Learn more about the band and order their CD from their website: |