The Power and The Glory (CD/Blu Ray) – Gentle Giant Introduction… Well I have always liked Gentle Giant since I finally got into them which was a good couple of decades after they disbanded in 1980. I barely took any notice of them back in the 70’s and I am pretty sure it was through […]
I would be stunned to find out that most lovers of prog music don’t also love really artful and meaningful films.
I’m not knocking goofy films. I love Bowfinger, Old School, etc.: movies my brothers and I lovingly refer to as “great stupid movies.”
And, of course, there are a number of movies that play what my friend, Mike Church, calls “juke box” music–The Wedding Singer or almost any John Hughes movie.
I’m, however, thinking of actual cinematic scores written for the screen.
And, to be fair–and probably state the obvious–many of the best modern soundtracks, such as those by Hans Zimmer–are clearly influenced by prog rock.
The first in a series of sales to celebrate 10 years of the Kscope label.
Many Paul Draper items – including the extremely limited limited cassette edition of Spooky Action – will be available at a reduced price until May 31st.
Welcome To The Blackout (Live London ’78) captures Bowie live during the ISOLAR II tour at Earls Court, London on the 30th June and 1st July 1978.
The album was recorded by Tony Visconti and was mixed by David and David Richards at Mountain Studios, Montreux in January 1979.
Initials copies of the CD are packaged in a six-panel digipak with rare photos from Sukita and Chris Walters
Double CD in digipak.
Pre-order for 29th June release.
One of the wildest and most disturbing aspects of modernity is how compartmentalized everything becomes. One important thing (a person, an idea, an institution) becomes isolated and, in its isolation, takes on its own importance, its own language (jargon), and, naturally, its own abstraction.
During the past 100 years, a number of groups have tried to combat this. In the U.K., most famously, there were a variety of literary groups: The Inklings; the Bloomsbury Group; and the Order Men. In the States, there were the southern Agrarians, the Humanists, the Lovecraftians, and the women (no official name–but Isabel Patterson, Claire Boothe Luce, Dorothy Thompson, and Rose Wilder Lane) who met for tea once a week and shared stories.
The first such known group in the English-speaking group was the Commonwealth Men, meeting in London taverns from 1693 to 1722, attempting to combine British Common Law thinking with classical and ancient philosophy.
Continue reading “Mead Halls in Winter: Big Big Train as Community”
Lee Speaks About Music… #79
— Read on leespeaksoutaboutmusic.wordpress.com/2018/05/15/lee-speaks-about-music-79/
It would not be an exaggeration to argue that meeting Carrie Nuttall served as one of the most important moments in Peart’s life and in precipitating Rush 3.0. In her, Peart found a reason to live fully, a reason to rediscover excellence, and a reason to return to his life in Rush. It was through their mutual friend, Andrew McNaughton (now deceased), that the two met.
In those days, Andrew and I often talked on the phone from wherever I wandered, and shared our sorrows and anxieties. Typically, Andrew was determined to find a “match” for this crusty old widower. When my motorcycle had carried me back across the continent yet again, to pause in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Andrew sent me a few test Polaroids of a photo assistant he had been working with-a pretty dark-haired girl named Carrie. Again, I was reluctant, gruffly telling him, “not interested”—but finally I made my meandering way west again, and stopped for a while in Los Angeles.[i]
When she met Peart, she knew next to nothing about the band.[ii] She told him, however, that she would love to see him perform again, especially considering his reputation as a drummer and his own love of music. For Peart, all of this proved almost Faerie-like.
Andrew introduced me to Carrie, my real angel of redemption; in less than a month we were deeply in love, and in less than a year we were married in a fairy-tale wedding near Santa Barbara. Carrie: Beautiful, smart, cultivated, artistic, affectionate; Deep green eyes, long dark hair, radiant smile; Tall, slender, shapely, nicely put together; Half English, half Swedish, all American, all mine. The answer to a prayer I hadn’t dared to voice, or even dream. Carrie. Soulmate, a lover, a wife, a new journey to embark upon, the greatest adventure. [iii]
Though still in pain—a pain that would (and will) never fully cease—when he met her, he found her instantly attractive intellectually as well as personally. They bonded almost immediately in friendship. She considered him a modern-day Conquistador, armed in black leather and mounted on a powerful red horse, forever seeking the road and adventure. But, his days of restless exploration had come to an end, and the Ghost Rider faded into memory. On September 9, 2000, just three days short of his forty-eighth birthday, Peart married Nuttall in Montecito, California.[iv]
Continue reading “Neil Peart’s Painful Victory: Vapor Trails”
Discipline is the ninth in a series of audiophile King Crimson vinyl reissues.
Super-heavyweight – 200g – cut from the masters used for the 30th anniversary series and approved by Robert Fripp, this vinyl version echoes the 30th anniversary edition CD and contains two takes of the majestic Matte Kudasai (featuring Adrian Belew’s lead guitar on track 3 side A and Robert Fripp’s lead guitar as a bonus track at the end of side B – uncredited as per the CD).
Pre-order for 15th June release.
The six track Bad Witch is Nine Inch Nails’ first full-length album since 2013 and completes a trilogy of story-telling/conceptual releases (that includes 2016’s Not The Actual Events and 2017’s Add Violence EPs ).
Available as CD and vinyl editions.
Pre-order for 22nd June release.
A 180g audiophile vinyl version of Zappa and The Mothers enigmatic treat Burnt Weeny Sandwich. Supervised by the ZFT, the record was specially mastered for this release by Bernie Grundman with all analogue production and cut directly from the 1970 quarter inch stereo safety master tape in 2018.
Unavailable on vinyl for more than three decades.
Pre-order for 6th July release.
Continuing his lifelong exploration of the possibilities of the studio, Listening To Pictures is the first new album in nine years from musical visionary, Jon Hassell.
Available as a CD in jewel case with printed outer slipcase and 10 page booklet, and as a single 140g vinyl LP in a full colour printed sleeve with printed inner and digital download card.
Pre-order for 8th June release.
Smoke and Mirrors are part of a limited edition series of releases that were previously only available via Marillion‘s own web store and features the band performing live at the Marillion Weekend in Minehead in 2005.
Taken from the Saturday performance, Smoke features Marillion’s most up-beat and high-energy songs. Taken from Sunday’s performance, Mirrors showcases the slower and more atmospheric side of the band’s output.
Shipping now.
Britain’s giants of electronic music Orbital return with the bold Monsters Exist.
Available as a deluxe double CD with 7 extra tracks and as a double vinyl edition with full-colour insert and download card.
Pre-order for 14th September release.
I’m thrilled to know that Rubenstein’s EP is now available for pre-order. The man looks like Alex Lifeson and plays better than Keith Emerson! His previous album, NEW METAL FROM OLD BOXES, is still a stunner.
And, it’s now possible to get Rubenstein’s entire discography for $13.60. Enjoy!
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3RDegree – “Ones & Zeroes: Volume 0”
— Read on theprogmind.com/2018/05/11/3rdegree-ones-zeroes-volume-0/
Progarchy 