By day, I'm a father of seven and husband of one. By night, I'm an author, a biographer, and a prog rocker. Interests: Rush, progressive rock, cultural criticisms, the Rocky Mountains, individual liberty, history, hiking, and science fiction.
THE PINEAPPLE THIEF TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM “MAGNOLIA” THIS SEPTEMBER
10th studio album out September 16 via Kscope
ENGLAND – The Pineapple Thief has announced details of its new album, Magnolia, due for release in North America on September 16 via Kscope. Magnolia follows acclaimed 2012 album, All The Wars, and marks an important turning point for the band, as it expands its musical horizons beyond the progressive sphere.
Recorded at Snap Studios and mixed at Strongroom Studios in London, Magnoliarepresents the ultimate culmination of songwriter and guitarist Bruce Soord’s ongoing quest to raise spirits and connect. A devastating yet uplifting collection of 12 beautifully crafted songs, it showcases the band’s intuitive chemistry and soulful demeanor, cramming a vast array of emotional shades and inspirational ideas into its 47 mesmerizing minutes. Veering from the strident opening assault of “Simple As That,” due to be the first single, through to the cinematic sweep of the closing track “Bond,” it marks an important step in the band’s story, while skillfully encapsulating everything that has made its musical journey such a relentlessly fascinating one.
“All I ever wanted was to write catchy songs that stay with people,” commented founder Bruce Soord, explaining how this record represents an important evolutionary phase for The Pineapple Thief. “The striking thing is that there are no long tunes… all I care about now is writing a good song. I don’t think about whether it’s rock or progressive or commercial or anything like that. As time went on, I discovered I could say everything I wanted to say within a shorter period of time.”
New drummer Dan Osborne, also heavily involved in the production of Magnolia, brought fresh energy and ideas to The Pineapple Thief, strongly contributing to steer the band in a new direction. Completing the line-up are solid bassist Jon Sykes and keyboard maestro Steve Kitch. While string arrangements are courtesy of regular collaborator Andrew Skeet of The Divine Comedy, the stunning final mix was crafted by mix engineer Adam Noble, who has previously worked on albums from the likes of Placebo, Guillemots, Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams and Belgium alt rock band dEUS. The artwork for Magnoliawas created by French artist Patrick Gonzales (http://www.patrickgonzales.net).
1. Simple as That (04:01)
2. Alone at Sea (05:21)
3. Don’t Tell Me (03:35)
4. Magnolia (03:47)
5. Seasons Past (04:14)
6. Coming Home (03:06)
7. The One You Left to Die (04:19)
8. Breathe (02:35)
9. From Me (04:31)
10. Sense of Fear (04:31)
11. A Loneliness (03:22)
12. Bond (04:31)
Formed in 1999 by founder and chief songwriter Bruce Soord as an experimental bedroom project, The Pineapple Thief has since continued to evolve and refine its sound. The group is seen by many as one of the most interesting and innovative rock bands the U.K. has produced in recent years. Previous albums like Someone Here Is Missing (2010) and All The Wars (2012) have made The Pineapple Thief’s reputation and fan base stronger, resulting in interest from a wider audience. Bruce Soord also collaborates with other Kscope artists, joining forces with Jonas Renkse of Swedish band Katatonia on their critically acclaimed Wisdom Of Crowds project. Along with this collaboration, we saw Soord join Katatonia on their recent “Dethroned & Uncrowned – Unplugged & Reworked” acoustic European tour.
With a new, blossoming sound, Magnolia has all the potential to bring The Pineapple Thief to the masses. This, the band’s 10th record, could not only be a milestone, but also a mainstream breakthrough for the band. With Magnolia, The Pineapple Thief has created 12 musical gems that defy all classifications – anthemic, catchy, intense, honest and straight from the heart.
Stay tuned for more information on The Pineapple Thief and Magnolia.
After spending my first afternoon at the University of Colorado, I stopped by Time Warp Comics (http://www.time-warp.com). As it turns out, Neil Peart, Kevin J. Anderson, and Nick Robles have been producing a six-part comic book series of Clockwork Angels.
The first three issues are out, and I was even able to purchase a signed (by Anderson) copy of issue 1.
And, equally important, I found out that several of the guys working at Time Warp are proggers. They were also just–not surprisingly–fantastic guys (and a gal). So, a huge thanks to Clayton, Garrett, Michael, and Georgia!
What a store. I’ll certainly be stopping by again.
If you’re in Boulder, make sure you check out Time Warp.
Time Warp Comics, 3105 28th Street, Boulder, CO 80301.
English Electric Full Power. A definitive album of third-wave prog.
Big Big Train News
PROGRESSIVE MUSIC AWARDS NOMINATION
Big Big Train has been nominated in the Anthem category of the 2014 Progressive Music Awards which will be held in September at the Globe Theatre. Listeners can vote for their choice of Anthem and for their favourites in the other categories online at: http://awards.progmagazine.com/
BIG BIG TRAIN IN SESSION AT REAL WORLD
The band are spending a week at Real World studios in August 2014 where they will be rehearsing for live shows and filming performances of a number of songs for release on DVD and Blu-Ray. The band will be joined by Rikard Sjöblom of Beardfish who will be assisting with guitar and keyboards. Live shows will follow in 2015 and an announcement about the dates will be made in the autumn.
Big Big Train has been working on a number of new songs and it is expected that a new album will be released in 2015. Work also continues on the Station Masters retrospective collection.
LP’s AND TEE-SHIRTS
English Electric Part One and Part Two are both available as double LP’s on 180gm vinyl.
A review of Natalie Merchant, NATALIE MERCHANT (Nonesuch, 2014). Songs: Ladybird; Maggie Said; Texas; Go Down, Moses; Seven Deadly Sins; Giving Up Everything; Black Sheep; It’s a Coming; Lulu (intro and full song); and The End.
Natalie Merchant’s 2010 album, LEAVE YOUR SLEEP, was a masterpiece, pure and simple. Taking her favorite poems and putting them to music was a stroke of genius. Merchant’s firm but ethereal voice gave a cinemagraphic feel to some of the finest writings of the last several centuries. While the poems already had a life of their own, the New York artist proved just how alive they really are by offering each a soundtrack.
Ranging over two disks and including a gorgeous detailed book about the poems and why she chose them, LEAVE YOUR SLEEP is a must-own for any music and poetry lover.
Prior to this, Merchant had released THE HOUSE CARPENTER’S DAUGHTER (2003), a reworking and rearranging of traditional American (and some British) folk and labor songs. Also stunning, but in a very different way than LEAVE YOUR SLEEP, THE HOUSE CARPENTER’S DAUGHTER came out on Merchant’s own label, Myth America.
Little news from Merchant emerged between 2010 and now. The last significant interviews she gave—most importantly to the New York Times in 2010—the American revealed that she and her daughter were living in a nunnery in Spain. Having returned to her childhood faith of Roman Catholicism, Merchant was exploring the possibilities of writing liturgical music and, as hopeful speculation had it, a Mass.
In May of this year, Merchant released a new solo album, self-titled, that is not liturgical in setting, but it is intensely religious, confessional, and pro-fessional, at least in its lyrics.
As an artist who made her fame in the 1980s as one of the lead singer and songwriter of one of America’s favorite alternative rock bands, 10,000 Maniacs, Merchant is often remembered for her poppier music.
Her solo career, however, has revealed several different aspects of this musician. Her albums have ranged from vaudeville to operatic to folk. Not surprisingly, she covered a Richard Thompson song on THE HOUSE CARPENTER’S DAUGHTER. While many in the music industry label her as a “female pop” singer, usually associating her with other North Americans such as Suzanne Vega, Tori Amos, and Sarah McLachlan, she really has far more in common with Van Morrison, Fairport Convention, and Traffic.
Like the three bands/acts just mentioned, Merchant at her best always produces soulful, deep, melancholic songs touched not with irony but with intrigue and regret.
Leave Your Sleep, (2 disk, Nonesuch, 2010). Highest recommendation. A must own.
The latest album, NATALIE MERCHANT, has every key aspect of her non-pop song writing in spades, but it is still a step removed—on terms of creativity—from her other work. It’s not nearly as profound, unfortunately, as LEAVE YOUR SLEEP, but then, how could she really compete with the words of Gerard Manley Hopkins. As a lyricist, though, Merchant is quite good.
Yet, NATALIE MERCHANT is a truly satisfying affair. From the opening song to the last note, this album pleases the soul as much as it pleases the aural senses. Though the lyrics aren’t political, they are full of social justice and charity. They are also moving as well as haunting.
Tellingly, the photo inside the cd package shows a gracefully graying Natalie (she’s 50), holding a dove. She holds the bird of peace closely and sincerely. It’s quite the contrast to The The’s bayonetted dove of MIND BOMB. Merchant’s holding of the dove is not sarcastic but hopeful and longing.
Songs such as “Go Down, Moses,” offer a pleading for grace, while the song “Seven Deadly Sins” scathingly attacks the culture of war.
The most difficult song, lyrically, is “Giving Up Everything.” Many will no doubt attempt to interpret this as some form of nihilism. Given Merchant’s faith journey, however, the reality of the meaning is probably quite the opposite. What Merchant is giving up is not life and meaning but the belief that she herself can discover her purpose alone. “Giving up everything, the big to-do, the hullabaloo, the tug-of-war for some twisted truth. For the everlasting ache of it, no longer slave, not chained to it, no gate, no guard, no keeper, no guru, master, teaching.” “Black Sheep” is a retelling of the parable of the prodigal son, and “It’s a coming” and “The End” are apocalyptic.
That’ll be the end of arms stretched wide, of begging for bread, of emptiness inside. And the sea, so wide and treacherous, and the land, so dark and dangerous, so far left behind. That’ll be the end of the war, when we finally lay down the barrel and the blade and go home.– Natalie Merchant, ‘The End’
Welcome to my quick run-down of those albums I’m looking forward to being released in the latter half of 2014. I’ve already gone into some detail about the album that I’m most looking forward to, Evergrey’s ‘Hymns For The Broken’, but there are plenty more albums that are high on my radar. Want to know what they are? Then read on!
Opeth – Pale Communion
I have to confess that this is an album that I have already heard and reviewed for Powerplay magazine. Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to holding the finished article in my hands. It isn’t an album I had held out great hope for having failed to be enthralled by any of the Opeth back catalogue up to now. However, this is the album that means that I finally ‘get’ Opeth and understand why so many people hold them in high regard. Stylistically similar to ‘Heritage’
The French peasantry stormed the Bastille in Paris on this day, July 14, in 1789, signaling the revolt of the people against the monarchy. Revolution was a favorite topic of Rush’s in the early days. In “Bastille Day,” Alex, Geddy, and Neil took on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the French Revolution, and in “Beneath, Between and Behind,” they took on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the American Revolution. “A Farewell to Kings” is all about revolution, too.
To help celebrate Bastille Day 2014, here’s a live version of Rush’s progressive metal classic from 1976. YouTube has inserted a commercial at the start of it, but if you watch it here on this site, without going to YouTube, the commercial doesn’t play.
It’s hard to tell, but I’m wearing my “Got Peart?” t-shirt. And, there’s a big, big train in the background. Andy’s motorcycle is missing, however.
Driving across the grass seas of western Nebraska and eastern Colorado this past week, I made sure my listening list was quite specific and quite orderly. Across the western parts of Nebraska, traversing the mighty and winding Platte several times, I listened to Big Big Train, ENGLISH ELECTRIC PART ONE. Not FULL POWER, but the original PART ONE. Back to this in a moment.
Greg Marcus Aurelius Spawton
Once the Platte split into north and south, I took the south fork, and I went for The Tangent’s THE MUSIC THAT DIED ALONE. Andy always inspires me. But, the combination of Andy and Roine Stolt as my car flew (legally, of course) through such nearly forgotten towns as Julesburg, Ovid, and Sedgwick proved perfect. Andy never fails to find the beauty in lost hope.
Andy Tillison. Master of Hope and Keytarism. (Picture – Martin Reijman)
A bit of patriotism hit me after The Tangent finished, so I went for Kansas’s THE POINT OF NO RETURN. Amazingly enough, the entire album took me from the ending of THE MUSIC THAT DIED ALONE to our brand new house in Colorado. Truly, as we driving up to the house in Longmont, the final notes of “Hopelessly Human” played.
As promised, back to BBT, ENGLISH ELECTRIC PART ONE (EEP1). First, its pastoral tone fit the Nebraska countryside beautifully. The skies, not surprisingly, were as broad as were deeply blue—the kind of blue one finds only in the Great Plains on a summer day. But, the grasses were a treat as well—variations of greens and golds, generally quite tall and swaying under the pressure of the continental winds.
Second, I’ve not listened to EEP1 for at least a year. Indeed, once ENGLISH ELECTRIC FULL POWER (EEFP) came out, I considered it the definitive edition, putting away PART ONE.
I won’t in any way, shape, or form suggest I had any thing at all to do with the final ordering of EEFP. Such a claim would be nothing but hubris. And, it would be completely false. This was not, however, for want of trying. I bugged Greg openly on the internet and privately through emails about this. I interviewed him about it, and, as a friend, tried to put him in a corner. Greg, the quintessential English Stoic gentleman, quietly (though not in quiet desperation, I pray) took the suggestions of this overly eager and earnest American (overly eager and earnestness are two of our defining traits as a people) with kindness. Thank you, Greg.
I know there was some debate among the progarchists whether or not Greg and Co. were messing with a work of art unnecessarily by re-arranging the order of things and filling in the corners with EEFP. But, from the beginning, I was on Greg’s side. It’s his creation, and he can do with it as he will (and the rest of the members of the band, of course).
Listening to EEP1 this week only confirmed my thoughts. It is a stunningly beautiful, calming, and mesmerizing work. Like all great works of art, it demands full immersion by the participant. Pastoral, it is also equally humane and cinematic. It is a part of the English bardic tradition at its very best. A community of minds and talents produced this album, and we are blessed indeed to exist in a world that allows such works of art to emerge and flourish.
But, for me, especially as a historian, EEP1 is now an incomplete yet intriguing part of a puzzle. It belongs in the archives now, a glorious blueprint, but not quite the complete thing.
This discussion, I think, is not mere mental wrestling. BBT is not just another band, and EEP1, EEP2, and EEFP are not just mere new releases. BBT is a definitive band of prog’s third wave, and EEFP is possibly the finest statement of music over the last two and a half decades. It is the legitimate successor to Talk Talk’s SPIRIT OF EDEN.
How the album came together, how it evolved, and how it is received is not merely academic. It’s now a critical part of our history as lovers of music, art, and human genius. It is now an integral part of the western tradition. Long may it continue.
A review of The Ben Cameron Project, TIPPING POINT (independently released, 2014).
Two long tracks: “Part One” (21:02); “Part 2” (17:49). Only two members: Ben Cameron (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards) and Chris Cameron (all drums and percussion)
Let me just state this at the beginning of this review—this is a beauty of an album. Pure prog; unabashedly a concept album that takes you on a serious musical journey throughout its entirety.
The album opens with a very post-Gabriel/Hackett-era Genesis feel. It is truly an aural treat, and TIPPING POINT easily moves from one mood and one style to another. From Genesis to Neal Morse to Pink Floyd (in an Airbag kind of way) to Big Big Train to Dream Theater to Cosmograf. The overall effect is one of intense drama and cinema. Indeed, if you’re looking for an album in which to immerse yourself, this is it.
It’s also clear that the Camerons have given everything imaginable to the writing, recording, and production of this album.
Two things really stand out after several listens. First, the vocals. Though the only vocalist, Ben Cameron does some really amazing things with his voice. I was quite stunned to look at the notes to the album and find that he was the only vocalist. Second, the drumming. Wow, can Chris Cameron drum or what?!?!? An excellent cross between the prog style of NVD and the harder style of Mike Portnoy.
As mentioned above, TIPPING POINT is a concept, dealing very humanely but also gut-wrenchingly at points with the struggle with depression. Not surprisingly given the topic, there exists lots of existential angst—“I didn’t choose to be this way” and “I only see a world of pain” are typical lyrics.
The Ben Cameron Project is a critical new band in the prog realm. I have no doubt that the follow-up album will be extraordinarily good musically. I am especially interested to see where Ben Cameron goes lyrically.
To support The Ben Cameron Project (and progarchy.com requests that you do!), go to the band’s official website: www.thebencameronproject.com.
A review of Steven Wilson, COVER VERSION (Kscope, 2014). 12 Songs total: Thank You; Moment I Lost; The Day Before You Came; Please Come Home; A Forest; The Guitar Lesson; The Unquiet Grave; Sign ‘O’ The Times; Well You’re Wrong; Lord of the Reedy River; An End to End
Steven Wilson is nothing if not interesting. Vitally so. Everything he does matters in some way to the contemporary world of music. He’s even made it somewhat big, at least by alternative and prog standards.
This brand new release from Wilson is a compilation—slightly redone—of cover versions (not surprisingly) of some of his favorite songs over the past two decades. Several of the songs he recorded in professional studios, he notes. Others, he recorded in hotel rooms as a form of music diary. I am exactly two months older than Wilson. Though I lived in Kansas and he in England in the 1980s, it’s pretty clear that we grew up with the same music in the same era. He, himself, notes this in his choices. Songs covered come from Donovan, Abba, and The Cure, to name just a few. Some of the songs, such as Wilson’s version of The Cure’s A Forest are deeply electronic, while others very much feel like the acid folk he produced with Storm Corrosion.
In many cases, Wilson’s versions are superior to the originals. In all cases, they are worth listening to.
Wilson has never been shy about borrowing from others in his music—Pink Floyd in early Porcupine Tree, U2 on his first solo album, and Andy Tillison (to the “nth” degree) on his most recent solo album (THE RAVEN THAT REFUSED TO SING sounds very much like a The Tangent album from roughly 5 or so years ago).
It’s great to see Wilson openly name his sources and proclaim his heroes with COVER VERSION. In particular, his take on A Forest makes the entire album worth purchasing. But, then again, this is a Steven Wilson release. No matter what he does, we need to pay attention.
Progarchy 