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.
Aubrey and D’Virgilio, courtesy of the uber-great Willem Klopper.
Posted at Facebook today:
English Electric Full Power will be released in the early autumn and brings together the two English Electric CD’s as a double album with four new tracks and with a 96 page booklet which tells the stories behind the songs and behind English Electric.
The four new tracks will also be released as a separate EP at a low-price to enable those who already own English Electric Parts One and Two to purchase the four new songs on CD without having to buy the double album. A free download of the Full Power booklet will be available for purchasers of the EP.
Both the double album and EP will also be available as downloads (with downloadable booklets.)
Alongside the CD releases, English Electric Part Two will be released on 180g heavyweight vinyl by Plane Groovy. The LP is a double album and includes all the songs from Part Two plus the four new tracks from English Electric Full Power.
Live News
Big Big Train is gearing up for some live performances. In 2014 the band is spending a week at Real World studios for a full dress rehearsal with the brass quartet and string players. The rehearsal will be filmed for DVD and Blu-Ray release.
Beer News
We know that many BBT listeners enjoy fine quality ales and the band has been working with Box Steam craft brewery to create the first Big Big Train beer which will be available in August.
Other News
Big Big Train has received two nominations (for ‘best album’ and for ‘breakthrough act’) in the Progressive Music Awards which will be held at Kew Gardens in September. If you wish to vote for BBT or for any of the other nominees you can find details of the awards here: http://www.progrockmag.com/news/progressive-music-awards-2013-nominees-listed-in-full/
Nick is returning to England in September to do some more recording for the next Big Big Train studio album which will be released in 2015. Work on the 3 CD Station Masters retrospective is ongoing and we hope that Station Masters will be released in 2014.
Finally, a new tee-shirt to celebrate the release of the first BBT beer will also be available from The Merch Desk in August.
BBT on Facebook and Twitter
For the most up-to-date news and to communicate with the band and with other BBT listeners please find us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/groups/bigbigtrain
Tomorrow (or, for those of you not in the western hemisphere, today), Kingbathmat releases its seventh album, OVERCOMING THE MONSTER. Reviewing CDs has its privileges (many, actually), and one of the best is the early arrival of review copies. I don’t want to sound like a gnostic in some mystery cult, but there is something really wonderful about getting to hear these CDs for the first time.
A little over a month ago, I received a copy of OVERCOMING THE MONSTER. I’ve been playing it–along with four or five other cds–pretty much non-stop since it arrived.
As many of you know, I have no musical ability whatsoever. Back in the days of huge stereo systems, I used to joke that I was really good only at hitting play and setting the EQ. So, as always, take my comments as those from one who appreciates the music, but does so with no expertise.
The sum of it: I love this album. Love it. And this in the midst of amazing releases and rereleases: from Big Big Train, Nosound, The Tangent, Cosmograf, Glass Hammer, Sound of Contact, Shineback, etc.
What to Love? The music.
What to love. First, the music, of course. Imagine mid-period Rush, but then prog it up–a lot. Imagine Grace Under Pressure seriousness with Hemisphere song structures.
Or, imagine the Seattle grunge scene of the early 1990s having gone majorly prog. A bit of Soundgarten, a bit of Screaming Trees, etc. This is better. Much better.
Throw in some Tool and maybe some My Bloody Valentine and maybe even a small measure of space rock (Alan Parsons at its most sublime).
If you could put all of this together, you’d start pointing toward the brilliance of Kingbathmat. Last year’s album, TRUTH BUTTON, was really good; OVERCOMING THE MONSTER is exceptional.
What to Love? The lyrics.
What else to love? The lyrics. Ok, admittedly, I’m not at all sure what to make of the lyrics if taken line by line. I have a feeling there’s a lot of stuff going on in the lyrics, probably much of it psychological and deeply intellectual.
For the purposes of this review, I’ll just take them literally. See the Monster–the gorgon, the Medusa? She’s evil, and she needs to be destroyed. It’s that simple. That’s evil, and we’re good. Nail it with all the strength imaginable. Don’t flirt, don’t compromise, and don’t hold hands. Kill it. Now.
Remember your classical myth, though. If you look at it, you turn to stone. So, killing it is no easier for us than it was for Perseus.
Good luck, and may the gods be with you.
What to Love? The band.
Finally, what to love? This band. Here’s how they describe themselves:
KingBathmat are a powered up independent/psychedelic/progressive/alternative rock band, hailing from Hastings in England. Initially started by singer/songwriter John Bassett, KingBathmat have now independently released six albums to date “Son of a Nun” (2003), “Crowning Glory” (2004), “Fantastic Freak Show Carnival”(2005), “Blue Sea, Black Heart” (2008), “Gravity Field” (2009) and “Truth Button” (2012) . The 4 piece band comprises of John Bassett (guitar,vocals), David Georgiou (Keyboards), Rob Watts (bass) and Bernie Smirnoff (drums).
Sketch of Bassett by Anne-Catherine de Froidmont.
I’ve had a chance to correspond–just a very bit–with Bassett. What a great, intelligent guy. Even if Kingbathmat were mediocre, I’d be interested in following them simply because of how interesting Bassett is. They’re far, far from mediocre, however.
Every time I listen to OVERCOMING THE MONSTER, I think: vocals really make this album. Then, I think: the drums really make this album. Then, I think, the guitars really make this album. And, keyboards. And, bass. Then, about my sixth listen, I realize–now, it’s how perfectly well these instruments play individually while working together so well.
So, I give OVERCOMING THE MONSTER my highest recommendation. It’s prog. Not like Big Big Train, not like The Tangent, not like Nosound, not like Cosmograf. No, it’s Kingbathmat. Just look at the name of the band. These guys do whatever they want. And, I’m going to keep watching and listening.
One last quote for their webpage:
KingBathmat do not align themselves with convention, they have ditched the giblet hustlers and they endeavour to buck the trend and to not take themselves too seriously. For they do not look for, or court approval. KingBathmat are not beholding to a multi-national company, a debt, or a self proposed obligation. They do what they want.
For some bands, I’d think this was pure anti-establishment hype. Look how cool Bono is, etc. Nope, when it comes to avoiding conformity, these guys mean it.
Still, I don’t believe for a split second that they don’t take themselves seriously. They take themselves and their art VERY seriously.
This month at Progarchy, in addition to writing and analyzing about many, many things, we’re having a bit of celebration of Kevin McCormick’s first album, With the Coming of Evening (1993). It’s been 20 years since it first appeared, and, sadly, this masterpiece is still relatively forgotten.
This needs to change.
It’s nearly impossible to label in terms of styles. McCormick, much influenced by every great composer, performer, and group from Andres Segovia and Viktor Villa-Lobos to Rush and Talk Talk, brings everything good to his music.
A nationally award-winning poet, published composer (for classical guitar as well as choir), and professional classical guitarist, he offers his very artful being and soul to his music. Like many in the prog world, McCormick’s a perfectionist in everything he does. But, it’s not completely fair to label this album “in the prog world,” though it comes as close to prog as any genre in the music world.
Had With the Coming of Evening been released now, in the days of internet sovereignty, many would label this album as post-rock or post-prog, akin to the Icelandic shoe-gazing of Sigur Ros. No doubt, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock hover lovingly over this work, though McCormick is always his own man.
Very much so.
Nor, would he have it any other way. As humble as he is talented, McCormick would gladly take blame for any fault, and, being Kevin, he would rarely take credit for anything brilliant he produces. He would say he discovered what is already, simply having been the first to notice it or remember it.
Still it’s his name on the work, and he recognizes that this comes with a certain amount of responsibility and duty–to all who came before him and all who will come after him. McCormick would even want his inspirations to be proud of him. After all, what would Mark Hollis think of just some ghastly American cover band?
No, McCormick is his own man.
My bias
I should be upfront about my bias. I’ve known Kevin since the fall of 1986, when we were each freshmen in college. Though we’d talked off an on our first month and a half of the semester, it was on a plane ride from Chicago to Denver over fall break that really allowed us to get to know each other. After that, we were as thick as thieves. Well, as thieving as two would-be Catholic boys could be.
As with all meaningful college friendships, we talked late into the night, read and critiqued each other’s work, had deep (well, at the time, they seemed deep) philosophical debates, talked (of course) about girls, discussed which albums were the best ever, mocked the cafeteria food, and so on.
The following year, we traveled throughout southern Europe and also the UK together. I spent the year in Innsbruck, Austria, and Kevin lived in Rome.
When traveling together for three weeks in England, we paid homage to all of the great recording studios, tried to find Mark Hollis at EMI headquarters, and even (oh so very obnoxiously) thought we’d tracked down Sting’s house. Kevin rang the doorbell, but, thank the Good Lord, neither Mr. Sting nor Mrs. Sting answered.
We also, of course, visited Stonehenge.
If we’d had Facebook, then, we probably would’ve visited Greg Spawton, David Longdon, Matt Stevens (was he in kindergarten, then?), Robin Armstrong, Matt Cohen, and Giancarlo Erra, too. “Who are these crazy Americans knocking on our door! Go visit someone like Mr. and Mrs. Sting!”
Our loss.
Our dorm room in Zahm Hall, U. of Notre Dame, Fall 1988. Kevin and his future wife, Lisa. Notice the stereo system and cassettes behind Kevin and Lisa.
Our third year, back at our Catholic college in northern Indiana, we shared a dorm room. That year, I also hosted a Friday night prog show (called, can you believe it, “Nocturnal Omissions”–I really thought I was clever) on our college radio station, and Kevin would often co-host with me. He founded a band, St. Paul and the Martyrs, which became the most popular band on campus, covering everything from XTC to Yes to Blancmange.
Our final year, I helped produce an extremely elaborate charity concert, and St. Paul and the Martyrs performed–the entire Dark Side of the Moon, complete with a avant garde film and elaborate stage lighting, followed by a performance (less elaborate in terms of production) of side one of Spirit of Eden.
Kevin and Lisa’s wedding. Notice Kevin’s ponytail. This automatically makes him a cool artist.
When Kevin returned from several years in Japan and (truly) traveling the world, we spent a few years together in graduate school, Kevin in music, me in history.
Kevin is godfather to my oldest son, and I to his second daughter. We remain as close as we ever were.
What about the music?
Come on, Birzer. This is a music site, not a “here’s what I did in college” site. True, true. But, so much of my own thoughts regarding Kevin’s music are related to our friendship. Every time I put on one of his albums, it’s as though I’ve just had one of the best conversations in my life.
So, I’ve asked others at Progarchy to review With the Coming of Evening. You know my bias–so, now I’ll state what I believe as objectively as possible.
Kevin is brilliant, as a lyricist, as a composer, and as a person. His first album, With the Coming of Evening, the first of a trilogy, is a stunning piece of work, and it deserves to be regarded not just as a post-rock classic, but as a rock and prog classic.
It’s not easy listening. Kevin takes so many chances and weaves his music in so many unusual ways, that one has to immerse oneself in it. It’s gorgeous. It’s like reading a T.S. Eliot poem. No one who wants to understand an Eliot poem reads it as a spectator. You either become a part of it, or you misunderstand it.
If there’s a misstep on the album, it comes with the 9th track, “Looks Like Rain.” Its blues structure and blue lamentations stick out a little too much. A remix of this album would almost certainly leave this song out. It’s still an excellent song. It just doesn’t fit tightly with the rest of the album–which really must be taken as an organic and mesmeric whole.
Kevin took six years to write and record the follow-up album, Squall (1999), and he’s ready to record the conclusion to the trilogy.
More on Kevin to come. . . .
Kevin and I revisit Notre Dame, 20 years later. Kevin has cut the ponytail, but, otherwise, he’s not aged.
But, for now, treat yourself to his backcatalogue. I give it my highest recommendation. And, of course, it doesn’t hurt that he one of the nicest guys in all of creation. . . .
I continued to be mightily impressed with the skills of Billy James. Just got this from him about 15 minutes ago. Thanks, Billy–ed.
____
Legendary Singer/Songwriter Jon Anderson To Perform In The UK, Finland And Sweden,
And To Be Honored In Las Vegas – August 2013
Asheville, NC – Legendary vocalistJon Anderson, YES’s singer/songwriter for 35 years along with his successful work with Vangelis, Kitaro, and Milton Nascimento, will be performing special engagements in the UK, Finland and Sweden in August 2013. The shows promise to deliver an exciting mixture of material from Jon Anderson’s prolific solo career, collaborations with Vangelis and classic YES songs, along with new compositions, highlighted by humorous and enlightening stories told by Jon.
Says Jon, “Performing the classic YES songs I wrote for the band, and Vangelis work is always fun and rewarding… I’ll be doing some New song ideas, plus a classic Beatles song, plus a couple of surprises. I just have the best time singing on stage…Hope you find time to come and see the show!”
In other news, Jon will be presented with the ‘Voice Of Progressive Music’ special award at the 4th Annual Vegas Rocks! Magazine Music Awards at the Joint inside the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Sunday, August 25th. For more information: www.vegasrocks.com. Jon has made some recent guest appearances on several new CD releases: Acoustic guitarist Jeff Pevar’s debut album ‘From The Core’; French keyboardist/composer Jean Philippe Rykiel’s new CD ‘Inner Spaces’; and guitarist Dennis Haklar’s debut CD release ‘Lizard Tale’. Says Jon, “With the internet my musical world has evolved to an amazing degree, one day I’m singing with a Brazilian dude, the next day with peeps in Liverpool, the next creating a Symphonic work with a mate in India…then singing with Steve Layton ‘down under’ – it’s an endless musical world!” Jon is currently recording new material, including the follow-up to his critically acclaimed 21-minute opus “OPEN” from 2011 titled “EVER”.
Every summer growing up, we walked down to the Kansas State Fairgrounds on the Fourth of July. As the fireworks started, these songs always played. Soundtracks of my childhood–Brad
You know that Prog–as a genre–is healthy and thriving when a band can devote itself to what it calls “progressive rock exercise.” Yes, I’m not joking. Yesterday, a review copy of a new cd, Sadness and Companionship, arrived from Seattle in the Progarchy mailbox.
The CD consists of four songs–two 14-plus minute songs and a radio-length remix of each.
How to describe this? I’ve only given it one listen, but it’s. . . fun. Really fun. Imagine a lot of mid-80s acts such as Madness, Yaz, Erasure, B-Movie, or Pet Shop Boys, and then prog them up.
A card accompanying the CD states:
Johnny Unicorn has been making progressive rock, art pop, and silly music since childhood. He currently operates out of Seattle, WA, where he performs with his three-piece band, which is made up of songwriter Jesse Plack, and keyboardist Naomi Adele Smith (Autumn Electric). Johnny Unicorn also performs and recordes with Phideaux (L.A.) and Horace Pickett (Seattle).
The packaging, by the way, is rather charming. The cd packaging incorporates lots of houndstooth mixed with bright yellows, funny glasses, vicious looking animals, and what appears to be a Darwinian evolutionary chart from fish to man to alien to death to devils. I wouldn’t decorate my house in it, but I do like it. It’s playfully quirky.
And, progarchy continues its examination of a missed masterpiece, Kevin McCormick’s With the Coming of Evening. This review comes from our own progarchist master of all things mathematical and stained, Tad Wert.
Tad Wert: Kevin McCormick’s 1993 album, With the Coming of Evening, is a wonderful work that I missed when it was released. Fortunately, in this digital age nothing is lost, and hopefully this album will reach the wider audience it deserves.
The first track, Uncovered, sets the mood for the entire work, with acoustic guitar and McCormick’s tremulous vocals. At first listen, I was struck by the obvious late-period Talk Talk influence (Spirit of Eden), but there’s a lot more going on here than mere imitation. For example, there’s a lively middle section in Uncovered where a shuffling drum beat, jazzy organ and bass join in as McCormick sings the impressionistic verses, “As the grain is wound and wound, it rings a new scar each year/Branches brace a part of me/And suns and rains, and suns and rains survive, the past completed./Few can graft the limb to soul and wind it all down to the core to cure the last, to cure the last./Waiting to be bound, waiting to be bound, ….” (I’m not sure about the exact words, since I don’t have a lyric sheet, but that’s what I’m hearing). So right off the bat, there is a very nice use of a tree’s growth rings to symbolize life’s tribulations.
Next up is an instrumental tune, Annual Ring (there’s that metaphor again!), that seamlessly links Uncovered to the third track, Summoned. While less than two minutes long, this is one of my favorite songs of the album. An insistent Eno-esque atmosphere swells up while an undercurrent of vibes and Eastern-styled percussion weave in and out. Before you know it, you’re well into Summoned, which is another Spirit of Eden-style song. However, this time around McCormick adds some nicely angular electric guitar that adds tension to the primarily acoustic mix.
Sho Song is another instrumental featuring a nice Japanese feel with flutes and arco bass. Imagine a peaceful Zen garden in the late afternoon, and this would be your soundtrack.
Ransomed is a more straight-ahead rock composition featuring electric guitar mixed up front with simple bass and drums accompaniment. It steadily builds in intensity, as McCormick delivers the evocative words, “Can’t see, but I feel, and I feel./That’s what he said up on a tree, when he ransomed me.” It’s a terrific song, and its abrupt ending lends it impressive power.
Rokudan is another linking instrumental with treated piano and an ominous underpinning of deep bass that slowly resolves into a beautiful motif that is repeated and slowly improvised upon. Think Harold Budd/Brian Eno here.
Without Breathing features an opening riff that is Talk Talk’s “Life’s What You MakeIt” turned inside out. There’s a feeling of barely controlled chaos in this song, as the riff asserts itself over an energetic guitar solo.
Under the Meniscus is another nice instrumental that leads into the straight-ahead blues of Looks Like Rain.
Glimpses begins with some classically-styled acoustic guitar, which is soon joined by double bass and cello. Some tasteful electric guitar joins in as McCormick sings, “You’ve held back so long /Now is the time /In silence the pledge was taken /Relentless static is fulfilled /From the forest that I entered /To the desert where I ended /My feet have calloused /My heels are tuned in, turned on /And I hear you in great frequency.” To my ears, this is the centerpiece of the entire work, as musically it alternates between foreboding and dread to joyful anticipation.
The Setting Sun is a nice little jam that recalls Traffic’s Low Spark of High Heeled Boys.
The album closes with the beautiful and measured Elegy for the Empty Orchestra. Featuring a gorgeous melody played on acoustic instruments, this is the perfect closer.
With the Coming of Evening proudly wears its influences on its sleeve: a liberal amount of Talk Talk, a dash of Astral Weeks-era Van Morrison, sprinkle in some tasteful Brian Eno atmospherics and Japanese modes, and you have sense of who and what McCormick admires. Add to the mix his excellent classically-tinged acoustic guitar work, his evocative lyrics, and impeccable pacing, and you end up with a very mature and moving work. This is music to employ when you desire space for contemplation. This is music that unfolds to repeated and close listening. Like the best literature, this is music that rewards the listener with new and deeper insights whenever it is revisited.
Twenty years ago, exactly, the best album you’ve never heard appeared, Kevin McCormick’s With the Coming of Evening. Over the next several days, we’ll be celebrating the release of what should be regarded as a post-rock/post-prog classic. “Impressionist prog” might be a good label, if we didn’t despise labels so much.
Our first reviewer, Progarchist Extraordinaire, John Deasey.–ed.
John Deasey: I’d heard the name, Kevin McCormick before, mentioned on various websites, as being akin to Talk Talk circa “Spirit of Eden” so it wasn’t a huge surprise to find subtle percussion, carefully phrased vocals, hushed, calm mixtures of woodwind, jazz, folk and prog.
What was a surprise is to find this album wasn’t a great success when it was released in 1993 and somehow flew under the radar.
Ahead of its time ? Well, if “Spirit of Eden” is anything to go by I’d say yes, this is the case. Maybe the music world wasn’t quite ready for such an esoteric mix of styles, textures and atmosphere.
The Talk Talk influence is well to the fore, but rather than sounding like a Mark Hollis clone, McCormick sounds more like Nine Horse-era David Sylvain. Sonorous, tender, melodic and understated.
This really is an album to play in its entirety, save for a couple of tracks which could quietly be nudged onto someone else’s playlist perhaps. For example ‘Looks Like Rain’ really doesn’t belong here, with its bluesy, roots feel and good safely be culled on any personal re-mastering !
There are two Japanese inspired instrumentals. The first – ‘Sho Song’ – is utterly fantastic for a minute or so, but then becomes tiring and a bit jarring. The second – ‘Rokudan’ – is a wonderful piece worthy of any Craig Armstrong album with a definite cinematic atmosphere. This track also brings to mind the beautiful Sigur Ros EP ‘Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do’ with droplets of sound, texture and light forming a sonically wonderful vibe.
McCormick is a classically trained guitarist and it shows. Tracks such as ‘Uncovered’ and ‘Summoned’ have a lovely understated style where his skill as a guitarist shine through.
What I like about this album is the generally un-structured feel to many of the songs. They meander. They explore. They are given space to develop and nothing feels rushed.
There is a very organic feel, as though the tracks are streams running over a rocky river bed, or paths gently traversing a grassy moorland.
I’ve mentioned in other reviews about my fondness for Scandinavian bands and their ease at creating space and breadth in their music. This same feel is here and the end result is a spiritual, thoughtful, impressive album that grows with each listen.
It’s is also worth mentioning it sounds as though it could have been released yesterday, such is its relevance.
Progarchy 