Dear Fellow Citizens of the United States,
At the moment, it is cheaper to order the 5-disc Steven Wilson remix deluxe version of the forthcoming BRAVE from Marillion through Marillion.com than it is through amazon.com.
At Marillion.com, including shipping, $42.
At amazon.com, including shipping, $49.98.
This has been a public service announcement from your friends at progarchy.com.
Yours, Brad
There’s not enough space in the world to praise the efforts and successes of Giancarlo Erra. If you hit the tag “Nosound” on this post, you’ll see what I mean. We write about Erra a lot, as he never is uninteresting.
The new direction of Nosound sounds wonderful (as described in his post, below), and I’m more than eager to see where Erra takes the band.
Over the last several years, he has progressed from a rather Floydian vision to a rather Mark Hollis-ian vision of music. I’m guessing–but I do not know–that he’s moving toward an even more minimalist vision, perhaps something akin to Arvo Part.
Continue reading “Giancarlo Erra’s NOSOUND Update. And, it’s good. Very, very good.”
Every once in a while, it’s well worth checking out the bargain bin at Radiant Records. Right now, some great stuff–as always.
http://www.radiantrecords.com/products/334-so-many-roads.aspx
Love these guys. Enjoy.
It’s already been a tough week in metal, with the passing of both Chris Tsangarides and Iron Man’s Alfred Morris III, but now I’m sad to report that Motörhead/Fastway guitar hero “Fast” Eddie Clarke has passed away aged 67 following a battle with pneumonia. Clarke was the last surviving member of the classic Motörhead lineup […]
via R.I.P. “Fast” Eddie Clarke (1950 – 2018) — HEAVY METAL OVERLOAD
Big Big Train is now a seven-piece outfit, as Andy Poole has resigned.
From the band:
ANNOUNCEMENT FROM ANDY POOLE AND BIG BIG TRAIN
Andy Poole will shortly be leaving Big Big Train.
Big Big Train would like to thank Andy for the significant part he has played in the band’s journey and we wish him well in his future endeavours.
Big Big Train will continue with the seven-piece line-up of D’Virgilio / Gregory / Hall / Longdon / Manners / Sjöblom / Spawton alongside the five-piece BBT brass band led by Dave Desmond.
For future live performance, the band has recruited an additional musician to assist with keyboard and guitar work. We will announce details in due course.
We also hope to announce a UK warm-up show for our July 13th Night of the Prog festival appearance at Loreley. We expect the warm-up show to take place on July 11th.
Best wishes
Danny, Dave, David, Greg, Nick, Rachel and Rikard
No one would ever confuse the music that Natalie Merchant writes and produces with prog. Not in the least! Well. . . ok, maybe a bit in the least. That is, while Merchant is firmly in the folk and pop tradition of American songwriting, she’s also willing to take grand chances. It would certainly not be out of the realm of reality to call what she does artful pop. And, artful it most certainly is.
Most recently, Merchant released a rather glorious 10-cd collection of all (almost) of her solo material. This package from Nonesuch, The Natalie Merchant Collection, is a thing of joy. The sound of the music is so crisp and the packaging is just perfect. I will admit, I’m a sucker for good presentation and packaging. The box is sturdy and the 100-page booklet that comes with the set is just stunning. This, my friends, is the way to release music.
I must also state—somewhat of an embarrassing admission that might be perceived as sexist by some—that I find Merchant one truly beautiful woman. When she was younger, she was what one would’ve called in the 1980s, “cute.” As she has aged, however, she has allowed her hair to grey, and she doesn’t hide the few wrinkles of age. Thus, I find her absolutely stunning as a middle-aged woman. Thank you, Merchant for NOT succumbing to the disgusting and plastic culture of “forever young.”
In addition to the solo albums Merchant has released, she also includes in this package a new studio album, Butterfly, and a final disk of “rarities.” At amazon, you can purchase this package—116 tracks!—for a mere $40. Quite a bargain, especially given the beauty of the package itself.
The new album, Butterfly, is quite good, but I need a bit more time to absorb it. I hope to do an in-depth review of it soon.
Of everything Merchant has done, however, I find her 2010 double album—Leave Your Sleep—not only her best, but one of the best albums of the rock era. Certainly, it should rank in the top 100 of all time. On it, Merchant playfully yet intelligently reconsiders children’s stories and poetries. The songs range from the most intense pop to the most whimsical. It’s pretty much perfect.
I just found that Colin Tench–Colin Tench Project, Corvus Stone, etc.–has passed away. It looks like he died on December 29. I didn’t know Colin personally, but when we founded progarchy back in the fall of 2012, he was one of the first two or three major musicians to take us seriously. I could not–nor would I–ever forget something like that. When you’re just coming of age, it means everything to know that those you respect are willing to let you play in the playground. And, not just tolerate your presence, but welcome you as an equals.
There are others at progarchy who could speak much better and more eloquently about his music, but it was clear to me that Colin valued his independence, having no time for conformity or uniformity or much of what passes as culture in our tapioca whirligig of a world. He cared, first and foremost, about the art and about those who practiced the art and those who recognized the art for what it was.
I did have the privilege of emailing with Colin several times. I found, even in our brief correspondence, that he was as hilarious as he was humble. One of my favorite moments in being an editor at progarchy came when Colin sent us a review copy of CORVUS STONE II. One look at the cover, and I replied, “Holy Moses, Colin, now I’m going to have to go to Confession!” We both laughed at that over a couple of emails.
I have no idea what Colin’s religious beliefs (if any) were, but I pray that he is happy now, resting in peace eternal, or, perhaps, more given his nature, dancing and performing happily in peace eternal. Earth’s loss is, to be sure, Heaven’s gain.
RIP, Colin. You clearly did everything to use the outrageous gifts God gave you, not for yourself, but for the good of creation itself. No one can do more in this fallen world.
Well, this fits perfectly. Earlier today, our grand master of the sound stream, Craig “Yes, I’m a Folklorist” Breaden, posted about Steve Howe.
Now, as I type this, St. Nicholas and his entourage are screaming across the world, spreading love and joy, and the angels are getting ready to announce the birth of the messiah (not quite in this order, but I’m doing my best to take a trans-temporal position here).
For whatever reason–and, frankly, I’m really not sure why–I’ve listened to Yes’s 90125 every Christmas Eve since Christmas 1983.
Here I am, 34 years later, sitting in my home office, getting last minute Christmas gifts together and, sure enough, listening to 90125.
There’s absolutely nothing about 90125 that should be Christmas-y, but it is and always will be a Christmas album to me.
Drowning in stylistic audacity. . . when we reach, we believe in eternity. . .
Thank you Jon, Chris, Trevor, Tony, Alan, and Trevor. 34 years later, still Holding On.
Review of Chuck Dixon, Blooded: A Novel with Teeth (Bruno Books, 2017).
Blooded is a gripping, driving, and, at times, disturbing story of a real estate agent who becomes stupidly amorous with a hookup in a bar.
No sin goes unpunished.
The next morning, he finds that his “score” is really a vampiress, and she’s turned him into a vampire as well. Though we know next to nothing about the protagonist, we quickly and rather sympathetically follow his exploits as he has to figure out how to live this new life.
We learn of him—in a genius aspect of Dixon’s writing—only by the choices he makes from that fateful morning forward. Does he embrace the new lifestyle? Does he keep his old morality (which, from what little the reader knows, was already pretty shady)? Does he remain a human who now has supernatural powers (and limits)? Or, does he become the monster he must become to survive in this new form?
Progarchy 