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.
Here I sit, totally spoiled. I’m drinking a cup of coffee, listening to the wind whisper the many names of the Aspen, and watching the absurdly beautiful dance of the humming birds. It’s already a perfect day, and I’ve not even gone to Mass yet.
One would be foolish to dismiss the talent of Bruce Soord. The man is an audiophilic genius, and, when he produces or engineers an album, he’s every bit as good as Trevor Horn, Phill Brown, Rob Aubrey, and Steven Wilson. He definitely brings his own sound to whatever it is he does, as distinct and yet as beautiful as any of the producers mentioned above. His imprint on the first release of Matt Cohen’s Ghost Community is quite clear, and I’m presuming the same will be true for the second release of Zee Baig’s Fire Garden.
Glass Hammer has released this gorgeous photo of Susie Bogdanowicz laying down her vocals as she fronts the band on the forthcoming album, VALKYRIE.
Susie Bogdanowicz, GLASS HAMMER. Photo courtesy of Julie Babb.
This photo has to be the best teaser and advertisement possible for the new album. After all, Bogdanowicz is, at least to my ears, one of the two best voices in the current rock world.
A review of Ghost Community, CYCLE OF LIFE (2016).
Tracks: Rise Up; Mirror Lakes; Anything and Everything; Blue December Morning; Ghost Community; and Cycle of Life
Ghost Community: Jake Bradford Sharp (drums); Matty Cohen (bass); Moray Macdonald (keyboards); Simon Rogers (guitars); and John Paul Vaughn (vocals).
Ghost Community
Imagine if Styx hadn’t gone down the AOR and pop road in the second half of the 1970s, but instead had remained deeply embedded in the prog tradition of the early part of that decade.
Imagine, for just a glorious moment, that we remembered Styx not for KILROY WAS HERE, but rather for CRYSTAL BALL and EQUINOX? Then, throw in some British rockers to replace the ones from Chicago. Then, add the perfectionist and never-wavering mighty bassist and Welshman, the brilliant and steadfast Matt Cohen.
What you might find yourself with is a little piece of perfection in a rather dreadfully fallen world.
And, thus, you’d hold in your hand, Ghost Community’s CYCLE OF LIFE.
From the opening note to the closing one, Ghost Community is nothing if not utterly earnest. I’m not sure if everyone in the prog community would classify this as strictly prog—but, then, really, what is? The more unclassifiable the better—at least to me, when it comes to art as well as to individual human lives.
I must admit a bit of bias here. I have rather proudly enjoyed the friendship of Matt Cohen (though, strictly through the internet) for many years, and I find him to be one of the most compelling artists of our day. He loves to rock, he loves to get things exactly right, and he possesses the will power of ten great men. No matter what life throws at him, Cohen NEVER sits down and he never wallows. He thinks, and he acts. And, the world is so much better for it.
He’s also one incredible bass player.
As I listen to this album, I can’t help but feel immense satisfaction. It’s full of intensity and enjoyment. There are great lyrics, great playing, great flow, great engineering, and great production. There’s nothing more to desire. At one level—hence, the comparison to early Styx—the album is rather obvious and straightforward. Upon several listens, however, especially when paying attention to the lyrics, several more layers emerge—all quite subtle and nuanced. My guess is that even a decade of listening will still reveal more nuances.
This is an intelligent release, an excellent contribution to the current wave of prog rock. Maybe more rock than prog, it’s a delight.
As some of you might know, I’m spending a rather significant amount of time in the Colorado Rockies this summer. While this is my favorite spot on the whole of this planet, it lacks in technology what it makes up for in beauty. Hence, I have very little internet connection, and, when I do, it’s tediously slow.
One of my favorite humans, Progarchist Bryan Morey, has been doing a lot of the administrative work on the site as of late. I can’t imagine a better person to do so. I’ve known Bryan as a student and as a friend for many years now, and I admire him immensely. For all intents and purposes, he is, rather happily, our administrator this summer.
He’s also an ox when it comes to hard work. If you look at the top right hand corner of the page, you’ll see a new category: ALBUM REVIEWS. Bryan has been graciously indexing every review written at progarchy over the previous four years. What an extraordinary task.
Hey hey, ‘sme with some news again! I just interviewed David Snape of David Snape & Friends, who interviewed me recently for his own show as well (you can listen to the complete show and interview here). We had a lovely talk about his favourite music, why he has a blog page, does a radio […]
One of my earliest musical loves was Simple Minds. For those of us who grew up deeply loving prog, the late 1970s and early 1980s were a very difficult time. If we couldn’t get our belovedly and outrageously complex 12-minute or even 24-minute epics, we had to find a worthy—no matter how watered down—substitute. For me, at least at the age of 12 or 13, I wasn’t willing to go the classic rock route. No matter how many times the radio played Jackson Brown or Aerosmith, these bands meant nothing to me. Sometimes less than nothing. Even worse was Top 40 pop.
In 1981 and 1982, that meant the only real alternative in the rock world was what was being called New Wave. While their songs were way too short, the use of keyboards and bass—at least in the best of the New Wave sound—I found them rather progressive. And, just as often, the lyrics were as intense as they were intelligently playful.
The bands I loved most: ABC; Thomas Dolby; and Simple Minds. I didn’t just tolerate these bands, I fell in love with them. I couldn’t even count the number of times I listened to GOLDEN AGE OF WIRELESS or LEXICON OF LOVE.
They played over and over again on my stereo during the early 1980s.
I came to Simple Minds a bit latter than either Dolby or ABC, but only a bit later. To this day, I think Sister Feelings Call/Sons and Fascination, New Gold Dream, and Sparkle in the Rain are some of the best albums I’ve ever heard. Even when compared to straight-up progressive albums, I would place anyone of these albums—but especially New Gold Dream—in my top 50 albums of all time.
Anyway, a brief thought about why New Wave mattered. Until next time. . . .
Mighty Matt, one of our greatest living guitarists.
I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who pre-ordered the new album, I really appreciate it. It’s down to less than 100 of the limited editions now at:
Our friends at Crate digger have said if you use the code ‘fiercearmy’ you can get 15% off this weekend across the whole store so can get any new releases including Swans, The Kills plus the Fierce And The Dead on vinyl etc etc
If you’ve yet to do so, go to the bottom of this review, order the album, then return for the review.
When it comes to finding the legitimate inheritors of the legacy of Pink Floyd’s dystopian psychedelic prog phase (in particular, ANIMALS), there are only three serious contenders: Airbag; Dave Kerzner; and Cosmograf. While all three are excellent, Cosmograf has consistently honored the tradition while progressing in the most existentialist ways possible. Airbag might be more atmospheric, and Kerzner might be poppier, but no one does what Cosmograf does when it comes to angst and intensity.
Matt sent this out to his list earlier today. Great stuff!
Matt “Yes I am the Coolest” Stevens!
My live and rarities anthology solo album Archive is now available to pre-order from Bad Elephant Music on limited edition CD and Download. The first few hundred CD copies are signed and numbered and apparently are selling fast. Thank you for your support it means a lot to me.
Arghh. . . my soul cries to me, “buy this!” My favorite album by Simple Minds and an anthem and personal soundtrack for my own personal 1980s.
The following is taken straight from Burning Shed.
One of the greatest albums ever made, finally getting the treatment it deserves.
A stunning 2016 deluxe box set edition of Simple Minds’ classic 1982 Art Pop opus.
Containing six discs, including an Abbey Road remaster of the original album, a swathe of remixes, 12″ versions, radio edits, and a disc of previously unreleased John Peel and Kid Jensen radio sessions, recorded in 1982.
The 5 CDs are complemented by a DVD, featuring the 2005 5.1 mix of the album by Charlie Burchill and Ronald Prent, as well as promo videos and, being made available commercially for the first time, Top Of The Pops performances of Promised You A Miracle and Glittering Prize.
Progarchy 