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.
One of my greatest monthly treats is the Kscope Podcast with Billy Reeves. Four reasons to love it.
First, Reeves possesses that brilliant BBC voice and diction.
Second, it’s Kscope, the Pixar of the art/Prog Rock world.
Third, Reeves is intelligent and witty.
Most importantly, fourth, no matter how witty Reeves is, he always lets the artists speak and explain themselves. In a world of insane sound bytes and overly-dramatic personalities, Reeves allows the “other” to speak.
The latest podcast, no. 73, features the music of iamthemorning, including telling and revealing interviews with the lead singer as well as with Colin Edwin (guest bassist).
When Reeves asks about the future of Porcupine Tree, Edwin answers: well, we never talked about ending, and we’ve never talked about beginning away. As Reeves concluded, ah, you’re the perfect politician.
Ok, this looks freaking amazing. Taken from Arjen’s website:
Forthcoming, 2016
In September 2015, over the course of four sold-out shows, Ayreon’s legendary progressive rock concept album ‘The Human Equation’ was brought to life as a full-blown musical production at the Nieuwe Luxor Theater in Rotterdam. This limited run of performances was witnessed by die-hard fans from across the world, but now Arjen Lucassen’s story can be witnessed by all, as a recording of the final night of those special evenings is being released as both a DVD & Blu-ray package on the 17 June, 2016. ‘The Theater Equation’ is subtitled in nine different languages and includes nearly 90 minutes of bonus content.
Arjen comments: “Even today as I write this, I am amazed and touched by how hard everyone worked and how much love and care they generously gave to make it all happen. Sometimes the dream becomes reality!”
The stage show stars Dream Theater frontman James LaBrie in his original roll as “Me” and features nearly the entire cast of vocalists from the original 2004 album. The main cast is supported by the 19 members of the Epic Rock Choir, which was put together specially for this event.
The Theater Equation is a unique document of an undertaking that was surely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
CAST:
James LaBrie as ‘Me’
Jermain van der Bogt (Wudstik) as ‘Best Friend’
Devon Graves as ‘Agony’
Heather Findlay as ‘Love’
Eric Clayton as ‘Reason’
Magnus Ekwall as ‘Pride’,
Marcela Bovio as ‘Wife’
Irene Jansen as ‘Passion’
Anneke van Giersbergen as ‘Fear’
Mike Mills as ‘Rage/Father’
Nienke Verboom as ‘Nurse’
Peter Moltmaker as ‘Doctor’
Anita van der Hoeven as ‘Mom’
BAND:
Ed Warby: Drums
Jeroen Goossens: Flutes and woodwinds
Johan van Stratum: Bass
Maaike Peterse: Cello
Marcel Coenen: Guitars
Freek Gielen: Guitars
Erik van Ittersum: Keyboards/synths
Ruben Wijga: Keyboards/synths
Ben Mathot: Violin
The Epic Rock Choir
‘The Theater Equation’ will be available as a deluxe art book (ear book) version including a Blu-ray disc, 2DVD’s & 2CD’s. There will also be a special-edition 2CD & DVD digipack, and a stand-alone Blu-ray & digital download.
THE HUMAN EQUATION STORY
After a mysterious single-car accident, the victim – a man in his late 30s – lies comatose in the hospital. Before the accident he was a powerful businessman, wildly successful by any measure but also known for his cutthroat business tactics. Now he finds himself trapped in a prison that took him a lifetime to build: the prison of his own mind. Guarding the prison are his emotions, which have taken on vivid personas inside his mind. Some are friends, some are foes, and they all have their own agendas. Some aim to trick him or dominate him, others to comfort or inspire him. But the one objective they all share is to force him to face up to the demons of his past and the deep truths about who he is and how he’s lived his life, all of which he’s conveniently ignored until now. Fear, Rage, Agony, Love, Passion, Reason and Pride take turns engaging the man in this emotional warfare.
Two people hold vigil at the man’s bedside: his wife and his best friend. They are desperate to understand how the accident happened and to see even the tiniest sign that the man will regain consciousness. But the man’s recovery is not their only concern: is it possible that he somehow found out their secret, and that the “accident” wasn’t really an accident at all? Would he ever be able to forgive them? Will the man have the strength to face the truth about himself and the ones he loves? The story unfolds over his twenty-day emotional struggle with Fear, Rage, Agony, Love, Passion, Reason and Pride, in which each day of coma is represented by a song.
We’ll be keeping you updated about the release of the Theater Equation DVD in the weeks to come.
Over the past few months, my social media feeds have been almost on fire with the name of one band more than any other: Brutai. The culprit is Miss Lulu Davis, the one-girl whirlwind who is Incendia Music Management. I made the mistake of making her virtual acquaintance and the rest is history. Seriously though, […]
I’m absolutely thrilled to read this news. I think the previous three albums have been outstanding, each better than the one before, and the solo album by Bjorn Riis was a thing of beauty as well. They started off rather Pink Floydish, but they’ve certainly become their own band with their own sound over the past two albums.–Brad
AIRBAG ANNOUNCES FOURTH STUDIO ALBUM “DISCONNECTED” ON KARISMA RECORDS
“Disconnected” out June 10; teaser video streaming online
OSLO, Norway – Norwegian progressive rock act, Airbag, has announced its fourth studio album, Disconnected, to be released on June 10 via Karisma Records. A teaser video for Disconnected, the follow-up to the band’s critically acclaimed 2013 release The Greatest Show on Earth, can be seen on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/gG8vNaWnm1g.
Guitarist Bjørn Riis comments: “The early demos for ‘Disconnected’ were written during a couple of months in late 2014. The idea and inspiration for most of the lyrics, and the title track in particular, came from me realizing that I had to make some changes in my life. I was tired of the daily routine, working 9-5 in an office doing basically nothing and never having enough time for my family and music. I took a year off and started writing for the album.
“As for the music, you want to look forward and explore new sounds and musical ground. We talked a lot about wanting to use more electronic elements and giving more room for the drums, allowing them to be more percussive and basically avoid the usual rock formula on all songs. We also wanted to do a more stripped down production and create a more spacious and dynamic sound.”
Featuring six songs with a common theme of alienation between the individual and society, Disconnected was recorded with long-time collaborator and engineer Vegard Sleipnes and produced by Airbag vocalist Asle Tostrup and guitarist Bjørn Riis.
1. Killer
2. Broken
3. Slave
4. Sleepwalker
5. Disconnected
6. Returned
Airbag’s music is best described as scenic, epic rock – a sonic journey of lush soundscapes and arrangements, underlined by soaring guitars and soulful vocals. Airbag’s three previous album releases: Identity (2009), All Right Removed (2011) and The Greatest Show on Earth(2013) have gained the band a solid following and reputation among both fans and the press. Prog Magazine hailed The Greatest Show on Earth as a “confident step in the right direction, so much so you’re led to believe that album number four really could be the big one.”
Over the years, Airbag has also become a solid live act, playing at several major festivals and as support and in double-bills with bands like Marillion, Anathema, Pineapple Thief, Riverside, RPWL and Gazpacho.
Stay tuned for more information on Airbag and Disconnected, out this June on Karisma Records.
Drums. Lots of them. Lasers. Strobes and some confetti too. But beyond all the pomp and circumstance exists a message. A message of hope and love delivered the best way for King and Country knows how. The pop duo hailing from Australia, sort of, recently commenced their current world tour and brought a show that’s […]
Twenty-five years ago this fall, progarchist editor Craig Breaden and I were in Waterloo Records, Austin, Texas. There it was on the shelves—the final Talk Talk album, LAUGHING STOCK, in all of its James Marsh-esque glory. Of course, I purchased it as quickly as possible. After all, it had just come out, and Craig and I were living in pre-internet days in northern Utah. We had a music store nearby, but however good it was—and, frankly, it was pretty good—it wouldn’t have dreamt of carrying anything by a band so strange as Talk Talk.
Talk Talk’s last album, 1991. A masterpiece at every level and in every way. Arguably the single greatest album of the rock era.
So fortunate we were at a history conference in Texas at the same moment as LAUGHING STOCK’s release.
Craig and I were not only officemates and apartment mates, but we were best friends and music mates. How many hours flew by with Craig and I devouring music—old and new—and then discussing and analyzing every bit of it. I still cherish these nights and even weekend-days as some of the best of my life. Though I’d grown up in a house that respected nearly every form of music, I had never been introduced to some of the great psychedelic and experimental rock acts of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Unless it was by Yes, Genesis, or Jethro Tull, I really didn’t know it. Craig played Procol Harum, Soft Machine, Spooky Tooth, and Traffic for me. I fell in love with each. As the time Craig and I (and another close friend, Joel) were spending so much time together, the music scene itself was going through a bit of a psychedelic revival—with World Party, Charlatans, and others—and this only added to our excitement.
As soon as we returned from Austin, I recorded the full album of LAUGHING STOCK on each side of a double-sided TDK cassette and enthusiastically played this tape over and over and over and over. . . . Even though Craig and I had shared many enthusiasms with each other, this obsession with Talk Talk seemed more than a bit too enthusiastic to Craig.
Understandably so.
By sheer force of will, I fear, Craig had to accept this or our friendship would suffer! Of course, here we are, a quarter of a century later, still very close friends and co-editors of progarchy. . . . You know the story ended well.
For nearly thirty years, I instantly answered the question of “what is your favorite band” with Talk Talk and Rush. If pushed a bit more, I would add Tears for Fears and, depending on my mood, Genesis or Yes or XTC. This rote answer became almost proudly knee-jerk on my part.
When challenged about this opinion, I rather haughtily pointed to THE COLOUR OF SPRING, SPIRIT OF EDEN, and LAUGHING STOCK. After all, who could top fourteen months a shot, recording in dark, deserted churches, challenging every single bit of corporate conformity in the music business.
Mark Hollis, 1986. At the very edge of Valhalla.
Mark Hollis, Tim-Friese-Green, and Phill Brown were not just three more musicians in the industry, they lingered as demi-gods at the very edge of Valhalla itself, ready to release Ragnoräk at any moment. And, power to them! As far as I was concerned, the music industry needed and deserved a revolution.
Recently, I’ve realized that Talk Talk no longer holds top spot in my mind when it comes to bands (Big Big Train has finally replaced Talk Talk in my mind and in my soul), but it will always be in the top three for me. For too many years, Talk Talk was my go-to band, my comfort and my first love in the world of music. To this day—and, I presume, to the end of my days—the final three albums the band made will always be the three by which I judge every other release in the music world. Few albums or bands, then or now, can measure up to such heights. But, such is my mind and soul.
Part II to come soon. . . . In the meantime, enjoy 19 minutes of Hollis talking about LAUGHING STOCK.
Fractal Mirror’s Third Album. A new direction, but the same glorious dedication to art.
If you’re looking for some intelligent, thoughtful, and melodic rock, you’ve arrived at the perfect place. The aptly titled, SLOW BURN 1, offers 11 contemplative tracks, each flowing elegantly from one to another. While the first two Fractal Mirror albums possessed strong gothic-Prog elements, this album, as a whole, is rather Beatles-eque, especially in its vocal melodies.
Artist: October Tide Album Title: Winged Waltz Label: Agonia Records Date Of Release: 22 April 2016 I simply cannot believe that I don’t have any of the October Tide discography within my collection currently. It beggars belief on three counts: Firstly, I’m a bit of a sucker for that whole melodic dark/doom/death sound. Secondly October […]
Progarchy 