Queen has posted to their YouTube channel:

Celebrating the whole 12-year Journey of New Horizons probe. This is Brian’s personal tribute to the on-going NASA New Horizons mission, which on New Years Day 2019 will achieve the most distant spacecraft flyby in history.

H/T: Brian May’s Anthem for the New Horizons Probe Is Really Worth a Listen

Margaret Talbot writes in The New Yorker about The Enduring, Incandescent Power of Kate Bush after working her way through the box sets:

I spent most of a week last month in a Kate Bush-induced reverie—or was it a swoon? I know there were tears: you try remaining dry-eyed listening to “This Woman’s Work” on a cold November night after a glass or two of wine; if you do, I don’t want to know you. There may have been some ecstatic dancing that alarmed the dog; there was definitely some animated texting of lyrics to my children, who, at twenty-two and nineteen, are both, bless them, Kate Bush fans. She seemed, in certain ways, so current in her embrace of femininity as power—protean, generative, and emotive—and in the fact that, for all her artiness, she also eagerly grabbed onto the contemporary pop sounds and tools that she liked (drums recorded with the heavy-hitting effect called “gated reverb,” which was favored by Michael Jackson and Phil Collins, for instance). She anticipated a busier and more nonchalant traffic between pop and indie music.

Happy New Year from Progarchy!

Start the year right with some brand new prog from Dave Kerzner and friends…

Progarchy’s Rick K. comments:

Dave Kerzner, Gabriel Agudo, Randy McStine and company, you’ve done it again! In Continuum is the new band; “Acceleration Theory” is the debut album. Long-form sci-fi storytelling recalling The Alan Parsons Project at its best, then going further: irresistible energy, musical sophistication, and narrative flow. Plus great guest shots from Steve Hackett, Marillion’s Steve Rothery, Yes’ Jon Davison, Fernando Perdomo and more. Progressive rock is off to a great start in 2019! Check it out and buy it here: https://sonicelements.bandcamp.com/album/acceleration-theory-2

To my taste, the following albums were more metal than prog, so rather than place them on my Top 10 Prog Albums of 2018 list, I place them on a separate list of official recognition of their supreme excellence. Note that, as with my Prog list, the ranking is determined simply by consulting the number of times I listened to the album during the year 2018.

Top 10 Metal Albums of 2018:

#10 Wytch Hazel — II: Sojourn

#9 TesseracT — Sonder

#8 Distorted Harmony — A Way Out

#7 Michael Romeo — War of the Worlds, Part 1

#6 Judas Priest — Firepower

#5 Lucifer — Lucifer II

#4 Stryper — God Damn Evil

#3 Magick Touch — Blades, Chains, Whips, and Fire

#2 Haken — Vector

#1 Motorowl — Atlas

Metal Christmas, everyone, and a Heavy New Year!

UPDATED (Jan 8, 2019): Seventh Wonder’s Tiara is replaced in the #10 spot with Wytch Hazel’s II: Sojourn, with which it was tied in December 2018, but which has now been overtaken by Wytch Hazel in my January 2019 listening.

The following albums didn’t have enough progginess to make my Top 10 Prog Albums of 2018 list, but for their rockin’ excellence they still deserve official recognition all the same, so here is an extra list. Note that, as with my Prog list, the ranking is determined simply by consulting the number of times I listened to the album during the year 2018. Here we go:

Top 10 Rock Albums of 2018:

#10 Sloan — 12

#9 Lenny Kravitz — Raise Vibration

#8 Metric — Art of Doubt

#7 Greta van Fleet — Anthem of the Peaceful Army

#6 Jack White — Boarding House Reach

#5 The Smashing Pumpkins — Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1

#4 Lake Street Dive — Free Yourself Up

#3 Gygax — 2nd Edition

#2 Bend Sinister — Foolish Games

#1 Danny Wilkerson — Wilkerson

Top 10 Prog Albums of 2018:

#10 Roine Stolt’s The Flower King — Manifesto of an Alchemist

#9 Spock’s Beard — Noise Floor

#8 The Sea Within

#7 The Tangent — Proxy

#6 Subsignal — La Muerta

#5 Wilson & Wakeman – The Sun Will Dance in Its Twilight Hour
https://progarchy.com/2018/12/12/top-10-prog-albums-of-2018-5-wilson-wakeman-the-sun-will-dance-in-its-twilight-hour/

#4 Glass Hammer – Chronomonaut
https://progarchy.com/2018/12/08/top-10-prog-albums-of-2018-4-glass-hammer-chronomonaut/

#3 Gungfly – Friendship
https://progarchy.com/2018/12/07/top-10-prog-albums-of-2018-3-gungfly-friendship/

#2 Daniel James’ Brass Camel
https://progarchy.com/2018/12/06/top-10-prog-albums-of-2018-2-daniel-james-brass-camel/

Note that DJBC also performed the Concert of the Year:
https://progarchy.com/2018/12/13/dj-brass-camel-concert-of-the-year-2018-nov-2-at-the-space-centre/

#1 Southern Empire – Civilisation
https://progarchy.com/2018/12/05/top-10-prog-albums-of-2018-1-southern-empire-civilisation/

See also: https://progarchy.com/2018/12/27/my-album-of-2018-southern-empires-civilisation/

 

Making their debut precisely on our planet’s winter solstice, Phaeton has launched a technically adept set of wicked prog-metal into Earth’s atmosphere for your Saturnalian enjoyment.

Beaming their Bandcamp signal out from the heart of British Columbia’s wilderness, this quartet makes a galactic statement that invites your participatory air guitar and machine-gun drum fills. Like a meteor shower into your living room, you will be surprised by what they unleash through your speakers.

Phaeton is named for the theoretical proto-planet which collided with Ancient
Earth during the Primordial Era. True to their namesake, this badass band makes a devastating impact with their high velocity musical assault.

Phaeton is:
Kevin Thiessen – Lead & Rhythm Guitars, Keyboards
Daniel Airth – Lead & Rhythm Guitars
Ferdy Belland – Electric & Fretless Bass
Colin Righton – Drums & Percussion

Usually I find instrumental releases to get quickly boring, but I must say that this unexpectedly awesome release surprised me by holding a solid lock on my interest throughout its perfectly paced 37-minute run time.

If Phaeton ever hooked up with the right vocalist, surely they would conquer the inner atmosphere’s world of prog metal. The musical intelligence evident in these seven blistering tracks is unusual for its depth and perspicacity.

Hearing is believing, so check out the tunes below, and become a believer. This new recommendation is my gift to you, loyal Progarchy reader. Metal Christmas and a Heavy New Year!

Taking Care of Christmas by Randy Bachman

It’s that time of year again
To take some paper and a pen
And write your Christmas letter to St. Nick.
Send it to the North Pole,
To his workshop in the snow,
And he’ll put his elves to workin’ on it quick.

Tell Santa you’ve been good,
You’ve done the things you should,
And you’re waitin’ for his visit Christmas Eve.
If you’re in bed by nine,
You’ll give him lots of time
To put some special toys under your tree.

Then he’ll be takin’ care of Christmas—every day,
Takin’ care of Christmas—in his sleigh,
Takin’ care of Christmas—an’ doin’ it right.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Johnny wants a motor scooter.
Billy wants a new computer.
Suzy wants a new guitar and drum machine.
Daddy wants a new Corvette,
CD player, and cassette.
Mommy wants a 14-carat diamond ring.

But don’t forget the girls and boys
Who can’t afford a lot of toys.
It’s up to you to fill their empty plate.
It’s a time to share with the kiddies everywhere.
That’s the way to make this Christmas great.

And you’ll be takin’ care of Christmas—ev’ry day,
Takin’ care of Christmas—ev’ry way,
You’ll be takin’ care of Christmas—an’ doin’ it right.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
Be good!

Courtesy of NPR, A Musical Lament For Those Who Don’t Feel The Magic Of Christmas, with Bradley Campbell writing about Kirby Brown’s song “Shepherd’s Lament”:

When he performed “Shepherd’s Lament” publicly for the first time in Brooklyn, N.Y., last October, he had no idea how the drunken crowd would react. At first they thought it was a joke, and a couple hecklers did their best to steer him off track. But Brown ignored them. He stepped up to the mic and started strumming the strings of his guitar.

Then, there was complete silence; the audience was totally and completely rapt. His voice sang out through the theater with equal parts melancholy and sweetness.

I know this because I was in the crowd, two beers in and starting to tear up.

As I listened, I found myself imagining what my future held. It wasn’t great. I’d be drinking scotch, alone at a bar on Christmas Eve, hoping and wishing that a friend might pop in unexpectedly. But knowing that just wouldn’t be the case.

And as Brown reached the chorus, I realized I hadn’t felt the holiday spirit in years.

Voegelin View has an interesting essay published today on Sufjan Stevens’ song “Tonya Harding.” Here’s a sample:

Stevens sees the proper recognition of and response to greatness as being essential to human beings living cohesively with each other. Honoring and defending the truly great individuals—who offend and uplift—allows for brilliant exploits that draw people together in a moment of wonder and appreciation (10-12). It also creates space for sympathy and mourning as the ‘star’ comes up against the burden of imperfection and risk of failure (cf. 39-40). Indeed, greatness isolates so as to reinforce the fundamental human need for community. To not acknowledge or to subvert greatness is to defer these communal encounters and give a society nothing meaningful to hold its members together by.

Finally (and perhaps most importantly), the emphasis on compassion also mitigates the effects of the Trump-like demagogue. As noted above, the latter shares in the quality of being extraordinary and thereby speaks to something profound and true about the human experience. But he is not great. Nonetheless, Stevens asks that he still be met with kindness. For the demagogue’s viciousness and cruelty, like Harding’s greatness, does not extend to his entire person. He too is complex and does not deserve to be hated or laughed at. One may speak out and fight against his malice, but one may not withhold the possibility of forgiveness and welcome. To refuse those is to play into his game of annihilation and leave behind the community one sought to protect.