DJ Brass Camel is an amazing band that has already developed a style uniquely their own. They play a very cool blend of proggy funk, but some people may have been wondering why I placed their debut album at #2 on my Top 10 Prog list this year, rather than on my Top 10 Rock list, since one could argue that there is more funky rock on the album than funky prog.

The short answer is that it is a judgment call. For a quick justification, watch the incredible video embedded below, which is the best recorded version of their live playing that I have yet seen. The video, which can be replayed again and again, bottles their magic so that you can see for yourself the delicious progginess with which they infuse their music. The nimble riffing is simply fantastic, and you can see their magic recipe includes sweet doses of Moog and Rickenbacker. There are beautiful little moments when their playing takes on what I call “the Rush aesthetic” — that is, the playing is so tight, and then even more wondrously there are sudden subtle insertions of instrumental virtuosity into a little corner of a bar here and there: especially check out the instrumental break that begins at 1:44 below.

The long answer is that this band put on the most incredible prog concert I have ever seen at the Planetarium this year on Nov 2. (Note: because it sold out so quickly, they added a second show on Nov 1 which I was unable to see because I had to be teaching a class; in retrospect, I should have required my students to go to this masterclass in prog instead!)

I saw some pretty unbeatable concerts this year — Sloan, Lake Street Dive, Haken, Leprous, Bent Knee — but this concert was on a completely different level. DJBC rented the Planetarium at the Vancouver Space Centre, projected cosmic visuals cycling on the dome, and played note-perfect version of some of the greatest songs in prog, moving through a jaw-dropping set list:

DJ Brass Camel: Live at the Space Centre (Nov 2)

Pre-show social with wine and beer

Set One:
Watcher of the Skies (Genesis)
Xanadu (Rush)
Time/Breathe reprise (Pink Floyd)
Buenas Noches (DJ Brass Camel original instrumental)
Tarkus Eruption (ELP)
Long Distance Runaround (Yes)
21st Century Schizoid Man (King Crimson)

Intermission with wine and beer

Set Two:
End shots from Proclamation (Gentle Giant)
Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd)
Roundabout (Yes)
Dancing with the Moonlit Knight (Genesis)
[The Trees (Rush) — only played on Nov 1]
Starless (King Crimson)
Brain Damage/Eclipse (Pink Floyd)

Encore:
2112: The Complete Epic (Rush)

The band brought in a host of authentic instruments in order to re-create the pristine sounds of the originals. Watching any one of the original bands play these songs on their original tours would have been a priceless experience, but what DJ Brass Camel did was give you an experience equivalent to hearing all these of these superstar bands live together on one night. You had to hear it to believe it, and it sounds almost unbelievable to say it, but the songs sounded just as good as anything the original artists can do live.

The evening began as Daniel came out in a lab coat and announced via a bullhorn: “This is an announcement from Genetic Control — the concert will begin in five minutes.” After everyone finished their drinks and took their seats, the light show began and you heard the keyboard washes introducing “Watcher of the Skies” as Adam Wazonek (a.k.a. “The Wizard of Waz”) began working what would be his evening of magic; you would swear he was Keith Emerson himself later when you heard him play the ELP.

Curtis Arsenault (a.k.a. “Professor B” — and B is for BASS) played every bass line faithfully all night long, which was nothing short of a miracle, and his tone was the most perfect live bass playing imaginable, you could hear all his bass runs so crisp and clean, it was so divine. When you heard him doing those snaking riffs from “Xanadu” in airtight dynamic synchronization with Cole George (a.k.a. “The Governor of Givin’ ‘Er) on drums, the second coming of Neil Peart, you were in Rush heaven.

The band brought in Brice Tabish as guest vocalist to sing a perfect imitation of Geddy Lee on all the Rush tracks. And yes, you read that right on the set list, they did all of 2112 as their encore. Brice’s emotion and expression was so good, he even added something extra to the Rush tunes, evoking passion and pathos in unexpected ways that a longtime fan may have forgotten is at the heart of this music.

Lisa Brady was another great guest vocalist, who came in to do the requisite female vocals on all the Pink Floyd classics. As an added bonus, the band’s shadows were projected from the stage onto the Planetarium dome as they played, and her own elegant shadow danced among the planets and stars.

Speaking of vocalists, the band had planned to bring in another guest vocalist to do Jon Anderson’s vocals on the Yes tracks. But in rehearsals, when guitarist Axel Attal (a.k.a. “Lebanese Lightning”) stepped up to the mic to sing placeholder lead vocals during an early rehearsal, they realized that he himself sounded exactly like Jon. So, in a moment reminiscent of Genesis discovering Phil Collins as their Peter Gabriel replacement, they called up the dude they had hired as their Anderson imitator and told him they no longer needed him for the gig!

J.T. Platt brought his soprano and alto sax skills to the proceedings, and many people I spoke to at the intermission considered “21st Century Schizoid Man” to be one of the highlights. But I think they just said that because it was the last song they had just heard. In truth, every song was a highlight of evening! There was no filler, not even the DJBC original instrumental that they inserted into the concert, because remarkably their own music stood as tall as the greatest hits of prog. Hearing them play their own music side-by-side with the greatest songs of yesteryear, you knew you were in the presence of musical greatness, as they proved themselves worthy to do justice to these sacred songs of prog.

I was prepared for the virtuoso guitar talents of Daniel James, since I had seen the band at an earlier concert, but what I was unprepared for was his unexpected vocal abilities. Previously, I was familiar with him shredding his vocal chords to bring the spirit of James Brown to the funky rock on Camel’s songs from their debut album, but it turns out he has more vocal abilities than he has revealed on recordings yet.

In particular, because of his love for early Genesis, he does an amazing imitation of Peter Gabriel. I think subjectively my favorite song of the evening was “Dancing with the Moonlit Knight” because of his stunning vocal rendition of it, packed with so much power and emotion. But right from the beginning he knocked me out my seat with “Watcher of the Skies” when he came out dressed in authentic Gabriel garb and wielded a tambourine with all the right signature moves.

Objectively, perhaps the finest musical achievement of the evening was the rendition of “Starless” which held together in an amazing way, despite all the dissonance and cross rhythms built into the track. Everything they played that night was difficult for musicians to play, but this one takes the cake, for sure.

Overall, it was the concert of the year for 2018, maybe even for all time, because when could I ever see all those original prog bands on one night in such an intimate setting? The sound and lights were more perfect than they could be at any arena or medium size venue. And why don’t more prog bands do planetarium shows? It was a revelation to be orbiting various planets during “Roundabout” and “Long Distance Runaround” — finally I understood the lyrics, haha! — and it was simply the best theatrical way to complement these songs.

Prog on, DJ Brass Camel. I hope more people will see your live magic soon. In 2018, you gave us a show for the ages. Thank you!

Some people may quarrel with me for calling this a prog album, but in that case I’ll leave you to debate with my fellow editor Bryan Morey over the definition of prog.

Damian Wilson’s singing with Headspace has been part of some of the most interesting prog of recent times. Headspace’s All That You Fear is Gone (2016) is a prog masterpiece. So, for me, Damian’s highly distinctive voice will always be freighted with my memories of that glorious album.

And if you’re Adam Wakeman, well, for crying out loud, as the son of Rick Wakeman, you are basically born as forever prog royalty. So, there can be no way this is not a prog album. QED.

Okay, seriously now: Perhaps the most progressive thing about this album is that it subverts our prog fan expectations. It totally strips everything down to the bare essentials of great songwriting, giving the vocals (alternating between Damian and Adam) lots of room to breathe, adding just enough keyboards or guitar (sometimes both), supported only occasionally by strings or the slightest sprinkling of percussion.

It’s like they decided, hey, let’s do a concept album: let’s do — here’s the concept — the opposite of prog.

And, funnily enough, that makes this album more than prog enough for me. Because, man, it is stacked, front to back, with emotionally devastating songs and perfectly calibrated musicianship.

Hey, question: who needs every bar of an odd-numbered time signature jammed full of a thousand weird instruments playing 32nd notes? Answer: no one, if you can deliver the emotional goods just with a powerfully simple song.

I have to confess that for me “The Last American Hero” and “Blackpool Clip Joint Racket” (tracks 1 and 4) are not the strongest of the album’s songs, a fact which kept me from getting into this album right away, if only because they occur so up front.

But they are surrounded by a number of superb and moving songs. “On This Battlefield” and “Always the Lonely One” and “Laugh In Time” and “Better Than That” (tracks 2, 3, 5, and 6) are clearly nothing other than perfection in songwriting and performance. They each captured my heart immediately.

Yet it is track 7 that I find most moving of all. In “Red Socks,” Damian tells the affecting story of how his heart was crushed at a young age, and it becomes a universal human story thanks to the poignant simplicity and emotional power of the way he unfolds the tale of his nascent inner life.

From there on to the end, the last three songs (tracks 8, 9, 10) continue on at the level of the preceding three tracks (tracks 5, 6, 7). “Shining a Light on a Miracle” and “Tried and Tested” and “The Sun Will Dance in Its Twilight Hour” are all lovely and uplifting.

Indeed, “lovely and uplifting” is how I could also describe the music of Yes. But while, yes, more is more, sometimes also less is more, no?

Wilson and Wakeman prove that less is more on this album.

To blow your mind. Just because they could.

And what could be more prog than that?

This is the official music video for the song “Be The Light” featuring special guest Steve Rothery (Marillion).

This song is from the forthcoming debut sci-fi concept album “Acceleration Theory” available for pre-order from http://sonicelements.bandcamp.com

Video created by Christian Rios, Christine Leakey & Dave Kerzner
Green Screen Visual Capture by Erik Nielsen
Live footage shot by Joel Barrios, Erik Nielsen, Hal Feldman & Matt Urban at ProgStock Festival 2018 in Rahway, New Jersey

Starring: Gabriel Agudo & Leticia Wolf with Dave Kerzner, Matt Dorsey, Randy McStine, Fernando Perdomo & Marco Minnemann

Mixed by Chris Lord-Alge
Additional Mixing & Mastering by Dave Kerzner
Produced by Dave Kerzner
Executive Producers Hal Feldman & Dave Kerzner
Recorded by Dave Kerzner, Marco Minnemann, Matt Dorsey and Fernando Perdomo
Audio Editing by Andrew Gonzalez & Dave Kerzner

Audio Music Performances:
Gabriel Agudo – Lead Vocals
Leticia Wolf – Lead Vocals
Jon Davison – Vocals
Dave Kerzner – Keyboards, Vocals
Steve Rothery – Cameo Guitar Solo
Randy McStine – Guitar
Fernando Perdomo – Guitar
Matt Dorsey – Bass
Marco Minnemann – Drums

Music written by: Dave Kerzner, Randy McStine
Lyrics by: Dave Kerzner

Special thanks to Ewa Karolina Lewowska, Chris & Tom Lord-Alge, Gavin Lurssen, Steve Rothery, Jon Davison, Nick Davis, Simeon Spiegel, Erik Nielsen, Hal Feldman, Leticia Wolf, Gabriel Agudo, Matt Dorsey, Marco Minnemann, Randy McStine, Fernando Perdomo, Sherri Nahan, Jay Kerzner, Daniel & Leah, Jerry Ewing and everyone at Prog Magazine, Larry Morand and everyone at Cruise To The Edge, Thomas Palmieri, Ann Rinaldi and everyone at ProgStock.

More information visit: http://www.incontuumband.com

David Mitchell, the author of Cloud Atlas, has just written a truly remarkable and insightful piece in the Guardian about Kate Bush and her musical achievement. His discussion of Kate’s masterpieces is so good that every Kate fan will delight in it and find themselves rushing to listen again to these beloved albums.

Every word of Mitchell’s essay rings true. His memories of youthful, pre-Internet encounters with Kate’s music are so beautiful, they will remind you of special scenes from your own life. I was also thrilled to find him conclude his piece with this exhilarating interpretation of “Under the Ivy,” one of my very favorite Kate songs of all time:

I can’t help but interpret “Under the Ivy”, a B-side from the Hounds of Love era, as a kind of self-portrait or “meta-song” about the Kate and her oeuvre that have existed “away from the party” of musical fashion since the start of her career. Her music is secluded “under the ivy” and yet it invites you to join it, almost coyly: “It wouldn’t take me long / to tell you how to find me … ” Both Kate’s wariness of celebrity and her oneness with music and sound are recalled by the lines: “I sit here in the thunder / The green on the grey / I feel it all around me / And it’s not easy for me / To give away a secret / It’s not safe.” Yet she does give away secrets: they’re just coded, in extraordinary songs like this one.

Fans want more of what we loved the first time, yet we complain if things feel repetitive. Kate is a mighty exception to all this, as rare as a yeti. Her fidelity to her ever-curious, ever-morphing muse has won her a body of fans who hold her songs as treasured possessions to be carried through life. By dint of never having been in fashion, she has never fallen out of fashion. By taking bold artistic risks that she navigates with ingenuity and wisely chosen collaborators, the albums Kate made in her late 40s and 50s equal and surpass the songs recorded in her teens and 20s that made her famous. To any artist in any field, her example is a hope-instilling exhortation to evolve, to reinvent, to reimagine what we do.

Note that Mitchell has written the introduction to a print edition of Kate’s lyrics which is published by Faber & Faber: How to Be Invisible.

Oh, I don’t care what your favorite Glass Hammer album is. This one is mine!

Chronomonaut is a magnificent achievement. I was not prepared to love this album as much as I do. But truly, resistance is futile. This is quite simply, in my opinion, the finest prog statement Glass Hammer has ever made.

And they were albe to make it because, rather than be complacent or predictable, they decided to take risks and blaze an adventurous trail instead. Not only that, they dared to face, head on, their fans’ own penchant for nostalgia, by choosing to confront it in themselves as well, and to overcome and transform it by means of an unexpected, thoughtfully coherent artistic reckoning.

The two tracks that instantly won me over were “Roll for Initiative” (propelled by the mightiest bass playing I have heard since Chris Squire) and “Blinding Light” (with its truly fantastic horn arrangements, which I now think should become a Glass Hammer signature).

Soon enough I was quickly subdued by the devastating thematic track “The Past is Past,” and then the totally rockin’ “A Hole in the Sky,” and then the righteously sprawling album closer “Fade Away.” What feats of musicianship, what joys to savor!

Further still, sprinkled like extra treats at an already lavish banquet, are the quirky instrumentals which stand out with exceptional prog cred, as independently stimulating in their own right: “Clockwork,” “It Always Burns Sideways,” and “Tangerine Meme.” I always look forward to each one of them, and I dare anybody to call such fascinating tracks “filler.”

Finally, Susie’s vocal contributions add another dazzling dimension to the whole proceedings, with the diverse scenes painted by “Twilight of the Godz,” “1980 Something,” and “Melancholy Holiday” constituting definitive proof of the musical richness that Glass Hammer can pack into one glorious album.

If you haven’t picked this one up, don’t miss it. One of the year’s most thrilling albums awaits you. You will find resistance is futile: you will be air drumming, or playing air guitar, and saluting Glass Hammer as you join in the rockin’ republic of prog.

“Brooding in the tower…”

H/T: Open Culture: Music

Ever since Gungfly’s On her Journey to the Sun dominated my January listening, the year 2018 has been saturated with the brilliance of Rikard Sjöblom, especially as I proceeded to mine the stereophonic riches of the Gungfly Rumbling Box since its release earlier this year.

Even so, I was scarcely prepared for the devastatingly jazzy prog onslaught of Friendship when it finally arrived. Thanks to multiple listens, which have only led to ever-increasing enjoyment, the disc makes my Top 10 Prog list here at #3.

The theme of friendship is very skillfully handled, making this a concept album that ascends to the highest echelons of excellence.

In an age where digital media are relentlessly assaulting polite society, and people whom you thought were your friends suddenly unfriend you and ghost you on account of some mysteriously vague line demarcating a non-negotiable political tribalism, the poignancy of this Gungfly album’s deep exploration of childhood memories is all the more powerful.

The album gently evokes not only feelings that many will recognize as resonating with their own experiences of personal loss, but it also evokes the loss of genuine human sympathy and compassion as a generational event, as technology brutally empowers people to treat others as they themselves would never want to be treated.

After heavy immersion in the album’s seven main tracks over many months (thanks to a review copy obtained far in advance), I am now also enjoying the amazing extra tracks on my CD copy, which I of course purchased to support this fine music, yet which only recently arrived in my mailbox.

Mark my words, you will want to own this CD, and your bonus reward will be the absolutely fantastic extras: “Slow Dancer” and “Past Generation” (and a radio edit of the title track slicing it down to 6:31, less than half the length of the original epic of 13:41).

It’s almost impossible to pick a favorite track on Friendship, thanks to the continuously dazzling diversity in the music. But currently, for me, I am most fond of the rockin’ “Past Generation.”

Nonetheless, you yourself are sure to make every track your personal favorite, depending on the day of the week, and on exactly where you are in discovering the many beautiful depths of this stunning release, just as I too experienced, spinning through it and exploring every tree and glade, winding through the cycle of seasons.

I discovered this hidden gem earlier this year via a local record store, and it has been in my heavy rotation ever since, earning the #2 spot this year, due to my frequency of listening.

But it is now available for purchase online here and also on iTunes. Check out www.djbrasscamel.com for more info.

In fact, the album only has three prog instrumental tracks, “The Bane of William Watson,” “Buenas Noches,” and “Letters of Last Resort,” yet these are surrounded by a wealth of other funky rock tracks that contain superb songwriting and impeccable musicianship.

I was lucky enough to see this band play live twice this year, and they are even more impressive in concert than on record, if you can believe it. That’s because of the truly stellar line-up of musicians, and also their penchant for covering classic prog tunes.

Mark my words, get to know this band now, because they are only getting started, and they are truly a major musical force to be reckoned with, as this fine album attests. Their funkadelic prog is guaranteed to put a smile on your face and a spring in your step.

DJBC is the real deal: talent to burn, and songs that blaze into glory like the most majestic of fireworks. Long live rock!

This year I have decided to unveil my year-end top 10 lists by following the order of my most frequent listens.

Usually I have preferred not to rank in any order (since being in a top 10 list is arguably enough of a distinction) or to attend to my more subjective emotional and intellectual responses to various features of musical excellence.

But this year (since the times they are a changin’), let’s try something new, and so I have decided to use the simpler and more objective criterion of the sheer quantity of listens.

I was surprised to discover that puts Southern Empire’s Civilisation at the top of the Top 10 Prog list for me. It took awhile for me to be won over fully to this album, but after diligently repeated listens I achieved this, and then continued to return to it again and again, because its four formidable tracks are just so gosh darn good.

“Goliath’s Moon” (9:12) has superb prog music, but the lyrics have always annoyed me as being ridiculously flimsy. I thought that, instead of singing about his stupid “diamond,” the space pirate should rather have been singing about an “angel” that he had been, against his will, compelled to sell into slavery — an action that he, lovesick for her, eternally regrets. In any case, the music is so good, I came to ignore this just complaint of mine, and to simply imagine my own better, more tragic lyrics while listening to it instead.

“Cries for the Lonely” is for me the supreme track. The first few minutes of the track are entirely instrumental, with some of the most thrilling prog of the year. And the excellence continues. Everything is dazzlingly perfect in this 19:13 epic.

“The Crossroads” (29:15) is even more epic and musically diverse. It took me awhile to know and love every bar of it, but there you have it. I listened to it enough times to acknowledge this track for what it is: a tour de force.

“Innocence and Fortune” (10:22) is a very unique song that midway veers off into some pleasingly familiar Genesis territory, in a surprising and delightful turn of events. But, most thrilling of all, is the wild finale, where we get some Dixie Dregs virtuosity, to close out the album, in its very final minutes, with uplifting and transcendent musicality.

Well, I do think I like this new rating system that I am trying out for 2018. And I am most pleased to recommend Southern Empire’s Civilisation to you as my top Top 10 Prog pick of the year. More anon.

 

Vancouver’s world famous Sikora’s Classical Records has been killed off by the Five Dirty Ds:

The big D is digitization, “downloads, MP3s, streaming.”

Another is downsizing — “people are moving into smaller places and are limited by space and can’t collect the way they used to”.

The third D is distribution — “getting hold of good reliable sources for import stock has been challenging”.

Number four is the desertion of some customers to online retailers like Amazon.

Sadly, the last D is “the demise of a generation that supported us for 20-30 years. We’re getting phone calls from their kids saying ‘My dad died, what do I do with all of his CDs?’”

…

One of the most loyal customers was Dr. Gabor Mate … “Sikora’s was the scene of the crime,” said Mate.

“I’ll tell you, it was the greatest classical music store in the world. I’ve been all over Europe and North America, and there was nothing like it. The knowledge they have about the music, the selection they have of all the different recordings and works … It’s a real loss.”

Sikora’s does have an extensive selection. Savenye thinks the current inventory is about 15,000 albums and 5,000 CDs. There are 16 bins of Bach CDs, for example, 13 bins of Beethoven CDs, and eight bins of Mozart.

“We’ve never had a digital Excel spreadsheet database,” said Savenye.

“We’ve never had anything other than a manual inventory. Data entry is me entering by hand with a fine-point sharpie the ordering code information on a little plastic slip that fits over a CD in a security box. We are classically old school in that way, and damn proud of it.”