Kevin J. Anderson is a wonder. When it comes to the mythology of Rush–whether it’s 2112 or CLOCKWORK ANGELS–Anderson might very well be the uncredited fourth member of the band. In everything this Hugo-Nominated author does, he conquers and with absolute brilliance.
To preorder, go here: http://ecwpress.com/collections/science-fiction/products/2113
New York based composer Pontus Gunve has just put out his new release, an EP titled “IV.” This excellent, five track EP is available from Bandcamp. We talked with Pontus about the new music.
How do you usually describe your music?
Progressive Instrumental Rock – or Cinematic Rock.
What is your writing process like?
Sporadic and intense. I go through moments of 5 pieces in a week – and then nothing for a month. I have to be inspired at the right moment – or sometimes go through themes in my head and try to develop those in to full pieces.
Who or what is your inspiration, if you have any?
As a guitar player : I like Steve Vai for fluidity, Dave Gilmour for extra dimensional soul, Zappa for head expansion, Marty Friedman for interesting shred, Yngwie Malmsteen for outrageous shred and 16 notes runs, Angus Young for pure guitar tone and Fripp for brainy stuff.
Swiss progressive rock group The Crazy Juggler’s Prog Orchestra, besides having a great name, also makes great music what is probably best documented on their latest opus, a studio album titled “Planet Euphoria – Part I.”
The band is already working on the follow-up to the mentioned album, and here is what they had to tell us about their work.
Define the mission of The Crazy Juggler’s Prog Orchestra.
Our mission is to combine the two generations of progressive rock music (70’s prog and the modern one) in a very various and experimental way. The Crazy Juggler, a character from our story behind, conducts the Prog Orchestra – ourselves, the band – to tell the story of Utopia from album to album.
Tell me about the creative process that informed your album “Planet Euphoria – Part I” and the themes it captures.
It was clear for us very early to create a story about a paradise-like Planet, the first album our characters find together and experience adventures on the search of paradise. It was an interesting challenge to find the suitable melodies and themes to this beautiful landscapes. As the music itself the fantasy of the lyrics don’t have any limitations, and that’s the best motivation for us to write music.
What is the message you are trying to give with “Planet Euphoria”?
It’s the message of an amazing planet, a paradise-like place called Euphoria, on which people and other creatures can live together in peace and freedom and in harmony with the nature and its beautiful landscapes: The classical utopian story.
Continue reading “Interview with The Crazy Juggler’s Prog Orchestra”
So, after posting my top 20, I thought I’d go for broke. My top 100.
Anathema, We’re Here Because We’re Here
Arjen Anthony Lucassen, Lost in the New Real
Aryeon, Universal Migrator
Aryreon, Into the Electric Castle
Beach Boys, Pet Sounds
Big Big Train, English Electric
Big Big Train, Gathering Speed
Big Big Train, The Difference Machine
Big Big Train, Underfall Yard
For what it’s worth, I took a quick break from work this evening and forced myself to write down my twenty favorite rock albums. I gave it almost no thought–I just brain stormed and listed my all-time favorite albums of the rock era. [I intentionally left off all Rush albums.]
Despite my own restrictions, I discovered something very interesting. At least to me.
For the last 29 years, I would have listed my favorite album of all time as Talk Talk’s The Colour of Spring. My iTunes numbers tell me something different, and I must agree.
Big Big Train has finally replaced Talk Talk.
Here they are in alphabetical order:
Newspaperflyhunting, THREE WORDS EP (2015).
The band:
There’s something just so terribly infectious about the music of Newspaperflyhunting.
Granted, the name of the band is the weirdest thing since Annie Oakley shot three playing cards (ace of hearts, of course) at 100 yards while looking at the target through a mirror. Yes, as with Oakley, Newspaperflyhunting brings a standard of excellence to every single thing it touches and produces.
The band’s latest EP, THE THREE WORDS, is a thing of wonder, beauty, and majesty.
Though the three-song EP has a familiar Newspaperflyhunting sound, THE THREE WORDS is different from their other releases and offers the long-time listener even new aural ecstasies.
As I’ve mentioned previously, the band’s music possesses much in common with the American and British neo-psychedelic wall-of-sound revival of the late 1980s which saw the rise and glory of such bands as Opal, Mazzy Star, the Cocteau Twins, and My Bloody Valentine. Whatever the similarities, however, Newspaperflyhunting (as the name would suggest) is very much—maybe even absolutely—its own band. Other than being from Poland and believing in the purity of art, Newspaperflyhunting evades any easy labeling or categorization.
At nearly 11 minutes in length, the opening track, “3 Words,” a song ostensibly about wisdom, tradition, and loss. The song builds slowly but surely in the first two minutes, exploding at the 1:56 mark. The voice drones (appropriately) as much as sings in a longing fashion, a plea for attention and contemplation. The mood of the song changes numerous times through the 11 minutes, demanding the full immersion of the listener.
At just under 10 minutes, “Past Perfect (revisited),” track two, is a remake of an older Newspaperflyhunting song. Never satisfied with the song, the band completely rebuilt it for the THREE WORDS EP. The new version of the song is nothing short of stunning. The female vocalist especially brings the song to life, drawing the listener into introspection as well as inspiration.
“Demolished Mansions” reflects the overall themes of the EP: the loss of tradition, replaced by heartless modernity. There might also—though I speculate, nothing more—be something scriptural in the title, a loss and the death of God in our insane whirligig.
***
To order: http://newspaperflyhunting.bandcamp.com/album/the-three-words-ep
The band’s description of itself: “Formed in 2006 in Białystok, Poland. Prog/post/space rock. Longing, melancholy, and rays of light scattered throughout. Introspective music, disregarding trends or expectations.” One of the most accurate self-evaluations I’ve encountered in my life.
Holy schnikees.
Losing your musical heroes is never easy. In the past year, we’ve lost a number of them. 
At least two of them, Chris Squire of Yes and Glenn Frey of the Eagles, were the subject of Progarchy posts upon their passing. Today we mourn the passing of possibly the best guitarist of the current prog scene, Riverside’s Piotr Grudziński.
The passing of Squire and later of Frey were one thing. Both of them were 67 when they died, and while they were taken from us too soon, losing them was easier to process emotionally. Both had decades long, successful careers. Both of them had peaked and were able to let their full abilities play out. On the other hand, Grudziński was a mere 40 years old and had many creative and productive years still to come. Losing him now, coming off Riverside’s most recent (and stunningly good) album, is the equivalent of what would have been had Squire or Frey been lost in 1975. I’m just shaking my head in disbelief that this has happened …
So much potential has been lost. Don’t take this the wrong way – it’s not that he hadn’t lived up to it. No, he was living up to his potential, spectacularly so. He was in his prime, continually evolving as a guitarist, and we are now denied seeing where that evolution would have taken him.
Continue reading “So Much Left Unsaid – Piotr Grudziński, 1975-2016”
Progarchy 