Interviewer: “Would you characterize the new album … as a reunion? A comeback? Or something else?”
Derek St. Hubbins: “It’s both, really. We reuned and we came back.”
— interview with Spinal Tap, Guitar World magazine, April 1992
When Emerson, Lake & Palmer reformed in 1992, it wasn’t really a surprise.
Since the debacle of Love Beach, Carl Palmer had recruited Greg Lake to pinch hit as Asia’s bassist and vocalist for a MTV broadcast from Japan. Then Keith Emerson had reconnected with Lake, drafting Cozy Powell as drummer for a well-received album that both evoked and modernized the classic ELP sound. Then a post-Asia Palmer and singer/songwriter Robert Berry had partnered with Emerson in the more commercial (though less successful) AOR band 3. All the possible pairings had played out: the only other option, as Spinal Tap put it, was to reune. And at least attempt a comeback.
Steven Wilson’s new album is an amazing masterpiece. I give it my highest rating and I can’t stop listening to it! Now there is a new video out for one of the most moving songs on the disc.
Inspired by the plight of Syrian refugees, “Refuge” builds from the hushed beauty and pathos of the song section to an instrumental apex in which Paul Stacey’s guitar, Mark Feltham’s harmonica and Steven Wilson’s synth solo unite in epic glory, before dropping back down to a haunting aftermath. “Refuge” is a powerfully intense and cinematic highlight from the forthcoming album To the Bone. https://stevenwilson.lnk.to/RefugeSo
Lyric video created by Lasse Hoile
It took almost seven years for Israel’s proggers Soul Enema to come up with a follow-up to their 2010’s debut album “Thin Ice Crawling,” but as it turns out, “Of Clans and Clones and Clowns” was worth a wait. On the new album, the quintet has collaborated with a number of musicians, including a guest appearance by Ayreon’s Arjen Lucassen and ex-Orphaned Land’s Yossi Sassi.
Keyboardist and composer Constantin Glantz told us about the creative process behind the new record, and more.
Hey folks. How are you doing?
Thanks, it’s damn hot outside, but everything else is quite well otherwise. The new album came out June 23 and now the video for “Spymania” is out – that one was a hell of a fun to make. Interesting period, definitely!
You are just launched your second album titled “Of Clans and Clones and Clowns.” How do you feel about the release?
I feel that we accomplished what we planned here, and it’s going great so far! Very positive feedbacks, the amount of people that are really moved and touched by it – it’s just really surprising. People typically get to hear our album by chance, and then we receive some comments like – “How come you’re not more famous with this music!?” I don’t know. Seriously, we are top secret, and you are reading strictly classified information here.
How much of a challenge was to work on the album?
I think everything was a challenge, because that was one of our aims. We didn’t really do “the next studio album“, we just tried to make as great and special a record as possible, and then some. I don’t know if we succeeded, but I’m not sorry – I think this stuff deserved such attention and dedication.
What other artists similar to your genre that are coming from Israel are you friends with?
We are friendly with many, and there are some new, that came in touch in the wake of the album release. That makes me think we might have done something right in the end. Maybe vodka really connecting people, but music may do it even better sometimes (laughs). In general, there’s a sort of mini explosion right now – many good Prog-related bands from Israel, some of them have quite a presence internationally, and it’s really a feature for such a small country. So, you’d better keep your eyes on the Israeli Prog scene, it has some goods to deliver, and nowadays it’s becoming more and more obvious. A touch of Middle Eastern specifics is also a distinct factor sometimes, but it’s not always raised on hummus – there’s pretty much everything here.
What is your opinion about the current progressive rock/metal scene?
I’m not a big expert, there’s really a huge amount of new coming bands and artists, and it’s hard to stay deeply in touch. In general, it’s nice to hear more originality, more gifted visionaries, and less of the “production line”. So once in a while when I recognize something of a kind, combined with great music writing – that may make me happier as a listener.
Can you tell me something about your influences?
As you can hear on the new record – it’s quite eclectic. As we jokingly put it – “from Abba to Zappa, from King Crimson to King Diamond”. Everything could be a potential influence. When I recorded some animal voices and Guinea pigs and my own kid, all of them were influences as well – they made the right kind of sounds for a particular occasion, so they ended up being on the album. I must admit that Guinea pigs received no credit in the end, so I’m giving them a tiny moment of fame here – cheers, homies! Life is the biggest possible influence; you just have to configure your antennas to catch those signals and translate them into something creative.
What are you listening to these days?
Well, last days it was some ethnic breakbit album, for some reason. Ah, here’s the reason: it was really well-done. The singing, the arrangements – they just made this electronic thing come alive on their own terms. Hardly a surprise, but I listened to some old time favorite along the way as well: “Pawn Hearts” album by VDGG – this one never falls short of brilliance for me. What else here… Split Enz, the early albums – such a unique band.
Your 5 favourite records of all time?
Impossible to limit it to just five. So, i will focus on some of my Prog-related favorites, besides the one already mentioned in the previous answer:
Cardiacs – “ALittle Man and a House and the Whole World Window” – 1988 (ABC reissue, 1995). Some say that Prog was nearly dead in the 80’es, except a bit of Neo and a bit of RIO. I wouldn’t take it for granted. This one is beyond any clear boundaries and definitions, and Tim is a certified genius. One of my all time favorites.
Voivod – “The Outer Limits” – 1993. If I still need one single Prog Metal album to pick – this is it. Always mindblowing. For some reason there’s no 5000 clones of this band and this particular album, and I’m fine with that, actually.
Genesis – “Selling England by the Pound” – 1973. No surprises here, contains a few of the greatest tracks ever recorded in history of rock music. No, not “More Fool Me”. Yes, those ones you think of first.
Pink Floyd – “Animals” – 1977. There’s an opinion that Prog was finished by ‘77 and replaced by Punk. Haha, not in PF world at least – this is their proggiest record yet, but it has a grain of punkish anger and sarcasm as well. This is their peak for me. No single note or sound is out of place, nothing is non essential. Zero compromise with wider public tastes, despite hitting the real rock stardom level with a large stadium tours and other attributes.
Brian Wilson/The Beach Boys – “Smile/The Smile Sessions” – 1967/2004/2011. What can I say here? It should have been the most revolutionary record of the 60’es. It’s unbelievable what Brian was very close to achieve here with those limited studio technologies and his wild fantasy.
I left outside at least a similar amount of albums that deserve top places as much as those.
Can you tell me a little bit more about the gear you used to record “Of Clans and Clones and Clowns”?
I can talk about my side, as far as keyboards go. Since I prefer the period between mid- 60’s and the early 80’s, predominantly some analog types of keyboard gear, I used anything that can convincingly replicate the authentic qualities of those instruments, without sticking too much to the retro approach. It’s mostly different VST software with some appropriate editing. Besides typical rock band instrumentation, we used violin, flutes and more exotic stuff like sitar and samisen. Sometimes not in a very strict way; for example Michael recorded those sitar licks and then I processed them in a few spots, reversing it to make the atmospheric drone that you hear on “The Age of Cosmic Baboon”. Yossi Sassi (ex-Orphaned Land, Yossi Sassi Band) used his signature bouzoukitara – a two headed beast of bouzouki and guitar on the track “Aral Sea II”. Then the mix was done by renowned sound engineer Jens Bogren in Fascination Street Studios. The analog gear that he used was particularly instrumental in keeping our sounds as authentic as possible. I think we managed to retain the general warmness while getting that big sound.
Besides the release of the album, are there any other plans for the future?
We will put the new video soon, and it will be beautiful, I think I can admit to that. That’s all I can tell so far, keep following.
Any words for the potential new fans?
If you are still reading to the very end, you are hopefully ready to let the music do the talking. We have done a very complex and time consuming job here in order to take it to another level, so we hope your journey with this album will be really addictive and long lasting!
Order “Of Clans and Clones and Clowns” from Bandcamp here. Follow Soul Enema on Facebook.
Is it possible that this train is unstoppable? I’m honestly not sure. I am sure—absolutely certain—that I hope it never does.
If you don’t know yet (which is unlikely), Big Big Train has just released its third release of 2017.
Unbelievable.
Let me stress this again: un-freaking-beautifully-believable.
This past week, the English prog band proved once again why they lead the current revival of the genre, with the free (yes, free) release of a 34-minute EP, entitled simply “London Song.” Yet, there’s nothing simple about the 34-minutes of music. A combination of their various songs dealing with London, this “new” track comes with all kinds of surprises and segues worthy of Rush’s Xanadu.
What a thing of beauty. If Grimspound, Second Brightest Star, and London Song have yet to convince you that there are things in this world worth preserving and cherishing, nothing will.
Since downloading it, I have listened to it almost exclusively. The new Steven Wilson is kinda neat, but it’s nothing compared to the genius of London Song. And, after all the inane debates this week on social media about vocals and politics, Big Big Train just does its own thing. And, what a thing it is!
V: Hävitetty bridges folk metal with an intense dose of symphonic black sound. With songs clocking close to thirty minutes, it’s progressive. Moonsorrow elegantly layers their folk compositions with some rich symphonic keyboards. Songs do take the frequent detours down the rabid blast beat-tremolo picking passages, but consistently maintains that mythological theme. In short, listener should be ready to get teleported to the land of legends and poetry – of ancient Finnish folklores.
“Jaasta Syntynyt , Varjojen Virta” starts with the sound of scorching wood and progresses headlong into an absolute death like aggression — peaking right around the 7 minute mark. Sound of that crackling fire simply exemplifies the lull Scandinavian winter ambiance. Song leads to more folk instrumentation, but it’s always interleaved with some biting sound. Mid-paced riffs, screeching black metal vocals and that restrained sonic onslaught — all makes for a captivating thirty minutes.
“Tuleen Ajettu Maa” starts with two minutes of eerie chants and guitar strumming, but rather quickly explodes into riffs. Even here the pattern of composition remains the same – folk instrumentation building up to some aggressive passages — but finally receding back into mellow sophistication.
Scorching firewood, whistling northern winds and pagan chants — all tend to conjure up vivid mystical imagery — almost like we are reading high fantasy. Finnish lyrics, mandolin, accordion and mouth harp – all essential folk elements layered with an Emperor like symphonic artistry. A mandatory listen.
We’ve been following this Germany-based collective for quite some time now, and their brand new release — an EP titled “Russian Tales” — was conceived during the group’s tour across Russia in Winter 2016. It may be because of it that the five songs here feel a bit cold in its nature, but hey — you spend 12000km experiencing winter in Siberia, and then let’s talk. All digression aside, Art Against Agony have once again produced a mind-twisting release, something they are already known in the experimental, avant-garde and prog metal underground.
The group’s can-do attitude of mixing odd experimentation techniques into a metal state has earned them success since their 2014 debut “Three Short Stories.” The particular experiment AAA undertake is the fusion of contrasting genres, principally the extreme side of metal and fancy jazz.
For “Russian Tales” it could be said that it’s a transitional release, as it was conceived between the release of “The Difference Between a Duck and a Lobster” in February 2016 and “The Forgotten Story” EP from February this year. The production here is perfect. “Nothing to Declare” and “Tea for the Dragon” both have infectious grooves that are more riff focused rather than uncontrollable experimentation. The latter could be considered as a centrepiece of the EP. “Coffee for the Queen,” for which the band recently released a music video is another highlight here; it’s more prog metal oriented than other pieces. Throughout the album the guitars constantly build up, what gives the band, in general, both vintage and modern sound that increases the uniqueness of their soundscapes.
The closing “Saratov Incident” feels personal, and it’s by far the djentiest moment on “Russian Tales.” The band unleashes a cannonade of riffs, accompanied with lush atmospheric motif and pounding drum work.
Although a release that was written while on road and in constant motion, “Russian Tales” is very consistent in terms of its structure and material offered here. You can possibly sense how it took its form out in the wild wilderness, and for this young band it certainly stands as a huge statement. At the time when this review is posted Art Against Agony are on another tour across Russia, so who knows, maybe they will come up with “Russian Tales 2.” Highly recommended!
In 2014, Bruce Springsteen covered Suicide‘s “Dream Baby Dream” on his album High Hopes, revealing common roots among artists you wouldn’t normally associate, and further illustrating Springsteen’s connections to the New York art punk scene of the mid and late 70s. His association with Patti Smith, through her interpretation of “Because the Night,” cross-pollinated rock and punk in a critical cultural moment. Then in 1980 Springsteen and Alan Vega of Suicide struck up a friendship while both were recording their respective albums in NYC, and he lent Suicide much-needed support when their second album elicited nothing but stony silence from their label execs. He later likened Vega’s voice, admiringly, to an exhumed Elvis. Springsteen’s rise to bona-fide-and-sanctified rock star in the mid 80s tends to mask that his rock and roll roots were essentially punk, street, to the degree that the nickname he earned early on in his career never sat well with him. He read in Elvis and the Sun brethren an unseating of authority. He was seduced, romanced by rock’s exalting of the everyman, and he built his songs from a society of sympathetic blue collar and rural down’n’outs that appeared fully sketched on record. This was and is his art.
“State Trooper” from Springsteen’s Nebraska (1982) most immediately links his work and Suicide’s, the acoustic blues rock stutter as lean as the song’s words, here exercised in relative economy (compared to, say, “Thunder Road” or “Blinded by the Light,” or, god forbid, “Rosalita”). The lo-fi slapback echo combined with the aesthetic of the cassette multitrack Springsteen was experimenting with to make demos — which he then decided to release rather than flesh-out with his E Street partners — smacks strongly of cheap electronic processing and a reaching towards Suicide’s elemental synthesizer rock.
Both Springsteen and Vega were writing characters deeply steeped in rock’s first wave, but the innuendo is gone, so that Suicide’s Frankie Teardrop and the first person of “State Trooper” — who’s holding on to that thing that’s “been bothering me my whole life” — share a spinning endgame. “Mister State Trooper, please don’t stop me…” is a plea to limit the damage that’s grown out of control, the high-pitched yawp at the conclusion, overloading the mic and my circuits, forever linking Springsteen and Suicide in a stylistic rock’n’roll entirety consisting of a road, a car, probably a gun, and not much time.
soundstreamsunday presents one song or live set by an artist each week, and in theory wants to be an infinite linear mix tape where the songs relate and progress as a whole. For the complete playlist, go here:soundstreamsunday archive and playlist, or check related articles by clicking on”soundstreamsunday” in the tags section.
Apollo’s Fire – Slightly different lineup than the show at Ravinia
As Apollo’s Fire artistic director, conductor, and harpsichordist Jeannette Sorrell aptly pointed out in the program for last night’s concert at Ravinia, Antonia Vivaldi was the rock and roll composer of the eighteenth century. While that statement might seem odd for one of the greatest composers of the Baroque period, his melodies and use of instrumental solos share much in common with contemporary progressive rock. Indeed, I don’t believe it would be too much of a stretch to compare Vivaldi’s music with that of Dream Theater.
Apollo’s Fire was founded by Jeannette Sorrell in 1992 as an ensemble dedicated to Baroque music. Having taken their stage debut only recently in 2010, this Cleveland-based troupe are beginning to turn heads worldwide. Sorrell is well educated in music and conducting, having studied the latter under Leonard Bernstein and other great conductors. As a harpsichordist, she is masterful. Considering Vivaldi was often called “the Redhead Priest,” it is fitting that Sorrell has bright red hair.
Big Big Train is awesome. Earlier today, the band announced they are giving away a compilation of all their London-related songs, appropriately titled “London Song.” Just click the “Buy Digital Album” button on the page linked below, enter 0.00 into the box, and enter your email. Click the link in the email they send you, and enjoy the free download by following the on-screen instructions.
Via the BBT Facebook page:
All of Big Big Train’s songs with a London theme have been brought together into a song cycle for a download only EP which has been released on the 28th July. As all of the individual pieces of music which make up London Song have been previously released, there is no cost for downloading the EP. An email address is required and email addresses will be included on the Big Big Train mailing list.
(i) Turner on the Thames (Spawton)
(ii) London Plane (Spawton)
(iii) Lost Rivers of London (Spawton)
(iv) London Stone (Sjoblom / Manners)
(v) Skylon (Longdon / Spawton / Sjöblom)
(vi) Mudlarks (Spawton)
In 2014, Bruce Springsteen covered 
Progarchy 
