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.
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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”
It is with immense sorrow that we report that Riverside’s Piotr Grudzinski has passed away. This appeared this morning at Riverside’s Facebook page:
With great pain and disbelief, we inform you that our dear friend and brother Peter Grudziński left us this morning. We ask that you respect the privacy of the family and loved ones.
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In our deepest pain and disbelief we would like to inform you that our dearest friend and brother Piotr Grudzinski has passed away this morning. We kindly ask you to respect the privacy of his family and friends.
May we all keep Piotr and his family in our prayers and best thoughts. This is a terrible loss.
WORLD-RENOWNED GUITARIST/COMPOSER STEVE
HACKETT RETURNS TO NORTH AMERICA WITH “ACOLYTE
TO WOLFLIGHT WITH GENESIS REVISITED – THE TOTAL
EXPERIENCE” TOUR 2016
SET TO INCLUDE HACKETT SOLO MATERIAL AS WELL AS GENESIS SONGS Continue reading “Steve Hackett North American Tour, 2016”
Progarchy 