Dear Citizens of the anarcho-Republic of Progarchy,
As some of you might know, in addition to editing this site, I also pretend to be a professor and author during the day. I’m currently working on a book on the history of dystopias (and dystopic ideas) in fiction, film, and music. I’m trying to compile a list of dystopian rock albums. Here’s what I’ve come up with. If, in the comments section, you’d like to make suggestions of things I’ve missed–PLEASE do so! I would be exceedingly grateful!
Yours, Brad
“Abandoned” by Craig Farham.
Rush, 2112
Rush, Clockwork Angels
The entire Ayreon series
Arjen Lucassen, Life in the New Real
The Tangent, Not as Good as the Book
Pink Floyd, Animals
Pink Floyd, The Wall
Gary Numan, “Down in the Park”
Radiohead, Kid A
Cosmograf, Capacitor
A few songs by Muse, Oingo Boingo, Coheed and Cambria
A review of Scorch by the Tin Spirits (Esoteric Records, 2014; officially released on September 15).
8 Tracks: Carnivore; Summer Now; Old Hands; Binary Man; Little Eyes; Wrapped and Tied; She Moves Among Us; and Garden State.
The Tin Spirits are: Dave Gregory (guitar); Mark Kilminster (bass and lead vocals); Daniel Steinhardt (guitar, vocals); and Doug Mussard (drums and vocals). You can visit the band at: http://tinspirits.co.uk
Highest recommendation. A must own for any lover of music.
Poor Icarus. Scorched. Forthcoming, September 15, 2014, from Esoteric.
A match explodes into flame, and so it begins.
The opening song, an instrumental, possesses the infectious personality of the best of post-Hackett Genesis, especially with “Turn It On Again” and “Abacab.”
Armed with driving bass, soulful guitar, and persistent drums, “Carnivore” moves the listener rapidly into an unknown future, and it does so without a trace of trepidation. And, yet, it contains a voluptuous kind of beauty.
This description applies specifically to the first of the eight tracks, but it could just as easily apply to much of the album. However one describes Scorch, the Tin Spirits are back, and I, for one, thank the good Lord. These guys are absolutely brilliant, and they seem to be even more so than they were with their first album, Wired to Earth.
This is no feint praise.
Wired to Earth (2011).
That album, Wired to Earth, hit me rather hard when it first came out. As far as I know, I was the first American to own and review a copy. I’m rather proud of this. Greg Spawton, maestro of Big Big Train, had recommended it on his own blog, noting it was a guitar kind of prog.
And, so it was.
Beginning with a somewhat airy instrumental and having a total of only five tracks, Wired to Earth called for full immersion. From airy, it moved quickly to hyper and heavy, then to 1974 Genesis, then to a gut-wrenchingly beautiful Allman Brothers style epic, concluding with a great guitar-pop rocker in the style of Nebraskan Matthew Sweet.
Even after three years of listening to the album, I’ve never tired of it. I play it at least weekly, and, in fact, the entire Birzer family loves it.
Following the intensity of “Carnivore” on Scorch, the second track, “Summer Now” gently guides the listener into a hypnotic state. Most likely, every reader of progarchy has already watched the first video from the album, and you’ve heard and seen what Tin Spirits is capable of. The video, of course, is gorgeous and psychedelic in a late 1980’s Tears for Fears kind of way. All four members look as though they’re having a blast, and Mark (vocalist and bassist) looks surprisingly GQ and non-prog! Guitar god Dave Gregory, who never seems to age, offers what is arguably the most tasteful guitar solo of the last decade. In every way, the Tin Spirits have captured the essence of summer with this song.
***
I’m not exactly sure about what’s going on with the cover (see above). It looks as though two bolts of lightning have fried some poor guy. It’s also possible the guy is shooting bolts of lightning from his body in an explosion of energy. Maybe this is a kind of a “glass half empty” or “glass half full” thing.
With the title, Scorch, though, I suspect that Icarus flew too close to the sun. Gods will be gods, and they generally don’t like man to upstage them. As Worf once explained, the Klingons found their gods more trouble than they were worth, and so they killed them. I must admit, as I look at the cover of Scorch, I’m hopeful for Icarus, siding more than a bit with the Klingons on this issue.
The interior artwork of the CD booklet flows easily from psychedelic to pyrodelic, the flowers of the first pages having become nothing more than swirled outlines of flame by the end.
I choose to believe that through the Tin Spirits, Icarus has finally prevailed against the gods.
Ok, back to the review. After all, shouldn’t a review of a prog album have an interlude?
***
So much better looking than Curt and Roland. The Tin Spirits, reaping the seeds of love.
The third track, “Old Hands,” begins deceptively. Starting as a somewhat simple World Party-like pop song, it suddenly morphs into a rather fulsome puzzle about deceptions and realities. The interplay of drums and bass especially stand out on the track.
Returning to the early 1980’s Genesis-like thrumming of “Carnivore,” “Binary Man” simply rocks. Perfectly placed on the album, “Binary Man” reveals not only the excellence of each member of the band as an individual performer, but it also highlights the power of Kilminster’s voice. “Your hypocrisy is deafening,” Kilminster laments.
“Little Eyes” is another beautiful song in the vein of “Summer Now.” Thematically, it deals with fortitude, and the guitar work on it fits wonderfully.
Grungy, angsty guitars explode at the beginning of the sixth track, “Wrapped and Tied.” The entire song has the feel of being caught in a tornado in the intial stages of its formation.
Track seven, “She Moves Among Us,” brings the listener back to the indescribable beauty of a flowering meadow. Imagine a Steve Howe solo without the overbearing flashiness, and you have “She Moves Among Us.” The whole piece whispers “taste.” As the song is an instrumental, we’ll probably never know who “she” is. But, if the guitar matches her elegance, I’m in love.
At a little over fifteen minutes in length, the eighth and final song, “Garden State,” is epic. But, it’s certainly not the length that makes this so utterly brilliant. Every aspect of the Tin Spirits comes to the fore in this finale. The song effortlessly flows from moment to moment, all parts of a coherent and cohesive whole, held together by four instruments and a voice.
Indeed, from confidence to concern to anxiety to a dreamlike state to determination and, finally, back to confidence, Kilminster again proves his sheer skill as a vocalist. There’s not a single thing about this album I could criticize, as it’s, frankly, a perfect piece of music. Still, if some one forced me, I could state with only minor reluctance that “Garden State” alone makes this album worthwhile. It is a song that good and that powerful. This epic even ends with an homage to Elton John and Bernie Talpin and a “Funeral for a Friend.”
A perfect end to a perfect album. Were I grading it, I’d give in an A+.
***
A few years ago, I proudly proclaimed Dave Gregory one of the three greatest living guitarists. This album only affirms my rather bold statement. Holy Moses. What an absolute delight. I also proclaimed the lyricists of Tin Spirits to be in the line of Keats, Wilde, and Yeats. And, again, my declaration has proven true. Again, an absolute delight.
Our friend, Greg Spawton, posted this two hours ago on the Big Big Train Facebook page:
We’ve been reading the comments about the shows. One of the things we like about this forum is that people feel free to say what they think, whether it be positive or negative about BBT, without fear of us getting offended. We know some of the decisions we take won’t suit everybody, but we do read and take things onboard. The first thing to say is that BBT is a band and also a small business enterprise. Like it or not, we can’t make music without taking care of the business side of things, making sure we pay our taxes, pay money to these we employ and try not fall into debt. Over the last few years, our album sales have reached a level where the turnover allows us to make more ambitious music and to do some of the things we would like to do. One of these things is to spend more time together as a band and to play some shows. Now the problem is, we have a complicated live line-up. There are 13 musicians. There will be a crew of about 7 people. We need to rehearse together in a suitable place, feed people, pay transport costs, hotels, venue hire etc. It is a very expensive proposition. We’ve thought very carefully about where to play and the size of venues. To keep costs down, we do not have management or tour promoters. Therefore, we need to keep things simple for us by playing in one place. We can’t book places that are very big as they become too expensive to hire, exposing us to financial risk if we don’t sell enough tickets, so we’ve settled on two nights at a 400 seat venue. The venue is the right sort of place for BBT music and has excellent transport links. We know playing only in London isn’t ideal, but the band is based in the south of England and London has the best transport links for people who may be coming a very long way. If the gigs go well, then in future years we may play elsewhere. I am from Birmingham and David is from Nottingham, so somewhere in the Midlands would suit us just fine. Some have commented that there won’t be enough tickets to meet demand. However, I think we will do very well to sell both nights out. The ticket price is an issue. We want it to be affordable, but we think we have to charge about £35 to make this financially viable. That is more than we want to charge but we cannot ignore financial realities. At this price, the shows will run at an acceptable loss which we hope to recover through the additional publicity, perhaps live recordings etc. We are going to do all we can to give people on this forum a headstart. We will be talking to the ticket office to ask for a pre-sale which we will mention on here and only on here. This will give forum members a 24 hour start. We suggest that people try to buy tickets for one night only on that pre-sale. However, we cannot police that and just have to trust people to use their judgement. Once the pre-sale is done and tickets go on general sale, then if anybody wants to buy tickets for both nights that will be up to them. We will probably make a formal announcement of the dates tomorrow and will keep the forum updated on the ticket situation. There may be comments, questions, grumbles and I will pin this post for a few days so they can be aired.–Greg Spawton
The star kicked off the first show of her Hammersmith Apollo residency last night and thanked her son Bertie, without whom it wouldn’t have been possible
Mum and son
Singer Kate Bush has dubbed her son Bertie “my chief consultant, my editor, my confidant” and said her live shows would never have got off the ground without his help.
In programme notes for her first shows in 35 years, acclaimed artist Kate tells her fans of her closeness with her 16-year-old son.
She said: “Without my son Bertie, this would never have happened. Without his encouragement and enthusiasm, particularly in the early stages when I was very frightened to commit to pushing the ‘go’ button, I’m sure I would have backed out.
“Throughout he has been my chief consultant, my editor, my confidant. In order for him to be part of this, which has always part of the deal, he has had to work really hard in order to keep his school commitments as well as his commitments to the show.
Explosive first show
“He is a very talented actor and beautiful singer, as you will witness and he brings something special to the show through his presence. Thank you Bertie. Thank you so much.”
The 56-year-old British star appeared alongside Bertie at London’s Hammersmith Apollo on Tuesday night – the scene of her last live show in 1979.
A three-hour set which was given a standing ovation kicked off a run of 22 shows , titled Before the Dawn, which sold out almost instantly when tickets went on sale.
Backed by seven musicians, Bush opened the show with Lily, from the 1993 album Red Shoes.
Stunning
The show also included the 1985 single Running Up That Hill and, from the Hounds of Love album and hits like King of the Mountain and Cloudbusting.
Singer Kate also admitted in the programme she cancelled planned London gigs at a venue “similar in size to an aircraft hanger” because she “felt physically sick seeing how big a space this was”.
She then discovered Hammersmith Apollo, now called Eventim Apollo, was free.
“The reason I wanted to have one venue for the shows was so that we could be ambitious with theatrical ideas, knowing that we wouldn’t have to pack it all up and move. The space could become ours and we could create ‘worlds’ within that space.”
Tears, goose bumps and spine-tingling electricity filled the Hammersmith Apollo on Tuesday evening, when Kate Bush took to the stage to launch her long-awaited set of live gigs – her first in 35 years.
It had been a long time coming – and it certainly didn’t disappoint.
The concert was described by BBC 6Music DJ Lauren Laverne as a ”wonderful mix.”
“intimate, adventurous, avant-garde but entirely unpretentious, so clever but so warm and inclusive,” she said.
we now know that the emotional centers of the brain — including the reward centers — are more active when people hear songs they’ve been played before. In fact, those brain areas are more active even than when people hear unfamiliar songs that are far better fits with their musical taste.
Chicago rock band Chevelle released their seventh studio album back in February of this year, and boy is it good. Don’t get me wrong, in the fifteen years since their first album, Point # 1, Chevelle has yet to release a bad album. La Gárgola (which means the gargoyle in Spanish) just happens to be amazing. While Chevelle isn’t prog, it is certainly very good hard rock/metal music. Interestingly enough, they have been compared to Tool for years, so they sort of have a Prog connection, although I don’t really hear the similarity. Chevelle has also released a few “concept” albums, most notably 2009’s Sci-Fi Crimes and 2014’s La Gárgola. By concept, I mean the whole album more or less revolves around a particular theme. In Sci-Fi Crimes, it was aliens, supernatural beings and other cool stuff like that. In la Gárgola, it loosely draws upon themes that a gargoyle might conjure up.
So who are Chevelle? Pete Loeffler – guitars and vocals. Sam Loeffler – drums. Dean Bernardini (Pete and Sam’s brother-in-law) – bass and backup vocals. Chevelle has always been a family affair, with Pete and Sam’s brother Joe originally playing bass for the band until 2005. All are very proficient with their instruments, and Pete’s voice is incredibly unique. He has a great range, and when he screams, it is not “cookie monster” screaming. His screams come from passion and anger, and never just to please screamo fans (Chevelle in no way, shape, or form resembles anything remotely related to screamo). His voice, instead, is very mellow yet powerful. One of the things that I like best about Chevelle is they, unlike many metal bands, are not obnoxiously or overly loud. While they are loud, you can still hear each individual instrument, which is great for someone like me who loves to hear and feel the bass. It’s also difficult to believe that their sound can only come from three musicians, because the interplay between the guitars, bass, drums, and Pete’s voice make it sound like so much more. Very impressive indeed.
Earlier I said that Chevelle have yet to release a bad album. While I believe this is true, I think that La Gárgola is their best album since their second album, 2002’s Wonder What’s Next, which was brilliant in its heaviness. 2007’s Vena Sera came close (in fact it is probably their most popular album), but La Gárgola is the only album to equal Wonder What’s Next. This album beautifully combines elements from each of their albums. It brings in the raw edge from their first album, the heaviness from their second, third, and fourth albums, the idea of a “concept” and the ability to do quieter songs from Sci-Fi Crimes, and the drive of 2011’s Hats Off to the Bull. It is as if Chevelle took the best bits from their past and matured into a totally new sound that is still very familiar.
La Gárgola also sounds more technically complicated than their previous albums, especially in the percussion department. Sam (and Dean, who recorded drums on one of the songs) certainly experimented with different drum sounds and instruments. The guitar takes you on all kinds of wild adventures throughout the album, but the driving bass keeps you grounded. From songs like “Take Out the Gunman,” which addresses the recent media attention at different mass shootings, to “One Ocean”, which is by far Chevelle’s best quiet(er) song, it is hard to get bored listening to this album. La Gárgola has so much to offer, from heavier metal songs typical of past Chevelle albums, to quieter rock songs which force you to really think about what is being said.
One of Chevelle’s best traits is the lyrics, written mainly by Pete Loeffler. Unlike so many rock bands, who are blatantly obvious with what they are talking about in their songs, Chevelle’s lyrics are cryptic, yet simple with repetition of certain lines throughout the song. I know some people don’t like repetition, but the way in which Chevelle work it, it really doesn’t feel like there is any repetition at all. While some bands use expletives to convey that they are… well, pissed off, Chevelle conveys that through tone of music and lyrical undertones. Chevelle rarely swears in their songs, unless it is absolutely necessary, and none of their songs (in any album) are labeled as explicit. Also, Chevelle is not one to talk about relationships and dating and crap like that. They prefer to keep their lyrics conceptual and open to interpretation, which forces the listener to think. La Gárgola certainly continues the Chevelle tradition when it comes to lyrics.
While Chevelle certainly isn’t prog, they come close in many respects, and they deserve respect from progressive rock fans. Chevelle is one of several bands throughout the early 2000s, along with Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, System of a Down, Three Days Grace, and many others, who were able to keep rock and metal popular even while the musical atrocities of the pop and country genres rose in popularity. Chevelle have been very successful, yet they have never sacrificed what they do best – rock. So far, La Gárgola is one of my favorite albums of 2014, and I will certainly be listening to it for years to come. If you like metal, hard rock, and prog, give Chevelle a listen. They have many great songs across their expansive catalog, and their albums are a joy to listen to.
Last week on Progarchy I reviewed the new Seven Impale album, City of the Sun (https://progarchy.com/2014/08/21/seven-impale-basking-in-the-city-of-the-sun/). It’s a tremendously creative record with energy to burn, worthy of the accolades it’s getting as its early September release date approaches. The band graciously granted an interview, which I am including here and in the original review.
Progarchy: City of the Sun is an impressive full-length debut, following a fairly tremendous EP in Beginning/Relieve. It feels like a leap forward. How did you get from the EP to the LP, and what kind of progress has it been for the band?
Seven Impale: We feel that we’ve come far, both as musicians and composers, in the ~4 years we’ve been playing together. Even though it has only been a year since Beginning/Relieve was released, the material was made in the space between when the band was formed and when our current line-up had just been assembled. Wind shears, the second track on the album was actually composed around that time, but it’s been revisited and rearranged many times since then. The best thing is that we feel like the process has just started when we continue working together, making music that we enjoy, which challenges both the listener and us.
Progarchy: There is a lot going on in these songs. What’s your writing process like, and how would you describe the narrative of the album?
Seven Impale: It differs a bit between the songs, but generally we start off with some guitar riffs or a rhythmic idea, and we jam for a while. Each of us gets to know the new parts and start to find our places, while we figure out what kind of musical landscape we are aiming for. And the songs take their form, one way or anther, often over the course of a few months.
Progarchy: City of the Sun makes the connection between modal jazz and heavy rock seem effortless. The spirits of both inhabit this record seamlessly, as if John Coltrane and Deep Purple are smiling down benevolently. This is what I hear, and it’s wonderful, but was this your intention?
Seven Impale: We have always enjoyed a lot of different music, but I think the progress and musical direction of Seven Impale has been more based on randomness than intentions. It has been our intention from the very start to make complex and exciting music, but the sound we have today has more to do with the individual musicians and what they bring to the table. A lot of details on the album came about through experimenting and/or “mistakes” during the recording process.
Progarchy: How did the band come together, what are your backgrounds?
Seven Impale: Fredrik and Benjamin are brothers (that’s the obvious one), and have grown up in the same area as Håkon and Tormod. The four of them have worked a lot together in various projects for a long time. Fredrik got to know Stian and Erlend through mutual friends, many years before Seven Impale, and the rest of the story is mostly random and about being at the right place at the right time, with the right instrument.
Progarchy: Is there a story behind the band’s name?
Seven Impale: Stian found the name before the band even existed. It came about kind of randomly when he was thinking about what to call the next project, and thought it has a nice feel to it. Also the number seven is often associated with religion, and the word “impale” brings more of a dark or heavy feel. And we are all somewhat critical towards religion, so it fits quite nicely.
Progarchy: What music are you listening to?
Seven Impale: We listen to a lot of different things, and we agree on most things musically. Stian has a bit more of the opera/classical music side, he is currently studying to be a classical singer. We listen to alt./prog rock like Mars Volta, King Crimson, Zappa, Motorpsycho and Porcupine Tree as well as heavier stuff like Tool, Pantera and Meshuggah. And then there’s the weird avant-garde/jazzy side of it, with Jaga Jazzist, TrioVD, Shining(NO), WSP, Ephel Duath, Nik Bartsch’s Ronin. In between there is some hip-hop: Hopsin, Side Brok, Bustah Rhymes and then there’s the electronic music like Noisia, Justice, Aphex Twin, Todd Terje and Venetian Snares.
Progarchy: Do you see yourselves as a Norwegian band, that is, do you have a sense that geography makes a difference in your music?
Seven Impale: Not really. But being from Norway means that we’re probably more exposed to and inspired by Norwegian bands, adopting what has been known to be the “Scandinavian sound”. Otherwise I don’t think it is significant, but what do we know?
Progarchy: Is there a city of the sun?
Seven Impale: There is a fictional book about a “City of the Sun”, by a 17th century Italian philosopher. In reality, I don’t think it ever will be.
Progarchy: What’s next for Seven Impale?
Seven Impale: Get rich or die tryin’
Progarchy: Please don’t die. We like your records too much.
Nearly unstoppable in his Chestertonian genius, Andy Tillison is once again on the move.
Evolving in what can only be considered punctuated equilibrium, our favorite redheaded English master of mischiveousness had not only just introduced the world to his new blog, http://www.thetangent.org/, he has also—as of yesterday—introduced the world to his new music, all of it in progress.
If you go to the official website, http://www.thetangent.org/, click on “shop,” and purchase the megafan pre-pre-release, you will immediately gain access to six new songs from Andy.
The three The Tangent songs are: A Spark in the Aether, Part 1; Codpieces and Capes; and A Spark in the Aether, Part 2.
The three pieces from the forthcoming solo album, “Multiplex,” are: Allegro; Andante; and Prosciutto.
I’ve only owned each of these six songs for less than 24 hours, but I’m already hooked. If you properly assumed the genius of Tillison before today, be prepared to be even MORE impressed.
Our great and brilliant friend, Andy Tillison, is blogging like the English madman he is! Join us in celebrating the mighty pen (and keyboard) of Mr. Diskdrive!
Welcome to the Tangent Blog. It’s been a long time coming. Here I’m going to TRY to be good and continue the work that the band does on paper. or not on paper actually, but you know what I mean. This can be translated as “I’m going to nag on and on about stuff that no-one is really bothered about” but it seems that that activity is quite the thing these days, so why shouldn’t I try?
The Author with the only person he could get to listen that day.
The Tangent is a Progressive Rock Band. It tries to be be more than just that – which typifies the band as pretentious, full of its own self importance and – well…
Progarchy 