Anticipating a Lordly Tangent

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock music3 Comments
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Last year’s masterpiece. A masterpiece not just of the year, but of Third Wave prog.

As I posted yesterday at progarchy, Andy Tillison has announced his agreement with Insideout (ongoing, of course) to release the new The Tangent album in 2015.

Inside Out MusicConsidering the sheer gravitas that surrounds every single thing Andy Tillison, this is vitally important news to those of us who love and cherish prog.  For all intents and purposes, Andy is the embodiment of Third Wave prog.  He is at the very least A Mr. Prog if not THE Mr. Prog.  Given Andy’s own political sympathies (though not cultural and artistic ones!) with egalitarianism, I won’t offend him by labeling him Lord Prog.  But, political views aside, why not?  His title is one of merit, not birth.  By birth, he’s the product of the dissidence of dissent.  Amen.  By merit, though: Lord Prog fits.

I’m one of the very fortunate human beings who served as a “beta tester” during the writing of this most current album.  I’m not worthy, but I’m deeply honored.  When I told my wife with all the enthusiasm that any good bubble-gum chewing Kansas boy naturally possesses (Gee, whiz!  Golly!), she just knowingly smiled and said, “See?”

Yes, I’m admittedly rather proud to be a part of the process, no matter how small or unworthy.  After all, how many persons in history have been allowed to participate—no matter how marginally or, God forbid, tangentially (sorry—couldn’t resist!)—with the art created by their personal heroes?  After all, who among us would give much to have sat in C.S. Lewis’s rooms on a Thursday night in 1946, listening to Tolkien read his latest chapter of The Lord of the Rings and meditating upon all that is mythic in this rather fallen world?

This is how I felt when Andy asked me?  I just, more or less, walked around with a stupid grin.

By agreement with Andy—standard for beta-testers in all things—I don’t want to give too much away.  But, I did receive a note from him on Monday letting me know that I was now ok to mention that I’d heard the earliest demo version of the album.  So, I’ll offer a few thoughts, generally spoiler free.  Also, please note: these are merely my observations.  I don’t know if Andy would agree or not.  So, these are my words—right or wrong—not Andy’s.  And, of course, I only heard the demo version, not something even close to the final version recorded with band and in studio.  Still, for those of you who love The Tangent as I have for 11 years now, you know that Andy is incapable of pursuing imperfection.  Even his “demos” have all the meaning and purpose and sense of completion that most artists only achieve in the absolute final moments of a major project, after a 100 people have perfected the thing.  Andy is a Century of Artists possessing one body and one soul.

Here are the notes (somewhat edited—to take out track titles, etc.) from my first listens.

This is brilliant, all the way around.  What I especially like is how much the new album—that is, the songs I’ve heard—contrasts with as well as completes last year’s album.

Last year, Andy produced an album that offered serious social criticism by looking from a fixed point (the actual, physical church—sorry I can’t remember the name right now).  Every thing passed by Andy, and he observed it all.  Then, he went into Google Earth and saw it all from the bird’s eye view.  But, even there, he looked down on the same fixed point, all organized chaos swirling around the church, all clockwork.  And, of course, he tied everything back to the modernism of 1913, noting the good and the bad of modernity.  In the end, next to the criticism, Andy offered a stoic resignation.

With this album (title yet?), he has done something very different.  Rather than looking from a fixed point, Andy’s allowed himself to wonder the globe, to explore, and to experience, even if only in imagination (which, after listening to The Tangent faithfully for 11 years, I know to be rather fertile!).  Though there’s cultural criticism (all good, especially against superficiality and conformity) on this album, there’s also an abundance of hope and playfulness.

Not surprisingly, Andy throws in a lot of jazzy moments—some jazz from the 1920s, some from the 1950s, and some from the early 1970s.  As to the songs, musically and lyrically, I used the following descriptives: sultry, epiphanic, triumphal, gracious, hopeful, joyous.

So much cooler than Nieztsche. Andy, a god among gods.
So much cooler than Nieztsche. Andy, a god among gods.

So, from my perspective, the genius has revealed his talent yet again.  I, for one, am thrilled not just because I got to play the smallest of roles in its creation, but, far more importantly, because Andy’s talent continues to humble me.  And, especially, he continues to remind me that excellence, brilliance, and–dare I say it?–love can change the world.

***

If you’re interested in joining the official discussion regarding the new The Tangent album, Andy has created a forum here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/alltangentmembers/

***

Progarchy has looked at Andy’s work a number of times.

COMM

https://progarchy.com/2013/02/02/comm-the-tangent/

The Music That Died Alone

https://progarchy.com/2014/02/10/tupvr-13-the-tangent-the-music-that-died-alone/

A Moveable Feast

https://progarchy.com/2013/08/20/a-moveable-and-glorious-feast-letagere-du-travail-by-the-tangent/

Snow Goose is No Turkey

https://progarchy.com/2013/12/23/snow-goose-is-no-turkey-a-new-tangent-release/

The Big Big Tangent

https://progarchy.com/2013/12/11/the-big-big-tangent/

The Genius Rages

https://progarchy.com/2013/06/11/the-genius-rages-the-tangents-le-sacre-du-travail-2013/

Views With No Place in the Queue–Andy Tillison’s News

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock musicLeave a comment

By Andy Tillison (taken without permission from his Facebook post yesterday)

Although it has been mentioned before I would once again like to return to Stephen Lambe and his book “CITIZENS OF HOPE AND GLORY – The Story Of Progressive Rock” which has just gone into its second edition. There have been a few changes, but one of the most obvious changes to us here is that the section on the Tangent has been somewhat updated. In the first edition the album selected to represent us was “A Place In the Queue” – however, this has now been replaced with “Le Sacre Du Travail”. Lambe describes it as “Magnificent” and speaks of it as bringing “Progressive Rock full circle” He finishes the article off by saying “Ten years into a career full of ups and downs, this is not only the finest album by the band but one which perfectly summarises all of progressive rock”. It’s pretty obvious that I’m very happy that Stephen felt this way – in fact I must admit I felt my bottom lip tremble a bit when I read it. “Sacre” was an album that divided folks a bit, and those people have had their say, and more importantly they have been LISTENED TO!!

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I have just finished writing the new Tangent album which Inside Out have heard and agreed to release in early 2015. They are exceedingly enthusiastic about it and I can tell you that it is a very different style of album from “Sacre” with a very upbeat and optimistic flavour. It’s an album designed for live sets which we hope to do more of in the future. Very shortly we’ll be starting to harass you all to come and see one of the handful of gigs we are doing this year (still adding) – we’ll even be roadtesting one of the new songs.

We’ve had some critics, we’ve had good and bad things happen to our band over the years. With Stephen’s book, it’s our turn to feel pleased and know we managed to move some people in the way we intended. Some folks from this list have once again been invited to beta test the album as it currently stands. They’re usually frequent contributors and friends, but I also send copies to people who aren’t so keen on the band and people who don’t even like the genre much. Pretty soon we’ll be working out how we’re gonna do the “get involved” bit – we ain’t gonna be going for an established thing like Kickstarter – once again we’ll try to let people hear what we’re up to and allow them to hear stuff as it develops. One person listening to the album at the moment is David Longdon…….

In the meantime – please feel free to check out what PROG magazine calls “An Excellent Read” – “Citizens Of Hope And Glory” by Stephen Lambe published by AMBERLEY. if you have the first edition you’re OUT OF DATE!!!

Andy and Sally--a match made in the eternal realm of the good, the true, and the beautiful.
Andy and Sally–a match made in the eternal realm of the good, the true, and the beautiful.

The Lamb in The New Yorker

On By Pete BlumIn progressive rock musicLeave a comment

Check out Jon Michaud’s look back at The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2014/03/the-ulysses-of-concept-albums.html

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John Wetton: “It’s clearly elitist, this prog thing.”

On By carleolsonIn progressive rock music1 Comment

The group Asia (website) has a new guitarist (20-something Sam Coulson) and a new album, “Gravitas,” which is due out on March 25th. The band talks about their new guitarist (their fifth? seventh? twelfth?) and the new album:

The more eye-brow-raising interview, however, appeared on the Huff-and-Puff Post earlier this week. A couple of interesting excerpts; first, from John Wetton about aging and songwriting:

Most of this band are in their sixties–we’ve got one exception who’s twenty-six, but most of us are getting to that respectable age now. We can’t come up with punk anthems, we never have done. What we do is we reflect the internal conflict that people get. Look at “The Heat Of The Moment.” It’s an apology. “Only Time Will Tell” is about a relationship falling apart because of infidelity. My complete change-around as far as lyric-writing came in 1971 when I had three records that I listened to all summer. One was Joni Mitchell’s Blue, the other one was What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye and the last one was Surf’s Up by The Beach Boys. The one that hit me the hardest, really, was Blue by Joni Mitchell because she wrote every song in the first person. It’s all like she’s reading straight out from her journal. For me, who had been brought up on art rock where you’re observing other people from a distance, it catapulted me into the world of, “Why don’t you write it from your own experience? To this day, if I hear someone bleating on about fame, I want to hear about their fame, not someone else’s. If it’s coming from the horse’s mouth, great. If it’s coming from the horse’s ass it’s no good at all.

And this, about prog and classic rock:

MR: I also have to ask you, you said “classic rock,” but Asia also falls under the category of progressive rock, which I think allows you the freedom you talked about before to do anything you want with your music.

JW: Yes. We have a foot in three trenches, really. We’re classic, we’re prog, and we verge on pop at times. We certainly can have singles that will appeal to people outside the prog fraternity, which they probably don’t even like. It’s clearly elitist, this prog thing. The bands that we came from, certainly all of them were prog. They died in the war of prog. But Asia, when it came out, reached far beyond the prog circles. To this day our audience is so varied, we get real kids at concerts, we get people our age and everyone in between. It’s great, I love it. And we still have a fairly broad spectrum as far as gender. Usually, we don’t have a room full of beards and sweaters, it’s usually a good mix of women and men. Very, very healthy audience. It’s great.

Wetton also states, a bit later: “My favorite male artist of all time is Don Henley because it’s like he’s reading poetry that comes straight from himself and it’s so gorgeous.” Huh. I cannot say I saw that one coming. Not that there’s anything wrong with Henley’s music; I enjoy some of his solo stuff and a fair amount of the Eagles’ music as well. But not expected.

Here is the video for the album’s first single, “Valkyrie”. The positives: Wetton sounds great; his vocals are impressively strong and clear at the age of 64. The song itself is quite decent, with the distinctive Asia “sound”: soaring keyboards, big chorus, and lyrics tinged with semi-mythical elements. The negatives: the video is rather (very!) low budget, the song sounds quite a bit like most Asia songs of the past couple of decades, and young Coulson seems underused. What strikes me odd, as I’ve read about this new album, is that while the band members talk about Coulson bringing a harder, even more metal-ish, sound with him, it doesn’t show up in the first single or in the clips of the other eight tunes. And, of course, none of them really sound prog-gy at all. Come to think of it, when did Asia last really incorporate anything obviously proggy in its albums? The mid-1980s? I’m not sure, because I stopped listening for about 20 years or so, and have only regained interest in the past couple of years.

Personally, I’ll always have a soft spot for the first three Asia albums. In part, because of my age; I was in junior high school when the self-titled debut album appeared in 1982 (32 years ago this month), and in high school when Alpha (1983) and Astra (1985) came along. I thoroughly enjoyed all three albums, and they were in my regular rotation, along with Kansas, Queen, Styx, and some groups I’m too embarrassed to mention here. Through Asia, I learned about ELP, but I didn’t discover King Crimson until many years later, and when I did, I thought, “Wow, that was John Wetton?!” Part of me wonders if the mega-success of the first Asia album didn’t create some problems, creatively, for Wetton and Geoff Downes; it certainly led to lots of conflicts, break-ups, and such over the years. Whatever the case, I am curious about this new album, but I’m trying to have modest expectations. I am thankful, however, that the group didn’t do a cover of Henley’s “Boys of Summer”.

20 Looks at The Lamb, 10: Genre Friction

On By Pete BlumIn progressive rock music1 Comment

“My argument was that there aren’t many novels which are written by a committee.”

–Peter Gabriel (from Hugh Fielder’s The Book of Genesis, quoted by The Annotated Lamb Lies Down on Broadway)

GenesisAtlanticbw6

Novel?  Suggesting the new?  Suggesting a sort of SERIOUS STORY (the unavoidable uppercase insinuating itself into any thought of that suggestion)?  Sure, it’s like a novel.  We’re used to calling it a “concept album” too, as if most albums are somehow without (bereft of) a concept.  Both novels and concept albums had significant histories behind them in 1974, when The Lamb was loosed.  One might say that they were “old hat,” though there are always folks around interested in wearing old hats, tilting them at what they take to be new angles, or perhaps sticking new feathers in them and calling them “Mac” or “Tony.”

It’s like a novel, like a concept album, like a sharp bend between genres.  Taken to the stage on its infamous tour, it’s like a multimedia circus (remembering that some adore a circus, others think a circus puerile, and still others are just deathly afraid of the clowns).  It’s like a Gesamtkunstwerk, in a Wagnerian idiom of “express to excess.”

So just what the hell is it?  Or give that question a nastier edge with the “F-WORD,” implying a deep skepticism regarding whether it is, in any sense, FORWARD.

esmusssein

But does it have to be?  Must it be?  Muss es sein?

These gestures of “criticism,” this architectural dance — whether printed or blogged or just traded with intense sincerity on the floor of one’s room, between the speakers — has so often turned into a flippant flame, fueled by the expectation that whatever it is, it must be something novel.

NATHAN FILLION, STANA KATICI’ve recently been watching the TV-series, Castle, the one about the rich crime writer who teams up with the hot detective, and much murder and dark hilarity ensue.  Novels are the business of the title character, but they are clearly the kind of novels that are not really meant to be particularly novel, at least not in the sense that they might eventually be discussed with great solemnity in future seminar courses in departments of English Literature.  (Yet who can predict?)  I love the program, not because it brings me something new, but because it does something that is NOT new, that is familiar, friendly, and it does it (in my estimation, at least, and perhaps sometimes more than others) exceptionally well.  It constantly and deliberately teeters on the edge of the cheesy, embracing formulaic characters and dialogue with breathtaking abandon, concentrating not on breaking any molds but on filling and caressing every part of the mold, lovingly filling the mold and affirming its shape and texture.  (And the frequent humorous references to Nathan Fillion’s earlier role in Firefly are a lot of fun.)

I don’t watch Castle with the same expectations that I bring to the BBC’s more edgy and exploratory Sherlock.  Hopefully you get the picture.

So what does this have to do with The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway?  No, no, don’t hurry me.  The answer is not necessarily “everything.”  It should be clear, however, that the answer is also a significant distance away from “nothing.”

Todd+Rundgren+-+Faithful+-+CD+ALBUM-415481It dawns upon me slowly, as I am writing this, that my impetus here is a polarity, a bidirectional field of force between a pole that is supposed to be new, innovative, groundbreaking, trendsetting, cutting edge, so-cool-only-hipsters-know-about-it on the one hand, and a pole that is content with breathing as much life as it can into something old, something “stock,” something cliché.

Having followed associations along an idiosyncratic path in the manner of the Freudian dream analyst, I arrive at the final word of the last paragraph, ‘cliché,’ and finally lay a hesitant hold on what I’d like to offer you in this Look at The Lamb.  I’m reminded of Todd Rundgren’s song, “Cliché” (from the album, Faithful [1976]).  It exudes Rundgren’s trademark pop relational agonizing, and captures a certain heartfelt gesture of negation at the banality of the familiar, of the expected.  “Who makes up the rules for the world?”  “I vivisect and then pretend to know.”

So here’s my recommendation this time:  Listen to that Rundgren song, and feel the painful, frustrated resignation in Todd’s inimitable voice.

lamb_header

Done that?  OK, now go back to The Lamb.  Listen and resign.

What the hell is it?

It is the jigsaw. it is purple haze.
It never stays in one place, but it’s not a passing phase,
It is in the singles bar, in the distance of the face
It is in between the cages, it is always in a space
It is here. it is now…

It is real.  It is Rael.

Resign and allow it to be between the cages, always in space, not fixed at a pole but perpetually spinning between.

If it seems like a cliché, let it be so and listen for the loving caress.  If it seems novel, let it be so and watch for “the big reveal.”  But most of all, if it seems to be neither, please please just let it be so.

<—- Previous Look     Prologue     Next Look —->

jhimm: Between the Waves

On By Connor MullinIn progressive rock music4 Comments

Jason Himmelberger, aka jhimm, a new artist, has just released his debut album titled Between the Waves.  I have not had a chance to listen to the entire album, but I was impressed by the one song I did listen to: Falling Down, a moving tribute to the victims of the Newtown, CT school shooting.  jhimm, who hails from New Haven, Connecticut, has written a beautiful piece of music; his haunting, atmospheric vocals (similar to Peter Gabriel)  add the necessary amount of emotion to the song.  It’s also nice to hear some quality prog from my home state.  His album is available for purchase on iTunes.  I look forward to listening to the rest of his work.  Here’s Falling Down:

The Cord of Life: Steven Wilson on the Prog Bible

On By Time LordIn ProgarchyLeave a comment

Steven Wilson interviewed about his 5.1 mix of Close to the Edge:

Mettler: Do you consider this one of your best 5.1 mixes to date?

Wilson: There are a lot of magical moments on there, yes. At the same time, I was absolutely terrified to do this mix. It’s almost like rewriting The Bible, isn’t it?

Mettler: Since it is such an iconic album, you must have felt some level of added pressure before you even cued up those tapes in your studio.

Wilson: I did. And the same way The Bible defines the way people live their lives, Close to the Edge has defined some people’s musical taste. For better or worse, you have to realize you could be messing with people’s minds, in a way. So that’s terrifying. But I enjoyed it, and I came away with more admiration for the record than I had to start with – which is no mean feat, because I thought it was terrific to start with.

Mettler: Close to the Edge is one of those benchmark records that I always come back to for a full-album listening experience.

Wilson: It’s a bona-fide A-level masterpiece. I think “masterpiece” is an overused word, but there are some records that deserve being called that, and this is one of them.

Album Of The Year 2013 – Number 1

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock musicLeave a comment

If you haven’t yet, make sure you follow Man of Much Metal. I (ed., Brad) am not generally a metal guy. But, when I want metal, I definitely look to Man of Much Metal.

manofmuchmetal's avatar

And so here we are. It has been an epic journey I’m sure you’ll agree but we’ve made it. With your support, I have once again made some tough choices, worked long and hard and have finally completed my ‘Album of the Year 2013’ countdown. The past 20 posts have hopefully given you a better insight into the kind of music that makes me tick and I hope that I’ve either reinforced your own choices or made you take a look at a few bands that you might otherwise never have tried. If I’ve done either, I will be happy.

But, without any further ado, I bring you my number 1 choice, my gold medal album for 2013:

haken mountainHAKEN
‘The Mountain’
InsideOut Music

I’m almost certain that this is no surprise to many of you. I’m sure that those who know me personally or via this blog will have half…

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Progzilla #34–Cliff and Alison Take the UK by Storm!

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock musicLeave a comment

One of our favorite music men, Cliff, got together with one of our favorite music women, Lady Alison.  And, here is the lovely result.  Enjoy!

#34, Cliff and Alison

Regal Worm Use and Ornament

On By James R TurnerIn progressive rock music1 Comment

Image

I mentioned Sheffield based musical legend Jarrod Gosling (I Monster, Henry Fool, Skywatchers) in my post about the Awards Night, I thought having introduced him, it seemed only fair to give you my opinion on his new album. Jarrod, who has worked with such luminaries as the Human League and Moby as well as remixing artists like Pulp and Goldfrapp, has finally taken the plunge and released his first honest to goodness full on prog rock masterpiece. Anyone familiar with the fascinating work of I Monster, most well known for their top 20 single Daydream in Blue will know that as duo they are inventive, playful, and like to straddle as many genres as possible!

Recorded at Jarrod’s own Pig View studios in Sheffield, and with a stunningly striking cover and a dazzling array of instruments on offer this is an inventive and exciting album. Jarrod takes his musical playfulness and his ear for a melody and pushes the prog boundaries as far as they can go, basically because he can.

Aided and abetted by a crack musical team including Michael Somerset Ward on saxes, clarinets, flutes and whistles, Graeme McElearney on harp, Richard Bradley on EMS synths, vibraslap and flexitone, Jack Helliwell contributing violin, Nick Goblink on electric guitar, Lucy Fawcett on trumpet and vocalists Rebecca Allen, Kevin Pearce, Lucy Hope, Peter Rohope (also guitar), Emily Ireland and Tim Bowness (No-Man/Henry Fool) the display of talent and the musical dexterity on this album is quite frankly amazing.

With a great use of his antique mellotron throughout (no prog masterpiece is complete without a mellotron, it’s the law) and quirky titles, offbeat time signatures and a couple of complex musical suites reminiscent of that purple period in music from 1969 to 1972, where everybody played what the hell they liked, and it didn’t matter whether a rock track would go off into jazz, or the drums would kick in from nowhere, because it sounded good, it sounded right and it just worked. That is how Regal Worm sounds, from the fantastically offbeat sax driven jazz funk rock of Cherish that Rubber Rodent, which rattles along at a great old pace, with some fantastically spacy breaks, some spooky old synths, sinister vocals and a squeaky soft toy in the mix, it sounds like Crimson ’69 in parts, and it appears to be a paean to a squeaky rubber toy. The Mardi Gras Turned Ugly in Seconds is another funky number, which with its driving brass sounds has a touch of Bonzo Dog band about it, whilst the beats are timed to perfection, the psychedelic jazz mixed with the full rock sound works fantastically well together. Throughout the album you realise how deeply immersed in prog Gosling is, and how clever he is as an arranger, performer and songwriter.

With the psych folk of Apple Witch, which sounds like it fell off a Harvest sampler in the early 1970’s, we’re followed by the ritualistic chanting and keyboard rock of Morning Sentinel, which has an amazingly fuzzy guitar solo and is probably the closest Jarrod gets to traditional I Monster territory on here.

Then we’re into one of the suites of music that dominate the album the Twelve minutes plus Confessions From a Deep and Warm Hibernaculum, with some fantastic mellotron sounds, driving percussion and intense musical moments and some beautiful female vocals, it is an absolute delight, there is so much going on musically that it takes several listens to absorb and take it all in, even then you find yourself hearing different things every time you listen. It’s a musical gift that keeps on giving.

Mud is a brief, but wonderful interlude, with some great vocals and lyrics, before we’re into the even larger epic clocking in at over 25 minutes, we have 6:17 The Aunt turns into an Ant, an impressive musical suite that’s split into several sections.

The narrative of this is as the title suggests, about an Aunt whose turned into an Ant, with some suitably treated spoken word interludes, psychedelic soundscapes, the title is a fantastic display of the word play that is so apparent in Jarrod’s work. From jazz sax breaks and keyboard interplay, the distinctive sound of the Hammond sneaking in there, some fantastic fluid flute pieces and underpinning sections some funky drum and bass interplay, this is epic prog on a grand musical scale. Sounding sometimes like a lost 1970’s TV theme, and at other points like the scary, spacy music that the BBC Radiophonic workshop used to produce in the early ‘70’s for Doctor Who, and with some great musical interplay throughout, as keyboard, guitar, sax all vie for position in the forefront of the song, pushing the music, and themselves along. Explosions of sound, manic riffs, and big, big ideas fill this epic suite, which would traditionally have been the second sound of an album. If this were a record, then I could imagine listening to it in a darkened room on the headphones, getting lost into the musical soundscapes that Regal Worm create so effortlessly.

The closing Klara Till Slutet (Main title theme) sounds again like it could have been used on a soundtrack somewhere, with a great chunky drum beat, and some fantastic keyboard and vocal parts building up to a nice epic finish.

If you’d not guessed I absolutely adore this album, and its mad, intense, eclectic beauty. It could be the soundtrack to some crazy film no-ones made yet.

To summarise, Regal Worm is the kind of album that they don’t normally make anymore, bursting at the seams with ideas, sounds and some fantastic musical interplay throughout. Jarrod Gosling has always been a fascinating songwriting talent to listen to, as a listener you are never quite sure where he’s going to take you. But you know whatever musical journey he’s about to embark on, you sure as hell don’t want to miss the ride.