IZZ, Christmas, and Charity

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock musicLeave a comment

music-philippines

One of my favorite bands, IZZ, just announced two new songs–Christmas songs–with the profits going for charity to help the Philippines.  Truly worthy of our support.

IZZ is pleased to offer original arrangements of two traditional Christmas carols, featuring the inspiring vocals of Anmarie Byrnes on “In the Bleak Midwinter,” and Laura Meade on “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”  In the spirit of the Season of Giving, all proceeds will be donated to assist in the relief efforts for the Philippine victims of Super Typhoon, Haiyan. All proceeds will be donated directly to Save the Children. Save The Children is targeting relief efforts at families and children directly affected by Typhoon Haiyan.  Thank you for your generous support for the Philippine people in the wake of this devastating storm.

To order, click here.

NOW What?! (Best of 2013 — Part 2)

On By Time LordIn 2013Leave a comment

Moving right along, right after Big Big Train at #1, we come to the #2 slot (in alphabetical order) on my Best of 2013 list:

Deep Purple.

With the release of NOW What?! the band caught me by surprise. (Note that the first word of the album title is in “all caps,” which I think is particularly hilarious. But a lot of reviewers have missed out on that nice little tonal detail.) And what a fine surprise this album is.

I wasn’t expecting the album to be so good! In fact, I remember downloading it and listening to the first three tracks (“A Simple Song,” “Weirdistan,” and “Out of Hand”) thinking, “WHOA,” this is not too bad at all… and then, WHAM! Suddenly the next two tracks (“Hell to Pay,” and “Body Line”) totally blew me away. Why? Well, because it seemed as if the instrumental breaks were actually escalating in intensity as the album progressed. The wild organ freak-outs and the insanely great guitar playing were — yes! — veering off into prog-class warp drive territory.

And then, the unmistakably epic tracks “Above and Beyond” and “Uncommon Man” sealed the deal, with their instrumental and compositional prowess. Note that both of these tracks are fittingly dedicated to rock god Jon Lord, the Deep Purple founding member and super-talented classical composer who died in 2012. The latter track (“Uncommon Man”) invokes Aaron Copland’s classical epic, “Fanfare for the Common Man,” which progarchists will recall has also been previously transmuted into prog excellence by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.

Let it be noticed by one and all: Steve Morse serves up some sweeeeeeeeet guitar work on this album. “Apres Vous” and “All the Time in the World” keep the album orbiting in the stratosphere of excellence.

Indeed, Flying Colors made it into my Top Ten list last year, instantly passing the prog litmus test with flying colors. So, I was sad that the supergroup had no studio album in 2013. (Hence I am looking forward to what will surely be one of the highlights of 2014.)

But this new Deep Purple album has both surprised and more than satisfied me in the meantime, by giving me many unexpected 2013 moments of Steve Morse guitar bliss. His synergy with Don Airey’s organ virtuosity on NOW What?! should make all prog-lovers sit up and take notice. The whole disc is a joy to listen to.

NOW What?! offers classic hard rock with the perfect twist; namely, prog-class musical virtuosity.

Suspicious Architecture: SAND

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock music5 Comments
The cover of the new Sam Healy solo album, SAND.
The cover of the new Sam Healy solo album, SAND.

From the opening notes to the final ones, the first solo album by Sam Healy, SAND, is a stunning, immersive ride.  Mysteriously, SAND is at once glorious, introspective, resignated, and triumphal.  

Throughout SAND, Healy layers tensions.  Indeed, tensions lurk and hover every where in and throughout this album.  In the end, all find resolution, and this is much of what makes SAND so utterly brilliant and compelling.  There are walls of sound, there are depths of sound, and there are tidal waves of sound.

There are also silences, many of which are deafening.  Some silences allow the listener to pause, but Healy uses most of his silences to create a playful anxiety.  Tellingly, some of the silences within the tracks are longer than those between the tracks.

In the last half century of rock, one might readily compare SAND to Talk Talk, to the Beach Boys, to Mew, to ELO, to Catherine Wheel, and to Pink Floyd.  But, without a doubt (and I’ve had the joy of corresponding a bit with Healy), Sam Healy is very much his own man and artist.  He’s as dedicated to his music as he is intelligent and witty.  Yet another perfectionist.

Defining SAND, (though, there’s nothing about SAND that one could not call “particular” or merely representative) Healy juxtaposes minimalist rhythms with swirling eddies and currents of dense sounds, samples, strings, and always interesting lyrical insights.

The WordSmith

I would never want this last part of what I just wrote to be lost, somehow, in this review.  Healy possesses the gifts of the poet.  Words find their places, rather perfectly.  As T.S. Eliot wrote in “Little Gidding,”

And every phrase
And sentence that is right (where every word is at home,
Taking its place to support the others,
The word neither diffident nor ostentatious.

If I have one frustration with the reviewers of the current manifestation of progressive and post-progressive rock (overall, not at any one particular outlet) it’s that too few critics look at  the words.  Yet, if one looks carefully at the lyrics being produced by Spawton and Longdon, Tillyson, Kilminster, or Healy, she or he will see the poetic insights equivalent to the best of the 19th-century English romantics.  (And, of course, I’m not even including the non-Brits.  Add the Scandinavians and North Americans in, and we’re experiencing a brilliant moment of poetic revival.  But, this isn’t the purpose of this post. . . . For now, trust me that Healy is a master of words, a smith of words, if you will.)

Not only does he master his musical material, but he knows which word to use to emphasize the music, and which music to employ to emphasize the word.  Without getting religious here, it would be fair to state that something sacramental or incarnational appears when Healy puts words to notes and notes to words.

My favorite line of SAND:

Suspicious architecture rises on the plains of our doubt.

This is not the only gem.  Healy’s words drop mischievously like bombs at times, and always to the delight of the listener.

Without your triage and telegraph

I’m a rudderless antique oil-powered destroyer

or

While the reason slips away beneath the everyday

White picket fences circumscribe the lies that started out

Innocent as not complaining when you feel slighted

Sam Healy, an Irishman turned Scot.
Sam Healy, an Irishman turned Scot, dedicated and purposeful artist and perfectionist.

An Original

In the material promoting SAND, Healy said that he needed a “palate cleanser” after writing and recording his first two albums as North Atlantic Oscillation (also on Kscope).  And, as it turns out, Healy recorded all of this on his own, with only the most minimal help from others.  He wrote, produced, mixed, and engineered the entirety of SAND.  Would it be fair, then, to call SAND something akin to NAO 2.5?  Not in the least.  This is its own album and own project with its own purpose, meaning, and direction.  Anyone who loves NAO will additionally throw her or his love to SAND.  But, SAND is something different and original.

As the opening line of the album states, “There’s weather enough for us all.”  Whether Healy meant this to have a double meaning or not, it comes with one for the listener.  Healy’s certainly not distancing himself from NAO, he’s just noting there’s much to do, much to discover, and much to create.

Yet, this is clearly a Healy project.  There are just two things that Healy will never be able to escape, though I also very much hope he never tries.  First, Healy has one of the most distinctive voices in the rock world.  It has the depth of everything David Longdon brings to Big Big Train and the lush beauty (yes, I’m calling a man’s voice beautiful, as it is) of Leah McHenry or Sarah McLachlan.  It carries the urgency of Catherine Wheel but also offers the varied tones (sorry, I’m not a musician, so I might not be using the proper terminology) of what Andy Partridge was capable of with the best of XTC, such as what he did on The Big Express.  Healy’s voice is the music, to a large extent, and the other instruments really serve to augment what he’s capable of, vocally.

kscope

An Artist Colony

Kscope, the home of Healy’s music, seems a small but mighty paradise to me, the equivalent, from a century ago, of the artist colonies of Ditchling in England or Taos in the United States.  In the morning, you work in the fields, in the afternoon, you learn to blacksmith, and in the evening, you write and tell stories around the hearth, all of it in good company.

I also imagine Kscope, in much more modern terms, as the English equivalent of Pixar, a place of toys, machines, spaces, treats, delights all available for human ingenuity and creativity to flow.  Maybe a Steve Jobs (RIP) or a John Lassiter pops his head into your office every once in a while, giving you the thumbs up and the encouraging smile.

These, of course, are just the passing fancies of a middle-aged American lover of fine music, sitting in his office, recovering from grading 65 final papers.

Still, what I hear in SAND is not a part of my fancy at all, though it certainly tickles it.  No, this is reality.  And, a beautiful one at that.  Even the cover of the album reveals much about Healy’s overall project.  SAND, printed in a minimalist font across the front, hovers over a black hole and a swirling galaxy, itself rotating around the abyss.  A star, powerful in and of itself and the single brightest element of the cover, keeps its distance from that which would devour it.  Yet, more tensions.

I must admit, I hope that Healy does two things in the future, though with no rush.

First, I hope he puts his rather considerable writing skills to creating a concept album.  I’m sensing a coherency of ideas running throughout SAND, but it would be wonderful for Healy to be explicit.

Second, I hope he rents an organic space and employs several string and woodwind players, and produces one of the most gorgeous albums imagined.  Healy is a natural director and composer, but he does almost everything on SAND via various machines.  And, what he does with those machines makes my heart flutter.  But, I have to wonder what he would do with a string and woodwind ensemble, recording in an intimate setting.  Imagining this, my heart goes beyond the flutters and begins to pound!

SAND_image

A Must Own

So, Progarchists, let me apologize.  Had I heard this album prior to December 1, it would have made it—unquestionably—into my top of 2013.  Why apologize—because,  you need to buy this album.  Yes, you need to spend more money.  This is a must-own, an aural delight, a real piece of art for the headphones.  We need to support the likes of Sam Healy as much as we can.  He has earned it, and we owe it to the very ideal of beauty itself.

As a Catholic, I can state that my new year began on the first day of Advent.  So, I’m declaring SAND the first truly great work of 2014.  Yes, I know I’m cheating.  But, I’m cheating for the best of reasons.  Maybe, I’m just a Jesuit.

Now, please excuse me.  Some suspicious architecture is calling me. . . .

English Electric Part Two (Best of 2013 — Part 1)

On By Time LordIn 201310 Comments

Progarchy.com is an awesome music site because we have a contrarian community here with truly excellent taste in music. I love reading everyone’s 2013 lists! It’s a real thrill to share this site with so many thoughtful people. One of the things I especially enjoy is how individual personalities really shine through in the Top Ten lists. And yet we also have some common rallying points. For example: witness the huge love for Big Big Train on this Web site.

So far we have had superb year-end reflections from Alison Henderson, Kevin Williams, Thaddeus Wert, Craig Farham, Russell Clarke, Brad Birzer (in two parts), Erik Heter, John Deasey, and James Turner.

Today, I am going to start my year-end reflections. Like last year, I will spread it out over many days. (Just trying to keep it epic and proggy here, eh?)

But, this year I will also do a couple of things differently. First of all, I am not going to do a Top Ten. In the spirit of Spinal Tap-like excess, and in celebration of the release this year of the riff-tastic 13, Black Sabbath’s fine return to form, I am going to do a Top Thirteen list. (And, after all, it is also the year 2013.)

So, I am going to do my Top Thirteen list in alphabetical order for the first Ten. Then, the last three will be three bonus additions, given out of alphabetical order. (I will explain my rationale further when I get to the final three.)

However, I want to start off my Top Thirteen list with a bit of a dissenting argument. And this argument accompanies the band that I deliberately have coming up first alphabetically into my Part 1 position… namely, Big Big Train.

Notice that I am putting their English Electric Part Two on my list. That’s because I absolutely cannot endorse English Electric Full Power with a Top Ten slot.

I vehemently object to the idea that a prog band can rip apart their two preceding albums and then assemble them into an alternate playlist, mixing in some new bonus tracks, and calling this playlist the final product. What ever happened to the prog ideal that a concept album was a carefully-sequenced work of art that was meant to be digested uninterrupted as an organic whole?

Perhaps that ideal was often more musical B.S. than reality on the artist’s side. But still, on the listener’s side, even if the alleged epic unity was half-baked and overly pretentious, at least it encouraged artists to strive toward that ideal nonetheless, and to encourage listeners to critique the music with those highest of aspirations as setting the bar of judgment of success whenever hearing the approximate realization of the ideal.

So, where are we with prog now in the twenty-first century, if one of the absolutely upper-echelon prog bands is caught up in the technological whirlwind that encourages musical projects to be released in less-than-finished form as mere works in progress?

Well, I am never going to be able to accept the reconfiguration of track order when it comes to excellent prog music. This is because, as I get to know the albums, I become deeply immersed and I internalize every detail. One of the very greatest things when listening to a beloved album is, as one track ends, anticipating — in the brief moment of silence — the beginning sounds of the imminent next track.

J’accuse! By monkeying with the track order of English Electric Parts One and Two, Big Big Train has done violence to the intimate musical memories that are forged as the listener forges a bond with the prog cycle of unfolding experience!

For me, Full Power is not the glorious final form of the magnificent English Electric achievement. I mean, get serious: how can it be? Let me quickly annihilate the thesis: Full Power begins with “Make Some Noise,” which is a great song, but it is a stand-alone single. If you try and argue that it is the indispensable overture to a final-form epic, I will laugh in your face. Get real. It is a B-side, a bonus track, a novelty song. It’s not the unmistakeable “Theme to English Electric.”

Therefore, I say English Electric Part One was the Best of 2012. And English Electric Part Two is the Best of 2013.

But admit it, people: Full Power is an imposter of an album.

Make Some Noise is, yes, a really nice EP of bonus tracks mixed into a short highlights playlist for English Electric fans. But Full Power is as much a playlist as Make Some Noise! How could it possibly be the best form of Parts One and Two?

Okay, wait a minute. Maybe some of you are going nuts at this point. Maybe both you and the band will want to demonstrate to me how Full Power most certainly does work better as an overall track order for the English Electric musical vision.

But you know what? I don’t care. Even if the band were to agree with you.

Because you’d still be wrong about prog in general, even if you might be right about this album. (Honestly, I stopping listening to Full Power after a while because it was just doing too much violence to my already-established, deeply internalized, fond musical memories of Big Big Train’s work. So, maybe you could argue I didn’t give it enough of a chance. But really! Why should I have to?)

But, to conclude, I have saved my main point for last…

I have read a number of people on this site celebrating how 2013 has been such a great year for prog. So much great prog music. More than we have time to listen to. How wonderful. Yada yada yada.

But you know what, people? It is exactly this sort of situation that creeps me out. Look where technology has brought us — a surfeit of prog to tickle our ears in 2013! Now, on the one hand, my immediate reaction to that is joy and excitement. Kid in a candy store, right? But, on the other hand, on further reflection, what does that situation say about prog?

That it has become a commodity!

Which is truly a great danger to the health of the art form, in my opinion. Because, if prog is becoming a generic “commodity,” and you can easily (and without too much effort) get your “fix” of it almost anywhere, then the art form is flattening out, and entering into a decadent phase.

The only hope we have, then, to resist the commodification of prog, is to adhere to critical standards, and to unfurl our annual Top Ten lists as setting the very standards by which we must judge the true upper-echelon achievements as showing best how to resist the commodification of prog.

Therefore, by placing English Electric Part Two on my list — and not English Electric Full Power — I am saying that at all costs we must resist the “playist-ification” — the commoditization — of prog!

I can endorse only fully formed artistic statements as worthy of upper-echelon rank. And if the artists themselves laugh and say that there is no such thing… well, then you know what? They are giving up on one of the key ideals of prog. If you want to do concept albums themselves as time-delayed, track-order improv… well, good luck with that. This ain’t jazz! What new sensibility are you bringing to bear here? Commoditization!

Hey artist, you can go remix Vapor Trails, or go slice up English Electric, if you like… but you know what? I might still enjoy it. But it’s not you at your best. And we fans must refuse to give our critical endorsement to any kind of playlist mentality. Otherwise we may as well go back to Top Forty land.

So, there you have it. Has it really been been prog’s luckiest year ever? Think again…

I say we will always remember that 2013 was when the great Big Big Train gave us an illustration of the greatest danger facing prog: its commodification. (Now, let the debate begin!)

More of my Top Thirteen will soon follow, in celebration of this un/lucky year…

It was the best of prog, it was the worst of prog.

Forthcoming Book on Rush

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock music1 Comment

Thanks to Steve Horwitz, man of many talents, for letting me know about this forthcoming book, EXPERIENCING RUSH, by Darrell Bowman.

It looks stunning.  Here’s a long writeup about it from the author’s website:

http://durrellbowman.com/?page_id=1567

12 Days of Progmas

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock musicLeave a comment

Our friend, Steve Babb of Glass Hammer, just posted this at Facebook.  I’d never seen it before, and I’m still laughing.  Enjoy.

Ignorance and Want and Gabriel…

On By ericbfgIn progressive rock music1 Comment

“This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!” – The Spirit of Christmas.

Image

Dickens was telling us that moral ambitions at this time of year fail in the shadow of greed….and a social system that forces ignorance and want upon us.

Perhaps in the words of Peter Gabriel we see the brainwashing of rampant consumerism, we blindly buy the products we are told will fulfill us. 

“It’s the last great adventure left to mankind”
– Screams a drooping lady
offering her dream dolls at less than extortionate prices,
and as the notes and coins are taken out
I’m taken in, to the factory floor.

for the Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging
– All ready to use
the Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging
– I just need a fuse.

Got people stocked in every shade,
Must be doing well with trade.
Stamped, addressed, in odd fatality.
That evens out their personality.
With profit potential marked by a sign,
I can recognize some of the production line,
No bite at all in labor bondage,
Just wrinkled wrappers or human bandage.

Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging
– All ready to use
it’s the Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging
– I just need a fuse.

The hall runs like clockwork
Their hands mark out the time;
Empty in their fullness
Like a frozen pantomime.
Everyone’s a sales representative
Wearing slogans in their shrine.
Dishing out fail safe superlative,
Brother John is No. 9.

it’s the Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging
– All ready to use
it’s the Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging
– I just need a fuse.

The decor on the ceiling
has planned out their future day
I see no sign of free will,
so I guess I have to pay,
pay my way,
for the Grand Parade
it’s the Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging
– All ready to use
it’s the Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging
– I just need a fuse.

I’ll keep it short… if we bust our budgets this Christmas to give what we think we should we will see the new year in feeling spiritually bankrupt… as always.

Have a good time, spread some love and good cheer. 
Merry Christmas friends…

 

Ian Anderson’s Christmas Greetings

On By Bryan MoreyIn progressive rock musicLeave a comment

Ian Anderson and company wishing listeners a merry Christmas while working on their new album, “Homo Erraticus.” Enjoy. Ho Ho Ho.

My Review of 2013

On By James R TurnerIn 2013, Progarchy, progressive rock music3 Comments

2013, what a superb year for prog music, there have been dozens of fantastic albums released across the whole gamut, from classic English prog, to experimental rock music, and returns of several prog legends with fantastic new albums and new bands making waves and moving the genre on.
This is what I consider to be the albums that have been the strongest this year, and ones which I have kept coming back to over and over again, the musicality, the performances, the songwriting, the production, the sound is different from album to album, the topics wide ranging and when you listen to these albums back to back, they are all fresh, vibrant and new.
This is my sound of 2013, and these are albums that will stay with me, long after 2013 is but a memory.

Kingbathmat: Overcoming the Monster

Following on from last years superb Truth Button, Kingbathmat returned in triumph, on their most assured album to date, Overcoming the Monster is all about dealing with psychological obstacles, which is reflected in the brilliantly observant lyrics, and the superb cover art as well.
Masters of making an album, rather than just one track, the full force of Kingbathmats impressive musical arsenal is unleashed and untamed over these 6 fantastic tracks, with luscious harmonies reminiscent of Yes in their heyday, with tracks like the driving Parasomnia and the musical finale, the epic riff driven full on space rock masterpiece that is Kubrick Moon, with its superb guitar and keyboard work, and the interplay between all 4 members of the band is a joy to listen to as the track reaches its epic conclusion after 11 plus minutes of sheer musical abandon.

Lifesigns by Lifesigns

Keyboard player John Young, bassist Nick Beggs and Martin ‘Frosty’ Beedle have combined their not inconsiderable talents, and present 5 amazing tracks as the Lifesigns project.
With guests of the calibre of Steve Hackett, Thijs Van Leer, Robin Boult and Jakko Jakszyk Lifesigns fits nicely in the English progressive tradition, with inventive performances, quality musicianship, (the interplay between Beggs fluid bass playing and Youngs superb keyboard playing is a particular delight, while Beedle builds on and adds to a tradition of inventive percussion started by Bill Bruford and others) and instead of imitating or following a pre-ordained idea of what progressive rock should be, this is showing what it is.
Intelligent mature well crafted songs, atmospheric and ambient soundscapes created by the band, where Youngs emotive vocals weave over, and the beauty of the album from the superb Lighthouse to the closing 11 minutes worth of Carousel, Lifesigns is the sound of three talented musicians having the time of their life, not compromising, and delivering the album they were born to make.

Thieves Kitchen-One for Sorrow Two for Joy

The trio of Amy Darby, Phil Mercy and Thomas Johnson have moved from being a live band to a studio project, and in the process have moved organically away from Thieves Kitchens original prog roots, into something more prog folk, with some fantastic vocals from Amy, whilst Phil’s versatility as a guitarist shows all over this album from the brilliant The Weaver, the two epics in which the album hangs, Germander Speedwell and the closing Of Sparks and Spires, whilst Thomas is as inventive a keyboard player as any on the current scene. This is a well-performed, well-produced album, which is made to be listened as a whole. There’s no dipping in or out of songs here and this is a superb musical meeting point of songs and lyrics and performance, and a high point in Thieves Kitchens story so far.

Ravens & Lullabies: Gordon Giltrap & Oliver Wakeman

Two musical powerhouses in their respective fields, guitar maestro Giltrap and keyboard supreme Oliver Wakeman combine their considerable talents on this magnificent concept album on Esoteric.
With Giltraps effortlessly beautiful playing and Wakemans beautifully fluid keyboards, any album with one of them on is a joy; with them both together you’re getting a masterclass in collaborative performances.
With Olivers vocalist of choice the incomparable Paul Manzi on board (seeing Oliver and Paul perform together sends shivers down your spine) and with Wakeman and Giltrap trading licks, exchanging riffs and building things of beauty around each others talents, has to be heard to be believed.
This album is a thing of great power and great beauty and is one which you’ll find you keep returning to again and again, and each time you’ll discover something new, one of the best albums either man has put their name to, and this is one of those collaborations you hope continues.

John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest: North

The first new studio album from John Lees BJH since 1999’s Nexus, this is a superb continuation of the BJH sound, and a triumphant musical return for one of the most underrated bands of the progressive scene, this is classic BJH at its finest.
However in an album full of strong tracks like the digital single Unreservedly Yours, The highlights of this superb album, which as the name suggests draws on the Northern roots of the band, reflecting beautifully and evocatively on where they came from, is the epic and beautiful title track, which brings the landscape and area home to anyone from the North, especially if they are so far from home, that and its beautiful finale At the End of the Day, a wonderful musical end with words from a poem by Northern poet Ammon Wrigley, these two tracks close a magnificent and wonderful album, with grace, beauty and pathos
This deserves to be acclaimed as a great album from John Lees Barclay James Harvest, building on the fine musical tradition and heritage that BJH have, whilst giving their sound a contemporary feel.

Manning: The Root, the Leaf & The Bone

This is Guys 14th album, and he shows no sign of slowing up, with a magnificent concept all about change and time passing, brilliantly executed and realised, with superb pieces like the opening title track, the dramatic Forge with its fantastic percussive sound, and the lyrical themes running through the album about what has been lost to progress.
The core Manning band are a stunningly tight group, and guest musicians like Chloe Hetherington and Marek Arnold enhance the magic of Guys music.
This is a brilliant folk tinged work that shows Guys songwriting to be top notch and is another triumph for Manning.

The Tangent – Le Sacre Du Travail
L’Etagere Du Travail

After a break of 2 yrs Andy Tillison and the Tangent return with not one, but two stunning new albums.
The main treat is the new studio album proper Le Sacre Du Travail, which translates as the Rite of Work. Influenced strongly by Stravinskys Rite of Spring, this is a contemporary progressive symphony for modern times, with Andy thinking big about things that don’t necessarily fascinate other songwriters, the music itself is written and should be listened to as a complete symphony, like Andy says, progressive music should take you on a journey, and Le Sacre does that, from the opening of Coming up on the Hour (overture) the 22 minute epic Morning Journey and Arrival, its musical dexterity, with wryly observant and sympathetic lyrics, pulling you into the piece, and its counterpart the leading to the conclusion of the symphony, Evening TV, with its cyclical ending of ‘it all starts again’. This is one of the finest examples of a rock sinfonia I have ever heard.
The companion piece of an album as well L’Etagere Du Travail, the Shelf of Work, a 10 track supplementary disc of outtakes and alternate mixes available only from the Tangents website, from the older material the remix Dansant Du Paris is the Tangent go pop, with a fantastic sax break and clever remix, and a different version of the brilliant Ethernet. There are also 5 extra tracks on here, the brilliant Monsanto, the contemplative lost in Ledston, however the stand out track here is the fantastic Suppers Off, an amazing piece of work, from the free festivals of the 70’s to the corporate greed of today via questions about why people have stopped making things and only want to make money, this is a musical angry young man statement, with big questions about musical recycling, and how come big bands remaster stuff all the time, and people lap it up.
To create a masterpiece like Le Sacre is achievement enough, but to then follow it up with a companion album including Suppers Off which would be a significant track by anyone’s standards is an astonishing record by any musician, but to do it in one year as a simultaneous release reminds us why Andy Tillison is one of the most important voices on the prog scene.

Shineback: Rise up Forgotten Return Destroyed

This debut release by Tinyfish frontman Simon Godfrey with lyrics from Robert Ramsay, this is a step away from the Tinyfish sound.
Drawing on a diverse range of genres and sounds, this tells the story of Dora who videos her dreams and is drawn into a dark journey into her own past uncovering dark secrets.
Danny Claires vocals work so well on the album in the musical blog interludes, telling part of Dora’s story, whilst musically the genres flip from the driving electro rock of Is this the Dream? The synth driven Bedlam days that mixes techno and garage sounds, with some great keyboard work.
Godfrey has pulled together an amazing story and the electro emphasised music taking his muse in a totally different direction from anything he’s done before.
His own insomnia is drawn on throughout the album adding to the story, particularly on the mood changing piano driven Faultlines, his vocals being sublime throughout the album, whilst the title track is 10 minutes plus of musical brilliance.
This is a superb debut for a talented musician stepping out from the music he’s known for, into a left field musical future. The fact that this succeeds so well is testament to Godfreys talent and vision, and his choice of collaborators (including Matt Stevens, Dec Burke, Henry Rogers). This is fantastic.

The Fierce and the Dead: Spooky Action

The Fierce and the Dead is this intense, powerful, exciting groove monster.
The 11 new tracks that make up this mighty album all take you different places, and into unexpected territories, from the opening groove of Part 4, the driving intensity of the single Ark underpinned by a monster bass riff, and powerful percussion sound, whilst the twin guitars trade riffs and licks of an almost industrial nature, it’s a mighty blend of light and shade.
There are hints of jazz, of rock, of prog, of allsorts running through this album, and plenty of sounds coming through that you wouldn’t expect a guitar to be able to make, the fantastic Lets start a Cult with its stabs of brass and epic finish, the funk stomp of I like it, I’m into it, with its great drum beats and dirty bass and guitar sound, and a that killer riff, this is the sound of a band operating at full capacity.
Kev Feazey plays his bass like a third guitar, whilst the guitar sparring of Matt Stevens and Steve Cleaton is exemplorary, both being mighty guitarists, whilst the drums of Stuart Marshall underpin everything and build to the mighty sound of the Fierce and the Dead.
This is experimental, this is exciting, this is everything that is good about instrumental rock, new, fresh and an album you will keep returning to, time and time again as there is so much depth to these tracks that you pick something new up every time you listen.

Sanguine Hum: The Weight of the World

Oxfords Sanguine Hum took their debut, Diving Bell as their starting point, and pushed their music even further creatively and musically, creating as they do so, one of the most interesting, exciting and unpredictable albums I have heard all year.
From the musical tour de force that is the epic title track, clocking in at well over 15 minutes, and not one minute of which is wasted, there are hints of electronica running throughout the album, pulsing through the fantastic Cognoscenti, providing an exciting counterpoint to the beautifully melodic guitars and the driving percussion, whilst Day of Release provides one of the many musical highpoints, with hints of early OMD and Joffs vocal melody providing a sublime contrast.
From the start not a moment is wasted, not a foot is put wrong, and there is beauty throughout the album, in the music, the lyrics, the spaces between the notes.
This is an album like albums are supposed to be made, running almost seamlessly from start to finish.
I would argue that they are one of the few truly progressive bands out there, not copying, but creating, not imitating, but innovating.

Conundrum in Deed – Gentlemen

This is London based quartet Conundrum In Deeds debut album and is classic jazz prog rock, with their sound being enhanced by the fact that instead of different keyboard sounds, its just Sadlers piano adding to the rock, sound, and from the opening Falling leaves, right through to the closing title track, the music entrances you, draws you in and takes you on a journey.
With the lyrics as important (if not more so) than the music, songs like the beautifully mellow Strangers in Sympathy, the driving funk bass driven Love in the Age of Technology, the brilliant Holy Flowers, and the majestic Rise/Church Bells with its stunning bass/piano interplay.
Conundrum in Deed are the finished article, a superb band with something new to say, echoing the sounds of yesterday, reminiscent of bands like Caravan and others of that ilk from the Canterbury Scene.

Big Big Train – English Electric Full Power

A monumental collection by anyone standards, this is strange as it may seem, my first introduction to Big Big Train, and what an introduction.
This is English Electric parts One and Two, and the EP Make some Noise, in a lavish hardback book with some beautiful new pictures, stories behind the songs, and is a weighty package suitable for one of the greatest musical projects its been my pleasure to listen to.
From the opener of Make some Noise, and into the albums proper, the expansive sound, the powerful musicianship, the intelligent and well observed lyrics, this is a complete musical package.
Tracks like Uncle Jack, the haunting and poignant A boy in darkness, the English sound of Hedgerow and Keeper of Abbeys, and the frankly brilliant East Coast Racer make this a double album to get lost in, you don’t listen to one or two songs, you clear the decks, turn off the phone or internet, put the album on and sit down, let it wash over you, as you absorb its beauty, its strength, its power.
This is a magical work and one, which in 20 years time will be looked on as a significant musical achievement.

There are loads more albums that could have made this list, and some honourable mentions must go out to Chris Wade, whose been so prolific this year (three Dodson & Fogg albums, and one prog instrumental one) that it has been hard to choose between them, the musical maturity and progression from Derring Do, to The Call, via the Sounds of Day and Night have been exciting to listen to, and fascinating to see where Chris is going to take his musical talent next, I predict even bigger things for him in 2014.
Haze’s fantastic Last Battle saw their triumphant return, and what was nearly a goodbye has become a new beginning for them.
Jump just get better and better, and like a fine wine keep on maturing, and their stunning Black Pilgrim takes familiar themes and weaves their musical magic round them.
If I’ve missed out some other big releases like the Steven Wilson album, or the new Magenta album then it’s because sadly I’ve not heard them yet!
2013 will go down in Prog history as a superb year, and I am already excited about the prospect of 2014, so I shall end by wishing you all Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Transatlantic Covers a Yes Classic: And You and I

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock musicLeave a comment

Nice to wake up to this, this morning.  A beautiful rendition of a Yes classic.  Morse’s and Stolt’s voices especially add to the atmosphere of the song.

https://soundcloud.com/officialinsideoutmusic/transatlantic-and-you-and-i/s-RbydJ

Transatlantic’s new album out late January, 2014 (Insideout).