A huge massive gargantuan Progarchist thanks to Glenn Fitzgerald, “Master of all things Spock’s Beard,” for his incredible service to and work for the prog community yesterday. I have no doubt that Glenn is now exhausted, and is, I hope, enjoying a weekend full of rest and leisure. He deserves it. Thanks, Glenn–from the Progarchists.
EEv2 Impressions
by Nick “Dr. Nick” Efford
If I’m honest, I was harbouring a secret wish for something rather different in tone from EE1: darker and more edgy, perhaps. Clearly, we don’t have that here – but it would be churlish to feel disappointment at getting more of the same, given the sublime nature of EE1. And there’s no doubt that Big Big Train have once again served up some wonderful music for us.
East Coast Racer is a suitably epic album opener that doesn’t quite gel for me yet. There are several parts to it that I really like but I’m struggling to find the thread linking them all together. It is growing on me with repeated listens but is giving up its secrets slowly!
No such issues with Swan Hunter, which is much simpler and more direct. The affection and nostalgia infusing this track makes it a natural companion piece to EE1’s Uncle Jack. The obvious lyrical connection is that both Uncle Jack and Swan Hunter concern members of Dave Longdon’s family, but if you put to one side the lightness of the former and the more stately cadence of the latter then there are also some interesting melodic parallels to be found. I’m not sure if this is deliberate or not, but it added something to the music for me. All in all, a very pleasant piece, although not as memorable as the tracks that follow.
Worked Out is, I think, where this album truly sparks into life. The opening motif is pure pop and sounds like something Mike & The Mechanics might play, with Dave Longdon’s voice uncannily matching the timbre of Paul Carrack’s in places. Then it switches into ‘prog wig-out’ mode, first with a flute-filled passage that would make Jethro Tull proud, then with a driving closing section featuring some brief but very welcome synth soloing. Absolutely splendid stuff.
Pete Blum’s Open Letter to BBT
by Pete Blum
Dear BBT,
It feels as though it wants to be a “love letter” of a sort. But it isn’t really there yet. It’s not intensely passionate; it’s not yet full of those deep and personal codes that arise from having spent time as lovers or as the closest of friends. It’s more like a very early and tentative venture, saying that I’ve been seeing and hearing you, I’ve been watching you and feeling the growth of some kind of friendship, but I wonder if it is (or could be) more. I’m afraid, too. Afraid of how you might respond, or even more afraid that you will not respond. Afraid that if any blood flows into my words, you might miss it and find flattery alone, perhaps sprinkled with a spur here, a barb there, if that’s how you take some of it. Do I dare ask for your patience when you don’t really know me?
Anyway, this is mainly about our third time “alone together,” as I truly tested that “together”: It seems to have “tested positive” as the medical folk say. I can’t refrain from this reaching out, from this speaking (though with a computer keyboard that may not be quite as clumsy as a voice). It may be selfish on my part. But isn’t it true that everything may be such, for all of us?
The Underfall Yard was where we first met, right after our mutual friend BB (no T) pointed you out to me with undisguised awe. I heard, I believe, that at which his awe was aimed, or that which called to it. Then the first installment of English Electric seemed to confirm it, in concert with some reaching back to earlier efforts. You seemed so familiar, but also to move so easily and sensually beyond the familiar. I was brought to an emotional dead halt by “A Boy in Darkness.” I must confess, it had my attention locked in its cold embrace for days, haunting every other element of my everydayness. I wrote a brief note about that before.
So it Begins. . . Big Big Train, English Electric Vol. 2
[And so it begins. . . the reviews of the latest release from Big Big Train, English Electric Vol. 2. You can pre-order now, as the official release date is March 4, 2013. BBT is already shipping. Our Progarchists will be reviewing the new release intensively and extensively between today and March 4, 2013. Indeed, let us declare the four days of BBT an official holiday of leisure, truth, and beauty in our little Republic of Progarchy–Brad, ed.]
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“English Electric Pt 2 – Pictures at an Exhibition”
by Alison Henderson
I like to think that listening to English Electric Pt 2 is like visiting a rather exclusive sonic picture exhibition. You walk into the gallery and you are instantly surrounded by seven exquisite works of art, each with its own character, telling a different story, but somehow all inextricably linked. As the album begins to play, you are drawn to each of them individually, especially the detail and care that has been taken into bringing them to life and you are filled with admiration for their creators, and with awe for the effect they have on you.
East Coast Racer is a tour de force of the collection, big and certainly epic enough to cover a whole wall because of the detail and precision that has gone into its making. At its centre, you see this legendary steam locomotive the Mallard taking shape through Danny Manners’ intricate piano lines that start and end the piece, introducing us to its sleek lines and curves, before it bursts out of the canvas at breakneck speed, David Longdon’s voice soulfully expressing the pride and passion felt by the men who crafted and engineered this beautiful mechanical masterpiece. Ever changing, ever evolving, this work shifts up and down the gears several times, the attention to detail paid through the painstaking instrumentation, adding texture to the Turneresque picture evolving in the music.
Continue reading “So it Begins. . . Big Big Train, English Electric Vol. 2”
Brian Watson Exhibition: “The Lives of Brian”
DPRP.net prog reviewer extraordinaire, Brian Watson, will be exhibiting his art this Saturday, March 2, 2013, beginning at 10am.
The exhibition will be at The Old Grammar School Gallery in Otley (England). If you live in the area, please support our friend and inspiration, Brian!
Record in a Bag
Hollerado’s new single is free from iTunes this week.
You’ll want to buy the whole album (Deluxe Version) of these upper-echelon Canuck indie rockers.
But be sure to download their previous bag of awesome tunes for free from their Web site: Record in a Bag.
O Canada!
Interact with RUSH live online today
From WSJ.com: Today starting at 3:30 p.m. EST, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush will be answering fan questions LIVE.
Steven Wilson – The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)
Steven Wilson’s journey as a solo artist from debut Insurgentes to his new release The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories) has been a fascinating one. That first album has dark introspection and desolate beauty in equal measure. Follow-up Grace For Drowning is a different beast, with more shades of light and dark to it and with a more expansive and organic feel. Raven puts that work into context as a transitional piece, for here Wilson’s vision seems, at last, to be fully realised.
The influences that shaped Grace – the improvisational aspects of jazz, and Wilson’s involvement in remixing King Crimson’s early work – are once again evident, but this release can boast greater coherence than Grace, due in part to its unifying ‘ghost stories’ theme. It also benefits from a rather different approach to production. Wilson is settled and comfortable enough with this group of musicians to gamble on live recording in preference to meticulous overdubbing, emulating the methods used on those 1970s prog masterpieces that he has been remixing so successfully. The gamble has paid off and the music frequently builds to a thrilling intensity as the players feed off of each other. Having the legendary Alan Parsons at the controls is the icing on the cake, guaranteeing a recording of superb quality.
Luminol kicks off proceedings in a suitably explosive manner, with frenetic bass and percussion plus vocal harmonies that call to mind Tempus Fugit from the 1980 Yes album Drama. The pace and energy are high in the early and closing stages of this twelve-minute piece, with all players getting the chance to show what they can do, but it is perhaps Adam Holzman’s piano during the quieter middle section that impresses most.
The album really pivots around the twin epics of The Holy Drinker and The Watchmaker. Both are as good as anything Wilson has ever done. Drinker is moody, powerful and intense, the perfect showcase for the staggering virtuosity of the musicians that he has assembled as his band. Theo Travis particularly shines here. Watchmaker is more delicate in tone and really quite beautiful for the opening four minutes before opening out into some spectacular interplay between Guthrie Govan’s guitar and Travis’ saxophone. Piano, vocals and bass all take their turn at the front of the sound stage before a closing section laden with heavy power chords.
There are nods to Wilson’s other projects. Drive Home feels almost like a Porcupine Tree song before it expands into a closing section with a stunning Guthrie Govan guitar solo that quite simply takes the breath away. The title track is sparse, mysterious and moving; it probably wouldn’t look out of place on Wilson’s recent Storm Corrosion collaboration with Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt.
Verdict? Steven Wilson’s best work to date.
Gazpacho news
Gazpacho, one of my all-time favorite bands, posted this (below) today at FACEBOOK. I assume they won’t mind me reposting it here at Progarchy–Brad, ed.
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Hi there and greeting from us lazybones. It has been a special year with happy and sad events as life thunders on. We can definitely confirm that we havent been.
However, being who we are, it has been very difficult to suspend the need to make more of our particular brand of music. Last album Mog was written in a frenzied weekend session where most of the original demos were kept and polished over the year it took to make the final album.
This time we set our standards much higher and as the months have gone by we have written about an hours worth of music which will be whittled down and added to over the year. We have committed to a concept album in the true meaning of the word and where our last four albums have been intended as films without pictures the new one feels a lot more like a novel. A novel written by a confused and crazy man but still a novel!
The ideas we are toying with are based around the concept of evil and its different shapes and incarnations. The malevolent force that mankind has dressed up as the will of God or the misdeeds of demons depending on the circumstance. Is it possible to catch the feel and the impact of this in music? Well we think so, and the demos are dark but strangely engaging.
Its still early days and as soon as we have a release date we’ll keep you posted.
Wish us luck!
Love
Gazpacho
Progarchy 