Today is the birthday of one of the handful of the pantheon of Anglo-Saxon demigod guitarists: Matt Stevens, he of solo and Fierce and the Dead fame. Thank you, Matt–for your artistry and generosity. Each make this world more than a bit better!
Tom keeps releasing his old recordings and video diaries. Here’s no. 3.
A 3CD/1Blu-Ray set featuring over three and a half hours of material performed during King Crimson’s five night residency at Teatro Metropolitan, Mexico City in July 2017 plus audio extras.
The Blu-Ray contains over two hours of multi-camera HD recorded footage, audio soundtrack in 24/48 LPCM, hi-res stereo and 5.1 DTS HD-MA (with ‘picture off’ mode allowing the music to be heard independently in lossless audio).
Mixed by Bill Rieflin from multi-track recordings and presented in two mini-vinyl style gatefold packs with booklet – including photos by Tony Levin and sleeve notes – enclosed in an outer slipcase.
A comprehensive overview of a band at the peak of its performing ability.
Pre-order for 28th September release.
Is it heresy for me to be enjoying Haken’s new live album — L-1VE — more than any other live album released this year, including BBT’s Merchants of Light?
In any case, I am looking forward to Haken’s forthcoming new release, and the tour with Bent Knee and Leprous, more than any other this year.
Vector will be available as a limited edition 2CD mediabook (including instrumental versions), a gatefold vinyl 2LP + CD, a standard CD jewelcase & as a digital download.
Track listing:
1. Clear
2. The Good Doctor
3. Puzzle Box
4. Veil
5. Nil By Mouth
6. Host
7. A Cell Divides
Haken are inviting fans to submit their own version of the Rorschach test ink-blot image which graces the album’s cover, and one winner’s art will be picked by the band to be etched into every vinyl copy of Vector. Submissions are open now, closing on Aug. 10, and can be sent to: drrex@hakenmusic.com
AMG gives a stellar rating to Southern Empire, Civilisation:
Southern Empire happily abuse a smorgasbord of progressive influences: the epic structure of Transatlantic, the lithe complexity of Yes, the grandiosity of Rush, and the catchy modern sheen of Haken. As such, the art of Civilisation is not so much in its unique sound, but rather its composition and execution. The bulk and heart of the album are in its two centerpieces, “Cries for the Lonely” and “The Crossroads.” Adventurous, bold songwriting drives these dynamically written tracks of progressive rock that freshens up the sounds of the 70’s with a bright layer of vigor and spirit. Their length is used expertly to showcase a variety of styles and moods that reflect the flow of a soundtrack. An audacious keyboard-driven instrumental section naturally progresses into a bombastic call-and-response of choral and main vocals before moving onto a touching violin and guitar solo, none of it sounding forced or unnatural.
The strength of the compositions is boldened by spirited performances. Vocalist Danny Lopresto is gifted with a strong baritone full of appropriate drama and grandiloquence. He’s joined by the rest of the band, all of whom join in the various styles and layers, such as the canon employed in “Goliath’s Moon” and the choral arrangements on “Cries for the Lonely.” The guitars regularly erupt in excellent solos and keep the attention with deft plucking and the liberal application of hooks . Furthermore, the album is filled with a variety of less common instruments and effect, applied as befitting the flow of the music. Just listen to the hand percussion used to a salsa-like effect on “Crossroads,” the funky wah-wah on “Goliath’s Moon” and the sporadic but effective use of flutes to evoke melancholy.
The bookends to the album don’t reach the middle tracks’ quality, though they are never less than enjoyable. Opener “Goliath’s Moon” has an odd start as its initial verse is played twice, which is like reading the same story twice considering the sci-fi narrative of a lost diamond, but the track soon picks up steam with a compelling vitality and dynamic use of the vocal range. Closer “Innocence & Fortune” comes on the heels of a tiring hour of strong music and initially suffers from languidity, but finishes strong with a very Yes-like Mellotron ditty and a triumphant burst of choir and symphony. The great flow across the album doesn’t suffer from these shortcomings, which are minor in the grand scheme of things. And as if these words of praise have not been enough, Civilisation sports an excellent production from the hand of keyboard player and band creator Sean Timms (ex-Unitopia). The sound is bright, clean, and crystal clear, with each instrument audible separately even when the compositions become crowded (frequently on “Goliath’s Moon”). The bass pulses genially, the drums are clear and natural, and the various extra instruments are mixed in perfectly and dynamically, to the point where you no longer notice just how natural it sounds.
This week, I had the great and grand pleasure of speaking with Tom Woods and Roie Avin about the state of progressive rock music. As you all should know, Tom Woods is an absolute genius–especially on all matters political, cultural, and economic. That’s his razor-sharp logic side. But, he’s also a romantic and a huge prog fan.
Roie Avin, as you all should know as well, is the founder of one of the best prog sites on the web, Prog Report, and the author of one of the best books ever written about rock or prog, Essential Modern Progressive Rock.
If you don’t own it, you must.
Ok, so a bit of bias here. Tom is one of my three or four closest friends, and, though, Roie and I have never met, I have been following him rather closely for the past five years. The three of us, I think, had a blast. So, here’s hoping you do as well.
https://tomwoods.com/bonus-ep-1204-without-this-music-your-life-is-worse/
Yesterday, I posted an editorial about 2018 being a moment of prog “selah”–as we all take a collective breath. If anything, 2018 thus far has been defined not by its studio albums, but by its live albums. I listed three: Glass Hammer’s Mostly Live in Italy; Marillion’s All One Tonight, and Big Big Train’s Merchants of Light. Very stupidly–and quite by oversight–I forgot to mention a critical fourth live release, Ayreon Universe.
Here’s my review of Ayreon Universe: https://progarchy.com/2018/07/01/ayreon-opera-prog-totally-and-utterly-over-the-top/
With all of my apologies, Arjen! As I noted in the previous review, you are THE MASTER!
He’s back. Video no. 2, this one from August 1, 1983. Again, I can only suspect that Tom lives very, very close to Hawkins, Indiana.
2018 is now a month past its halfway mark, and the year is somewhere in its middle age, and it will only continue to age until that fateful day, December 31, inevitably comes.
From the perspective of progressive rock, it’s been a solid year, but not an outstanding year–at least in terms of studio releases. Certainly, those released–from The Fierce and the Dead to Gazpacho to the Kalman Filter to Galahad to 3RDegree–have been excellent, to be sure. But, they’ve been few, especially compared to the re-releases and re-mastered and re-packaged.
Perhaps, 2018, in the end, will prove to be a moment of all of us catching our collective breath. Maybe what the Old Testament called “Selah,” pause.
The seminal British collective Soft Machine were many things in their history — psychedelic pioneers, proto-progressive rockers, avant-garde explorers, always bobbing and weaving in the borderlands between jazz and rock. One thing they were not was stable; by biographer Graham Bennett’s reckoning, the Softs had 24 separate line-ups during their original run of 1966-1984! As the band’s current incarnation embarks on a 50th anniversary world tour and releases the new Hidden Details album, I’m listening to their studio catalog along with selected live recordings, tracing the long, strange road they’ve traveled from then to now.
Soft Machine were formed in mid-1966 by Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals), Daevid Allen (guitar) and Mike Ratledge (organ) …
This first Soft Machine line-up became involved in the early UK underground, featuring prominently at the UFO Club, and subsequently other London clubs like the Speakeasy Club and Middle Earth. .. They also played in the Netherlands, Germany and on the French Riviera. … Upon their return from their sojourn in France, Allen (an Australian) was denied re-entry to the United Kingdom, so the group continued as a trio, while he returned to Paris to form Gong.
The archival recording Middle Earth Masters, one of a fine series from Washington DC’s Cuneiform Records, captures the remaining trio a month after Allen’s departure. Easing in with relatively conventional (though absurdist) pop tunes like “Clarence in Wonderland” by Ayers, the Softs quickly slip the reins. Wyatt repetitively chews on the words of “Hope for Happiness” like they’re an Indian raga, the trio kicks into a high-energy riff — and Ratledge takes off. With his Lowrey organ run through a fuzzbox and a Marshall stack, he bashes out speedy pyrotechnics, grinding harmony pads, and distorted pitch-bent chords; underneath him, Ayers and Wyatt slip and slide from sparse grooves through splattery swing to bludgeoning stop time. Ratledge’s solo “Disorganization” is even wilder, a tornado of phenomenal technique, overdriven amplification, and rhythmic attack echoing free-jazz pianist Cecil Taylor. Then the Softs slam into another extended medley, kicked off by the goofy, minimalist “We Did It Again” (four words, one riff, six minutes), climaxing with a clattering drum solo and feedback all around before Wyatt winds down with a hushed falsetto benediction. Cliche though it might be by now, in 1967 sets like this were a serious trip.
Sharing management with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Softs gained a support slot on that band’s 1968 North American tour. Between tour legs, they piggybacked on studio time for Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland to record an album for ABC/Probe, with Tom Wilson (Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground) producing. While the record sat in the can, lots happened: Andy Summers (yeah, the future Police guitarist) joined, only to be summarily fired at Ayers’ insistence; then Ayers himself quit after another US tour, feeling the Softs were heading towards playing (shudder) jazz. Wyatt remained in the States, Ratledge returned to England, and the band seemed finished — the perfect moment for ABC/Probe to release the first album!
Progarchy 