Tag: The Tangent

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.

The Big Big Tangent

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock music6 Comments

Subtitle: “Or, How Plato Made Me Realize We Need to Love 2013.  And, If We Don’t, Why We’re Idiots.”

A week or so ago, I had the opportunity to list my top 9 of 11 albums of the past 11 months.  Several other progarchists have as well, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed looking at their lists as well as reading the reasons why the lists are what they are.  I really, really like the other progarchists.  And, of course, I’d be a fool not to.  Amazing writers and thinkers and critics, all.

Another page from the booklet. Courtesy of the band and the artist, Matt Sefton.
From the 96-page BBTFP booklet. Courtesy of the band and the artist, Matt Sefton.

I’ve been a bit surprised, frankly, that there hasn’t been more overlap in the lists.  I don’t mean this in the sense that I expect conformity.  Far from it.  We took the name progarchists—complete with the angry and brazen red anarchy sign in the middle—for a reason.  We’re a free community—free speech, free minds, free citizenship, and free souls.  We have no NSA, CIA, or IRS.  Nor would we ever want any of these.  And, we’ve really no formal rules.  We just want to write as well as we can about what we love as much as we love.  Any contributor to progarchy is free to post as often or as infrequently as so desired, and the same is true with the length of each post.

I, as well as many others, regard 2013 as the best year of prog in a very, very long time, perhaps the best year ever.  I know that some (well, one in particular—a novelist, an Englishman, and a software developer/code guy; but why name names!) might think this is hyperbole.  But, having listened to prog and music associated with prog for almost four decades of my four and one-half decades of life, I think I might be entitled to a little meta-ness.  And, maybe to a bit of hyperbole.  But, no, I actually believe it.  This has been the best year in the history of prog.  This doesn’t mean that 2012 wasn’t astounding or that 1972 was less astounding than it actually was.  Being a historian and somewhat taken with the idea of tradition, continuity, and change, I can’t but help recognize that the greatness of 2013 could never have existed without the greatness of, say, 1972, 1973, 1988, or 1994.

In my previous posts regarding 2013, I thanked a number of folks, praised a number of folks, and listed some amazing, astounding, music—all of which, I’m sure I will continue to listen to for year to come, the good Lord willing.  And, I’m sure in five years, a release such as Desolation Rose might take on new meaning.  Perhaps it will be the end of an era for Swedish prog or, even, the beginning of an era for the Flower Kings.  Time will tell.

So, what a blessing it has been to listen to such fine music.  My nine of 11 included, in no order, Cosmograf, The Flower Kings, Ayreon, Leah, Kingbathmat, The Fierce and the Dead, Fractal Mirror, Days Between Stations, and Nosound.

The cover of the new Sam Healy solo album, SAND.
The cover of the new Sam Healy solo album, SAND.

And, there’s still so much to think about for 2013.  What about Sam Healy (SAND), Mike Kershaw, Haken, Francisco Rafert, Ollocs,and Sky Architects?  Brilliant overload, and I very much look forward to the immersion that awaits.

No one will be shocked by my final 2 of the 11 that have yet to be mentioned.  If you’ve looked at all at progarchy, you know that I can’t say negative things about either of these bands . . . or of Rush or of Talk Talk.  Granted, I’m smitten.  But, I hope you’ll agree that I’m smitten for some very specific and justified reasons.  That is, please don’t dismiss the following, just because I’ve praised them beyond what any reasonable Stoic with any real self respect would expect.  No restraint with these two, however.  Admittedly.

So, let me make my huge, huge claim.  The following two releases are not just great for 2013, they are all-time great, great for prog, great for rock, great for music.  In his under appreciated book, NOT AS GOOD AS THE BOOK, Andy Tillison offers a very interesting take on the current movement (3rd wave) of progressive rock.

The current, or third wave of new progressive rock bands is as interesting for demographic and social reasons as much as for its music . . . . Suddenly a wave of people in their late thirties began to form progressive rock bands, which in itself is interesting because new bands are formed by younger people. . . .

I’m not sure how much I agree with Andy regarding this.  I’m also not sure I disagree.  I just know that I’ve always judged eras or periods by what releases seem to have best represented those eras.  Highly subjective, highly personal, and highly confessional, I admit.  But, I can’t escape it.  For me, there have been roughly four periods: the period around Close to the Edge and Selling England by the Pound; the period around The Colour of Spring, Spirit of Eden, and Laughing Stock; a little bit longer—or more stretched out—period around Brave, The Light, Space Revolver; and Lex Rex.

Of course, I’ve only listed three.  We’re passing through the fourth as I type this.  Indeed, the fourth is coming from my speakers as I type this.  Over the last year and a half some extraordinary (I’m trying to use this word in its purest sense) things have happened, all in England and around, apparently, some kind of conflicted twins.

When asked about why he participated in latest release from The Tangent, Big Big Train’s singer, David Longdon, replied:

Amusingly, [Tillison] has said that The Tangent is Big Big Train’s evil twin.

In this annus mirabilis, does this mean we have to choose the good and the evil?  Plato (sorry; I’m not trying to be pretentious, but I did just finish my 15th year of teaching western civilization to first-year college students.  And, I like Plato.) helped define the virtue of prudence: the ability to discern good from evil.

Well, thank the Celestial King of the Platonic Realm of the Eternal Good, True, and Beautiful, we get both, and we don’t have to feel guilty or go to Confession.

Progarchy Best All-Around Progger, 2013, Brit: Sally Collyer.
Progarchy Best All-Around Progger, 2013, Brit: Sally Collyer.

Aside from being the Cain and Abel of prog, The Tangent and Big Big Train offer the overall music world three vital things and always in abundance of quality.

First, each group is smart, intelligent, and insightful.  Neither group panders.  The music is fresh, the lyrics insightful—every aspect is full of mystery and awe.  The listener comes away dazzled, intrigued, curious, and satisfied, all at the same time.

Second, each group strives for excellence in every aspect of the release—from the writing, to the performing, to the engineering, to the mastering, to the packaging.  And, equally important, to interaction with fans.  Who doesn’t expect an encouraging word and some interesting insight on art, history, and politics—always with integrity—from either band?

MARTIN STEPHEN COVER PICAs maybe point 2.5 or, at least, the culmination of the first two points, each band has the confidence to embrace the label of prog and to embrace the inheritance it entails without being encumbered by it.

In Big Big Train’s English Electric Full Power, there are hints of Genesis and, equally, hints of The Colour of Spring and Spirit of Eden.  But, of course, in the end, it’s always Greg, Andy, David, Dave, Danny, Nick, and Rob.

In The Tangent’s Le Sacre du Travail, there are obvious references as well as hints to Moving Pictures, The Sound of Music, and The Final Cut.  But, of course, in the end, it’s always mostly Andy.

Big Big Train's justly deserve award, "Breakthrough Artist of 2013," by Jerry Ewing and the readers of PROG.
Big Big Train’s justly deserve award, “Breakthrough Artist of 2013,” by Jerry Ewing and the readers of PROG.

Regardless, each gives us what David Elliott masterfully calls “Bloody Prog™” and does so without hesitation.  Indeed, each offers it without embarrassment or diversion, but with solidity of soul and mind.

Finally, but intimately related to the first two, each band releases things not with the expectation of conformity or uniformity or propaganda, but with full-blown art.  Each band loves the art for the sake of the art, while never failing to recognize that art must have a context and an audience.  Not to pander to, of course, but to meet, to leaven.

Life is simply too short not to praise where praise is due.  Life is too short to ignore the beauty in front of us.  And, no matter how dreary this world of insanities, of blood thirsty ideologies, of vague nihilisms, and of corporate cronyism, let us—with Plato—love what we ought to love.

The Tangent and Big Big Train have given us art not just for the immediate consumption of it, or for the year, 2013,—but for a generation and, if so worthy, for several generations, perhaps uncounted because uncountable.

 

[Ed. note–if there are any typos in this post, I apologize.  I’ve been grading finals, and I’ve been holding my two-year old daughter on my lap.  She’s a bit more into Barney than Tillison or Spawton at this point.]

2013 – The Pax Progorama

On By Erik HeterIn progressive rock music7 Comments

 Image

While “pax” literally translates as peace, people generally use the term “Pax Romana” to refer to a golden age of Imperial Rome.  Well, if that’s the case, then the year 2013 has left no doubt that we are in another golden age for progressive rock.

Now, you will have excuse me a bit for the “Progorama” thing in the title, but that’s the closest thing to alliteration that came to mind.  “Pax Progtopia” doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as well.  There were a few other ideas I had, and none of them were very good … “Pax Progorama” worked the best, ok?  Hyphens added upon request.

The other question is this – do I have the best, most appropriate historical metaphor?  Could the current era be just as well described as a prog renaissance?  Probably.  We could liken the 1970’s as the original Pax Prog-O-Rama … the punk rockers as the barbarians who finally toppled a weakening empire … the 1980’s and early 1990’s as the Dark Ages (with of course, the neo-proggers being the Monks/Byzantines that preserved the flame of Western Civilization) … the rise of the Internet being equivalent to the Gutenberg printing press … and the late-1990’s and beyond representing the Renaissance and the spreading of new ideas, knowledge, and in our case here – art.  Maybe I should go back and rewrite the beginning of this post.  Then again, as Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber says …. naaaaahh (start at the point about where 1:00 minute remains …).

No matter what metaphor you choose, the resulting conclusion is still the same: Anno Domini 2013 was an incredible year for progressive rock, quite possibly the best ever.  I don’t say that lightly.  This year also gives weight to the opinion (mine, anyway) that our current Golden Age of prog has surpassed the previous one – and I don’t say that lightly, either.  The past few years, and 2013 in particular, have been nothing short of an embarrassment of riches for prog lovers.  Just how good was 2013?  Let’s take a look. Continue reading “2013 – The Pax Progorama” →

Video: Andy Tillison Downloads

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock musicLeave a comment

Available at thetangent.org.

In a Spirit of Gratitude: Andy Tillison offers even more. . . .

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock musicLeave a comment

andy PO90

***

Andy writes the following at Facebook (here’s hoping he doesn’t mind me reposting here. . . .)

Pleased to announce number 2 in our Tangent Historical Artefacts Download Series. This time it’s a Po90 album – the very first one recorded in 1994-6. Apart from 30 home burned copies sold via the newly discovered “Information Super Highway” the album was subsequently released for a 500 copy limited run by Cyclops records AFTER the release of our Second album (Afterlifecycle). Like Porcupine Tree of the first couple of albums, Po90 was largely just one person.. in this case me. The album always included a 20 minute long BONUS track from the last days of GFDD which is the second version of the song “A Gap In The Night”. A Third version appeared on the Tangent’s album “The World We Drive Through”. This second version includes contributions from Guy Manning and Hugh Banton (VDGG) who recorded some organ for it (well actually there’s a story there.. he recorded it for ANOTHER song that we incorporated into this one) during rehearsals for a gig in Peterborough in the early 90s.

The album also includes a recording of the track we claim to have been the First Mp3 promotional file available for net download – “The Third Person”. The album is lyrical, very Tangent related and highly seminal to the rest of the dynasty’s output.

For the first time we’ve published a full set of lyrics with this album, the original 4 page cover plus all the new lyrics are included as a PDF virtual CD booklet and there’s a tray jpg if you wanna make the thing up. I’ve annotated the songs and written acouple of pages giving more info about the album. Hope some of you will go and see where what I’ve always seen as Chapter TWO started…

All funds we get from this are being ploughed into future projects (which includes tonight’s tea  ) and I hope those of you who get it enjoy it. Hint… Put the PDF onto a tablet/pad/phoney thing and browse it with the album! A nostalgic look back at the early days of the Third Wave…. And of course you get it at www.thetangent.org

Prog News on this Day of Thor!

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock music2 Comments
TA Kaleidoscope
TA announced their studio album today, to be released on January 27, 2014.

 

 

tangent dowloads
And, that impish genius, Mr. Diskdrive, announced a series of rolling back catalogue releases, available only through http://www.thetangent.org. Some folks like to call Steven Wilson, “Mr. Prog.”  For me, that title goes to Mr. Diskdrive.  I’m listening to the first, FOG, as I type this. A nice glimpse of the beyond. . . .

Supper’s Off?

On By Dr NickIn Uncategorized13 Comments

Almost a couple of months ago, Brad wrote about L’Étagère Du Travail, the long-awaited companion disc to the wonderful Le Sacre Du Travail. With uncharacteristic restraint, I chose not to listen to the proffered download of this, preferring to wait instead for my physical CD. But it finally arrived last week – hence these words.

I won’t attempt to duplicate Brad’s eloquent review, but I thought his favourite track, Supper’s Off, deserved some deeper analysis, since it struck me also as a particularly noteworthy piece.

I’ll say right up front that I regard Andy Tillison as a major figure in prog, not just because of the sublime music that he creates, but because he has something important to say, too. In a genre where oblique lyrics and obscure concepts are considered almost a virtue in some quarters, his style is admirably direct and unusually relevant. Le Sacre‘s critique of the rat race certainly put one or two noses out of joint, and the pointed observations he makes here may have a similar effect.

Critics will no doubt latch on to the Genesis reference in the track’s title, as well as the lyric

We tried to change the world
But the world won’t take the hint.
They go running off back to Genesis,
and all the other bands are skint.

But this is not a dig at Genesis fans in particular. Tillison writes in the sleeve notes that “Genesis were great. I don’t mean to offend either them or their fans. Just the non-inquisitive attitude of people who will never listen to the myriad of bands who offer an equally adventurous experience to their heroes of the 1970s and who don’t necessarily have blood line with them.”

Other lyrics, spoken over the music, deliver the crux of his argument with laser-like precision:

And of the thousands of people who watched Yes at QPR in 76, only a few hundred will turn up to watch their descendants on a whole tour.

Yet if The Who were to plan some kind of comeback, they’d sell tickets for 90 quid to hundreds of thousands of people my age all over the world, who’ll turn up in posh cars and 4x4s, because I am talking about my generation…

There are some important and interesting questions at the root of all this. Is it not true that people retain a great fondness for the music they fell in love with during their formative years? And if this is the case, why don’t they make the connection to contemporary artists doing the same kind of thing? Do people form allegiances to bands rather than to styles of music? Do they prefer nostalgia to the joy of discovering new music? I could go on…

Those who would rush to condemn Tillison for his abrasiveness should think first about how difficult it is to make music for a niche audience these days. The digital revolution has been a double-edged sword, democratising production whilst simultaneously devaluing the product in the eyes of the general public. David Byrne argued cogently in UK newspaper The Guardian recently about the particular threat to creativity posed by streaming, for example.

I’ve never heard a prog artist put money up at the top of their agenda, but there’s no denying that artists need some kind of income from their music if they are to continue as artists. Besides the fact that it is a deserved reward for an artist’s efforts, money buys them time and space, the freedom to make good art – and we all benefit as a result.

So here’s my plea (I guess I’m preaching to the converted here, but what the hell):

By all means, go see the rock legends in the big arenas, but don’t forget about the little guys. Buy their albums. Go see them if they are playing anywhere near your home town, however pokey the venue is. And if you have to choose between tickets for a comeback tour by dinosaurs looking to put an extra couple of Ferraris in the garage or for a band still writing exciting new music whilst trying to make ends meet… Well, you know what the right thing to do is!

Ransom-ed Prog: Glass Hammer

On By bradbirzerIn UncategorizedLeave a comment
Glass Hammer-Birzer Collection
Progarchist Birzer doesn’t like doing ANY thing half way–his love for GH is tangible. He also owns the t-shirt.

Feel free to call me a “Glass Hammer Junkie.”  Steve and Fred might not approve, but it is the truth.  Ever since my great friend, Amy Sturgis, introduced me to their music, days or so before LEX REX appeared in 2002, I’ve been hooked.  As you can see by the accompanying photograph, I’m pretty much a completist as well.  After all, why like anything halfway?  Besides, Glass Hammer isn’t a “half-way” kind of love.  You either love them completely, or you don’t know them.

Some reviewers have–in an almost obligatory way–compared their music to that produced during the first decade of Yes.  As Babb has joked, GH admires Jon Anderson and Yes deeply, but he’s merely acknowledging the debt in his own music, not mimicking it.  And, frankly, from my perspective, GH has much more of a “Leftoverature” feel than a Yes one.  Regardless, Babb and Schendel are artists, pure and simple, indebted and original all at once.

There is so much I could write about GH, a book really.  But, for now, let me state that there will be more much about GH at progarchy, as well as an extensive analysis and history of the band over at Carl Olson’s brilliant, Catholic World Report.  Additionally, we’ll have a long interview with GH co-founder, Steve Babb.

As many of you know, I’m not a huge fan of labels, as they tend to narrow the beauty of a thing.  If you forced me to label Glass Hammer’s music, though, I’d probably claim it as “Ransom Prog,” the kind of music Elwin Ransom would’ve written while on Malacandra.  For one (or three, really) of the things to love about GH is the “voice” of the band.  And, I don’t mean the vocalists.  There are lots of vocalists for GH, and there have been since the band’s beginning, the release of their first cd back in 1993, twenty years ago.  There quite good.  I’m especially fond of Susie Bogdanowicz.  Phew, can she sing or what?  Her rendition of Yes’s “South Side of the Sky” is simply breathtaking.  The vocal equivalent would be Dawn Upshaw singing Gorecki’s Third Symphony.  Yes, Bogdanowicz is THAT good.

The real voice of the band, however, can be found in three very different things.  Second and third, the distinctiveness of the bass and keyboards, a profound mixture of the punctuated, the soaring, and the lush.  But, first and foremost, are the lyrics.  Glass Hammer contains some of the best lyrics in rock history.  No exaggeration.  Last year, just as 2012 was winding down, I was utterly blown away by Perilous.  I even held up my “best of” because of the album.  It went from not being on my radar in October to being one of the top releases of the year by early December.   The music is, certainly, excellent.  But, the lyrics are top notch–meaningful, imagist, and philosophical.

IMGI think the lack of recognition of excellent lyric writing is one of the great faults in reviewing and assessing this third wave of prog (as our own Brian Watson labels it).  After all, look at the lyrics of Spawton, Longdon, and Tillison, the lyrics of the Tin Spirits, of Gazpacho, or Ayreon (the plot of Ayreon is also mind boggling–but this is for another post), and others.  The lyrics for GH are at this top.  They are as good as the music, and the two–lyrics and music–serve one another.  The lyrics are at once mythic and deeply moving.  Here’s just one example from Inconsolable Secret:

This is where we draw the line
And here is where we make our stand
You’ll gather all our forces here for
Here we stand on hallowed ground
And here the foe will surely fall
We’ll send his army scattering for
This is where we draw the line
And here is where we make our stand
Now sound the trumpets, form the battle line
Hold the line

Babb’s lyrics reflect those of the Beowulf poet as well as the poet of the Battle of Maldon.  Certainly, Babb is drawing upon these medieval sources, and, probably, a bit of Chesterton’ s Everlasting Man.

There’s a really nice review of the rereleased and remixed version of Glass Hammer’s masterful, Inconsolable Secret, over at http://www.progrocket.com.  Sadly, I can’t figure out who the author is, or I’d give her or him explicit credit.

One of the quintessential modern-day symphonic progressive rock bands, Glass Hammer recently re-released their 2005 album The Inconsolable Secret. The new “deluxe edition” contains all the original material from the two-disc album, as well as a third disc featuring remixes of several of the songs, two with new vocal tracks from present lead singer Jon Davison, who is currently the lead singer for Yes. Glass Hammer is led by multi-instrumentalists Steve Babb and Fred Schendel.–Progrocket.

To keep reading this excellent review, click here.

For Glass Hammer’s official website, click here.

Andy Tillison on PROG AWARDS

On By bradbirzerIn UncategorizedLeave a comment
The "red-headed" one. Stolen from Tillison's FB page. Without permission but not with malice.
The “red-headed” one. Stolen from Tillison’s FB page. Without permission but not with malice.

Andy posted this at his personal facebook page.  Very well worth reading and yet another reminder as to why Andy is a sheer modern (well, maybe post-modern) genius.

Some thoughts on the Prog Awards that took place in KEW, London last week. First of all, I had a great time and as I have already shown off on another thread, I got to share a table with three quarters of Transatlantic, Arjen Lucassen and the people from Insideout music who’d invited me. This in itself was a bit of a “wow” thing.

Looking around at the famous faces was worrying. I kind of realised that some hanger-on-to-1979-NME “everything must die so that punk may live” journalist could probably have wiped the genre from the face of the earth with a dodgy batch of Salmon Mousse. Rick Wakeman was right behind me, Ian Anderson, Dave Brock, Steve Hillage, Steve Hackett, Robert John Godfrey – Jeez!!! – if anyone had told me when I was at school that I’d be at this thing I’d have not believed them.

Most of my friends know that this kind of shindig is not really my scene. I felt a bit awkward in all posh clothes, a bit nervous to be with all the great and good – and this is not something that applies just to awards ceremonies, it goes back as far as “terror of the sixth form disco” and those student parties where you really DID find me, always in the kitchen. I’m just a bit nervous of formal events. Can’t be myself and that’s as simple as I can put it.

The formalities of the awards kicked off after a meal. Some of you know that my personal relationship with the organisation (PROG magazine) did not start quite as well as it might. My relationship with the editor and big chief there, Jerry Ewing, was worse than frosty for more than a year. Actually my fault when all is said and done – I really think most of it was to do with a bit of Northern Cantankerousness mixed with sense of humour failure and a little bit too much pride. And the fact that the mag had said that The Tangent looked like a bunch of Sheep Farmers and Accountants. I SHOULD have had a right old laugh about that. Because at the time, my partner Sally was working in accounts and we DID live in the middle of a sheep farm. Maybe it was just too close to the bone.

Ewing kicked off the proceedings with what, to my surprise and delight, was the most motivational speech of the night. It focussed heavily on the new bands both “real new” and “established new” and far from being corporate gesturing which is so often evident at this type of event, I got a real feeling that he MEANT it all, and that he didn’t actually see the third and fourth waves of Prog as some kind of pro-active fan club of the first and second. That was more than refreshing. And to watch the Von Hertzen Brothers claim their award, Big Big Train and Steven Wilson etc was great, knowing that there is, was and will be a lot of life in the genre AFTER 1977.

I’m always gonna be happier in jeans and a t-shirt, wrestling with a monitor mix at The Peel, The CRS, Summer’s End or Celebr8 than at a posh three course meal. And of course I did note that there were more people at the awards than are at most of the gigs. If all the musicians were to support each other at each others events we could significantly audience sizes – (but NOT ask to be on the guest list!!). But what’s really really great about these awards is that we’re all HERE, the old heroes and legends, the guys who want to follow them and the people who want to make it happen. I’ve always felt as a Prog musician to be “part of something” – of course I have.. but where so many negative correspondents have portrayed Prog as a safe, middle class and system supporting genre, I have always seen it as sticking up two fingers to the classical music establishment and saying “we can do that too” After all the shit, lies, misrepresentations and misunderstandings we’re ALL STILL HERE. Bring on the Salmon Mousse!!! We’ll survive that too!–Andy Tillison, Facebook, September 8, 2013

A Moveable and Glorious Feast: L’Étagère Du Travail by The Tangent

On By bradbirzerIn Uncategorized4 Comments

etagereJust as The Tangent’s Le Sacre du Travail was entering into the ordinary time of our lives, Andy Tillison (though the son of a Congregationalist minister) jolts us toward a high Feast Day, and the liturgy of life and art continues with The Tangent’s second release of 2013.

A moveable but glorious feast, L’Étagère Du Travail offers us more glimpses–through a glass, not darkly, as it turns out (with apologies to Paul)–of the essence of truth and beauty.

Please forgive all of the religious references, but musicians such as Tillison, Spawton, Longdon, Armstrong, Cohen, Erra, Stevens, and others bring this out in me.  These fine artists always reach for the best, and that best is often beyond any rational interpretation or explanation.  It’s no wonder the medievals spoke of artists with reverence and awe, in terms of ecstasy.  They touch something the rest of us (the vast, vast majority of us) can only sense exists.

2013 will go down, someday, as one of the best years in the history of progressive rock music, and Tillison has now contributed not one but two major releases and, consequently, two critical steps to and toward the sheer quality of this year.

The Tangent has been in existence for over a decade now, and Mr. Diskdrive himself, Andy Tillison, that red-headed, mischievous sprite, has given the music world much to celebrate.  Tillison has consistently brought together the best of the best musicians, and he has orchestrated all–lyrics, instruments, and arrangements–with some thing that is nothing short of brilliance.

The "red-headed" one. Stolen from Tillison's FB page. Without permission but not with malice.
The “red-headed” one. Stolen from Tillison’s FB page. Without permission but not with malice.

This new release, available exclusively at thetangent.org consists of ten tracks including, as the website notes, five new “unreleased demo” tracks and 3 “revisitations.”  The 10 tracks come to roughly 1.2 hours of music.  So, this is no EP.  As Tillison notes on the site, it’s a companion album, a “sister” (a very lovable little sister, I presume) to Le Sacre du Travail.

As with its sibling–naturally having received almost nothing but rave reviews–L’Étagère Du Travail is a must own.  It needs to be in the collection of anyone who appreciates fine art, but especially for those of us who like our music progressive.

I received a review copy just after departing for family vacation, and it has, in many ways, become the soundtrack of my trip into the American West, despite the fact Tillison is, perhaps, the most English of English folk!

From my many listens, I’m absolutely taken with and blown away by the energy and the highly controlled anger of the album.  It’s jazzier and more experimental (there’s even a hint of disco on one track, “Dancing in Paris”–all done, of course, with taste), moment by moment, than Le Sacre du Travail.  This, of course, is to be expected, as the former album told a coherent story, while this companion album explores the same sacred space, but in exemplary fragments not in overarching mythos.

Yet, Tillison’s art is unmistakably Tillison’s art.  Every single thing you love about The Tangent is here in abundance.  As far as I know, I (rather proudly) own everything The Tangent has recorded with the exception of A Place on the Bookshelf (a stupid oversight on my part; it slipped under my radar when it came out; and I’ve regretted not buying it ever since), and I’ve been listening to them for a decade.

Getting a review copy just on the eve of my longed-for summer vacation into the Rockies was akin–again, forgive the religious references–to having wine filled to the brim at a wedding.  As it was at Cana, so it must be in York.  Tillison’s goodness overflows.

Yet, as I just wrote–there’s a lot of anger in this album, but it’s the anger of a righteous man, the kind of anger that demands justice.  What Tillison does with his lyrics is criticize what desperately needs to be criticized in this world.  He does it with passion, but also with immense graciousness, charity, and exactness.  This is not the cheesiness of Bono’s preaching in 1987, but the jeremiad of, well, a modern Jeremiah, albeit an atheist anarchist Jeremiah.  Tillison wants the idealism of his era to meet reality, and he finds the post-modern world more than a bit disconcerting.  The Tangent’s website proclaims correctly and with perfect self-understanding, “Progressive Rock Music for a World on Auto-pilot.”

Yes.  Absolutely, yes.  Every word Tillison sings proclaims, “Wake up, world!!!”

I’ve never had the privilege of meeting Tillison in person, but I suspect he’s rather Chestertonian–clever as the dickens and willing to let the world know what needs to be known, but always with that impish and knowing smile and always with a wry sense of humor.  He is, I believe, a man who reaches and reaches but who understands too much of human nature to be taken in by the nakedness of the king.

Topics on this companion album include generational betrayal, crony capitalism, and corporate biotechnology.

As soon as I heard the first lyrics of “Monsanto,” I knew I’d love this album as much as any thing Tillison has written.  Perfection itself.  My favorite track, however, is the bitterly hilarious “Supper’s Off,” an obvious reference to the Genesis classic, complete with generational disgust and bewilderingly Apocalyptic imaginings, bettered only by John the Revelator himself at Patmos!

As I’ve noted before at progarchy and elsewhere, the various prog musicians in the world today are nothing if not perfectionists.  Eccentrics, to be sure, but perfectionists, too.  And, to these perfectionist eccentrics, I offer the highest praise I can.  If every person took her or his life and work as seriously as do the greatest of prog musicians, the world would not swirl so close to the abyss, the killing fields might be kept a bit more at bay, and we might all recognize the unique genius in every one of our neighbors.  Or, as Tillison writes of himself: “romantic enough to believe you can change the world with a song. I wanna write that song.”

Mr. Diskdrive, thank you.  Thank you for truth, and thank you for beauty.  Long may you rage.

*****

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Order from http://www.thetangent.org/.  Now.  Yes, now.  Hit the link.  Quit reading this–go now!  Ha.  Sorry–too many John Hughes’ movies in my life.  Go order!

Seriously, enjoy this offering from The Tangent.  L’Étagère Du Travail by The Tangent (2013).  Tracks: Monsanto; Lost in Ledston; The Iron Crows (La Mer); Build a new House with The Le; Supper’s Off; Dancing in Paris; Steve Wright in the Afternoon; A Voyage through Rush Hour; The Ethernet (Jakko Vocal Mix); and The Canterbury Sequence live.

For interviews with Tillison (including with the grandest of interviewers, Eric Perry and Geoff Banks), check these out:

  • interview – Eric Perry, “beta tester” for the new album asks Andy some very involved questions about it – and gets some very involved answers.
  • interview – The Dutch Progressive Rock Page’s David Baird asks about the album, the band, the lineup changes etc
  • radio interview – Geoff Banks and Andy natter on ad-infinitum about prog, pop, Magenta, the UK, the world etc.