Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 81 i Prog

So the sixth annual Progressive Music Awards has been and gone. And boy, what a night it was. A delightful gathering from the progressive world that really does rate as probably the most enjoyable night we’ve hosted so far. The vibe in the room was incredible, and hopefully some of that comes through in our coverage of the night, which begins on page 34. This issue we feature an in depth interview with Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt, one of modern progressive music’s standardbearers. His band Opeth picked up the Best International Band gong at the Awards this year, and Dave Everley’s profile of him (p 42) is one of the most revealing I’ve read, delving deep into what makes this fascinating and single-minded musician tick. And of course, not only do…

“She’s written 1,000 lyrics in four weeks?” "My wife writes lyrics. She’s so talented.” I looked up from my copy of Prog and smiled politely at the guy sitting opposite me on the train. “That’s lovely,” I said. “Who’s she written for?” “Nobody yet,” he replied. “She’s looking for musicians and composers to use her work. Would you like to see some of it?” “Not really. I have people that I already work with and I write a lot of lyrics myself...” And with that, I continued reading my Prog. “She’s very talented…” he added. “Who has she sent her lyrics to?” “Nobody yet…” “Well, I suggest that would be a good start.” “Who should she send them to?” I put down my magazine and replied, “If she doesn’t send…

Inspiring the wider music world… “I was born in Hong Kong and the pop music there was just awful. I just wasn’t into it. Then I heard guitar solos for the first time and I thought, ‘Wow, this is really cool!’ I came to London around ’88 and it was around ’91/’92 that I first heard progressive rock. It was the grunge era, but I never got into it so I had to go and find my own music. I used to live in Hammersmith and I remember borrowing tapes and CDs from the local library. I got a bunch of Rush albums and then I discovered Dream Theater and Symphony X. I got into them because they had a more modern approach. Although Michael Romeo from Symphony X was…

Bruford 1977-1980: Seems Like A Lifetime Ago is a new eight-disc, limited edition set of previously unreleased, remixed or remastered material from the Bruford band of the late 1970s. Produced by Bruford and presented in a 12” box with a 16-page colour booklet, four gatefold sleeves contain two discs each: Disc 1 DVD: Feels Good To Me: 5.1 surround sound mix, original 1978 mix remastered. Disc 2 CD: Feels Good To Me: 2017 Jakko Jakszyk remix from original master tapes. Disc 3 DVD: One Of A Kind: 5.1 mix, original ’79 mix remastered plus additional audio. Disc 4 CD: One Of A Kind: 2017 Jakko Jakszyk remix from original master tapes. Disc 5 CD: Gradually Going Tornado, remastered. Disc 6 CD: The Bruford Tapes, remastered with bonus track. Disc 7…

On September 19, 2015, Opeth marked their 25th anniversary with one of the most momentous gigs of their career. The Swedes teamed up with the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra for a one-off show in front of 4,000 people at the Roman Amphitheatre in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. This issue of Prog comes with a world-exclusive CD recorded live at that landmark gig – the first time any of these songs have officially been released. The CD features five tracks – Eternal Rains Will Come, Demon Of The Fall, The Devil’s Orchard, The Grand Conjuration and the title track of 2002’s Deliverance album. This concert for group and orchestra took place at a suitably historic venue – the amphitheatre was built in the first century AD, though its ruins were only rediscovered following a…

CONVOYS TO NOTHINGNESS From Monumension (2001) The beginnings of prog stirrings are here. There’s a real sense of ominous introspection as the song builds to a climactic overload, yet it then moves into more eerily somnambulant scenery. This shows a genuine desire to experiment. THE CROSSING From Below The Lights (2003) A complex maze of torturous metallic passion coupled to a more dense and atmospheric appreciation that owes much to Van der Graaf Generator. This is an agitating composition that never settles and is always challenging the listener to remain involved. ROOTS OF THE MOUNTAIN From RIITIIR (2012) This is where the band displayed an authority so reminiscent of Opeth. There are sparks of the old Enslaved gruffness, but this is butted up against a colourful ambience that’s evocative yet…

Send your letters to us at: Prog, Future Publishing, 1-10 Praed Mews, London W2 1QY, or email prog@futurenet.com. We regret that we cannot reply to phone calls. For more comment and prog news and views, find us on facebook.com under Prog. SEEING CRIMSON It is rare not to read within the pages of ‘The World’s Greatest Magazine’ somewhere someone extolling the virtues of some band’s music by referring it in presumably hushed tones as being reminiscent of ‘early King Crimson’. Whilst I take this as praiseworthy and it keeps me reading, I do so with gritted teeth at the lazy journalism. What is ‘early Crimson’? The sturm and drang of Schizoid including ‘the jazzy bit’ or the pastoral Moonchild or the epic Epitaph? And that’s just the first album. Or…

Keith Tippett is best known to progressive music fans for his work on King Crimson’s early 1970s albums, but when the pianist released the epic double album, Septober Energy, he was already hot property on the European jazz scene. Bristol-born Tippett had not only wowed critics and the public with his lightning-fast technique, but also with his qualities as a composer with two highly-rated albums recorded for Polydor and Vertigo. When he came up with the idea of writing a largescale piece that would bring together more than 50 musicians from jazz, rock and classical music, RCA’s progressive boutique label, Neon, jumped at the chance to sign him up. During 1970, the massed ranks of Centipede played several high-profile gigs at home and abroad with RCA chartering a jetliner to…

So there I was, sorting out a recent Prog Magazine Radio Show, and having filled up about two thirds of the show with music related to the issue on sale that month, we dip into prog’s rich and varied past for a few classics. With Alan Parsons Project’s Eye In The Sky about to get the deluxe 35th Anniversary treatment I happened across album closer Old And Wise, featuring a heart-rending vocal performance by the late Eric Woolfson and thought to myself, ‘Now that’ll be an ideal show closer. One to wobble the bottom lips…’ And that got me thinking about how emotional progressive music can be. I’ve heard just about every cliché there is to be thrown at progressive music over the years. And so have you probably. That…

Igrew up with vinyl; it was my mum and dad’s record collection. My dad played guitar and is into folk, opera and classical music. There was lots of Latin American music, and soundtracks such as Paint Your Wagon. I found vinyl quite scary because you think you’re gonna break it and it makes quite a violent noise if you play it wrong. But by four or five years old, me and my sister had learnt how to put on the Latin American music and we’d jump around the room to it. Cat Stevens’ Catch Bull At Four is my mum’s – she signed it [points out the initials ‘JH’]. She must have had this at university or when she was travelling. Growing up in Finsbury Park in the 80s, we…

These isles have few betters when it comes to pumping out musical eccentrics. And those eccentrics don’t get much finer than Nick Saloman, more commonly known by the name The Bevis Frond. After a trio of reissues in August – The Auntie Winnie Album, Bevis Through The Looking Glass and Triptych – he’s now given Son Of Walter (Fire Records) a decent spruce-up. First released in 1996, the album marked a return to The similarly offbeat Nick Nicely returns with Sleep Safari (Tapete), which is billed as “a homage to unconsciousness, lyrically exploring sleep’s mysteries through a surrealist eye”. True to that description, the album immerses the veteran songwriter in a trippy netherworld dominated by electronica. It’s an infinitely rich, dense affair, with Nicely playing with experimental sounds and phased…

With a chill in the air and drizzle hanging over the city, summer is definitely heading for the exit tonight as Mostly Autumn return to London for a mammoth two-part, three-hour show. The opening set sees the band play their latest album, Sight Of Day, in full. “It’s the first time we’ve had a go at that!” announces guitarist Bryan Josh after they successfully navigate the epic title track, and there’s a sense that several of these new songs have yet to become muscle memory. In some cases that lends the proceedings a certain frisson as the musicians are at their most focused, but it does mean that some tracks sound a little stiff and self-conscious. The septet temporarily become a quartet for the stripped-back The Man Without A Name,…

follow us on twitter.com/ progmagazineUK BRUCE SOORD @bsoord Just got pulled over by the police en route to our show in Dresden. Turned out to be a prog rock fan so let us go. The show goes on! STEVE HILLAGE @stevehillage OMG – we WON!!! Heartfelt thanks to everyone that voted! MIKE PORTNOY @MikePortnoy It was my honor to give this award to my brothers in @OfficialOpeth (funny, because the 2 runner-ups were NMB & DT! Hahaha) #progawards2017 BE PROG! FESTIVAL @BeProgFestival Ready for Be Prog! My Friend 2018? The 5th Chapter of Be Prog! announces dates: 29 & 30 of June. MARIUSZ DUDA @Marivsz_Riv New Lunatic Soul video on the way……

The story of Genesis’ early years comes under the spotlight in a new book due out on November 28. Richard Macphail’s My Book Of Genesis explores the band’s Charisma years with unseen photos. “It’s warts-and-all in the sense that I’ve been honest about what went on… there’s lots of stuff I’ve talked about that hasn’t really shown up anywhere else,” Macphail reveals. “It’s not a Genesis biography, but it’s my story of their early years and my part in it. I’ve interviewed all the members of the band and Peter Gabriel has written a lovely foreword.” Macphail sang in Anon back in the 60s, and began working with Genesis in ’69. He quit in 1973, but briefly returned for the A Trick Of The Tail tour. He was also Peter…

Lee Abraham releases Colours through F2 Music on November 27. And, he says, he’s trying out a new sound. “The title track from [my last album] The Seasons Turn was probably the longest track I’d ever done, but I wanted to try something different,” says Abraham. “My second love is AOR; I grew up with bands like Toto and FM, so I decided to take a lighter approach to the songwriting and make the songs a little more concise, with catchy choruses. Having said that, there are still busy, tricky sections still in the music so I’ve tried to have a foot in both camps.” The album explores themes of love and relationships, and Abraham is joined on it by a host of guest vocalists, including Cosmograf’s Robin Armstrong, who also…

CROSS GUITAR Guitars can be a bit cumbersome. This has spawned the invention of a practice instrument called the Cross Guitar, although the unintentionally hilarious promotional video exaggerates the problem a bit. It’s essentially a strung plank with two fold-out arms, allowing you to practice on something that feels guitar-y but has much less bulk. It won’t sound particularly good, but that’s not the point; guitarists keen to refine their technique have already funded it five times over on Kickstarter. http://bit.ly/CrossGuitar WOW 17-9000 I became intrigued the other day by a wave of portable Bluetooth speakers that proudly boast their resistance to certain depths of water. I can understand watches being given such ratings, but if you want to listen to music, do you want to sit underwater? (I don’t.)…

“I got into cooking about 10 years ago after being challenged by my wife to come up with something exciting to eat on a Saturday night. I’m a big fan of the new wave of British chefs and the way they take classic ingredients and give them a contemporary and progressive flavour. I guess it’s very much like my approach to writing music…” Ingredients (serves 2): Sea Bream Fillets, 100g fresh peas, 100g French beans, 100g potatoes, 1 egg yolk, 200ml olive oil, 1 tsp cider vinegar, 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard, 100ml vegetable stock, 50ml double cream, 1 tbsp tarragon leaves, 25g butter, salt and pepper Preparation: “Peel the potato and dice into 1cm cubes then add to boiling water. Cook until tender, drizzle with a little olive oil, sprinkle…

Our far-out trip to far-flung prog Pasta, pizza and… prog? Italy has a rosy relationship with experimental music, from Goblin and PFM to newer torch-bearers such as Kingcrow and Barock Project. Better add Victim Of Illusion to that list. The group, led by guitarist and composer Peter Hamer (aka Piero Giaccone), have channelled the likes of Porcupine Tree on their recently released third album, Invisible Light, and it’s pretty potent stuff. “Italy had a lot of famous prog rock bands, mainly in the 70s and the 80s,” Hamer explains. “And then prog rock seemed to disappear in Italy. It’s still alive, but it’s just minor bands – not bands that are known in the world.” Victim Of Illusion – completed by vocalist Paolo Gurlino and Luca Imerito on bass –…

D ipping a toe into unknown waters is nothing new to the members of Radiohead, and their drummer Philip Selway’s latest solo album marks another new milestone – his first soundtrack for a film. Directed by Polly Steele and starring Juliet Stevenson, Let Me Go is an adaptation of Helga Schneider’s memoir. It tells the story of Helga’s mother’s decision to abandon her child in order to work as a guard in the Nazi concentration camps of 1940s Germany, and their eventual painful reintroduction to one another. Selway was brought on board by Steele and co-producer Lizzie Pickering, whom he knew from collaborating on a series of benefit concerts. As he explains, tackling the subject matter came with great responsibility… Let Me Go is a soundtrack you can listen to as…

Some people got really, really upset with Heritage, but I didn’t see it as a massive departure from before. If you couldn’t see that coming, I wondered where you’d fucking been. Mikael Åkerfeldt can’t remember precisely where he was when a disgruntled crowd member challenged him to a duel, but it was – inevitably – somewhere in America. Åkerfeldt’s band Opeth were on a US club tour in support of their 2011 album Heritage, a record that jettisoned the last vestiges of their guttural extreme metal sound in favour of music that was pastoral, contemplative and unequivocally progressive. The album had barely even hit the shelves, but Åkerfeldt decided that he was going to “force-feed” the new songs to the crowd, acoustic passages and all. Not surprisingly, this new Bob…

The 1970s was a golden age for British jazz rock, with trailblazing groups such as Soft Machine and Nucleus leading the way. Groups like Brand X and Bruford enjoyed high profiles, but here are six of the best bands that have been overlooked or underrated. Back Door (Back Door, 1972) Propelled by Colin Hodgkinson’s ferocious bass and Tony Hicks’ powerhouse drumming, Ron Aspery’s rasping sax skips across a volatile concoction of bluesy bebop rock with lightning-fast licks. Their debut still sounds astonishing. They supported ELP in 1973/’74. Isotope (Illusion, 1974) One of the few British guitarists capable of matching John McLaughlin’s speed and passion, Gary Boyle’s joyous playing is all over a set of surging tunes stoked by ex-Soft Machine man Hugh Hopper’s trademark fuzz bass. An astonishing and formidable…

"I love The Waterboys, but I wouldn't classify them even remotely as a prog band. I would label them as pop/rock, with elements of traditional Irish folk." William Wallberg "They've had their 'prog' moments, notably A Pagan Place and This Is The Sea. It seems to me that after that Mr Scott hasn't really innovated in any real sense. As much as I like the folky vibe of Fisherman's Blues, I'd struggle to describe it, or anything that followed, as progressive." David Elliott "Started out Bunnymen meets Van Morrison. So odd, but not prog. They then went more Steve Earle goes Celtic. Much less odd, but still not prog." Prog Watcher "Their music's enjoyable enough, but they can't be said to have broken any new ground. So for me, not…

There is almost no useful frame of reference to describe the music of Magma. Founded in 1969 by French pianist/ drummer Christian Vander, Magma have never conformed to conventional ideas about genre, or much else for that matter. A constantly rotating line-up of musicians have passed through Magma’s ranks, and the band have released more than a dozen studio albums, at least as many live albums, plus numerous compilations, DVDs and boxed sets. Vander’s side projects – a jazz trio and quartet, plus an 80s-era spin-off project called Offering – are relevant within the Magma universe as well. Magma have never existed anywhere near the musical mainstream. However, the group’s works have received enthusiastic praise from openminded critics – Rolling Stone place 1973’s Mëkanïk Dëstruktïw` Kömmandöh at No.24 on its…

Released on Sel Balamir’s boutique label Rockosmos, Thumpermonkey’s new EP Electricity was inspired by an etching in an obscure 1889 book about a Victorian MP who attempts to restore Babylon’s glory with this newfangled alternating current thingy. Garmonbozia, Tzizimime, the stunning This Is Not A Fire and Woadscrivened are muscular and dynamic, poetic and punky, and very proggy. You’re left wondering why the band aren’t carried shoulder high everywhere they go. Multi-instrumentalist Steve Tilling has made a compelling debut in Circu5 (ST Productions), the first release by his project of the same name. It’s a tight, dark and intelligent album revolving around the concept of a child being raised as a psychopath by a shadowy government organisation. Tilling’s vocals evoke Trent Reznor in parts, but Circu5 should chime well with…

“We’re going to play quite a few songs from an album that’s not out yet, so you can’t sing along even if you want to,” announces Godsticks frontman Darran Charles. In fact, the Welsh band are brave enough to pretty much base tonight’s set upon their forthcoming fourth record, Faced With Rage, spitting out three newies in a row. Based on churning metal riffs, the music is perhaps a little heavier than genre purists might prefer from a support act. Songs such as Revere, Guilt and Lack Of Scrutiny are somewhat bare in the hooks department, but their Frippian solos elevate them from a status that could otherwise be considered mediocre. Having begun life with a gig in a skittle alley just down the road from leader Bruce Soord’s house…

Outside the venue, there’s the whiff of uncomfortable aggression on the streets tonight. Inside, though, there’s a serenity, a sense of smiling calm. This gig celebrates the 10th anniversary of Onomatopoeia Records, and Drake is headlining the all-day event. Given that many have been here for several hours by the time he goes onstage, Drake’s opening comment seems apposite: “Is there anybody here still sober?” To his surprise, several hands shoot up. The location itself is rather odd. The five-piece ensemble are all crammed onto the tight stage. Much of the floor space is taken up with benches and tables, set at angles, which makes it awkward to watch the stage, while many play pool throughout the performance, just a few yards away. However, this all adds an appropriate intimacy…

The grand old masters of prog rock and metal take the stage in the grand old dame of Melbourne’s live music scene. A crescendo of orchestral music heralds Dream Theater’s return to Australian shores for the first time in three years on a night of celebration. It’s 25 years since the release of the album that truly broke the band worldwide, the soaring Images And Words, and both the band and the almost-capacity crowd are in a festive mood. Before revisiting their classic album, the five-piece build a little tension with an hour-long set of tracks from their back catalogue. There’s monstrous opener The Dark Eternal Night, As I Am (which includes a snippet from Metallica’s Enter Sandman), the excellent instrumental track Hell’s Kitchen and the epic Breaking All Illusions,…

A packed house greets Justin Hayward on the Essex coast tonight. It’s the sort of venue where usherettes sell ice cream in the auditorium between acts, and Justin Hayward is on at an unfashionably early 8.15pm, but while it might not be very rock’n’roll, the sound is crystal clear. Hayward, on acoustic guitar, is joined by Julie Ragins, a touring member of The Moody Blues, on keyboards and backing vocals; and guitarist Mike Dawes, who switches between acoustic and electric. The opening Out And In establishes that Hayward isn’t trying to replicate the sound of the band with which he’s most associated, however much the set draws on their greatest hits. The crowd recognises Tuesday Afternoon almost instantly, and the bouncy riff brings the room to life. This Morning, from…

This charming church in a quiet residential side street can’t host many gigs, which may explain the apologetic greeting at the door – “You do know that this isn’t a regular rock gig, don’t you?” But tonight they are showcasing John Hackett, with his prolific five-decade long career encompassing classical and full-on rock. Easing in gently, Hackett kicks off a varied night by playing a short duo set with collaborator Nick Fletcher on classical guitar. With Hackett playing a strange looking instrument – “It’s a vertical flute, not a plumbing tool!” – they open with the spritely yet gentle Entr’acte, by French composer Ibert, and Hackett’s own Freefall, a pastoral musical sketch evocative of wide open skies. The involved unison playing and Vivaldi meets the Gipsy Kings style of Hackett’s…