Innehållsförteckning för Issue 127 från Prog

Located in Hamburg, Germany, earMUSIC is Edel Music & Entertainment’s international record company dedicated to the genres of rock, pop, metal and alternative rock. This exclusive Prog sampler gives a deep insight into the breadth and quality of earMUSIC’s multifaceted roster and releases. It includes brand new songs, classics, deep cuts as well as releases from its jazz label MPS, Germany’s oldest jazz label with the most perfect sound. How to download your free digital sampler from earMUSIC 1. Visit www.ear-music.net/progsampler – type it straight into your browser. 2. Enter your email address and subscribe to the earMUSIC newsletter. 3. You will receive a newsletter #1 asking you to confirm the subscription. 4. You will receive a newsletter #2 including the download link for your free digital sampler. 5. Enjoy…

Marillion’s commercial resurgence over the last decade has been as impressive as it is unexpected. A key part of their latterday success is undoubtedly Mike Hunter, the man who has co-produced every album since 2007’s Somewhere Else and is the unofficial sixth member of the band.“At this moment in time, we’d struggle to do what we’d do without Mike’s input,” says Steve Rothery. “He’s not only got a great ear, he’s a great mediator. We don’t all agree with each other, and we end up pulling in different directions. He’s the one that makes it all work together.” Hunter’s role is more than just producer – he’s the one person who knows his way around the vast archive of musical fragments Marillion have amassed over the years. “We’ll be sitting…

So what’s next for Arjen Lucassen? With the raft of side–projects at his disposal, he could conceivably record an album in any style he wished. But he reveals that he’s considering taking a backward step from these projects to concentrate on Ayreon and his solo albums. “I don’t want to do so many side–projects anymore,” he says. “It’s becoming very confusing. It may be my insecurity again but if I look at the Guilt Machine album, I know that I can never make an album that strong anymore in that style. I’ve done that and if I don’t feel that I can do something better, I won’t make another one – I won’t even try. “That is why most of my side–projects just have one album. Star One is a…

“Nothing’s sacred anymore. We want to have that mystery, and let people interpret things in their own way.” Nordic Giants, the most enigmatic band in modern music, would like the world to know something: they’re not actually a band. “We don’t even call ourselves that most of the time,” says the voice on the other end of the phone, in a distinct regional British accent. “We see ourselves as an audiovisual project as much as anything.” The voice belongs to Rôka – sometimes Rôka Skuld – drummer, bowed guitar player and one half of this two-person entity. What he’s saying isn’t surprising. Nordic Giants don’t play their intimately grandiose music so much as present it, accompanied by vivid, self-created films and costumes that suggest a pair of tribal shaman gone…

Halo ATOMIC FIRE Finland’s prog metal pioneers continue to be brilliant. Amorphis have been so laudably consistent over the past three decades that it will come as no surprise that their 14th studio album is yet another corker. Halo sticks to the Finns’ established formula, but they have rarely sounded as inspired by its creative possibilities as they do here. Northward may be their finest album opener yet, thanks to a stirring chorus hook, sung and growled with gusto by frontman Tomi Joutsen. On The Dark Waters is equally dazzling, as the band’s gritty riffing is born aloft on thick waves of spiralling synths. Elsewhere, The Moon is as epic and mysterious as its title suggests, with echoes of 80s gothic rock, a wonderfully woozy instrumental section and another towering…

Flicker SONIC CATHEDRAL Ride man’s effortless blend of psych-pop, acoustic pickings and melody. As co-leader of shoegazers Ride, a Britpop veteran thanks to tenures in Hurricane #1 and Oasis, a guest bass guitarist with Pink Floyd and the Mr Big behind the electronic Andy Bell is a musician of many hats. But it’s with his solo, guitar-based material that he seems most at ease. With 2020’s The View From Halfway Down having made itself comfortable, his latest effort Flicker is spread over four sides of vinyl. Here, Bell allows himself to stretch out with the music that he’s most relaxed with – 60s inspired, guitar-based dreampop that’s suffused with an ingrained melodic sensibility. The chimes, harmonies and breathy vocal delivery of World Of Echo evoke icy vistas like a long-lost…

Troika INSIDEOUT Three prog stars working in perfect harmony. Sunny, uplifting and bursting with melodies, Troika is a welcome antidote to these toxic times. Neal Morse, his fellow ex-Spock’s Beard alumnus Nick D’Virgilio and Haken’s Ross Jennings worked on this remotely last year, and if the thought of these three prog stars together sounds tantalising, on record they more than live up to the billing. What a sweet vocal blend they’ve stumbled across. Set to Troika’s main palette of acoustic guitars and hand drums, the trio’s golden three-part harmonies hark back to Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Beatles, and The Beach Boys. These enrich a set of predominantly simple, direct, uncynical love songs (Everything I Am, Julia, You Set My Soul On Fire). When they crank things up later those…

Traveler HARKOAN.BANDCAMP.COM Brief but captivating introduction to Californian alt-proggers. It can sometimes be difficult to make an EP feel sufficiently representative and impactful, yet that’s exactly what Californian duo Harkoan accomplish here. Drummer Elijah Rosgard and vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Nick Gegan’s follow-up to 2019’s Self Portrait continues its predecessor’s preference for energised melodies with enough instrumental sophistication to tick the box marked ‘prog’. This balance is most evident on opener Pariahs Son, a driving dose of intricate hard rock that essentially merges the experimentation of Camper Van Beethoven and the rhythmic power of Karnivool. Although the rustic and mildly eccentric The Nomad fits that description as well the remaining three tracks offer something significantly different. Lost Soul begins as a brooding piano ode in waltz time that eventually erupts into a bluesy…

Sonancy COOKING VINYL Croydon’s loudest export return in triumph. Gradually snapping into sharp focus through a haze of preparatory feedback, Loop’s first album in 32 years immediately startles with the crisp, driving, motorik momentum of Interference. Setting an immediately engaging sonic template for the remainder of the south London innovator’s fourth record, it’s a fat-free distillation of all that’s irresistible about Loop’s enduring MO: the mesmeric monotony of early Stooges, minimal astro-psych riff-storms Hawkwind, nagging mecha Neu! beats and spiralling electro dystopia of Suicide. Key elements, familiar from Loop’sillustrious past explode in a seamless alliance of intensified sonics. Long-standing focal point Robert Hampson’s enigmatic lyrics are, as usual, cannily buried just deep enough in the mix to pass them off as tantalising conundrums, while the overall sound is manipulated beautifully…

Graham Collier’s British Conversations (My Only Desire Records) was recorded live in 1975 with the 15-piece Swedish Radio Jazz Group and Collier regulars Harry Beckett (trumpet and flugelhorn) and Ed Speight (guitar). Collier’s trademark mix of taut arrangements and strong melodies provide an ebullient framework for all to shine. In a halo of luscious brass harmonies, Beckett darts and dives to dazzling effect. The slow-building Mackerel Sky finds Speight turning on a Fripp-like distortion to rock things up. Within the overall arc of the five pieces, there are microcosms of funky interplay, rhythmic shifts, and ear-worm riffs that Nucleus fans would appreciate. When Collier died in 2011 he left behind a rich and diverse catalogue but having this previously unreleased suite added to his canon of great works feels rather special.…

An Illustrated Map Of The Heart MINDFURNITURE1.BANDCAMP.COM Polished prog rock from the States. It’s been almost 15 years since 2007’s Hoop Of Flame evoked vintage art rockers Love and ELO with its forceful songwriting and classical heft. In that time, Californian quartet Mind Furniture have been hard at work ensuring that their third LP, An Illustrated Map Of The Heart, is as diverse and dramatic as possible. True to that intention, the whole conceptual sequence manages a lovely balance between mainstream charisma and multifaceted ambition. It kicks off with Ride By Myself, a versatile belter that mixes the everyman assertiveness of Bruce Springsteen and the delicate nuances of Moon Safari (particularly in terms of its vocal harmonies and piano motifs). Tracks such as I Broke It and Here In The…

One Note Symphony: Live In Tel Aviv FRONTIERS Completist fans of Alan Parsons might feel a little exploited by the fact he has released two live albums within a few months of each other. But while One Note Symphony features a similar tracklisting to last year’s The Never Ending Show: Live In The Netherlands, he can justifiably point out that this 2019 performance in Israel offers a rare USP: the accompaniment of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Silence And I from 1982’s Eye In The Sky didn’t feature on the Netherlands set and the orchestra lend it a majestic feel here, while a longer version of the medley The Breakdown/The Raven sees the synth rock feel of the usual live version dressed in impressively opulent accompaniment. The dramatic swell is undoubtedly…

4 Hands ERASED TAPES Intimate musical conversation between two friends. In the 1970s American composer, Tim Story wrote Cluster’s Hans-Joachim Roedelius a fan letter that sparked a 40-year friendship and several collaborations. The latest began after Roedelius visited Story in 2019 and left him with a number of piano improvisations. Later, having assimilated the moods and vagaries of Roedelius’ playing, Story added his own embellishments, crafting new melodies, cadences, and harmonies in and around the original solo pianoparts. The result is a captivating dialogue between two personalities although where one starts and the other ends is impossible to determine. The pace is gentle and while it’s possible to make comparisons with the languid airs of Harold Budd or 2020’s Mixing Colours by Roger and Brian Eno, the melodic detail and…

Live at Montreux Jazz Festival SOUTHERN LORD Thrilling live record from pipe organ-playing doom-prog maverick. Anna von Hausswolff says that a friend in Switzerland first piqued her interest in performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in the early 2010s, but it wasn’t until after his passing that she was finally invited to play in 2018. This album was captured at that year’s event, it’s both a reminder of her formidable live presence and a tribute to her late friend. Drawing on her two most recent albums at the time, 2015’s The Miraculous and 2018’s Dead Magic, it effortlessly displays her range as well as both the uniqueness and flexibility of the corner of music she inhabits. Her sprawling, pipe organ-led pieces draw on both the power of doom metal and…

Stream the Prog 127 playlist at www.spoti.fi/3rDjcGS Hello, and welcome to the new issue of Prog. A new Marillion album is always cause for celebration, especially when it’s as good as An Hour Before It’s Dark. The general consensus from the Prog team is that once again the band have surpassed themselves. Dave Everley goes deep into the making of the album for our cover feature on page 28. We also bring you an exclusive extract from Mark Kelly’s new autobiography (page 36) that looks at how he and the band devised their crowdfunding approach to releasing music, the system that also helped the band hit the road at the end of last year amid continued Covid confusion. I hope you enjoy the 20-track earMUSIC digital sampler (see page 7),…

Two things really struck me while-reading Prog 125: the references to ABC’s 4 Ever 2 Gether and Coldplay’s Coloratura. Before fellow readers start rolling their eyes in despair, these references are a timely reminder that we should never underestimate the influence that prog has had over many ‘pop’ artists. It’s one of the highest compliments that can be paid by fellow musicians. ABC’s debut is one of my favourite albums from the 1980s and being produced by Trevor Horn provides an obvious prog link. The prog influence in the structure of this particular song is definitely there. And as for Coldplay, the closing song on their latest album is for me the most remarkable composition of 2021 (Steven Wilson’s Follower a close second). It’s easy to discard anything that doesn’t…

New instrumental project Held By Trees release their debut album, Solace, on April 22 via Tweed Jacket Music. Helmed by Bournemouth producer, composer and musician David Joseph, the record features seven artists who made significant contributions to the music of Talk Talk and its leader, the late Mark Hollis. These include guitarist Robbie McIntosh, drummer Martin Ditcham, pianist Laurence Pendrous, bassist Simon Edwards and woodwind maestro Andreas Payani. Solace was mixed by Phill Brown (who worked on Talk Talk’s 1988 classic Spirit Of Eden), and mastered by veteran engineer Denis Blackman. “This whole project is a testimony to the warmth and openness of the British rock fraternity,” says Joseph, who has also recruited other first-call artists including guitarist Tim Renwick (Pink Floyd, David Bowie), blues icon Eric Bibb and Dire…

Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Roger Eno (right) releases The Turning Year on April 22 through Deutsche Grammophon. The solo album follows Mixing Colours, his acclaimed 2020 duo record with his brother, Brian. More info at www.rogereno.com. Mikael Åkerfeldt joined the many artists paying tribute to Burke Shelley, the singer and bassist for Budgie, who died on January 10. “Burke had a jazzy quality to his voice,” the Opeth star wrote, “as well as the ability to scream with the best of them.” Frank Zappa’s legendary four-show run at the Fillmore East in 1971, and his show at London’s Rainbow Theatre, get the definitive treatment with The Mothers 1971. This bonus-packed, eight-disc box set is out on March 18 via Zappa Records/UMe.…

The roots of Greek heavy psychedelic quartet Naxatras were laid down in 2012, when guitarist-vocalist John Delias and bassist-vocalist John Vagenas met at film school in Thessaloniki. Three years later they defined their jam-based sound with debut album I, and have since made a name for themselves with two more releases and extensive touring in Europe and beyond. The new album, IV, sees them bringing a more structured approach to their music. “There’s a legacy for rock music in Thessaloniki,” Delias says. “Most of the most well-known Greek bands started here and the vibe is generally more carefree and chilled than you would expect from a big city. There are quite a lot of bands playing many different genres.” “We had to argue a lot with local promoters,” Vagenas adds. “Prog…

December 2021 Compiled by 1 RADIOHEAD Kid A Mnesia (XL RECORDINGS) 2 MASTODON Hushed And Grim (REPRISE) 3 GENESIS The Last Domino (UMC/VIRGIN) 4 PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING Bright Magic (PIAS) 5 PINK FLOYD A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (PARLOPHONE) 6 MOGWAI As The Love Continues (ROCK ACTION) 7 FRANK ZAPPA 200 Motels (UMC) 8 DREAM THEATER A View From The Top Of The World (INSIDEOUT) 9 JANE WEAVER Flock (FIRE) 10 JETHRO TULL A (RHINO) 11 STEVEN WILSON The Future Bites (CAROLINE INTERNATIONAL) 12 YES The Quest (INSIDEOUT) 13 BLACK MIDI Cavalcade (ROUGH TRADE) 14 KING CRIMSON Music Is Our Friend – Live In Washington (DGM/PANEGYRIC) 15 JETHRO TULL Benefit (PARLOPHONE) 16 BILL NELSON My Private Cosmos (SONODELUXE) 17 MATT BERRY Gather Up (ACID JAZZ) 18 JEAN-MICHEL JARRE Welcome To The Other Side (SONY) 19 FIELD MUSIC Flat White Moon (MEMPHIS INDUSTRIES) 20 HAWKWIND Somnia (CHERRY RED) 21 STEVE HACKETT Surrender…

The anticipation can be excruciating, but Cynic albums have always proved to be eminently worth the wait. Forged amid the saddest of circumstances, and yet one of the most uplifting records of 2021, latest album Ascension Codes is only the Americans’ fourth full-length in three decades. It arrives after the tragic loss of former drummer Sean Reinert and long-time bassist Sean Malone, both of whom passed away in 2020, with co-founder, guitarist and vocalist Paul Masvidal the band’s sole remaining original member and guardian of one of progressive music’s most unique sounds. As the California-based virtuoso tells Prog, Cynic records were always destined to be a rare commodity. “It’s funny. Cynic was rooted in this idea that we would always put the music before anything, and never let the business…

Baber & Wileman BELIEVERS ROAST Powerful debut album from kindred-spirit prog mavericks. Sometimes the best things happen by accident. Having previously collaborated in 2011, Matt Baber from Sanguine Hum and Karda Estra’s Richard Wileman reconvened in 2020 with a view to perhaps completing a couple of tracks but this quickly grew to a full album. There are echoes of their respective outfits but this beguiling collection of four songs and five instrumentals slip beyond any strict categorisation. The writing is crisp and flawlessly arranged. Steeped in acoustic reveries, tessellating electronica, or dramatic, magisterial themes, the cumulative effect is deeply affecting. The sparse piano and guitar of Emperor is lovingly burnished with radiant organ and synth, gradually wreathed reverberation. 2009 evokes a bucolic air with Karda Estra regular Amy Fry’s clarinet…

Ants From Up There NINJA TUNE Speedy follow-up to lauded debut is less angular, but more weighty. Having been hailed last year as the best new band in Britain following their debut album For The First Time, it would be understandable if Black Country, New Road had paused to take stock – yet here they are already with their second record. Despite still looking like an after-school band catapulted into the spotlight, BCNR have matured here, tempering the intensity of a debut that somehow managed to simultaneously channel both Slint and Van der Graaf Generator. Chaos Space Marine opens the album in an explosion of Tiggerish piano, taut strings and pouting saxophone, Penguin Café Orchestra hijacked by Cardiacs. But what follows is a series of songs that showcase a more…

Interior Drawings MARIUSZDUDA.BANDCAMP.COM Riverside/Lunatic Soul man’s third lockdown trip. Any hopes that the final instalment of Mariusz Duda’s electronic-skewed ‘Lockdown Trilogy’ will offer a chill-out experience after its aptly-titled predecessor Claustrophobic Universe, are misplaced judging by the often anxious, eerie textures spread across Interior Drawings. The urgent piano arpeggios of Racing Thoughts trip over themselves as they run around giddily to a padding techno pulse, and elsewhere the mood is similarly uneasy. Duda’s instinct for unorthodox time signatures lends Shapes In Notebooks an impatient feel as its tapping rhythm builds, further punctuated by the sound of a pen scribbling urgently on paper – a recurring sound across the eight tracks. Prisoner By Request offers a retro-futurist soundscape, as Tangerine Dream-style trickles of techno and ghostly vocals, but the effect is…

Classic Objects 4AD Norwegian storyteller weaves another dreamlike web. Although Jenny Hval has gained acclaim as both a novelist and a songwriter, it sounds as if her diaries would be just as compelling were she ever to publish them. There’s a typically journal-like feel to her lyrics on this eighth solo studio set, and allied to the warm washes of electronica surrounding them on Classic Objects, they’re as arresting as any printed narrative. ‘My mother came to the city at 21,’ she recalls on American Coffee. ‘When she had me the midwife looked her in the eye and said, “Poor baby you’re so scared.’’’ Elsewhere, the irresistibly moody synth clouds that introduce the title track reel the listener in tandem with the curious recollection: ‘There was a painter in my…

Rebirth HASSLE RECORDS Portuguese space rockers blast off with style. Birthed from the vibrant underground rock scene of Porto and now based in London, power trio Madmess unleash a mind-warping blast of heavy psychedelia and space rock on their debut album. Musically, Rebirth picks up where the group left off with their excellent 2019 self-titled EP, consisting of five primarily instrumental tracks of cosmic soundscapes and crunchy riffs. The trio tracked everything live in the studio which lends a combustible chemistry to the proceedings. Rather than endlessly layering in more effects over the same lick, they introduce a parade of musical ideas, twisting and reshaping each one while exploring the limits of their dynamic range. Bassist Vasco Vasconcelos and drummer Luis Moura can channel the laid-back, trippy vibe that opens…

Tales From A Misspent Youth Vol 1 BUMNOTE Twelfth Night multi-instrumentalist pays homage to the classics. Having rescored his band’s most epic moments on 2021’s Suite Cryptique, Twelfth Night bassist/keyboard player/composer Clive Mitten now treads on sacred ground, reimagining nine classics by other prog artists. Spread over two CDs, it sees Mitten putting a new twist on his cinematic orchestral approach, using just a mini-Moog and a British Librarysized selection of musical samples. The attention to detail is striking, such as the harps on Supertramp’s Bloody Well Right’s melody line while marimbas and vibraphone bring a jazzy, upbeat feel to Jethro Tull’s Living In The Past. Supper’s Ready is an intricate, complex aural web, Echoes incorporates influences of Mozart and Beethoven along with humpback whale song, while Rush’s Countdown and La…

The Death Of Death PELAGIC Prog metal meets electronic in Greek rockers’ fine new LP. The second album from Athens’ Playgrounded is certainly no Greek tragedy. With The Death Of Death, the quintet take a bold leap forward to become one of Europe’s more dynamic prog metal bands. Don’t expect noodly virtuosity though, as the group mix Porcupine Tree-esque introspection and swelling with postrock atmosphere. Like Steven Wilson and co, a liberal serving of electronic plays a vital part in Playgrounded’s sound and helps to set them apart from other chug-chuggers; Rituals pulses and prowls, while Tomorrow’s Rainbow opens with some electronic dreaming fit for a Massive Attack outtake. The take-home track here is the part-grimy, part-radiating The Road Out Of The Flood, which shapeshifts through time signatures amid lurching…

A Letter From TreeTops GHOST BOX Blissful electro-psych from Mercury Rev keys and wind guy. Pneumatic Tubes is multi-instrumentalist Jesse Chandler, keyboard and woodwind player for Midlake and Mercury Rev. While drawing on the same pool of mystic, psychedelic Americana as those groups, A Letter From TreeTops is an instrumental paean to the wilds of upstate New York where Chandler grew up, that sits somewhere between the rural kosmische of Cluster and the electro nostalgia of Boards Of Canada. Yet while much of this music has a sun-dappled, magic hour feel to it, it’s grounded by a hint of melancholy, with the album recorded shortly after the death of Chandler’s father. Joyous Lake sets the tone, a delicate weaving of vintage keys against Moog, bass and the slow beat of…

As Long As The Light GROENLAND RECORDS The influential guitarist teams up with Italian musician for an impressive pairing. Though he’s been a regular on the live circuit, recorded material by former Neu! guitarist Michael Rother has been thin on the ground throughout the 21st century. While 2020’s Dreaming – his first full album since 2004 – saw him returning to the synth work he pioneered under the Harmonia banner, here Rother fully spreads his wings. Joined by his partner Vittoria Maccabruni, Rother explores dreamy ambient landscapes, synthetic pulses and propulsive rhythms that add up to his most intriguing solo music. Maccabruni’s role cannot be understated as a huge chunk of the sounds contained here emanated from ideas she’d been stockpiling over the passing of the years. With Rother refining…

Featuring IQ/Arena/Jadis bassist John Jowitt, Drifting Sun is a traditional, neo-style prog rock band initiated by French keyboardist/composer Pat Sanders in the 90s. The latest in a quality catalogue, Forsaken Innocence (driftingsun.bandcamp.com) might be their best yet. Jowitt, Sanders and guitarist Mathieu Spaeter are virtuoso players, but the focus is on songcraft over widdle. King Of The Country, Dementium and the two-part title track are anthemic and dramatic, and singer Jargon brings personality and expression to this assured, polished prog record. The cover of Alvablot’s new record Harmonic Dystopia (alvablot.se) is a pretty accurate illustration of the music therein. It’s written, performed and produced by seasoned Swedish multi-instrumentalist Petter Karlsson, who describes this aptly as ‘fantasy rock’. Karlsson’s voice is dramatic, his arrangements metalsymphonic, and his guitars and synths strident…

Unchained ESOTERIC Lone album from long forgotten early 70s monsters of prog. The sleeve for Elias Hulk’s first and only album depicts a crudely drawn monster that looks suspiciously like a certain green-skinned Marvel Comics superhero looming over a pair of naked and bound-up women. But the music on Unchained rises above the dumb, proto-metal imagery with its complex arrangements, diverse styles and virtuoso flights of musical fancy. Obscure even at the time, the fivepiece formed in Bournemouth in 1968. They gained a following on the UK underground before signing with independent label Young Blood, eventually releasing Unchained in 1970. Most of the album’s eight tracks follow a heavy prog blueprint that sees Pete Thorp laying a vocal theme over a central riff before the band leave the launchpad to…

Twelve Dreams Of Dr Sardonicus ESOTERIC Randy California and co’s masterpiece remastered and expanded. Less than three years after leading the charge for US prog with the trailblazing eclecticism of their self-titled 1968 debut album, Spirit were starting to implode. The rock elements brought by singer Jay Ferguson and bassist Mark Andes that had previously coalesced so magnificently with veteran drummer Ed Cassidy and keyboardist John Locke’s jazz backgrounds had begin to create a creative schism within the band. Singer-guitarist Randy California was wrestling with his own mental problems exacerbated by both his LSD use and head injuries suffered from falling off his horse. "The definitive incarnation of their greatest album." Yet somehow, the band still found it within themselves to serve up a brilliant album with Twelve Dreams Of…

Live At The Gong Family Unconventional Gathering A-WAVE The onstage alchemy of classic Gong’s final show revisited. On 5 November 2006, Gong’s classic line-up played together for the first time in 31 years at the Melkweg club, Amsterdam – it was also the last time. To coincide with the CD release of this historic event, the DVD of the concert has been reissued. As well as being a visual celebration of this unique and sometimes confounding band, it’s actually an ideal way into the Gong universe for anybody who may have previously found their appeal elusive. Essentially a ‘greatest hits’ collection based around Camembert Electrique and the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy, the playing throughout is exemplary – but it’s seeing these songs performed live that really helps to make sense…

A personal account of meetings with a remarkable man. Hearing an artist can have a life-changing impact on a teenager. In the case of Dutch broadcaster Co de Kloet, encountering Zappa’s head-spinning music on record and in concert in 1973 when he was aged 14 was one such moment. Just four years later, via his connections in Dutch radio, de Kloet secured his first interview with the man himself, marking the beginning of a professional and personal association that endured until the composer’s death in 1993. In this brisk and unfussy account of catching Zappa in Europe or visiting him at work and at home in the States, the author’s narrative of Zappa’s many creative achievements is interspersed with personal anecdotes and interview transcripts not only with Zappa but several…

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BURNING BRIGHT I’ve been reading [Prog Editor Jerry Ewing’s work] for decades, just as I did with the late Malcolm Dome. I am old enough to have grown up reading (I would say, devouring) Kerrang! since its first, historic issue (June 6, 1981 – those were the days…). And those unforgettable pages formed and increased our passion for rock music. I therefore remember this extraordinary journalist and writer, one of the most influential and charismatic experts, connoisseurs and lovers of music that the UK has ever given birth to, with the memory of his lightning reviews that – in the minds of many young people of the time – unleashed the craving for hunting and discovering new records, [and] new or unknown bands worth listening to. His articles, his reviews,…

Rush star Alex Lifeson returns this year with new four-piece band, Envy Of None. Released on April 8 via Kscope, the group’s eponymous debut album sees the guitar hero team up with Andy Curran (founder of veteran Canadian rockers Coney Hatch), producer and musician Alfio‘Alf’ Annibalini, and upcoming US singer, songwriter and instrumentalist, Maiah Wynne. The 25-year-old vocalist is central to the project, which is billed as featuring“various shades of alternative, experimental and synth rock” and“twisting dark melodies against contemporary pop hooks”. Their music marks a stylistic shift for Lifeson, into a more experimental, almost left-field prog sound. In January the launch single Liar set the tone for the project, which has been nearly five years in the making. “Andy and I have known each other since the 80s,” Lifeson…

RHODES MK8 The first Rhodes pianos were devised as instruments that could be played by convalescing WW2 soldiers while sitting in a hospital bed. By the 1970s Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock had helped them become a mainstay of jazzy rock and pop. The piano’s rich, chorused sound and shimmering tones can be found on all kinds of records, partly due to the countless computerised emulations available. The new model, the Mark 8, looks and sounds beautiful, and can be all yours for between £7,000 and £10,000, depending on how souped up you want it. I’ll be sticking to the computerised version, but I can dream. www.rhodesmusic.com GREENAXE In recent years, 3D printing has reached a level of sophistication where buildings, food and even body parts can be printed out.…

British space rockers Spiritualized return with new album Everything was Beautiful on February 25, via Bella Union. Their spring tour starts on March 2, with 27 dates planned across the UK, Europe and the US. Details at www.spiritualized.com.  Robert Reed’s Cyan (left) and Mattew Cohen’s The Omega Point will perform at A Brave NEW Day, an all-day prog event at The Robin, Bilston, on April 24. They will be joined by two other bands, to be announced soon. Latest info at www.bit.ly/cyanomega.…

There’s more to Finnish soprano Tarja Turunen than meets the eye and now you can read all about it in her very first book, Singing In My Blood, which is out now via Rocket 88. We’ve got hold of a copy of the signature edition, worth £130, which one lucky reader can get their hands on in this issue’s competition.Discover the untold story of the singer’s life, view previously unseen images, and read the stories behind all her solo albums in this limited-edition version of the recently published hardback book. It’s presented in a box with silver foil detail and you’ll also receive two exclusive art prints taken by photographer Tim Tronckoe, who has shot the covers of many of Turunen’s albums. To be in with a chance of winning…

From the moment Graham Gouldman handled a guitar he was smitten, and it wasn’t long before the Salford lad was composing for his own bands in the UK pop chart. But after a stint as a New York-based bubblegum pop writer, Gouldman knew his heart belonged at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, where he co-founded the influential art rockers 10cc with Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. Fifty years on, the line-up has altered as the band head off for their Ultimate tour. You’ve written a lot of hit songs. When you get an idea, what instrument do you reach for? My guitar, and if that’s not to hand I’ll put it down on my phone… but if it’s any good I’ll just remember it. It’s a rule most songwriters…

There are those musicians who create songs as a pleasant pastime, writing when the urge to be creative strikes as a fleeting distraction from their everyday lives. Then there are people like Arjen Anthony Lucassen, for whom music and writing consumes every single day of his life. It’s that drive that has seen him release music under a variety of guises, often laden with guest musicians to add even more sparkle to the recordings. The mainstay is Ayreon – a vehicle for all the genres ranging from metal to folk – which truly encompasses his approach to music. But there’s been a plethora of other musical monikers, from The Gentle Storm, Guilt Machine, Stream Of Passion through to albums released under his own name. The uninitiated may be confused by…

“The great thing about InsideOut is you’re not just a number to them. They’re really responsive and help out all the time.” Boredom can be a powerful motivator. When Molybaron frontman and creative driving force Gary Kelly moved from his native Ireland to Paris just over a decade ago, he had no plans to make music. But when he found himself regularly at a loose end, with little to occupy his time beyond his job as a graphic designer, the logical choice was to return to his teenage hobby. “I’d stopped playing guitar when I was about 19. I played from 13 to 19 and I just stopped. I still had my guitar there, but I didn’t touch it for years. So when I arrived in Paris, I decided to…

To The Far Away OPEN SKY RECORDS Former Iona founder and guitarist plays and pours his heart out. A lot of music has been born out of the pandemic, but Dave Bainbridge’s fourth solo album feels personal and intimate in a way that few others have managed. Unable to see his fiancée for over eight months and with their wedding on hold, Bainbridge poured his emotions into To The Far Away, an album that’s brimming with longing, reflection and hopefulness. The music mixes prog and celtic influences, allowing plenty of space for Bainbridge’s ever-impressive guitar work. Switching between glissando lines and bracing bursts of speed, he brings firepower and articulation to his solos in Clear Skies and Ghost Light. In a bittersweet, sombre mood, Infinitude (Region Of The Stars) perfectly…

October Is Marigold NOISY RECORDS Classical-prog superduo create evocative autumnal landscapes. Violinist David Cross is best known for his work with King Crimson in the early 70s and flute player Andrew Keeling is a classical composer who was mentored by John Tavener. On October Is Marigold, the pair unite to use electronics that bring classical chamber music into experimental, sometimes avant-garde pieces. Cross uses an electric violin with an octave pedal to increase its range into the lower cello register and, at times, makes it sound like a muted trumpet. The music is largely improvised but a sense of shape is given by the repeated use of the Marigold theme on piano and low violin. The songs often evoke the benign aspects of autumn – Kingfisher describes the bird’s flight…

The Long Road North METAL BLADE Post-metal denizens illuminate the dark once more. If the title of Cult Of Luna’s last studio record, 2019’s A Dawn To Fear, now seems eerily pertinent, the follow-up seems equally able to encapsulate the mood of the moment. The Long Road North is one of the Swedes’ most cinematic and expansive records, with faint echoes of 2008’s immaculate Vertikal and the band’s much revered second album The Beyond from 2003. The opening Cold Burn rumbles along on an infectious percussive pulse, before building to the first of countless devastating crescendos: very much a Cult Of Luna signature, but here delivered with renewed finesse. An Offering To The Wild is even more overwhelming: 13 minutes of noirish atmospherics and hypnotic, circular riffs. Monstrous eruptions of slow-motion…

Pulsing Signals KSCOPE Belting live album from three shows on Gong’s 2019 tour. This is essentially a stopgap release as, being an international band, Gong didn’t think it feasible to piece together any new music remotely during lockdown. But it also demonstrates just how potent they are live, with 70s classics such as You Can’t Kill Me sitting seamlessly alongside new material. Daevid Allen’s decision, before his death in 2015, to pass the baton onto singer and guitarist Kavus Torabi and these exceptional musicians seems wise indeed. Allen’s structural vocabulary is woven into their new material, like the knotty guitar motifs and twisting, eastern-tinged riffs of Rejoice. The “pulsing signals” of the title might refer to the opening section of Forever Recurring with its shuddering guitar loops, and Dave Sturt’s…

Wires Turned Sideways In Time BASIN ROCK The Phantom Band guitarist goes full Scots-kosmiche. Glasgow’s The Phantom Band have contributed smart, electronica-laced indie art rock to our scene since 2009’s Checkmate Savage. Calling a hiatus in 2015 after the band’s gear was stolen from their van while on tour in France, guitarist Duncan Marquiss began gigging solo – and now he’s ready to present the fruits of several years’ labour to what is sure to be eager ears. With every track a biggie (bar the three-minute title tune), Marquiss has created a truly immersive, gorgeously-produced instrumental debut that reaches for Riley, Eno and Rother soundscapes and adds distinctly Caledonian and Americana-esque melodies. Lead track Drivenhalle is a prime example, a meditative drone underpinning xylophone, tambourine and finger-picked rondos that spiral…

Something Out Of Place MERIISFEVERISH.BANDCAMP.COM Former Eluveitie violinist’s latest solo offering. Violinist and backing vocalist during a decade with Swiss folk-metallers Eluveitie, Meri Tadic gathered a loyal fanbase after venturing out under her own steam with Slavic folk-influenced project Irij. Now under her Christian name she’s teamed up with former Coroner and Celtic Frost guitarist Oliver Amberg for a heavier affair that puts the emphasis on a gutsier rock-oriented sound. A blend of electronic sheen, knotty guitar twang and husky vocal yearning help the title track take flight, fuelled by Tadic’s cinematic string arrangements, but on the more conventional rock bluster of Luxuria and To Be, Tadic’s violin is meshed into the mix more deeply than it was on her earlier material, and at times it feels like the sound…

IV NAXATRAS.BANDCAMP.COM Greek psychedelicists broaden their line-up and musical horizons. On their fourth album, Greece’s Naxatras expand their line-up from a trio to a quartet with the addition of Pantelis Kargas on keyboards. It marks an evolution in their overall sound and style, moving away from the psychedelic jams of their previous releases and into full-blown prog and space rock. There’s an unmistakable sci-fi theme to the album as Naxatras sail out into the cosmos on Journey To Narahmon, which features a gorgeous guest vocal from Evi Seitanidou and powerful playing from the whole group with John Delias’ chunky guitar riffs complimented by tight syncopation from bassist John Vagenas and drummer Kostas Charizanis. Other highlights include the Floydian vibe of Horizon, with Delias’ bluesy solo, and The Battle Of Crystal…

Multi-instrumentalist Jarrod Gosling is best known as one half of both I Monster and Cobalt Chapel, but Regal Worm is very much a solo enterprise. The Hideous Goblink (Quatermass), the Sheffield operator’s fourth album, is a feast of analogue goodness, layered with vintage organs, Mellotron, guitars, found sounds and more. The cantering Action By HAVOC and Underground Comix make for thrilling modernist space rock, while his Cobalt Chapel partner Cecilia Fage handles vocals and choral arrangements on post-Goblin hyper-suite Pollinators. Californian trio La Luz are on their fourth release too. La Luz (Hardly Art) is the best yet from songwriter/guitarist Shana Cleveland, bassist Lena Simon and keyboardist Alice Sandahl. Its captivating blend of cosmic folk pop and languorous psychedelia, lightly dusted in reverb, comes with woozy harmonies and renewed dynamics. Watching…

I See QUINT-ESSENCE.BANDCAMP.COM Russian proggers create a unique and thrilling sound. The third album from Quintessence (not to be confused with the late 60s English band of the same name) may present hurdles for non-Russian speakers. While the St Petersburg group’s song titles are in English, as is their explanation of the overarching theme (a journey into the modern mind with all its struggles, contradictions and mysteries), the lyrics are in their native language. Linguistic issues aside, I See – expertly mixed by The Pineapple Thief’s Bruce Soord – is an intriguing modern prog record. Sonically, it evokes In Absentia-era Porcupine Tree, although Quintessence have mixed genres to create their own compelling sound. Opening track Angel combines a reggae beat with classical piano, melodic hooks and a quicksilver guitar solo,…

Nectar NAPALM US-Swedish duo’s collaboration quietly goes from strength to strength. Barely a year after they launched their collaboration as Silent Skies with debut album Satellites, Evergrey vocalist Tom Englund and piano virtuoso Vikram Shankar have returned with a set of songs that swirl with the same frequently melancholic currents. Nectar doesn’t deviate from the template laid down on Satellites. Warmbath electronics and Shankar’s sparse piano provide the canvas on which Englund can paint (Leprous violinist Raphael Weinroth-Browne adds extra texture to several tracks). Restraint is the watchword once again, though Taper and Neverending are never sedentary – the latter subtly builds and swells until it could act as the soundbed for a lavish BBC nature documentary. There are moments when things stray into hotel lounge music territory – The…

Richard Rees Jones SONICBOND PUBLISHING In-depth exploration of VdGG leader’s solo work. Unlike other subjects in the well-regarded ‘On Track’ series whose careers ended sometime in the 70s, Peter Hammill’s is very much ongoing, an artist who simply – and thankfully – cannot stop working. Complementing Dan Coffey’s similar book on Van der Graaf Generator, Richard Rees Jones makes it clear in his introduction that he got into Hammill’s solo work in the late 80s before even hearing VdGG, and through the trackby-track examination aims to explore “Hammill’s lifelong preoccupations – reason, memory, the unravelling of time and the choices we make.” Fortunately Hammill has never been reticent todiscuss his work, and Rees Jones uses the musician’s newsletter/website explanations and sleevenotes sparingly throughout to illustrate his arguments. The author’s take…

Marillion, Misadventures & Marathons: The Life & Times Of Mad Jack KINGMAKER PUBLISHING A keyboardist’s-eye-view of prog icons’ rollercoaster career. Mark Kelly pulls no punches in this revealing autobiography, in which the Marillion keyboard player charts his band’s rise, fall and rise again in a fashion best described as unflinching. The book falls into roughly two halves, the first dealing with Kelly’s childhood and the Fish years, when it was all very rock’n’roll and turmoil seemed to be Marillion’s modus operandi, much of that apparently due to their Scottish frontman. "There’s poignancy, self-reflection and even self-flagellation." Fish emerges as a madcap one-man whirlwind of trouble, possessing an insatiable appetite for drink and drugs combined with a formidable constitution and a domineering personality. The delight that Fish takes in firing band…

Where’s home? Sheffield! The Only Way Is S6… Earliest prog memory? My dad had loads and loads of cassettes: Genesis’ Trick Of The Tail, Pink Floyd’s Relics, Wish You Were Here, and Yes’ Going For The One. I played that one more than anything. I was about 10 – before that I’d been more interested in Lego and Action Man… First prog album you bought? Yesshows, on vinyl from Bradley’s Records in Sheffield, about 1983. It had stuff I was familiar with and the older stuff too, and it wasn’t too expensive for a double album. And the last? The self-titled album by a Yugoslavian band called Time, from 1972. I bought it today, on CD-quality download. I buy albums every two or three days. First prog gig? Marillion at…