Live Review – Steve Hackett – Genesis Revisited – Foxtrot at 50
Faithful reproduction or exuberant interpretation? What are live gigs about these days? Well, dare I say it, age might have something to do with where you sit on the spectrum between anarchic improvisation and note perfect replication. At my age, I’m constantly drawn back to the music of my youth, no matter how good some […]
CD Review – Ryo Okumoto – The Myth of the Mostrophus
Ryo Okumoto is not the most prolific of solo artists. Undoubtedly best known in the prog world for his dazzling keyboard displays with Spock’s Beard, The Myth of Mostrophus is his first release in a couple of decades, since Coming Through in 2002. There had been a handful of releases prior to that. But it […]
CD Review – Steve Hackett – Genesis Revisited Live – Seconds Out & More
“I’m so happy to release my Seconds Out & More show… A spectacular night with a band on fire tearing into that magic music combining the true spirit of Genesis with a fresh virtuosic approach and an extraordinary sound under amazing lights. This show is a feast for both ears and eyes. The best of […]
CD Review – Lonely Planet – A Model Life
The original plan was that there would only be three Lonely Planet albums, a trilogy of Sci-Fi tales centred on an astronaut. Then a fourth arrived, not directly related to the first three’s story line but continuing with the Sci-Fi theme. “The truth is, I only ever intended to make three albums and then stop,” […]
CD Review – Pattern-Seeking Animals – Only Passing Through
Pattern-Seeking Animals has returned with Only Passing Through, the band’s third album in fairly hot pursuit of the groups previous one, Prehensile Tales from 2020. That is pretty prompt by modern standards although the band’s hope had been to release an album every year. The group’s eponymous first album was released in 2019. The original […]
Statement from Magenta re: Sheffield Cancellation
Sadly another show has bit the dust 😪, as The Citadel has closed down costing them that gig – we have been notified that Magenta have decided to cancel the Sheffield show. To be honest their reason is very viable – planning a tour is incredibly difficult and the finances are very tight. Advance ticket […]
CD Review – Restive Nation – Restive Nation
It is good to come across band’s who are prepared to not do what other bands do just because that’s their genre. It is what is expected. To fight against being pigeon-holed you have to take chances, put yourself out on a limb a little bit. Think back to what many consider to be the […]
CD Review – Kalandra – Kingdom Two Crowns: Norse Lands Soundtrack (Extended)
Kalandra is, ostensibly, a Scandinavian pop-rock band that describes its music as “weaving ethereal melodies into raw and eerie musical landscapes”. Although this release is a soundtrack it is neither from a movie nor television but rather was composed as the original soundtrack for the game Kingdom Two Crowns and its new world called Norse […]
CD Review – PreHistoric Animals – The Magical Mystery Machine (Chapter 2)
Swedish proggers Prehistoric Animals return with this, the band’s third album which follows on from the concept from the group’s previous album with a Sci-Fi story, relating the tale of two characters, Cora and Jareth, who are collecting humanities abilities. The lyrics are not quite as plainly fanciful as that suggests and there are enough […]
CD Review (Boxset) – Plainsong – Following Amelia: The 1972 Recordings & More
Plainsong formed in the early part of 1972, with key members Iain Matthews (Iain actually changed the spelling of his name from Ian in 1989), who had been a member of Fairport Convention, singing on that band’s first two albums, and Matthews Southern Comfort, along with Andy Roberts, who was known for work with Everyone […]
CD/DVD Boxset Review – Man – Life On The Road: On Air (1972-1983)
Here’s a mammoth six-disc box set celebrating the broadcasts of Welsh psychedelic prog rock band Man. The collection consists of four CDs along with two DVDs, which are NTSC/region free, and brings together the extant UK radio and TV sessions, including those done for the BBC. These BBC recordings include three complete sets recorded for […]
CD Review – Jakub Tirco – Alaska
It is always good to come across music that is not quite what you would expect it to be. Guitarist Jakub Tirco, who is from Prague, has released this album that falls somewhere between being outright prog and post-rock when you would expect it to be very firmly the latter on a casual brief listen. […]
CD Review – Centipede – Septober Energy
Centipede was an English jazz, progressive rock, sprawling big band boasting in excess of fifty members, created and led by the British free jazz pianist Keith Tippett. It was founded in 1970, bringing together an array of young talented British jazz and rock musicians from a number of varied bands, including from Tippett’s own The […]
Steve Hackett – The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Steve Hackett released Genesis Revisited Live: Seconds Out & More album in CD/Blu-Ray and DVD formats on Friday 2nd September. Vinyl formats will follow on 25th November. There is a link to live footage of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway taken from the show here: You can also view the previously released clips here: […]
CD Review (Single) – Levi Nice – Come, Buried Men
Come, Buried Men from Levi Nice proves that you do not have to be an acoustic guitar wielding musician to be a singer-songwriter. Not that there is anything wrong with people who do, but Levi takes a more post-rock approach that sees him melding an over-arching guitar squall with a deep pop sensibility. The London […]
CD Review (Single) – The Daydream District – Hello Sunshine
The Daydream District is a band from Raleigh, North Carolina that is equal parts hard and pop rock, “with a twist of lemon”, to quote the band. It blends quite esoteric, neurotic lyrics with catchy sing-along choruses, the band having very keen pop sensibilities stacked with revivalist 1990s rock stylings. It’s not too difficult to […]
CD Review – The Sluagh – Enivid Creatures
A great big slab of heavy death metal here from Irish band The Sluagh. This album is often brutal, always quite striking. The frequently savage music, though nuanced by calmer, maybe comparatively sedate, melodies, takes no prisoners and remains uncompromising throughout. It is as far from background easy listening as you are likely to find […]
Arena at Local Authority – 30/09/2022
Price : £22 Advance Age Limit : 14+ Ticket link : https://www.corporation.org.uk/gig/2502 Due to the pandemic Arena have postponed their 25th anniversary tour until 2021, and then until 2022 meaning the 25th anniversary tour has become their 25 +2 tour. Arena have now been joined by Vocalist Damian Wilson (Headspace & Threshold) In September 2022 Arena will […]
Roots in SEPTEMBER
Michael McDermott – St Paul’s Boulevard St. Paul’s Boulevard is the sonic vision of McDermott and co-producer Steven Gillis (who also drums), with musicians Matt Thompson on acoustic and electric bass, Grant Tye on guitars, Heather Lynne Horton on violin and vocals and Vijay Tellis-Nayak on piano and organ. Additional musicians are Will Kimbrough (guitars, banjo, mandolin) John Deaderick on (piano, organ, keyboards), Danny Mitchell (piano, keyboards) and David Grissom (guitars). It gathers […]
CD REVIEW – Bill Nelson’s Red Noise – Art Empire Industry
It’s about time. It’s about time Bill Nelson’s work was recognised – not the under-appreciated, excellent Be Bop Deluxe, but the under the radar Red Noise concept and band. So, finally here, for our delectation and delight, is a 6 disc boxed set of the complete recordings of Bill Nelson’s Red Noise! 4 CDs: the […]
CD REVIEW – The Admiralty Lights – The Ultimate Al Stewart Collection – A selection of Albums
The Admiralty Lights is a super deluxe career-spanning boxset of legendary singer-songwriter Al Stewart’s work. Comprising 50 discs, the collection features Al’s 21 studio albums (remastered from the original tape transfers), housed in original sleeves and presented in deluxe LP style jackets. Also included are 18 discs featuring never-before-heard live concert recordings from 1970 to 2009, 3 discs of rare BBC […]
CD/DVD Review – Steve Hackett – Genesis Revisited Live: Seconds Out & More
Steve Hackett has had a fruitful and successful spell in the last few years. There have been some exceptional studio albums such as last year’s rocky Surrender Of Silence and the acoustic flavoured Under A Mediterranean Sky, but not just confined to those two. The frequency of his guesting on other artists albums seems to […]
Roots in August
Paul Walker & Karen Pfeiffer – Auf Wiedersehen, Me Duck This Anglo-German duo Paul Walker & Karen Pfeiffer hail from Staffordshire, with Karen originally from Stuttgart, Germany. Their tale is that it was there Paul ‘discovered’ her busking in a city centre park and invited her to perform in England. The two of them have […]
Jethro Tull launch video for Mine is the Mountain
Progressive Rock legends Jethro Tull have released a video for the track Mine Is The Mountain. It is taken from the album The Zealot Gene that the band released earlier this year, the first new studio album in over eighteen years for the group. It drew fairly widespread critical acclaim, becoming Tull’s first UK top […]
CD Review – Ed Wynne and Gre Vanderloo – Tumbling Through The Floativerse
Ed Wynne, founding member and leader of the psychedelic prog stalwarts Ozric Tentacles, has teamed up with Gre Vanderloo, better known from his project Gracerooms, to release what is being described as a new project. Tumbling Through The Floativerse is the first album from them. Ed explains that he is a long-term admirer and friend […]
CD Review – Porcupine Tree – Closure / Continuation
Only the most optimistic of Porcupine Tree fans could have expected the arrival of a new album so long after the band had gone in to hibernation twelve years ago in 2010, following the tour for The Incident. The group seemed defunct following repeated statements from Steven Wilson that he had no intention of returning […]
Steve Hackett To Release Seconds Out & More In September
Steve Hackett will release the latest in a string of recent live albums when Genesis Revisited Live: Seconds Out & More hits the shops on 2nd September, 2022. The release will be available as Limited 2CD + Blu-ray and Limited 2CD + DVD, both including 5.1 surround sound, behind the scenes documentary and promo videos. […]
CD Review – Kekal – Envisaged
A conundrum to begin with – can a group with no official members still be a band? On the face of this release by Kekal the answer is a very definite “yes!” Kekal is/was an Indonesian based band that formed in Jakarta in August 1995. The band sought to inject fresh ideas into a fundamentally […]
CD Review – Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate – The Confidence Trick
Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate has been building a very positive reputation for itself over the last ten years or so. Over the six albums since 2012 the band has woven together a reputation for intelligent, literate, imaginative, artful music created with warm and empathic philosophical outlooks and positivity. The Confidence Trick again grasps that […]
Roots in July
The Canny Band – The Canny Band The Canny Band are an eclectic trad trio based in Glasgow, born from a love of traditional music and fuelled by student poverty. Sam Mabbett (button accordion) and Michael Biggins (piano) formed the band in 2016 and Callum Convoy (bodhran) makes up the trio. It’s taken several years […]
CD Review – Charlie Griffiths – Tiktaalika
First, a quick lesson: tiktaalika refers to tiktaalik roseae, better known as the “fishapod,” a three hundred- and seventy-million-year-old fossil fish which was discovered in the Canadian Arctic in 2004 (I can look things up as well as anybody!). Its discovery sheds light on what is considered a pivotal point in the history of life […]
CD Review – Derek Sherinian – Vortex
Keyboard virtuoso Derek Sherinian returns with his latest album, Vortex, which sees him taking up where he left off in 2020 with The Phoenix release. That is not to claim that he is re-treading the same old ground but as Derek himself sates it is a “continuation”. “However, I feel the composition is stronger on […]
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Spirit of Progressive Rock 