ECLECTIC PROG

Steve Hackett has become over the years the true guardian of the Genesis symphonic legacy, he has put together a band that executes it perfectly, but not only from the technical aspect, but also capturing the spirit and magic of it epoch. And not only reinterpreting the repertoire of his old band, but also creating separate solo albums, which have nothing to envy of those from the classic period of the 70's. Since the album Out Of The Tunnel's Mouth in 2009 he has revitalized his compositional flow, and far from becoming stagnant as a guitarist, he continues playing the complex parts with the fingering to which we were accustomed. Every year he and his wonderful band have released live shows in luxurious CD/DVD or Blu-ray editions and each of them has a different slogan, as well as a different repertoire, fueled not only by the legacy of the past but by their wonderful studio albums. One might think how much another volume has to contribute...and the answer is yes, and it not only contributes but enhances the proposal, since Foxtrot at Fifty... proposes a more dynamic and energetic approach, they are provocative versions, a song from their latest studio album The Devil's Cathedral is included, followed by the classics Spectral Mornings and Every day with that unprecedented immediacy to which we were referring. And hearing Foxtrot performed with that aura of the original recording is a pleasure only surpassed by the slight interpretive differences that those who know the original perfectly will appreciate. There is only one noticeable difference at the beginning of Horizons, and that is Steve's always welcome love of Spanish Flamenco. In short...it is not just another live album, but a piece of the puzzle that makes up and adds up to the progressive path.

Motorpsycho is a very prolific, eclectic Prog band from Norway. They've been around since 1991, when they started out as more of a punkish grunge band, but then started showing more progressive rock elements by the mid-nineties, while also maintaining aspects of psychedelic and indie rock. They've released a total of 26 albums over the years (and 14 in the last 15 years, with one almost every year!). They continue to feature a wide variety of different styles, genres, and influences, with their music ranging from ambient, minimalist, atmospheric space-rock to gentle acoustic pop to punkish rock all the way to full-on metal, sometimes all on the same album, sometimes separate sounds and feel for each album. So, you never quite know what you're gonna get from Motorpsycho. For this newest album, the band surprises once again with a whole album of mostly acoustic pop and indie folk-rock. songs, and it is fantastic from start to finish! Great melodies, arrangements, and stylish flourishes throughout. And although it has been called an acoustic album, that is not really true, as although most songs do have at least some acoustic guitar in them, many of the songs build throughout to reveal much more lush and symphonic arrangements by the end. The album starts off with the breezy indie pop of Cold & Bored, followed by the ballad Sentinels, which has a Simon & Garfunkel-esque feel to it. Next is Patterns, which is dreamy, richly textured pop that builds to a rousing conclusion. But the album really takes off with the fabulous Dank State, a bouncy acoustic ditty dealing with Norwegian politics, followed by W.C.A, which is a soaring, infectious pop song. However, the highlight of the album for me (and song of the summer, if not the entire year) is the magnificent Hotel Daedelus, the one song on the album that gets the full Prog treatment, a melding of mellotron-drenched orchestration of film soundtrack bombast coupled with a beautiful laid-back 60's-styled pop melody, highlighted by a soaring, scorching guitar solo. The album then finishes on a high note with The Rapture. What a delightful album, a real surprise, and one of my very favorite of the year. Just wonderful, and such a breath of fresh air amidst all the heaviness around. Best tracks: Hotel Daedelus, Dank State, W.C.A., Loch Meaningless & the Mull of Dull, Real Again. Rating: 4.5 stars

An album of ten separate "snowglobes" tidy little universes all unto themselves--at least, that's what the band would have us believe.

1. "Spilling from the Mouths of Babes" (5:44) a song that sounds like Asian music that NORTH SEA RADIO ORCHESTRA has coopted and Westernized. I love the song's sparse spaciousness. (8.875/10)

2. "Mont Tauch" (10:10) multiple violin tracks (or some that are keyboard samples) occupy the first minute of this. Then bass, Fender Rhodes chords, and cymbal-less drums take over until 1:40 when the full drums break out and violin returns as the principle melody-maker. Nice cinematic jazzy that reminds me of Mark ISHAM's soundtrack to Alan Rudolph's 1988 film, The Moderns. Timba Harris' violin retains a kind of Eastern European/gypsy melodic sense throughout, even when accordion-like keys and CRIMSONian-like rhythm section take over on the low end. At this point I'm very much reminded of the music of Francesco Zago and especially his YUGEN project. At 5:30 the music becomes more Spanish American celebratory (though I hear Jean-Luc PONTY as well in Timba's electric violin). The drums really push to the front here until the operatic break at 7:30 when keys-backed violin leads the triumphant Spanish forward into a patch of BEATLES melody-scape. A very cool, dreamy-fantasy passage that plays out pretty much to the song's end. (18/20)

3. "Summoning the Maker" (4:26) an unusual blend of intercontinental sounds and melodies (Western techno keyboard bass giving way to Percy Jones/Mick Karn-like "lead" bass play, DEAD CAN DANCE-like Arabian violin melodies, odd Asian rhythms from the percussive instruments [including hand claps]. The finished product is quite reminiscent of many DCD songs. (9/10)

4. "Sssst" (6:24) opening like some bluegrass-tinged chamber folk music by the GOAT RODEO crew, the song develops slowly, more Asian-like with lots of spacious noiseless gaps between individual instrument ejaculations. At 1:39 bass player Toby Driver initiates a repeating bass line within/over which violin, toy percussives, and a child's xylophone regulate their intermittant incidental contributions while Dorothy Wave sings in a near-monotone ANNETTE PEACOCK- like "crazy" child nonsense lyric. At 4:25 the structure and melody become more Scandanavian folk. The keys and full drums fill and play out while Dorothy's heavily-effected vocalise are layered and woven into a magic carpet flying around over the top. Cool, quite unorthodox, and very interesting. (9/10)

5. "Little Maker" (6:55) dissonant chromatic chords from an electric piano open this before cinematic jazz bass line joins in and multi-tracks of effected violin play a pretty melodic riff over and over, and later, harmonized. Orchestral percussion instruments are played around with in the background. It's really the bass and now-regular and repeating two electric keyboard chords that hold this song together as the violins and percussives throw their contributions into the mix like lead soloists. The solo violin work in the fourth minute is pure classical violin (no longer heavily effected) exploring independent melody lines--which sometimes move into Indian, Arabian, or even Romany territories. In the sixth minute Timba's violins move back into the etheric background and become treated and layered again, but the, in the seventh minute, the whole becomes very Gershwinian: very clearly Western classical. Very cool! (13.75/15)

6. "Collidascope" (9:49) opens with an extended Zeuhl-like passage with all instrumentalists sincerely focused on their own contributions to the weave--which, overall, is quite cool (in a PiNioL kind of way--without the lively Japanese lyrics- -this is an instrumental). A few stop-gaps before restarts allows for guitar-like keys, violin, drums, and throbbing bass to impress-even to sound, at times, like a chamber piece (especially when the keyboard uses the harpsichord feature). In the eighth minute the sound palette even goes Latin/Calypso for a bit before reverting back to the more classical chamber-Zeuhl feel for the finale. (17.5/20)

7. "Behind Mine" (6:47) it takes two minutes of spacey electronic atmospheric chords to set up what sounds and feels like a funky STEREOLAB dance tune. Oddly, all of the singing occurs within those opening two minutes! After that there is some really nice melodic play from all of the instrumentalists creating what turns out to be quite a catchy (if rather simple) harmonic weave. And then it ends as it started: with 40 seconds of atmospheric synth chords. Interesting! (13.25/15)

8. "I'm You Now" (4:45) pitch-shifted electronic drums familiar to me from the mid-1980s Hip-Hop/R&B scene (Tom Tom Club, Whodini, et al.) within an overall funked up TOM TOM CLUB-like fabric and style--especially with Dorothy's mutli-track vocals (which sound kind of like "Wordy Rappinghood"). Very cool! In the second half of the third minute the "orchestrated" passage sounds very James Bond cinematic. Not very proggy but very cool--very hip--and danceable. (9.25/10)

9. "Wow, João!" (9:00) opens as if this is going to be a Django Reinhardt-Stéphane Grappelli-styled song (with more modern, XTC-like rhythm section). Clavichord and syncopated drum line are a bit annoying while the bass tries to hold it together until the break at the end of the second minute. After a little reset bridge the bass, cymbals, and clavichord re-establish the basic rhythmic structure for Timba's violin to try to lead with his repetitive melody-making riff. Several other pauses and resets (while the drummer maintains a 2/2 beat) occur over the next few minutes with multiple attempts at variation before the violin finally succeeds at breaking the line of stagnation--but then he himself starts to breed boredom and tedium with his almost parodiacal repetition. In the eighth minute things are brought to a hault for the bass to have some freedom for expression. Weird song that is obviously a serious exercise in discipline and fortitude. (17.25/20)

10. "Pearl" (4:01) happy-go-lucky music that reminds me of Kavus Torabi's KNIFEWORLD music. The melancholy second half (2:30 to end) is almost dirge-like. (8.66667/10)

Total Time 68:01

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of adventurous progressive rock music; definitely an album I highly recommend for all self-proclaimed prog lover's to check out for themselves. Maybe not the best album of the year but certainly one of the most interesting!

Always difficult to give a detailed opinion when a group claims to be of the "experimental" genre, a term which means everything and says nothing... However, this is the niche chosen by the Scandinavians of PIXIE NINJA with their third album (after 2017 and 2020). The founding duo of 2015 Jostein HAUGEN and Marius LEIRANES is still in place and the omnipotent but remarkable Mattias OLSSON is still behind the barrels.

We are therefore dealing with a totally instrumental and particularly adventurous opus, "Hypnagogia" describes the transitional state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleep, a tortuous subject which fits perfectly with the music. When listening to this album, you will have to be extremely concentrated, fortunately I would say it only lasts forty minutes...some tracks are nevertheless more accessible than others.

The inaugural piece "Thanatosis" is the most exciting probably thanks to the grace of Jorgen MUNKEBY's saxophone which softens it considerably, it is very cinematic music which will not leave you indifferent, to make it short I would say that PIXIE NINJA only resembles 'to PIXIE NINJA on this particular track. "Silver Paper Unicorns" is lighter, more lyrical too, with a main theme that is easy to memorize, which I really like. ''Dance Macabre'' is aptly named, the percussive work of Mattias OLSSON is at its peak here, it is he who carries and propels the piece towards the upper echelons of progressive music, the term experimental takes on its full meaning here. ...it's still listenable, don't worry. "Ora Antarctica" which follows, sounds like a tribute to our planet and to the decline that is looming on the horizon, a piece apart because it is relatively calm. The concluding piece "Oneironaut" wanders from the northern mists to the desert confines of another undetermined place on Earth, also very adventurous, not to be put between everyone's ears, in all sincerity it is necessary to follow, it is seriously disturbing in the like......until 4:50 it flows slowly, after...

I didn't like "Pandaemomium" fortunately less than three minutes, a bit messy nor "Alpha Waves" in the same register but unfortunately much longer....

Avoid listening on a depressed evening!

The Americas and Europe are kind of the big stars in the whole prog camp. I mean, with acts like King Crimson or Kansas it is pretty easy to see why, but I think stuff over in Asia, particularly Eastern Asia should get some fair amount, or even equal love too. Obviously Japan is the most popular Asian country that specializes in prog, with groups like Sigh, Koenjihyakkei, Ruins, and Far East Family Band giving the world some tasty prog. Aside from Japan though, you really do not hear many prog groups from places like Korea, or Mongolia. In fact, a lot of Asian countries in general do not quite have a lot of huge prog namesakes, unlike Japan, America, and Europe, which is honestly disappointing to hear, because prog over in Asia sounds fantastic, at least from the stuff I have heard so far. However, I think eventually those bands over across the pacific will get their due, as shown from the promisingly rated Omnipotent Youth Society's Inside The Cable Temple.

Omnipotent Youth Society, or OYS is a Chinese contemporary prog band that formed in 1996 in Shijiazhuang, led by Dong Yaqian. The band would release their first single in 2006, but wouldn't release their first full length album until 2010, where they made their self titled record. While over in the west their LP flew over people's heads, in China it became a smash hit, with the band winning 'band of the year' in China's Music Media Awards. 10 years later they would release another smash hit in the form of Inside The Cable Temple, which, while not winning them a 'band of the year' status, did win them huge amounts of recognition, which culminated in being the musical representation of the Dongbei renaissance, and a grant of recognition, particularly to their bassist Ji Geng.

All this too say, they've also become quite popular over in the west recently, at least to some extent. In RYM, this album places #21 for 2020, which, while not particularly super high, is quite great, especially next to highly rated albums like Anthem Of The Dead, The Normal Album, and Lianne La Havas. To be frank here, I believe this album should get all the credit it deserves, because it really is a great tour de force.

First off, I am quite amazed by the vibrancy of this record. Like, wow, they really put out a sound that really is THEM. The music has a chamber jazzy folk sound, kinda like iamthemorning's Lighthouse, but with a more rock output, and a vibe that reminds me particularly of King Crimson's Islands. That's probably the best way to describe their sound, and even then they really craft things into their own foot works. From the second track alone, 泥河 (Ni He), I get swept off my feet with seriously amazing prog rock. Each song, not accounting for the two 1 minute tracks, are just extremely good, and overtime, with each listen, I find myself not knowing which track is their best on here. Sometimes I think it is 河北墨麒麟 (He Bei Mo Qi Lin), and other times it feels like I might prefer 采石 (Cai Shi). Each song has their own flavors, but still keeps up with that brilliantly executed sound that gets me rolling.

I think each player here has some level of magic in their musical output. Dong Yaquin's vocals and acoustic are extremely good, with an almost Greg Lake-like falsetto and progression to his singing and playing styles. Ji Geng's bass, as well as Shit Lee's trumpet & flute, Feng Jiang's drums, and Sule's guitar skills are also all very great, and they honestly hold a strong knack to my ears, crafting these wonderful soundscapes.

Now, I would mention stuff relating to the album's concepts, however I do not know Chinese, in fact I do not know any Asian languages, but from what I could gather from this album's wiki page, it is about the mountains that surround the band's home city, the Taihang Mountains, and the results of heavy amounts of pollution within the area. It's funny how this is the third album I have reviewed that is based on mountains, first Sorni Nai, then Alturas de Machu Pichu, and now this. Guess something about concept records about mountains really gets my gears rolling. Discretions aside, and comprehension aside, I can tell from Yaquin's singing that the lyrics are a treat to behold, and I can see why a lot of people in China ranked this record very highly due to such a poignant concept.

Again, my favorite track on this record changes a lot, but right now I think it's 河北墨麒麟 (He Bei Mo Qi Lin). The track goes through a series of brilliantly executed stylings, some of which give off energies from more Crimson- esque math rock and fusiony jazz rock, but again, presented in a way that is very distinctly OYS. I absolutely love the ending of this song too, just how it builds up into a wall of chaos and noise, almost like the mountains this record is based on are crumbling down, with the band giving them a final eulogy in the form of an 11 minute express. It works extremely well to me, and in tandem with the final track of 郊眠寺 (Jiao Mian Si), creates for a stunning climax and eulogy for this mountain of a record.

I think this record fills a similar niche that albums like Dark Side Of The Moon, Mew And The Glass Handed Kites, and Night fill, being this one long track split into multiple, extraordinary songs. I am honestly surprised this album isn't as popular within the prog crowd, it's really good! I really do recommend this one, it holds some of the best Eastern Asian prog you can ask for, and it's a great treat for those who adore acts like Islands era King Crimson, iamthemorning, and Phideaux. Can't wait to see what they make next in another 10 years. I will be patient.

Arnaud Quevedo has been teaching Current Music at the Conservatoire (Niort from 2007 to 2018 and in La Rochelle since 2018), and over the years he has been involved in different tribute projects for the likes of Magma and King Crimson before deciding to put together his own band. Although the title may give the impression that it is the second album from this project, it is actually the third: there are four sections to the main title track, with the other four songs being older material which has been revisited. He says his music is anchored in progressive jazz rock, while ProgArchives classify him as eclectic and my ears tell me that is probably the best place for him, although I would not have been surprised if there had been a battle with RIO for this. His lead singer is Elo'se Baleynaud, who sounds trained for the theatre and is certainly happy working in an environment which is probably more aimed at that artistic style as opposed to pure listening.

I can easily imagine this being picked up by Due et Doux, such is the way it moves and changes with little or no respect for what one might expect. The guitar, bass and drums are very much at the heart of what is going on but at times the horns are the lead role, at others it is strings, often within the same passage. It is confused, chaotic and complex, with Gong and Zappa obvious influences outside of the already mentioned Magma and Crimson, while he must also have been listening to Chromb!. This is progressive music in its truest sense, from a musician who can shred with the best of them when the time is right, yet often sits in the background to allow others to take centre stage. It is left field, difficult to describe in many ways, as is often the case with this style of music, but if you enjoy your prog to be challenging and really out there then this may well be for you. Just don't expect any of your friends to listen to it with you.

Another one of the brace of live releases put out by the latest incarnation of King Crimson. This works in a touch more of the 1980s King Crimson than Radical Action (To Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind) through a cleverly reworked take on Indiscipline, Jakko Jakszyk finding a way to perform the song which suits his vocal style, which is smoother and somewhat more sincere in effect than the snarky tones of Adrian Belew on the original. By and large, it's another excellent live set, and perhaps flows somewhat better than Radical Action due to reproducing a live set organically rather than being assembled from several live shows.

OK, so I must admit that I have never listened to this album in its entirety until now, which I know is a classic. This may come as a surprise to some of you. However, I am remedying this situation today! Hopefully, I'll get to keep my Prog Club Card. This was written in real time as I was listening.

Track 1 - Ace of Wands:

Brilliant playing, of course. Eye opening intro! Hackett seems to be making a statement of intent here! He wanted to blow the listener away right out of the box with a wide range of styles, tempos and textures in just under 5 and 1/2 minutes. Absolutely brilliant.

Track 2 - Hands of the Priestess, Pt. 1

This one takes a more pastoral mood with a flute solo taking the lead, played by his brother John. Its a beautiful piece, which seems to have the effect of letting the listener catch their breath after the high energy opener

Track 3 - A Tower Struck Down

While I am no expert, I know enough about Tarot Cards (which is, of course, the theme of the album) to know that the Tower card is the most menacing card to draw out of the deck. The music here certainly reflects that! Mid Tempo, yet spooky, it would be a good track to include on a Halloween mix! The chanting in the middle has been interpreted by some to say "Seig Heil", but in actuality, it is chanting "Steve Hackett". A very peaceful yet mournful ending closes this track out.

Track 4 - Hands of the Priestess, Pt. 2

Definitely continues the mood of the first part. Again, possibly to kind of clear the mood after the spookiness of Tower Struck Down. John sounds as if he is classically trained on the flute.

Track 5 - The Hermit

Vocals for the first time, sung by Hackett himself. A bit of a harpsicord ballad, with Hackett's lower register vocals almost buried in the background. Very peacefully sad and remote--Much like a Hermit would be.

Track 6 - Star of Sirius

Ballad-like with Phil Collins on vocals. An ethereal beginning. And then the tempo and rhythm picks up at around 2:30. This one seems to take us on a musical voyage, as promised in the album title, with many different textures and dynamic levels. Again, the vocals are there, but not "out-front" in the mix. A bit of a jazz-fusion feel in the higher tempo sections.

Track 7 - The Lovers

Starts with a very distant sounding classical guitar part. Then it sounds like a backwards recorded section with mellotron and winds. Seems to be an interlude before the grand finale.

Track 8 - Shadow of the Hierophant

The Epic closer. Soprano vocals by Sally Oldfield, brother of Mike Oldfield. Peaceful beginning, with a big, albeit brief, dynamic change at just under 3:00 in. The piece has the feel of something you might hear on a classical recital hall, up until around 4:45, excepting the louder mellotron segments. At around 5:30, it begins to take on the feel of a Genesis track, until everything drops out for an unaccompanied glockenspiel solo. Becomes orchestral in nature starting around 7:30. A slow building crescendo is happening after this until around 10:45 (over 3 minutes), when the track begins fading out.

Overall impression.

I definitely see why this album is so highly regarded. Hackett could have recorded an entire album of tracks like "Ace of Wands" to show off his guitar prowess, but he didn't. I know that Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford are essentially the rhythm section on this album, but really, not much of it (save for a couple of minutes in "Shadow of the Hierophant") feels like a Genesis album. Honestly, much of it feels closer to true classical/chamber music with a few rock instruments added in. I did enjoy listening to it and would gladly do so again. However, while a strong album, It does not quite reach the 5-star level for me personally. I give it a solid 4-Star rating.

Something turns on in the brain when faced with the right stimulus...and when a note sounds that seems to "misfit", an alert takes us back from any lethargy in which we might be immersed, it is the door to another way of feeling, less linear if If you like, something like that happens to me with this album. Breakthrough within his own style but with classics of pure Hamillian strain such as "If I Could", "Still In The Dark" or "The Future Now", where he unearthed once again his love for that English classical composer called Henry Purcell. Like him, Hammill created his own Baroque. There are classic periods in life, and others of experimentation, I would dare to say (and this is a personal interpretation) that it is like a kind of trilogy, of which the album that concerns us, "The Future Now", is the first part, "pH7" the second and "A Black Box" the third. All three with nods to the past as well as a flirtation with the future, are a period of transition, but also of search and encounter. Meeting of a life after Van Der Graaf, and therefore uneven, but I consider that not all great works should be homogeneous. There is a new style of recording on this album, a search for updating that can already be seen in the style of recording and singing in "The Second Hand", this is a dark album even within an artist who has frequently delved into those marine depths where light does not reach and whose philosophical inquiry questions the established average. Where post-modernity and antiquity coexist, it is not a door to another world... it is a door to another dimension. Pure melodies recognizable in their meter and cadence are here wrapped in a technological paraphernalia where the use of Electronics, Reverse effects, and Fuzz, either in the dialogues between Hammill's acoustics and Graham Smith's violin, or in the synthesizers creating a twilight psychedelic curtain more than symphonic, they elevate songs like "The Mousetrap" or "Energy Vampires" to another category. With "A Motorbike In Africa" ​​we delve into the depths of this journey, in the most experimental work he has ever done, that period that is only experienced in stages of youth where things are produced that are far from what one will be. Sometimes in these periods the most interesting thing emerges, and this is not only true for art but for life as well, it keeps us awake when human nature tends to do exactly the opposite. You can feel this listening to "The Cut", this entire part of the album with a certain German Krautrock air, crowned by that harmonica that is neither bluesy nor jazzy, but rather apocalyptic of "Palinurus (Castaway)", these last songs on the album They are a unit in themselves...a promise, a road-movie, where do they lead us? There are metaphors of rafts...castaways, a recurring obsession in his work, but he also talks about the "protraction" of doubt!, and how the action of dispelling...something good can emerge from this.

This is my first time writing here so I decided to choose this album because it's very striking.

I was researching Portuguese prog and I came across Jose Cid and in that research I came across 10. 000 years after mars and the experience of listening to this album was extremely transient and transcendent. Then I came across quarteto 1111 and when I got to this album my jaw dropped because this album has many things that strongly show the influence that prog had at that time, there are only two songs but it's a real trip inside moog, the vocals here by jose cid are clear and sentimental,the band in its instrumental moments is very sharp there is an incredible contrast of moog + guitar and a gigantic bed of keyboards making everything an interesting listen and giving us a message that life is worth living and that every moment is precious.

Well, I hope to write a lot more here. PEACE AND LOVE TO ALL

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)