SADNESS AND COMPANIONSHIP

US composer and musician Johnny Unicorn is perhaps best known for being one of the keyboard players in the backing band of US artist Phideaux. But he's actually an established solo artist too, and released his first album back in 2006. Since then five more studio albums have seen the light of day, of which "Sadness and Companionship" from 2013 is the most recent. Like all his CDs so far this is a self released production.

UK magazine Classic Rock presents Prog used to have a section called "It's Prog, Jim, but not as we know it", and Johnny Unicorn's "Sadness and Companionship" sounds like a perfect candidate for this column. This is an album that plays and fools around with conceptions, conventions and boundaries in a playful and humorous manner throughout. A likely key audience are those who enjoy accessible progressive rock alongside artists such as The Buggles and Madness, and first and foremost those among them that have a keen and broad sense of humor that includes progressive rock as a topic.