Prog Issue 106 (March 2020)

GODSTICKS
JULIANNA BARWICK
Inescapable KSCOPE
Circumstance Synthesis RVNG INTL
Welsh prog-metallers wrestle with rage, self-loathing and vulnerability.
Heavenly electronica based on a generative music installation.
ulianna Barwick follows pre-composed sequences
Jin a long tradition of according to what was in
mostly female artists the sky, whether that was
whose work explores the sun, rain, a bird or a plane.
permeable borders between Morning combines Barwick’s
electronic music and the breathy exhalations of
voice, capturing the point drowsy joy with bass booms
at which the human melts and floating drones,
into the machinery. Jane recalling Eno’s Apollo in its
Weaver’s Loops In The sheer weightlessness. This
Secret Society was a recent example of sense of a soporific choir of angels
this type of ecstatic, organic electronica, cooing within artificial clouds continues
but these five pieces from Barwick are through Noon and Afternoon, until the
even more diaphanous and heaven- trumpet-like waves of synth that herald
here are certain individuals in music who give the facing. That’s not surprising, because Evening cool the temperature as the
abiding impression that they’re a little too driven for Circumstance Synthesis started life as sunlight fades. Barwick resumes the
T their own good. Godsticks’ Darran Charles is one such, a generative music installation playing looped, wordless dialogue with herself
and he’s admitted that a key theme of their new album is the in the lobby of a New York hotel – on Night, but there’s an iciness now to
battle he has, as primary songwriter and frontman, with his a camera on its roof would trigger the sound as the day ends. JB
own perfectionism and self-critical tendencies.


Thrillingly agitated CHURCH OF THE COSMIC SKULL

and uptight, but We’re All Going To Die SEPTAPHONIC
resonant and defiant. Robe-clad believers prepare to win new converts.

ynics might point on the gnarly riff of
Cout that the band-as- The Great Black Hole
While Inescapable isn’t a concept album as such, there’s religious-cult schtick is but in keeping with an
a mood thread that can be followed through it, introduced not an entirely new overall vision that is
with the tense self-laceration of opening track Denigrate. gimmick, but this determinedly surreal,
A hateful wrestle with self-loathing, it tenses and tightens Nottingham posse of the groove then slows
like a bulging blood vessel in the neck of a man having pilgrims promote their as if to melt into itself,
a nervous breakdown, full of juddering, nervy staccato riffs. quasi-spiritual quest with before the chunky hooks
Whatever inner turmoil that produced it, though, the result impressive conviction. On of Sorcery & Sabotage
is riveting. Charles’ faintly portentous baritone is reminiscent this third album, they’ve convey an anthem laced
of an Eddie Vedder blessed with an emotive timbre that turned up the temperature on their with falsetto-lined backing vocals,
recalls Dead Can Dance’s Brendan Perry, and the guitar breaks warming ELO-meets-Queen banks resembling The Darkness after a sip
soar, swoop and dive-bomb around the chords like tortured of harmonies, and it makes the results of the religious Kool-Aid. Yet within
birds. But emerging regularly is a winning chorus that admits: ever more persuasive. Songs such the artifice, they’re also in touch with
‘I’ll never change the way I feel, I’ll never make it mine… I’ll turn as Don’t You Believe In Magic? are reality: songs such as Fantasy and
my back but cannot change my own damn paranoia.’ full of vintage rock charm, but once Living In A Bubble offer subtly sardonic
Victim picks up a similar sense of resignation, but this we’re tempted in, they also ask us to lyrics making digs at a society ‘living
time it builds into something of an anti-anthem, embracing turn and face the strange. There are inside the TV set’ where ‘the fear tries
likeable touches of Aerosmith-ian rock
to control us’. JS
negativity as if it’s about not just licking but consuming your
own wounds: ‘I’m the victim, vilify myself/I’m the victim, and
I don’t care why it’s me.’
Later on, the emotions become more bipolar, to the benefit COLIN EDWIN
of the album’s dramatic ebb and flow. Punishing staccato Infinite Regress SELF-RELEASED
riffs frame Relief as it asserts ‘fuck you and your beliefs’, and the Sweet-and-sour songs from bass bastion.
thumping bass of Resist echoes Faith No More’s early 90s
funk-metal blueprint. ass ace Edwin has an album’s moderately explicit
But the peak of the record comes with the nine-and-a-half- Billustrious CV after years when it alludes to corporate
minute Change, in which a hopping mad riff stutters and with Porcupine Tree led on wage slaves and our
spits with rage before we slump into a slower, melancholic to releases with Metallic threatened sense of identity,
passage in which our hero asks: ‘Am I insane?’ That begs for Taste Of Blood, O.R.k. and but one gathers it’s the feel
a reply, and soon enough, with the words: ‘Waaaake… don’t Twinscapes, who dabble in of this music that matters
compromise!’ it comes out fighting armed with growling the terrain of 80s-influenced most to its makers. There
metallic riff barrages, over which Charles concludes: ‘So what art-pop. Elements of that are welcome leavening
if I don’t survive?’ era-specific dynamic ebb spells like the floating,
The 10 one-word titles of this album suggest a blunt, and flow through Infinite Tears For Fears-tinged Hell
distinctly macho hardcore attitude, but the abiding Regress, but its ambient/electronica Within Your Hands, while Demission puts
atmosphere matches the lyrics: Inescapable is a thrillingly excursions also hint at something more a poppier spin on Arthur Baker-phase
agitated, uptight record which, while not without moments darkly trip-hop, nuzzling the sinister New Order. The eerie Floatograph
bubbles and broods, and Ignorunt
vibes of Massive Attack. With vocalist/
of beauty and contemplative respite, grasps the nettle of lyricist Robert RJ Peck contributing feeds off early Depeche Mode. There’s
negative thought and uses it to create something resonant, subtly it exudes a nocturnal, gently an obsession with memory and also
vulnerable yet defiant. Their pain, our gain. claustrophobic aura, thoroughly forgetfulness, which makes Proust seem
JOHNNY SHARP appropriate for our age of urban relatively unconcerned by comparison.
isolation and technology creep. The Past meets present, and it’s potent. CR

102 progmagazine.com

NEKTAR
ELEPHANT STONE
The Other Side ESOTERIC ANTENNA
Hollow FUZZ CLUB
Surviving veterans honour their legacy.
It’s the end of the world as we know it. And it feels fine.
here are few things drummer Miles Dupire
Tproggier than have concocted a trippy,
a dystopian sci-fi concept hook-ridden song cycle
album. Montreal’s that details the story in
Elephant Stone – led by a series of chapters
singer, bassist and sitar informed by psychedelic
player Rishi Dhir – certainly Eastern vibes and jangling
think so, having put in the prog-pop. ‘Goodbye blue
hard galactic miles for sixth skies, so long clean air’
album Hollow. The premise is the thrust of Land Of
is bleak and simple: humankind Dead, as the starfaring children realise
has destroyed Earth and the so-called that their adult companions are
elite have taken it upon themselves hopelessly bereft of solutions. Tabla
to venture into space to colonise a new grooves signal the beginning of the
planet, only to discover that it’s just revolt on the terrific Harmonia, while hen founder member and vocalist-guitarist
as lifeless and polluted as the one a glam-ish riff foregrounds the hunt Roye Albrighton died in 2016, it seemed Nektar’s
they’ve left behind. Cue false idols, for dissenters in The Clampdown. Walmost half-a-century-long journey to the centre
a theocratic state and revolution. A storming soundtrack for when of the eye would be over. And yet, perhaps channelling the
Dhir, guitarist Robbie MacArthur and the apocalypse comes. RH title of their 2013 album, Time Machine, they’ve found a way
to keep the name alive. Of course one has early reservations:
will the surviving personnel do the legacy justice? Would it
have been nobler to call it a day? A couple of listens to this
FAIRPORT CONVENTION
new record and you’re reassured. While it’s never able (or
Shuffle And Go MATTY GROVES
trying) to top career highlights like Remember The Future
The folk rock pioneers step into their second half-century in genteel style. or A Tab In The Ocean, it’s a strong, sincere set of songs and
musical workouts that cause a warm glow of nostalgia to
huffle And Go opens a ukulele strum, Linseed
Swith a couple of Memories, a cricket massage your shoulders.
eyebrow raisers: the song in which the
shadowy outlaw song narrator dreams ‘in A huge glacier of
Don’t Reveal My Name quiet contemplation of
and the near-pop of Cider innings we’ve made’, is a piece, shifting
Rain, which approaches rather challenging in its by its own rules.
the mood of one of XTC’s whimsy. But the band
more rustic creations. But chemistry is potent and
overall the feel is one of the the playing impeccable, Never quite fitting in with any movement, as an English
good-natured bonhomie of a folk particularly on Chris Leslie’s sparkling band based first in Germany then America, Nektar always
club evening but without the grit title track and The Byfield Steeplechase brought their own unique tastes and flavours to prog,
and darkness that’s also part of – written by PJ Wright of Little Johnny overlapping into space rock and psychedelia. The Other Side
traditional song. A Thousand Bars, England and The Dylan Project – with plays relatively safe in places, but elsewhere goes out on
a song about quaffing in your favourite its animated instrumental section. Ric a limb, not least on the 18-minute centrepiece Love Is/The
pub with your best drinking mates, Sanders’ Precious Time is a moving Other Side, which glides with consummate ease from AOR
even makes the prospect of an closer, a bittersweet instrumental that ballad to galloping riffery to tricksy virtuosity. You just let
accompanying pub brawl seem only has a baroque poise and the melody it slide all over you, shredding solos and all, because it’s
a slight inconvenience, while, set to of a Celtic air. MB
a huge glacier of a piece, moving and shifting by its own
rules. Even by that measure alone, Nektar’s continuance is
valid, true to their past and almost heroically resolute.
Of course, Albrighton is much missed. It’s not the same
REBECCA FOON
Waxing Moon CONSTELLATION without him. To be picky, the vocals throughout are more
proficient than emotionally engaging. However, this line-up
Canadian chamber-rock cellist’s melancholic majesty.
gels: his fellow founders Derek Moore (bass) and Ron Howden
aving loomed out of Jace Lasek, and Patrick (drums), with original lyricist and lighting conceptualist Mick
HMontreal’s experimental/ Watson bassist Mishka Stein Brockett, have brought in two simpatico guys who played
chamber-rock scene around (Watson duets on ethereal with Nektar in the past – Randy Dembo (bass, guitars) and
20 years ago, singer-cellist drifter Vessels). Bookended Ryche Chandla (vocals, guitar) – as well as keyboardist
Rebecca Foon starts the new by the instrumental New Kendall Scott. And much of the album digs out previously
decade releasing her first World, tracks such as on unearthed compositions. The graceful, floating SkyWriter is
album under her own name Another Realm and Dreams a revamp of a 1978 draft Skypilot; the hefty, pumping rocker
after several years with To Be Born texturally recall I’m On Fire was conceived the same year. Devil’s Door, which
Esmerine and Saltland. the haunted melancholic builds brick by brick with real elan, was played live as far
Although revered as a cellist, reverie of Nick Cave’s back as ’74, but this is its first recording, and features a lick
notably with Thee Silver Mt. Zion progressive masterpiece Ghosteen, of Albrighton taken from live tapes.
Memorial Orchestra, Waxing Moon finds Foon’s smoky, cracked voice caressing Perhaps the nine-minute Drifting is the surprise peak here.
Foon pursuing a more intimate, minimal richly poignant piano motifs glazed in It’s a lovely, lilting arc of atmospherics that takes its sweet
path, deploying her voice and piano electronically enhanced strings, guitar
against gorgeously orchestrated and her cello. With the optimistic jangle time before curving into a surge of Floyd-like guitar drama
backdrops constructed by guests including of Wide Open Eyes the sole uptempo and epic lamentations. On The Other Side, Nektar have,
Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry, God track, this fascinatingly mysterious gratifyingly, broken on through.
Speed You! Black Emperor violinist work benefits from total immersion CHRIS ROBERTS
Sophie Trudeau, Besnard Lakes guitarist to appreciate its finer impact. KN

progmagazine.com 103

PENDRAGON
GIÖBIA
Love Over Fear TOFF RECORDS
Plasmatic Idol HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS
Come for the artwork and packaging, stay for the songs.
Milano psych rockers stretch out and soar.
hese Italian space cadets it switches from sounding
Thave clearly done their like Primal Scream’s Loaded
homework. Plasmatic Idol on Quaaludes to resembling
absolutely reeks of acid- some wild, lysergic Doors
sodden authenticity, from its out-take. Fans of Loop
eye-popping artwork to the and Hawkwind will feel
myriad subtle touches that immediately in tune with the
make these rambling jams lurching, whacked-out guitar
so instantly addictive. barrage of The Escape and
Rooted in the primitive but The Mirror House, but rather
pulsing textures of late-60s garage- than merely aping their heroes, Giöbia
psych and mind-melting space rock, red- have infused much of this with a loping,
eyed sprawls like opener Parhelion and Afrobeat pulse. When that funky
the driving In The Dawn Light are awash undertow mutates into a thunderous,
s physical media continues to struggle in the face of with spiralling Moogs, twinkling 12-string Sabbathian lollop during The Escape,
streaming, Pendragon provide every possible incentive acoustics and enough reverb and echo you may feel inclined to applaud the
Ato pick up Love Over Fear. As they did for The First to elevate even the most recalcitrant band’s audacity. Meanwhile, Far Behind
40 Years compilation, the new release comes in a beautiful of astral voyagers. The eight-minute is a feast of analogue keys and Goblin-
hardback book, this one filled with photographs, song lyrics, Haridwar is an obvious centrepiece, as like changes of mood and pace. DL
and sumptuous paintings by Liz Saddington. Plus, there are
two extra discs featuring acoustic and instrumental versions
of the album, the latter perfect for a spot of progaoke. It’s CARY GRACE
a wonderful package, although ultimately that wouldn’t
Lady Of Turquoise RECORDSMALL
matter if the music wasn’t compelling. The opening track,
Everything, sees the band channelling early Genesis, with Two-CD release shows a cosmic state of Grace…
Clive Nolan’s pumping organ locking in with drummer Jan hen she’s not building degree of control that
Vincent Velazco, who’s taken over that role from Craig Wher own brand of ensures everything hits
Blundell. What’s most surprising is how much frontman Nick modular synthesisers, US the mark. Of the two discs,
Barrett sounds like Peter Gabriel on this tune, which is not ex-pat multi-instrumentalist/ the second has the most
usually the case for the singer. None of that is intended as vocalist Cary Crace proffers compelling gravity with a run
a criticism, but you’ll be forgiven for doing a doubletake and an absorbing line of languid of six tracks best listened
thereafter Pendragon sound much more like themselves. psych-infused rock. Her to as a near-continuous
serene, impassive vocals, suite. With eddying lead
variously describing drinks guitar patterns etched
A new peak with Baphomet at the end of into Sacrifice, Castle Of
in Pendragon’s the world or remarking upon the magical Dreams and the title track, lasting over

ongoing saga. convergence of ley lines, slice through 10 minutes apiece, are hypnotic and
slow-mo peaks and troughs of distorted insistent, stretching out through a series
growling guitar, thudding drums, and of altered, addictive states. Moving
Lyrically, the album tackles themes of division and unity, gold-spun keyboards. The loose feel through folds of downtempo bliss and
and the importance of the natural world with several songs variously invokes early reverb-drenched dancey krautrock pop workouts, assisted
that reference water, from Starfish And The Moon to Soul And White Hills, the monomaniacal intensity by a line-up that includes members of
The Sea. Barrett occasionally shows his years, particularly of Wooden Shjips, and a touch of late-60s Gong, Grace constructs a transcendental
space that’s all her own. SS
Floyd, but is tempered by a remarkable
in Eternal Light with references to Swallows And Amazons
and an appeal to listeners to ‘Turn off that TV set and read
a book instead.’ That’s admirable enough, but it seems a little
patronising to criticise the social media generation with a line JOHN HOLDEN
like, ‘Don’t fill your snowflake head with how beautiful I am.’ Rise & Fall JOHNHOLDENMUSIC.COM
Okay, Boomer. The multi-instrumentalist’s transcendent, star-studded second album.
Barrett loves to throw in literary references – namechecking
Hemmingway and Solzhenitsyn and borrowing from Sir heshire’s John Holden returns on The Golden
Walter Scott’s Marmion: A Tale Of Flodden Field when he Ccame to our attention in Thread, a gorgeous ballad
sings: ‘This tangled web of lies we weave, when first we practise 2018 with his debut Capture sung with Lauren Nolan to
to deceive.’ Barrett’s lyrics tends towards the prosaic in Who Light, its eye-catching cast Oliver Wakeman’s plangent
Really Are We? and Eternal Light, belonging to that tradition list including Joe Payne, piano. There’s an almost
of singers more interested in exploring an idea than crafting Billy Sherwood and Oliver operatic sweep to these
something for a crowd to singalong with, but he can be Wakeman. Holden’s prog- compositions, which also
elegantly simple in Soul And The Sea or playful in 360 Degrees literate music was strong draws on the spirit of Steve
with its jaunty mandolin, lush strings, and a melody that and his commitment beyond Hackett’s solo work (Dark
brings to mind The Whole Of The Moon by The Waterboys. doubt, and this goes double Arts, dealing with our fake
Whirlwind is a showcase for Clive Nolan’s classically infused for his highly accomplished and news era), the modern prog of a Steven
piano flourishes, Barrett displays the quality of his guitar frequently brilliant follow-up. Across Wilson and the storytelling skill of a Big
work in Truth And Lies, while the grandly dramatic Water seven inspired songs Rise & Fall is Big Train. Nick D’Virgilio’s among the
other collaborators, along with Lux
a rewarding, richly detailed symphonic
builds from a trickle to a deluge. With crystalline production prog album, opening with the intriguing, Terminus keyboard ace Vikram Shankar
and impeccable performances, Love Over Fear marks a new intricate 10-minuter Leap Of Faith, where and Mystery’s Michel St-Père, but the
peak in Pendragon’s ongoing saga. Tiger Moth Tales’ Peter Jones conjures songs come first. The transcendent
DAVID WEST the story of an 11th century Benedictine Ancestors And Satellites closes a work
monk who attempted flight. Joe Payne of substance, beauty and heart. GRM

104 progmagazine.com

ART-ROCK
Chris Roberts samples the new releases on
the prog/rock boundary.
HOW FAR TO HITCHIN
Black Bead Eye SELF-RELEASED
2 019 was a year in which musicians often felt powerless
Orkney-based Englishman’s one-man band make an eccentric, eclectic return.
he title “multi- one swiping at social to dam the relentless tide of bad news. Newcastle’s
Tinstrumentalist” might media on the back of Lanterns On The Lake’s fourth
be a common prog epithet a gnawingly catchy, album Spook The Herd (Bella Union)
these days, but for Paul syncopated pop groove. addresses polarisation and
Dews, it had to be this way. ‘Like my toxic banter, like manipulation, not with worthy hand-
How could any band deal my snide opinions, like my wringing but with poised, rising and
with the idiosyncracies that finger-wagging, like, like, falling soundscapes of both peace
characterise his second like!’ Dews offers, as if and restlessness. From the yearning
album as HFTH? Queen channelling the oddball Every Atom to the bittersweet Baddies,
Of Malice juxtaposes jerky, 80s synthpop of Landscape each track trembles with individual
jazz-rock riffage with Yes-style or Thomas Dolby. Elsewhere, Woman intensity, Hazel Wilde’s voice channelling greats from
harmonies, while stray tunes drift Screaming At Trees begins as a surreal Siouxsie circa Hyaena to Mike Scott circa A Pagan Place.
in as if they’ve been given the wrong monologue but then becomes a noirish, A Northern powerhouse.
address for a party next door, yet synth-soaked lament, then we are Marc Almond’s diverse discography
regularly surfacing are sweet nuggets offered the jaunty indie-folk of has traversed all points of the compass.
of dreamy melody. The warped voice, Bumsurfing, which suggests ‘Let’s get
slithery fretless bass and squeaking a jug of milk and spill it/laugh until Chaos And A Dancing Star (BMG) starts
keyboards of Instant Gratification then we’re madly hopping’. And why not, by quoting Nietzsche in its title then
sound like a completely different artist, Paul? Your gaff, your rules. JS glides upwards from there into
“romantic apocalyptic love songs”.
Dying crows, end of days and
sociopaths feature in this velutinously
crooned, cinematic work, while Jethro
IHSAHN
Telemark CANDLELIGHT Tull’s Ian Anderson, with whom Almond’s
There’s no place like home for the black metal maverick. collaborated before, delivers a flute solo on the pagan
mischief of Lord Of Misrule. Rule-ignoring Norwegian
elemark is a beautiful straightforward march Susanne Sundfør’s 2017 album saw her increasing her flock
Tscenic region located before thundering of admirers while shifting from
to the south of Norway. through a series of electronica towards folk (sorta), but
It’s also the county where dynamic shifts, while third Music For People In Trouble: (Live From
black metal refugee Ihsahn original track Telemark The Barbican) (Bella Union) transforms
grew up and provides the has a folk-like tinge and that intimate record into a colossal,
conceptual basis of two triumphal melodies that creepy beast involving muttering
new EPs from the Emperor evoke the titular landscape. voices and unsettling drones. Imagine
mainman, of which this The EP is rounded off Leonard Cohen produced by The Knife,
is the first. Stridig opens with two covers: a version
in tumultuous style, eerie strafing of Lenny Kravitz’s Rock And Roll Scott Walker remixing Joni Mitchell.
guitars giving way to tense, jabbing Is Dead that finds Ihsahn getting Drones are the very bones
rhythms and guttural vocals. improbably funky – interesting to of Incoherent American Narrative
Though the EP is touted as a return witness a black metal veteran saluting (Prophecy) by Crowhurst and Gavin
to black metal fundamentals, the a black rock artist given the racism Bryars. The former reshapes elements
track’s experimental touches – such that has plagued the genre – while of the latter’s music into a tripartite
as synthesised horns – seem consonant Iron Maiden’s Wrathchild gets desolate ambience:
with his recent work as a progressive a workover that barely deviates from fearful like Trent
outlier. Nord begins as a more the original’s template. JJS Reznor, yet
calming like
Eno. Equally jittery, although its polar
opposite in mood and tempo, is Gentle
INTRONAUT
Stranger’s Love And Unlearn (PRAH),
Fluid Existential Inversions METAL BLADE
a jazzy, hyperactive swoop of clashing
Californian metal explorers deliver their magnum opus. instruments and Slits/Au Pairs yelps
and whispers.
ne of the most Intronaut’s arsenal, but Auteur-cum-columnist Luke Haines continues his
Oboisterously the vocal harmonies and entertaining day job as a waspish songwriter who both loves
experimental metal insistent refrains that grace
bands of their generation, everything from labyrinthine and satirises pop. He’s scored a starry
Intronaut were audibly the opener Cubensis through to team-up as the jaunty Beat Poetry For
verge of greatness on 2015’s warped denouement Sour Survivalists (Cherry Red) is released
The Direction Of Last Things Everythings are uniformly by Luke Haines & Peter Buck.
and this is where they make sublime. Those hoping for The REM man interjects guitars
that final leap. The Los giant, angular riffs will be occasionally as, over crisp neo-glam,
Angeles crew’s sixth full- more than satisfied: The Haines holds forth on Andy Warhol,
length is easily their most accessible, and Cull is a grim but thrilling exercise in Donovan, Bigfoot and ghosts in
yet these are some of the most wilfully dissonant churn, while Check Your Enfield. Also glam,
complex and adventurous songs they’ve Misfortune is a blur of dynamic detours but celebrating Bowie grandeur more
committed to tape. The production is and polyrhythmic sleight-of-hand. Best than Glitter stomp, is former Rachel
stellar and allows each member of the of all, Speaking Of Orbs marries dreamy Stamp singer David Ryder Prangley’s
band to be heard with sparkling clarity, psychedelia with Voivod-esque hooks and sassy, shimmy-hipped, yet sophisticated
but it’s the glorious fluidity of these skull-rattling metal grooves, duly nailing Black Magic & True Love (Serena):
mini-epics that takes the breath away. Intronaut’s unique, charismatic squall in elegant escapism.
Melody has become a major weapon in five succinct minutes. DL

progmagazine.com 105

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PSYCHOTIC WALTZ
ANDY MACKAY & PHIL MANZANERA
The God-Shaped Void INSIDEOUT
Roxymphony EXPANSION
First album in years fills a Psychotic Waltz-shaped void.
Roxy and strings for your pleasure.
hough Roxy Music may remade and remodelled
Twell be moribund, its as a quasi-classical concerto.
back catalogue continues to Sometimes this means the
be tickled back into life by setting hovers between
its members. Bryan Ferry’s straightforward instrumental
retro-translations via 1920s’ reworkings and other tracks
jazz-age argot demonstrated with vocals added as
the surprisingly malleable a kind of anchor. Most
qualities of the writing in successful are the moving
2012. As a live adjunct to his arrangements on Tara
excellent 3 Psalms concert and album and More Than This, glittering with an
in 2018, Andy Mackay, along with Phil unabashed romanticism. The pensive
Manzanera, revisited a few of their back In Every Dream Home A Heartache,
pages, mostly co-composed with Ferry. featuring Yazz Ahmed’s moody trumpet
Rather than a deep-cut symphonic weaving between whispered lyrics, here was a moment in the early 90s when it all might
exploration of the material, tunes such possesses an increasing cinematic have gone differently for Psychotic Waltz. Progressive
as Song For Europe, Out Of The Blue and menace. The brevity of each piece means T metal was going big and the Psychotics were pioneers.
Bitter Sweet have been reupholstered that this old wine in new bottles rarely Their work was every bit as good as Dream Theater,
with orchestral trimmings rather than overstays its welcome. SS Queensrÿche and Fates Warning. Some would say better.
However, whereas that trinity of bands had audiences that
have seen them thrive (in some version) into the present day,
Psychotic Waltz disbanded after 1996’s Bleeding. Perhaps they
GIGI MASIN
were just too bold, or too radical… too progressive. Whatever
Calypso APOLLO
the reason for their dissolution, the release of their first
Sublime ambient odyssey inspired by Greek myths, Joyce, Homer and Byron. album for 24 years, The God-Shaped Void – with the original
line-up to boot – is both welcome and timely.
igi Masin is best known Harold Budd at his most
Gfor his albums Wind pellucid. The structures
(1986) and Les Nouvelles shimmer and pulse in As detailed, precise
Musiques Du Chambre a way that evokes the vivid and hook-laden
with This Heat’s Charles colours of Susumu Yokota’s
Hayward (1989). Although ambient classic Sakura, as ever.
they have been much released in 2000. Calypso
sampled by aficionados, is a sensual, evocative On one level, God-Shaped Void feels as if Devon Graves,
they generally flew under collection, but what is most Dan Rock and co never went away. The songs – exploring
the radar and his releases striking is the feeling of themes of hope in a world abandoned to darkness and
since then have been sporadic and mystery that Masin creates, each piece ungodliness – are as detailed, precise and hook-laden as
often limited editions. But Calypso hinting at something outside itself, ever. Given it’s taken them seven years to record, perhaps
should re-establish the Venetian as on the cryptic combination of that’s unsurprising. Nonetheless, the years melt away in a
keyboard player and composer as electronics, tuned percussion and succession of gritty riffs, soaring solos and clattering drums.
an original voice. Typically his style distant sax of On Demons And However, this album is so much more than a nostalgic run
involves slow-moving chords on which Diamonds, while on Cry Winds Or through the riffs of ‘memory lane’. It’s interesting to compare
are built layers of activity that take Flames a few syllables of female vocals this work to that of recent dark prog artists like Ghost. While
place at different speeds and all topped are processed and looped just slightly Psychotic Waltz are much heavier than the Swedish über-
off with twinkling melodic detail, like off kilter, like a siren’s call. MB
Satanic metallers, The God-Shaped Void shares the Swedes’
fearless use of proper and disconcerting melody. Opener
Devils And Angels has sweet harmonised vocals over groovy
riffing, while Back To Black is practically a metal dance-
RODNEY MATTHEWS AND JEFF SCHEETZ
groove. Pull The String – with its talk of ‘Satan calling’ and its
WITH OLIVER WAKEMAN
blacker-than-black chord structure – might add up to a paint-
Trinity RODNEY MATTHEWS STUDIOS
by-numbers metal track. However, Graves’ vocal work is
Star-studded visual and aural treat.
outstanding, clear and sweet, yet always slightly out of phase.
abours of love always grooved rocker Mirador and Add in a bit of his flute-work and it all sounds very fresh.
Lrisk becoming bloated the ‘full-Tolkien’ acoustica It isn’t all chugging groove-metal either. The Fallen
with the weight of their of Rivendell. Oliver seamlessly builds from phaser-laden acoustic guitars and
creator’s dreams. According Wakeman brings a quiet spooky vocals to a fist-pumping refrain and a clinically
to Rodney Matthews – elegance to the pretty depraved wig-out from Brian McAlpin. Graves’ lyrics
drummer, co-writer, and fierce Night On The Bare construct a world peopled by angels with guns and creepy
noted artist, whose work Mountain, while November devils who crawl inside people’s minds. If that all seems
has graced the albums of Wedding is a piano- a bit overblown, so what? That’s metal, and on material as
Ian Anderson, Magnum et al wrangler’s delight. The strong as While The Spiders Spin – which combines acoustic,
– this album was 58 years in vinyl includes three bonus harmonised lead guitars and finger-bleeding riffage – and
the making. Trinity could have been tracks, including a proggy take on the In The Silence it all works beautifully.
a mess, but it’s well worth the wait. Christmas carol I Saw Three Ships. The When Psychotic Waltz re-release their back catalogue later
Matthews and co-creator Jeff Scheetz – instrumental title track seamlessly
ably assisted by some of rock’s finest, blends hymn quotes with chops from this year, it will reveal, perhaps, how much The God-Shaped
including Magnum’s Tony Clarkin – pull prog’s glory-days as ‘Wakeman R’ bangs Void is a step forward. Hopefully, it won’t be 23 years before
off a minor miracle. Sure, this is classic, out the chords on a church organ. The their next album appears.
pomp-heavy 70s style prog, but it’s a joy artwork is simply sensational and worth RACHEL MANN
to behold. Standouts include the slow- the entry price alone. RM

progmagazine.com 107

TAME IMPALA
LOREENA MCKENNITT
The Slow Rush FICTION
Live At The Royal Albert Hall QUINLAN ROAD
Aussie poptician returns with more Utopian beats and euphoric futurism.
Career peak swansong for the Celtic-mystic folk maven.
eleasing the first of the Mediterranean. As
Rher 10 studio albums documented on this two-
35 years ago, Canadian CD set, McKennitt went out
folk singer Loreena with a celestial bang for the
McKennitt announced UK at the Royal Albert Hall
she would be retiring with a set unsurprisingly
after last year’s tour weighted towards Lost
to promote Lost Souls. Souls, including The Ballad
Including live albums, Of The Fox Hunter, Manx
McKennitt has sold 14 Ayre and the yearning
million records, seducing huge A Hundred Wishes, the live setting
audiences with her crystal-clear highlighting her clarion solo voice away
soprano and exotic backdrops blending from the album’s rich orchestrations.
traditional Celtic folk and world music, The night was obviously made magically
fter two albums of well-received retro psychedelia, notably Middle Eastern. McKennitt perfect for devotees by including older
Tame Impala – essentially the solo project of always went to the source to lend songs such as The Mummers Dance
AAustralian wunderkind Kevin Parker – made what her songs extra authoritative depth, and The Lady Of Shalott which, when
for many fans felt like a pretty radical change in direction on whether Ireland to learn the harp or released in the 90s, unfurled a next
2015’s Currents, an album that embraced modern R&B-infused studying ancient local history while in step from folk-rock. KN
pop with gusto. Out went the trippy guitar riffs and Beatles-
esque arrangements, in came thumping beats and a euphoric
electro-funk vibe. Slowly but surely, Tame Impala has become NOUS
a global music phenomenon, one that, judging by even a casual
Nous II OUR SILENT CANVAS
perusal of comments on YouTube, has connected deeply with
a generation of young people seeking something meaningful NYC improv crew up the post-rock ante.
in a troubled world.
n-keeping with New York of Godspeed You! Black
ICity’s reputation as a sonic Emperor and other post-
Dizzyingly lush melting pot, experimental rock luminaries here, but
and often post-rock project Nous resemblances are fleeting

dazzlingly intense. exhibit a total disregard for as Bono and a cast of
collaborators revel in
convention or boundaries
during their second improvisational fervour.
Unsurprisingly, Parker continues this trajectory on The spontaneous full-length Here In My Chest It Is
Slow Rush, but delves even deeper into the sonic possibilities creation. Led by multi- What It Is is particularly
afforded by today’s studio technology, producing an album instrumentalist Christopher thrilling: underpinned by
that’s dizzyingly lush and often dazzlingly intense. Parker’s Bono and powered by the breathless a swaggering Afrobeat pulse, it begins
knack for affecting melodies is still very much in evidence, but percussion of Swans alumnus Thor as a shimmering punk-jazz free-for-all,
there’s a greater tonal variation than on Currents, which makes Harris, Nous II begins with Look Again before melodies and chordal shifts seep
for a more engaging and immersive listening experience. At That Dot, a fluid but fractious jam through the melee. Even better, Uthando
According to the accompanying blurb, The Slow Rush is all with a fidgety funk beat and ripples of reveals a subtler, more melancholy side
about our perception of time, and the intriguing and distinctly analogue synth that builds to a titanic to the ensemble’s adventures, with
Ballardian imagery of empty rooms inundated by sand drifts crescendo of distortion and wild drum woodwind and strings entwining with
used to promote it certainly chimes with this, as does the fills before shuffling to a tense but tonally bittersweet piano and the reassuring,
echoey twang of a hollow body guitar. DL
rich conclusion. You may detect shades
opening track One More Year, Parker’s angelic but slightly care-
worn falsetto lamenting the inevitable passage of the days
– he sounds almost overpowered by the track’s pounding
energy. Instant Destiny is sci-fi yacht rock, its arpeggiated, OCH
serpentine synth evoking visions of a future metropolis, while II ROCKET
Borderline is just one of a number of songs here that seem to Intriguing krautrocky debut from shady Swedish trio.
exist simultaneously in different musical eras – 70s disco,
80s funk, 90s rave – yet its wonderfully slinky chorus floats uch like labelmates and early 70s (particularly
outside of any given time. Mand countrymen Cluster, Neu! and Popol
It’s not all about the dancefloor though. Posthumous Goat, there’s a deliberate Vuh), using drones and
Forgiveness is a sad-eyed 60s organ and guitar ballad retooled air of mystery surrounding percussive rhythms to
for the 21st century, and there’s more than a hint of fellow OCH. Their name is Swedish create atmospheric
countrymen Air Supply on the spacey On Track. This idea that for ‘and’, plus there’s very pieces that drift in and
Parker is at heart an AOR classicist is given credence by the little history to speak of, out of focus like clouds
staccato electric piano and rock groove of It Might Be Time, save for a self-released EP on a moody day. A sinister
which could be Supertramp soundtracking Grand Theft Auto. several years ago. But they sense of dread pervades
Lost In Yesterday pulls a similar trick, its Afrobeat rhythm and appear to be an offshoot of the industrial ambience
supple bass like an android mash-up of Peter Gabriel and Toto. another Swedish act on the of Den Såmm Bor I Tarim; a train
Then just when you think you’ve got a handle on Tame Rocket label, Flowers Must Die, accelerates from a station on Jag Är
Impala’s Utopian hyper-pop, the album ends with the dramatic whose rhythm section of Martin Daun Här, Jag Är Här; a dancing electronic
figure adds colour to Pandemi På
and Lars Hoffsten make up two-thirds
power chords and fizzing guitars of One More Hour, Parker of the Linköping-based band. The Händelö. The real keeper is the
isolated in the spotlight once again, suggesting a darkness other member is artist/musician delicious Nu:64, which hits on
hiding amid The Slow Rush’s hi-watt intoxication. Fredric Ilmarson. Their instrumental a spacey groove that gathers
JOE BANKS music is reminiscent of the sounds that everything in its path and points
emerged from Germany in the late 60s to a digressive new future. RH

108 progmagazine.com

JAZZ PROG
Sid Smith rounds up the best releases
from prog’s jazzier reaches.
ORANGE CLOCKS
Metamorphic BAD ELEPHANT
An upwelling of cosmic awareness in Rushden.
amuel Hällkvist’s Dekorum is a side-
orthamptonshire septet Space Shanty also drifts project of the Swedish guitarist best known
NOrange Clocks return into the frame. By contrast, S for his work in Isildurs Bane. Tracing a line
with their second album, on Miles Away they initially from King Crimson’s Discipline and the likes of
which is a portal into adopt a far more subtle Sonar, for Live (Bandcamp) this rocking quartet
a psychedelic world that’s Floydian tread before add pointillistic rhythmic interplay to huge
well worth exploring. Their accelerating into a wah-wah surging waves of drama from the other guitar,
colourful, textured music is fest. But proceedings take bass, and drums, across which Hällkvist’s guitar
produced by two guitarists an unexpected turn on surfs and weaves. Filled with knotty dialogue it’s also
with a penchant for FX, the 28-minute Noggy Pop. blessed with big themes and a chiming internal alchemy that
a synth player and someone It builds for nine minutes, makes for compulsive listening.
playing “samples and sounds”, then suddenly stops, leaving the final Kit Downes’ Dreamlife Of Debris (ECM) haunts some of the
overlaying a rhythm section of slightly chord hanging like a question mark in sacred spaces his previous album, Obsidian
distorted bass and chunky drums. On silence. What gradually re-emerges occupied. Entwined around his undulating
the opening Space Witch, the strong is a drumless, pulsing landscape of piano or the radiant strains of church organ,
vocal melodies and shifts in metre that electronics, echoed guitars and distant tenor sax, cello, the shimmering rime of Stian
carry the tale of their collective object voices that keeps morphing for nigh on
of desire prompt thoughts of a heavier 20 minutes. Admittedly it does rather Westerhus’ guitar and the occasional
Gong and Hawkwind at their most unbalance the album, but it also closes percussion all variously offer close-quarter,
lyrical, while the spectre of Khan’s Metamorphic in epic fashion. MB intimate responses to Downes’ impressionistic
sweep or nebulous harmonic clusters.
With sleeve notes by Bill Bruford endorsing
Sirkis/Bialas IQ’s Our New Earth (Moonjune), the album is
a rich and satisfying collection propelled by
REVBJELDE
Hooha Hubbub BURIED TREASURE drummer Asaf Sirkis leading a keyboards and
Dazzlingly odd second album by Alan Gubby and his “protean noise-folk collective”. bass trio with Polish-born vocalist Sylwia Bialas,
fully integrated as the fourth instrumentalist.
hen Peter Hope petrostates, finds Hope The delicate beauty of the ballad Chiaroscuro
Wmenacingly intones, barking like Beefheart particularly impresses long after the tour of
‘When the chaos comes to some bluesy hoodoo, prog and folk-tinged influences is concluded.
what will you do?’ on the punctuated by foetid blasts Though Martin Archer’s Anthropology
title track, it feels that it’s of electronics, while on Band (Discus) readily acknowledges its debt to
already arrived. Veering Voix De La Plage, Tim Hill’s electric-era Miles as a starting point, it quickly
from pastoral evocations lyrical but edgy sax enlivens hurtles off into its own distinctive space. Chris Sharkey’s
to angry outbursts, an instrumental that vivid, blazing guitar adds a fevered
Revbjelde’s music is an sounds like a fun time counterpoint to Archer’s sinuous brass themes
apposite soundtrack to spent on a polluted beach.
a modern Britain full of bile, Compare and contrast with Severance, which frame much of this two-CD set. Gong
recrimination and disinformation, but a lyrical meeting of guitar, double bass bassist Dave Sturt brings notable definition,
also locates a dark humour within it all. and Mellotron, and Time Be Kind, an the second disc adding a larger brass and wind
On Verdant Green, Emma Churchley’s electronic glam rock stomper in search ensemble, which is interesting but lacks the
wordless vocals seem to have drifted of a vocal line. On an accompanying lithe clarity of Disc One’s septet.
in from a creepy 60s film soundtrack, CD, multi-instrumentalist and producer Compared to their 2014 self-titled ECM
and float over vibraphone figures and Gubby presents a 30-minute “Redacted debut, Lumen Drones’ Umbra (Hubro)
a fidgety rhythm section with squelchy Mix”, a sonic collage that only initially seems a more reflective affair. Yet very quickly Nils
bass synth. Swamp Gas, a swipe at intensifies its mystery. MB Økland’s amped-up hardanger fiddle locks into
the choppy, motorik grooves of Per Stainar Lie’s
mesmeric guitar and Ørjan Haaland’s insistent
drumming. The folkish instrumental roots
SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE
frequently transmogrify into something that
Companion Rises DRAG CITY
veers into the Conrad/Young school of trance-
Esoteric US guitarist-composer on killer form. inducing sonic experimentation and a cathartic
space rock whose sound is visceral and vital.
en Chasny has busied vocals. The outcome is Julia Hülsmann Quartet’s Not Far From Here
Bhimself with a number a richly layered work (ECM) is in confident form as befits a pianist of her standing.
of bands over the years, that demands attention,
from Comets On Fire be it the overlapping folk Hülsmann’s gasp-inducing command of
to Magik Markers to rhythms of The Scout Is light and dark with her regular trio now
Rangda, but Six Organs Here, ruptured by bursts have added tenor saxist Uli Kempendorff’s
Of Admittance has of processed guitar, or firepower to deepen an inquisitive impulse
remained a constant force the graceful, contoured that traverses jazzy abstraction and
in his creative life since the motion of Two Forms a scintillating, percolating cover of David
late 90s. Companion Rises Moving. A synth adds Bowie’s This Is Not America.
is the latest variation on a theme sunlight to Black Tea, brightening the The euphonious elements at the heart of
that continues to fascinate: the corners of a ritualistic electro-acoustic Snarky Puppy’s appeal are also present in
relationship between crisp acoustic piece, while The 101 relies on heavy Mr. Chair’s debut, Nebulebula (Bandcamp), a Wisconsin-
motifs and experimental drone-rock, percussion for impact. By the time based quartet boasting dolorous trombone and
driven by an intensity that never lets he reaches Haunted And Known and fizzing keyboards. Wide, accommodating grooves
up. Unlike 2017’s many-handed Burning closing track Worn Down To The Light, also play host to guesting players and occasional
The Threshold, Chasny opts to go it he’s settled into a more meditative vocal/spoken passages on a double album that’s
alone this time round, overdubbing space, akin to setting up camp after largely comfortable, genteel listening.
restless guitar lines, synths and hushed an arduously rewarding journey. RH

TOUNDRA
SLIFT
Das Cabinet Des Dr Caligari INSIDEOUT
Ummon STOLEN BODY
Excellent soundtrack from Spanish proggers.
We have Slift-off for the French trio’s second album.
pace rock has rarely years, but their palette
Senjoyed having its is wider, regurgitating Sex
frontiers as stretched and, Pistols riffs against volcanic
ultimately, defined as on this freakbeat on Thousand
gloriously unfettered debut Helmets Of Gold, lumbering
from Toulouse trio Slift. in stoner heaven like
In terms of widescreen Galactus stuck on his
vision, dementedly complex space-throne on Citadel On
arrangements and brutal A Satellite and vomiting
sonic attack, drummer a psychotic racket over the
Canek Flores, guitarist Jean Fossat convulsing ghosts of distant prog riffs
and his bassist bro’ Remi take the on Sonar, before Lions, Tigers And Bears
whole space-cake, gorge it to the hits warp 10 thrash. Inspired by Alain
glowering bone and spit it back out Damasio’s sci-fi novels and conceived
nstrumental progressive music, and post-rock in with a gargantuan interstellar belch that as the soundtrack to an imaginary film
particular, is often described as ‘cinematic’, with bands makes Hawkwind’s recent set sound like concerning Titans combing the cosmos
I finding themselves on movie soundtracks, whether it’s Olly Murs. Ironically, the trio’s random and returning to Earth, ray guns blazing,
Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s East Hastings in 28 Days deployment of Martian khazi analogue this superbly mangled cosmic uproar
Later or This Will Destroy You’s The Mighty Rio Grande in synth blasts recalls Hawkwind’s early pushes all dials past red. KN
Moneyball. More rare is a band soundtracking a film, though
both Mogwai and 65daysofstatic did so last decade.

DAMO SUZUKI & LAPIS LAZULI
There are enough hooks Live At The Ramsgate Music Hall 21.09.2019 SELF RELEASED
to grab onto without The ex-Can man meets the Kentish psych-proggers.
the moving images. amo Suzuki’s Never are longueurs and after

DEnding Tour started a gentle abstract beginning
To wit, this new album from Spanish post-rockers Toundra in 2004 and for this they remain in the same
is a soundtrack for Robert Wiene’s German expressionist remarkable undertaking sort of groove for about
classic, The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari, a silent horror film where he improvises with 30 minutes, so there’s
a hypnotist uses a sleepwalker to kill his victims. Not playing musicians local to each a liberating feeling when
it simultaneously with the film admittedly loses some of its venue. He has added his the playing starts to
impact, but it’s unlikely that many outside of diehard fans vocals to instrumental fragment. It then goes
will choose to experience the record this way. Luckily, like combinations ranging from sparse and slow, with Damo
their previous albums, there are enough hooks to grab onto brass ensembles to massed adopting a basso profundo
even without the moving images to play off. Throughout, guitarists and there are no rules, growl and chattering in tongues before
there’s a layered, menacing atmosphere created by Toundra’s but groups would do well to avoid they accelerate into a speedy and
trademark call-and-answer guitars. doing ersatz Can. Canterbury-based syncopated home stretch. A second
The highlights of this six-act recording include the Lapis Lazuli steer clear of all that and CD, Louis Padilla’s Muzak Uzi, finds
crescendo of Akt II and the Floyd-esque final third of Akt III, their supple, sinuous approach on Lapis Lazuli improvising in the studio
with its increasingly climactic drums and vintage synth two guitars, bass and drums find the and this eight-track set is more
leads, which are juxtaposed against guitars that recall David quartet playing off each other and stylistically varied, veering from terse
Gilmour’s dotted eighth grooves from Floyd’s Run Like Hell. Damo’s vocal incantations with flair riffing to mutated funk to spacey,
psychedelic jams. MB
and imagination. Unsurprisingly there
Interspersed with these intense sections, which are
definitely Toundra’s stronger suit, are more sparse,
contemplative passages, such as the first half of Akt IV. Like
the two tracks preceding it, this one builds to a squalling THE HOMESICK
release that marks the point at which, without moving images The Big Exercise SUB POP
to counterpart the music, the album begins to drag slightly. Dutch trio’s wonk-pop horizons broaden out in style.
In response to the film, the continuing tension and release
cycles of dynamics make sense; however, without the visual his young Dutch three- lyrics on the track
component it does mean that the tracks are somewhat Tpiece’s second album “document a macabre
predictable. Not only that, but they’re divided into longer takes its title from a vision he had during
tracks that broadly follow the same quiet, loud, quiet passage in the Scott Walker a mild case of sleep
structure: this not only means that they cease to be able to biography Deep Shade paralysis”. We’ve all been
surprise the listener, but also that the album itself is less Of Blue, and on the there. Elsewhere, hints of
digestible. Perhaps instead of drastically different sections accompanying promo MGMT’s antsy but upbeat
within a longer track, it would have made sense to subdivide material they claim heavy psych-pop and Tame
them further into shorter songs. It’s by no means a deal- influence from avant- Impala’s head-swimming
breaker, but there is a sense in which, say, Akt V could just classical composer Meredith lysergic dreamscapes can
have easily been separated into two, or even three different Monk and US vocal experimentalist be heard, but the best thing is you
songs instead of one long one. Joan La Barbara. But amid those rarely never know quite what is coming next:
That aside, although soundtrack albums often struggle to decipherable high art inspirations they What’s In Store and Children’s Day are
stand on their own, Das Cabinet Des Dr Caligari is interesting admit they’re “playing around in the introduced with ambient noise akin
pop framework”, and this is where they
to someone’s toothbrushing regime
enough to warrant a good listen, especially for proggers not really strike a chord. I Celebrate My being documented; Male Bonding’s
intimidated by 10-minute-plus tracks. Fantasy is particularly ear-wormy, built juxtaposition of post-punk guitar shards
ALEX LYNHAM around a breathless central riff redolent and screaming bursts of hardcore is
of the Monochrome Set. Elias Elgersma’s a startling, invigorating joy. JS

110 progmagazine.com

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST
Grant Moon has a rummage down the back of
the Prog sofa for the ones that nearly got away…
THIEVES’ KITCHEN
Genius Loci SELF-RELEASED
To Canterbury via Sweden.
cclaimed drum maestro Virgil Donati is renowned
or anyone unenthused most ambitious track for his work with giants such as Allan
Fabout the contemporary on the album, The Voice AHoldsworth and Steve Vai, and for
prevalence of macho prog Of The La, allows plenty a serious prog/fusion workout look no
metal, or simply worn out of opportunities for further than his third solo album. Ruination
by shred guitar solos, keyboardist Thomas (Gildon) is packed with crunching riffs and
Thieves’ Kitchen will Johnson and guitarist rhythms, mind-boggling guitar (and decent
provide a balm to your Phil Mercy to take their vocals) from Irwin Thomas, burbling
tired soul and ringing ears. moments leading the Hammond organs, plus a theory manual’s
The seventh album from band, but it’s refreshing worth of unusual scales, harmonies and
the British-Swedish group to hear musicians who incredible percussion. Donati and band
continues in the musical vein of don’t feel like they have to fit their make this deep, muso stuff sound graceful and accessible.
2015’s The Clockwork Universe, with entire careers into every solo they play. Less demanding but no less involving, Sane is the
a Canterbury-inspired sound drawing In contrast to the multifarious moods third, self-released album from St Petersburg’s Walking
in folk and classical influences. Vocalist of The Voice Of The Lar, Poison Garden Across Jupiter. They’ve played on bills
Amy Darby has the admirable ability to is a stripped-back, elegant duet with TesseracT, Skyharbor, Monuments
phrase her lines so they flow over all between Darby’s vocals and Johnson and Periphery and that metallic DNA
the odd measures while maintaining on piano. Genius Loci is an album filled shows here. While there are few
the melody, and she never has to fight with warm hues and verdant landscapes
for room in the mix. Arguably the to explore and savour. DW surprises, this is still efficient djenty
goodness, as the Russians temper their
brutal sonic palette with a sensitive,
melodic approach.
Meanwhile, Bangalore prog rockers
THY CATAFALQUE
Naiv SEASON OF MIST Rainburn are back with a companion
Hungary for eclecticism? Tuck in. EP for their 2018 debut, Insignify. Resignify
(Unherd Music) which comprises live
nother journey into toothsome. The folk-inspired performances and ‘stripped-down and
Amystery from Tamás vocals of Embersólyom re-dressed’ songs from the debut, the
Kátai, now on his ninth (care of Martina Veronika strongest being Elusive Light – Resignified.
album under the Thy Horváth) lend the track an The very Western-sounding original is all
Catafalque banner. On the air of archaic intrigue while the better for being imbued with exciting
strength of the nine pieces its heavier riffs are sparingly, Indian percussion and violins.
here the Hungarian trickster masterfully deployed. At Worlds and genres collide on Wild Wild
shows no sign of slowing eight minutes-plus Vetö is East (Smithsonian Folkways), by Brooklyn-
down nor opting for a single the album’s epic, relatively based Indian-American dhol drummer Sunny Jain.
genre, instead distilling speaking, pirouetting This runaway train of a record hurtles
elements of metal, gothic rock, folk through harmonic guitar interplay, through Sufi and surf music, post- and
and prog into a rich, darkly hued brew layered vocals (Horváth again), tidal
that’s as accessible as it is experimental. riffage and solo synthwork that recalls noise-rock, Bhangra, Canterbury, country
Tsitsushka is the first track here to really the squiggle of Patrick Moraz’s playing and rap in a truly progressive way. Jain’s
get the juices flowing, a collision of for Yes circa Relayer. If this all sounds subverting American myths of The
sounds – rolling basslines, synthetic a bit precious, it isn’t; Kátai’s grasp of West/the cowboy figure aims to reframe
brass, baroque keyboard solos – that dynamics is firm throughout, the album’s the migrant experience in the US, but
should probably result in something constant motion leaving the listener crucially he lets the music do the talking.
ungainly but in practice proves rather breathless and energised. JJS It’s a vibrant album and you’re unlikely
to hear anything like it this year.
Peter Bingham’s Welsh psych rockers Sendelica have been
a fixture on the psych scene since the mid 2000s. The
ZIO
guitarist’s latest project, Lost Stoned Pandas, offers up three
Flower Torania SELF-RELEASED
spacey joints on the self-released EP,
All-star fantastic voyage through the prog-o-sphere. Pandamonium. Former Curved Air violinist
Paul Sax brings some gorgeous electric fiddle
rummer and producer expected. There are dashes lines, and the static noise, squalling guitar
DJimmy Pallagrosi has of AOR and plenty of silky and repetitive bass of Panda Dub is a doozy…
assembled an impressive harmonies to keep fans or should that be doobie? Their full-length
cast for this crowd-funded of melody happy, but it’s debut is on the way on, naturally, the Fruits
sci-fi prog extravaganza. Pallagrosi’s invention that
With Heather Findlay, Joe nudges Flower Torania from De Mer label.
Payne, Hayley Griffiths and pretty good to genuinely And if that’s not out-there enough for
Franck Carducci providing great. Erwin’s Opera is the you, THE WATTS are former Henry Cow
vocals and Haken’s Richard jewel in this shiny crown: members Tim Hodgkinson and Chris
Henshall contributing from ethereal haze to Cutler, and avant-garde vocalist-pianist Yumi Hara. Initially
a blistering lead or two, Flower Torania thunderous, quasi-math rock and back Decoherence (Bonobo’s Ark) sounds as if the trio have fallen
is an ambitious affair. Fortunately, the again, it’s a stunning piece of music that into the window display of a musical instrument shop and
music that Pallagrosi has written to pointedly showcases everyone involved are trying to wade their way out. But
underpin the whole bombastic enterprise while still packing a hefty melodic repeated plays suggest these might be
is every bit as grand and dramatic as you punch. Audibly having a fantastic time four arty, sophisticated psychodramas
might expect, songs such as X-Ray and throughout, Carducci has stated that after all. Whichever way you’re inclined,
Straight Up From Underneath blending ZIO’s music is “like Whitney Houston this is rich, highly seasoned gruel.
familiar (modern) prog tropes with meets Freddie Mercury performing with
an exuberant disregard for doing the Rush!” and he’s bang on the money. DL

progmagazine.com 111

Old turns…










KARNIVOOL
BRIAN DAVISON’S EVERY WHICH WAY
Themata/Sound Awake/Asymmetry INSIDEOUT
Brian Davison’s Every Which Way ESOTERIC
Aussie tech-metal pioneers embrace vinyl for their three albums.
Strong solo debut from the ex-Nice drummer.
he weight of today’s scrutiny exactly
Tbecoming a footnote 50 years after it was
in someone else’s story first released. Built
can be especially hard around the songwriting
to bear when you’re talent of Graham Bell,
a damn good musician who’d done time with
in your own right. Such Skip Bifferty in the 60s,
has been the fate of the laidback mood
bassist Lee Jackson and of the album reflects
drummer Brian Davison, Davison’s stated view
who helped propel Keith that he was looking for
Emerson to stardom ‘quiet music’ after
with The Nice. In 1970, rejected and all the razzmatazz that went with The
forced to watch from the wings as Nice and accounts for his understated
iming is everything in the world of prog. If there ELP set off to conquer the world, they but always thoughtful contribution.
was any justice in this ludicrous, berk-filled world, ended up reinventing their respective Geoff Peach’s flute and sax, along with
T Karnivool would be universally regarded as the creative careers from scratch with Jackson the biting blues-inflected lead guitar
and commercial equals of tech-metal giants TesseracT and Heights and Every Which Way of John Hedley, both shine throughout,
Periphery. In fact, the Australians arguably deserve to be respectively. With both outfits recording especially on the long-hair opus The
regarded as among the scene’s earliest protagonists, having a single album apiece for Charisma, Light and the doleful refrains of Bed
formed in 1997 and released their debut album, Themata, a full their bid to restore their headliner Ain’t What It Used To Be whose four-
five years before either of the aforementioned bands squeezed status was ultimately doomed to fail. note guitar motif underneath Peach’s
out a full-length. Unfortunately, due to a tendency to take Even when the duo reunited with strident rhapsodising bears a striking
four years to make a record, Karnivool’s rise has not been as Patrick Moraz as Refugee in 1973, resemblance to a similar device offered
up by David Gilmour during Shine On
recording their debut album the
meteoric as their music plainly deserves. Consequently, these following year, betrayal and tragedy You Crazy Diamond. Topped with Bell’s
lavish vinyl reissues of all three of the quintet’s albums to date weren’t far behind as Moraz jumped soulful vocals, this is a quintessential
are long overdue and ripe for wide-eyed reassessment. It also ship to join Yes effectively consigning slice of Charisma label rock. Long out
seems fairly likely that this comprehensive splurge indicates the duo to oblivion and yet another of print and long overlooked, it’s
that a new album will probably be along shortly. Either way, footnote in the biography of another heartening to see Every Which Way
these are fantastic-sounding records, on vinyl or not. band. Though lacking any extra tracks, finally receive the reissue and perhaps
the original content stands up well to the attention it so richly deserves. SS
Asymmetry is full
of glorious songs and

eccentric audacity. CREAM
Goodbye Tour Live 1968 UNIVERSAL
Themata might not seem an especially audacious debut, Prog’s first supergroup at full blast on four-CD farewell set.
jaded as we are by many years of similar-sounding records,
but in 2005 it was revolutionary, as Karnivool whipped up ream embarked on The setlist barely
a storm of Tool-tinged polyrhythms and soaring melodies, Ctheir Goodbye Tour changes from night to
all blessed with artful post-rock sensibilities and produced in October 1968, hot on night, but in their hands
with a futuristic flourish. 2009’s Sound Awake was even better the heels of the wildly signature tunes I’m
and still firmly ahead of the curve: everything from wistfully successful Wheels Of So Glad, Spoonful and
Sunshine of Your Love
Fire double LP. Their
vicious opener Simple Boy through to closing epics Deadman conquest of the United are subject to on-the
and Change (Part 2) proclaimed a blossoming of the band’s States had come at a spot reworkings,
songwriting and ensemble chemistry, with vocalist Ian heavy price. Jack Bruce, enabling all three
Kenny delivering a near-iconic performance that has been Ginger Baker and Eric musicians to soar
endlessly ripped off by aspiring djentlemen ever since. Clapton were still firing to new heights.
Proving that complexity and melody need not be uneasy on all cylinders musically With energy so
bedfellows, Goliath and Set Fire To The Hive are simply but driven to the end of their respective fiercely focused on their playing, don’t
modern prog metal benchmarks. tethers by the battle of giant egos. go expecting any between-song quips.
Another four-year gap before third album Asymmetry may Our conquering heroes did a victory Introductions are distinctly no-frills:
have squandered the momentum built up by Sound Awake, lap of US venues worthy of gladiators “And now we’re gonna do Crossroads…”,
but in musical terms the wait was more than justified. Their – coliseums, forums and arenas – with the exception of Buddy Miles at the
finest album by some distance, its mesmerising blend of bludgeoning their audience into LA show: “Dig these three outta sight
grandiose emotional crescendos and unhinged experimental submission with displays of high- groovy cats.” CD Four, Cream’s final
detours positioned Karnivool far closer to prog’s spiritual volume virtuosity and improvisation show from the Royal Albert Hall
epicentre than ever before. By this point, comparisons to that have never been surpassed, five (subsequently to become Clapton’s
other bands were redundant: Asymmetry is a singular decades on. spiritual home in the UK) suffers from
statement, full of glorious songs and moments of eccentric The original 1969 release of Goodbye poor sound quality compared with the
audacity. Best exemplified by the thrilling moment where comprised three live cuts from Los US recordings. At least we get to hear
grimy, scabrous interlude A.M. War morphs into the sky- Angeles Forum along with three studio the songs without the accompaniment
kissing splendour of We Are, Asymmetry is both sophisticated recordings. This four-CD set comprises of Tony Palmer’s annoying camerawork.
Hiss and crackle aside, the imploding
the full shows from Oakland, Los
and fearless. It also sounds fabulous on vinyl, as you might Angeles and San Diego, along with power trio bows out in old England
expect, and will have fans salivating about how good the the final concert at Royal Albert Hall. with a taut yet blistering version of
next Karnivool album could be. Of the 36 tracks (what, no Badge?), Steppin’ Out that takes no prisoners
DOM LAWSON 19 are previously unreleased and 10 and renders all previous elaborations
available on CD for the first time. to dust. CE

112 progmagazine.com

DAVE KERZNER
ARVE HENRIKSEN
Breakdown: A Compilation 1995-2019
The Timeless Nowhere RUNE GRAMMOFON
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE RECORDING CO
Sublime retrospective from post-ambient pioneer.
Prog polymath celebrates quarter-century of active service.
orwegian trumpeter impassioned Esperanto
NArve Henriksen straight from the heart.
drifted way beyond jazz The short span of
or any of the other genre- individual tracks on
flags that can sometimes Captured Under
help us navigate our way Mountainsides,
around an artist’s output. Acousmograph,
If you had to put one Cryosphere, and Towards
on him then perhaps Language – Live At Punkt,
‘ambient’ would suffice is sequenced in a flow
but that would be lazy. that fosters a sense of
Henriksen’s music has so journey. In just a few
much more life, vitality, and intense focus short minutes the humid, amorphous
than the passivity implicit in such a label. soundclouds can suddenly give way
Even accepting his prolific output over to Nordic idylls whose ravishing tunes eyboard and tech wizard Dave Kerzner has become
the years it still comes as a shock to learn sparkle and trickle like waterfalls off into a cornerstone of US prog over the last 25 years as
that the entire contents of this exquisite deep, cavernous fjords, resounding to Kdigital pioneer, collaborator and artist in his own right.
four-LP set are previously unreleased the resonance of wistful brass or spectral This two-CD selection of career highlights (often alternative
material from the last decade. choir. With an astonishingly high hit-rate, versions) is like a Pacific highway cruise, traversing mid-to-
Henriksen’s melodies feel as though almost every track across each of these late period Floyd, Yes in astral gossamer mode and mucho
they’ve been wind-blown down the four discs is a masterpiece in miniature, Genesis; ornately widescreen, richly dense, politely soul-
centuries or exhumed from the expertly tooled, forged and born in the seeking and unusually melodic, draping David Gilmour-
permafrost of ancient memories. As his moment, a product of intuition and meets-the-Eagles vocals over keening backdrops laced with
trumpet traces a gorgeous shining line elements of chance. Most importantly, soaring guitars and Kerzner’s multi-tiered, high-tech keys.
that shimmers simply like a halo, it’s Henriksen’s work possesses the kind of
often joined by the cool swell of luscious profound emotional catharsis that seems
strings, twinkling dots of synthesiser deliberately drained from much of His career highlights
fairy lights, or chill echo of voices. Like today’s ambient scene which often are like a Pacific
his work on trumpet, Henriksen’s vocals elevates stasis over sensitivity. The highway cruise.
occupy the higher registers. With Timeless Nowhere is haunted by
a child-like purity, words and wordless heartwarming and heartbreakingly
intonations flutter into life, an beautiful music. SS Dave Kerzner made his name in the 90s sampling his
collection of rare musical instruments using the new 16-bit
stereo digital technology, licensing his arsenal to software
giants before working for names including Madonna and
MIGUEL NOYA
Ringo Starr as musician and sound engineer. In 1994, Kerzner
Canciones Vivientes PHANTOM LIMB
played on Kevin Gilbert’s Thud solo album and in the late
Venezuelan electronic pioneer revealed on double album. Giraffe singer’s touring band that appeared on 1999’s
posthumously-released Live At The Troubadour (providing
risis-torn Venezuela and Inoculación turns this set’s earliest track with the moody Joytown). After
Chas a history of aboriginal marimba collaborating with Simon Collins (son of Phil) on 2008’s
brutal social turbulence and flute into a hypnotic U-Catastrophe, the pair formed Sound Of Contact and released
and political mayhem, loop that sounds like 2013’s Dimensionaut. Along with a pastoral live rework of its
its music is known as Terry Riley boarding Omega Point, there’s a previously unreleased studio take of
a melting pot of ethnic mid-period Tangerine
styles. Unheard by the Dream. The tribal Only Breathing Out; Floyd-lite lashed with squealing guitar
outside world although flavour is hotwired pyramids. Kerzner formed his Sonic Reality prog tribute band
long impacting on his by complex vocal and Sonic Elements in 2011, joined by Big Big Train drummer Nick
country’s culture, electronic webs to D’Virgilio and Francis Dunnery in homage to Rush and Yes.
Berklee graduate, synth mesmerising effect on In 2014, Kerzner formed Mantra Vega with Mostly
pioneer and former Huellas Circulares (from Autumn’s Heather Findlay, releasing The Illusion’s Reckoning,
digital music teacher Miguel Noya has 1986’s Esferas Vivientes), or Venusian represented here by instrumental Island (Reprise). That
been creating his pastoral electronic submarine bleeps and eerie strings December saw Kerzner release his first solo LP, New World,
reveries since the 80s, self-released on the avant-dissonant Parsec. joined by D’Virgilio, Dunnery and former Floyd backing singer
on cassette or LPs such as 1984’s deep The second disc boasts two 17- Durga McBroom, well displayed on this set by slowies The Lie,
space Gran Sabana (now much sought minute Megabrain Focos pieces; one an alternate take of Into The Sun, My Old Friend, Ocean Of Stars
after collectors’ items). Canciones weightlessly ambient, the second and Nothing, with title track taken from 2016’s ensuing New
Vivientes is the first western world echoing Riley again with stately piano World Live. Durga and her sister Lorelei joined Kerzner on
anthology of his work and makes for underpinned by winding organ and 2017’s Static; a rock opera seeking calm beyond the chaos of
an astonishing listening experience. swirling voices. Unusually for such modern life, Steve Hackett amid the heaving blizzard of Crash
Remembering the brash synth synthesised music, emotions run riot Landing. In 2019 Kerzner formed supergroup In Continuum,
extrapolations or restrained new age beneath the surface, maybe reflecting Acceleration Theory featuring Yes vocalists Jon Anderson
soundscapes of the 80s, it comes as Noya’s wilful refuge from his harsh, and Jon Davison, D’Virgilio and Hackett in his trademark
a fantastic jolt to hear Noya adding violent country (he now switches luminous tapestries. Co-written with Anderson and boasting
haunting melodic richness, vivid between Caracas and Madrid, lecturing his unmistakable cosmic choir-boy tones, All That Is trailers
colour and Latin American nuances to and demonstrating his unique blend
the ambient form. Birds in the space of academic genius and emotional the current Acceleration Theory Part 2: Annihilation.
jungle rear out of 1987 LP track Tactil, expression). Excitingly, the 80 minutes As Kerzner’s arc continues upwards, this set is a good way
glistening undercurrents and strings of music here are the tip of a huge to catch up.
layer into a fanfare on Olfativo, before iceberg. Hopefully there’s more to come KRIS NEEDS
unfurling into the evocative Aire, from this now-discovered talent. KN

progmagazine.com 113

THE HOME OF

Old turns…









GROUNDHOGS
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Thank Christ For The Bomb FIRE
A Slight Disturbance in My Mind CHERRY RED
Prog-blues landmark deserves its 50th anniversary medal of honour.
Heavyweights, contenders and pretenders to the national psychedelic throne.
aking its title from makes for value, this all-
Ta line in Disturbance inclusive package doesn’t
by The Move, this three- differentiate between
CD set comprises the genuinely innovative,
84 tracks billed as the pop chancers and
The British Proto- the transport caff jockeys
Psychedelic Sounds Of chasing the LSD tails
1966. Which begs the of The Kinks and The
question: why just a Beatles. They were all
single year? It’s an odd at it, including David
constraint more suited Bowie, Marc Bolan and
to clip shows than Rod Stewart.
illustrating a musical movement. It’s Nestling among the previously
been done many times before and the unreleased material on CD One is
inspiration for this project could possibly a version of Security performed by roundhogs are without doubt the most overlooked
be author Jon Savage, who followed up Wolverhampton’s The ‘N Betweens, later piece in the jigsaw of progressive rock’s history. If
his acclaimed 2015 book 1966: The Year to change their name to Slade. If you’ve Gthey’re referenced at all, it’s usually as the blues band
The Decade Exploded with a compilation ever wanted to hear Noddy Holder doing that backed John Lee Hooker when he toured Britain in the
of the same name on Ace Records. an Otis Redding impression, now’s your 60s. But frankly, that’s a bit like defining the Beatles purely
Whereas Savage picked 48 US and UK chance. CD Three provides richer on the basis of Love Me Do. The title of 1969’s Blues Obituary
tracks targeted to make his point, this pickings, mainly of tracks which owe called time on the first phase of Groundhogs’ career, and the
sprawling selection goes too wide. It their existence to Keith Richards’ Gibson following year’s Thank Christ For The Bomb heralded a radical
includes only one of Savage’s obscure Maestro Fuzz-Tone pedal on Satisfaction. rethinking of their direction and sound, partly inspired by
picks – Quiet Explosion by The Uglys – Wimple Winch’s Save My Soul towers early exposure to the newly formed King Crimson.
which sounds like the Doctor Who theme. above the rest although there are some
A Slight Disturbance strays from its intriguing pop middleweights such as
own remit by including US band The The Mindbenders and Downliners Sect’s A radical rethinking,
Misunderstood (although, yes, they Why Don’t You Smile Now (Lou Reed and partly inspired by
moved to the UK). And, as fine a record John Cale’s first joint composition). You
as it is, there’s nowt psychedelic about can lose an afternoon in the booklet with King Crimson.
The Action’s superior Tamla Motown its cornucopia of background info and
cover, I’ll Keep On Holding On. While it rare photos. CE While their music still remained rooted in the blues, it’s
as though its DNA had been reconfigured, an evolutionary
mutation that positioned them somewhere between the gritty
gloom rock of Sabbath and the avant skronk of Beefheart, yet
VARIOUS ARTISTS
also drew strongly on the progressive, permissible mores of
Kraut Jazz Futurism KRYPTOX
the time. It’s in the angular, sometimes jarring construction
Excellent overview of Germany’s krautrock-indebted modern jazz scene. of the songs, the social realist concerns of the lyrics, and the
discursive, almost jazzy rhythms. What’s more, TCFTB is
hile it’s simplistic to runs, but on creating a concept album in two halves, the first side looking at
Wpronounce, given an atmosphere of exotic, alienation in the nuclear age, the second telling the story of
the breadth and reach of amorphous melody. a man who chooses destitution over riches.
the genre, that jazz is Embryo and Kraan are Strange Town alternates between a barrelling, dive-bombing
currently going through also noted as influences. riff and folky introspection, band leader Tony McPhee’s
a period of revitalisation, C.A.R.’s Dick Schaffrath
it’s undeniable that a new makes the connection guitar slashing like a bayonet, angrily rampaging through
breed of players have more overt, with its sleeping suburbs. The shambling anti-groove of Darkness
injected a sense of cross- looping Tangs’ arpeggio Is No Friend looks forward to post-punk, while in contrast
cultural dynamism into and minimal motorik Soldier is insidiously slinky, a bitter reflection on WW1
the music and won major groove, while the powered by a teasing, hummable melody. The title track
plaudits in the process – slippery nocturnal begins as an acoustic lament for the war dead, with McPhee
for example, The Comet Is Coming in the bass, instrumental drift and Damo controversially endorsing the atomic stalemate as a means
UK, Kamasi Washington in the US, and of Suzuki-esque vocalising of Torben Unit’s of halting the slaughter – nevertheless, it builds to a furious
course, the Rune Grammofon/Hubro axis Free (Get Your Self Together) channels conflagration, then eerie detonation.
in Norway. From its title onwards, Kraut classic Can. While their blues rock contemporaries were sprawling
Jazz Futurism seeks to stake a claim for But there’s plenty of other ingredients messily and propagating stylistic clichés, Groundhogs were
Germany, and Berlin in particular, as in the mix too. There’s the deconstructed tightly wound and bustling with energy – take the brilliant
another centre of forward-thinking jazz mutant funk of David Nesselhauf’s Space chiming riff of Ship On The Ocean and the explosive brush
in the 21st century, bringing its own Station; the proggy dreampop of Oracles’ fire of Garden. Album closer Eccentric Man became an anthem
unique perspective – while other scenes That Was I; and the wandering piano of of sorts for the band, righteously celebrating their outsider
have looked to hip-hop, R&B or jazz rock Stimming x Lambert’s The Little Giant status – rather than striking the bluesman’s deal with the
for inspiration, many of the players on and woozy synth of Keope’s A Night In Devil, they chose to confront the demons of the modern age,
this compilation draw on Germany’s Bacalar both nudge into hauntological setting a course that culminated in 1972’s Hogwash, a guns-
krautrock and electronica heritage. territory. But what this album most often blazing triumph replete with Mellotron and synth for
That’s immediately apparent on brings to mind are the mid-90s Mo’ Wax anybody still doubting Groundhogs’ prog credentials.
opening track Der Inder by Karaba, its Headz compilations, a feeling reinforced
insistent circular bassline recalling by the distinctly trip-hoppy vibes of This reissue comes with extra live and session tracks,
Kraftwerk’s Autobahn, with hints of Salomea’s Magnolia Tree and Sissi Rada’s highlights including a crunching Garden from July 1970 and
guitar and vibes rushing past like half- Acrasian Beat. a spacey, extended Soldier from May 1974.
glimpsed scenery – the onus isn’t on This is ‘jazz’ as a guiding principle JOE BANKS
vamping furiously or executing slick rather than a strict generic sound. JB

progmagazine.com 115



A NEW DAY YESTERDAY:
ANTIMATTER
UK Progressive Rock & The 1970s
An Epitaph MUSIC IN STONE
Mike Barnes OMNIBUS
A gloom with a view, plus strings.
Authoritative account of a remarkable period in music.
his live set from Hall occasionally busts
TLiverpool’s Antimatter out some David Gilmour-
was filmed on the Judas esque solos on his white
tour in Ukraine in 2016 and Stratocaster, which inject
captures Mick Moss’ dark some energy. That said,
rock band on thoroughly the band make the odd
gloomy form. On this decision to have everyone
occasion they’re joined sitting down for the entire
by a string quartet to fill show, so what made this
out the sound, replacing the perfect gig to capture
their customary ambient electronics, for a live DVD is unclear as it’s hardly
but in some respects it reinforces very animated or visual. Other
the sense of the music being uniform purveyors of gloom, such as Katatonia
in tone and texture. It’s one downbeat, or affiliate cousins Anathema, find
midtempo tale of angst after another more musical room to manoeuvre
with precious little light amid the on their voyages into the dark but t’s not hard to understand why there have been so many
shade. How downbeat? Black Eyed Antimatter are nothing if not consistent. surveys of the origins and impact of progressive rock, its
Man ends with the lyrics, ‘Kill yourself Still, the Ukrainian audience seem to I1970s heyday and its fall from critical, if not commercial
when you can.’ Yikes. Guitarist Dave enjoy themselves. DW
grace, towards the end of that decade following the advent of
punk. The unparalleled innovation and open-mindedness of
the period have rightfully warranted study and evaluation,
hence the ‘prog rock’ book industry that’s sprung up. Many
MARTIN BARRE BAND
Live in NY PURPLE PYRAMID have been academic in origin, with a requisite musicological
and sociological ambit, framing the phenomena and its
Tull legend refuses to live in the past.
manifestations into a given theory or narrative. To this
hatever prog fans returned to their original reader, while engaging in their own way, they’ve been rather
Wthink of 80s popsters bluesy Tull forms and then dry. Away from academia, there have been some good
Hall and Oates [happily some. The combination accounts but too many are frankly little more than overly
there are prog credentials of Barre’s humbuckered verbose listicles.
with Hall’s 1980 album, riffage and vocalist Dan
Sacred Songs, produced by Crisp’s delivery is exquisite. Myth-slaying,
Robert Fripp – Reviews Ed], If covers like Eleanor
Daryl Hall’s decision to open Rigby are near-misses – perceptive and
a venue, Daryl’s House, the heaviness of Barre’s bullshit-free.
should be applauded, not arrangement just too much
least for hosting this stunning and – Minstrel In The Gallery is a beast, as What makes Mike Barnes’ attempt at the subject stand
intimate Martin Barre show in April are closers A New Day Yesterday and head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd is the way he’s
2016. While fans chow down on Philly Locomotive Breath. Bad Man is a stand- placed the experience of the actual players themselves front
cheesesteaks – close enough to the out too. When Barre gives a shout-out
band that stray pickles might end up in for the band, someone at a front table and centre of his compelling narrative. Barnes, a seasoned
Barre’s beard – Tull classics and Barre’s asks for a cheer for the main man. “I’m journalist whose 2000 biography of Captain Beefheart should
solo work are stripped back into heavy just here to drive the van,” says Barre be on any aspirant rock writer’s reading list, has interviewed
and brutal arrangements. Classics such quietly. Modest, sublime and generous, all of the key movers and shakers on the scene over the years
as Teacher and To Cry You A Song are Barre is a class act. RM and it’s their voices, along with Barnes’ skilful authorial
commentary, that give the book its narrative drive and force.
Rather than another dull recitation of off-the-shelf factoids,
we’re given a real sense of the what and the why of musicians
MAYRA ORCHESTRA
wanting to push out beyond the confines of three-minute pop
Oracle Live BUTLER RECORDS songs. He marshals the transition from psychedelia to the
An intimate, exhilarating and poignant delight from the Rotterdam ensemble. underground with commendable but authoritative brevity,
placing King Crimson at the centre of the big bang that set off
ed by singer/songwriter carnivalistic Smoke & Mirrors progressive rock while fully recognising the vital role played
LMaartje Dekker – and and the celebratory A New by The Moody Blues, Family, Yes, Procol Harum and others.
featuring three members Skin achieve more complex The tidal wave and the many generic tributaries and groups
of Sky Architect – Mayra and dynamic ideas. Rather comprising the second division are also explored in depth.
Orchestra specialise in than veer toward unnecessary Outfits such as Gracious, whose brief career had immortality
wonderfully dramatic and flashiness, each musician conferred upon it thanks to the boom in vinyl collecting, are
stylish cinematic pop akin plays precisely what’s needed welcome additions, as is Barnes’ critical acumen in identifying
to Nosound, Gazpacho and at every moment, Dekker
Iamthemorning. This, their beaming throughout. In the excesses and shortcomings of the medium.
second live DVD, devotes its addition to the requisite Along the way, Barnes slays many myths and legends: there
two-hour duration to their lights, smoke machines and aren’t actually that many demons and cape-wearing wizards
first two albums, 2013’s projected pastoral imagery, to be found in the genre, nor was prog an exclusively middle-
World of Wonder and 2017’s Oracle. The aerial acrobats and fire twirlers move class preserve. His nuanced handling of the punk wars rings
thrilling introduction blends traditional around the auditorium to embody MO’s true as an especially perceptive bullshit-free zone. At more
rock instrumentation with strings, theatricality. The film maintains focus than 600 pages this is the detailed and comprehensive account
horns, harp, and piano. I Just Want To on the performers the entire time, using that the genre has been waiting for. A remarkable moment in
Be Loved and Into Your Heart present close-ups, Dutch angles and wide shots music beautifully captured in what is a remarkable book.
subtle ballads full of angelic harmonies to effectively capture an elaborate, SID SMITH
and arrangements; conversely, the intimate and moving show. JB

progmagazine.com 117


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DEVIN


TOWNSEND
THE ROUNDHOUSE, LONDON 12/12/2019
VENUE DATE
SUPPORT HAKEN


ith the results of the UK’s general Devin howls at the
election rolling in, it doesn’t take moon... and the stars,
W much more than a look at our and all the galaxies.
phones, social media feeds or news coverage
on TV to feel affected by emotional conflict and
political tension. But over at the Roundhouse
in London, sanctuary appears in the form of
a Canadian enigma in a Hawaiian shirt, armed
with a kaleidoscope of progressive sounds. Not
to mention the kind of variety and weapons-


Gig or yoga session?




















































Haken belt out
their best.























120 progmagazine.com

grade eccentricity of which Frank Zappa
would approve. There are whimsical quirks TINA KORHONEN
and crushing heaviness. Metallic death-roars
and operatic grandeur. Light relief and tear-
jerking intimacy. Cuddly toys and thoughtful
meditations on mental health. And such pearls
of insight as: “I smell like a yak’s balls!”
Of course there are. It’s Devin Townsend
after all, and his propensity to flip between the
profound and the prepubescent has delighted
and infuriated fans for more than 20 years. So
how will tonight’s extravaganza pan out?
Before we can find out, there’s local support
action to be had. Visually Haken make a techy
first impression, with their mostly black attire
and two headstock-less guitars between. Heavy,
dancey tones spar with machine-gun blasts, “Oh my God, hi!”
like some sort of rave for introverts. Singer record, cramming in tastes of the many
Ross Jennings wryly introduces Cockroach King flavours he’s explored over the years (bizarro Win. This is a guy who understands
as “one of our ‘hits’”, while keys and solos prog, metal, new age, rock’n’roll, spoken- progressive tradition and wants to destroy
create the sense of a jazz fusion night. Indeed, word…). It’s also a bold choice of album from it simultaneously. You can see why his early
for all their kudos as a commanding force in which to draw the bulk of a big live set, 90s compadre Steve Vai liked him.
progressive metal, much of what they do especially for an artist with plenty of long- The mosh-pit descends into man hugs
reaches comfortably beyond that niche. Plus established older favourites. But it works: within the first few notes of his slow,
their technicality feels like a non-egotistical rambling stage banter, stuffed animals from the driving masterpiece Deadhead. He talks
part of their equation, not the whole thing. crowd and all. “If there’s one thing I represent about depression. Awareness of what it
They conclude with a punchy 1985, leaving us it’s heavy fucking metal!” Townsend roars, before can do to people. The mid-life crisis that
with an earful of keytar and guitar flourishes. shifting in to the delicate, immaculately shrouded the making of Empath. It’s all so
As anticipation builds for the main event, harmonised Sprite. deeply relatable, even as he swerves into
a wide-eyed plush toy unicorn perches on Mid-way through the band change into a head-bobbing Lucky Animals: the kind of
a laptop as early blues preset music plays. darker attire, Townsend in the skirt he’s taken infectious dose of oddball oomph that no
Projections of city lights and tower blocks to wearing sometimes. It suits him, and weirdly one else could write.
appear on the backdrop, and Devin’s band start complements the extreme vocals of Heaven And that’s the thing about Devin
to appear nonchalantly onstage in Hawaiian Send and jazzier qualities of Ain’t Never Gonna Townsend – there’s no one else like him.
shirts. The stage itself is now bedecked with lit- As if to prove a point he wraps up with
up palm trees and cocktails are passed around. an acoustic Spirits Will Collide, followed by
It’s like they’ve literally created a holiday space a cover of Disco Inferno (yes that
for us all – a kitsch, multicolour bolthole. one) and fan favourite Kingdom.
“Oh my God, hi!” Townsend beams, before Touching, bonkers, innovative;
acknowledging what a “fucking weird night this qualities he turns all the way to 11,
is” and assuring us that we’re here to escape all and all within a few minutes.
that. The good vibes are gratefully received as “At the heart Devin hasn’t always pleased
Borderlands starts things up with a melee of of all the fart everyone, and he knows it (the
thumping guitar hooks, emotive lyrics and jokes and third-grader humour of Ziltoid
new-age flavours. larger-than- The Omniscient was enough to test
The album from which it’s taken (Empath, life absurdity the patience of even the most
Townsend’s latest) is densely packed with is a unique devoted acolytes). But at the heart
ideas – a rainbow arsenal of musical of all the fart jokes and larger-
textures, quirks and stirring catharsis. songwriter and than-life absurdity is a unique
It’s a phenomenally ambitious performer who songwriter and performer who
really moves really moves people.
people.” POLLY GLASS







Cuddly toys
not pictured.

Flower King
Hasse Fröberg.




THE FLOWER


KINGS


THE SCALA, LONDON 08/12/2019
VENUE DATE
IAMTHEMORNING, RIKARD SJÖBLOM
SUPPORT
Opener Rikard
Sjöblom with
Rachel Hall.




uitarist Rikard
G Sjöblom has come on tour
without a guitar. For the Gungfly and
former Beardfish leader – last seen
wrangling his axe with Big Big Train –
this presents a problem. So he’s had
to borrow an undersized acoustic from
Iamthemorning’s Marjana Semkina, and the
evening kicks off with a short but jaunty
stripped-back set with BBT’s violinist Rachel
Hall, climaxing with a folksy version of the
band’s Haymaking.
Iamthemorning are a man down from
their recent run of headline shows
– there’s no guitarist on stage – but it
doesn’t seem to matter much. Only Freak
Show and the closing K.O.S. feel slightly
shorn of heft, and Semkina is charismatic
enough to plug any gaps, whether it’s by
dancing like a forest sprite or by engaging
the audience with her trademark gallows
humour. “The planet is fucked up, it’s our
fault, and we’re all going to die,” she says
in her introduction to Salute, with a grin










Roine Stolt: The Flower
Kings’ guitarist plays
a lovely solo on Black Flag.
























Iamthemorning
perform another
cheerful song!






Baebes’ dozen-date 2019 winter tour, tonight due to the seasonal lurgy, but Blake jokes about “falling down the
MEDIAEVAL BAEBES
ACAPELA STUDIOS, CARDIFF their most extensive UK outing ever. the four still standing, resplendent in rabbit hole” of the world of nursery
VENUE
12/12/2019 It may be a step down Gloucester or matching flowing red dresses and laurel rhymes while researching current album
DATE
Norwich Cathedral, but the intimate leaf/Krampus-horn headgear, look good A Pocketful Of Posies, and mesmerising
onight we seek sanctuary from the room is an ideal place to enjoy their and they sound great, the four-part renditions of The Jabberwocky and The
T2019 general election in this beautiful olde-worlde music show. harmonies of I Sing Of A Maiden, Lion And The Unicorn validate her
converted chapel, nestled in a well-to-do Katharine Blake’s vocal group have Undrentide and the round vocal cycles of obsession. Marie Findley is a natural,
village just outside of Cardiff centre. It’s been an abiding curio on the circuit for Ride A Cock Horse demonstrating their funny storyteller, relating how pleased
one of the smaller venues on Mediaeval over 20 years. They’re two singers down vocal talent. they are to be “touring lovely venues like

122 progmagazine.com

fiendishly well-
performed and hugely WILL IRELAND NORDIC GIANTS
ambitious, it leaps VENUE VILLAGE UNDERGROUND, LONDON
about with frantic DATE 14/12/2019
abandon, never SUPPORT JO QUAIL, AA WILLIAMS
staying anywhere long ver since releasing her self-titled
before careering off Edebut EP last January, dark
towards pastures new. songstress AA Williams has found
It’s The Gates Of a welcoming home in the modern
Delirium reimagined prog movement. She’s graced the
for those with stage at the esoteric ArcTanGent
Festival, supported Cult Of Luna and
Master bassist: attention deficit Brutus around Europe, and tonight
Jonas Reingold disorder. To be fair, she’s opening for cinematic maestros
it brings rapturous Nordic Giants.
applause, but the Her music is less ‘progressive’ in
on her face. “This is one of our cheerful ones,” relentless changes of direction are wearing. the traditional sense, instead mixing
she adds, rather ruefully. It’s not a one-woman Moments of sustained beauty are few and far the worlds of goth, pop and post-
show by any means – pianist Gleb Kolyadin’s between, but they do pop up: Roine Stolt’s rock. Songs like Control are exercises
classical flurries are frequently spellbinding, as guitar solo on Black Flag is lovely, and the in smooth yet sombre emotion,
is his interplay with percussionist Evan Carson climax of the closing Stardust We Are is reminiscent of Lana Del Rey until
– but it’s Semkina’s voice that lights up the intensely dramatic. they build to a more percussive
stage. The subject matter may be dark, but the They encore with an endearingly chaotic finale. So while Williams may not be
delivery is illuminated. romp though The Beatles’ The Long And as experimental as the other acts on
The Flower Kings play two more Winding Road, with Iamthemorning tonight’s bill, she’s certainly able to
songs in their 90 minutes on stage and Rikard Sjöblom crowding on tap into the raw heart that the
than Rikard Sjöblom manages in to the stage for a finale that looks headliner’s fans lap up.
15 minutes. If nothing else it’s like a prog version of the Live Aid Despite taking to the stage alone,
a confirmation of their fierce climax. Rikard knows the words, Jo Quail quickly proves to be more of
commitment to the cause, but but Flower Kings’ Hasse Fröberg a spectacular prospect. The London-
sometimes it’s as if they’re paying drops all the rock-star pretense to based cellist – who’s been gathering
interest in the UK’s prog scene over
tribute to progressive music “The Truth Will perform in reading glasses, with the past decade – expertly mixes
clichés, concentrating more on Set You Free is the lyrics on a sheet of A4, while looping effects with her talent for
technical merit than on artistic The Gates Of Semkina slyly reads from her solemn string compositions. The
impression. The 31-minute The Delirium smartphone. It’s one of those result is the slow building of lengthy,
Truth Will Set You Free is typical: reimagined for moments that’s probably more complex movements, peaking
those with fun for those on stage than it is curiosity as she continues to add
attention deficit for those watching, but it’s a little new layers to her classical-inspired
bit of light relief after the
disorder.” intricacy. She also proves to be
preceding barrage. a charming performer, belying her
FRASER LEWRY avant-garde tones with an exuberant
and energised delivery. “I’m playing
a shortened version, so it’s bound to
go wrong,” she jokes in the lead-up
Hasse and Roine prog
to Reya Pavan. Happily, both it and
out on the The Truth
Will Set You Free. the rest of her show actually go off
without a hitch.
Seeing Nordic Giants live always
borders on a spiritual experience.
New bud: keyboard The duo of enigmatic and elaborately
player Zach Kamins. costumed musicians – keyboard
player Loki and drummer Rôka –
deliver one of the most all-consuming
live sets in prog. They serenade with
rhythmic post-rock that, with a large
screen looming above them, also
doubles as makeshift soundtracks to
a number of enrapturing short films.
Several historical speeches – the
most notable coming from Charlie
Chaplin in The Great Dictator, and
Martin Luther King – are woven
throughout, giving Nordic Giants’
hour a loosely connected humanist
thread. It may preach togetherness
and peace – which are far from new
messages to convey – but these
themes are presented in such an
original and theatrical way that they
this in beautiful dresses and all Josephine Ravenheart regularly authentic accompaniment comes from never feel patronising. This is true to
pretending to be virgins”. They revel in gathers up her hemlines, and jumps up cellist Sarah Smout, percussionist Ben the point that, even though the
a Chaucerian saltiness: what obscure on to a platform for some crowd- Woollacott and Charlie Cawood on newest song in this set-list is more
sexual practice is alluded to in Dringo pleasing folk-style foot percussion. guitar and more obscure instruments. than two years old, the evening still
Bell? “Come see us at the merch stand Sophia Halberstam is a milder stage The spirited encore of Auld Lang feels fresh, a testament to the
later and we’ll tell you”; during Old King presence, but her soprano is exquisite, Syne transports us to simpler times, uniqueness and scope on display.
Cole they even speculate on what notably on Phantom, while the four offering a welcome distraction from the This twosome deliver prog in far
exactly the king’s ‘fiddlers three’ were dance in hand-flourishing formation. gathering darkness outside. more ways than just one.
fiddling with… Throughout, unobtrusively period- GRANT MOON MATT MILLS

progmagazine.com 123

Kayla is another early
highpoint, but the boisterous
FLYING COLORS CARSTEN WINDHORST
crowd who spend much of the
SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE, LONDON
VENUE
14/12/2019 evening air-drumming with
DATE
some gusto settle respectfully
t’s during a final encore, Mask Machine, at when McPherson introduces the
the end of what has been an exhilaratingly ballad You Are Not Alone, images
I enjoyable show, when Flying Colors’ vocalist of him helping hurricane victims
Casey McPherson steps down into the audience portrayed on the crystal clear
and begins walking up an aisle. Out of nowhere screens behind him. Everyone’s
strides a security guard, heading straight for back on their feet singing along
the singer, with the clear intent of evicting this Mike in his happy place, to the Beach Boys-like harmonies
evident miscreant. Obviously neither the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. of Love Letter before the band
spotlight nor microphone, or indeed the fact throw caution to the wind, ending
that for the past two-and-a-half (save for making sure everyone the set proper with not one, but two epics
hours McPherson has been more who witnessed it went home with in the form of Crawl and Infinite Fire, before
than visible singing his heart out an even bigger smile on their face). returning to the stage for yet another lengthy
onstage, are enough to assuage the Despite the unwanted intrusion, outing of Cosmic Symphony, the group
vengeant jobsworth. Spotting the Flying Colors are quite terrific. The displaying their not inconsiderable ability
onrushing threat, the singer set a sublime fusion of progressive with just the right amount of panache, rarely
calmly strolls back round the front “Out of rock ambition and deft commercial overflowing into the indulgent.
of the stage and up the other aisle, nowhere songwriting split across their Everyone’s up on their feet for a hearty
before a fellow guard steps in to strides a three albums thus far (five songs sing-a-long of The Storm from the debut,
inform his colleague of the error security from Flying Colors, four from before McPherson takes his unwitting,
of his ways. The gig ends with the guard, heading Second Nature and six from new fateful detour into the audience. Step forward
band rightly receiving a standing straight album Third Degree). From the Mr Security Guard…
ovation, while the over-zealous for Casey opening bars of Blue Ocean the JERRY EWING
security guard is mocked by his McPherson, sound is pristine. If
colleagues at the back. clearly intent Portnoy and Neal
Casey scans the crowd for
Tonight’s show is being filmed Morse, on their riders rogue security men.
for a future Blu-ray release which on evicting this at the back of the stage
means there’s a few choice words miscreant.” are the most visual
from Mike Portnoy backstage foils, it’s still Casey
afterwards, but it in no way McPherson’s melodic
detracts from the power of the band’s vocals that soar over everything
performance while Dixie Dregs pair Steve
Morse and Dave LaRue lock into
a rhythmic groove.
















A Dixie double-up with
Steve and Dave.




































Colors united, a band in
kaleidoscopic harmony.






124 progmagazine.com

Strawbs: displaying
MONO WILL IRELAND
STEELEYE SPAN a fruitful 50-year legacy.
BARBICAN CENTRE, LONDON
VENUE 17/12/2019
VENUE BARBICAN CENTRE, LONDON DATE
14/12/2019
DATE THE ACOUSTIC STRAWBS
SUPPORT
ALCEST
SUPPORT
etween Opeth performing to hese days, 50th anniversaries are
Ba sold-out Palladium and Marillion becoming commonplace. As Dave
making their grandiose return to the T Cousins points out, not only is this
Royal Albert Hall, 2019 was a year of Steeleye Span’s 50th anniversary tour, but
progressive giants filling iconic venues the Strawbs are marking a half-century
in the UK’s capital city. Ergo, as the since the release of their self-titled, debut
year winds down, tonight’s gig feels
like an appropriate conclusion: the album. The pared down Acoustic Strawbs
Japanese post-rock heroes Mono deliver highly effective renditions of Prior briefly disappears, leaving
commemorating 20 years of existence New World and The Hangman And the rest of the band to shine on Old
not only in the ceremonious Barbican The Papist – and the trio finish Matron. But the Steeleye grand
Centre, but they’re also flanked by with the passionate Lay Down to dame is back for the melancholy
a full orchestra. a warm response. January Man. Knight returns for
The unenviable task of warming The changeover between bands final number Bonny Black Hare.
up London’s cold (and wet) attendees is remarkably fast. Within five “The Yet, did anyone truly believe this
for what’s sure to be an awe-inspiring minutes, the current Steeleye atmosphere’s was the end? The band might have
barnstorm falls to Alcest. Initially, Span are delighting everyone with so ramped left the stage, but we knew they’d
the French duo don’t bring the pomp Thomas The Rhymer. be back. Sure enough, with Carthy
and circumstance expected from There’s a rapport between the up that the and Kirkpatrick as well as Knight,
such a large-scale rock show, arriving members of the seven-piece as subsequent they begin the unmistakable All
simply and quietly as they walk to they stride through the dark serial 20-minute Around My Hat.
the stage, instruments in hands. killer tale of The Elf-Knight and the break is an But their biggest hit is done in
As always, the enigmatic Neige leads story of grotesque witch Alison irritating an almost half-hearted fashion,
his cohorts, who – despite touring to Gross. But everything is taken up a distraction.” leaving the impression that
promote their new, shimmering opus, level as violinist Peter Knight, the everyone – band and audience –
Spiritual Instinct – commence with first of the night’s special guests, would be happy if it
the solemnity of the prior album’s strides purposefully on to join Maddy Prior
title track, Kodama. Expanded to Guests galore as Jim Kirkpatrick,
a quartet live, they may not be much for the impressive Betsy Bell And Mary Gray, Peter Knight and Martin Carthy
of a spectacle to look at, but Alcest with everyone else leaving the stage. The pair join in the celebration.
quickly entice on an aural level, are then not only rejoined by the rest of the
blending post-rock, shoegaze and band but also the other anticipated guests
hints of more direct metal. Their Martin Carthy (guitar/vocals) and John
frontperson serenades with alluring Kirkpatrick (accordion) for a breathless
chords, as well as dreamily clean vocal Marrowbones, before the first half concludes
stylings juxtaposed with the energy of with the spectacular Seventeen Come Sunday,
Winterhalter’s drumbeats. The rest of probably the high spot of the whole evening.
the set follows in this vein, perfectly By this time the atmosphere’s been so
mixing beauty with power to create ramped up that the subsequent 20-minute
a cinematic soundscape worthy of these break is an irritating distraction. But the
wondrous surroundings. current seven are soon back in action for the
As hypnotic as Alcest are, Mono a cappella tour de force Gaudete. Most
quickly prove insurmountable, bringing of this second set only features
both the expected dramatic, classical- this line-up, with Prior was overlooked. It’s at this juncture,
tinged post-rock and a light show that introducing Black Jack Davy that Knight ambles off, thereby missing
exceeds all expectations. As the as: “A song that, when I sang the concluding joyous dance through the
powerful After You Comes The Flood it in the 60s, I thought was instrumental Dodgy Bastards. The violinist
marks the start of this headline show,
a multitude of spotlights flurry to jaw- about finding true love. isn’t even back when the ensemble take one
dropping effect. The song is driven by A few years later, I thought final bow. It does seem slightly odd,
striking snare drums quickly followed it was about a bit of rough. although this doesn’t blight the night,
by higher-pitched, whirring guitar Now, it’s about a totally nor his contribution.
notes; the intensely flashing lamps, unsuitable young Nevertheless, it’s an entertaining
which stand at the corners of the stage, man for my celebration of the Steeleye legacy.
cling to each beat seamlessly. granddaughter!” MALCOLM DOME
The might of the music and visuals
borders on overwhelming but the
sombre Breathe provides relief, slowing
the pace to a crawl and is the only song
that contains vocals. The urgency picks
up again as the evening builds to its
sweltering climax, where band and Maddy Prior:
gracefully spanning
orchestra are joined by postmodern
the generations of
heroines AA Williams and Jo Quail. pioneering folk rock.
Exit On Darkness, a lengthy movement
taken from Mono and Williams’ new
collaboration, begins tonight’s encore
on an emotional high, and the classic
Com(?) supplies a hammering catharsis.
These two tracks arriving consecutively
encapsulate the evening as a whole,
bringing visual scope, emotion and
energy together to sumptuous effect.
MATT MILLS

progmagazine.com 125

Shores. Here’s To You brings an initiative to empower female
further sway with a touch of entrepreneurs), so her propensity KEVIN NIXON
Rufus Wainwright, and shows for chat about things like
HEATHER
off her knack for melodies that meditation and eagles feels in
seem sweetly simple but then
FINDLAY keeping with her hippified side.
THE GARAGE, LONDON shift into something suddenly There are well-received nods
VENUE
10/01/2020 more pensive and interesting. to her past, too, including
DATE
Indeed, Findlay’s palette goes Mantra Vega’s Lake Sunday and
modest but enthused crowd has way beyond the folk sensibilities a brilliantly earthy, rocked-up
gathered for this, the latest chapter in she’s most known for. There are version of Mostly Autumn’s
the
A life of one of modern prog’s leading flavours of Melissa Etheridge- Gold Dust Woman. Unoriginal Sin. But it’s encore
ladies. Prog says ‘chapter’ because there have esque heartland, touches of alto slowie Firefly, just Heather plus
already been a few. And while the hook for Kate Bush, and ample servings of Fleetwood piano, that highlights what a first-rate singer
tonight’s show is Findlay’s latest solo record, Mac (as if to confirm that particular influence she is – suddenly it’s like hearing a classic
Wild White Horses – made with Thunder they play an en-pointe cover of Gold Dust power ballad, albeit a less predictable one.
guitarist Luke Morley – most of the people Woman), as well as a generous nod to Led The Heather Findlays of this world don’t
here have come via her previous projects. Zeppelin’s Bron-Yr-Aur and Indian vibes always get the recognition they deserve. But
Most of these were somewhat different. in the likes of Face In The Sun. Findlay is those of us here see what a commanding
There was Mostly Autumn, the 21st century’s a longstanding yogi and India lover (she gives sound this particular one is capable of.
folky, modernised answer to Genesis via Jethro a shout-out to the Secret Sari Dress project; POLLY GLASS
Tull. After she left in 2010, there came the
Heather Findlay Band and Trio, followed by (Wild) White Horses couldn’t
drag us away from Heather
Findlay sparkles Findlay’s live show!
for her fans.




















prog-folk collective Mantra Vega. The
prevailing ingredient has been folk, and she
still has a foot comfortably in that world –
Wild White Horses features flute appearances
from Ian Anderson, for instance – but as
tonight reminds us her roots lie very much in
rock’n’roll. Morley isn’t here, and although her “It’s encore
seven-strong band lack the celebrity element, slowie Firefly,
they don’t leave us remotely short-changed
from a musical or performance point of view. just Heather
And, most importantly, the new songs are on plus piano, that
the money. highlights
Looking rather like a Nashville star in a red what
sparkly dress, leather jacket and boots, Findlay a first-rate
sets an upbeat tone with the acoustic- singer she is.”
strumming, Dixie-tinged swing of Southern












eating provides occasional moments of depths of profundity in the song, a version Cropredy, and why they’re billed as
excitement. At the close of the opening of Black Sabbath’s Iron Man that gives Wilson & Wakeman and not the more
DAMIAN WILSON AND
Written In Anger there’s a dramatic pause, the original a piano jazz twist, and an alphabetical Wakeman & Wilson.
ADAM WAKEMAN
and the tension is palpable: no one wants intensely moving cover of Claude-Michel The only black mark comes not from
PIZZAEXPRESS LIVE, LONDON
VENUE
to be the one to drop their cutlery or tip Schönberg’s Bring Him Home, a song the musicians but from the audience,
13/01/2020
DATE
a glass of wine into their Sloppy Giuseppe. Wilson sang at his own father’s funeral. specifically a trio of infuriating drunks
usic and food aren’t always the most It’s a beautiful performance. Both Subjects covered in a wide-ranging who bellow tunelessly along with the
Mcomfortable of bedfellows, and any musicians are faultless – and very funny – couple of hours include being a weir few lines they manage to remember.
show in the basement of the Holborn but watching Damian Wilson sing up close keeper in Woking, flooding Woking while “Homegrown!” they shriek, witlessly,
branch of PizzaExpress will swiftly throw is an actual treat. A superb technician, he being a weir keeper in Woking, the paucity requesting Wilson’s “hit” with dreary
up obstacles you won’t find at other, even leaves the mic unattended for I Won’t of women at prog shows, touring with monotony before Wilson and Wakeman
more regular venues. For instance, the Blame Life, wandering the audience to Spandau Ballet’s Tony Hadley (while finally oblige. It all ends with a gorgeous
waitresses are still delivering orders as sing unamplified. Highlights come thick Adam tinkles away on True), working with Seek For Adventure before the duo encore
Damian Wilson and Adam Wakeman pick and fast: a medley of Rick Wakeman Free’s old manager (while Adam tinkles with an equally dazzling cover of David
their way through the diners and onto songs, a version of Iron Maiden’s The Evil away on All Right Now), how they’re Bowie’s Life On Mars. Lovely.
the stage, and the fact that people are That Men Do that finds unexpected the second-worst band to ever play at FRASER LEWRY

126 progmagazine.com

SID SMITH
AVA
THE UTOPIA
THE MOTH CLUB, LONDON
VENUE
10/12/2019
DATE
STRONG
here’s a gathered hush over this VENUE THE CLUNY, NEWCASTLE
Tsold-out venue for much of AVA’s DATE 17/12/2019
first headline performance. Everyone is
so enthralled by the music that talking is hall we do another one?” asks Kavus
simply not an option. Anyone who does
dare to break this rule is immediately Torabi after The Utopia Strong’s gig
subject to horrified stares, as if they’d “S has formally come to an end. It’s
walked into an AA meeting and asked if a genuine question rather than a coy come-on.
anybody fancies a pint. A rowdy crowd at The Cluny leaves him in no Tripping the (Moog) lights
Anna Phoebe and Aisling Brouwer are doubt of the answer. Just 50 minutes earlier, the fantastic: Michael J York.
an impassioned duo. Their combination concert began slowly with the spooky whirligig
of violin and keyboards draws from chimes of a children’s musical box, a scattering
ambient, classical and cinematic of pulses and random industrial bleeps darting
composers. It’s as if Dead Can Dance, across the PA, gradually attaining depth and thick oscillating wedges, as York coaxes his
Benjamin Britten and Bernard Herrmann form. For a moment or two, it looks and sounds Moog system to variously produce electronic
are meeting under a sign that points to as though the complex knots of patch chords mists or twinkling bursts of light. As the
a universe called ‘AVA’. on Steve Davis and Michael J York’s modular momentum builds, York frequently disengages
The pair don’t need visuals or synths are actually part of some kind of cosmic from the metal and wires, adding a plaintive
gimmicks. They engage with people in telephone switchboard connecting the present recorder, or the moody keening of a duduk, and
such a spiritual way that the music day with the future via a flaky modem link. the bracing Northumbrian pipes, all adding a
provides a deep and abiding connection. Torabi kneels at the front of the human dimension to the performance.
It envelopes us all. It enthralls. It makes small stage, not in supplication And then it’s over. Or so we
everyone in the crowd part of this as might be first supposed, but to thought. As the throbbing
wonderful occasion. That’s a special engage in busily pressing buttons subterranean explosions subside,
gift that goes beyond the undoubted
virtuosity of the two, and shows AVA on the array of foot pedals, and add and the trio begin leaving the stage,
are a remarkable part of the music his own electronic presence to the it’s at this point that Torabi asks:
landscape in the modern era. emerging piece. Eventually rising, “Shall we do another one?” That
There’s no banter from the stage. he straps on his guitar, strumming “Kavus Torabi chance inquiry results in the trio
There’s no need. The music is allowed to against the now-established lifts a long-stem turning in the very best track of the
flow without interruption. It all comes synth-generated beats and locking screwdriver night. As roiling, seething wave
from the excellent debut album Waves, his counterpoint into the loop. and starts upon wave of synths spark the air,
save for a cover of London Grammar’s Reaching to the nearby table bowing the Torabi picks up a vocal microphone
Wild Eyed during the encore. There’s the housing a portable harmonium fretboard for the first time. As he intones,
occasional guest appearance to spice that he enthusiastically pumps at with it.” one hand held aloft, fingers splayed
things up as well, with dancer Jordan various points in the show, he lifts wide, eyes closed, he could be some
Ajadi receiving a rapturous reaction for a long-stem screwdriver and starts high priest calling the faithful to
the way in which his movements add bowing the fretboard with it. The the sonic temple. In that cramped
to the experience of the climactic arrival of the glissando’s silvery stream ushers space, as the music thuds into the bricks and
Resistance. And cellist Klara Schumann in a kind of reverie, adding a distant space that mortar, they create an expansive, beatific state,
provides incisive textures to Ocean, seems to beckon far above icy black December a better place surging with so much positive
while Ösp Eldjárn from the electronic skies outside. energy and unfettered goodwill. Yes, a utopia.
support band Hrim comes on to give Throughout the show Davis sits at a table, And a strong one at that.
Underwater an agreeably eerie bent over his synth, lips pursed as he dials in SID SMITH
aesthetic. But nothing compares to
Mulholland. Joined by drummer
Francesco Lucidi, AVA raise everything Turn it up to 11! The
to a spectacle of crescendo and drama. Utopia Strong’s Steve
Davis and Kavus Torabi.
Brouwer strips down to her bra and
pins back her hair in a statement of
intent, as the trio onstage raise the
tempo to a level of sensual tribal
intensity that provides a fitting climax
to the main set. While most of this
performance is delicate and intricate,
this is a rousing call to openly display
emotion, and the crowd respond in
an ecstatic and spontaneous fashion.
It’s powerful, bordering on hysteria,
yet the duo never lose control. It’s
a brilliant exposition of the way AVA
meld creativity with primal force.
AVA are a joy and clearly love what
they do. Both protagonists are heavily
involved in other activities, yet what
they have together offers an indefinable
magic that demands they make this
a priority for 2020. This is a celebration
of music that could just as easily fit in
someone’s cramped front room or a more
expansive festival field. It’s just the start
of what could well be a fascinating
journey. Don’t miss any of the trip.
MALCOLM DOME


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Where’s home? Outside of music, what other
Betley, a small village on the things are you into?
Cheshire-Staffordshire border. I run my own consultancy
business, I enjoy films, binge-
Earliest prog memory? worthy TV series and historical
At the age of 10, hearing my elder documentaries. I also cook quite
brother’s copy of Meddle by Pink a lot.
Floyd. My mind
was blown! Ever had a prog date?
On our second date, my future-
First album you wife asked: “Have you ever heard
bought? of Patrick Moraz?” I had to marry
The Dark Side Of her after that!
The Moon, from
a local store in Who do you call in the prog
Winsford in 1973. community for a good night out?
Joe Payne. Amy Birks has recently
And the last? moved quite close, so no doubt
The Grand Tour by Big Big Train. a meet-up will happen soon.
It’s really grown on me. There’s
a lot of depth and What’s the most important piece
much to discover. of prog music?
Either Close To The Edge or
First prog gig? Genesis’ Firth Of Fifth.
Yes on their Going
For The One tour, at Prog muso you’d most like to
Bingley Hall, Stafford work with?
in 1977. Steve Hackett. He’s always busy,
but I’m determined to get him
And the latest? involved at some point.
Steve Hackett at Bridgewater
Hall, Manchester last November. Which prog album
do you put on to get
Your latest prog discovery? you in a good mood?
Lux Terminus. Cardington by
After hearing Lifesigns, Big Big
The Courage John Holden Train’s English
To Be, I was The great and good of progressive music give us Electric: Full Power,
so impressed a glimpse into their prog worlds. As told to Grant Moon or some Tiger
I persuaded Moth Tales.
Vikram Shankar Not sure I’d make it to round Sherwood, and sometimes he’ll
to play keys on three, but my general knowledge say: “Do you want me to channel The best prog gig you ever saw?
my new album. is pretty good! my inner Squire?” Oh, go on then! Peter Gabriel’s Growing Up tour
[2002-03] was a bit special.
Guilty musical pleasure? Favourite prog venue?
ABBA (I feel no guilt!) and The The Assembly in Leamington Recommend us a good proggy
Sound Of Music (I feel some guilt!). Spa, and I always enjoy The Robin read?
2 at Bilston. I always enjoyed the
Mastermind specialist subject? late Michael
The history of Yes in round one, Your prog hero? Crichton’s novels,
and Liverpool FC in round two. Chris Squire. I work with Billy like Jurassic Park.
He came up with
interesting
concepts and
stories that were
very entertaining.

Chris Squire:
Holden’s prog hero. Your favourite
prog album cover?
Relayer by Yes. A perfect fit for
the music.


And what are you up to at the
“On hearing moment?
JORGEN ANGEL/REDFERNS/GETTY IMAGES ABBA: thank you Floyd, my mind amazing feedback for my debut,
I’m releasing Rise And Fall on
Meddle by Pink
February 29. I received some

Capture Light [2018], and that gave
was blown!”
me a lot of confidence for this.

Rise And Fall is out on February
for the music!
29 via www.johnholdenmusic.com.



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