Great news for cosmograf fans, the man behind it all, Robin Armstrong, has announced that there will be a limited -re-pressing of the brilliant 2013 release ‘The Man Left In Space’.
“As some of you know the 2013 release – ‘The Man Left In Space’ has been out of print on CD for some time. This has lead to odd copies turning up at Amazon etc. at eye-watering prices none of which comes back to the artist. The cost of re-pressing is pretty large but due to demand we are planning a limited re-press. Further info will be here and possible pre-order once we have confirmation.”
“In our race for achievement and success, we sometimes gamble with our lives only to collect isolation, unhappiness and failure.”
‘The Man Left in Space’ is a concept album exploring the themes of aspiration, achievement, and the failures that our quest sometimes brings. The story is played out against the analogous theme of a doomed space mission, launched in a bid to save mankind. The story provides a metaphor for the perils of success, such as boredom, isolation, unhappiness and ultimately failure…
The 9 track progressive rock album draws on many past and contemporary influences in music, and takes a journey into the unknown to feed the imagination, and appetite of the listener of intelligent music. It features a number of special guests from the progressive rock community including Nick D’Virgilio (Spock’s Beard/Big Big Train ), Dave Meros (Spock’s Beard), Matt Stevens, Greg Spawton (Big Big Train), Simon Rogers, Steve Dunn ( Also Eden ), Lee Abraham ( The Lee Abraham Band ), Luke Machin ( The Tangent/Maschine ) and Dave Ware.
Tony Levin is currently on tour with his progressive avant-rock band STICK MEN (heading in a few days to the Cruise To The Edge, followed by the trip to Japan), and in March and April, his jazz band, featuring his brother PETE LEVIN, will hit the road, performing in Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, El Salvador and the USA.
Here are all confirmed dates:
March 4 – Rosendale, NY, USA (Rosendale Cafe)
March 10 – Santiago, Chile (Teatro Teletón)**
March 13 – Montevideo, Uruguay (Las Trastienda)**
March 15 – Mar del Plata, Argentina (Teatro Colón)**
March 16 – La Plata, Argentina (El Teatro Sala Opera)**
March 17 – Rosario, Argentina (Teatro Sala Lavardén)**
March 18 – Buenos Aires, Argentina (ND Teatro)**
March 21 – La Paz, Bolivia (Teatro Municipal)**
March 24 – San Salvador, El Salvador (Scenarium)**
March 29 – Pawling, NY, USA (Daryl’s House)**
March 30 – Natick, MA, USA (Natick Center For Arts)**
March 31 – Schenectady, NY, USA (The Van Dyck Lounge)
April 1 – Rochester, NY, USA (The Lovin’ Cup)
April 2 – New Hope, PA, USA (Havana)**
April 3 – Piermont, NY, USA (The Turning Point)
April 4 – New York, NY, USA (The Iridium)**
TONY LEVIN – upright bass, cello
PETE LEVIN – piano, organ
ERIK LAWRENCE sax, flute
JEF SIEGEL – drums
** Dates with Leonardo/MoonJune..
On this tour, Levin Brothers will perform as well several specially arranged tunes for the Latin American market, in addition to the material recorded on the debut album.
F2 Music have announced that they are the exclusive worldwide distributor of the second solo CD by Citizen Cain’s keyboard player Stewart Bell. The album, called “The Antechamber Of Being (Part 2) – Stories From The Antechamber” is released on 27/02/2017 and is a Prog Rock opera featuring contributions from five vocalists; Simone Rossetti (of The Watch), Arjen Anthony Lucassen (of Ayreon), Phil Allen (of Citizen Cain), Bekah Mhairi Comrie and Stewart Bell himself. Each of the vocalists play a different character in the story.
In this second part of Stewart Bell’s epic trilogy of concept albums we are once again taken on a journey through the inner realms alongside the main character, The Dreamer and his mentor, The Teacher. Taking place during the same time period as ‘The Antechamber Of Being (Part 1)’, which was released in 2014, the story follows the main characters as they continue to explore the amazing experiences made possible through lucid dreaming; the weird phenomena inherent with this type of conscious exploration of one’s mind; the questions that arise through encounters with seemingly independent dream beings and; the realisations and conclusions that are ultimately reached after a lifetime of dreaming awake.
Stewart has been the main composer/ keys player in long running progressive rock band Citizen Cain since the early 90s, and in 2012 he decided to pursue a solo career, starting work on a trilogy of concept albums entitled The Antechamber Of Being. The story is autobiographical and is based on Stewart’s lifelong experiences with lucid dreaming – which is something he learned at 6 years old, when his older brother taught him how to be aware while he was asleep and dreaming in order to help him overcome recurring nightmares.
This will appeal not only to existing Citizen Cain fans but also to a much wider audience as Stewart continues to delve into elements of Prog metal, experiments with new soundscapes and brings his unique storytelling gift to the lyrics, in which he also shares his extensive knowledge of lucid dreaming. It will be sure to please any lover of progressive music while the intriguing, amusing and, at times, touching storyline may even inspire the listener to take control of their own subconscious mind and experience lucid dreaming for themselves…
There’s a limited special edition artbook version of the album and digital download also available from the Citzen Cain website here:
After much demand, renowned Panic Room and The Steve Rothery Band guitarist Dave Foster has launched a Kickstarter campaign to manufacture and release his latest solo album ‘Dreamless’ on vinyl.
“There have been so many requests to release the album ‘Dreamless’ on vinyl that it’s about time it happened. Its is one of those albums that deserves to be heard in all it’s glory on a turntable. Due to the albums length it spans four sides, so it very satisfyingly is a double album.
This edition of the album will feature some extra sleeve notes which are my notes about the recording and the origin of each track.
I hope that you guys really want this to be on vinyl as much as I do, it will sound ace. If the project doesn’t make it’s target, I don’t have the resources to fund it myself so sadly it wouldn’t happen…..but I think you guys will make it happen.”
I had this to say about the album when I reviewed ‘Dreamless’ on the 1st of June last year:
“The usually modest and self-effacing Dave Foster has stepped out of the shadows and onto centre stage to deliver his second solo opus and is to be applauded and admired for doing so. Such a variety of moods, styles and colours doesn’t always mix well but when it is done with consummate skill, like it is here, you are treated to a cornucopia of musical delights. While neither ground breaking or game changing, what it is is really rather good.”
Long Branch Records is proud to announce the signing of the french progressive metal sextet UNEVEN STRUCTURE. Their new album La Partition, which they’ve worked on for almost four years now, will be released internationally in Spring 2017.
La Partition is a full concept album and the follow-up to the bands first EP “8” (2009) and their debut full-length “Februus” (2011) which both received great feedback and critical acclaim.
A truly exciting prospect for the future of heavy music, UNEVEN STRUCTURE disassemble and reconstruct the metal genre we all know and love by creating contemporary atmospheric movements that are all at once dripping with seductive cinematic ambience and groove-laden riffs.
Since their critically acclaimed debut album Februus in 2011, Uneven Structure have been hard at work touring, writing, touring and making videos. Although only their second album, the anticipation for La Partition and new material is at an all-time high.
Comments guitarist Igor Omodei:“While not being a fresh start, La Partition is a very different beast from what we’ve released in the past. So it made sense for us to move over to the SPV/ Longbranch Records team to back our evolution both as artists and individuals. We can’t wait to see these five years of work to unfold over the next weeks. See you on the other side and cheers to you all!”
See Uneven Structure live:
25.02.17 – Haarlem – Complexity Fest, Netherlands
01.04. 17 – Sucy-en-Brie – Heart Sound Metal Fest, France
29.09.17 -01.10.17 – Cologne – Euroblast Festival, Germany
ABOUT UNEVEN STRUCTURE:
Hailing from France, one of the biggest markets and breeding stock for bands within the Tech Metal and Progressive Rock scene, Uneven Structure was formed in may 2008 from the intention of Benoit Friedrich (bass) and Igor Omodei (guitar) to finally bring the technically enhanced and progressive music they had been working on for themselves alive. The sound they were aiming to create was a one of a kind merger of groovy polyrythmic guitar riffs with huge slick of ambient guitar leads, which they undoubtedly accomplished.
Since the release of the debut album “Februus” in 2011 the band did multiple European tours with tech metal and prog rock genre-leaders such as Protest The Hero, Textures or Tesseract and performed at festivals such as Brutal Assault or Euroblast. While listening to the new album “La Partition” you will hear and feel the progress and growing the band made since “Februus”, due to the fact that their sound is now even more complex and perfectly arranged, catchy, experimental and technically enhanced, but also groovy. A perfect combination of the hardness of metal with the elaborate techniques of prog and the atmospheric sounds of ambient.
Not only has the sound of Uneven Structure been growing and changing with this new album, but also the band internally. With Arnaud Verrier on drums (ex Zuul FX and Kadinja) and Steeves Hostin (Beyond The Dust) as guitarist the band is more than perfectly prepared to continue their legacy, but also to open a new chapter in their musical career by performing mindblowing live shows all over the world.
Line Up:
Arnaud Verrier – Drums
Benoit Friedrich – Bass
Igor Omodei – Guitar, Production, Videos
Jérôme Colombelli – Guitar
Matthieu Romarin – Vocals, Production
Steeves Hostin – Guitar
Barrie, ON’s ambient progressive metal / rock duo JUPITER HOLLOW announce they will be performing the following Ontario show dates in support of their debut EP ‘Odyssey’ recently released on Jan 13th.
Show Dates:
Feb 26 – Toronto, ON @ Mod Club
March 3 – Barrie, ON @ The Foxx Lounge
April 15 – Toronto, ON @ Cherry Cola’s N Rock & Rolla Cabaret Lounge
‘Odyssey’ is a concept record featuring 5 tracks to introduce JUPITER HOLLOW‘s ambient experimental progressive songwriting plus will act as a prelude to their planned full length ‘AHDOMN’. The duo was birthed in 2015 and have already mastered the art of bringing their fans on an audio and visual experience. Their sound is usually referred to as spacey, experimental and refreshing, reminding listeners of bands like Tool, Pink Floyd, A Perfect Circle, Tesseract, The Contortionist and Rush. Consisting of two young, passionate and driven Canadian artists, Grant MacKenzie (21) and Kenny Parry (18), the pair perform with a dominating stage presence, while captivating their audiences with their unique sonic journey.
Grant, who plays guitar, bass and synth for the band started his music career 8 ½ years ago at the age of 12, sitting in his basement watching the movie Rock Prophecies. This movie was about legendary rock photographer Robert M. Knight, finding and transforming a young, unknown guitarist from a small town into a worldwide success. Inspired and motivated, Grant spent the next few years honing his guitar skills, writing music, and later learning the business side by attending college for business marketing. At age 20, Grant was invited into the Brotherhood of the Guitar, by founder Robert M. Knight, leading to endorsements with Ernie Ball Music Man and JH Audio.
While Grant was performing with another group at a local battle of the bands, he came across a mesmerizing singer by the name of Kenny Parry (vocalist, drummer and synth for Jupiter Hollow), who was almost performing as if he was possessed on stage, hitting notes that seemed impossible by any guy. Kenny Parry started music at the young age of 2 years old, setting up pots and pans like a drum set and banging away. This led to an obsession with music, and a discovery of his unique talent. In his teenage years, Kenny won himself the title “Best Drummer in Ontario” 3 years in a row. Around this time, Kenny started learning how to sing after being inspired by singers such as Maynard James Keenan, Mike Lessard, Dan Tompkins and Ian Kenny to name a few. Through years of strengthening his vocal abilities in choirs, bands and hours of dedication, Kenny has acquired an articulate vocal range, relentless endurance, and almost shocking performance through his uncontrollable stage presence.
Shortly after meeting, Grant and Kenny knew that their talents combined would create something truly unique, and Jupiter Hollow was born. Since then, the duo effortlessly created music in Kenny’s basement for months on end. The concept grew to be a two-man band, since Grant and Kenny wrote all of the music and wanted to keep it that way. The two musicians use technology to their advantage, allowing them to perform with a dominating stage presence, while captivating their audiences with their unique sonic journey.
Sweden’s much loved architects of dark progressive rock/metal, Katatoniacelebrated their 25th anniversary as a band in 2016, a year that also saw them release their 10th studio album – the critically acclaimed The Fall of Hearts.
A special one off anniversary show took place at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire towards the end of the year but now the band has revealed that they will tour the UK & Ireland in May. Guitarist Anders Nyström comments;
‘We’re really excited to be returning to the UK and Ireland for a proper full headline tour in support of our latest album ’The Fall Of Hearts’. Last year, we only got as far as playing London where we focused on the 10th anniversary of ’The Great Cold Distance’ by playing the album in full, so this time we’ll be coming back for more! Join us in May and see us deliver the rest of the darkness!’
A new 2 disc tour edition of The Fall Of Hearts is due for release on 17th March 2017 through Peaceville, the new version will feature live tracks taken from the band’s show in the Ancient Theater in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in September 2016.
February 3rd also sees the release of a limited edition 10th anniversary version of their class album The Great Cold Distance. This new 4 disc deluxe hardback 40 page, book edition of the album will include 3 bonus discs featuring b-sides and bonus songs, a new 5.1 remix of the album by Bruce Soord (Wisdom Of Crowds) and a live album of Katatonia playing The Great Cold Distance in its entirety with the renowned Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra in Bulgaria, performed September 2016. The design of this essential 10th anniversary edition has once again been taken care of by long time collaborator Travis Smith. (Available to pre-order via www.peaceville.com/store & http://www.omerch.eu/shop/katatonia )
Danish band Mew have announced Pre-order details for their seventh album ‘Visuals’, due to be released on April 28th.
Frontman Jonas Bjerre has worked on the projections for the band’s live shows since their early days. Usually, the Danish trio finish an album and Bjerre gets to work on the visuals. For their seventh record, though, the singer decided to turn things upside down, working on the visuals first and seeing if they informed the music. The resultant record feels like a culmination for one of rock’s most ambitious and inventive groups: Visuals is where Bjerre and his bandmates, bassist Johan Wohlert and drummer Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen, join the dots of a career that has spanned over two decades. “We do everything on this album ourselves,” says Bjerre. “We produced it ourselves, I did the artwork, I’m doing the visuals. Visuals felt like a fitting title. I like the idea that each song has a visual aspect to it somehow.”
Mew have a tradition of, as Bjerre puts it, hiding away in a cave for three or four years between albums. The tour that accompanied 2015’s +- album found the band reaching a creative peak that they felt was too exhilarating to be dampened by a period of extended cave-dwelling. They arrived home with demos that had been written on the road and the spark was lit. They wanted to break the cycle and make an album quickly. “We just felt like, “if we do it the normal way, it’s gonna be another three or four years before we get to do it again’,” says Bjerre. “If you keep doing it like that, ultimately you make a handful of albums and then you’re ready for retirement.” The trio wanted to make an album spontaneously, keeping the energy they’d generated on the road going.
Listen to their new song ‘Carry Me To Safety’ here:
They set to work in Copenhagen and started knocking the demos they’d written on tourbuses and in hotel rooms into shape. At the same time, new songs were emerging in reaction to what was going on around them. Mew aren’t a political band but couldn’t help but be affected by rolling news and the death of an icon. “It was pretty dark last year, so some of the darkness in the lyrics comes from that. You definitely get the feeling that things don’t last forever when someone like David Bowie dies.” Visuals was completed in just under a year – what Bjerre describes as an “incredible” feat for a band used to periods of prolonged tinkering. “Spending less time on it, you can still maintain the feeling you had when you first wrote it,” says Bjerre.
‘Visuals’ is Mew at their most compact, their chemistry at its most potent. With only one song over five minutes, it’s their most concise album. Bjerre says there was no need for a grand, overarching concept. Each song on ‘Visuals’ represents its own little chapter and story: nothing needed to be overly long. “Each album is like a collection of thoughts and ideas that fit the time we’re in,” he says. “They’re like little diary entries, except they’re a little bit more veiled perhaps. To me, albums are memories of times in my life.”
Recorded and self-produced in Copenhagen, ‘Visuals’ was completed in under a year and sees Mew at their most concise, each song representing its own little chapter and narrative. The first taste of the album comes in the shape of the mesmerising intricacies of the album’s finale Carry Me To Safety.
Meanwhile, the slow-build euphoria of album opener, Nothingness And No Regrets, and expansive 80’s-style pop of TheWake Of Your Life countered by the discordant stomp of the intriguingly titled Candy Pieces All Smeared Out and blissful glide of In A Better Place, compete across eleven tracks that convey an irrepressible ebullience of a band on their debut album.
Many of the newer tracks evolved in light of what was happening globally. “It was pretty dark last year on many levels, so lyrically that definitely came into play, it’s an important reminder to treasure the here and now,” says Bjerre. Visuals feels like the culmination for one of rock’s most ambitious and inventive groups.
Twenty years into their career, Visuals is the distinctive sound of Mew seizing the moment…
New European tour dates have been announced for May 2017.
Tickets will be on pre-sale from 9am local time on Jan 25th, and on general-sale 9am local time on Jan 27th.
May 17 – Paradiso, Amsterdam
May 19 – Point Ephemere, Paris
May 20 – Trix, Antwerp
May 21 – Trinity, Bristol
May 22 – Ritz, Manchester
May 23 – Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
May 25 – Luxor – Köln
May 26 – Knust – Hamburg
May 27 – Immergut Festival, Neustrelitz
More world-wide tour dates to be announced very soon.
Sweden’s musical alchemists, OPETH have debuted a new video for their song “Era” today. The video’s track is featured on the band’s critically praised, 12th studio album, Sorceress, which is available now via Nuclear Blast Entertainment.
The video for “Era” comes just ahead of the band’s return to the U.S for headline spring tour with support from Gojira and Devin Townsend Project. The tour will also include a special one-off show in Philadelphia on May 6th with Mastodon, Gojira, Eagles of Death Metal, Devin Townsend Project and Russian Circles.
Watch the video here:
The beautiful shot, cinematic video was directed by Markus Hofko (www.bowbowbow.co) and features stunning visuals that perfectly sync with the band’s dynamic music.
“I have to say our involvement in the making of the ”Era” video was so minimal we can’t take credit either for or against its brilliance. We did 3D scans of our bodies (clothed) in Munich during the last European tour. I remember everyone’s extremely tired and probably slightly hungover. The director just placed us in a ice-cold room and then scanned us with something that looked like a flashing hairdryer. Done! We’ve done our part for the video. Next! During the process of finishing the piece it got clear to me that it really works with the song. That’s something I was involved in actually, picking the song. It’s extremely difficult. Which song to choose? How do I know what works best for this format? Well, I don’t. I picked a song from the record that has a strong chorus. Slightly old school way of thinking I guess, but ultimately it didn’t matter all that much to me. The video is nice. I dig it. It’s slightly on the pretentious side, but hey, works for me! And like I said, it really works with the overall vibe of the song. Lyrically and musically and definitely emotionally.” – Mikael Akerfeldt
Order “Sorceress” now:
The record will be available in an array of formats and editions including CD, 2CD Digipak, 2LP Vinyl (in various colours at 180 gram) from the Nuclear Blast Store: http://nblast.de/OpethSorceressNB and Recordstore.co.uk (orders come with signed inserts – whilst stocks last): http://nblast.de/OpethSorceressRS
OPETH Tour Dates:
May 4 – Nashville, TN – Nashville War Memorial (w/Gojira)
May 5 – Charlotte, NC – Carolina Rebellion Festival
May 6 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory Outdoors (w/Mastodon, Gojira, Eagles of Death Metal, Devin Townsend Project, Russian Circles)
May 7 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom (w/Gojira, Devin Townsend Project)
May 9 – Chicago, IL – The Vic Theatre (w/Gojira, Devin Townsend Project)
May 11 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre (w/Gojira, Devin Townsend Project)
May 12 – Kansas City, MO – Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland (w/Gojira, Devin Townsend Project)
May 13 – Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room at Old National Centre (w/Gojira, Devin Townsend Project)
May 14 – Somerset, WI – Northern Invasion Festival
Scottish Singer-Songwriter Findlay Napier has announced details of his forthcoming new album ‘Glasgow’, which can be ordered now via his Kickstarter campaign.
Findlay describes the project:
“Just before my 18th birthday I moved from the banks of the River Spey to the 14th floor of the Red Road flats in Glasgow. I’d come to study Traditional Scottish Folk Music at what is now The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Twenty years later I want to make an album that reflects on the time I’ve spent in Glasgow making music, hanging out and growing up.
Boo Hewerdine is producing the album and we have already started recording the album in Motherlode Studio, Norfolk. We need your help to finish the recording and release the album.
Glasgow has a rich history of music and, of course, songwriting. From Adam MacNaughton‘s ‘Jeely Piece’ song to The Blue Nile‘s ‘Tinseltown in the Rain’ hundreds of songs have been written about this wonderful city. My new album will contain a mixture of some of my favourite songs, some that I’ve written especially for the project and some co-writes with Boo Hewerdine.
I’ll keep you informed all along the way either through short video blogs, blogs and sneaky listens to works in progress.
Why use Kickstarter? A few reasons for this 1) It is a simple way for you to pre-order the album. Kickstarter is a well known an trusted crowdfunding site. 2) Unless you are signed to a major label it makes more sense for a small independent act like myself to use a crowdfunding platform. 3) It’s fun to have fans involved album making process.
What are you going to do with my money? All of the money you contribute will go straight into the project. The main areas of spending are: Recording (recording, mixing and mastering), design (Photographs & design) and promotion (Local, National and Online Press plugger and radio plugger… I do the social media stuff myself… as you may have noticed). The final major expense is duplication (‘pressing’ the CD, setting up download, liscensing fees, barcode)…. and then there’s all the little things (travel expenses, tea/coffee/food for the studio, guitar strings etc.) The more money you contribute the more I can do with the album.
THANK YOU!”
You can check out this this exciting project here:
There are many who find themselves described as stalwarts, some for the rugged determination to keep slogging away and others because they contribute so much to stay actively involved on a whole range of levels, keeping sharp artistically and selflessly championing others who deserve attention.
Findlay Napier is one of the most highly-regarded performers and creative forces on the Scottish music scene – thoroughly active and truly energised with a heart-warming zing.
His last album, ‘VIP: Very Interesting Persons’, contains ten songs about real life characters with interesting lives was co-written and produced by Boo Hewerdine.‘VIP’ was The Telegraph’s #2 Folk Album of the Year 2015 and was Album of the Week in The Daily Express received many excellent reviews. To coincide with his successful 2016 solo tour Napier released an EP containing 5 new VIP songs and a behind the lyrics book.
Findlay, an inaugural graduate of The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland‘s BA(Scottish Music) program, made his name touring and recording with multi-award winning traditional Scottish folk band Back of the Moon. In his more recent projects “Queen Anne’s Revenge” and “The Bar Room Mountaineers” his song-writing took centre stage and was described by The Sunday Herald as “Genuine songcraft and wit following in the Difford & Tilbrook tradition”. Findlay is also well known as the host of Celtic Connections’ Late Night Sessions and for his Hazy Recollections concert series which showcases the very best in new roots music.
In Feb 2017 Findlay will be touring with ‘Shake the Chains’ a new touring commission of protest songs from Folk by The Oak with support from Arts Council England, Help Musicians UK and Folk Alliance International. The tour features Nancy Kerr, Hannah Martin and Tim Yates with musical director Greg Russell.
Aside from his touring commitments Findlay performs regular Stand-Up Comedy shows around Glasgow.In September he organised and sold out Glasgow Songwriting Festival.
