Review – Fates Warning – Live Over Europe – by Jez Denton

The reason for listening to live albums, for me, is one of two. Either it is listening to an album to remind you of an amazing gig you’ve been at such as Queen’s ‘Live Magic’ or the Marillion bootleg series or it is to get a different level of enjoyment of a band you wish you’d seen at their pomp, ‘Slade on Stage’ and Thin Lizzy – ‘Live and Dangerous’ being great examples. But listening to a live album from a band you don’t really know? It’s kind of a weird experience.

Such a band, pretty much unknown to me (despite a 30 odd year career) is Fates Warning, who are releasing their ‘Live Over Europe’ double CD (3 LP) live album on the 29th June. I didn’t really know what to expect and I must admit, seeing that there are 23 tracks on this release, I viewed it with quite some trepidation. It’s quite an epic amount of music to get through, especially if it’s new to you. Would I get through it? Would it hold my attention? Would it make me care enough to want to like it?

Thankfully, it answered all my worries right from the opening track, the masterful From The Rooftops. This is a loud, dynamic, symphonic and brutal heavy metal assault on the senses, a barrage of melodic noise, crunching guitars and a piercing rock vocal from singer Ray Alder. This is music designed to be noise terrorism, a building crescendo of discordant melodies voiced by an angelic voice; OK, a Hell’s Angel but still, what a combination they make.

It is Alder’s voice that truly makes this album for me. Like many more famous rock frontmen with great ranges, Alder isn’t drowned by the melodic noise behind him, he soars and rises above it, taking the various crowds with him, reaching heights that you feel can’t be surpassed until Alder surpasses them himself. The crowds are part of this show, the adulation and commitment add to the whole package of this album which has been fabulously mixed (Jens Borgen) and mastered (Tony Lindgren). The songs chosen are brilliantly paced, have moments of both introspection and crescendo; from the first tracks I genuinely couldn’t wait to see where the next song would go. It certainly has made me want to look up the studio recordings of this band.

In my opening paragraph I mentioned that one of the reasons for listening to live albums was, in a sense, nostalgia for gig memories the listener may have experienced. This album, in a weird way, taps into that idea too. Listening to the album I drifted back to a time when I saw bands like Iron Maiden in smaller theatre settings, or when I saw bands like Nuclear Assault and Suicidal Tendencies in club venues. It took me back to a time when I used to work doors and stage duties at rock clubs in the North East of England as security. It reminded me, in those days before health and safety and the wearing of ear defenders, why my hearing is completely fucked! If you know Fates Warning this is a must buy release and, if you don’t I’d suggest investing in it as you won’t regret it all.

Released June 29th 2018

Order the album from Burning Shed here

Review – Tumbletown – Never Too Late – by Jez Denton

I like a rock opera. There, I said it. If I’m in the right mood there is nothing more uplifting than a hugely bombastic, sub-classical, up its own arse (in a good way), melodramatic musical. I find enjoyment in some of Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s most over the top moments; I’d really love to see the revival of Chess (other than the fact it stars Alexandria Burke – but that’s another story.) And this love of musical theatre passes into some of the rock music I enjoy. From seeing Queen and Marillion strut their stuff in the 1980’s right up to recent live extravagant shows by the likes of Muse, bands who rock up to stadiums with music and shows that fill these open spaces will always flick my switch.

Sometimes bands will try to create albums that have the feel of something theatrical. Sometimes they get the balance right and don’t fall into the trap of just creating something a bit naff. And sometimes they don’t. Starting up the first track off the new album, ‘Never Too Late’, by Dutch prog rockers Tumbletown, I had a fear that I was going to be investing time in something on the wrong side of pretentious; it’s a pet hate of mine – opening album tracks called Prelude (or Intro or something equally unadventurous. Give it a proper name guys!) But my fears were soon allayed as we entered the following songs which, on the whole, are marvellously evocative, clever and brilliant tracks.

Ok, lyrically there are some clunky moments; but this I can forgive most bands writing words in a second language. Mind you, it is no worse than some of the worst lyrical excesses of ‘try too hard’ poetry that finds its way into a lot of English prog rock bands too (you all know who I mean here – no need to say much more.) It doesn’t get in the way of the overall enjoyment; cut some slack for lines like ‘looking into my notebook’ and ‘lost muses’ and no harm is done and, to be fair, the stories and tales do flow, the third track, Avalon, being a particular highlight for me.

On first listen to the album I found myself a bit disconcerted as I heard a famous voice in the mix; not literally, but there was a spirit of somebody which I couldn’t put my finger on. What the album did do on subsequent listens was that it opened up doors and avenues to explore, each time you can pick up a new intricacy here, a nuance there. It was one of these nuances that finally allowed the mystery to click as I got the touchstone I was looking for that, being for me, huge similarity to the great Ian Anderson (25 years or so ago, not now he’s lost his range.) That realisation is what made the album for me, this is a kind of Jethro Tull album for the 21st century and that really does fit. After all, Tull and Anderson were always at the forefront of progressive music as a theatrical experience; something Tumbletown’s ‘Never Too Late’ has taken, developed and updated for today’s music.

Released 24th May 2018

Order the album in the UK here

Order the album in Europe here:

http://www.fmls.biz/product/tumbletown-never-too-late-cd/

 

Three Into One Does Go! – Reviews – Willie Campbell & The Open Day Rotation, Thunder And Rain and The Strange Blue Dreams – by Progradar

Willie Campbell & The Open Day Rotation – New Clouds In Motion

“There’s always a way around The Gospel…”, the chorus from the second track on Isle of Lewis based Scottish singer-songwriter Willie Campbell’s third album with his current creative guise, The Open Day Rotation, ‘New Clouds In Motion’ gives you a sense of what to expect from one of “…the country’s truly great pop songwriters…” (The Herald).

A superb collection of pop and gospel infused roots music, this new record sees Campbell’s experiences while immersing himself in the Nashville music row song-writing community seeping into his own creative writing style.

There are some beautifully constructed and delivered songs on this feel-good, spirit lifting release, opener Mary Rest Your Head, the aforementioned A Way Around The Gospel and I’ve Got A Kite all take influences from the gospel style and the moving Winter Lake In Spring will literally melt any frozen heart.

There are elements of Americana, country and traditional folk all given their special coating of Campbell’s intelligent pop music roots. Born To Be Blind, Going Through The Motions, What Are We Now – the uplifting, emotive tracks just keep on coming.

A mature, intelligent and, ultimately, satisfying album that delivers on all levels.

Released 8th December 2017

Buy the album direct from the artists here:

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Thunder And Rain – Start Believing

It’s a good job that mandolinist Peter Weber convinced his former busking sidekick, singer/guitarist Erinn Peet-Lukes, to join him in Golden, Colorado otherwise the excellent Thunder And Rain would never have been formed.

The driving country rock sound benefits from the duo’s roots in traditional bluegrass and folk and the opening triple salvo of Cut The Wire, Once I Was and title track Start Believing sets down a marker of the excellence to come.

It’s difficult to combine the more down to earth elements of acoustic instrumentation more familiar to roots music fans with modern rock and pop but Thunder And Rain have created a sound that seems to have attracted the approval that most new-to-the genre acts can only dream of.

The laid back vibes of Babe You’re Gonna Leave Me and Wyoming Is For Miles, the country blues lament of What Am I Gonna Do and the bluegrass brilliance of Tennessee Is Burning all add to this impressive band’s burgeoning reputation.

A perfectly created and delivered album of polished and yet emotive songs that deserves to see Thunder And Rain rise to be the cream of the crop.

Released 1st November 2017.

Buy the album direct from the band here

The Strange Blue Dreams – s/t

“Like Elvis Presley discovered skiffle and formed a band with Duane Eddy and The Beach Boys…”

Yep, it really is that strange but in a good way. The debut, self-titled, album from Glasgow’s The Strange Blue Dreams is full of nods to Nashville, Spaghetti Western theme tunes (think Ennio Morricone), Roy Orbison, Balkan guitars and even Duke Ellington’s big band sound.

To be fair, there is nothing quite like this and there never has been, forging the famous sounds of the 50’s and 60’s, double bass, mandolin, film noir and, yes, Elvis Presley into a unique sound full of immediacy and energy. Atmospheric arrangements that create an otherworldly rock n’ roll sound.

Highlights? There are many and there isn’t a duff track on the album. For me Reverberatin’ Love, Electricity, Jungle Drums and (That’s The Place) I’m Falling are just four of the songs that really typify the weird and wonderful world of The Strange Blue Dreams.

It’s not very often that you hear something completely different that really blows you away and these impressive musicians won’t appeal to everyone but if you like your R&B and twanging jazz music with a bit of David Lynch thrown in for good measure, trust me, you’ll love this!

Released 20th October 2017.

Buy the album from bandcamp here

 

Review – James Edwyn & The Borrowed Band – High Fences – by Progradar

I blame my mate Iain Sloan and, by association, Loudon Temple of Bloody Great PR for my new found love of Americana and Roots music. For those not in the know, Iain is the rather special guitar player from the Scottish Americana band The Wynntown Marshals, a band whose last two releases I have reviewed and enjoyed immensely.

Loudon’s Bloody Great PR company cover an incredibly diverse and deeply impressive selection of roots, folk and Americana artists, based over here in the UK and Ireland and over the pond in the States and I have had the pleasure of reviewing their work.

When I heard the first strains of the opening track, Passing San Ysidro, from Glasgow sextet James Edwyn & The Borrowed Band’s  second album ‘High Fences’ I was immediately hooked by their superb sound. The riff and hook filled tunes are full of resplendent melodies and finely honed arrangement. There’s a driving American rock feel to songs like the opening track and Get Back Up yet there’s an honest humility to tracks like Pushing Statues and Starlet with the ever elegant steel guitar that tugs on the emotions.

James Edwyn himself has a honey-toned vocal delivery that holds you in rapture and the skill and dexterity of the musicians imbues class and panache to every note and the counter punch of Emma Joyce’s dulcet feminine voice produces superb harmonies and adds powerful drama to Quoting Sagan and Burning Man.

The compelling Taking Liberties is a particular highlight but there is never a dull moment on this deeply influential record. An album for when the sun goes down on a great day and you need to finish it off in rare style.

Released 15th December 2017.

Order the album from Big Cartel here

Single Review – Sleeperman – Why Can’t You Say I Look Nice When I Look Nice? – by Progradar

Those erudite wordsmiths from East Yorkshire, Sleeperman, are back again with the fifth single from 2018 and the song titles just keep getting longer!

May’s single (I know, the review is a bit late this time!) is called, deep breath, ‘Why Can’t You Say I Look Nice, When I Look Nice?’, both a test of your diction and punctuation. The intelligent songwriting takes both a mournful and melodramatic direction with a darker subject matter but the incisive wit is there again in spades.

John Hilton’s vocal has a melancholy appeal that gives a more emotive edge to the song and Neil Scott’s 50’s guitar twang adds the required sepia twinged touch of pathos and regret (just check out that elegant riff!). The subdued drums of Phil Sharp and Steve Skinner’s laid back bass playing give real humanity to the music, to be fair, you either get this band or you don’t and I love their nods to the angst of Billy Bragg and the realities of real life, it’s simply rather wonderful.

The ‘B-side’ is a wistfully charming track with yet another lengthy title (I wonder if the band run competitions for this?!). ‘She Was The First Girl In Our Street To Die Her Hair’ will set many a 50 year old heart a fluttering about first crushes and  unrequited love, once again the songwriting abilities of Sleeperman leave a smile on my face and an amused tear in my eye…

Released 4th May 2018

Download the track from 7digital here

 

 

Review – The Dame – Losing Sight Of What You Want – by Progradar

With a flair for the dramatic and a talent for musical storytelling, Netherlands’ The Dame deliver neo-progressive music with more than a touch of melodrama:

“A new Dame has moved into town!

She is sensual, feminine, and smooth… that is, until the guitars start roaring.

The Dame will take you back to the romantic era of the roaring twenties. Hidden back room bars, smokey night clubs, liquor in coffee mugs… when gentlemen were stylish, and ladies were sexy chic.

Time to drink champagne and dance on the table!”

A collection of seven impressive tracks, ‘Losing Sight Of What You Want’ is the band’s debut release and is a polished and stand out album.

The theatrics are there for a reason, drawing you into the well constructed songs and setting the scene for what is almost time-travelling concept album. The soulful vocals of Marian Van Charante are beguiling and bewitching on tracks like the immersive Losing Sight Of What You Want, the epic and involving Conveniently Distant and the deliciously dark wanderings of Thy Father’s Bidding.

Stephen De Ruijter’s imposing and intense guitar playing is like the conductor’s baton, leading the rest of these superb musicians as they deliver a deeply engaging musical experience, the rhythm section of Michel Krempel (bass) and Ruben Meibergen (drums) being the powerful glue that holds everything together. Keyboard player Thijs De Ruijter’s wonderful playing is the icing on the cake.

This is neo-prog Jim but not as you know it! and in the crowded world of progressive music it takes something to stand out from the crowd and, to my ears, these mesmeric musicians are well on the way to finding it. With the eye catching packaging and clever back story, this is a CD that should be finding it into everyone’s collection.

Released 16th February 2018

Buy the album on CD or download here

 

Review – The Fretless – Live From The Art Farm – by Progradar

Transforming string music into intricate, beautiful, high-energy arrangements, Canada’s The Fretless have become flawless musical acrobats and multiple Juno award winners.

A major force on the world’s roots music circuit, this new album was recorded live, using only three mics and paying homage to to the traditional repertoire, straight to tape in front of an audience and this gives you a taste of actually being there amid the electric atmosphere in the room.

The tracks are explorations of traditional Irish tunes but given the classic Fretless treatment, so stamping their hallmark on the material.

The wonderfully laid back Bixie’s and the traditional folk overtones of The Killavil Fancy add a smooth contrast to the high energy delivery of tracks like Maggie’s Set and the grin inducing Jenny Bear. For any fan of pared back traditional music, this collection of wonderful tunes is a must. There’s a basic intimacy to the music that works brilliantly as these four exemplary musicians work their magic.

Other highlights are the urgent tones of Holton Alan Moore’s and the emotive strains of the very traditional sounding Dawning Of The Day.

For those new to the band or long term admirers this release is a joy and a delight,  just don’t keep calling it ‘Live From The Ant Farm’…

Released 28th May 2018

Order the album from CDBaby here

RIVERSIDE – Sign new deal with InsideOutMusic; Announce new studio album and European tour!

Progressive Rock masters RIVERSIDE have just signed a new deal with longtime partners InsideOutMusic and are pleased to announce their upcoming seventh studio album “Wasteland” as well as its corresponding first European tour for October/November.

RIVERSIDE checked in with the following words:

“Well, we’re back in the game! We’re happy to tell you that our seventh album will be called “Waste7and” (Wasteland) and will be released at the end of September this year. It will be our first album recorded as a trio. Our music has become more serious and more mature, so get ready for a manly and emotional album. “Waste7and” is going to be a really accomplished one. It combines the emotional character of the first two and the production maturity of the latest two releases. If everything goes according to plan (as we’re still recording), the new Riverside album will simply d e s t r o y you 🙂

Also this year we’re going on the “Wasteland 2018 Tour” to promote the new album. Below you will find a list of the cities we’re going to visit in the autumn of 2018. Tickets go on sale this Friday, June 1st. More info soon!“

In regards to the extended co-operation via a new deal between RIVERSIDE and InsideOutMusic, Thomas Waber, label manager/A&R international InsideOutMusic, checked in with the following comment:

“We have been working with Riverside for a long time now and there is a lot of personal history. The InsideOutMusic family would be very different without them, so I am extremely pleased that the family is staying together. We all miss Piotr dearly, but i am looking forward to this new chapter. You are still with us, Grudzień!”

Here is a list of the upcoming shows by RIVERSIDE announced so far:

RIVERSIDE – Festivals 2018/2019:
21.06.2018 Konin (Poland) – Progressive Evening
23.06.2018 Valkenburg (The Netherlands) – Midsummer Prog Festival
13.07.2018 St. Goarshausen (Germany) – Night Of The Prog Festival XIII
04.-09.02.2019 Tampa to Key West & Cozumel – Cruise To The Edge

RIVERSIDE – “Wasteland 2018 Tour”:
12.10.2018 Gdansk (Poland) – B90
13.10.2018 Poznan (Poland) – Tama
14.10.2018 Wroclaw (Poland) – A2
16.10.2018 Katowice (Poland) – Miasto Ogrodów
17.10.2018 Lódz (Poland) – Magnetofon
18.10.2018 Torun (Poland) – Od Nowa
20.10.2018 Kraków (Poland) – Studio
21.10.2018 Warszawa (Poland) – Hala Kolo
30.10.2018 Berlin (Germany) – Kesselshaus
31.10.2018 Schorndorf (Germany) – Manufaktur
03.11.2018 Lisbon (Portugal) – LAV
04.11.2018 Madrid (Spain) – MON LIVE
05.11.2018 Barcelona (Spain) – Salamandra 1
06.11.2018 Lyon (France) – CCO
07.11.2018 Paris (France) – La Machine
09.11.2018 Manchester (UK) – Academy 2
10.11.2018 London (UK) – The Electric Ballroom
11.11.2018 Sint Niklaas (Belgium) – Casino
12.11.2018 Utrecht (The Netherlands) – Tivoli Vredenburg
14.11.2018 Hamburg (Germany) – Markthalle
15.11.2018 Oberhausen (Germany) – Turbinenhalle 2
16.11.2018 Pratteln (Switzerland) – Z-7
17.11.2018 Neunkirchen (Germany) – Gloomaar festival
More dates to follow soon…

RIVERSIDE had previously announced guitarist Maciej Meller to complete the band’s line-up for shows after taking a longer break from any live performances due to the tragic passing of founding member and guitarist Piotr Grudziński on February 21st, 2016.

Look out for more news on RIVERSIDE in the coming weeks…

 

Review – Obscured by Clouds – Thermospheric – by Jez Denton

After 70 odd years of popular music it is fair to say that most new music created is, in some way, derivative. All of those influences that inspire musicians to become musicians will find their way along the process into any new music created. Some artists are blatant in their ‘plagiarism’; for me, Noel Gallagher has become the premier Beatles/Slade tribute act without actually doing any of the songs. Others, however, take the music that influences them in a new direction, developing the sounds that inspired them.

One of these bands is Obscured by Clouds who are releasing a live album, ‘Thermospheric’, based on the works released in their debut album ‘Psychelectic’. As suggested by the band’s name, early Pink Floyd is the touchstone and spark for the creativity. The feelings and emotions that are fed into this album are very reminiscent of albums such as ‘Piper At The Gates of Dawn’. At points the album feels almost as a homage to this era of British psychedelia (there also seems to be a heavy Hawkwind/Edgar Broughton vibe too); on more than one occasion I, as a listener, was expecting to hear a blood curdling scream such as Floyd’s one in Careful with that Axe, Eugene.

The songs are also so much more than just a tribute to this hugely artful time in underground music; the greatest compliment I can pay the band is that this feels like music that Floyd would perhaps have continued to create had Syd Barrett been able to keep a hold of his sanity and musical creativity. Quite simply, this is powerful and exceptional psychedelic, tripped out, hazy and confounding music. It’s like going back to the 1960’s with some super strength LSD to fully open up the doors of perception into another universe.

I really am a huge fan of eccentric’s in music which this album really embraces (I also get overtones of one of British rock music’s great eccentrics, Julian Cope, throughout the mix, particularly in the vocal style), it is music designed to not only challenge but to also scare and disturb, music that takes you to different places, from the Indian sitar on the Barrettesque Zoe Zolofft to the industrially horrific guitar feedback on Cast Close The Gate.

It’s pays homage to its heroes by taking their influences and taking it in directions perhaps that could only have been dreamed of fifty years ago. This is music that is best listened to on your own, in the dark, with sound surrounding you…just make sure you’ve got someone around to give you reassurance when it ends…and then go back in again for another go. This is proper deep, meaningful, eccentric, dangerous and ultimately excellent rock music for grown up explorers of disturbing soundscapes that need a cautionary warning about the amazing head fuck capabilities of Obscured by Clouds.

Released 27th October 2017

Order the album from iTunes here

 

 

 

 

Encircled Announce Third Album – The Universal Mirth – Released 4th August

Midlands prog rockers Encircled will release ‘The Universal Mirth’ ‪on August 4th.

‘The Universal Mirth’ is their third album, a follow up to the bands critically acclaimed 2017 album ‘The Monkey Jamboree’.

“We have gone a bit darker on this album”, says Bass/keyboard player Scott Evans. “The music came first and we had a lot written whilst we were promoting the last album, it maintains some of the song writing elements of ‘The Monkey Jamboree’ that people latched onto but more complex and layered. Busby (vocalist – Mark ‘Busby’ Burrows) has taken his lyric writing to a new level and really explored darker themes, all relevant to today’s cyber security paranoid nation”

Guesting on the album is Prog legend Peter Jones (Tiger Moth Tales, Red Bazar, Camel). “Pete contributed a 3 minute keyboard solo on the closing 13 minute track Log Out that is one of the finest things I have ever heard, a goose bumps moment for the band”, says Scott.

Pre-orders for the Digipack cd and digital album go live at the start of July on the bands site https://encircled.bandcamp.com

Track listing:

Log In – The Mystical Way
The Obsession
Past Times
This Is Goodbye
Smiling On The Inside
22 Likes
Fantastic Souvenir
Log Out – The Universal Mirth

Band:
Gareth Evans – Lead Guitar
Mark Busby Burrows – Vocals & Guitar
Scott Evans – Bass, Keyboards & Programming

Kym Hart – Guest Vocals
Peter Jones – Keyboards on Log Out – The Universal Mirth
Shaun Lowe – Producer and additional drums