Progradar Best of 2016 – Emma Roebuck’s Top 10

Emma’s 10 for the year November 2015 to November 2016. It’s difficult to select 10 out of a whole year of frankly remarkable music. This selection is based on what I have listened to outside my radio show and reviewing schedule. No doubt I will change it in 2 days or more but this is the list as I type the words. I have looked at the albums I have played most at home or in the car since I acquired them. I apologise to any I have omitted but 10 is 10 and there has to be a line. It is not because the quality is less but more that these albums have spoken to me more than others. I think it is representative of what the year has given us musically from the independent sector to the ones with recording deals.

Red Bazar – Tales From The Bookcase

What can be said about this out of the Blue album that already hasn’t? A good instrumental band gets access to a vocal talent in the extreme that is a bit of a musical polymath. You get the final ingredient they needed. You get a collection of storytelling songs that bode well for the future of good solid melodic Progressive rock that is a delight to ears.

Steve Thorne – Island of the Imbeciles

Brooding, insightful, dark and political, no, not my facebook posts but Mr Thorne’s latest output. I have returned to this album again and again this year.  He captured the zeitgeist so well in this album. The songs stand up to repeated listening and are musically outstanding as well as lyrically. He has the ability for the melancholic which suits me down to the ground.

Birdeatsbaby – Tanta Furia

One of my more oddball, leftfield choices for the Prog scene, their publicist asked me to give it a listen and I duly obliged. What hit me straight away is the desire to just follow their path no matter what genre they were placed in by others. This is high energy music where a Gothic mentality meets Prog avante guard and adds a little Lana Del Rey. Yet it is all about the song not the ability to play. It’s dark and seedy, the world of Birdeatsbaby but worth a visit.

Kyros – Vox Humana

Adam changes a band name and then gets a band to make an album by a band rather than a solo project with musicians helping. It’s a jump in maturity for the song writing and although not an actual concept it is a thematic album on the “Human Condition”. I look forward to seeing this album brought to life on stage live.

Drifting Sun- Safe Asylum

This is Neo prog in its finest tradition. I played a track from this to a fellow DJ at Progzilla Radio and he was blown away in a fit of nostalgia for the days of a renown pub in Walthamstow. It is neo Prog of the highest standard. Full on, no holds barred and unashamed in where it comes from and long may it remain so.

Under A Banner – TheWild Places

If you have ever seen New Model Army or the Pogues then you’ll have some idea of the passion and power in this music. Add a strong political lyrical undercurrent and a joyous love of the music with a progressive ideology then you get a vague idea of what the music is all about but you must listen to the album to get the impact. It felt like a slap in the face. The raw power yet the sophisticated arrangements and music. Despite coming from a strong folk tradition it screams ‘hear me and be stirred’.

We Are Kin – …and i know…

We Are Kin come out with a second album on Bad Elephant Music. The previous album was a studio project using musicians to add to the core tracks of the composers and was not really designed for live performance and, as such, felt like a studio project, a good one, but it was more of a compositional process.  ‘…and I know… feels like a band has gone into a studio and a written and album together. The flow and format gives strength and depth. They are part of an up and coming group of new “Prog” outfits coming up that give me hope for the future of music in general not just the progressive scene.

Tilt – Hinterland

I have said it before but, like Dylan’s backing group stepping out from behind the star to take centre stage (as an independent band writing their own music and doing a great job), TILT have stepped up from being behind that talented  behemoth Fish and found another amazing vocal talent and given freedom to some amazing power prog that any band would be proud of making. I need to see these guys live and Prog Dreams seems like a great festival to do it.

Napiers Bones – Hell and High Water

A truly artistically independent effort, Gordon and Nathan live over 250 miles apart, one close to the wilds of Yorkshire moors and the other in Dartmoor. These places form a cornerstone of their inspiration and writing. This album I reviewed for Progradar when it came out and was knocked back that not only was this album being given freely but also the rest of their catalogue was free too. Very well written and produced storytelling of a high standard. Classic Prog coming from the local mythology of both localities this is music that needs a wide audience.

Maschine – Naturalis

The perpetually busy Mr Machin gets the time to write his own stuff and put out an album that feels considerably mature and still full of the passion and energy only the young seem to be able to maintain. I am a fan of great musicianship but never at the cost of the music. Maschine strike this balance very well indeed.  This is another thematic album this one on the struggle between man and the natural world. The future of Prog is in safe hands.

I suppose I should state the struggle I had getting these 10 from the amazing releases that 2016 has had has been huge.  The list of bands not in here because of making my criteria so strict is immense – Cosmograf, Opeth , I am The  Manic Whale,  Kate Bush,  Verbal Delirium, Marillion, Steven Wilson, Van Der Graaf  Generator, Twice Bitten, jH , The Tirith etc etc etc . These albums in my selection have the highest personal play numbers of any others in my list. I commend you to try them but also do not be afraid to listen to an album from any act despite having never heard of them. With streaming from most sites now like Bandcamp you can try before you buy.  Go on you know you want to.

 

Review – Maschine – Naturalis – by James R Turner

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Formed around the nucleus of insanely talented guitarist Luke Machin, and bassist Dan Mash (both of whom have played with artists like The Tangent) their debut album ‘Rubidium’ was released in 2013, and in an unrelated interview with Andy Tillison; he told me that I needed to listen to that album. Now when Andy Tillison recommends something you listen to it, and you know what, it didn’t quite grab me initially where it should have done. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great debut album and Maschine are an insanely talented group of young musicians, but, for whatever reason whilst I enjoyed it, I never ‘got’ it.

However, this, only their 2nd album (and by some of the music on here, and the intricate blends of sound, would make you think they have been playing together forever) got me from the start, (so much so that, time permitting, I will be revisiting ‘Rubidium‘).

This 5 piece, formed at the Brighton Institute of Music in 2008 feature, as mentioned earlier, the talents of Luke Machin on guitar & vocal, Dan Mash on bass, James Stewart on drums, Elliott Fuller on guitar and Marie-Eve De Gaultier on vocals, flute and keyboard.

With a diverse range of influences across the board, and playing styles throughout the band, their real skill is pouring all these un-distilled musical ingredients into their crucible and creating a striking and original sound.

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The 6 tracks on here, (the shortest clocking in at over 5 minutes!) all relate to natural events and the interaction between nature and all it can throw at us. This isn’t a concept album as such, but more connected events around which the songs are allowed room to breath and develop.

Boy do they develop, the opening 11 minutes of Resistance, mixes in the beautiful guitar work that both Luke and Elliott bring to the branch, the whole gamut of musical styles and influences creatively held together, with more ideas to spare in these 11 minutes than a lot of bands have in 11 years. The most effective weapon Maschine have is the contrasting vocals of Luke and Marie-Eve, which works together in creating some beautiful harmonies and interesting, counterpoints. And that’s just in the first 11 minutes!!

One of my favourite songs on the album, Make Believe features some amazing vocals from Marie-Eve, with a wonderfully slow build up, whilst the keyboard textures and powerful drum and bass combo of Mash and Stewart hold the piece together allowing an astonishing solo from Machin to burst forward.

The other epic on the album, the closing 11-minute Megacyma recounts the story of the Japanese Tsunami of 2011 through one mans eyes. What a mighty storm of sound they create as the song builds to its climax. They pull out all the stops here, with hints of 70’s classic prog keyboards, heavy riffing and some intense electronic walls of sound, whilst the two voices combine to create a fantastic sound, and the symphonic edge to this mighty finale is absolute perfection.

Of the other tracks on the album, Night & Day with it’s aural soundscapes and WWII story is contemporary prog storytelling at it’s finest. Hidden in Plain sight combines many disparate influences into the nearest they get to a pop song, with some fantastically funky drumming from Stewart and more of those wonderful vocals and Whilst A New Reality is Maschine’s sound in microcosm, featuring some wonderfully fluid guitar, fantastic symphonic keyboard work, and the sound of a band firing on all cylinders.

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It’s absolutely fantastic that nearly 50 years into the genre we call prog that there are immensely talented creative musicians of this calibre who are prepared to take risks and imprint their musical vision on the genre instead of being held back by the genres self imposed limitations and sounds.

Maschine truly are the future, and this album will firmly cement their reputation as one of the finest bands in this (or any) genre.

A last minute ball over the line for album of the year? Got to be a contender…

Released 18th November 2016

Buy ‘Naturalis’ from Burning Shed

 

 

 

 

Review – Maschine – Naturalis – by Emma Roebuck

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Maschine – ‘a progressive rock band without boundaries’ is the bands tagline and ‘Naturalis’, the second album from Luke Machin, Daniel Mash, Marie-Eve De Gaultier, Elliot Fuller and James Stewart, definitely pushes the envelope beyond ‘Rubidium’ which was a cracking album in itself and one that showed much promise for the future.

This album is primarily a vehicle for Luke’s compositions and stretches his writing in variance and styles as well as having a core concept to the album that speaks of mankind and how we sit uncomfortably alongside the earth and nature as a species. ‘Naturalis’ is grand in its aspiration and design and I believe that Maschine achieve those goals very well.

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We are introduced to the album with Resistance, a full-on epic of traditional Prog proportions in what can only be called a ‘classical 70s’ style. It begins with analogue keyboard sounds and a tension creating guitar riff reminiscent of Jimmy Page which then goes on a full musical journey reflecting the uncomfortable fit man has with his environment. There is much light and shade here designed to mirror how humanity is trying to come to terms with something he cannot control and, yet, still believes he can have authority over. Coming in at a tad under 12 minutes this epic alone would satisfy any progger but this is just the start.

Night and Day is the story of Robert Cain and his experiences of the Battle of Arnhem. His story is of finding unnatural resources fighting beyond human limits long into the battle. This as close to a ‘sound’ for Maschine as you could get, as you could say it combines all the elements of the band in a perfect balance.

A personal favourite of mine on this album is Make Believe, it istands out as being quite an ethereal song and Marie-Eve comes out into the spotlight with a haunting voice that reflects a cynical back story of the political exploitation of resources. It is a genuinely beautiful track.

The finale and closing epic Megacyma is a modern epic, the other end of the musical time line from Resistance. Production and writing that fits 2016 so well, you can smell the ozone of the electricity used during the recording. This is the tale of one man’s experience in the centre of a huge Tsunami fighting for survival through every second of the 12 minutes of the song. It is a very powerful song that looks at how small one man is in relation to the planet and the forces it has at its disposal.

This album has taken 4 years to write and record and it is interesting to see how Luke has developed as a writer and composer and his desire be a strong writer of songs. Being a virtuoso guitar player in demand in various places (be it The Tangent, Damenek, Kiama, or Karmakanic) or guesting on numerous albums must surely be an asset, giving him a chance to experience a variety of styles and other musicians.

If you like “Rubidium” then get this, it’s a guaranteed winner for you. ‘Naturalis’ has good quality songs with a good level of complexity but not at the expnse of structure. The album as a couple of live tracks as a bonus which are not on my pre-release download. The artwork looks excellent and there are the usual extras with pre order.

Released 18th November 2016

Buy ‘Naturalis’ from Burning Shed