Viva Prog Rock

[Guy Berger]

According to a BBC blather page:

Fidel Castro is a fan of the progressive rock band Yes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-25684040

i wonder what his favorite album is

ABWH or YesWest?

[A Lark Ascending]

Given the way he was egging on Khrushchev in Oct 1962 I'd suggest 'Close to the Edge' or 'Fragile'. Or maybe 'Going for the One'.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

yes had a keyboard player in late 90s named igor khoroshev, so maybe 1996's OPEN YOUR EYES would work better for what yr sayin dawg

[BFrank]

Here are a couple of tasty, well-crafted videos of Syd Arthur. A band worth checking out.

[Aggie87]

There's a 2cd King Crimson tour box available on Burning Shed and DGM right now (and at the King Crimson shows which just started last night in Albany) , which has alot of unreleased material on it from throughout the band's career. It also contains rehearsals from the current lineup. This is the only place the current lineup has been issued on CD at the moment.

[7/4]

There's a 2cd King Crimson tour box available on Burning Shed and DGM right now (and at the King Crimson shows which just started last night in Albany) , which has alot of unreleased material on it from throughout the band's career. It also contains rehearsals from the current lineup. This is the only place the current lineup has been issued on CD at the moment.

That sounds interesting.

[Shawn]

Here are a couple of tasty, well-crafted videos of Syd Arthur. A band worth checking out.

I'm listening to their album Sound Mirror on Spotify right now. Good stuff, I'm enjoying it so far.

[BFrank]

Here are a couple of tasty, well-crafted videos of Syd Arthur. A band worth checking out.

I'm listening to their album Sound Mirror on Spotify right now. Good stuff, I'm enjoying it so far.

Cool! They're definitely "lighter" than bands like Opeth and PT, but no less talented IMO.

[Shawn]

It's kind of pop/prog or something like that, song-based. It's nice.

If you like bands with a lot of melody then i also recommend checking out Big Big Train from the UK, they have lots of Genesis influence but definitely have their own thing to say. Check out either English Electric Vol. 1 or 2 (I started with Vol 2.).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL5qSj26NvU

[A Lark Ascending]

I've enjoyed those Syd Arthur records since BFrank mentioned them earlier in the year. The singer has an odd voice but they are enjoyable records.

In the summer I picked up a copy of a monthly called 'Prog' or something. Could not believe how many bands (most of which I'd never heard of) are working under that label. It remains the most unfashionable rock genre in the UK yet there is this huge underground. I don't have the time or inclination to explore it very far but I'm glad to see it there.

http://prog.teamrock.com/

[BFrank]

2014 Prog Awards Winners (don't know if this is related to "Prog Monthly")

Breakthrough Artist: Syd Arthur

[A Lark Ascending]

I pretty sure it is. I have a feeling the nominations were in the copy I was reading.

[Shawn]

2014 Prog Awards Winners (don't know if this is related to "Prog Monthly")

Breakthrough Artist: Syd Arthur

That's how I discovered Big Big Train as well, they won a Prog award the year before and after reading the article I went and sampled their albums.

[BFrank]

I'll have to look more into Big Big Train. "Summoned by Bells" didn't grab me, but that's just one tune.

[Д.Д.]

Gentle Giant's "The Power and the Glory" remixed by Steve Wilson, released on CD, 5.1 DVD and blu-ray. Any vinyl.

https://www.burningshed.com/store/gentlegiant/

[Shawn]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aCZGM6z9Ls

[Ed S]

Regarding Syd Arthur -

I recently took a vacation in the American Southwest with my sons. One of the the things we did was catch a Yes concert in Tucson at the Rialto Theater. Taking my 19 and 17 year old sons to a Yes concert was kind of weird as I was around their age when I went to my first Yes concert in 1974.

Anyway - the opening act was Syd Arthur. I never heard of them before - and I thought they were phenomenal. Really interesting music, great sound, great energy and instrumentation. That mandolin guy was excellent - played guitar, keys and violin too. Vocalist has an interesting sound and the drummer was excellent. The crowd was very positive and gave them a very nice reception. Never having heard them, it took a couple of songs to get in the groove, but once I did - I wished they played longer than the 45 minute set they were allotted. After the show, the mandolin player walked past me as I stood in the aisle as they walked out front to sign and sell CDs. I told him it was a great show and he stopped and asked if I really liked it and was very appreciative of my comment. My brush with fame...

Edited September 15, 2014 by Ed Swinnich

[BFrank]

That tour was a big break for them, I think. Glad to hear that the crowd liked them. Not always the case for opening acts.

FYI, the mandolin/keyboard player is Raven Bush..........Kate Bush's nephew.

[BFrank]

I know Shawn's been pushing the new Opeth album for a while. I finally got it and it IS pretty amazing - covers a LOT of ground. I hear a little of everything from Porcupine Tree to electric Miles in here. Worth checking out for SURE.

[A Lark Ascending]

It's kind of pop/prog or something like that, song-based. It's nice.

If you like bands with a lot of melody then i also recommend checking out Big Big Train from the UK, they have lots of Genesis influence but definitely have their own thing to say. Check out either English Electric Vol. 1 or 2 (I started with Vol 2.).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL5qSj26NvU

Listening to the English Electric 2CD album right now - I'm smitten! Yes, you hear Genesis (and very early Genesis at that - much of it reminds me of Trespass) in there big time (the vocalist sounds like Gabriel) but they just get so much right. Reminds me of what I really liked about early 70s rock music:

a) Not just good melody but an awareness of how frequent harmonic shifts could sustain interest and enjoyment.

b) Layered harmony vocals - something that probably came out of psychedelia and Motown.

c) Realising there were other ways to make long tracks beside playing over a repeating chord structure (blues or otherwise) - those segmented tracks that, done well, were held together by overlapping musical themes.

d) Instrumental colour - the vast range of instruments at work, especially in the plucked string department.

Great to hear Dave Gregory in action again.

At one or two points the choruses drift dangerously close to Boy Band territory but they get so much more right.

Intrigued as to what has led to this revival so long after the event and after decades when the music labelled as 'Prog' has been so unfashionable. Maybe the internet has allowed music out of fashion to flourish whilst undermining the monopoly of taste-making that the rock magazine critics long held.

I know I'm going to be playing this a lot over the next few months.

Thanks for the recommendation, Shawn.

Edited October 5, 2014 by A Lark Ascending

[Shawn]

Glad you guys liked the Opeth and Big Big Train recommendations.

I think the spirit of Prog is alive and well in the 21st century.

[BFrank]

Saw King Crimson the other night - VERY entertaining show. Can't say it was amazing, because I don't know their music all that well - mostly just the old stuff. But I really enjoyed seeing and hearing Fripp and the rest of the band negotiate all of that difficult music. I WAS amazed at '21st Century Schizoid Man,' which I thought would sound dated after all these years, but seeing it live was a whole new experience.

They're pretty strict about no photography and even have a humorous audio introduction to the show about why you should put your phones away and just enjoy the music. Very effective. Interestingly enough, Tony Levin has a camera with him and is documenting different parts of the tour, including audience shots from the stage at the end of the show. You can see that stuff HERE.

[Aggie87]

I really hope they put out a live cd from this tour, would love to hear this incarnation play! Of course a studio release would be perfectly fine as well!

[A Lark Ascending]

Wish they'd play over here again - good, lord, Fripp lives here. I can never work out if it's the economics or the fact that Fripp can't be doing with the oh-so-hip English rock journalists.

Edited October 7, 2014 by A Lark Ascending

[BFrank]

I really hope they put out a live cd from this tour, would love to hear this incarnation play! Of course a studio release would be perfectly fine as well!

You're too easy to please, Erik!!