Viva Prog Rock

[sidewinder]

Dave Sewart to come out of retirement and give it a crack (just as long as he brought no synths!

Is that the guy who got to number 1 many years back with Barbara Gaskin? With the synth tied around his neck, I think.

Always thought that that one getting to No. 1 was a bit of an aberation. Especially with 'Aggadoo' etc. dominating the charts at that time. Yikes !

[A Lark Ascending]

That's the chap.

He played mainly organ, piano and electric piano in three of the least succesful but most interesting late-60s/early 70s prog-ish bands - Egg, Hatfield and the North and National Health. Barbara Gaskin appeared on the two Hatfield albums as a member of a vocal trio dubbed 'The Northettes', providing ethereal and very English choral moments (more Herbert Howells than Ronettes!).

They did a number of albums together in the 80s and a some great remakes of sixties singles including the one you mentioned - I especially liked their version of the old Bing Crosby/William Bendix song 'Busy Doing Nothing'. It was all very synth drenched, but Stewart is so skilled that he managed to do more than just use them for beats, background washes and twiddles. Their album 'The Big Idea' from the early 90s is a classic that virtually no-one seems to have heard - brilliant songs, wonderfully rich arrangements and Gaskin's lovely voice.

I know Stewart wrote a column for a long time in one of the keyboard magazines giving playing advice.

They have an infrequently updated website. They've been promising a new album for years with nothing coming. But I just looked and it has finally emerged!

They even did a few gigs in Japan recently (they seem to be 'big in Japan')

So maybe my millions are not needed!

http://www.davebarb.demon.co.uk/

More than you need to know, I suspect.

Edited August 19, 2009 by Bev Stapleton

[BFrank]

I had an Egg album WAY back when. I remember kind of liking it because it was so different. Wish I still had it.

[7/4]

I love those Egg albums.

I never did hear the Dave Stewart pop albums yet.

...

[BFrank]

I'm pretty sure this is the Egg album I had - "The Polite Force"

[A Lark Ascending]

I love those Egg albums.

I never did hear the Dave Stewart pop albums yet.

I'd strongly recommend the Singles compilation and, even more, 'The Big Idea'.

[A Lark Ascending]

I'm pretty sure this is the Egg album I had - "The Polite Force"

That one and the first got a reissue a couple of years back. My favourite was this one:

It was recorded after Egg had disbanded and when Stewart already had the first Hatfield album behind him. A number of typical mid-length, tricksy organ trio tracks interspersed with some lovely, short wind band pieces by bassist, Mont Campbell and a sprinkling of ethereal vocals from the Northettes.

This nice collection of radio/live recordings also came out a while back:

I never knew the first two albums at the time though recall hearing the band on the radio and had a tape I did of one session. Hearing them several decades later they are interesting and enjoyable but hardly great lost albums. What is nice is the quirkiness and complete lack of pomp...remember they were around just as ELP got going (I believe Stewart acknowledges The Nice as an inspiration).

[BruceH]

Could Eno's 70's "song" albums be considered 'prog rock'? If so, then I guess I'm into prog rock after all...

[Use3D]

Well Porcupine Tree's new album has been floating around the 'net, I've already pre-ordered the CD after 1 listen. It's pretty much brilliant from beginning to end. Amazon has a great price on the 2 discs, for a heads up to PT fans.

[Shawn]

Good for a laugh....

http://www.cracked.com/funny-2359-progressive-rock/

[JETman]

Good for a laugh....

http://www.cracked.com/funny-2359-progressive-rock/

Classic!!! The part about naming song sections had me roflmao!

[Aggie87]

Picked up the recent "Radiation" EP from UKZ, which is the band comprised of Eddie Jobson, Trey Gunn (ex King Crimson), Aaron Lippert (Expanding Man), Alex Machacek (Out Trio, with Terry Bozzio and Patrick O'Hearn), and Marco Minnemann.

Pretty cool disc, heavy with some PT-ish and KC-ish sounds in spots, and mellower in others. I like Trey Gunn in general, so I hope this project results in some further recordings.

Jobson already had a spinoff from THIS group, called U-Z. That one appears to include (or at least guests) John Wetton (!), Tony Levin, Greg Howe, and Minneman.

www.ukzband.com

[BFrank]

They have it on eMusic.......so I'm DL-ing it now.

Thanks for the heads-up, Agggggggggg.

PS - listening now. I hear a little NIN and Allan Holdsworth in it, too.

Edited December 2, 2009 by BFrank

[Jazzmoose]

Could Eno's 70's "song" albums be considered 'prog rock'? If so, then I guess I'm into prog rock after all...

I always shoehorned those into the glam rock category myself.

[7/4]

Could Eno's 70's "song" albums be considered 'prog rock'? If so, then I guess I'm into prog rock after all...

I always shoehorned those into the glam rock category myself.

Nah...even then Eno was too arty for Rock 'n' Roll.

.

[Д.Д.]

Gentle Giant's "Free Hand", "The Power and the Glory" and "In a Glass House" will be reissued in the end of January. These are the remasters from the original 1/4-inch tapes, which were apparently not available for the previous reissues. Some audio and video bonus material is going to be included too. Available for pre-order at amazon and cduniverse.

[Matthew]

For the past couple of weeks, I've been making my way through Robert Wyatt: Box Set, which has all the albums & EPs by Robert Wyatt, original member of Soft Machine, and it has been a wonderful experience. Not knowing too much about Wyatt, but interested anyway, I purchased the set, and it's perfect in every way: It has all the new remastered versions of everything, the price is great, since Wyatt's cds are mostly imports, but most of all, the music is great. Wyatt's voice is so unique, that it's like he is caressing a song. If you dig good music, in a prog-rock setting, do yourself a favor and get this set, you will not regret it.

Edited January 7, 2010 by Matthew

[Shawn]

ASTRA - The Weirding. Anyone who kind of misses that 1970-74 sound of bands like Floyd, Crimson or Yes should check out this band from San Diego. It takes a few spins to fully sink in, but it's worth the effort.

For once I agree with the review on AMG: "Unlike many other modern-day prog rock revivalists, Astra recall a day when the genre was more about creating sweeping mood shifts than mere mind-numbing instrumental acrobatics."

[7/4]

Stephen Prutsman- Soundchaser

piano solo

[Aggie87]

Not sure where to really put this, but I just read that Mick Karn (from Japan/Rain Tree Crow) has recently been diagnosed with advanced stages of cancer.

There's a page on Facebook (here) for Mick that offers the ability to leave messages (or donate money if you are so inclined) for Mick.

In addition to Japan and his solo material, Mick's recorded with Gary Numan, Kate Bush, Mark Isham, David Torn, No-Man, and others.

[7/4]

that's awful! I saw him with Mark Isham & David Torn at the Bottom Line years ago.

[Shawn]

Pelican's only vocal track is quite haunting and beautiful I think.

Edited June 10, 2010 by Shawn

[Kyo]

I think Aquarius by UK proggers Haken is one of the best debuts of the year so far.

These guys share some members with the band To-Mera, although in quite different roles: Haken is led by To-Mera keyboardist Richard Henshall, who wrote all the music and also plays some guitar on the album (the band also features another guitarist and a full-time keyboardist). To-Mera's main writer and guitarist Tom MacLean takes a back seat in Haken and is featured on bass.

The music is a very fresh sounding take on prog metal that mixes all kinds of influences in a natural way - there are wacky bits that remind me of the stuff Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess usually gets slagged for, there's some jazzy stuff, there are some growls (not a lot, though, so don't let that keep you from giving this album a chance if you mind those), and most importantly there are some really great melodies and strong vocals. Most of the songs are around 10 minutes long and both adventurous and well-constructed, with the closing 16:57 "Celestial Elixir" nicely wrapping up the whole thing - did I mention Aquarius is a concept album?

Their MySpace page has some streaming tracks and some decent live video that will give you a pretty good idea of their sound:

http://www.myspace.com/hakenmusic

Just know that the track "Drowning in the Flood" is not representative of the album's style, it's much more on the metal side than the rest of the material, which is a lot more melodic and more original in sound. Guess they picked that one to appeal to the sort of listener that's looking for yet another generic prog metal band - let me assure you, that's what Haken are NOT.

[Shawn]

thanks for the review, I'll check them out.

[Jim Alfredson]

In middle/high school I was the biggest Genesis fan on the planet I reckon. The Gabriel-era of course, although the early records with Phil Collins in front (before Abacab) are good records. Actually, I don't mind the later stuff either up until the last one without Phil. We Can't Dance was not a prog record, nor was Invisible Touch, so it doesn't matter.

Anyway, I tried getting into Yes, but never found them as interesting as the Gabriel-era Genesis. I did like Gentle Giant though. It just seemed to me at the time that every other prog band I listened to were "doing it just to do it" if you know what I mean. Genesis always seemed to be doing it because that's the music they HAD to create together. The records just sound natural, like they were meant to be that way instead of forced.

It's weird, I know.

Amazing what 7 years will do. I love YES now, especially Relayer, which I think is one of their most underrated record. I think my problem with them back in 2003 is that I tried to get into them a few years before that with Tales From Topographic Oceans... probably not a good idea.

I want to pick up that DVD of them live in 1975 from the Queens Park Rangers Stadium. I've seen most of it on YouTube and it's pretty amazing.

Anyone check out that BBC documentary Prog Rock Britannia? Pretty good, especially the early part, but then they skipped over a ton of bands.