Tuesday 20 August 2013

Recent Reviews - The Moody Blues / Phi / Long Distance Calling

Some recent reviews of mine published at DPRP.net:-



Phi - Years of Breathing

DPRP Review update 49 of 2013

Phi - Years of Breathing ...So, other than five or so minutes in Life Passing By which could have been edited down somewhat, this is a very enjoyable and well put together album that bears repeated listens. Phi are certainly a band to watch and it would be interesting to see if they deliver to this high standard live. Based on the numerous competitions that they appear to have won over the years it is likely that they can. This trio are a tight unit with the chops to make the music work and enough ingenuity to keep it interesting. Recommended.

Long Distance Calling - The Flood Inside

DPRP Review update 49 of 2013

...This is interesting and accessible modern prog that utilises a hard edge bordering on prog metal but has plenty of other tricks up its sleeve. Born out of post-rock there is much more to hear from Long Distance Calling who have been very shrewd in altering their sound and taking on Fischer as a focal point for at least some of the material. The instrumentals are strong and varied but the vocals help keep things from getting samey.

The Flood Inside is well worth having a listen to and this is a band that could go from strength to strength after this. They can write and play quality music with precision and aren't afraid to learn and change. What more can you ask for?
Long Distance Calling - The Flood Inside

The Moody Blues - Timeless Flight 4CD

DPRP Review update 50 of 2013

The Moody Blues - Timeless Flight ...Five hours plus and a good overview of the career arc of a particularly worthy band. If The Moodies had done a Gentle Giant and imploded around 1980 then they would no doubt be lauded as one of the great outfits from the progressive era but releases over the last 30 years have done little to enhance their reputation and, although still popular and successful with their audience many prog fans are sure to either disregard them out of hand or long for their late '60s/early '70s classic period output.

As a boxset the four discs of Timeless Flight come highly recommended. I know that I'll never need nor get through the whole 17-disc shebang so this is fine for me, containing as it does much fine material. Most of the skippers are on discs 3 and 4 whereas discs 1 and 2 are pretty essential which creates a bit of a rating problem. If I may return to another football analogy not encompassed within the lyrics of This is the Moment, this is very much a game of two halves but sadly lacking the slice of orange in the middle (although cheese and whine does feature late on). By a process of deduction I'd give the first two discs 8.5 out of 10 and the last two 6 which does not make for a recommended score. However, as a set it is more than worthy, due in no small part to the accompanying booklet, and a recommended tag is deserved.

Saturday 6 July 2013

The Tangent - Le Sacre Du Travail (2013)

My review of the new album from The Tangent has been published as part of a Round Table Review on DPRP.net:-

Review update 44 of 2013

The Tangent - Le Sacre Du Travail

...Andy Tillison is a huge talent and I appreciate the skill, time and effort that have gone into this album and, Lord knows, I really wanted it to work. From the early gestation I was excited at what was being talked about but became slightly concerned by developments as time went on. I deliberately didn't listen to soundclips during the recording process preferring to wait to hear the whole completed album and early reports of this increased the excitement but when reports started to come in from those who had actually heard it I again grew worried. Upon listening to the album I'm sorry to say that many of these fears have been realised. I've stuck with it and played it a good number of times. I've read the lyrics and played it again but, although it has improved as my ears got used to the constructs and themes, it isn't an album that I can immerse myself in and my hand is likely to move past it on the CD shelf to other Tangent albums as a first port of call.

Quantity over Quality is a frequent prog failing and unfortunately, having often promised the ultimate prog epic and hoping here to produce his meisterwork, Andy has fallen short at that particular hurdle. This album just does not work for me. It is grandiose and it is ambitious but it doesn't fit in with the exaggerated expectations. This is not Andy's fault but it may lead to a problem for at least some of his audience. I'm sure that the next album will be a sea change on this one and I still love Andy Tillison's music but there is not enough on here for me to be absorbed into. Until next time...

Van der Graaf Generator at the Robin 2, Bilston - 26th June 2013

My review of the mighty Van der Graaf Generator during their 2013 U.K. tour has now been published on DPRP.net:-

http://www.dprp.net/concrev/2013_vdgg_1.php

And what a great show it was!

Sunday 16 June 2013

New reviews published on DPRP.net:-

Review update 42 of 2013

William Gray - Silentio

...This is another engaging and rewarding album from a very talented group of people. I urge you to give it a try. It's a real grower and after spending some time with it the layers reveal themselves. Not an album for a throwaway hour, it requires your full attention to let the arrangements work their magic. This is a great piece of work and I hope the delay before the next release is not as long.

Haze - The Last Battle

...Although presented with passion this is an unremarkable set of songs that has resulted in an album that will no doubt be treasured by their long term fans but passed over by most others who hear it. A shame as they have remained true to themselves and carried on doing what they do best. The problem is that so many and varied are the bands out there and with the ability to check them out at a moment's notice via T'Interwebs it is likely that Haze will languish in obscurity as there is little here to help them stand out from the crowd.

Saturday 25 May 2013

Leprous - Coal

Review of Leprous' new album, Coal now published on DPRP Here

Canada Week!

This week has been designated 'Canada Week' as I managed to catch my favourite two Canadian three pieces live. The road trip took in NoMeansNo in Nottingham on Tuesday followed by a lovely drive through the Peak District to Manchester to see Rush.

NoMeansNo are a band that I discovered in 1988 courtesy of my wonderful friend Pete (God rest his soul). He'd heard them of John Peel and seen that they were playing in Bristol so a few of us decided to go along on Pete's recomendation. That night at the Bierkeller opened up new possibilities as NoMeansNo were one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen and still are. Having seen them a good few times over the intervening 25 years I almost missed this year's tour but thanks to my mate Gareth a plan was hatched to see both them and Rush. It all worked out, we got to Nottingham, NM put on a great show as always and hopefully Gareth is now a convert! Due to battery malfunction and poor planning no pics but this vid might give you a clue or two as to what they do:-

It's great to know that they're still out there playing their skewed bass-led prog-punk! The compact room (to say the least) at The Doghouse was ideal and the 100-200 in attendence certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was great to meet up (for the first time) with virtual friends Virus, Filth and Happy from the forum at Nomeanswhatever.com.

Another band it's great to know are still out there doing their thing is the mighty Rush.

We pitched up in Manchester without tickets having been reticent to stump up the masses of cash necessary almost a year in advance but strolling up to the box office on the afternoon of the show they were able to offer us near enough perfect seats - bottom of the side tier about 10 rows from the stage. Miraculous, eye level with the band and the best seats I'd ever had for Rush. And no booking fee!

A fantastic show from a band at the very top of their game, the set was very '80s biased in the first half, almost the whole of Clockwork Angels in the second half with a bunch of classics. Marvellous! Got some pics this time, a bit shitty as my phone is a bit decrepit but no matter, great stuff.

Friday 17 May 2013

Steve Hackett Live - Genesis Revisited

My review of Steve Hackett's Genesis Revisited show in Cardiff on 11th May 2013 is now up on DPRP:-

Steve Hackett Live 2013

A remarkable show and all credit to Steve for keeping this wonderful music alive.

Is it really 40 years old?!

Sunday 5 May 2013

Greetings.

Being a willing but inherently lazy individual it has taken me a long time from deciding that I need somewhere to post any thoughts that do happen to enter into my head to actually doing it.

So here we are then.

The main focus of this blog will be music, which I have loved from an early age, and more specifically progressive rock in all manner of its forms which I have been passionate about since my teens. No doubt more on this at some point.

Since 2006 I have been writing album and gig reviews for the esteemed Dutch Progressive Rock Pages (DPRP.net) which has proudly been posting progressive rock reviews, interviews and all kinds of other things since 1995 which in Web terms is a mind bogglingly long time ago. At the moment my main hat is Reviews Editor, a role which I proudly took on at the start of 2013 and seem to be doing well enough at that I haven't been replaced yet. Long may this "job" continue as, so far, I love it.

The Team at DPRP are all passionate about the genre and if you haven't been there before please have a look around. The site is definitely showing it's age but plans are afoot to release a new and gleaming site out into the Interwebs hopefully sooner rather than later. Anyhoo, there is plenty of interesting stuff that will hopefully be a good source to dip into know and again and fire your enthusiasm for the most maligned of genres, now thankfully receiving more acceptance than at any time since I've been listening to it, Progressive Rock. (It's not all Hobbits and capes you know!)

I'll no doubt edge into other genres now and again and hope to include in these pages a kind of resource, if that's the right word, of my listening, gig going and writing.

Thanks for getting this far!

Jez