Sommaire pour Issue 96 de Prog

It’s a rather special editorial I write for this issue, for Prog Magazine has reached the grand old age of 10 this month. That’s right, it was a whole decade ago that Prog first hit the newsagents’ shelves. How many of you reading this have been with us from day one, I wonder? If you have, then myself and the team thank you for your sterling support. And hey, even if you’re a more recent convert, thank you, too, for your support. You may wonder why we’re not trumpeting our 10th birthday from the rooftops. Well, there’s the little matter of issue 100 looming on the horizon, too, a little closer to our big night of the year, which will be the eighth Progressive Music Awards. So we’re holding back…

“I love the mystery and the appeal that magic has to so many people.” Alan Parsons has exclusively revealed to Prog The Secret behind his new studio album, out on Frontiers on April 26. The songs on the mysterious 11-track all have a connection to magic, which has been one of his biggest passions since he was a child. “I love the mystery and the appeal that magic has to so many people,” he says of the concept. “I do a bit of magic myself; card tricks, coin tricks and so on. I’m a member of the Magic Castle in Hollywood, which is the most famous magic club in the world, and I used to attend The Magic Circle in London before I moved to the States as well.” The…

“Now I’m into Genesis, Peter Gabriel and Gentle Giant, so I went backwards to find even more prog. That’s where I’m at now: I’m in the 70s!” INITIALLY STARTING OUT from a sound technology school project between frontman Brett Boland and bassist Dan Schwartz back in 2012, Boston troupe Astronoid have since expanded to a four-piece and made quite the impression with their eclectic mix of dream thrash, prog, shoegaze and even pop-punk. They’ve just released their second, self-titled album, the follow-up to their 2016 debut, Air, and their mixture of musical styles coexist wonderfully together. “The music we make just fell into place,” explains Boland. “It’s all of the music that we love to listen to and we’ve just thrown it all together: it’s very organic. I grew up…

Justin Hayward will play a series of intimate solo shows in the UK as part of his All The Way tour from September 8. He’ll also perform some material by The Moody Blues. The tour kicks off at the Edinburgh Assembly Rooms. Gong (left) release the studio follow-up to 2016’s Rejoice! I’m Dead! on May 10. The Universe Also Collapses will be their first album on Kscope and their second Kavus Torabi as frontman. They head out on tour with Ozric Tentacles founder Ed Wynne on May 16.…

Periphery IV: Hail Stan is out on April 5 via 3DOT/Century Media. It’s Periphery’s (right) fifth album and the first that the Grammy awardnominees have spent a full year working on. The nine technical tracks are billed as their most adventurous yet. Tame Impala are to release the studio follow-up to 2015’s Currents this spring. The exact details are firmly under wraps but Kevin Parker’s psychedelic pop project will begin touring the festival circuit in April. More live shows are expected to be announced soon.…

Dream Theater recently released their 14th album, Distance Over Time, via InsideOut, and we have a deluxe artbook edition to give away. The Distance Over Time deluxe artbook edition is a limited-edition 2CD + Blu-ray + DVD Artbook set that includes the following: • CD album with one bonus track • CD with instrumental mixes • DVD & Blu-ray, each with 5.1 mix with video animations, high-res files of the album, stems for Untethered Angel • Extended liner notes • Additional artwork including photos from the writing session For your chance to win, visit www.bit.ly/DreamTheaterComp and answer the following question: What is the name of Dream Theater’s 13th album? A) Dream Theater B) A Dramatic Turn Of Events C) The Astonishing For more information, see www.dreamtheater.net. TERMS AND CONDITIONS: This…

“The things I like in music now come from James Bond themes – interesting chords, good vocals, a slightly sensual feel – which I liked before I liked popular music. I was obsessed with On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and it’s only later when I was listening to one of my favourite pieces of music, Starless by King Crimson, that I noticed the end of it is quite like that. John Barry is a good guiding influence to have. Growing up in central London, I was a bit of late starter. I began buying records in 1983, aged 15. Chart music was quite good then, and, having been brought up a Catholic, I stopped going to mass that year, and within a couple of months I’d bought my first albums.…

“For me it’s much less complicated to work alone,” David Gilmour said in 2006, with his characteristic understatement; yet there are few that would rate a David Gilmour album above a Pink Floyd one, or even consider him, even after all these years, a solo artist. Most people think of him, more now perhaps than anyone else, as the very ongoing embodiment of Pink Floyd, the group he joined in late 1967 as a live replacement for Syd Barrett. Steady, strong-willed and undoubtedly his own person, Gilmour has stealthily sought to preserve the legacy of the group it could be argued its other two leaders (Syd Barrett, Roger Waters) sought, if not to destroy, certainly undermine. “It was really off the top of our heads, it was fun – comparatively,…

“I’ve heard that Dave Brock gave his blessing for it: the name was available for use.”Jerry Richards Who or what exactly are the Hawklords? Anybody with a passing interest in doughty cosmic warriors and space rock progenitors Hawkwind may recall that for a year or so in the late 70s, they changed their name to Hawklords and released the album 25 Years On, revealing a more melodic, new wave-anticipating side to the band. The current iteration of Hawklords isn’t a direct continuation of that band, but it channels the same spirit of producing questing, intelligent rock music – and it does feature ex-members of Hawkwind. In fact, when the new Hawklords first got together in September 2008 to play a memorial concert for Hawkwind singer and mercurial genius Robert Calvert,…

A quick guide for Prog readers into the musical world of Susanna Wallumrød… The album that really established Susanna Wallumrød as a unique interpretive singer was Melody Mountain in 2006, which includes cover versions of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart, Prince’s Condition Of The Heart and Sandy Denny’s Fotheringay, but her most remarkable transformation is Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence. When singing it she gets behind the song’s “chill, cool distance” and squeezes every drop of emotion out of the “sore feeling” that lies beneath. Susanna And The Magical Orchestra’s 3 (2009) is their own take on electronic pop. It found Susanna and Qvenild exploring the capabilities of electronic hardware. “I was very inspired by the sound of these instruments like Moog or Prophet synthesisers,” Wallumrød recalls. On…

Anyone who’s heard him play with Snarky Puppy knows that Bill Laurance operates on a higher level than most. His extraordinary solo album Cables (Flint) is a rich, deep selection of moody piano pieces with electronic edges, drawing on modern classical, jazz and ambient, with some Hancock-style funk in the mix too. There’s a Rolls Royce musical brain at work. Cables is a moving and truly spellbinding album – profound revelations only ever seem one more listen away. The Piano Room is the nom de prog of Italian keyboard whiz Francesco Gazzara. He draws inspiration from Anthony Phillips’ album 1984 over the four tracks of his self-released synth-nostalgia fest 2084. Retro production, vintage sound modules and Gazzara’s abundant musical gifts whisk you back to another future. Dystopias seemed so much…

VENUE THE CON CLUB, LEWES DATE 25/01/2019 SUPPORT HARE AND HOOFE The Hare And Hoofe are a new band who have recently released their debut album, The Terror Of Melton, and as they feature members of Ye Nuns and Heliocentrics, they could conceivably be dubbed psychedelic garage prog. Their music is complex, eccentric and punctuated with singalong choruses. And although they’re rather ill-served by the sound tonight, they career through their set in style – particularly singer and guitarist The Hare, who, on their last number, dances into the appreciative crowd swirling a diaphanous cape. About halfway through Focus’ set, one of the younger audience members wanders by the small contingent from Prog and says, “Amazing isn’t it? Unbelievable.” That’s going a bit far, but as someone with no expectations,…

VENUE THE GARAGE, LONDON DATE 01/02/2019 Trail Of Dead live at The Garage? Shurely shome mishtake as the last gigs the Texas-by-way-of-Washington quartet have played here have been in much bigger venues. But there’s a reason; this tour celebrates the 20th anniversary of their 1999 breakout record Madonna, which they’ll play in its entirety – and at the time of its release (well, the following spring) this is where they debuted live in London. There are some nostalgic vibes tonight, mostly from a hardcore of shaggy-haired Trailites in anoraks now hitting their 40s, but with the glint of youthful chaos in their eye. When this writer first heard Madonna it was while working in the office of a magazine whose staff’s taste converged from different angles: AOR, black metal, emo,…

VENUE ELECTROWERKZ, LONDON DATE 12/02/2019 SUPPORT COVET “We’re a band called Covet. And we are going to play some music for you.” Covet guitarist Yvette Young kickstarts tonight’s instrumental duology with a humble and soft-spoken statement, which gives way to the equally tranquil tones of this opening band. The post-rock trio shine bright with their pure technical prowess, exhibiting a plethora of flooring, complex polyrhythms and virtuoso-style soloing from each member. Within the first 10 minutes of their 40-minute showcase, Young, bassist David Adamiak and drummer Forrest Rice have all had an equal share in the limelight, shredding like there’s no tomorrow. If there’s any downside to Covet’s mathematically wondrous performance, it’s that their slow, ambient and vehemently post-rock energy feels totally at odds with what’s offered by the loud,…

VENUE 1865, SOUTHAMPTON DATE 29/01/2019 “We were very good at nicking things,” confesses Carl Palmer during one of his informal chats to a politely seated audience at the 1865, Southampton’s newest prog venue, located a few cruise ship lengths away from the docks. These ‘nicked’ compositions are integral to the ELP Legacy incarnation that shows no signs of ending, especially when the 68-year-old Palmer, a picture of health, gives notice that next year is the 50th anniversary of prog’s first supergroup. For now, the real masterstroke is the way that Palmer has re-engineered the musical juggernaut to preserve ELP’s longevity and heritage. Rather than recruiting musical clones, his supporting virtuosos are diametric opposites of his illustrious, departed colleagues. The ultra-expressive, live wire guitar maestro Paul Bielatowicz perfectly complements the intense,…

VENUE THE MOTH CLUB, LONDON DATE 17/01/2019 When Spacemen 3 intoned “I smell burning” on the serrated hypno-monotony of Revolution 30 years ago, no one quite expected some of their descendants to take them at their word. Yet so it seems tonight, as the odour of smoke grows ever stronger in the compact environs of this gloriously refurbished East End working men’s club. And the cause of the potential calamity is a faulty bass amp that’s been driven mercilessly to ignition towards the end of Lorelle Meets The Obsolete’s beguiling set. With near-disaster deftly dealt with, it’s worth noting that the majority of tonight’s drama comes less from temperamental equipment and more from the music emanating not just from the stage, but also the speakers that surround the inside of…

CELLO, BOYS I was very tickled to read Dom Lawson’s piece on The Deep Freeze Mice’s I Love You Little Bobo With Your Delicate Golden Lions in the last edition of Prog [It’s Prog Jim, issue 95]. The “untitled, 25-minute splurge of free jazz and amorphous improvisation” included me on cello, having been a rather obsessive fan of the band previously! I regard the experience as one of life’s highlights, so thanks for shining a spotlight on the Mice and Alan Jenkins. Paul Devlin GOING GAGA FOR GREENSLADE Given that we are some way into an excellent programme of reissues by Esoteric in expanded format of Greenslade’s classic four-album run from 1973-1975, is it not time for Prog to give this band the attention it deserves? As I remarked to…

NEW RUDESS SOLO ALBUM Dream Theater’s keyboard virtuoso Jordan Rudess releases his new rock album, Wired For Madness, on April 19 via Music Theories/Mascot. The eight-track is bursting with special guests including his bandmates James LaBrie and John Petrucci, as well as The Aristocrats’ Marco Minnemann and Guthrie Govan. Although it’s not a concept album, the dramatic two-part title track has a strong sci-fi theme and tells the story of a man who decides to become part robot. ARCTANGENT: MORE ACTS ANNOUNCED Nordic Giants, Polyphia, Matt Calvert and Toska are among the latest wave of bands announced for this year’s ArcTanGent Festival. The event takes place at Fernhill Farm near Bristol on August 15-17. Meshuggah, 65daysofstatic and The Physics House Band are also on the bill and more acts are…

DVINA It may look like a broken window frame, but trust me, it sounds much better than that. Geeky gadget-meister Vlad Kreimer has built this tribute to Hindustani classical music using a couple of bits of wood, one of them forming the neck of the instrument, the other forming a prop for your arm or leg. There’s no pickup; the signal is taken direct from the two strings (“pure vibration”, as Kreimer calls it) and YouTube video footage demonstrates the instrument’s aural similarity to an extremely angry cello. Rather wonderfully, he’ll make one for you if you send him some money. www.somasynths.com BLUETOOTH TURNTABLE As we sashay effortlessly into a cablefree future, Sony is helping us on our way with this catchily-named record player (PS-LX310BT) that transmits directly to a…

“I like immersion: to hear or see something that you can tell there’s a world behind.” IF YOU FREQUENT PROG-flavoured Facebook groups then there’s a good chance you may have already come across KEOR. Effusive posts were slathered online by friends after the release of the recording project’s second album, Petrichor, in December, and while some lamented them as opportunistic spam, others heralded the record as an unexpected late entry in their album of the year list. It seemed to work – numbers on KEOR’s Facebook page skyrocketed, and Spotify streams shot up. But outside of the online bubble, most proggers may be unaware of the admirable feast waiting to be unearthed on Petrichor, which was cooked up in France by its sole creator, multi-instrumentalist Victor Miranda-Martin. The sounds that…

“I’d much rather make something weird and interesting than worry about the million plays on radio or billion plays on YouTube.” ALT-PROGGERS WHEEL were sprung from unconventional beginnings. Frontman and founder James Lascelles grew up in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, a picturesque town not exactly known as a progressive hotbed. Like many a musician before him, Lascelles knew that he needed to move to the big city in pursuit of his dreams. But instead of heading an hour down the motorway to London, he made the decision to move to the Finnish capital, Helsinki. There, he met original guitarist Saku Mattila in 2014 on karaokestyle TV show Tartu Mikkiin, (English translation: “Grab The Microphone”) where Lascelles was a competitor and Mattila was a member of the house band. “We were talking about…

For the last three decades, eclectic Norwegian rockers Motorpsycho have been boldly following their own creative impulses, wherever they may lead. They were initially pigeonholed with the ‘grunge’ tag, in part perhaps due to their band being named after the film Motorpsycho by Russ Meyer, whose films also christened the bands Mudhoney and Faster Pussycat. Motorpsycho had different ideas, however. Drawing on their jazz influences and love for Frank Zappa and King Crimson, these comparisons would only hold for so long. Since then, they’ve been called jazz, prog, post-rock and everything in between. But, as you can probably imagine, they’d rather their listeners made up their own minds. When long-standing drummer Kenneth Kapstad left the group in 2016, the dynamic of the trio shifted dramatically, and the terse, powerful album…

WE ARE ONE (from We Are One, 2012) With its punky riff, pounding drums and spacey synths, Ron Tree’s snarling call to arms locates Hawklords at the snotty, new wave end of their ancestor’s muse. ELEMENTAL MIND (from Dream, 2013) From an album based around numerology, this track gallops along, fuelled by a trippy cocktail of psychedelic keys and some “heavy, man” 12-string. STARSTRUCK (from Censored, 2014) A mind-blown acoustic ballad with echoing toms – ‘You can feel this storm approaching, so stay away from me.’ THE JOKER (from R:Evolution, 2015) Against a dramatic, tumbling riff, Tree accesses his inner John Lydon while the band thunder on towards oblivion. SR-71 (from Fusion, 2016) Described by Richards as “our Silver Machine”, it’s a catchy, pumping rocker with a great guest vocal…

PURE PHASE ENSEMBLE FEATURING HUGO RACE We Would Not Change A Chord With a set written, rehearsed and performed in less than a week, the Tri-City psychedelic collective set itself the additional challenge of keeping all of the music composed for the project within a single key. As evidenced by this hypnotic workout, their explorations succeed against these self-imposed constrictions to stunning effect. Listen here: www.bit.ly/PurePhase LUNATIC SOUL Blood On The Tightrope The opening track of Fractured, Lunatic Soul’s fifth and most successful album to date, Blood On The Tightrope finds Riverside singer-bassist Mariusz Duda sailing into more esoteric and electronic waters. Set against skittering yet insistent drum patterns, Duda navigates a compelling voyage while claiming kinship with Steven Wilson’s solo offerings. Listen here: www.bit.ly/LunaticTrack ZIMPEL / ZIOŁEK Elytra Propelled…

Tribute albums are no novelty these days, but this is hard to beat. With bands drawn primarily from the doom and stoner worlds, Magnetic Eye Records’ extraordinary multi-band reworking of The Wall – The Wall Redux – brims with densely psychedelic surprises, not least Mars Red Sky’s gleefully crusty-eyed crack at Comfortably Numb and Pallbearer’s grittily epic Run Like Hell. Yet another reason to smoke a spliff and listen to Floyd on eye-mincing coloured vinyl, then. Their name may be cumbersome, but Our Survival Depends On Us are truly something special. The Austrians’ fourth album Melting The Ice In The Hearts Of Men (Van) owes a little to the post-metal realm, but the sheer ingenuity, emotional power and wilful eccentricity that courses through four sprawling songs feels somehow entirely new…

VENUE SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE, LONDON DATE 02/02/2019 With a star-studded line-up of friends and past collaborators tonight, Jon Hiseman’s family have taken on the nigh-on Herculean task of celebrating the wide-ranging, influential and prolific life and career of the gifted drummer, songwriter and producer. Hiseman’s son Marcus opens the show to a pin-drop silent audience, and helps his mother to the microphone. Barbara Thompson lives with Parkinson’s Disease, and it’s clearly quite an effort as she reflects on life with Jon and invites their daughter, Ana Gracey, onstage with her band. In an evening that promises to deliver many musical highlights, Gracey eases the audience in with some beautifully crafted jazz vibes and unexpected covers such as Prince’s Cream. There are sets from Hiseman’s final project, JCM, featuring guitar legend…

VENUE ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL, LONDON DATE 29/01/2019 Tonight’s venue is full to capacity for a joyous evening of traditional folk blended with Norse history and storytelling; even the snow won’t stand in the way of fans attending one of the most highly anticipated folk-prog gigs of the year. Combining the creative musical masterminds behind Enslaved and Wardruna, this multi-instrumental duo began when they were commissioned to compose a piece for the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution in 2014. The result was the album Skuggsjá, followed by the eagerly awaited Hugsjá last year. Bathed in cool blue lighting and a shimmery water effect backdrop, Selvik opens the set with the second album’s title track, Hugsjá. The blowing horn, Shamanic drums and hardanger fiddle signal that the long boats have arrived…

VENUE ELECTRIC BRIXTON, LONDON DATE 26/01/2019 To pass through the doors of this south London venue tonight is to leave the 21st century behind, and enter a world where the clock is permanently set to 1972. Thankfully, though, this isn’t a place of spiralling inflation, wildcat strikes and no hair conditioner. No, what we’re looking at is a variant of the 70s with a fascination for pagan Britain, witchcraft movies and the odd toke. All of which makes it hard to believe that Blood Ceremony don’t actually hail from this side of the Atlantic, but Canada. It’s the obvious conclusion to draw given the band’s nods to the tar-thick riffing of Black Sabbath’s heavy eye-lidded bong-era, Ian Anderson-influenced flute solos and a love of the Hammond organ sound that was…

VENUE THE ROUNDHOUSE, LONDON DATE 07/02/2019 For most of this decade, Anna Calvi has been one of those genre-confounding artists who gather critical acclaim, award nominations and general respect without quite breaking through to the big league. Hunter, last year’s third album, seems to have provided that final push. Tonight a sold-out Roundhouse witnesses a ferocious performance in which she utilises her customary live flair to deliver a show that’s equal parts high drama and filthy rock squall. Her ice-and-fire persona is bolstered further by confidence and an awestruck audience. Calvi is a cut above as a singer, a guitarist and, at last, a star. The atmosphere is accentuated by striking lighting that floods the hall with burning reds and dazzling white strobes, often rendering Calvi as a mysterious feline…

VENUE THE BLACK HEART, LONDON DATE 08/02/2019 The last three times Madrid’s leading amp wranglers Toundra played London, they surfaced in the city’s hipster quarters, with two shows at Hoxton’s 300-capacity Bar & Kitchen and a third at Dalston’s slightly smaller Birthdays night club. Roll the tape forward to tonight, and they’re at a place half the size in good old Camden. It’s an odd choice of venue, and it’s packed, but maybe it’s a symptom of Brexit: with the majority of tonight’s audience Spanish, the smaller capacity perhaps reflects the fact that their compatriots are fleeing for the mainland before March 29 rolls around. But we’re not hear to discuss Project Fear’s impact on post-rock audiences, we’re here to celebrate our mighty hosts. For Toundra are mighty. They’re also…

January 2019 1 WITHIN TEMPTATION Resist SPINEFARM 2 MUSE Simulation Theory 3/WARNER 3 STEVE HACKETT At The Edge Of Light CENTURY 4 RICK WAKEMAN Piano Odyssey SONY 5 JEAN MICHEL JARRE Equinoxe Infinity RCA 6 NEAL MORSE BAND The Great Adventure METAL BLADE 7 ED WYNNE Shimmer Into Nature KSCOPE 8 A PERFECT CIRCLE Eat The Elephant BMG 9 RUSH Hemispheres UMC/VIRGIN 10 JEAN MICHEL JARRE Planet Jarre SONY MUSIC CG 11 SPIRITUALIZED And Nothing Hurt BELLA UNION 12 MARILLION Clutching At Straws PARLOPHONE 13 COHEED & CAMBRIA The Unheavenly Creatures ROADRUNNER 14 MASTODON Emperor Of Sand REPRISE 15 SOEN Lotus SILVER LINING MUSIC 16 FOCUS Focus 11 CHERRY RED/IN AND OUT OF FOCUS 17 MATT BERRY Television Themes ACID JAZZ 18 MOGWAI Kin – OST ROCK ACTION 19 MOODY…

“We’re playing at a neuroscience festival where we’re playing our songs related to science mixed in with me doing a lecture about the evolution of the brain.” “IT’S ABOUT GETTING off your bum and taking it to the audience, rather than waiting for it to come to you,” says Mark Gatland, one half of Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate. Alongside Malcolm Galloway, the duo now promote their own shows and run their own label, but they started making music together back when they were in school. “We were literally in our first band with each other doing Queen and Iron Maiden covers,” says Gatland. The band began as five-piece, but they found a greater sense of freedom – and practicality – in a smaller format. “We basically travel around, just…

It’s 1.30pm, and in the corner of a Berlin pizzeria Nick Beggs is on a tear. The Mute Gods mastermind has spent the best part of an hour expanding on a range of views that take in everything from the hopeless state of the world and the futility of religion to the military-industrial complex’s alleged cover-up of extra-terrestrial life in a manner that could be politely described as ‘emphatic’. Beggs – long-haired, charismatic, looking at least two decades younger than his 57 years – is no bug-eyed ranter. He articulates rather than fulminates, though when he’s really getting into something, he locks his gaze directly onto you, either forgetting to or just not bothering to blink. Still, he’s not one to stint on sharing his opinions. Here he is, for…

STEVEN WILSON “There are three different versions of Not Married Anymore,” Bowness writes on his online notes about the album. “The final cut is very much a Steven Wilson slant on the piece. He felt that less was more and that stripping the song to its essence was the way to go. He was right.” PETER HAMMILL “It’s always fantastic to work with him because he’s one of the first people I ever really liked when I first got into music,” says Bowness, who got the Van der Graaf Generator man to guest on It’s The World. “I felt I sang the chorus well enough,” he says on his album notes, “but I could hear a Peter Hammill-shaped hole in it. As you do. One trip down the road later…

Named after a rare psychological condition whereby someone hears unreal noises due to a ‘snapping of the brain’, Exploding Head Syndrome (Tapete) is the eleventh album from The Telescopes. A thing of understated wonder it is too, conceived almost entirely by Stephen Lawrie, who founded the band over 30 years ago. Steady pulses and buzzing drones serve as default positions, with Lawrie intoning gently over the top. Pick of the pack is Don’t Place Your Happiness In The Hands Of Another, which shifts pace into something otherworldly. For a more animated treat, Masaki Batoh’s Nowhere (Drag City) takes acoustic folk as its root and reaches into psychedelia, prog and the American primitive guitar style of John Fahey. Batoh has impressive credentials, of course, having formed Japanese avant-garde types Ghost in…

VENUE BUSH HALL, LONDON DATE 20/01/2019 Francis Dunnery’s now-annual sojourn to the UK with a rock band is heralded by a decidedly non-PC voiceover intro, parts of which could have been scripted by the likes of Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown. Last year was an opportunity to hear the whole of the Eat Me In St. Louis album, whereas tonight’s celebration of Dunnery’s It Bites’ past is built around the band’s debut, the diverse yet somewhat pop-leaning The Big Lad In The Windmill. Extricating himself from the Kim Jong-un mask he’s appeared in, Dunnery and his band launch into the crafty contrapuntal riffing of All In Red, followed by Big Lad… album opener, the throbbing punch of I Got You Eating Out Of My Hand. Rejoining Dunnery are contemporary prog luminaries Luke…

VENUE ELECTRIC BALLROOM, LONDON DATE 04/02/2019 Amorphis have always pulled in a big audience, but tonight is special. The Electric Ballroom is brimming with punters jostling for standing space and queuing around the T-shirt stand. This could easily be a Saturday night in July, but it’s actually a Monday in the dead of winter, and there’s still a definite buzz. It’s too soon to call Amorphis’ most recent album, 2018’s Queen Of Time career-defining, but time doesn’t negate the sense that this album contains some of the band’s most cohesive, vivacious and ambitious material to date. Consistent and carefully considering the balance between heaviness and complexity, folklore and melancholy, with the first-time injection of an orchestra and choir, their 13th album is undeniably a culmination of all the elements that…

VENUE ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, MANCHESTER DATE 02/02/2019 As the show begins, Fairport’s ageless fiddle man Ric Sanders ambles out and says, “It’s great to be here. Though, when you get to our age, it’s great to be anywhere.” His gift for lovable Christmas cracker jokes is matched by his supreme folk talent. However, there is something salutary in this remark: Fairport have been active for 52 years. Even if they can’t go on forever, it’s hard not to want them to. As they evidence in the odd environs of the Royal Northern’s second stage, their live gifts remain remarkable and compelling. Arguably, the stage set-up has a negative impact on the early part of the performance. The Lower Hall has banked seating around an unraised stage area, and…