Following an earlier announcment that included Procul Harum and Uriah Heep on the Prog stage, the Ramblin Man Fair have announced several more bands, inckuding The Fierce and the Dead, Lifesigns and The Von Hertzen Brothers.
Though the latter two have a dedicated following in prog circles, I find both of them rather overrated myself. But it will be good to see The Fierce and The Dead on a big stage.
It was extremely hard to choose just one single record as album of the year. Even after I had begun publishing the first few instalments of this rundown I hadn’t been able to make the final decision of which record out of at least three was the best of them all. Karnataka and Amorphis in particular have both made astonishingly good records this year.
But in the end, there can only be one, and it’s from Poland’s finest band.
Riverside – Love. Fear and The Time Machine
Riverside get compared to Porcupine Tree a lot. That’s both a fair comparison and an unfair one. They are the ideal band for anyone still missing Porcupine Tree, it’s true. But they are far more than a derivative copy. Imagine, if you can, a Porcupine Tree with Jon Lord on keyboards, Alex Lifeson on guitar, and a rhythm section with a sense of groove that few bands under the progressive rock banner can match.
Love, Fear and The Time Machine might just be their best album to date. They’ve taken a step back from the dense hard rock sound of the preceding “Shrine of the New Generation Slaves”, taking a pared-back less-is-more approach that gives everything more space to breathe. There are a host of 80s rock references; a guitar figure evoking early Marillion here, a post-punk bass riff or a bridge recalling The Stone Roses there. But it’s all anchored in Mariusz Duda’s distinctive understated approach to melody, Piotr GrudziÅ„sk economical guitar work and and MichaÅ‚ Åapaj’s evocative keyboard playing. One highlight is the shortest and most minimalist song on the record, “Afloat”, which sees Mariusz melancholy vocal accompanied by a simple guitar figure and some atmospheric organ chords. But the whole album is superb, with restrained instrumental virtuosity and masterful use of dynamics.
Guardian music writer Dorian Lynskey took exception to me joking on Twitter that his album of the year was stereotypically Guardian. It was that picture of Josh Tillman’s archetypal hipster beard that did it.
I know it was a cheap shot, but…
I do recognise the Guardian’s end-of-year list is very diverse in terms of gender and ethnicity, but the top ten in particular is starting to look rather samey in terms of actual music. Aside from the odd exception like jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington it’s very heavy with introspective confessional singer-songwriters where the music takes second place to the subject matter of the lyrics. Now I’m sure they’re all worthy records; nothing I’ve heard has been unlistenably bad, and one or two (for example Joanna Newsom) sound interesting enough to investigate further.
But many other genres exist that are unrepresented save perhaps for a token in the lower reaches of the list.
This might be another example of the weakness of the list-by-committee approach I’ve criticised in the past. All the more eclectic individual choices get squeezed out by the majority consensus, which in this case seems to coalesce around those confessional singer-songwriters. Perhaps they should use E Pluribus Hugo next year?
Tim Peake blasts off into space in a Russian rocket that looks like a prop from a 1950s Sci-Fi film and joins the crew of the International Space Station. I’m not quite sure where the silly idea that he’s the first Briton in space comes from, he’s actually the seventh, the first of whom was Helen Sharman way back in 1991. But it’s all good for national pride having another one of us in orbit.
There are inevitably some self-righteous individuals who complain that space exploration is a waste of money. It should be spent on schools and hospitals, or a new road, they pompously proclaim. But they’re wrong.
If nothing else, space is a cultural loss-leader.
I was eight years ago when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked upon the surface of the Moon. I still remember it all vividly. It was the first significant historical event of my lifetime that an eight year old could understand. The blanket media coverage caught the public imagination in a way few other scientific projects could hope to achieve.
It’s things like that which inspire a generation to pursue careers in science and engineering, who will then go on to solve more mundane practical problems. That inspiration will benefit hospitals and railways and flood prevention and all the other things our complex civilisation needs to be designed and built by the next generation of engineers.
Every single eight year old who’s inspired by Tim Peake heading off into space and as a result doesn’t head for a career in finance playing zero-sum shell games in the City will be a win.
For their final live appearance of 2015, Mostly Autumn came to The Assembly in Leamington Spa, scene of that emotional farewell to Heather Findlay five and a half years ago. With a four o’clock start they promised a very long evening for what was to be their only Christmas show of the year.
Things began with an extremely varied acoustic set. It started out conventionally enough with unplugged versions of regular live standards “Nowhere to Hide” and “Never the Rainbow”. We had a couple of Olivia Sparnenn vocal showcases in the shape of “Rain Song” and a spine-tingling “Silhouette of Stolen Ghosts”. Far more unexpected was Angela Gordon stepping up to the microphone to sing lead on a spellbinding cover of Christy’s Moore’s “Ride On” which showed a new side of her as a performer. There were also solo performances from Alex Cromarty with a song about superheroes, a piano number by Hannah Hird, and Chris Johnson singing “Gaze”, a song he’s often performed solo but did appear on the bonus disk of “Heart Full of Sky”. To end things off the band regrouped with a very rarely-performed song, “Through the Window”.
Next was an all-too brief set from violinist Anna Phoebe. Seeing her accompanied by a classical pianist rather than an electric rock band it was a quite different experience compared to her festival appearances earlier in the year. As anyone who has seen her will know, her playing was both fiery and lyrical, the piano accompaniment giving it more of a classical feel than the folk and rock flavour of her full band. The only thing wrong was that her set was over far too soon.
The main event of course was Mostly Autumn’s two electric sets, Dressed in Voices and Mostly Floyd. The songs were the same as at the Grand Opera House a few weeks earlier, although this was an even more powerful and intense performance of both. One thing which did become clear was that Mostly Autumn have a better rhythm section than Pink Floyd did and that makes them a rock’n'roll band in a way Pink Floyd never really were. The original version of “Sheep” never grooved quite like their version. And Bryan Josh was very clearly enjoying himself during that Comfortably Numb solo.
The first encore of “The Gap is too Wide” was probably the high point of the entire evening, especially when they hit the choral section. The triple vocals of Olivia Sparnenn, Angela Gordon and Hannah Hird comes close to replicating the full choir and more than do the song justice. They followed that with a really powerful “Questioning Eyes”, which replaced Evergreen (When did Mostly Autumn last play a full set without playing Evergreen?).
After the obligatory “Heroes Never Die” they bought out the Christmas covers; “A Spaceman Came Travelling” with Chris Johnson singing lead, “I Believe in Father Christmas”, and “Fairytale of New York” with Anna Phoebe on violin, which seemed to work far better than a couple of years back. They finished an extended and largely improvised “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” with everyone playing a solo, including an impressive country & western style guitar solo from Chris Johnson. Those final songs had the atmosphere of an end of term party, a contrast to the emotional intensity of the earlier part of the evening. It was past ten o’clock, which meant the audience had been on their feet for six hours. Not that it seemed anything like that long.
So ended Mostly Autumn’s 2015. Playing a single Christmas show in a central location rather than a tour of half a dozen dates appeared to have paid off in terms of turnout. In a year when too many gigs by too many bands had depressingly low attendances, it was great to see a big crowd in a larger venue. And the band rose to the occasion with a performance that’s a candidate for gig of 2015 in a year that’s included Steven Wilson and King Crimson.
My self-imposed rules for album of the year restricts the list to full-length albums of new material. That means it excludes live albums, unplugged records with new versions of existing songs, or EPs. So to keep you all waiting a bit longer for my Album of the Year, some mentions of records that my rules disqualify, but are too good to be ignored altogether.
Panic Room – Essence
The Kickstarter-funded unplugged album reworks favourites from the band’s first three albums into radically different forms, resulting in a beautiful record than emphasises Anne-Marie Helder’s remarkable vocal talent. Though it crosses the streams with the acoustic side-project Luna Rossa to some extent it’s still got more of a Panic Room vibe. It’s not entirely acoustic, since new guitarist Dave Foster cuts loose on electric a few times. There are a couple of new songs too, the classic Anne-Marie Helder ballad “Rain & Tears & Burgundy”, and “Denial”, the first time Panic Room have ever recorded a blues number.
Mostly Autumn – Box of Tears
A live recording of last year’s “Dressed in Voices”, an album regarded by many as their career defining masterpiece. Unlike their other recent live albums this one’s a single disk of the Dressed in Voices set rather than the whole show (Do we really need yet another live version of “Evergreen” or “Heroes”? I don’t think so). But like those other live albums it does capture the power and intensity of the Mostly Autumn’s live performances, the big sound of the seven-piece band at full tilt.
The Fierce and The Dead – Magnet
Matt Stevens’ four-piece instrumental noise merchants could be described as a sort of punk version of King Crimson. Their latest EP sees a move away from the garage-rock feel of their last record. “Spooky Action”. Magnet is darker and denser, with more of a focus on the post-rock and electronica side of their music. Like all of their records, it has feet in many camps, defies simple categorisation, and makes a rewarding listen for anyone who wants to get out of their musical comfort zones.
Mantra Vega – Island
A taster from the forthcoming album “The Illusion’s Reckoning”, three songs with a strong 70s classic rock vibe with echoes of Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin. The lead song in particular is lovely, with Heather Findlay playing to her strengths as a vocalist, and features a short but very effective guitar break from Dave Kilminster.
Zero She Flies – The River
The band formerly know as Mermaid Kiss return with a new singer in the shape of Maria Milewska and a new name. The four-track suite “The River” was originally slated to be part of a full-length album, but has mow been spun off as a separate EP on its own. It’s largely acoustic, piano and acoustic guitar based songs with woodwind and strings for colour, plus some touches of electronica, and Maria Milewska proves to be excellent singer. Highlights are the woodwinds meet trip-hop instrumental “The Undertow” and the gorgeously atmospheric closing number “Rivergirl”, but the whole EP is excellent.
Big Big Train – Wassail
This intermediate release filling the gap before their next full-length album eschews ambitious multi-part epics in favour of more straightforward songwriting. But most of the things we’ve come to expect from Big Big Train are present; big soaring melodies and rich layered arrangements that evoke the spirit of 70s pastoral progressive rock with lyrics steeped in English landscapes and history. The largely instrumental keyboard-heavy “Mudlarks” ticks a lot of classic prog-rock boxes, but with the woodwinds, violins and 12-string guitars there’s also an element of 70s electric folk-rock. It’s all delightfully retro in its use of vintage guitars and keyboard sounds, but that’s always been a major part of their appeal.
Wisdom is knowing when to walk away from a conversation that has no chance of going anywhere good before it gets ugly.
The long awaited album “The Illusion’s Reckoning” is finally available for pre- order from The Merch Desk. The album will ship on 25th January 2016.
As regular readers of this site ought to know, Mantra Vega is the collaboration between Heather Findlay and Dave Kerzner, also featuring Alex Cromarty, Chris Johnson, Dave Kilminster and Stuart Fletcher. The album has been two years in the making, and if the single “Island” is anything to go by, it should be well worth the wait.
A few days ago I had some discussions online with an online friend who, like me, had been blogging for well over a decade. We both agreed that we self-censor a lot more nowadays compared with the early days of blogging. I’m very reluctant to promote political posts on Twitter, for example.
It might be that we’re both slightly older and wiser and more aware that we could tread on people’s toes with careless words. But I don’t think that’s the whole story; the growth of social media has made the net a more hostile place.
Sites like 4chan, Tumblr and parts of Reddit spawn toxic communities that don’t play nice with the rest of the net. It’s also it’s far easier nowadays to end up at the wrong end of a social media witch hunt if you say anything that someone with a substantial bully pulpit doesn’t like. I’ve had to remove posts in the recent past because the comments section turned toxic after a major figure linked to it.
This is sounding a bit like a grumpy “Kids, get off my lawn” post, I know. But I do think somewhere along the line, something good has been lost
A lot of people swear by streaming services like Spotify for music discovery, but for me it’s live music. It may be in part because I’ve got a couple of medium-sized venues within walking distance, but when venturing outside my musical comfort zone I’m more likely to go to a gig than anything else.
In the past year I’ve seen New Model Army, Public Image Limited, Lazuli, Peter Knight’s Gigspanner and The Session having heard little or none of their music beforehand. They’ve all been great gigs, all bands I would definitely see again, and in most cases I’ve followed up by buying some of their records.
It’s also an argument in favour of well-chosen support acts and well-curated festivals.
How about you? Do you like to discover new bands and new genres through experiencing them live? Or do you prefer to be familiar with the music first before seeing it performed on stage?