Music News Blog

What’s happening in the world of prog and other related scenes. News about gigs, record releases, new videos and band changes.

Martin Ledger joins Stolen Earth

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Tim Hall

Posted this morning on Stolen Earth’s Facebook page:

It is with much pleasure and great excitement, we welcome Martin Ledger into the fold, he will be joining the Stolen Earth family as lead guitarist. Those of you familiar with any of Heidi’s previous projects will recognise Martin as one half of The Secrets and will know what a fantastic asset to the band he will be!

We are getting stuck into writing the second album, booking summer gigs, recording a lovely new track with some visual delights to go alongside it and generally looking forward to the future!

Thank you to everyone who has joined us on the journey so far, lets continue together and see where we go!!

Stolen Earth x

Certainly good news for Stolen Earth fans, and I look forward to seeing how the new lineup sounds live.

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Morphus Rising and Also Eden in York

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Tim Hall

York old-school twin-guitar metal revivalists Morphus Rising will be playing the Duchess in York on Friday, March 15th. They’re always an entertaining live band, and this gig has the added bonus of the excellent “Neo prog my arse” of Also Eden as support. Should be a great night, since both bands are well worth travelling to see.

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Mostly Autumn – Live at the Boerderij

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Tim Hall

As announced on the Mostly Autumn website:

We’re delighted to announce that the DVD recorded at the Boerderij NL last September is ready for pressing.

For 2 weeks only we are offering a pre order package consisting of the the Live at the Boerderij double DVD signed by Olivia and Bryan and the double audio CD at half price – a total of £27.50 (+ P & P).

Get it here!

After 2 weeks the DVD will be on sale at £20 (+ P & P) and the CD at £15 (+ P & P).

Delivery is expected in around 3 weeks.

I was at the show at the Boerderij last September where the DVD was recorded, it was a fantastic night, and the from the promo, the DVD seems to have captured it well. This is a band who have completely reinvented themselves over the past couple of years, and Olivia Sparnenn has found her voice since taking over as lead singer in 2010.

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The Mars Volta Split

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Tim Hall

The Mars Volta have imploded, live on Twitter, with singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala letting loose a stream of angry tweets telling of his frustration with guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez work with his new project Bosnian Rainbows at the expense of a Mars Volta tour.

The Mars Volta are a band who have done as much as anyone to put progressive rock back on the map. They were favourably reviewed in places like Pitchfork, but they were no style-over-substance act loved only by hipsters; when it came to progressive music, they were the real deal. It’s probably true that their later albums lacked the manic intensity of their early work; their incendiary début “Deloused in the Comatarium” is a record that ought to be in every prog fan’s record collection, and is one of the defining albums of the decade. Combining the complexity and virtuosity of progressive rock with the visceral energy of punk, there was nobody else quite like them. They did indeed sound exactly what a band called The Mars Volta ought to sound like.

I will never forget the one time I saw them live, at Manchester Apollo back in 2006. Eight people on stage, and the entire set, just short of three hours, was a single continuous jam. No support, no interval, and played right through to the curfew, all one seamless piece of music, with an incredible energy and intensity. I remember chatting about it in the pub before a Dream Theater gig a few months later at the same venue, and someone said he wasn’t sure if that was the greatest gig of his life, or whether they were completely taking the piss.

That’s as good as description as any.

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When Empires Fall

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Tim Hall

When Empires Fall is the new project from Paul Teasdale, formerly of Breathing Space and Stolen Earth. They describe themselves as “nu-progressive” and something that ought to appeal to lovers of classic rock.

No word (yet) of the full lineup of the band, but their facebook page (they don’t have a website yet) states that they’re due to release the self-titled debut album in the Spring 2013, with their first download single in February.

Give the promo (above) a listen, and see what you think. It’s an instrumental version of the track “Trial of Theseus” which will be on the album.

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English Electric (Part Two) on Pre-order!

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Tim Hall

Big Big Train announce the pre-order for English Electric (Part Two), the follow-up to the highly acclaimed English Electric Part One.

Big Big Train continues its journey across the English landscape with an album of seven new songs which tell further tales of the men and women who work on and under the land. Along the way, stories are told of the shipbuilders in Neptune’s Yard, of a machine that burned its legend across the pages of the history books, of a keeper of abbeys and a curator of butterflies, and of a second chance at love.

Part One was one of my top five albums of 2012, and I have every expectation that the second part will be every bit as good. Whatever the fate of high street music chains, there’s nothing quite like supporting real music by real musicians by buying direct from the artist.

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Adam Dawson leaves Stolen Earth

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Tim Hall

Stolen Earth at the 2012 Cambridge Rock Festival

It’s always this time of year we get announcements like this…

Hi,

I’m writing this update to tell you that I’ve made the difficult decision to take a step back from Stolen Earth. I feel that with work and family commitments, I can no longer give the band the attention it deserves. However, I’ve had some truly wonderful times and memories over the past 3 years which I will take with me and never forget.

Joining Breathing Space back in 2010 was an incredible experience which led to one of my proudest musical moments; the release of ‘A Far Cry From Home’ last year with Stolen Earth. But meeting so many great people on the way has been equally amazing. To get to know such generous and loyal supporters of original music has been a humbling experience and one which gives me a lot of optimism for the future. This certainly won’t be the end; not for Stolen Earth or for me – I’m hoping to use the ‘down-time’ to work on the many ideas that are floating around my head for new songs and so I’m sure this won’t be the last you’ll hear from me!

I’d like to wish Barry, Chris, Heidi and John all the very best for the future, and I’m sure I’ll see many of you at some gig or other very soon!

Best wishes,

Adam Dawson

Adam’s distinctively atmospheric guitar playing was an important ingredient of Stolen Earth’s sound, and he made a big contribution to the songwriting on the band’s superb début album “A Far Cry From Home”. He’ll be a hard act to follow.

The band added their statement:

He has been a real asset to the band and will be greatly missed, we wish him every success for the future. Of course we will continue and have started work on our second album. We look forward to seeing you all later in the year.

Heidi, Barry, Chris and John x

It’s never easy for bands at this level juggling their musical actities around work and family responsibilities, and in some ways it’s remarkable that some bands can keep stable lineups together as long as they do.

As a fan I naturally hope Stolen Earth bounce back stronger than ever with a new lineup, and wish Adam all the best in whatever musical projects he does next.

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Get Well Soon, Trevor Bolder

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Tim Hall

Press release from Uriah Heep.

Trevor Bolder is going into hospital for an operation which will require several months’ recuperation. Everyone connected with Uriah Heep wishes Trevor a speedy operation and recovery, and Trevor’s wishes are that the band should carry on without him, until he is fit and ready to come back.

Venerated bass player John [JJ] Jowitt has agreed to deputise for Trevor at short notice, to ensure that the band’s show in Israel at the end of January can still go ahead

Having spent 20 years with IQ, plus varying stints with Ark, Arena, Jadis, Frost and other respected bands, John is renowned for his on-stage charisma and has won Classic Rock Society’s Bass poll on no less than 10 separate occasions.

Mick Box said:- “We all wish Trevor a speedy return to the fold, and in the meantime we are very pleased that JJ has agreed to step in and cover Trev’s unique bass panache, so crucial to Heep’s sound. JJ will also contribute to the signature 5-part vocal operatics”.

John Jowitt said:- “I have long been an admirer of Trevor Bolder’s iconic playing, and it is a huge honour to be asked to stand in for one of the all-time greats of the bass. I intend to bring due respect to the legend that is Uriah Heep, and I hope I can do justice to Trevor’s presence, both on and off stage”.

We know all of you out there will support Trevor and the Band as we move forward together into 2013. Trevor will use his recuperation period to write songs for the new Uriah Heep album, the follow up to Into The Wild, which will be put together in the next 12 months.

As a long-standing fan of Uriah Heep who once (briefly) met Trevor Bolder, I wish him a speedy and full recovery from the operation. Although Trevor is not a founding member of the band and wasn’t on some of their classic early albums, his time in the band does go right back to the 70s, and he’s an important part of what makes the current band Uriah Heep. And he’s a damned fine bass player. He wouldn’t have played bass for David Bowie if he wasn’t.

I’m sure the multiple winner of the Best John Jowitt Award will be a worthy stand-in in the meantime.

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Brave!

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Tim Hall

Who needs “Grendel” when you can bear the whole of “Brave” played live?

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A new album from The Heather Findlay Band?

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Tim Hall

The Heather Findlay Band at The Brook, Southampton in November 2012

The new post on Heather Findlay’s website, mostly about the recently finished tour, also includes this very welcome announcement:

For the very many of you that made it to a show on this tour, you will know just how much the new Heather Findlay Band line up cooked! It is such a high energy, intensely soulful collective with such groove that I’ve never really experienced before. The whole thing has lifted to a completely new dimension and I am so excited to announce that we will be taking to the rehearsal studios come January to work on a brand new HFB album!!!

This is very good news. The last couple of acoustic releases have been great records, and have kept her name in the public eye, but a record containing brand new material is precisely the thing she really needs to take her solo career on to the next level. At the moment it’s only those of us who have seen her live who really know what she can do with a full electric lineup outside the context of her former band.

The implication here is that they’re going to write and record together as a band, which I certainly feel is the right approach to take at this stage. The challenge will be to come up with something that matches the energy and intensity of those live performances. It will be very interesting to see what sort of material they come up with, but the quality of the one new song “Shine” played on the tour is a very positive sign.

No word about release dates as yet, which is probably wise. There are some live dates planned for April next year, and I can imagine new songs being road-tested at those shows before being recorded. But that’s pure speculation. We shall have to wait and see.

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