Music Blog

All the music-related posts gathered together in one place.

Purson – The Contract

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Tim Hall

It’s going to take a while to write up my review of HRH Prog 2, so in the meantime here’s a video of one of the many highlights of the weekend, the psychedelic rock of Purson.

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Now Playing: For All We Shared

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Tim Hall

For All We SharedNowadays much of my music listening focuses on trying to keep up with all the new music that’s coming out, especially the stuff I’m reviewing. So it’s not often I sit back and listen of a much loved album.  Not nearly often enough, in fact.

With Mostly Autumn’s 1997 début, it’s so long since I last played it I’ve grown more familiar with the live versions of some of the songs from seeing the band on stage.

Mostly Autumn of 1997 were a very different band to the hard-rocking act of today, with celtic atmospherics a much bigger component of the sound. Bob Faulds’ electric violin is all over this record, as prominent as Bryan Josh’s guitar. It’s also the only album to feature Kev Gibbons on high and low whistles, adding to the celtic flavour, especially on songs like “Boundless Ocean”.

If you’re used to hearing the more recent live versions, “Nowhere to Hide” and “The Last Climb” sound quite different; the former is a lot softer than the guitar-driven hard rocker of their most recent tour. And “The Last Climb”, nowadays a showcase for Anne-Marie Helder’s flute, instead contains a lengthy violin solo. Also, in the light of what the band were later to become, it’s also notable that Heather Findlay only sings lead on a single song, “Steal Away”.

Ah yes, the jigs. There are three of them on the album, and it’s a reminder that in the early days they were almost as much a ceilidh band as a progressive rock one. They’re not the sort of thing the band indulges in nowadays, but numbers like “Out of the Inn” still featured heavily in live sets as late as 2006.

Perhaps the highlight is the album closer “The Night Sky”, one of the best of their “celtic Pink Floyd” numbers centering on Bob Faulds’ magnificent violin solo. It’s a song I’d love to hear them play live again; it made a brief appearance in the live set in early 2007, but they haven’t played it since.

Although they were to exceed it with later albums, this was a very ambitious début, especially when you consider that it came out at the height of Britpop, when the prog scene was at its lowest ebb. Its one flaw perhaps is that it’s too varied for it’s own good, with the folk jigs sitting uncomfortably alongside the Floydian epics. But a lot of the material has stood the test of time, with several numbers remaining live favourites, not least the now-traditional set closer, “Heroes Never Die”.

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Halo Blind – Occupying Forces

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Tim Hall

Halo Blind Occupying Forces sm“Occupying Forces” is the second album from the progressive rock project led by singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Chris Johnson. It follows on from “The Fabric”, released under the band name “Parade” before a heavily promoted girl band with the same name forced a name change. That girl band rapidly crashed and burned after their album flopped, but that’s another story. Still, “Halo Blind” is a far better name.

It’s also a rather different band from the lineup that recorded “The Fabric”, although four out of the five from Halo Blind’s last live appearances in 2011 are still on board, Gavin Griffiths on drums, Stu Fletcher on bass, Stuart Farell on lead guitar and of course Chris himself, with new recruit, multi-instrumentalist Andy Knights, completing the band.

It’s got a similar combination of indie-rock guitars and progressive rock atmospherics. But while “The Fabric” was by Chris’ own admission a collection of songs originally written with different projects in mind, in contrast “Occupying Forces” has a far more coherent feel as an album.

One highlight is the sequence of songs on the first half of the album “Mirage”, “Saturate”, “Torrential” and “Downpour”, shimmering summery pop numbers with a hint of darkness and melancholy that flow into one another to build into something more than the sum of the parts. The whole thing shows Chris Johnson’s ear for memorable but unconventional melodies, and some great use of atmospheric instrumental passages in place of conventional solos. The final song of that sequence in particular is a thing of breathtaking beauty.

After the short jazz instrumental “The End of the First Side” featuring Jonny Enright’s trombone, the second half gets more eclectic. “Brain Dog” combines dance thythms with some Tom Morello-style guitars. It continues with the stripped down balled “The Puppet” with just piano and Jennifer Chubb’s cello, the burbling electronica of “Analogue”, and ending with the soaring ballads “Coma” and “Control”.

The way this record combines elements of progressive rock and indie-rock ought to appeal a broad audience. There are echoes of Anathema, Pineapple Thief, mid-period Radiohead and late-period Marillion. It’s not too dense or twiddly to frighten off indie fans, but it’s still got enough depth for all but the most narrow-minded of prog fans.

It’s been a long wait for this album; “The Fabric” came out as long ago as 2009. But an album of this quality is well worth the wait.

You can buy the album from haloblind.com

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Alex Cromarty joins Mostly Autumn

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Tim Hall

The Heather Findlay Band at The Brook, Southampton

Latest News from Mostly Autumn:

Mr Alex Cromerty has now become a permanent member of Mostly Autumn. We are all very excited about this, his drumming and percussion has proven to work extremely well with the band, drummers like Alex and Gavin are a rare thing to come by, the quality is first class. We would also, on this note, like to wish Gavin all the success for the future, it’s been a real pleasure my friend.

Alex had been playing drums with Mostly Autumn as a stand-in for much of 2013 while Gavin Griffiths had extensive recording and touring commitments with Fish, and Alex’ playing showed the drums were in safe hands. With Fish announcing further tour plans across Europe in 2014, it’s not a total surprise that Alex is joining the Mostly Autumn on a longer-term basis.

Mostly Autumn had already had more drummers than Spinal Tap back in 2007, and now they can add a further name to the list.

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Bending Light

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Tim Hall
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One of the standout tracks from Morpheus Rising’s “Eximus Humanus”, notable for Pete Harwood’s E-bow solo.

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Asia – Valkyrie

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Tim Hall

Asia are back with a new album “Gravitas”, with the trio of John Wetton, Carl Palmer and Geoff Downes joined by guitarist Sam Coulson. The single “Valkyrie” suggests that even after more than thirty years they still have something to say.

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You call this music?

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Tim Hall

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Big Big Train recorded an album called “English Electric”. But here is some actual English Electric 16SCVT music from around 1990 on the West of England line. It’s a sobering thought that these locomotives have been gone for more than 20 years, and some of the surviving preserved examples have now been museum pieces for longer than they were in traffic with British Rail.

Your definition of music may vary, but for me this qualifies, especially from about a minute in.

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Happy Birthday Chantel McGregor

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Tim Hall

Chantel McGregor at The Flowerpot Derby in December 2012

A very happy birthday to award-winning guitarist and vocalist Chantel McGregor.

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HAS-Returned News

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Tim Hall

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Some news from Howard Sinclair, who’s not only been playing keys for Also Eden but, like many of the best prog musos, has also been working on another project.

HAS-Retuned, the new electro-acoustic band fronted by singer-songwriter Howard Sinclair, are excited to introduce their final complete line-up: with Patrick “Patch” Sanders taking up lead guitar, alongside Becky Baldwin on bass and Jenn Haneef on drums.

Patch has been playing guitar for 15 years and studied Professional Musicianship at Bristol Institute of Modern Music (BIMM). He is currently active in several projects, including female-fronted Melodic Rock band “Control the Storm” and Heavy Metal tribute band “Metalhead”. Playing electric lead guitar, Patch will incorporate his interest in Blues and Soft Rock as part of the approach that Retuned are taking with their new album.

Patch says: “I was keen to join HAS-Retuned to expand my range beyond Metal and into a more acoustic driven genre. Since I already know Becky from other projects we have worked on, we knew we would work well, and we seem to have come together quickly as a whole band. I’m looking forward to getting into the studio now and laying down the tracks we’ve been working on these past few weeks”.

Now that everyone is in place, the band is due to start work on their new album “The Light Broke In” throughout March, and the studio has been booked ready to begin recording in Bristol this coming weekend.

“Having Patch on board, it really does feel like we now have the right people in the right places” Howard says; “I was already extremely pleased to have had Becky and Jenn come in and immediately make their mark on the evolving music, and now Patch is adding his stamp and it’s simply sounding ‘right’ – so we’re ready to jump in feet first and get recording some of the magic that we’ve been finding in the studio together”.

HAS-Retuned is a band that offers fresh, original material with wide ranging influences including Marillion, Nick Drake, Counting Crows and Panic Room, and the group intends to complement their upcoming album with a selection of Live gigs across the UK, featuring material from Howard’s previous solo album “The Delicious Company of Freaks” alongside the new songs.

More information on Howard Sinclair’s website at www.howardalansinclair.co.uk/

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I am currently listening to some 70s reissues I’ve been sent as promos and deciding they’re not worthy of a full review. These are records that have been out-of-print for many years, and time has not been kind to them. They end up reminding me of mid-afternoon filler acts at The Cambridge Rock Festival.

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Tim Hall | 4 Comments