The chances are that even if you have never heard of Les Penning you may well have heard him – he recorded recorders and other instruments with the legendary Mike Oldfield in the 1970s, most notably on the excellent Ommadawn…
View More Les Penning with Robert Reed – Return To PenrhosMonth: December 2019
Klan – Mrowisko
By the end of the seventies, progressive rock music got stuck in a rut. The big bands struggled with their (musical) direction and did not always release their best work. Moreover, there was the emergence of punk, a musical movement…
View More Klan – MrowiskoState of Flux – State of Flux
As popular as progressive metal is amongst fans, it seems even more popular amongst aspiring, talented new artists, all raring at the chance to show off their chops and dazzle with their musicianship. Unfortunately, this has led to a highly…
View More State of Flux – State of FluxSonar with David Torn – Tranceportation (Volume 1)
The second instalment of the collision of soundworlds known as Sonar and David Torn arrives by design rather by accident. Whereas Vortex was the result of Torn’s exploratory guitar finding a home amongst Sonar’s cyclical minimalist grooves after the music…
View More Sonar with David Torn – Tranceportation (Volume 1)Jethro Tull – Stormwatch [40th Anniversary Box Set]
The concept of the digitally remastered reissue has been a marketing staple for many years now, but it’s only relatively recently that the box set complete with the ubiquitous hi-res copy and/or the 5:1 surround version has competed for your…
View More Jethro Tull – Stormwatch [40th Anniversary Box Set]The Decade in Review – Bob Mulvey
Is this a definitive list – hell NO! I could name numerous albums that might/should have been on this list and were certainly in the nominees category, however: “Then, shalt thou count to ten. No more. No less. Ten shalt…
View More The Decade in Review – Bob MulveyThe Flower Kings / Iamthemorning / Rikard Sjölbom
Cultuurpodium Boerderij, Zoetermeer Saturday, 7th December 2019 From strength to strength For years no sign of life and then suddenly, boom, twice new studio work and even three live shows within exactly twelve months. Life within the Flower Kings is…
View More The Flower Kings / Iamthemorning / Rikard SjölbomThe Decade in Review – Jez Rowden
How do you compare and rank albums as diverse as those released into the ‘Prog Zone’ in the last decade? It’s a tricky challenge that requires the use of generalisations, but also specific factoring. In this case, having assembled a…
View More The Decade in Review – Jez RowdenSteve Hillage Band / Gong
O2 Academy, Bristol Wednesday, 20th November 2019 It’s been 50 years since Daevid Allen started the psychedelic behemoth that is Gong, and as the band head into their 50th year, with a wonderful new album The Universe Also Collapses, and…
View More Steve Hillage Band / GongThe Decade in Review – John Wenlock-Smith
Firstly let me say this has been a much harder than expected exercise, partly because so much good music has passed through these hands in ten years. My final selections focus on more mainstream progressive acts, as that is my…
View More The Decade in Review – John Wenlock-Smith