The rather oddly named Wizrd are another interesting bunch from Norway who are hard to pigeonhole, and that’s nearly always a good thing in my book. Sonically they employ retro-sounding instrumentation, but what they do with those instruments is more…
View More Wizrd – SeasonsMonth: December 2022
Soft Machine – Facelift France & Holland
There are many recordings of Soft Machine’s French tours in late 1969 and early 1970. Both official and unofficial, some come from hopelessly unreliable audience recordings and really poor bootlegs. Cuneiform Records have taken a different approach. Using the best…
View More Soft Machine – Facelift France & HollandProg Before Xmas 2022
Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow Saturday, 26th November 2022 ‘Twas the month before Christmas and our intrepid TPA scribe and his faithful companion Bronwen got up before they went to bed and flew to a distant land up North. Many…
View More Prog Before Xmas 2022Arena – The Theory of Molecular Inheritance
Oh, my goodness me, yes! I haven’t rocked out to an Arena album since the truly magnificent The Seventh Degree of Separation (2011). It’s not that The Unquiet Sky (2015) and Double Vision (2018) don’t have their moments, but The…
View More Arena – The Theory of Molecular InheritanceDownriver Dead Men Go – Ruins
The world has turned and the skies have darkened. Men’s hearts have blackened with smudged, dark stains and nothing seems as it was. A pervasive sickness has spread through the world like a biblical retribution, battling against the damage humans…
View More Downriver Dead Men Go – RuinsMother Turtle – MT V
Mother Turtle formed in 2011 in Thessaloniki, Greece and this is their fifth album. Previously, the band have experimented freely with various alt-rock and progressive styles. This time they have maintained their appetite for experimentation but kept it somewhat constrained…
View More Mother Turtle – MT VMartin Foye – Fruupp
Having released four albums in the 1970s, Northern Irish band Fruupp dissolved and became a footnote of the glory days of prog. But in recent years there has been a resurgence of interest and reissues of their music have helped…
View More Martin Foye – FruuppMagnum / Vega / Theia
The Tramshed, Cardiff Wednesday, 7th December 2022 I love The Tramshed. Not only is it a very nice space, the staff are the best I’ve ever experienced. It’s a pleasure to roll up to the door and be cheerily greeted…
View More Magnum / Vega / TheiaChris Welch – Keith Emerson: The Official Illustrated Story (Classic Edition)
Following on from last November’s publication of
View More Chris Welch – Keith Emerson: The Official Illustrated Story (Classic Edition)Shine On, Peter Frampton
Shine on… I had seen him perform a number of times before, although the very first show I was supposed to attend was called off: just before the gig, the message came that his regular keyboard player had died just…
View More Shine On, Peter Frampton