Month: July 2018

Review – Mabel Greer’s Toyshop – The Secret – by James R. Turner

Before Yes, there was Mabel Greer’s Toyshop, a band that originally existed between 1966-68 until original member Clive Bayley left and they became the first Yes line up.

MGT Re-formed back in 2014 with original members Clive Bayley, drummer Robert Hagger, Hugo Barre on bass and Max Hunt on keyboards. The album ‘New Way of Life’ was released in 2015 and ‘The Secret’ is the follow-up recorded and released towards the end of last year.

Mixing Bayley’s vocals and the bands power, they have headed down a route that both Yes and The Nice attempted with varying degrees of success, by blending new material with classically inspired pieces, (Turning to the Light – inspired by Tchaikovsky, Angel Sent – inspired by Beethoven, Swan – inspired by Tchaikovsky and the Closing the Secret inspired by Holst). Traditionally a lot of original prog was inspired by rock musicians wanting to make classical sounds, and this return to the bands roots is a nice nod to the journey the genre went on.

Bayley has a wonderfully deep English voice and a line in well observed melancholy and beauty, that makes this more than just a cash in on the Yes name.

There are some wonderful long songs that have room to breath and grown, like the opening Big Brother, Little Brother about the plight of the indigenous native Americans moved on by the white settlers, while two spiritual pieces (Love’s Fire and Image of Existence) use the words of the legendary Sufi academic and writer, the Iranian born Dr Javid Nubaksh, an example of Bayley’s widely travelled outlook, and his spiritual ideas.

In fact, this whole album runs a wide range of styles and sounds, and the band are absolutely on fire. Hunt’s keyboards add some wonderful bluesy style to More and More with its disdain for the consumerist lifestyle, while the guitar work reinterpreting Ode to Joy on Angel Sent is an absolute pleasure to listen.

Having come only a few years after the bands debut (only a mere 49 years after they were formed!) this shows that Bayley has started mining a rich creative and musical seam and now the band has coalesced to 4 like-minded musicians looking to the future. This album is one that has a few nods to the past and where the band came from, but also shows where Bayley’s journey differed from that of his earlier band mates, and looks far more to the future than to the past.

The biggest nod to the past however is the presence of the late Peter Banks on the final track The Secret, where his wonderfully unique guitar sound cuts through the track and sends shivers down the spine. As one, much like Bayley, (and despite having appeared and been fundamental in the early Yes sound on the first two albums), Banks long seems the forgotten man of Yes.

Finally, the current incarnation plays Time and a Word in tribute to him (with a big picture on the stage) and this guitar solo only continues to enhance his reputation.

This album is never going to be the forefront of a new genre or hit the top spot in the charts, I have no doubt that that’s not what its creators intended. Instead with its philosophy, it’s classic/rock crossover sound, it’s melancholy and languid guitar work and vocals, it is an English prog rock classic, refining and redefining what progressive music is and taking several steps forward whilst reflecting, representing and commemorating where they came from.

All in all, a very classy, mature and intelligent album that is a welcome addition to the band’s catalogue and see’s them hitting their stride with this new line up.

Released 8th December 2017

Order the album from bandcamp here

Tides of Man Return with beautiful New Single, “Static Hymn” Announce New Album to be Released August 3rd

Tampa, Florida based instrumental post-rock outfit, Tides of Man have revealed new single and video “Static Hymn”. The band surprised fans with a teaser last week that was met with tremendous excitement racking up over 25,000 views on Facebook and garnering hundreds of shares and comments from a dedicated following anxiously awaiting new music from Tides of Man. You can listen to the beautifully cinematic “Static Hymn” and enjoy an accompanying visual directed by Stephen Mlinarcik:

Alongside the new single came the announcement that Tides of Man will be releasing a new full-length, entitled Every Nothing, on August 3rd. Every Nothing is a collection of 12 meticulously arranged post-rock compositions that builds on the band’s 2014 full-length, Young and Courageous. The synergy throughout the album allows listeners a serene experience that highlights the band’s creative growth while staying true to their foundational sound that led to such a dedicated international following for the band upon their previous release. Every Nothing explores the theme that sometimes the most insignificant moments, one takes for granted, can be the most important. When looking back, these small moments can be life-defining. Sonically, Every Nothing shows a darker and more brooding side of the bands writing – creating an atmosphere that reflects their artistic maturation over the past four years.

Quote from the band regarding Every Nothing:

“It’s been an amazing process writing Every Nothing together as a band. We pushed ourselves and each other beyond what we thought we were capable of and we put our all into this record. We are very proud to finally release it!”

Every Nothing Tracklisting
1 – Static Hymn
2 – Mercury Fields
3 – New Futures
4 – Far Off
5 – Old 88
6 – Waxwing
7 – Keep Telling Yourself
8 – Everything Is Fine, Everyone is Happy
9 – Death is No Dread Enemy
10 – Outside Ourselves
11 – Mosaic
12 – Infinite Ceiling

Tides of Man came to prominence as one of the torchbearers of progressive rock through their initial EP and first two full lengths (Empire Theory and Dreamhouse). After parting ways with their lead singer and label, the band was reborn as an instrumental post-rock project with the crowdfunded release of their third full-length, Young And Courageous in 2014. Their music has been described as layered, with mesmerizing tone textures, beautiful in a way that allows listeners to attach their own experiences and emotions to the music. After several well received tours of Europe and North America and appearances at End of the Road and Dunk! Festival, the band went into the studio to record their second instrumental album, Every Nothing. They worked with producers Mike Watts at Vudu Studios (As Cities Burn, The Dear Hunter, As Tall As Lions) and Spencer Bradham at Cleartrack Studios, and the album will be released independently on August 3rd.

Tides of Man are about to embark on a European tour in support of the new record that will include appearances at Fete De Lion in Switzerland on August 2nd and ArcTanGent in Bristol, UK on August 16th. The band has long been revered for the special experience their live show provides concert-goers and are well known as a “can’t miss” performance. Stay tuned for additional tour dates and more information and music from Every Nothing as release day draws closer.

Tides of Man Tour Dates
8/2- Wil, Switzerland @ Fête de Lion
8/17 – Bristol, UK @ ArcTanGent Festival

Review – Mansun – Attack of the Grey Lantern (Deluxe Remastered Reissue) – by James R. Turner

Somewhere at the arse end of Britpop, where record labels and the bigger bands had either lost the plot or were rapidly evolving to avoid the Britpop tag, there were some truly great albums released in that fag end; ‘Urban Hymns’ by The Verve or ‘Be Here Now’ by Oasis captured the decline of the Britpop years beautifully, while Radiohead’s ‘Ok, Computer’ set the controls for the heart of the sun. Meanwhile four-piece Mansun, who were lumped, unfairly to my ears, into the whole Britpop scene (well, they were British, and they made music!) took the top of the charts with ‘Attack of the Grey Lantern’.

Despite the strength of the follow up ‘Six’, as well as ‘Little Kixx’, the band folded amidst much acrimony, leaving behind a collection of albums that, if you were there you’d get, if you weren’t then you would be amazed that you hadn’t heard them before.

Now signed to Kscope for his debut album and having achieved critical acclaim for his come-back and his tour supporting Steven Wilson, original Mansun frontman Paul Draper recently toured the UK selling out venues performing ‘Attack…’ in it’s entirety for the first time.

With the Mansun back catalogue now on Kscope, they have brought out a luxurious 21st anniversary edition. This pulls together demo’s, live tracks, unreleased material and, the holiest of holies, a shiny new 5.1 mix of the album.

Back in 2010 when the rights were held by EMI, they produced a triple disc edition of the album and while, inevitably, there is some cross over, the demo’s and 5.1 mix make this new package as attractive to new fans and older ones who want to relive their youth.

Astonishingly there are people buying music today who weren’t even born when this album appeared, and doesn’t that make me feel old?

Starting out as a concept about a superhero, The Grey Lantern, the band admitted there weren’t quite enough songs to complete the concept, but it doesn’t matter when the material on here is of such quality and style.

Anyone unfamiliar with the original album won’t know how it starts with the best Bond theme there never was, the dramatic string laden and powerful The Chad Who Loved Me, before leading into the sardonically titled Mansun’s Only Love Song (this quirky sense of humour and self-deprecation was to be a trade mark of the band) and, while they were put into the Britpop box, there was always more going on musically, as the brilliantly Beatles inspired, and pure festival singalong, Taxlo$$ proved. There were the brilliant single releases like the epic Wide Open Space and Stripper Vicar, the former being an absolute musical epic, and the latter being a very English piece of musical high-farce which could only have been made by an English band.

With a closing quartet of songs, She Makes my Nose Bleed, Naked Twister, Egg Shaped Fred and Dark Mavis, there is no bad track on this album. It is one of those organically produced records from the golden age of CDs where the sequence is everything and the album must be listened to in its entirety. This is no collection of songs to stream or put on as background, this is an album as art and, as such, is full of class, heart and soul.

Which is why it is perfect for the 5.1 treatment. There was always plenty going on musically with Mansun and the 5.1 mix enhances and expands this, giving the tracks real wide open space to breath. This makes it a completely immersive experience, taking it all back to listening to albums as they were meant to be listened to, you, a room and the sounds taking them over.

The fact that Mansun were so obviously head and shoulders above most of the Britpop crowd means they were more on a par with Pulp than Oasis, in that they have made timeless, classy intelligent rock music, music that wasn’t afraid to be a bit different from the norm. Listening back now it’s hard to imagine that if Mansun appeared from nowhere and released this today that it would get to number one. While it is easier to access music today, I have a suspicion that, looking at the demographic of the record buying youth 21 years ago, they were probably more accepting to trying something slightly different than the youth of today. So different, in fact, that they let, and actively encouraged Radiohead and Mansun to get away with blatant prog right under their noses in the depths of Britpop, the cheeky little scamps!

After seeing Paul Draper perform ‘Attack of the Grey Lantern’ live (a gig I’d only been waiting to see for 21 years) my interest in all things Mansun has been rekindled and, as Kscope have the full back catalogue, it appears that the follow up to ‘Attack of the Grey Lantern’, the even more astonishing and out there ‘Six’, is being readied for 5.1.

If ‘Attack of the Grey Lantern’ was the gateway drug, ‘Six’ is where we hit the hard stuff. With Paul Draper promising to perform it in it’s entirety live next year, well, I am already eagerly awaiting the next instalment in the Mansun story and, after immersing yourself in this well made, and well remastered set (the new mixes sound sublime and are really sympathetic to the original album) you will be too.

(As a note for those of you who aren’t into 5.1, there is a standard edition available as well, shiny and remastered for your pleasure.)

Released 8th June 2018

Buy the album from Burning Shed here

Band pictures by Pennie Smith.

 

Review – Kalman Filter- Exo-Oceans – by Jez Denton

When I went up to sixth form at school in the late 80’s one of the perks was the common room in which we were allowed to play music on the sixth form tape player; there was a simple rule – you could bring a tape in, put it in the queue and play two songs before it was changed for the next tape in line. This was where my sense of humour kicked in as my tape, which was kept in the queue on a permanent basis, always illicited a groan from the assembled friends; track one was Marillion’s Grendel, track 2 was Iron Maiden’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner and so on and so forth, no track was less than 10 minutes long meaning I could take up whole break periods and longer with my choice of what was, to the rest of the guys, seriously uncool music. But here’s the thing, with the benefit of hindsight and the confidence (arrogance?) of experience meaning that I know I have exemplary taste, I was cool in 1988, mainly because I didn’t try to be cool, unlike the other kids with their hip hop albums and baggy jeans trying desperately to be anything but the white middle class kids that they were.

It is my suspicion that if Andy Tillison, who has just released a solo project album as Kalman Filter, were to have been in my sixth form he’d have been sat in my corner giggling at the sneering looks of the ‘cool’ kids while they had to listen to 13 minutes of Shine On You Crazy Diamond before they could play their Soul II Soul 12 inch remix. The album, ‘Exo-Oceans’, is just three tracks long over a total album length of 75 minutes (more of which later), and travels through a variety of musical styles from funk and disco to classical via progressive rock and many points in between. Often, this approach bears little fruit as either too many people get involved or one musician doesn’t have someone acting as a brake on their creativity. Tillison, though, neatly avoids this, with the genres he visits fitting together; like the great oceans Tillison references as an influence there is both a ‘maelstrom’ like crashing together along with a smoothing out into great expanses either side. That music is cool, seriously cool, beautifully cool, and cool without even trying. It is great music performed by a very talented musician, ably assisted on the first track by guitar supremo Matt Stevens, who doesn’t have to try hard to create something really good to listen to, though it is also obvious a lot of thought, creativity and talent has gone into these three super tracks.

But, and I wish it was a small but, but no, it’s a big but. I have a pet hate, I hate tracks that have false endings. I really do not see the point. And ‘Exo-Oceans’ has a massive false ending to the third track, Jornakh, 10 or so minutes worth of silence. As a reviewer I had to listen all the way through it, hoping that the wait would be worth the time spent listening to nothing. Unfortunately, and this is something I think I can say about every album with a false ending I’ve ever listened to, for me it wasn’t worth that investment. I didn’t get the point that was being made, I just felt it didn’t add any value. This is a shame as otherwise the album avoided that brilliantly in the actual music. I suppose the question is: did this spoil the album for me? to which the answer is no, as for me, the music is worth listen after listen. I’ll just skip back to track one when the music stops on track 3. Though, if this was 1988 and Andy and I were in my sixth form common room it would be great fun stopping some ‘cool’ kid from putting his tape on with the words, ‘oi, it might be silence mate, but there’s still six minutes to go till you can change it!’

Released 18th June 2018

Buy the album from bandcamp here

or from The Tangent’s shop here

Big Big Train release video for “Swan Hunter” from upcoming single

Three times Progressive Music Award winning band, Big Big Train, will be releasing the “Swan Hunter” single on July 13th, 2018. The single release features a remix of the studio album version and a live performance of “Swan Hunter,” alongside two previously unreleased tracks.

The film was recorded live at Cadogan Hall, London, on October 1st 2017.

Swan Hunter is an elegy for the shipbuilding communities of the north-east.

Vocalist David Longdon says:

‘Imagine being a child who grew up within this community, seeing these huge vessels grow daily until their launch. Imagine the relentless sound of machinery and construction workers. Your father most likely would have worked there and probably his father before him. It must have been almost impossible back then to imagine a time when this way of life would come to an end. This is what you knew and it defined you.’

Big Big Train will be playing at The Anvil, Basingstoke, England on July 11th and at Loreley, Night of the Prog festival, Germany, on July 13th.