Tag: Andy Tillison

Review – The Tangent For One – To Follow Polaris

When is a solo album not a solo album? There’s a conundrum for you. Well, there’s a story behind this latest release from The Tangent universe, ‘To Follow Polaris’ by The Tangent For One. The ‘One’ in the artist name is, as I’m sure you can guess, Andy Tillison and let’s discover why this new collection of impressive progressive rock is not Andy’s latest solo creation…

‘To Follow Polaris’ is a new ‘full on’ Progressive Rock album by The Tangent, set to be released on the 10th May 2024 (InsideOutMusic). That’s not necessarily a surprise, that’s what the band are known for. But at the same time, it’s something else too. As Andy jokes, playing on the Jaws strapline, he says “well this time it’s actually no personnel”.

In a year when members of The Tangent could be seen onstage all over the world and on recordings by many greats of the prog world, it became clear that there was not going to be time to get together for anything more than one gig in April 2023.

So the band agreed that the band’s leader/main writer Andy Tillison would keep the material coming and would make an album by The Tangent entirely alone. It would still be The Tangent. Just for one.

“Besides Which” Andy says, “I’ve always wanted to do this, use what I have learned from Luke, Jonas, Steve, Theo and many other alumni and take it to final production. Now was the time!”

What transpired over the following year is in one sense an ‘absolutist’ solo album and is entirely the work of one person in all aspects including artwork, layout, design, lyrics, composition, performance, recording, production, mixing, mastering and authoring. But in another sense it’s totally Tangent. “I could not have begun to make this record without having had the experiences of working with the band. So although the different instruments are not attempted to be played in the actual style of the normal lineup, they are inspired by the kind of things these guys do”

So there you go, it’s an album by The Tangent, but not all of them and yet it does sound like it’s by all of them, still following? Let’s have a listen and see for ourselves, shall we?

For anyone who is a fan of Andy and The Tangent you will know immediately that this is an album by The Tangent, he has created a very distinctive sound over the years and one that I can’t get enough of. Created from Andy’s love of artists such as Yes, Van Der Graaf Generator, Porcupine Tree, Groove Armada, Earth Wind & Fire, Roger Waters and his bands, Return To Forever, Deep Purple, Gentle Giant, Steely Dan and any band featuring the keyboard player Dave Stewart, but neither a homage to those artists or a pastiche of their sounds. Andy’s instantly recognisable music is unique to him and The Tangent and is based mostly around his stellar keyboard playing.

The North Sky opens the album with style and panache and is indicative of The Tangent with the elegant keyboard flourishes, dynamic guitar playing and ever funky bass that has a wonderful jazz vibe to it (and is the first time you will hear Andy playing bass on any of his recordings). This song is a hopefully joyous celebration of life under the sky, there is a fluency to this vibrant piece of music, an urgency and joie de vivre that is as addictive as it is palatable, Andy’s stick driven (electronic) drums providing the drive and electronic wind controller the high notes and polish. The wistful, dreamlike section in the middle of the piece is an oasis of calm that gives you a moment to catch your breath and adds to what is a simply stunning start to the album, there could even be a musical nod to Close Encounters in there but that could just be me! Andy’s singular vocal is as acerbic as ever, love it or hate it (and I love it), to me it is much part of what makes The Tangent tick as anything else and his laconic storytelling adds a classic patina to everything the band do. Andy likens it to “sort of channelling the feeling you get contemplating the wonders of the seemingly infinite universe while riding a Harley Davidson”, exactly… A Like In The Darkness takes a more measured approach with a hushed vocal adding to the moody, thoughtful atmosphere. Imagine a smoke filled, whisky soaked venue with the lights down low and an attentive audience hanging on every word and every note, rapt in attention to the musician in front of them who is holding everyone’s attention with his charismatic persona. A beautifully observed slice of jazz/prog fusion, idiosyncratic in delivery and design, it’s a brilliant piece of music with its roots most definitely in the 1970’s and that era of creative, sometimes mind boggling, music that crossed so many genres that it became obfuscated but was always highly entertaining. For Andy it is a personal look into the world of being an obscure artist in the 2000’s, a world where legalised piracy starves musicians and the rationale for that has actually somehow succeeded in replacing payment with “likes” on social media as a sign of “success”. 

“A song about “Constant Bad News – something I have heard nearly everyone I know speak about regardless of their age or background.” That’s Andy’s short precis of The Fine Line, a song that, despite its subject matter, has a real cool and elegant feel to it. Imagine Gentle Giant turning up to a 70’s disco party dressed as Earth, Wind & Fire and you’re some way to getting the vibe of this gloriously funky piece of music. An acerbic social commentator he may be (or that could just be the Yorkshireman in him!) but Andy is just a lover of music and a lover of creating music at heart and that can be sensed through every word and note of this track and please just check out his fantastic, laid back bass playing! Andy says it owes a lot to ‘Aja’ period Steely Dan and is also a nod to Petula Clarke’s Downtown and, let’s be honest, it doesn’t get more prog than that! While Andy and The Tangent may be known for their brilliantly creative prog epics, it’s songs like this that define the true nature of the man and his music for me and I love it. Talking of lengthy prog epics, no true album by The Tangent could be classed as complete without twenty plus minutes of prog largesse and pomp and circumstance, all with a bit of true Yorkshire caustic diatribe thrown in for good measure and that’s what you get with The Anachronism. The song posits that all forms of government are manifestly unfit for purpose, unless the purpose actually is to create division, argument, suffering, war, poverty, racism. It centres on elections in so called democratic nations in which the amount of “say” a person actually has in this democracy is so vanishingly small that in two major Western Nations only four manifestos will even be actually considered in 2024. The longer song is a format that Andy likes to work in and he has loved this format since hearing Close To The Edge by Yes and you can tell, all of the longer tracks by The Tangent can be considered classic songs by the band and this is no exception. A track driven by purpose and calculation and a piece of music with a lot to say and which is delivered eloquently and in a direct manner. The music is as stylish as ever and travels across many genres seamlessly, almost a who’s who of 70’s prog styles and embellishments but all delivered in Andy’s witty and self-effacing style.

The Single (Taken From A Re-Opened Time Capsule) is a re-recorded version of a track Andy wrote more than 25 years ago for his band Po90. As it never reached that many ears he thought he would update it. “It comes from an album called ‘The Time Capsule’ which I did say that one day I might revisit… because that was implied by the title.” Andy continues, “It is a song that in many ways was the place The Tangent actually began.  in and among all the dark Po90 stuff, here was this little ditty that was almost a blueprint for songs like “GPS Culture” , “Spark In the Aether” and even “The North Sky”. Now Spark In The Aether is my favourite all time shorter track from the band so it means that The Single had a lot to live up to and, while it may not replace Spark in my affections, it is definitely up there. Lyrically it’s very focussed (As Fine Line) on News Media/Music Business and the contemporaneous attitudes towards Progressive Rock Music itself. It’s a marvellous piece of The Tangent history updated for a new audience and you can see the evolution of the band and Andy’s songwriting in its six minute running time.

The album closes out with a Radio Edit of The North Sky which intensifies and concentrates the inspirational feel of the original and, if you get the limited edition CD Mediabook or 2LP Vinyl, the bonus track Tea At Bettys, seventeen polished minutes of delightfully 70’s feeling easy jazz music, interjected with some frenetic and intentionally chaotic interludes, dedicated to the iconic Harrogate Tearooms that I have been lucky enough to frequent on several occasions.

‘To Follow Polaris’ is intended to be thought of as a regular Tangent album – but not as the future of the band. It’s everyone’s intention to make the FOURTEENTH album as The Tangent. For Five. However, taken in isolation, what you have is a wonderfully inventive and amazingly performed collection of songs that stay true to the core of Andy and the band’s beliefs. Witty and acerbic throughout but with some moments of pure musical bliss, it is yet another highlight in this storied musician’s stellar career.

Released 10th May, 2024.

Order the album here:

Direct from the band: The Tangent : Official Website – Home

or here: To Follow Polaris (lnk.to)

The Tangent (For One) announce new studio album ‘To Follow Polaris’; launch first single ‘The North Sky’

‘To Follow Polaris’ is a new “full on” Progressive Rock album by The Tangent, set to be released on the 10th May 2024 (InsideOutMusic). That’s not necessarily a surprise, that’s what the band are known for. But at the same time, it’s something else too. As Andy jokes, playing on the Jaws strapline, he says “well this time it’s actually no personnel”.

To coincide with the announcement, a video has just been launched for the track ‘The North Sky’, albeit in an edited form. Watch it now here:

In a year when members of The Tangent could be seen onstage all over the world with Steve Hackett, Soft Machine, Karnataka, David Cross, It Bites, Cyan and others, plus on recordings by those artists and The Anchoret, The Michael Dunn Project, Argos and Retreat From Moscow, it became clear that there was not going to be time to get together for anything more than one gig in April 2023.

So the band agreed that the band’s leader/main writer Andy Tillison would keep the material coming and would make an album by The Tangent entirely alone. It would still be The Tangent. Just for one.

“Besides Which” Andy says, “I’ve always wanted to do this, use what I have learned from Luke, Jonas, Steve, Theo and many other alumni and take it to final production. Now was the time!”

What transpired over the following year is in one sense an “absolutist” solo album and is entirely the work of one person in all aspects including artwork, layout, design, lyrics, composition, performance, recording, production, mixing, mastering and authoring. But in another sense it’s totally Tangent. “I could not have begun to make this record without having had the experiences of working with the band. So although the different instruments are not attempted to be played in the actual style of the normal lineup, they are inspired by the kind of things these guys do”

‘To Follow Polaris’ will be available as a Limited Deluxe Collector’s Edition CD Mediabook (including bonus track and extensive 24-page booklet, Gatefold 180g 2LP vinyl (also including bonus track), & as Digital Album. It would be preferable if you pre-order from the band’s website now here:

The Tangent : Official Website – Home

Or from other websites here:

To Follow Polaris (lnk.to)

1.     The North Sky 11:36

2.     A ‘Like’ In The Darkness 08:19

3.     The Fine Line 08:04

4.     The Anachronism 21:01

5.     The Single (From A Re-Opened Time Capsule) 05:51

6.     The North Sky (Radio Edit) 03:42

7.     Tea At Bettys (Bonus Track) 17:32

Produced between January and November 2023, the album features Andy using his multiple keyboards system as normal, but adds to the mix his first ever released performance on Bass Guitar and his second on stick driven (electronic) drums. Add electric and acoustic guitars and electronic wind controller and this is a full band recording in every sense of the word. A recording which shows Andy’s lifelong influence by artists such as Yes, Van Der Graaf Generator, Porcupine Tree, Groove Armada, Earth Wind & Fire, Roger Waters and his bands, Return To Forever, Deep Purple, Gentle Giant, Steely Dan and any band featuring the keyboard player Dave Stewart.

Conceptually Andy claims the album is, ahem, “highly optimistic” but regular listeners to his work will anticipate correctly that this optimism will not be ill founded or over-easy and will be highly critical of obstacles to that optimism and the album will look as much into the dark as it does into the light. 

The album is intended to be thought of as a regular Tangent album – but not as the future of the band. It’s everyone’s intention to make the FOURTEENTH album as The Tangent. For Five. 

Review – Retreat From Moscow – Dreams, Myths and Machines

Retreat from Moscow return in 2023 with their second album ‘Dreams, Myths and Machines’, the album follows on from the January 2021 release of their superb debut album ‘The World As We Knew It’, a record that was 40 years in the making.

‘Dreams, Myths and Machines‘ was forged over the past three years by original band members John Harris (guitar, vocals, keyboards and flute), Andrew Raymond (keyboards), Tony Lewis (bass) and Greg Haver (drums and percussion) with special guests Robin Armstrong of Cosmograf, Andy Tillison of The Tangent, Pete Kirby of Skylines and American vocalist Jillian Slade.

The album draws on themes of Welsh and Greek mythology, dystopian futures, social anxiety and colonial whitewashing and had a complex gestation during 2021 and 2022, with Haver recording behind the closed borders of New Zealand. With co-producer Clint Murphy (Enter Shikari, Thunder, Two Year Break) at the helm, the album was created in a variety of recording environments, including the legendary Rockfield studios in Wales. The band and team have taken their time and embraced varying themes, while pushing the boundaries of their extended compositions, adding to their musical lexicon.

“Retreat From Moscow’s first album ‘The World As We Knew It’ was the band looking back to our early days at the turn of the 1980’s, retracing our youth and memories through the songs. ‘Dreams, Myths and Machines’ is the band embracing our present and the lives we’ve led”, says New Zealand based drummer Greg Haver. “The new album is an exciting blend of stories past and present framed within the RFM prog rock soundscape” explains the band’s vocalist and guitarist, John Harris.

There’s a definite feel of 80’s Marillion about this release along with hints of the classy, educated pop/rock of It Bites, a superb coalition of sounds that delivers the band’s own inimitable sound, if you’ve heard the band’s debut release then you will recognise this immediately. In John Harris they have a very distinctive vocalist, his voice is all soul and gravelly, whisky soaked vowels at times and I, for one, really like it.

When writing long songs, you really have to be skilled to make sure there are no lulls or pointless sections just to extend the length of the track and Retreat From Moscow are real masters of this. From the upbeat, lush tones of opener Saving California with its driving guitar and rhythm section and the swirling keyboards and high energy feel of Flowerbride, there’s an instant connection with this release. It harks back to the time when music was heard in analogue and you waited for the Top 40 on the radio (or Top Of The Pops if you were lucky enough to won a TV!) to hear the best music and, if you were old enough (or not, if the case may be!), you would actually venture out and hear music live! This album is the sound of nostalgia to me, maybe I’m showing my age but I love it.

As most of you know, I’m an avid runner so a song with the title of Running Man is going to appeal, even before I’ve heard it! This short and punchy song is dynamic and melodic in equal measure with superb keyboards and elegant guitar and the bass and rums of rhythm section Tony Lewis and Greg Haver are rock solid. Things get more intricate with the sombre I Can Hear You Calling, an emotive track where Jillian Slade shines as the foil to John’s ever impressive voice. It’s a song full of sentiment and barely held back sorrow but there’s beauty in even the darkest of subjects and this piece of music delivers like watching the rain fall while sat in front of a warming fire. Windchill sees the appearance of Robin Armstrong whose wonderfully fluid and intensely passionate guitar adds layers of warmth and sentiment to a gorgeously wistful and poignant song. As I get further into this superb release I am ever more impressed by the skill on show and the eloquent songwriting and it is completely evident on this exquisite track.

Time is really flying and yet we’re only half way into this immersive album, the laid back intro to Time Traveller almost leaving you in a musical vacuum as the soundscape touches your synapses before John’s edgy guitar kicks in along with harmonised vocals. It’s all very 80’s and done incredibly well. I’ve mentioned nostalgia before and the wistful feeling that this thoughtful music engenders really does take me back to a time where everything felt much simpler to deal with. It’s easy to just lose yourself in the music, especially the very Floyd-esque section half way through the song. The Machine Stops is, perhaps, my favourite track on the album (although I do keep changing my mind as they are all so good!), it’s soulful and inventive and features one of the most innovative keyboard players alive today in Andy Tillison and he delivers one of his trademark solos here, as well as organ embellishments. The song itself builds gradually, layer by layer, inviting you in to the creative process and enveloping you in its warm musical embrace. This insightful musical journey ebbs and flows and is never less than engaging, especially when it reaches a crescendo and goes firing off on all its metaphorical (keyboard infused) cylinders. When progressive music is as good as this, it really doesn’t get any better and I could listen to tracks like this all day.

Oh yes, we are going right back to the heyday of 80’s neo-prog with the highly enjoyable Assassin’s Cloak, a track that would have graced any album from the prog luminaries of that age but, more importantly, one that’s bang up to date in production qualities and delivery. To me, it’s one of the highlights of what is already a highly impressive release. With superb vocals, potent musicianship and energetic enthusiasm to spare, it really is a magnificent romp. The album closes with the electronic edge of DNA, a thoughtful, penetrating and astute homage to the discovery of the chains of human existence. With its measured, metronomic rhythm laid down perfectly by Tony and Greg, Andrew’s delightful keys and John’s stylish guitar and vocals, this is progressive rock at its most penetrating, add in the voice over from Drew Berry and we really have something very special here.

What was that saying about difficult second albums? Well, with ‘Dreams, Myths and Machines’, Retreat From Moscow have totally debunked that myth. Intelligent, insightful and thoughtful and sprinkled with progressive rock stardust, it is a wonderfully immersive listen. There you go, in this case, nostalgia definitely IS what it used to be!

Released 18th August, 2023.

Order the CD from Gravity Dream here:

Retreat From Moscow – Dreams, Myths and Machines CD Pre-Order – Gravity Dream Music

Review – The Anchoret – It All began With Loneliness

The Anchoret is a Progressive Metal project that combines prog rock sensibilities with modern metal energy. Mixing fusion sax, flute solos, mellotron vibes and heavy riffs. ‘It All Began With Loneliness‘ offers a unique soundscape that is sure to please any fan of heavy music.

Featuring Andy Tillison (The Tangent), James Christopher Knoerl (Aviations, Gargoyl) and Sylvain Auclair (Heaven’s Cry, Karcius), ‘It All Began With Loneliness‘ was recorded all over the world between August 2020 and March 2022. 

With all the music composed and produced by bassist Eduard Levitsky and lyrics by Sylvain Auclair, this album is an absolute beast and one of the most stand out and innovative releases of 2023 so far. Fair warning though, it does get very, very loud and, to my ears at least, is all the better for it. Like a force of nature, a neolithic musical tour-de-force, ‘It All Began With Loneliness‘ is an utter powerhouse of progressive-metal invention.

The irresistible force of fine prog-metal melody meets the immovable object that is thunderous guitars, monumental drumming and in your face vocals and, surprisingly, it is a marriage made in heaven. And just to take it to another, almost unimaginable level, we get alto-sax, flutes, clarinet and even gospel vocals!! Jesus, it shouldn’t work in any way, shape or form but it just does and it works remarkably well!

The album bursts into life from the first note of opener An Office For…, this opening track lulls you into a somewhat melodic false sense of security before it segues perfectly into the violent wonder of A Dead Man. This piece of music has everything I mentioned above, melody, power, progressive leanings, majestic vocals, monumental musicianship and flutes! Add in one of Andy Tillison’s more extrovert keyboards solos (and that’s saying something!) and you could say that everything including the kitchen sink has been thrown at it and it is utterly magnificent. Of special note must be the utterly stunning and grandiose guitar work of Leo Estalles, statuesque in delivery and intent. You’ve hardly got your breath back from that uber-enjoyable onslaught before you have to strap in again for the thunderous Until The Sun Illuminates, a prog-metal masterpiece of magical musical malevolence. An almighty wall of sound rushes at you with deliberate intent, the occasional lull only giving brief respite from the mayhem around you. This is musical violence that is utterly wonderful, Andy’s keyboards used to great effect to give you temporary shelter from the storm created by the energetic rhythm section. Someone Listening carries on with a maniacal gleam in its metaphorical eye, the musical rollercoaster ride sweeping you up and carrying you in its wake. Sylvain Auclair has a commanding voice perfectly suited to the high energy, pulsating music, it is passionate and forceful but always melodic. The brilliant alto-sax of Juan Ignacio Varela Espinoza provides a clever counterpoint on the opening to Forsaken before the prog-metal takes on a much darker and heavier note and the vocals go all thrash metal on you. I’m not normally a fan but it’s done so well that I have to admit that I love it! The ebb and flow between the elegant sax and the maelstrom of metal is perfectly executed and makes for one hell of an exhilarating listening experience and Leo’s fine guitar playing is always going to add something vital to the mix.

The enigmatic opening to Buried adds an almost middle-eastern feel to the music before the staccato guitar and forceful vocals give primeval force to the song. There’s a building of tension, a clever anticipation being created before bursts of audio stimulus push through, a shorter but exceedingly sharp piece of music. All Turns To Clay is an anarchic helter-skelter of a song, a pulsating and compelling song that mesmerises and fascinates at the same time. The potent guitar riff has you trapped in its spell and the dark, haunting vocals seem to focus directly on you, another fine piece of songwriting. Unafraid has a less manic tempo yet builds menacingly with intimidating, ominous certainty, like a storm gathering in the distance, one you know is going to hit you eventually. Barely restrained like a wild stallion, there’s a violent energy building that strains to be let loose. This incredibly powerful album closes with the most wistful of songs in Stay. Emotive, passionate and heartrending, the musicianship is superb, where before it was all controlled power and dynamism, now it’s about precision, calm and grace, there’s even a Mellotron for god’s sake! It doesn’t get more prog than a Mellotron! Leo shows his class with a heartbreakingly elegant solo, full of fire and passion which, along with another magnificent keyboard solo from Andy, closes the album in rather fine style.

One of the things I love about music is when it surprises you and this debut release from The Anchoret has been a revelation. ‘It All Began With Loneliness’ is an astonishingly good album, in fact jaw-droppingly so, and is already up there as one of my favourites of the year. As prog-metal albums go, it doesn’t get much better than this!

Released 23rd June, 2023.

Order from bandcamp here:

It All Began With Loneliness | The Anchoret (bandcamp.com)

Review – The Michael Dunn Project – Bridge Across The Years – by John Wenlock-Smith

One of the best things for me in this strange world of progressive rock is the emergence over the past few years of folks who have revisited their musical dreams and have released their music to the world. Often with collaboration with established musicians, they create some often remarkable, confident and satisfying music. I’m thinking of the likes of Stewart Clark and John Holden who have both offered some truly fabulous music. 

Well, to that list add the name Michael Dunn who, using the ‘project’ moniker, has delivered a prog associated album with lots of AOR influences clearly showing in its blood, think REO Speedwagon, Boston etc. and you’re in the right ball park. Michael, who is 64, is a late bloomer who, after retiring from many years in sales and marketing, has devised a system that allows independent musicians to make a good living from their craft. To test this system, he finally stepped up to make the music he had always wanted to make with assistance from the likes of Andy Tillison, Amanda Lehmann and Joe Deninzon, all of who lend their talents towards making this such a strong, interesting and varied album. 

I came across the album via friends on Facebook who were raving about this great release and also saying what a gracious and splendid fellow Michael Dunn is. Being the person I am, I just had to hear this for myself and I can concur that Michael is a really great guy, friendly, open and passionate abut the music he has made and deserving of a wider audience that he would possibly receive elsewhere. As such, I consider it my duty to do what little bit I can to help this album receive the recognition that it is most worthy of. 

In a year that has seen some great releases from bands like Yes, The Dave Foster Band and Ruby Dawn, to name but a few, this album can proudly stand with its head held high for its six tracks offer varied moods and styles but are all anchored in top notch songwriting and assured delivery with excellent musical support from Michael and his friends in the Project. 

What shines through on this album is the commitment to creating a musical statement that is well conceived, crafted and ultimately delivered convincingly. For a first album to be that assured and confident is to be applauded and recognised. This album may have been 40 years in the making but the results are definitely spectacular and rewarding to hear, especially on the album’s centrepiece Bridge Across The Years, which has three parts to it, how proggy is that? 

The album kicks off in strong form and style with the excellent I Draw The Line, which also introduces the excellent vocals of Diego Viramontes, who sounds slightly like Klaus Meine of The Scorpions, his voice being clear and punchy and having great power to it. He is an excellent foil to Michael’s fluid guitar, also important is the rhythm section of Ginger Pimental (bass) and David Anania (drums) who drive the song along firmly. Better still is the second track Turn Of The Cards which has a great bassline to start with and crunchy guitars firing. This song actually is full of great guitars and has a fine solo that reminds me of Ronnie Montrose’s Gamma albums, it has much power to it as it plays out, there is really something special here as the song ends on a sustained guitar note. 

Then we have the song Let Me Be which features Andy Tillison on Hammond Organ where it sounds truly glorious. The organ swells really are most impressive, they make a song that grows into a slow burning masterful track. When the tune changes tack and the guitar is set free, the organ is there close by adding significant support and style. It really is most impressive, as are the bass of Joe Alvaro and the vocals of George T. Montebruno, whose style is a great fit for the track. Tomorrow Is Today, unsurprisingly, has more than a hint of Kansas (Joe Deninzon is their new violinist), I wonder if this album and track were instrumental in that? One can but wonder, it would be great if it was as his playing here is exceptional and adds gravitas to this impressive track. Another Day In The Modern World follows and this is another slow burn of a song, one with strong lyrics, agreat delivery and more of Michael’s fleet fingered guitar lines!  

This really is an album that delivers on so many levels, strong impassioned music and performances, all of which make this album nothing less than interesting and often inspired. The three part epic album closer, Bridge Across The Years, opens with acoustic guitar and the keyboards of Marc Gladstone and the ever impressive vocals of Diego Viramontes with additional harmony from Amanda Lehmann. Part two of this epic is an instrumental featuring gentle guitar and swirling keyboards from Marc before the final section shows us how to rock once more with a touch of Styx and that great Hammond Organ of Andy Tillison again. This section also has superb harmony vocals from Catherine St Germain and Amanda. This is a fabulous closing piece with lots of powerful performances and great music.To me, what it does lack is a final guitar solo to finish things off but, even so, it’s a great ending section to a great album.

Its especially worth reading The Dream Team page on the website (link below) which details more info about the players on the album and you can see why he is viewed as being a great guy from his comments about his fellow musicians. In short this is a highly recommended release and will invariably end up in my best of the year list somewhere, it really is that impressive and special. 

Released 26th May, 2023.

You can find out more about Michael and order the album here; www.MichaelDunnProject.com 

Review – The Tangent – Pyramids, Stars & More: The Tangent Live Recordings 2004-2017

Collecting together tracks from 3 line-ups of The Tangent, this 2CD & 3LP album collects together show recordings from 2004, 2011 & 2017. Band leader Andy Tillison comments: “A Triple Live LP is the stuff of Bucket Lists, dreamed of doing one of these since I was a kid”.

Included in its entirety is the 2004 ‘Pyramids And Stars’ concert in Germany featuring the “Roine Stolt” lineup of The Tangent playing its way through the majority of the debut ‘Music That Died Alone’ album along with (then) new material from their second album ‘The World That We Drive Through’.

Added to that, there are tracks from the ‘COMM’ era line-up of the band at a concert in the UK – plus music recorded in the USA in 2017 by the band’s current line-up. These originally appeared on the ‘Southend On Sea’ and ‘Hotel Cantaffordit’ fan releases respectively. 

All is presented inside a re-imagined Ed Unitsky sleeve, to create a package that fans are sure to love. 

“This is a real, proper, live album” says Tillison. “It’s candid, it’s spontaneous, it has mistakes and things that are a bit too loud and things that are a bit too quiet. It’s what happened on stage at three gigs at which “making a live album” never crossed our minds.”  

Right, that’s the PR blurb out of the way (it’s a good way of getting a background to the album actually) now let’s see what we make of ‘Pyramids, Stars & More: The Tangent Live Recordings 2004-2017’ from a reviewer’s perspective…

Let’s just think, when people first started to play music there were no mediums to record on, even wax cylinders were centuries away from being invented so you could say that live music is music in its purest form. To take that one step further, live music can’t be tinkered with like it’s recorded version, honed to perfection (sometimes too much, if I’m being honest!) and often sanitised because of this. Live music is in the moment, spontaneous, what you hear is definitely what you get and when it’s delivered well, it is one of the most natural and unadulterated forms of entertainment that you can get.

Also, some bands were just meant to be heard live and seem to thrive, their music comes alive and goes up another level or two and you can certainly include The Tangent in that group. It’s criminal that Andy and the guys have not played as much live as I’m sure Andy would like and I am one of the lucky ones to have seen them play in a live setting and I am so thankful that I did. Putting these concerts and live performances on record gives a lot more people the chance to hear what this iconic band sound like when they can play uninhibited. They are spontaneous, instinctive and free spirited and just bloody brilliant.

Virtuoso musicians doing what they do best gives us free-spirited (and high-spirited) versions of classics like The World We Drive Through and The Winning Game, songs that deserve the wider audience that this live release will give them. The musicianship on show is exemplary and impeccable with Andy Tillison’s keyboards and vocals the driving force throughout. Andy’s Yorkshire personality gets to shine through in a live setting and his vocals are superb. The rest of the band play in perfect accompaniment and the improvisation is just scintillating.

If you are a true fan of music than you cannot help but enjoy music this good when it’s played in a live setting. A truly incendiary version of The Music That Died Alone is one of many highlights and this fan favourite takes on a new life, becoming something deeper, more funky and, well, just gorgeous. It’s part of a triumphant triumvirate in the middle of the album along with a rather poignant version of ELP’s Lucky Man and a riotously incandescent version of my all time favourite short song by the band, A Spark in the Aether. Now, Andy knows I love this song as I’ve told him enough times and this live version is just the best one yet, just magnificent!

This wonderfully nostalgic live journey through some of The Tangent’s back catalogue continues to put a smile on your face, there’s a edgy and jazzy version of Perdu Dans Paris, a tumultuous romp through the fine instrumental Doctor Livingstone (I Presume) and the album comes to a close with an epic rendition of ‘COMM’ classic Titanic Calls Carpathia and one of my favourite songs from ‘The Slow Rust of Forgotten Machinery’, the wistfully nostalgic Two Rope Swings.

Ah, to reminisce is a joy we should always hold dear and this wonderful live release from one of the UK’s most venerated prog bands is a sentimental journey down memory lane and one that will remind you why The Tangent are held in such warm regard and also why live music is something worth cherishing and preserving. We, the fans, hold it in our hands to make sure music stays live so albums as brilliant as this can still get made!

Released 27th January, 2023.

Order the album here:

Pyramids, Stars & Other Stories: The Tangent Live Recordings 2004-2017 (burningshed.com)

The Tangent launch ‘A Crisis In Mid Life’ from their forthcoming live collection ‘Pyramids, Stars And Other Stories’

The Tangent recently announced the release of ‘Pyramids, Stars & Other Stories: The Tangent Live Recordings 2004-2017’ on the 27th January 2023 via InsideOutMusic. Collecting together tracks from 3 line-ups of The Tangent, this 2CD & 3LP album collects together show recordings from 2004, 2011 & 2017. Band leader Andy Tillison comments: “A Triple Live LP is the stuff of Bucket Lists, dreamed of doing one of these since I was a kid”.

Listen to the band performing ‘A Crisis In Mid Life’ live in the UK in 2012, featuring the line-up of Andy Tillison, Luke Machin, Dan Mash & Tony ‘Funkytoe’ Latham, here:

The album will be available as a 2CD Digipak, a Gatefold 3LP+2CD & LP-booklet, as well as digitally worldwide. Pre-order now here: https://TheTangent.lnk.to/PyramidsStarsOtherStories_TheTangentLiveRecordings2004-2017

Included in its entirety is the 2004 ‘Pyramids And Stars’ concert in Germany featuring the “Roine Stolt” lineup of The Tangent playing its way through the majority of the debut ‘Music That Died Alone’ album along with (then) new material from their second album ‘The World That We Drive Through’.

Added to that, there are tracks from the COMM era line-up of the band at a concert in the UK – plus music recorded in the USA in 2017 by the band’s current line-up. These originally appeared on the ‘Southend On Sea’ and ‘Hotel Cantaffordit’ fan releases respectively. 

All is presented inside a re-imagined Ed Unitsky sleeve, to create a package that fans are sure to love. 

“This is a real, proper, live album” says Tillison. “It’s candid, it’s spontaneous, it has mistakes and things that are a bit too loud and things that are a bit too quiet. It’s what happened on stage at three gigs at which “making a live album” never crossed our minds.”  

The full tracklisting is below:

Side One

1. The World We Drive Though

Side Two

3. The Canterbury Sequence

4. The Winning Game

Side Three

5. In Darkest Dreams

Side Four

6. The Music That Died Alone

7. Lucky Man

Side Five

8. A Spark In The Aether

9. A Sale Of Two Souls

10. Perdu Dans Paris

Side Six

11. A Crisis In Mid Life

12. Doctor Livingstone (I Presume)

The CD’s (included with the vinyl edition) also include all of the above with the addition of:

13. Titanic Calls Carpathia

14. Two Rope Swings

Andy Tillison – Keyboards & Vocals (all tracks)

Jonas Reingold – Bass Guitar (all tracks except 9,10,11,13)

Luke Machin – Guitars & Vox (Tracks 8-14)

Steve Roberts – Drums (Tracks 8, 12, 14)

Roine Stolt – Guitars & Vocals (Tracks 1 – 7)

Zoltán Csörsz – Drums (Tracks 1 – 7)

Sam Baine – Keyboards (Tracks 1 – 7)

Tony ‘Funkytoe’ Latham – Drums (Tracks 10,11,13)

Dan Mash – Bass (Tracks 10,11,13)

The Tangent announce ‘Pyramids, Stars & Other Stories: The Tangent Live Recordings 2004-2017’ for January 2023 release

The Tangent are pleased to present ‘Pyramids, Stars & Other Stories: The Tangent Live Recordings 2004-2017’ for release on the 27th January 2023 via InsideOutMusic. Collecting together tracks from 3 line-ups of The Tangent, this 2CD & 3LP album collects together show recordings from 2004, 2011 & 2017. Band leader Andy Tillison comments: “A Triple Live LP is the stuff of Bucket Lists, dreamed of doing one of these since I was a kid”.

The album will be available as a 2CD Digipak, a Gatefold 3LP+2CD & LP-booklet, as well as digitally worldwide. Listen to the track ‘A Spark In The Aether’ recorded by the bands current line-up, and pre-order now here: https://TheTangent.lnk.to/PyramidsStarsOtherStories_TheTangentLiveRecordings2004-2017

Included in its entirety is the 2004 ‘Pyramids And Stars’ concert in Germany featuring the “Roine Stolt” lineup of The Tangent playing its way through the majority of the debut ‘Music That Died Alone’ album along with (then) new material from their second album ‘The World That We Drive Through’.

Added to that, there are tracks from the COMM era line-up of the band at a concert in the UK – plus music recorded in the USA in 2017 by the band’s current line-up. These originally appeared on the ‘Southend On Sea’ and ‘Hotel Cantaffordit’ fan releases respectively. 

All is presented inside a re-imagined Ed Unitsky sleeve, to create a package that fans are sure to love. 

“This is a real, proper, live album” says Tillison. “It’s candid, it’s spontaneous, it has mistakes and things that are a bit too loud and things that are a bit too quiet. It’s what happened on stage at three gigs at which “making a live album” never crossed our minds.”  

The full tracklisting is below:

Side One

1. The World We Drive Though

Side Two

3. The Canterbury Sequence

4. The Winning Game

Side Three

5. In Darkest Dreams

Side Four

6. The Music That Died Alone

7. Lucky Man

Side Five

8. A Spark In The Aether

9. A Sale Of Two Souls

10. Perdu Dans Paris

Side Six

11. A Crisis In Mid Life

12. Doctor Livingstone (I Presume)

The CD’s (included with the vinyl edition) also include all of the above with the addition of:

13. Titanic Calls Carpathia

14. Two Rope Swings

Andy Tillison – Keyboards & Vocals (all tracks)

Jonas Reingold – Bass Guitar (all tracks except 9,10,11,13)

Luke Machin – Guitars & Vox (Tracks 8-14)

Steve Roberts – Drums (Tracks 8, 12, 14)

Roine Stolt – Guitars & Vocals (Tracks 1 – 7)

Zoltán Csörsz – Drums (Tracks 1 – 7)

Sam Baine – Keyboards (Tracks 1 – 7)

Tony ‘Funkytoe’ Latham – Drums (Tracks 10,11,13)

Dan Mash – Bass (Tracks 10,11,13) 

The Tangent online:
www.thetangent.org

https://www.facebook.com/groups/alltangentmembers/

Review – The Tangent – Songs From The Hard Shoulder

It’s always a highlight of the year when a new album is announced by seminal British proggers The Tangent. ‘Songs From The Hard Shoulder’ sees the venerable and much loved outfit, led by esteemed musician, and fellow Yorkshireman, Andy Tillison, releasing their 12th studio album and sees the band focusing almost entirely on their long format songs or “epics” with only one song being less than 16 minutes long. 

I have been a long time fan of The Tangent and Andy’s topical, witty and often acerbic lyrics which are weaved into their unique, funky, flowing musical style and this latest release sees Andy on absolute top form, both as an exceedingly clever lyricist and an amazing musician. Andy is joined, once again, by a distinguished cast of fellow musicians with Jonas Reingold (bass), Luke Machin (guitar/vocals), Steve Roberts (drums) and Theo Travis (sax & flute) reprising their roles from the previous two The Tangent albums.

The Changes uses a mini story about The Tangekanic band in Germany trying to find a hotel after a gig they didn’t get paid for – after a week of rehearsal and a journey of about 900 miles as a focus. It’s almost a metaphor for all the lockdowns that the world had to suffer and all the isolation and uncertainty that everyone was feeling. The thing about this fantastic song is that it uses that background as a positive metaphor. Trust me, this upbeat and quite wondrous song will leave you smiling as it uses a huge dose of The Tangent’s positive mental attitude to deliver seventeen minutes of buoyant optimism that’s all wrapped up with Andy’s astute lyrics and a band on top form. The music is an utter delight and fits the theme and mood perfectly, there’s a wistful and contemplative note to the middle section of the song as Andy tells the story of the German gig perfectly. This epic track ebbs and flows superlatively and the closing section is one of the best bits of music that The Tangent have ever delivered, if it doesn’t leave you in a really good mood and with a huge grin on your face then I swear you can’t have a soul. It’s quite possibly the best long track that Andy has ever written, I love it!

Highly influenced by Swedish artists from the 70s like Bo Hansson, Flasket Brinner – and also by Andy’s go-to influences in Canterbury Style fusion like National Health, Supersister and Egg, Prog/Fusion romp GPS Vultures is another in the series of outstanding The Tangent instrumentals personified by tracks like Doctor Livingstone, Andalusian Skies and Music Inspired by Music Inspired by The Snow Goose. A long (again, seventeen minutes plus) instrumental piece has to be really good and pretty ingenious to hold the listener’s attention throughout the track and it comes as no surprise to find that this particular track is clever and inventive enough to keep you entertained from start to finish. It’s almost like a musical story, each individual section telling its own tale to perfection as it snakes its way through Canterbury style fusion to an almost Crimson and VDGG influenced improvisation, all with the band’s thoroughly modern interpretation. What’s evident from these first two tracks is how the musicians seamlessly work together and how Luke Machin is utterly on fire on the album, his style is simply perfect for this music.

The Lady Ties To A Lamp Post is a very sobering piece that returns to the theme of homelessness that Andy explored from a very short personal experience of that on the ‘Down & Out’ album. The “Lady” in question was a person that he encountered in Leeds on my way home from a Christmas party in 2012. Dressed in rescued council worker hi viz orange waterproofs repaired with Gaffa she was tying herself to the lamp post so that she could sleep upright without falling over. The temperature was in the low minus figures and the wind was biting like a Doberman. Andy had the briefest of conversations with her and only had cigarettes to give her. Andy treats the subject in a very sympathetic manner and, once again, the lyrics and fantastic music impress. I don’t know how they manage to do it but every note in this twenty minute song has its place, there is nothing superfluous and Andy’s vocal delivery, along with the intricate musicianship, is just right for this sobering tale. The skill of Theo Travis is well known and his sax playing adds a real sophisticated jazz influence throughout and Steve Roberts’ precision drum skills should be lauded in equal measure. This absorbing and impassioned epic shows Andy’s songwriting skills at their consummate best and is yet more proof that he is one of the best at this long form style of music, his keyboard skills, as evident here, aren’t too bad either!

The one short track on the album is the utterly sublime, soul infused and totally funky Wasted Soul and shows that, while The Tangent do the long form epic to perfection, the band can still rock with the best when it comes to catchy shorter songs too. Harmonised vocals, hammond organs galore and a brass section to die for, this song is like a total beacon of light and will have you rocking in the aisles (metaphorically speaking of course!), it’s uplifting and just, well, bloody good! Jonas’ bass playing is top notch throughout the album but, on this stellar track, he just shines.

Early editions of the album and the Vinyl Edition will include the bonus track In The Dead Of Night which is, of course, a cover version of the classic song by UK and the band give it a little dose of The Tangent magic to deliver a track that sounds as if it could have been written by them in the first place. A particular highlight is Luke’s ever impressive guitar playing and here he just seems to have been given free rein to deliver a lengthy solo that has you nodding furiously in appreciation.

I had a discussion with Andy about the new album and the one quote I will take from it is this; “There was a lot of hope in my heart when writing it (the album) and I think it forced its way through”.

‘Songs From The Hard Shoulder’ is just a wonderful piece of work, The Tangent at their brilliant best. People need some cheer in the world and music has the power to lift people, after just one listen to this amazing album I was smiling again. Andy and the band could just have released their most important record yet…

Released 10th June, 2022.

Pre-order from the band’s website here:

The Tangent : Official Website – Home

Also pre-order here:

Songs From The Hard Shoulder (lnk.to)

The Tangent announce new album ‘Songs from The Hard Shoulder’, Hear the first single “The Changes”

The Tangent, the progressive/jazz-rock collective led by Andy Tillison, are pleased to announce the release of their 12th studio album ‘Songs From the Hard Shoulder’ on the 10th June 2022. This album sees The Tangent focusing almost entirely on their long format songs or “epics” with only one song being less than 16 minutes long. 

Today, you can check out an edit of the album’s opening track and first single “The Changes (single edit)”:

Andy Tillison comments: 

“The Changes was written in the depths of the first and strictest of the Covid Lockdowns. During this strangest of times there was an emptiness in all of our lives and this song explores my own such feelings in that time. I began to wonder whether the band would ever meet again, and more importantly, how long it would be before I could see my family again.  Some of the song is focused on the minutiae of being on tour with a band… not so much missing the gigs, the stages and the playing, but missing he crazy little things like not being able to find a hotel, being lost and the general camaraderie that is all around when a band is out on the road. It’s important to say that this single edit is just 5 minutes of what is a 17-minute song – and this only gives a hint at what is there in the full version… which includes a standout Luke Machin guitar solo of unbelievable quality which isn’t represented in this at all…”

Tracklisting:

1.     The Changes (17:06)

2.     The GPS Vultures (17:01)

3.     The Lady Tied To The Lamp Post (20:52)

4.     Wasted Soul (4:40)

5.     In The Dead Of Night (Bonus) (16:11)

The album is available now for pre-order as:

https://thetangent.lnk.to/SongsFromTheHardShoulder

With ‘Songs From the Hard Shoulder’, the band (who are celebrating their 20th year in the business) have audibly focused on the compositional structure of this album which in the case of the three long pieces is also highly complex and “thought out” – from a luscious and uplifting song about loneliness in Covid lockdown, to a full on 17-minute long jazz/prog/canterbury fusion instrumental, to a darkly electronic story of a homeless woman with shades of Nine Inch Nails, Po90, Japan and Van Der Graaf lurking within. The album’s final track is the 4 minute bouncy Motown-style track “Wasted Soul”, where the band anticipate a wonderful day in the future when the pandemic is over forever. Early editions and the Vinyl Edition will include the bonus track “In The Dead Of Night” which is of course a cover version of the classic song by UK. The band lineup remains from the previous 2 albums as Andy Tillison (Vocal/Keyboards), Jonas Reingold (Bass), Luke Machin (Guitar/Vocals), Steve Roberts (Drums) and Theo Travis (Sax & Flute).