Bjørn Riis – Progradar

Review – Airbag – The Century of the Self

“Prepare to embark on an auditory journey like no other as Norwegian prog-rock maestros Airbag unleash their highly anticipated sixth studio album, ‘The Century Of The Self’. Showcasing their trademark fusion of mellow introspection and dynamic energy, from the mesmerising depths of Dysphoria to the haunting crescendo of Tyrants And Kings, each track captivates with irresistible vocal hooks and virtuosic lead guitar work that has become synonymous with the Airbag sound.”

Let me first put in a disclaimer before you read this review, I am a huge fan of Airbag and Bjørn Riis‘ solo work but I will be as objective as I can throughout.

Right, now we’ve got that out of the way, let us begin…

‘The Century of the Self’ is an album that stands as a testament to the artistic vision and enduring creativity that Airbag bring to their music. Touching on themes such as cancel culture and the rewriting of personal histories, it is a reflection on modern society’s zeitgeist, and a poignant commentary of today’s world, which is steeped in fear and condemnation.

Those words really got me excited when I read the promo email that came from the band’s label, Karisma. I have been an admirer of the lush soundscapes created by this wonderful band since I first heard their debut album, ‘Identity’, back in 2009 and they have matured like a fine wine ever since. Their discography of five studio albums prior to this latest release has some absolute gems like ‘All Rights Removed’ and ‘Disconnected’ but every Airbag release is a superb auditory experience.

Let’s cut to the chase, ‘Century of the Self’ is another brilliant album but one that maybe has a more edgier, in your face attitude than the earlier releases. Through its five tracks we go through the whole gammut of powerful, hypnotic bass lines, powerful riffs and thunderous drumming to a lightness of touch and contemplation and everything in between. It is as complete a listening experience as you will get and will excite Airbag fans both old and new.

The slow burning, edgy Dysphoria will keep you on edge with Bjørn Riis‘ coruscating guitar lines and Kristian Hultgren’s superbly metronomic bass lines. Add in the elegant drums of Henrik Bergan Fossum and Asle Tostrup’s hypnotic vocals and we are already onto a winner, this is Airbag turned up to eleven! A standout track on a album of killer tunes, the wonderful Tyrants and Kings ebbs and flows with an elegance and precision that is a joy to hear. Riis’ guitar playing, ably assisted by Ole Michael Bjørndal, is as intense and scintillating as ever and literally stops you in your tracks and Tostrup’s haunting vocal delivery is just a delight. This is Airbag at their magnificent best and it’s a pleasure to hear them delivering songs of such calibre, even after fifteen years together. This is music that you need to listen to with no distractions to get the best from every note and the solo at the end is just about damn perfect! I spoke about a lightness of touch and contemplation earlier and that is what you get on the wistfully refined Awakening, a song that just dances lightly over your emotions and leaves a feeling of calmness and joy in your heart. Asle Tostrup delivers a near perfect vocal performance full of pathos, passion and poignancy, “Wake up and feel again…” a line that says so much. The guitar is ethereal and contemplative, breaking out into a plaintive and ardent solo that really touches your heartstrings. It’s just an exquisite and uplifting piece of music that will really leave its mark on you.

Things get a lot more primeval and edgy with Erase, the stylishly mesmerising bass line and Tostrup’s vocals spellbinding in their delivery and grabbing your attention. The restless, tense atmosphere is created by the terse drum beat and cacophonic guitar riff before the mood gets even more chaotic when Riis opens up with some dissonant and jarring licks and another superb solo that raises the roof. The album closes with the epic conclusion of Tear It Down, fourteen minutes of music that goes from serene introspective self-reflection to some of the most forceful and compelling music that the band have ever written. The track opens with a mellow, reflective vibe that sees synth lines and a ghostly guitar just wash over you, Asle’s voice a soothing presence along with the refined drum beat. Everything then opens up with dynamic and vibrant section that almost raises the hairs on your neck before we return back to the calm serenity of before, the track ebbing and flowing between the two in perfect harmony. A special shout out must be given to Simen Valldal Johannessen whose keyboards on this song are exceptional but you just need to let the music do its work and immerse yourself in the experience, the guitar solo that closes out the track, and the album, is particularly memorable

‘Century of the Self’ is a mesmerising and involving odyssey that elevates you to a musical nirvana that not many artists can create. Airbag are one of those bands that just seem to get better with age and this new release just might be their best album yet, and that’s saying something!

Released 14th June, 2024.

Buy the album from Burning Shed here:

Airbag (burningshed.com)

Or from bandcamp here:

The Century of the Self | Airbag (bandcamp.com)

2022 Progradar’s Best Of The Year – The Editor’s Top 20

Your intrepid editor running a 24 hour event earlier in 2022.

As most of you know I am a very committed runner so the above picture is really my personal running highlight of 2022 (a 24 hour running event) but below you will find my top 20 albums of the year for 2022.

The first fifteen are in no particular order, they are just brilliant albums that I really enjoyed throughout the year but the final five are my definitive favourites of the year. So, without further ado, here we go…

David Longdon – Door One

A wonderful collection of songs that made a fitting and poignant epitaph for an amazing songwriter, musician and, above all, a wonderful man. I was lucky enough to meet David a few times and he was the least likely ‘rock star’ you could ever meet but, boy, what a voice and this album was the culmination of his musical career. One that was tragically cut too short.

Gandalf’s Fist – Widdershins

The ‘Clockwork Saga’ will always be seen as a monumental piece of work but, as a stand-alone release, ‘Widdershins’ sees Gandalf’s Fist at their absolute vibrant and dynamic best, every musician giving 100% and, while I’ve always been a fan of this very distinctive band, this new release sees them hitting an entirely new level.

Avandra – Prodigal

AVANDRA have created a thrilling and compelling take on the progressive-metal genre and one that is delivered with not a little expertise and finesse. ‘Prodigal’ is one of those intricate and influential albums that takes some understanding at first but when you peel back the final layer of this epic behemoth, it is a wonder to behold.

The Opening Song – Hidden Walls

Imagine music written like a classic novel of the 20’s and 30’s, there’s a wide eyed and wistful innocence that you just don’t get anymore in the world but behind that innocence, there’s also a world weary knowledge that the world isn’t always what you think it is or what you want it to be. ‘Hidden Walls’ is achingly beautiful but also wistfully painful at the same time. It’s made me quite emotional and that’s a rare thing but, isn’t what what music should do?

Comedy of Errors – Time Machine

After a long five year absence, ‘Time Machine’ is a fine return from one of progressive rock’s premier artists and an album that I am constantly revisiting. Cementing Comedy of Errors‘ status as one of the foremost artists in the genre, it is sure to be one of 2022’s most welcome releases.

Esthesis – Watching Worlds Collide

An object lesson in combining the stylish sensibilities of smokey jazz grooves with an almost 50’s noir film score to deliver a slick musical experience, all wrapped up in a sharp suit. Overall, ‘Watching Worlds Collide’ is a seriously good album with tons of Gallic flair, intelligence and inventiveness, it is also the coolest thing you are going to hear this year and I love it!

The Round Window – self-titled

A high quality release with wonderfully emotive songs and superb musicianship, this self-titled album may be The Round Window’s debut release but it shows a group of musicians who are already playing at a very high level and have creativity to burn. I can’t recommend it highly enough, this should be in everyone’s music collection…

Oak – The Quiet Rebellion of Compromise

Oak have a unique, innovative sound and you can hear it mature and transform on every album they release. Their approach to music is refreshing and sees them deliver meaningful music that has heart and soul and, with ‘The Quiet Rebellion of Compromise’, these talented musicians have created their most accomplished and consummate work yet.

Glass Hammer – At The Gate

Melodic, symphonic and, at times, monumentally heavy, ‘At The Gate’ is a superb, majestic leviathan of an album that enhances the band’s legacy as masters of the genre. This final instalment in the impressive trilogy brings things to a triumphant and proudly pompous conclusion, this is Glass Hammer at their finest, hugely expressive and sonically brilliant.

Threshold – Dividing Lines

For fans of the band it’s been a long five years since ‘Legends Of The Shires’ but when they return with an album as strong as ‘Dividing Lines’, you could say it has been worth the wait. Threshold are one of the pre-eminent proponents of prog-metal performing today and this fantastic new release has cemented their position right at the top of this particular musical tree.

VLMV – Sing With Abandon

There are times when you hear a piece of music that leaves you open mouthed in appreciation and, when I first heard ‘Sing With Abandon’ I was utterly stunned. Albums like this are more than mere music, they pervade your very soul, take over your life and almost bring you to tears at their beauty. VLMV have created something so good that it almost becomes a state of mind and I thank Pete Lambrou from the bottom of my heart for doing so.

Dim Gray – Firmament

I was seriously impressed with Dim Gray’s debut release ‘Flown’ but the last forty five minutes has shown me that this band have elevated themselves to another level entirely. ‘Firmament’ is a magnificent achievement, twelve songs that ebb and flow superbly and sum up perfectly what music is truly about. These three truly inspiring musicians have created something that is prime and organic, their music can get under your skin and influence your very moods and my life would truly be a much sadder place without it!

Ghost Of The Machine – Scissorgames

This superb album was reviewed for Progradar by my good friend Leo Trimming and I have to agree with every single one of his words:

‘Scissor Games‘ is a remarkable debut album. It clearly owes so much to earlier eras of Prog Rock but when it is done with this sheer amount of brio and skill, allied with powerful, impactful lyrics, then it is entirely valid and worthy as a piece of music and art. Many Prog fans will absolutely fall in love the style and emotional content of ‘Scissor Games‘ which will very probably be rightfully be regarded as one of the best debut progressive rock albums of 2022.

Gustaf Ljunggren with Skúli Sverrisson – Floreana

Philosophical and meditative, ‘Floreana’ will leave you in place of utter calm and leave you ruminating on life, the universe and just about everything. It’s as much about the spaces between the notes as the notes themselves and the state of mind that your are left in. To me, it is one of the surprises of the year so far and an album that I implore you to listen to at least once, trust me, it will be worth it…

Omega Point – A Great Escape

Matt Cohen has brought together a stellar group of musicians and, in Omega Point, created a powerful musical statement, close-knit and cohesive. ‘A Great Escape’ is another fantastic addition to the ranks of accomplished new releases we have already been lucky enough to hear in 2022 and can proudly hold its head high along with the best of them. Let’s hope this is just the start of things to come!

So that’s fifteen of the best albums I’ve heard in 2022 and they all rightly deserve a place in this review but now for the top five…

In fifth place:

Bjørn Riis – Everything to Everyone

Music can make a world that seems to be falling into monochrome light up and be revitalised with blazes of colour and vitality and this wondrous new album from musical maestro Bjørn Riis brings all that and more. Power, soul and grace are infused throughout its six tracks and combine to make it one of the outstanding releases of 2022 so far.

Fourth place was taken by:

The Tangent – Songs From The Hard Shoulder

‘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…

Now on to the top three, starting with:

cosmograf – Heroic Materials

The sumptuous, questioning ‘Heroic Materials’ is undeniably brilliant. Robin has laid his heart and soul, his whole being in fact, down as music. Emotive, melancholy at times, this record is a story and history at the same time. A plea for the future of the planet it may be but, above all, it is an immersive artistic triumph and one of the best releases of recent years.

And, as hard as I tried,I couldn’t split the final two so we have joint winners of my album of the year and I’m listing them arbitrarily by release date:

Joint First Album of the Year – Marillion – An Hour Before it’s Dark

I have been a fan of Marillion for over three decades and, in a career of superlatives, ‘An Hour Before It’s Dark’ can truly be seen as one of their most accomplished albums. It is an outstanding piece of music that the band should be incredibly proud of and, even though we are only in February, it will take something amazing to knock it off the top of my album of the year list.

Joint First Album of the Year – Galahad – The Last Great Adventurer

When music is as good as this and touches you in a very personal manner, it can’t really get any better. In my opinion Galahad have returned with what can only be described as a modern progressive masterpiece and one that will stand the test of time and should be remembered as being one of the best albums of recent years. It’s my joint first album of the year and I really can’t give it any higher praise than that.

So, in a year of high quality releases, this is my definitive top twenty, a collection of superb albums that would grace anyone’s music collection, tomorrow will see Progradar’s respected contributor John Wenlock-Smith’s top 20 albums and I am already looking forward to what 2023 will bring…

Review – Bjørn Riis – A Fleeting Glimpse

Just when Karisma Records were about to release Airbag co-founder, songwriter and lead guitarist Bjørn Riis‘ fourth solo album, ‘Everything to Everyone’, he approached them with an idea for a new mini album. With ‘A Fleeting Glimpse’, Bjørn Riis has let his inspiration from Pink Floyd really come forth.

In addition to Bjørn Riis on vocals, guitars, bass and keyboards, the album features Arild Brøter (Pymlico), Øyvind Brøter (Pymlico), Per Øydir, Durga McBroom and Mimmi Tamba.

I’ve never hidden the fact that I am a huge fan of Bjørn Riis and he has never hidden the fact that his biggest influence has been Pink Floyd so a new mini album where that influence is free to run wild is definitely going to be up my street and, after declaring ‘Everything to Everyone’ to be his best solo release yet, my appetite was well and truly whet!

I’ll just put this out there, this mini album is absolutely marvellous but too short! Four songs that are of this high a quality is just not enough! Joking apart, let’s dig a bit deeper…

Dark Shadows (part 1) is reflective and melancholy and features the amazing vocal talent of long time Pink Floyd collaborator from the 80’s and 90’s, Durga McBroom, who adds her undoubted class alongside Bjørn’s voice. There’s a hazy feel to the music and Durga’s beautiful voice just adds to the thoughtful, mournful air. The track has a proper feel of 80’s Floyd to it, the stadium filling mega-band with an arena filling sound and Bjørn’s soulful, sultry guitar just adds sheer class. Instrumental, A Voyage To The Sun, has a real feel of early, ‘Astronomy Domine’, Floyd to it, all moody and experimental, with spooky synthesisers and an ominous overtone. It’s actually deliciously dark and creepy and the guitar almost adds some menace to proceedings with its angular, almost harsh, tone, calling forth thoughts of Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun to this mind. I’m loving its brash, in your face attitude that’s interspersed with more reflective and mysterious moments, clever stuff!

The music of Summer Meadows invokes just that, hazy summer days, meandering streams, fields of flowers and a wonderfully peaceful feeling. There’s an innocence and beauty right at its core that just lights up your soul and takes the weight of the world of your shoulders, a simply stunning piece of music and I love it. The final track on this mini album is Dark Shadows (part 2) and a return to the reflections of the opening song. There’s a slightly ominous undertone to the opening, a cryptic and enigmatic quality to the music and vocals, as if waiting for something momentous to happen. Bjørn’s jagged, coruscating guitar then cuts through the atmosphere with a gloriously sparse and simple note, a cry out to the dark from the shadows, it’s eerily brilliant in its execution and then Durga’s plaintive vocal joins in to the close out the song in true Floyd style.

Bjørn once again hits the heights with superb, emotive, wistful and nostalgic music that just hits you right in the feels. There isn’t a guitarist alive who plays with so much expression, his guitar seems to have a life, and voice, of its own and is instantly recognisable and makes this release, mini album or not, one of the best of the year so far.

Released 30th September, 2022.

Order from Burning Shed here:

A Fleeting Glimpse (burningshed.com)

Review – Bjørn Riis – Everything to Everyone

Airbag co-founder, songwriter and lead guitarist, Bjørn Riis is ready with a new studio album titled ‘Everything to Everyone’, his fourth full length solo record. Six epic new songs, clocking in at 50 minutes.

In addition to Bjørn Riis on vocals, guitars and a wide variety of instruments, the album features Henrik Bergan Fossum (Airbag), Kristian Hultgren (Wobbler), Simen Valldal Johannessen (Oak), Ole Michael Bjørndal (Caligonaut), Mimmi Tamba, Per Øydir, Vegard Kleftås Sleipnes and Anders Møller.

‘Everything to Everyone’ deals with the toll that continuously having to meet the expectations of others takes on ones emotions, heightened by the fear of losing oneself in the effort to do so.

I’ve never hidden the fact that I am a huge fan of Bjørn’s wild and almost desolate soundscapes that tell of unspeakable beauty and the power of the vast landscapes of his homeland. While I also really like the music of Airbag, it is his solo work that I feel really shows us the true Bjørn Riis and his albums are most definitely some of the best that I own.

‘Everything to Everyone’ is, without doubt, this fantastic musician’s best piece of work yet. His immediately recognisable guitar is signature across the whole record, from the power and dynamism of the intro to opener Run, through the bewitching beauty of The Siren (one of the best songs you will hear this year) and all the way to the final track on the album, the triumphant title track Everything to Everyone. It’s not just the guitar that stands out though, it is the enchanting and enthralling songwriting throughout which, along with the standout collection of guests, makes this a release that really stands out.

Brooding, thoughtful and yet graced with a pared back elegance, this is music for the thinking man or woman. When Bjørn wants to cut loose then his prowess on the guitar is ultimately evident, he can make the instrument sing and, to my ears, is one of the foremost guitar players alive today. There is a gloriously emotive side to this man too and you hear it on the wistful, melancholic, wonder of Lay Me Down with its heartfelt, and heartbreaking vocals. The mesmerising languid guitar is superbly intense, as you would expect.

Every Second Every Hour has a calm and contemplative feel to it, nostalgic and beautifully compelling and Descending is soothingly hypnotic and dreamlike, a track that, as it begins, seems to exist in a place of serene tranquility. A harder edged middle section of the song threatens to disrupt the harmony before it closes on a sanguine note.

The stand out track on an album of superlatives is the spellbinding The Siren, As Bjørn explains:

“Musically the song derives its inspiration from the more mellow side of Roger Waters, Richard Hawley and Tim Bowness, and is told from the perspective of someone observing a dancer. Lyrically it depicts how one can be easily misled by temptation and hurt by the need for approval.“

It is just ethereally seductive and the guitar is utterly entrancing, almost painfully so, such a brilliant expression of the musical art.

Every good thing has to come to an end and the title track, Everything to Everyone, is another piece of inspired songwriting and delivery, it builds superbly to a heart-wrenching climax and, once again, the vocals lift this song above the mere mortal and Bjørn’s soulful guitar playing is just the icing on the cake.

Released 8th April, 2022.

Order from Burning Shed here:

Everything To Everyone (burningshed.com)

AIRBAG CO-FOUNDER BJØRN RIIS DEBUTS POIGNANT NEW SINGLE INSPIRED BY PANDEMIC

AIRBAG CO-FOUNDER BJØRN RIIS DEBUTS POIGNANT NEW SINGLE INSPIRED BY PANDEMIC

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought loss and suffering to millions of ordinary people world-wide, the majority of whom have had to face the fact that their lives have been completely changed, and that for many, life will never be the same again. Stuck inside their homes, denied the ability to see their loved ones, unable to perform the usual daily tasks, and living in fear, many have found themselves wondering what is happening, and when will it ever end.

AIRBAG co-founder, songwriter and lead guitarist BJØRN RIIS is no different from anyone else, but he has turned this universal despair into something beautiful, creating “Desolate Place” a song that expresses what so many are feeling, not just lyrically, but also through its haunting melody.

Here he explains how it all came about:
I can see the road from my house and the bus that drives by no longer stops like it used to. I had the guitar and this short piece that sounded like it could turn into something. “Desolate Place” pretty much wrote itself inspired by the strange and unfamiliar times we live in. It’s like a bad dream or a road movie where you drive to the next place or town in search of something better but it’s the same wherever you go.

Together with long-time collaborator Vegard Kleftåas Sleipnes, we created this dark and almost claustrophobic atmosphere that tells a story in itself. I’ve never done a stand-alone track like this before but it felt like the right time and it’s rewarding to feel inspired in times like these.

With music and lyrics by Bjørn Riis, who also produced the track, and with mixing and mastering by Vegard Kleftåas Sleipnes, “Desolate Place” features Bjørn on vocals, guitars, bass, keys and programming and Vegard on keys and programming.

Photography and design for “Desolate Place” is by Bjørn, and the single is released on Karisma Records today.

Download from bandcamp here:

https://bjornriis.bandcamp.com/track/desolate-place

A much-respected guitarist within the musical community, BJØRN ‘s interest in music started while still a teenager, when guitar-led bands were at the forefront and spearheaded the rise of the Progressive Rock movement. It was this movement, together with Electronica and Movie Scores, that influenced the young guitarist, leading him to develop a style filled with soaring leads and gorgeous textures. Bjørn has recently renewed his contract with Karisma Records, and begun work on his fourth full-length album which will be released during 2021.

New vinyl editions of the two first BJØRN RIIS albums, “Lullabies in a Car Crash” and “Forever Comes to an End” will be re-released on March 5th 2021. Pre-order can be made here: https://www.karismarecords.no/shop/

Review – Airbag – A Day at the Beach

“No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious & charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful.” ― Kurt Vonnegut

Crikey, there’s a quote that’s stood the test of time and how true it is. I am sat here listening to the much anticipated new album from the Norwegian masters of artful, melancholic prog, Airbag and it really has hit a nerve in the times we are living in. The soaring solos and mournful vocals paint a sparse musical scene but stir the soul and touch the heart in ways nothing else can.

‘A Day at the Beach’, the band’s fifth album, was released on 19th June, a mere four years after its predecessor ‘Disconnected’. Lyrically, it is very much a story of us and them, told by a husband, father and brother leaving his family behind into an unknown future. It’s the contrast between the desperate individual struggling to survive and people in power observing at a safe distance.

For the production of “A Day at the Beach”, Airbag has once again teamed up with long-time collaborator and engineer Vegard Sleipnes and it was mastered by Jacob Holm-Lupo. The album is produced by Asle Tostrup and Bjørn Riis and, as always, the cover is designed by vocalist Tostrup. The album, which is their first as a trio, also features talented guest musicians including Kristian Hultgren (Wobbler).

‘A Day at the Beach’ consists of six new songs recorded during autumn and winter of 2019-20 and inspired by the resurgence of 1980s electronica, new wave and movie scores. The album is an ethereal soundscape of cinematic vastness with a brooding, primeval backdrop.

Asle Tostrup’s vocals almost have a krautrock sensibility to them as he delivers each perfectly enunciated word. The music is full of tension and yet there is a wistful, almost nostalgic undercurrent that lies beneath. Central to the band’s sound is the incredible guitar work of Bjørn Riis, the vivid precision of his playing lends an otherworldly aura to every track and when he unleashes a solo it is a thing of iridescent wonder.

Every track is a mesmerising wonder of restrained grace, elegance and class with world weary feel deep at their core. Opener Machines And Men is ten minutes plus of Scandinavian theatrical brilliance with a driving, graphic urge that almost puts you in fight or flight mode and the complimentary A Day at the Beach (Part 1) puts you in a state of calm reflection with its laid back, almost intangible air washing over your senses.

The highlight for me is the utterly magical Into The Unknown, a mesmerising two-part melting pot of electronica inspired synthesisers, beats and percussion complimented by Asle’s halting vocals and a faint, background guitar that fades out before returning in all its guitar blazing glory. A jaw-droppingly brilliant piece of music that I listen to all the time, the guitar playing is just entrancing and spellbinding and will take you to another world (unfortunately only metaphorically!), take a bow Bjørn…

Sunsets is a much more in your face and urgent song with a rather funky bassline that is delivered with a compelling and weighty overtone. A powerful guitar riff, dominant drums and an authoritative vocal driving the track along with a much heavier vibe before swathes of stylish keyboards and punchy guitar wash over you. A Day at the Beach (Part 2) is an instrumental that gives a Scandinavian left field vibe to a Tangerine Dream soundscape, it draws you in and captivates you with its mesmerising repetitive tone.

The album finishes with the heart-rending, raw brilliance of Megalomaniac, near ten minutes of painfully exquisite music that leaves nothing out, like a soul laid bare for all to see. It builds slowly with Asle’s touching vocal and Bjørn’s haunting, plaintive guitar and the ever present edge of the percussion, digging deeper into your psyche and breaking down any barriers. A harsh, strident guitar riff then breaks clear before an utterly majestic guitar solo, full of pain but countered by pathos, dominates the song, leaving you spent and overcome with emotion.

Airbag have returned with a complex release, musically and emotionally. A serious album and one that is seriously impressive, combining ethereal soundscapes with their signature guitar driven progressive rock. They have created a mature, powerful sound that inspires on many levels, delivering one of the most sophisticated releases of the year.

Released June 19th 2020.

Order from bandcamp here:

https://airbagsound.bandcamp.com/album/a-day-at-the-beach

Progradar Albums Of The Year 2019

This list is just an opinion, my opinion. These are the albums (and one E.P.) that resonated most with me in the fine music year of 2019.They are not in any particular order apart from my top album of the year…

Not an immediate favourite but an excellent grower that slowly insinuated itself into my affections. Big Big Train are very, very good at what they do and the songwriting and production values are on point as ever.

I have no idea what Steven (Wilson) and Tim (Bowness) were on when they came up with the idea for this pulsating masterpiece but, by golly, can they please give some to the rest of what is becoming a very moribund music scene.

Love You To Bits is a utterly fascinating and overwhelmingly entertaining musical adventure with superb dynamism and a diversity rarely seen in the strictures of conventional music.

Just do yourselves a favour and go and buy it, you will not regret it!

**Bruce Soord – All This Will Be Yours**

Lushly produced by Soord himself and lovingly mastered by fellow The Pineapple Thief member Steve Kitch, All This Will Be Yours is a cultured gem of a record that has created music as a definitive art form. Born from the joy of bringing life into the world and the pain that Soord sees in the privation and hardship of his hometown, this is an album that will linger long in the memory.

**Exploring Birdsong – The Thing With Feathers**

‘The Thing With Feathers‘ is an utterly absorbing twenty-one minutes of music and delivers an undoubted new talent onto the music scene. Serene and graceful yet with a deep intelligence running throughout, I haven’t been this excited about a new artist in a very, very long time.

Bent Knee have knocked me sideways with this new release, You Know What They Mean is a collection of amazing musical journeys, some of them seemingly fraught with danger and all of them apparently from minds that seem to exist in an alternate reality to most people. Utterly mad at times and utterly magnificent at others, it has certainly changed my perspective and deserves to be on the awards list at the end of the year. Just one thing, who, exactly, are They?

The Answer leaves a huge grin on my face, a highly enjoyable cornucopia of musical delights taking you on an amazing journey through 70’s progressive rock, hard rock, funk and pure rock and roll. Containing some utter Carducci gems, this album just keeps getting better and better with every listen and is by far Franck’s most cohesive and impressive work yet.

I think Paul and the rest of Human Pyramids have given us what is possibly the most playful, captivating, bewitching and beguiling album of 2019, it’s like a celebration of all that is good in this world delivered wrapped up for you to open on Christmas Day (Yes, that is the release date!). By golly, we really must all have been very good this year…

Music for long winter evenings in the company of someone you love, ‘Klingra’ will make time stand still as you listen to every nuance and subtlety, it is an incredibly involving experience that I believe everyone should enjoy at least once.

Music truly is the literature of the heart when it comes to releases like ‘Strangers’, this album is truly a work of musical art created by one of the most avant-garde folk songwriters currently alive. Each track has layers of texture that are almost primeval in nature, each is a living and breathing entity that will take each listener on their own personal journey. I suggest you get your hands on a copy and see where this incredible record takes you.

**League Of Lights – In The In Between**

What League of Lights have done is written a wonderful homage to the synth-pop highs of the late 80’s and early 90’s and brought it bang up to date for a modern musical world. For me it is chock full of nostalgia and is a wonderful and involving listening experience. Another highlight in a year that is beginning to produce quite a few but don’t take my word for it, go out and buy it and see for yourself!

Rise Twain have delivered one of the most impressive debut albums I have heard in quite a long time. The fragile beauty will touch you and the profound depth will move you like nothing else, if you only listen to one new album this year then I implore you to make it this one.

IZZ have returned with what should become an American progressive rock classic. Don’t Panic brings classic prog rock bang up to date for the 21st century and should cement this musical collective as one of the pre-eminent bands of the genre at this moment in time and for many years to come.

I’m a huge fan of Bjørn Riis and “A Storm Is Coming” has just emphasized what a huge musical talent this man is. Six songs of loss, love and human relations that everyone can relate to make this an album that touches you on a personal level and one that is already one of the year’s outstanding releases.

“Mind Over Depth” is another impressive offering from the talented Mr Armstrong under the Cosmograf moniker and the lack of a narrative proves no detriment at all. Powerful, cinematic and enigmatic, all the plaudits this release is garnering are richly deserved and will hopefully attract a new audience to Robin’s music.

And so we come to the album that has stood the test of time and really deserved the ‘Album of the Year’ gong from me…

I honestly cannot remember having this much fun listening to a record in a very long time, there’s an utter freedom to the songs and the music, an almost childlike immunity to the cares of the world. With everything that is happening in the so-called civilized world today, we could all do with a dose of the magical Moron Police in our life so do yourselves a favor and buy this album, you will never regret it!

So that wraps up 2019 but 2020 is already looking like another year of stellar releases. This list is as subjective as they come and it is just my opinion, see you on the other side for more of the same…

Review – Bjørn Riis – Coming Home – by Progradar

Haunting and Melancholic are two words that can definitely be used to describe the songs that Norwegian musician Bjørn Riis has delivered on his last two solo releases, ‘Lullabies In A Car Crash’ and ‘Forever Comes To An End’. There is a fragile beauty and poignancy to Bjørn’s songwriting that gives it a captivating, hypnotic attraction.

Airbag co-founder, songwriter and lead guitarist, Bjørn will release his new mini album titled ‘Coming Home’ next month on Karisma Records. His unique guitar playing has a centre role, with soaring leads and beautiful textures.

“I’ve always felt that the guitar is an extension of me and a more comfortable and natural way of expressing myself musically” – Bjørn explains.

“I’m really happy and proud of the vocals this time and the duet with me and (Norwegian singer) Sichelle on Drowning is very emotional” – Bjørn continues.

Lyrically, ‘Coming Home’ deals with the fear and insecurity of being forgotten by the people around you. You imagine all these dramatic scenes and wonder if you’ll ever be missed if something really was to happen.

‘Coming Home’ also features a newly recorded semi-acoustic version of the title track of Bjørn’s 2014 solo debut, ‘Lullabies in a Car Crash’ (Karisma Records). “Lullabies just fit right into the mood and theme of this album. It’s almost become a new song. It’s very honest and moving” – Bjørn explains. The track features Airbag and Bjørn Riis Band touring guitarist Ole Michael Bjørndal on lead guitar.

‘Coming Home’ is almost like a story where the scene is set by the brooding and darkly hued opening instrumental track Daybreak. A real slow burner, it takes a while to get moving with just a building sound that reminds you of a bleak and windswept vista before the deliberate, musing guitar fills the soundscape with a contemplative feel.

A sparse acoustic guitar washes over at the start of title track Coming Home, Bjørn’s slightly faltering vocal is full of emotion as this elegant track continues to gently lull you with its charms. A more laid back feel than the previous album emanates from every note and word as the music seems to meander towards an unseen destination. There’s a slight pause before Bjørn delivers a superb, note perfect guitar solo filled with passion and longing, one that soars high and free as a bird. As the song comes to a close I feel some kind of nostalgic yearning that I just can’t explain.

The wistful, contemplative tone continues with the fantastic Drowning, a song filled with feelings of loss and recrimination but one that still has a sense of wonder about it. The calm and serenity of the guitar and Bjørn’s vocal that open the track can’t shake an underlying aura of foreboding. Sichelle’s vocals add a fragile grace to the harmonies and the music gains added intensity, the guitar giving urgency and desperation to proceedings until it breaks like waves on immovable rocks. Sichelle takes us towards the end with a voice full of regret, the guitar adding a somber accompaniment as we come to a close.

Tonight’s The Night is a haunting (there you go, I told you!) instrumental that has you on the edge of your seat from the first note with its insistent piano and tense , ill at ease mood. There is no let up from beginning to end and I found myself visibly relaxing as the song came to an end.

The acoustic version of ‘Lullabies in a Car Crash’ unsurprisingly has a lighter tone to the other songs, a sepia-tinged piece of music underpinned by a wonderful acoustic guitar. The vocals are gossamer light giving the whole song a 70’s carefree spirit before a subtly powerful guitar solo gets under your skin and takes you to a place of utmost calm and reflection, without a care in the world. A remarkably honest reworking of the original track, it really is like a completely new song.

‘Coming Home’ feels like a very personal collection of songs, full of emotion, haunting and charismatic yet sparser and darker than Bjørn’s previous solo releases. Like all the best music, it needs to be listened to with little or no distractions to enjoy it in all its highly impressive glory. Bjørn Riis is one of those musicians who just gets better and better with each release, highly recommended.

Released 23rd February 2018

Pre-orders open soon at Bjørn’s website below:

http://www.bjornriis.com/recordings/

Review – Bjørn Riis – Forever Comes To An End – by Leo Trimming

An Airbag is a device designed to save your life or reduce injury in the event of a collision.

Can music save your life? Who knows?

But life does does bring us in to collisions with all sorts of unexpected events and we try to find ways to survive or at least lessen the impacts. From the sound and themes of Bjørn Riis’ second solo album, ‘Forever Comes to an End’ , it does seem evident that perhaps life has been impacting upon him deeply, reflected in an emotional release. Emotion is not a word usually associated with the sweeping, glacial Floydian soundscapes so beloved of Airbag, but Bjørn Riis has successfully created a more personalised album, infused with fragile feelings and delicate melodies alongside his trademark architectural sonic structures.

Bjørn Riis is the main songwriter and lead guitarist of the Norwegian Progressive rock band, Airbag, and that background is very apparent in the style of this album, although title track Forever Comes to an End does open the album in furious and heavy fashion, exploding into action immediately with Henrik Fossum of Airbag pounding out insistent driving drums. The theme of broken relationships and loss, with musings on the tension between Love and Hate are starkly focused upon in this crunching number:

‘Fear, Do you Fear, Do you feel the hate…. But I’m scared to let you go out of my life…’

Bjørn Riis contrasts the darker hard riffing passages, reminiscent of Sabbath’s Toni Iommi, with occasional lighter, less intense shafts of musical sunlight, framing impassioned pleas to stay. Vocally Riis delivers this song, and the whole album, with a sense of beautiful melancholy and yearning. This is powerful stuff in more ways than one. The brief bleak interlude soundscape of Absence atmospherically takes us to the emotive shores of The Waves, seguing with Ocean sounds as Riis intones mournfully :

‘I’ve been down for too long, I almost drowned,

There was darkness all around and it pulled me down to the deep’

In The Waves there is a fragility and emotional intensity in Riis’ voice, akin to Tim Bowness of No-Man, which gives this album a sense of honest emotion and humanity, born from personal experiences, and moves parts of this album away from the now predictable trademark Floyd style so successfully produced by Airbag on their albums. The Waves wistfully fades as the tide of the song recedes with echoes of the cinematic soundscapes of Thomas Newman film scores.

Instrumental Getaway slowly builds and builds, with layers of guitars across a sweeping canvas on synths, until a break of echoing keys and percussion is glided over by an icy guitar line. The driving rock theme returns with added wah-wah guitar, outstanding drums and riffs that more than hint at Porcupine Tree, that all add up to quite a thrilling ride. Calm shimmers with delicate beauty with a simple piano motif and acoustic guitars over lain with flute sounding keys, and then the whole piece eventually drifts away in to the distance, virtually acting as a beautiful introduction into Winter, the centrepiece of the whole album.

A gentle opening adorned with lilting acoustic guitar, over lain with subtle, tasteful electric guitar dashes in the vein of Marillion’s Steve Rothery, express the contradictory emotional forces of resentment and forgiving, hate and love…

“Now she’s gone, but I still want her here, She stole my heart and she turned it into stone…”

This remarkable piece develops with increasing intensity as Riis builds with beautiful musical textures and Sichelle Mcmeo Aksum adds a female delicacy to the vocals, alongside Riis. The inevitable Gilmour like soaring lead guitar parts are used sparingly but effectively. Riis’ guitar is the main ‘voice’ in Winter as he uses it intuitively to emotionally express probably what words sometimes cannot say about broken relationships. A lovely bass line with uncanny echoes of Porcupine Tree’s classic ‘Dark Matter’ underpins the gradual elegiac disintegration of this great song.

A simple but touching piano melody by Simen Valldal Johannessen introduces Riis’ finely judged emotional vocal in the final heart-breaking song Where Are You Now. Flute like keyboards float over a gradually building theme before Riis emotively illustrates this emotional song with a glistening, gliding guitar solo. The song and album finishes as Riis’ fragile vocals lead to the simple stark beauty of the opening piano motif. Heart break seldom sounds so beautiful.

There will be inevitable comparisons by some to later Pink Floyd, and fans of that band will find much to admire and touch them in this album. Sonically the production is perfect – this drips with feeling and atmosphere. Some of the songs would also not sound out of place on an Airbag album, which is inevitable considering Riis’ main role in that band. However, there is much more to ‘Forever Comes to an End’ than a Floyd pastiche or just an Airbag album by another name. Riis has really put his heart on the line on this release and such emotion exudes from the imaginative music and heartfelt lyrics on this intensely personal album.

Will this album save your life?

Very probably not, but like an Airbag ‘Forever Comes to an End’ may very well stop you getting a headache (!!) and will certainly help you deal with the collisions and impacts of what life throws at us.

(Photos of Bjørn by Anita Stostad)

Released 19th May 2017

Order ‘Forever Comes To An End direct from the artist (Europe)

Order ‘Forever Comes To AN End from Burning Shed (UK)

Bjørn Riis – Forever Comes to an End – Released 19th May 2017 on Karisma Records

Airbag co-founder, songwriter and lead guitarist, Bjørn Riis will release his second solo album, ‘Forever Comes to an End’, in May 2017. The album is the follow-up to the highly acclaimed and awarded debut, ‘Lullabies in a Car Crash’.
‘Forever Comes to an End’ feature seven songs, with inspiration from classic rock, prog and movie scores. Bjørn’s unique guitar playing has a centre role, with soaring leads, heavy riffs and beautiful textures.
Lyrically, the album deals with broken relationships and loss and the emotional duality between resentment and forgiving.

The album is very much a tribute to all of Bjørn’s musical influences. From the dark and dirty riffs of Toni Iommi and Zakk Wylde, to the emotional playing of David Gilmour and Steven Rothery. The melodic and sombre voice of Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness and the cinematic landscapes of composers like Thomas Newman and John Barry.

‘Forever Comes to an End’ feature appearances from Airbag’s Henrik Fossum (drums) and Asle Tostrup (programming), Simen Valldal Johannessen from Oak (piano) and Norwegian singer, Sichelle Mcmeo Aksum (vocals).

Norwegian photographer Kjetil Karlsen, has provided the front cover image, taken in beautiful Beisfjord near Narvik in Northern Norway. Design and layout is by Asle Tostrup.

DISCOGRAPHY
“Lullabies in a Car Crash” (CD/VINYL, Karisma Records, 2014)
“Forever Comes to an End” (CD/VINYL, Karisma Records, 2017)

TRACKLIST
1.      Forever Comes to an End
2.      Absence
3.      The Waves
4.      Getaway
5.      Calm
6.      Winter
7. Where are You Now

Band website: www.bjornriis.com
Label website: www.karismarecords.no

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