David Gilmour – Progradar

David Gilmour ‘Luck And Strange’, First New Album In Nine Years, Released 6th September on Sony Music

David Gilmour today announced his new album ‘Luck and Strange’, to be released on 6th September on Sony Music. The first track from the album, ‘The Piper’s Call’, will be released this Thursday, 25th April, following a world exclusive first play on the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show.

NEW TRACK ‘THE PIPER’S CALL’

AVAILABLE THURSDAY 25th APRIL FROM DIGITAL PLATFORMS

‘Luck and Strange’ was recorded over five months in Brighton and London and is Gilmour’s first album of new material in nine years. The record was produced by David and Charlie Andrew, best known for his work with ALT-J and Marika Hackman. Of this new working relationship, David says, “We invited Charlie to the house, so he came and listened to some demos, and said things like, “Well, why does there have to be a guitar solo there?” and “Do they all fade out? Can’t some of them just end?”. He has a wonderful lack of knowledge or respect for this past of mine. He’s very direct and not in any way overawed, and I love that. That is just so good for me because the last thing you want is people just deferring to you.”

The majority of the album’s lyrics have been composed by Polly Samson, Gilmour’s co-writer and collaborator for the past thirty years. Samson says of the lyrical themes covered on ‘Luck and Strange’, “It’s written from the point of view of being older; mortality is the constant.” Gilmour elaborates, “We spent a load of time during and after lockdown talking about and thinking about those kind of things.” Polly has also found the experience of working with Charlie Andrew liberating, “He wants to know what the songs are about, he wants everyone who’s playing on them to have the ideas that are in the lyric informing their playing. I have particularly loved it for that reason.”

The album features eight new tracks along with a beautiful reworking of The Montgolfier Brothers’ ‘Between Two Points’ and has artwork and photography by the renowned artist Anton Corbijn.

Musicians contributing to the record include Guy Pratt & Tom Herbert on bass, Adam Betts, Steve Gadd and Steve DiStanislao on drums, Rob Gentry & Roger Eno on keyboards with string and choral arrangements by Will Gardner. The title track also features the late Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard Wright, recorded in 2007 at a jam in a barn at David’s house.

Some contributions emerged from the live streams that Gilmour and family performed to a global audience during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021; Romany Gilmour sings, plays the harp and appears on lead vocals on ‘Between Two Points’. Gabriel Gilmour also sings backing vocals.

The album’s cover image, photographed and designed by Anton Corbijn, is inspired by a lyric written by Charlie Gilmour for the album’s final song ‘Scattered’. Of working with his family on ‘Luck and Strange’, David says, “Polly and I have been writing together for over thirty years and the Von Trapped live streams showed the great blend of Romany’s voice and harp-playing and that led us into a feeling of discarding some of the past that I’d felt bound to and that I could throw those rules out and do whatever I felt like doing, and that has been such a joy.”

‘Luck and Strange’ will be released on 6th September on Sony Music.

Available for pre-order now:

Luck and Strange (lnk.to)

DAVID GILMOUR – LUCK AND STRANGE VINYL

Gatefold sleeve and booklet with photography and design by Anton Corbijn

SIDE ONE

Black Cat*

Luck and Strange

The Piper’s Call

A Single Spark

Vita Brevis*

Between Two Points** – with Romany Gilmour

SIDE TWO

Dark and Velvet Nights

Sings

Scattered***

Album plus two bonus tracks.

Digipak and booklet with photography and design by Anton Corbijn

Black Cat*

Luck and Strange

The Piper’s Call

A Single Spark

Vita Brevis*

Between Two Points** – with Romany Gilmour

Dark and Velvet Nights

Sings

Scattered***

BONUS TRACKS

Yes, I Have Ghosts

Luck and Strange (original Barn Jam)*

BLU-RAY – AUDIO ONLY

Album in Dolby Atmos and high-resolution stereo mixes plus four bonus tracks.

Digipak and booklet with photography and design by Anton Corbijn

Black Cat*

Luck and Strange

The Piper’s Call

A Single Spark

Vita Brevis*

Between Two Points** – with Romany Gilmour

Dark and Velvet Nights

Sings

Scattered***

BONUS TRACKS

In Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res stereo

Yes, I Have Ghosts

Luck and Strange (original Barn Jam)*

A Single Spark (Orchestral)*

Scattered (Orchestral)*

Deluxe LP & CD boxsets will be announced in the coming weeks.

DAVID GILMOUR – ‘LUCK AND STRANGE’

All songs Music: David Gilmour. Lyrics: Polly Samson.

Except *Music: David Gilmour.

**Music: Mark Tranmer. Lyrics by Roger Quigley.

***Music: David Gilmour. Lyrics: David Gilmour, Charlie Gilmour and Polly Samson.

Produced by David Gilmour and Charlie Andrew

Engineered by Matt Glasbey, Charlie Andrew, David Gilmour and Damon Iddins

Mixed by David Gilmour, Charlie Andrew and Matt Glasbey

Additional engineering by Andy Jackson and Luie Stylianou

DAVID GILMOUR – ‘LUCK AND STRANGE’ – THE NEW ALBUM RELEASED 6th SEPTEMBER ON SONY MUSIC.

ABOUT DAVID GILMOUR
David Gilmour is guitarist, vocalist and writer with Pink Floyd, but is also renowned for his solo work. David Gilmour and Roger ‘Syd’ Barrett met as children in Cambridge, UK, and later began playing guitar together. In 1965 Syd co-founded Pink Floyd, while David continued playing with a succession of his own bands. In 1968, David was asked to augment the Pink Floyd line up as the singer and guitarist, only for Syd to leave the group five gigs later. David’s guitar playing, singing and songwriting became major factors of Pink Floyd’s worldwide success, including his distinctive vocals and guitar playing on The Dark Side Of The Moon, the third most successful album of all time.

In 1978, David released his first solo album, David Gilmour, which charted in the UK and the US. His second solo album, About Face, was released in 1984, again hitting the Top 20 in the UK.
David assumed control of Pink Floyd in 1985, creating the new Floyd album A Momentary Lapse Of Reason with Richard Wright and Nick Mason. It was followed in 1994 by The Division Bell, which contained the instrumental Marooned, composed by David and Richard Wright, which won a Grammy Award. Both albums charted at Number 1 on both sides of the Atlantic and were supported by sell-out world tours.

In 1996, Pink Floyd were inducted into the US Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, followed by the same honour in the UK in November 2005.

David is one of the all-time guitar greats, with an instinctive and distinctive sound; he was voted ‘Best Fender Guitar Player Ever’ in a poll in Guitarist magazine, beating such greats as Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. In 2005, David was made a CBE for services to music.

On 6th March 2006, David released his third solo album, On An Island, which entered the UK Charts at Number 1, subsequently hitting the top position in the pan-European Charts, as well as hitting multi-Platinum around the world. The tour for the album included a one-off performance in the historic dockyards of Gdańsk, Poland, with a 40-piece orchestra and a show at London’s Royal Albert Hall was filmed by director David Mallet and released in 2007 as ‘Remember That Night – Live At The Royal Albert Hall’, which topped the charts upon release.

In May 2008, David was awarded an ‘Ivor’ for Lifetime Achievement by the British Association of Composers and Songwriters. In September 2008, Fender Guitars made available their David Gilmour Signature Black Strat model, in ‘Relic’ and ‘New Old Stock’ models.

In 2009, David was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from East Anglia’s Ruskin University of Cambridge and Chelmsford for his outstanding contribution to music as a writer, performer and innovator.

In September 2014, Pink Floyd released The Endless River, and David confirmed that it would be the band’s final album and it topped the charts in over 20 countries.

David’s next album Rattle That Lock was released in 2015 and went to Number 1 in 13 charts around the world and Number 2 in a further eight, hitting the Top 5 in a total of 25 listings. The accompanying world tour saw David perform two spectacular shows at the legendary Pompeii Amphitheatre in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, 45 years after he first played there for Adrian Maben’s classic film Pink Floyd Live At Pompeii.

The concerts were the first-ever rock performances played to an audience in the ancient Roman amphitheatre, which was built in 90 BC and entombed in ash when Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. The film of these shows directed by Gavin Elder, topped the box office In Italy, Germany and France and was Number 2 in the UK. David Gilmour Live At Pompeii was released on Blu-ray, Vinyl, CD & DVD in September 2017 and reached #3 in the UK and #1 in Italy.

In June 2019, David raised $21.5m from the Christie’s sale of more than 120 of his instruments and artefacts. He gave the proceeds to ClientEarth, a charity which uses the power of the law to protect the planet and its people.

Gilmour and Nick Mason reactivated Pink Floyd to record ‘Hey Hey Rise Up’ on 30th March 2022 with Andriy Khlyvnyuk of the Ukrainian band Boombox. All of the net proceeds have gone to charities to help alleviate the suffering of Ukrainian people.

The Pretty Things Announce ‘The Final Bow’ deluxe boxset (Featuring David Gilmour & Van Morrison)

***The Pretty Things – Credit Judy Totton***

British music icons The Pretty Things will release ‘The Final Bow’ via Madfish on 1^st November. Celebrating 55 years of the greatest band most people have never heard of, The Final Bow captures The Pretty Things at their riotous, unique & mercurial best. Recorded across 3 sets of classic tracks featuring special guest appearances from good friends David Gilmour and Van Morrison at Indigo at the 02 in December 2018. The Final Bow will be released as a beautiful and carefully curated deluxe edition and as a 2xLP soundtrack set as well.

Featuring 2 concert film DVDs and 2 live recording CDs, the deluxe edition will also feature a special 10″ of Phil May and Dick Taylor’s track selections and a 52-page hardback book packed with live photography by acclaimed photographer Judy Totton, ‘The Gospel according to Mark St. John’ extensive sleeve notes and Phil & Dick’s individual sleeve notes telling their story as a ground-breaking, ballsy and ambitious band. As Rock and Roll’s greatest nearly men.

Invaluable to the development of British music, The Pretty Things have been a critical success and a huge influence on artists as diverse as David Bowie, Aerosmith, The Ramones, Bob Dylan, The Sex Pistols, The White Stripes, Kasabian, The Lightning Seeds and countless more. A who’s who of music icons site The Pretty Things and their outrageous behaviour, incandescent stage performances and astonishing catalogue of remarkable, ground-breaking recordings as fundamental in the creation of their own work.

Still creating significant music today and with a rich catalogue including top-level albums such as The Pretty Things, S.F. Sorrow & Parachute, they remain a hugely significant artistic and creative force. They are a band to revere with no other first-wave artist but The Rolling Stones outselling their frontline recordings today and probably no artist at all out-performing them live.

This electric performance features all of the youthful and incendiary vigour from their 60s beginnings, showing off a technical prowess by performing tracks from their full range of styles: first wave R’n’B, psychedelic rock, and the blues. Led by founding vocalist and guitarist Phil May & Dick Taylor, the band was driven by their current line-up consisting Frank Holland, Jack Greenwood & George Woosey and featured returns from original recording band members Skip Allen, Wally Waller & John Povey. The evening was transformed from unmissable to sensational with the guest performances of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour on classics including “Cries from the Midnight Circus” & “L.S.D.“, and legendary vocalist Van Morrison on blues classic “Baby, Please Don’t Go” & soul standard “You Can’t Judge a Book by its Cover“.

The Final Bow is a startling and essential snapshot of a band who, for over 55 years, have never stopped pushing, growing and honing their craft – a record 5 decades in the making.

Phil May: – The Pretty Things: “After 55 years, saying goodbye to The Pretty Things electric band was a seismic, emotional blow and a genuine life loss, for all the band and our manager. But, to be forced into it on health grounds, when the band was riding high, creating great new music and touring so successfully, throughout the world, made matters worse. But, life’s a bitch and then you die…

That said, this box set and what it represents, as a lasting tribute to the band I love, the life we have lived, and the way we have lived it, in music and performance, is unparalleled. I know I’m lucky, I, and the band, made it through a 2-hour 45-minute performance, in the best form we could have hoped for and we all feel that we created a performance, worthy of “The Pretty Things” at their best. That we captured it on film and on record, that we had our great, old friends, David Gilmour and Van Morrison alongside us and creating the moment and that, most of all, the o2 was sold out with our friends, old and new, young and old, and the people that we have done it for and who made it possible for us, was the icing on the cake.

This is a great representation of a great night, a wonderful gig, a heart-breaking moment and – a life in rock and roll. We love it, I hope you do, too..”

‘The Final Bow’ can be pre-ordered from Madfish now with the first 500 orders of the deluxe edition receiving a signed Insert by Phil May & Dick Taylor.

The ‘Song-by-Song’ Book Series Launches with Pink Floyd by Andrew Wild

An intelligent, illuminating and enjoyable examination of the meaning and context of every Pink Floyd song from 1966 to 2014.

• An examination of every Pink Floyd song from ‘Arnold Layne’ to
‘Louder Than Words’.
• The stories behind the songs, their context within the parent
albums and the times they were written and recorded.
• Who played what in the studio and when the songs were played live.
• What the band and critics had/have to say about their musical
development.

From ‘Arnold Layne’ to ‘Louder than Words’, Pink Floyd wrote about
anger, isolation, regret, dismay, and fear. These themes, not always
obvious starting points in popular music, were married to a rare
dynamism that would make Pink Floyd stand out from the crowd.
Pink Floyd’s most successful period critically and musically – the eight
albums from 1970 to 1983 – combines the pithy lyrics of Roger Waters, the soulful voice and breath-taking guitar solos of David Gilmour and, until 1979, the jazz-influenced piano and keyboard abilities of the late Richard Wright. In varying permutations, these three wrote the band’s best work. However, when working together as equals, the three principals of Pink Floyd were significantly more than the sum of their individual strengths. Pink Floyd: Song by Song takes a fresh look at the songs, which led to Pink Floyd becoming the third best-selling band of all time. Written in a wry and engaging style, this book will delight the aficionado and the newcomer alike, as it re-listens to the complete works of a unique band.

Andrew Wild first heard Pink Floyd as an impressionable sixteen-year-old in 1983, and since then has studiously collected every available note of music from Pink Floyd and its constituent members. Pink Floyd: Song by Song is his fifth book; his previous works include official biographies of the bands Twelfth Night (Play On, 2009) and Galahad (One for the Record, 2012). He is currently one of the presenters on Progzilla, the UK’s only dedicated prog-rock radio station.

Wallet Emptier – 29/9/15

Nad Sylvan – Courting the Widow

Better known recently as the voice behind Steve Hackett’s ‘Genesis Revisited’ live show, Nad has had a varied career as a solo musician and as part of the musical projects Unifaun and Agents Of Mercy. ‘Courting the Widow’ is his first solo effort since 2005 and was quite a revelation to me. It is full of traditional progressive rock pointers yet it is Nad’s voice that carries the album all the way through. A concept album about his stage persona, The Vampyre. Featuring a plethora of guest musicians including Steve Hackett, Nick Beggs, Roine STolt and Nick D’Virgilio if you like well written, story driven music (and a touch of Genesis), you’ll love this.

Released 16th October 2015 (EU)

Stand Out Track – Long Slow Crash Landing

Pre-order Courting the Widow from inside out music

David Gilmour – Rattle That Lock

Pink Floyd’s guitar maestro releases his first solo album since ‘On an Island’ and it is a good one. There’s been a lot of discussion about the prominence of the older, established artists recently and how they are perhaps taking the attention from the new and up and coming acts (I put my hand up to being one who is worried by it) but, surely, they can exist together. If these older, nostalgic acts weren’t around, what music would we have listened to in the first place? Nothing new or different but polished and comfortable, like your favourite shoes, I find myself returning to it quite frequently.

Released 18th September 2015

Stand out track – And Then…..

Buy direct from the artist’s website

Hillward – Flies in Amber Stones

Canadian band Hillward started off as Southern Cross’ side project with three of its members, David Lizotte, Jean-François Boudreault and Antoine Guertin. The band became one of its own when Alexandre Lapierre joined as a second guitar player after the recording of the first album ‘Flies In Amber Stones’.

Progressive metal with alternative undertones, its powerful and dynamic sound is really quite addictive as it pulses and resounds with heavy riffs, potent drumming and aggressive vocals.

Released 25th September 2015

Stand out track – Flies in Amber Stones

Buy direct from the artist

Perfect Beings – Perfect Beings II

The eagerly awaited follow up to 2014’s eponymous debut album is a cornucopia of progressive, classical, experimental, ambient, jazz and pop influences that create the band’s unique style. Emotive and full of energy it is the fruit of 2014’s live performances and the way that playing live tightened up the band’s sound and evolved them into a tighter unit.

Perhaps a tad incohesive and self-indulgent in places, it is still, nevertheless, a great Prog-Rock release.

Released 16th October 2015

Stand out track – The Love Inside

Pre-order Perfect Beings II direct from the band’s website

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFVPWk_X8mw

Australia’s Caligula’s Horse release their third album of raw, honest, and yet skillful, progressive, alternative rock. Vibrant and dynamic, the band are like a force of nature and their music is not for the faint hearted whilst being energetic, grand and forthright.

This is their most vivid, vibrant and emotional work to date and should see them break through and become one of the leading lights of the genre, full of colour and life.

Released 16th October 2015 (EU)

Stand out track – Dragonfly

Buy Bloom from inside out music

Blast from the past…..

Kinetic Element – Powered by Light

Following my review of the band’s ‘Travelog’ album last week, I have the pleasure of introducing their first release from 2009. ‘Powered by Light’ follows in the tradition of the progressive rock giants of the 1970s, heavy with symphonic keyboards and virtuoso guitar work, Kinetic Element takes the listener on a lightspeed journey of the heart, full of great evocative passages.

Released 2009

Stand out track – Reconciliation

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