Tag: Kite Parade

Review – Kite Parade – Disparity – by John Wenlock-Smith

I’ve had ‘Disparity’ for a while now and have only just begun to fully appreciate its subtle elegance and beauty. Andy Foster and Kite Parade have created a very modern progressive rock album of strong songs and observations of modern life.

The album begins with the track Fraternal Angels, which is very upbeat, starting out with synth soundscapes and piano before the vocals kick in with a surging drive. The song is very wide open in sound and is an excellent opener to all that is to follow afterwards. The mid section of the track is very interesting as it details the state of the world and it’s inequalities, 20% of the world having 80% of its wealth and resources. The brief Open Your Heart calls for a fair redistribution of the world’s food supplies and wealth and to be fairer to everyone. Is This All There Is ? features Christina Booth of Magenta who challenges us to do and to be more as there is more to life than what we see and experienceT he delivery of this great song is excellent. The World Is Mine is from the view of one who is in the top tier of wealth and is still not satisfied with everything,

Lynsey Ward of Exploring Birdsong is the vocalist for Broken, which has a delicate piano and some great synth sounds among its shuffling melody. The introduction of Andy Foster’s excellent saxophone solo really adds to the dynamics along with some great slide type guitar sounds towards the end. There are great dynamics between the rhythm section of Jimmy Pellagrosi (drums) and Marcin Palider (bass) with Andy laying down a great guitar line on top. This segues into Forgotten Youth, which has a chunky riff and sound to it. This is another up-tempo song with very interesting lyrics. Also worth mentioning is the terrific sound that the album possesses and that comes courtesy of Rob Aubrey, the sound being excellent and clear with great dynamics. It sounds really good to these ears, modern with a great drive and urgency when required. I also like how the songs flow into each other, creating a continuous sound cycle which captures the attention. The song has an excellent outro that is very impressive and imaginative. The use of textures and colouring make this song very grand sounding and my favourite thus far on what is a very majestic album.

Is There Hope? is a prelude to the epic Make It Beautiful which begins with thunderous bass from Marcin which sets a strident tone for the song. The track has a great refrain that is very memorable indeed. This is a great piece of music, very hopeful and optimistic in nature, which is no bad thing! It is a plea to restore beauty to an increasingly ugly world. Yes, it might be a bit hippyish and unrealistic but one can hope that beautiful actions can happen and bring the beauty back for everyone to appreciate. All this leads into the final track, Listen To The Angels, another optimistic and hopeful song. Andy Foster might be a dreamer but he wants a better world and hopes that it will happen and, in these troubled times in which we currently live, surely that’s not a bad way to be. I for one applaud his efforts and share his hopes for a fairer future.

‘Disparity’ is a really strong album with much to commend and has some brilliant performances. It bodes very well for the future of Kite Parade, let’s us hope that it’s not too long before we see them in action once again, as they are at the vanguard of a growing wave of melodic and worthy progressive rock music.

I highly recommend this tremendous album to you all. As for me, I am going back to check out their earlier albums, ‘The Way Home’ and ‘Retro’ as they passed me by, so the time is right for me to get acquainted with them.

Released 4th October, 2024.

Order from bandcamp here:

https://kiteparade.bandcamp.com/album/disparity

John Wenlock-Smith’s review of the 2024 musical year

2024 has been quite a year hasn’t it really? From the vagaries of politics and re-emergence of Donald Trump to again become US President again, the implosion of the Tory party and the triumphant Labour landslide, to the downfall of Assad in Syria, it has all been quite eventful, all in all.

Thankfully, musically it has been a good year, especially for the likes of Taylor Swift, whose ‘Era’ tour was a huge success, the reunion dates for Oasis were another success, especially for it’s promoters, if less so for their fans who struggled to get any reasonably priced tickets. Prog thankfully doesn’t suffer in the same way and great music shows could be easily found for very reasonable prices, except maybe David Gilmour tickets, but Steve Hackett and Big Big Train shows were far more fairly priced, as their sell out statuses clearly showed.

The year has some truly fine and many very worthwhile releases and here is what really hit it off for me. As with previous years, I have a vocal winner and an instrumental winner of the year and you’ll understand why as I reveal them to you all.

There’s also a note about why each was selected as being so very good, invariably i’ll miss something that I should have included, such is often the case as its not always easy to recall timings and release dates etc., There are no live albums or ‘best of’ though, even though several of each were very good releases.

Here we go then..

20. Wedingoth – ‘Five stars (A) live’

A somewhat interesting mix of heavy metal with distinct Pink Floyd overtones, all recorded live and portraying their 2023 five star album.

19. PsychoYogi – ‘Astro Therapy Brain repair’

The 2024 quirky release from Chris Ramsing and band with more King Crimson styled jazz musings.

18. Nataraja – ‘Spirit At Play’

A one off project from Jack Jennings with Andy Edwards and John Jowitt of Frost/IQ mixing Indian classical music with synthesisers and fiery guitar a la John McLaughlin and Jimi Hendrix. A very intense listen but wonderfully conceived and delivered.

17. Infringement – ‘Black Science and White Lies’

More musings on the state of the world from the Norwegian stalwarts, full of dynamic music and strong observational lyrics.

16. Storm Deva – ‘Storm Deva’

Technically released at the back end of 2023 but gained popularity this year. Wonderful orchestral type music with fabulous vocalist/keyboardist Carollyn Eden along with sublime guitar work from Stuart Clark, some beautifully symphonic music and melodies.

15. Rick Wakeman – ‘Yessonata’

A totally solo piano album from the ex-Yes keyboard man which distils over thirty melodies from the prime era of Yes music. Have fun spotting the various melodies employed herein and, as a bonus, there is an instrumental synopsis of Rick’s ‘King Arthur’ piano suite.

14. Catalyst*R – ‘Pace Of Change’

A second album of impressive prog and electronic music from the ex Winter Machine men, check out the utterly epic Pendle Hill 1612.

13. Orion – ‘The Light Bringers’

The superb second full release from musical prodigy Ben Jones with lots of Rush overtones, especially with the spectacular artwork from Hugh Syme .

12. Kite Parade – ‘Disparity’

An album that highlights the challenges of this modern world most eloquently, there is some truly some great music on offer here.

11. The Windmill – ‘Mindscapes’

Latest release from the Norwegian retro-proggers. Just four tracks but such great tracks they are! One wonderfully long epic and the the other three being shorter, but no less impressive, pieces.

10. Age of Distraction – ‘A Game Of Whispers’

This offshoot group saw some of progressive music’s current stars (ex-This Winter Machine member John Cook, Ghost Of The Machine‘s Charlie Bramald and Mark Gatland of Hats Off Gentleman It’s Adequate to name three) band together in a new ad-hoc Project which married their progressive tendencies coupl with a harder edged sound to a fantastic impact. A second album is due in 2025 and possibly some live shows too!

9. Oddleaf – ‘Where Ideal And Denial Collide’

Surprisingly endearing and engrossing 70’s influenced Prog from new French outfit featuring the lovely Carina Taurer and colleagues.

8. Brendan Perkins – ‘Favourite Places’

A fantastic album that would most probably be of interest to Big Big Train ‘Passengers’ as the music is very expansive with very Pastoral overtones at various points. A most engrossing listen.

7. Nick Magnus – ‘A Strange Inheritance’

An excellent nautically themed collection of songs. This one really resonated with me and I really love Nick’s compositions on this album.

6. John Holden – ‘Proximity and Chance’

Another excellent release from the Cheshire based multi instrumentalist who, again, has enlisted some A-list players to support his epic pieces. This was, for several months, my album of the year but was then overshadowed by the following releases.

5. Kyros – ‘Mannequin’

Another top notch release and a fantastic fusion of 80’s style synth-pop and progressive music. An exquisitely produced and delivered album of sheer class.

4. Stuckfish – ‘IV’

This is a major step up from this north-east quintet and is full of great songs, some of which are crying out for more live performances. Sheer class and fine quality to boot.

3. Ruby Dawn – ‘Blood On Water’

The superb second release from Carola Baer and colleagues, who have crafted an album that is partly based on Romeo and Juliet but also contemplates life and all it’s seasons and challenges.

2. Forgotten Gods – ‘Memories’

This album came from nowhere but such is its emotional depth and rawness, along with its honesty and strong lyrics, it really makes a deep and lasting impression.

1st equal…

Instrumental album – Nick Fletcher – ‘A Longing For Home’

A further ten slices of Nick’s incredibly imaginative and polished musical musings with a truly impressive European based set of musicians. An album full of powerful themes and melodies along with jaw dropping skill and improvisation.

Vocal Album – John Wilkinson – ‘Imposter Syndrome’

Highly impressive solo album from The Swan Chorus and Ellesmere vocalist in which, over eight strong tracks, John sings of how he feels a fraud as a singer but goes on to prove that he is no fraud or imposter, rather he is a genuinely talented writer and performer. This album is a remarkable achievement and is a thing of beauty, crowned by John’s warm and evocative vocals.

It has been a vintage year for releases, you’ll notice that I’ve shied away from major label albums, despite there been several great ones but it us these 20 Albums have impacted me the most through 2024.

Review – Kite Parade – Retro

Kite Parade, the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist, singer songwriter Andy Foster, follow-up the critically acclaimed ‘The Way Home’, released in 2022, with second album ‘Retro’. The new release features six brand news songs, continuing from its predecessor with emphasis on melodies and big choruses, drawing influences from bands such as Frost*, It Bites and Genesis. Once again, guest drummers Nick D’Virgilio (Big Big Train) and Joe Crabtree contribute and all the mastering and mixing duties are supplied by Rob Aubrey (Big Big Train, IQ).

Majoring on Andy’s love of all things ‘Prog, Rock and interesting Pop’, this new album is a must for lovers of the power pop tinged progressive rock celebrated by the likes of John Mitchell and Jem Godfrey with superb songwriting and shed loads of delicious guitar riffs and licks and heavenly vocal harmonies. The high energy, pulsating punch of opening track Retro hits you right where it hurts but the melodies are always there to provide beauty along with the brawn. Power prog? pop rock? I have no idea, it’s just bloody entertaining and leads you firing on all cylinders to Speed Of Light, a dynamic, hard-edged and even harder rocking track that has a dark underbelly but still returns with a fabulously catchy chorus, Andy’s music is seriously addictive, let me tell you that!

Let’s just kick back a bit and take the foot off the accelerator with the passionate sentiment of the Pete Smith penned semi-ballad Wonderful. The fervour and intensity of the vocals match the dazzling charm of the music to deliver a song that has heart and soul and puts a huge grin on your face with its anthemic feel. That warmth inside continues with wistfully nostalgic opening to the glorious Shadows Fall where you really feel Andy playing on his inner It Bites (circa ‘Once Around The World’, if I’m being precise!). This sumptuous track reminds me of hazy summer days and a longing for times gone by. A stylishly complex piece of music but one that always wears its heart on its sleeve, the elegant saxophone that winds its way around is just genius and the harmonious vocals deliver a proper welling up of emotion.

Legendary progressive musician Steve Thorne contributed the lyrics for the final two tracks and you can see a slight difference on the darkly delicious Under The Same Sun which opens with a seductive guitar riff and pointed vocals. Fractious and recalcitrant until another fantastic chorus is delivered, there is a restive energy running throughout this addictive and up-tempo song and that is shown to perfection by Daz Atkinson’s fiery guitar solo. The end of album album epic Merry-Go-Round finishes things off in mighty fine style, although Andy says you’ll have to ask Steve Thorne for the definitive meaning behind the song! A fine example of symphonic, power-prog, this elegant, at times haunting, fourteen and half minutes of music ebbs and flows magnificently. The music builds patiently, drawing the listener into its comforting embrace along with the impassioned, heartfelt vocals, Jessica Chambers superb backing vocals especially worthy of note. There’s an unruffled pride to the song, the music is superbly intricate and leading you on a willing journey into the subterranean depths where time seems to stand still. The hushed stasis is broken by a dawning of light, an impish feel engendered by the music and the vocals brighter and more powerful and a lighter feeling atmosphere. What a stunning way to close out the album.

In ‘Retro’, Kite Parade have given us a stylish addition to the ranks of pop tinged power prog, a sublime collection of perfectly crafted songs that should be a must for any fan of melodic prog and a release that puts a smile on your face and , in this day and age, we could all do with a dose of that, couldn’t we?

Released 7th April, 2023.

Order from bandcamp here:

Retro | Kite Parade (bandcamp.com)