Between their debut, “This Was” in 1968 and their 21st in 2003 with “The Jethro Tull Christmas Album “, Jethro Tull has delivered albums with distinctive sounds crossing genres and styles, merging prog/art rock, hard rock, heavy metal, jazz, blues, folk, classical, Elizabethan, and world music. I heard Ian Anderson’s music for the first time with the 72’s album “Living in the Past” and even if I wasn’t an unconditional fan of Tull, Anderson, we have to admit it, delivered quality materials throughout the years. “Roots to Branches” released on 4 September 1995, probably is not as acclaimed as “Thick as a Brick” (1972) or famous as “Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die!” (1976), but definitively is a colorful trip into a musical universe filled up will all the spices from Anderson’s workshop. Read more Jethro Tull – Roots to Branches (1995)
progressive rock
Anathema – Falling Deeper (2011)
Scheduled be released on September 5 2011, “Falling Deeper” is an upcoming compilation album in which the band recorded different versions of their past songs, a follow-up to 2008’s acoustic compilation “Hindsight”.
The album was produced by guitarist and main composer of the band Daniel Cavanagh, while the orchestral arrangements are from Dave Stewart who worked so successfully with Anathema on “We’re Here Because We’re Here”. Dutch singer Anneke van Giersbergen sings on “Everwake”. The album was recorded and mixed by Andrea Wright at the legendary Parr Street Studios in Liverpool. Read more Anathema – Falling Deeper (2011)
Cosmonauts Day – Live Demos, EP (2011)
I’m gonna handle this one backwards: “The Last Watchman”, the closing track of this EP, it’s a beautiful, shining, Progressive Rock song with a friendly, warm vibe. Somehow it sticks in your head and can’t get rid of it.
Now I’m gonna get back to the beginning and I tell ya a secret: you can download for free this EP from the band’s Bandcamp page.
From Moscow, Russia, Cosmonauts Day delivered a quite unique mixture of post-rock, stoner/sludge metal and space/progressive rock with some exotic aromas, original structures and harmonies. Read more Cosmonauts Day – Live Demos, EP (2011)
Yes – Drama (1980)
Yes without both, Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman, might be still Yes? The answer is “Drama”, the band’s tenth studio album released 31 years ago, on 22 August, 1980 and which introduced Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes of The Buggles. Horn and Downes came after the #1 hit in the UK with “Video Killed the Radio Star” and being Yes fans they landed in Yes because they were managed by the same Brian Lane. Still, hardcore Yes fans considered unacceptable the replacement of Anderson and Wakeman. Although, “Drama” fared very well in the UK charts, reaching #2 there, but in America, “Drama” became the first Yes album in years not to reach top 10 or go gold. Read more Yes – Drama (1980)
Fuseboxx – Animated (2011)
Quality progressive metal/rock from this Manila, Philippines band. Formed in 2001 by Abby Clutario – vocals/Chapman Stick/Keyboards, Mico Ong – 6 and 7 String guitars, Eric Tubon – synthesizers/keyboards/Keytar and Lester Banzuelo – drums/V drums, Fuseboxx delivered a quite exciting blending of traditional and modern progressive metal/rock, but sometimes building in smooth pop or jazz constructions and textures or explode in intense metal hurricanes.
Read more Fuseboxx – Animated (2011)
Tangled Thoughts Of Leaving – Deaden The Fields (2011)
This one comes from Australia and it’s a creative, breathing mixture of rock/post-rock elements with progressive and space-rock music and avant-garde jazz experiments while the space between is filled up with noises, intelligently built in electronica and cinematic soundscapes. Very fresh, unpredictable, colourful, flowing and ever changing.
“TToL emerged from the shadows of the Australian live scene with the release of their 2008 EP,Tiny Fragments and 2009 split EP with Sydney’s sleepmakeswaves. While their EPs attracted attention from
reviewers and punters alike, it’s as an intense and fiercely engaging live act that TToL have built their reputation in Australia. Through dozens of local headline shows,and supporting touring acts such as Australian prog heavywieghts Karnivool and Canadian doom lords Nadja in 2010, TToL have demanded attention and amassed a loyal following. Read more Tangled Thoughts Of Leaving – Deaden The Fields (2011)
Planeta Imaginario – Optical Delusions (2011)
Combining elements of classic British progressive rock and jazz, not so popular genres nowadays, probably may seem commercial suicide, but this extremely exciting eight piece band from Barcelona, Spain, delivering an absolutely groovy and colorful mixture of jazz, jazz rock and progressive rock, their music overlapping the classic sounds of the 60s and 70s, but introducing modern, avant-garde textures, glows, experimental turns and subtle colors, creating unique, new musical fusions.
Founded in Barcelona in 1999, the band is named after a radically creative children’s TV show from the early 1980s – Imaginary Planet. Their music should appeal to listeners of such diverse artists as: Anekdoten, AKA moon, Area, John Coltrane, King Crimson, Avishai Cohen, Steve Coleman, Deus ex Machina, Gabriel Faure, Gilgamesh, Hatfield at the North, Pat Metheny, Nucleus, Soft Machine, Van der Graaf Generator, Frederic Mompou, National Health, Weather Report, Kenny Werner, Frank Zappa, and John Zorn. Read more Planeta Imaginario – Optical Delusions (2011)
Slaves To Fashion – Artistic Differences (2011)
“Crossing Over†in 2007 was released under the name P:O:B. but despite positive reviews worldwide, no label could be found to push the self released album to a wider audience. The Norwegian rockers didn’t give it up, they change their name into the more remarkable Slaves To Fashion and continue playing a music that is actually very opposite of fashionable. STF merging metal and progressive hard rock with new, consistent sounds and for their new album, “Artistic Differences” they write some quite catchy and fresh themes and songs. Frank Jaeger, a German journalist and friend of the band, decided to take matters in his own hands and founded Hands Of Blue Records with one specific goal: to release this album. Read more Slaves To Fashion – Artistic Differences (2011)
Sounds Under Radio – Where My Communist Heart Meets My Capitalist Mind (2011)
You might believe this is the new Muse album, its sounds like, even the voice and singing style by use of falsetto and vibrato of Lang Freeman reminds me of Matthew Bellamy, but well, Sounds Under Radio are a band from Austin, Texas, formed in mid 2005 by Lang Freeman, Bradley Oliver (bass, keyboard), Sonny Sanchez (drums) and Doug Wilson (guitar).
Their song “Portrait of a Summer Thief” was featured on the “Spider-Man 3” soundtrack ant their were the only unsigned band (at that time) to be included in the soundtrack amongst names like Snow Patrol, Jet, Wolfmother, The Killers, The Flaming Lips, etc.
They signed with Sony/Epic Records in late 2008, but after facing inter-label turmoil, they gave up their contract and in mid 2008 released their first full length LP “Cinematica” independently. Read more Sounds Under Radio – Where My Communist Heart Meets My Capitalist Mind (2011)
Powder! Go Away – Laika Still Wants Go Home (2011)
Laika was a space dog. Actually the first animal to orbit the Earth, as well as the first animal to die in orbit.
After the success of Sputnik 1, Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader, wanted a spacecraft launched on November 7, 1957, the 40th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. To meet the November deadline, a new craft would have to be built. Khrushchev specifically wanted his engineers to deliver a “space spectacular,” a mission that would repeat the triumph of Sputnik I, stunning the world with Soviet prowess. The planners settled on an orbital flight with a dog. Three dogs were trained for the Sputnik 2 flight: Albina, Mushka, and Laika.
Laika was found as a stray wandering the streets of Moscow. Soviet scientists chose to use Moscow strays since they assumed that such animals had already learned to endure conditions of extreme cold and hunger. Soviet space-life scientist Oleg Gazenko selected and trained Laika.
Before the launch, one of the scientists took Laika home to play with his children. In a book chronicling the story of Soviet space medicine, Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky wrote, “I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live.” Read more Powder! Go Away – Laika Still Wants Go Home (2011)
