Prog Rock Community in Second Life
This weekend I am spinning a few classic pieces of the progressive rock genre. Featuring Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, Supertramp, Camel, Gentle Giant, Manfred Mann's Earthband, and also a track by the Beatles.
This weekend I am spinning part 2 of my review of the year. In this part and in the next I will focus on 2020 releases.
Did you miss any of the shows I played this year? This is the opportunity to catch up! This weekend I am spinning excerpts of albums which I played in this year, focusing on albums which were released before 2020. In parts 2 and 3 I am spinning the best of 2020 prog rock releases.
The Flower Kings, founded in 1994 in Sweden, is together with Spock's Beard (USA) and Porcupine Tree (UK) one of the most important bands being responsible for the revival of progressive rock since the 90's. It's guitarist Roine Stolt is also one of the busiest musicians in the progressive rock world with his involvement in Transatlantic, Agents of Mercy and The Sea Within, just to name a few. Now, The Flower Kings have released their 14th studio album 'Islands' which we will be listening to in its entirety.
Galahad is a neo-prog band founded in 1985 in the UK. First they were only supporting acts for other neo-prog bands of that time like IQ, Pendragon and Pallas, playing half covers and half original material. Then, at the beginning of the 90's they took it more seriously and started recording their first proper album in 1991. Since then they have released 13 studio albums so far. This weekend I am streaming their album 'Seas of Change', which was one of my top 3 albums of the year 2018. This album mostly consists of one single track, which I would also name as an example of a typical progressive rock track longer than 40 minutes.
Last weekend I have played the latest release of Wobbler from Norway, and this week I am playing their outstanding album 'From Silence To Somewhere', which was one of my top 3 albums of the year 2017. The music is symphonic prog with plenty of playful complex musical textures, with influences ranging from Genesis, Yes to Gentle Giant.
Wobbler is a band from Norway, which is active since 1999. Three years after their remarkable album 'From Silence to Somewhere' they are back with their brand new and fifth release 'Dwellers of the Deep'.
The music is strongly influenced by symphonic prog rock of the early 70's with some reminiscences of Yes.
This weekend I am spinning a theme: I am only playing tracks with ghost, angel, demon, devil, spirit, haunted or supernatural in the title.
Attention! North America switches back to Normal Time, while Europe is already in Normal Time. Please check the times!
Days Between Stations was formed in California in 2003 by guitarist Sepand Samzadeh and keyboarder Oscar Fuentes. They have released three albums so far. Two weeks ago I presented their brand new album. This week's featured album is their second release 'In Extremis'. The music is strongly rooted in 70's orchestral symphonic prog, but also with a modern feel to it. It contains contributions of well known guest musicians like Billy Sherwood, Rick Wakeman, Peter Banks and Tony Levin.
Attention! Europe switches back to Normal Time while North America does not! Check the times below:
No streaming this weekend, sorry!
Next streaming will be on the weekend October 24th/25th.
Prog on and see you next time!
Seven years after their great release 'In Extremis' the Los Angeles based band Days Between Stations have returned with a new album: 'Giants'. The album is again produced by Billy Sherwood, who is best known for his collaboration with Yes. The music is strongly influenced by prog rock of the 70's in the style of Genesis/Yes.
Lazuli are a French rock ensemble founded in 1998. They have released eight albums so far. This weekend's featured album is their latest release 'Le fantastique envol de Dieter Böhm (2020)'.In their music, they do a relaxed blend of classic prog and alternative/warm world music.
Steve Unruh is a violinist and multi-instrumentalist, who releases albums since 1997 and who is also known for his collaboration with The Samurai of Prog. This weekend's featured album is his latest release Precipice (2019). The music has a nice variety and is rooted in 70's prog with influences of Jethro Tull and world music. He sings and plays all instruments by himself.
In June 1973 John McLaughlin (guitar), Jan Hammer (keyboards), Jerry
Goodman (violin), Rick Laird (bass) and Billy Cobham (drums) went into
the studio to record what was meant to be the third album of Mahavishnu
Orchestra after 'The Inner Mounting Flame' and 'Birds of Fire'.
Unfortunately tensions went high and the album was not released. In an
interview 1977 John McLaughlin said he wished that the album would be
released one day, because "it's a great album." Fortunately the record
company released it in 1999. I am spinning the album in its entirety. Also on the program: Colosseum, Rick Wakeman, Aziza Mustafa Zadeh and A Kew's Tag.
No streaming this weekend, sorry!
Next streaming will be on the weekend September 19th/20th.
Prog on and see you next time!
This weekend I am spinning tracks which have some noteworthy keyboards in them. In only 90 minutes it is a very difficult task, because there are too many tracks to choose from. Featuring Genesis, Yes, Colosseum, ELP and many more.
Abel Ganz is a neo-prog band from Glasgow, Scotland, UK. Formed in 1980 they have released seven albums so far. This weekend I am spinning their brand new release 'The Life of the Honey Bee and Other Moments of Clarity'.
This weekend I have chosen a theme: A journey through the history of prog from 1969 until today. We will listen to music by Genesis, Yes and King Crimson of the 70's, but also to newer releases by Leprous and Gleb Kolyadin. What connects all those pieces of music and differs them from other types of music? Discuss or just listen, as you please.
This weekend's featured album is CD 2 of the latest IQ live album.
The British neo-prog band IQ was scheduled for extended touring this year, but unfortunately the spreading of the COVID-19 virus forced the band to cancel most of the shows. One of the last live appearances was a concert on January 24th in Aschaffenburg, Germany, which the band recorded originally for their archives only. Now, this concert is made available by the band on a double CD. This weekend I am spinning CD 1, next weekend CD 2 of this stunning performance.