Cured - sounded like he wasn't Highly Strung - better than Defector Til We Have Faces - a bit half-baked Guitar Noir - one of his best Blues With a Feeling - lacks feeling although I liked Big Dallas Sky Of his last few albums, I like the most recent one best. Wolflight was inconsistent, and Shrouded Horizon was too sprawling. Tunnel's Mouth had some good ideas, but it suffered from fairly stiff drum programming in spots. Squackett has some excellent material. To the Storms was quite good - similar to Night Siren in quality.
Are they? I'm not hearing anything interesting in the new material that's come out on live projects. Waiting patiently for it to coalesce into something, but they seem to have just written a series of extended song intros.
Glad to see that you're enjoying This Winter Machine. One of the best new bands I've heard in a long time. Some other recent faves include: Alan Reed - Honey On The Razor's Edge - a return to a prog sound after some tasty singer-songwriter releases. Pallas were bonkers to get rid of him! Long Earth - The Source - Gets under the skin does this one. Thought it was okay, the first couple of spins then suddenly I'm humming the tunes constanly. Multi Story - Crimson Stone - Wonderful comeback album from a band who very nearly broke through in the eighties. The best kind of gentle neo prog. Got to echo the praise for Big Big Train. The two recent records maintain the extraordinarily high standards they've set in recent years. They've become a real institution. Happy listening!
I did like Guitar Noir a lot and agree it’s one of his best. I highly disagree that Highly Strung is better than Defector. Many people I’ve spoken with consider Defector one of his best and I can’t argue with that.
Spent time tonight with a Turquish band: Gevende. Their album, Kirinardi, mixes jazz elements with prog, along with some fusion. All this mixed in with a tad of local folk. Quite the blend: the singing can be an acquired taste, IMO. The artwork for this LP is pretty cool too. Overall, an interesting find, which doesn't quite fit within the traditional realms of prog!
I had troubles with the vocals on This Winter Machine, unfortunately.... will get Alan Reed a stream in the morning, thanks for the recommendation! Will also sample the latest BBT tomorrow- i really love their 4 last albums, so should be in for another treat!!
Love From Melmac, by Espiral (experimental / instrumental space-rock, full-length, released July 29, 2017, Santiago, Chile) Favourite track: Autoflorecientes
Dunno if this has new release has already been mentioned: Big Big Train - London Song -- a 34 min mix of various Big Big Train songs that refer to London. And it's a "Name Yer Price" lossless download from Bandcamp --Geoff
Nature Gives You Beer And Wine, by Sho (experimental rock, full-length, physical CD available, released August 2, 2017, Italy) Favourite track: Mombello
The Squid, by The Parallax Method (instrumental progressive rock / metal trio, full-length, 5-track EP, England) Favourite track: I Squid You Farewell (Owl Be Seeing You)
Roppongi, by Stick Men featuring Mel Collins (progressive rock, full-length, physical CD & vinyl LP available, released August 3, 2017, USA) Favourite track: Sepia
A Chord Line Beneath The Geodesic, by Kindred Lost (progressive electronic, full-length, released August 6, 2017, USA) Favourite track: Thorium Romance
Bank Myna, by Bank Myna (post-progressive, full-length, physical CD available, released April 23, 2016, Paris) Favourite track: Ghosts & Arrows
Electric Life (2017), by Buku Broux (acoustic progressive fusion, full-length, released January 14, 2017, New Orleans) Favourite track: Lightning Strikes
Colors Are for Kids, by Fiddafoe (progressive rock, 6-track EP, released August 8, 2017, Fort Collins, Colorado) Favourite track: Brainiac
I just heard a track from this album ("How Does It Make You Feel?") on Spotify and was taken back by how convincingly retro this band is, yet totally fresh-sounding. Can hardly wait to check out the rest of the album.
Cinema Finis, by Fibonacci Sequence (progressive rock, full-length, released August 13, 2017, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) Favourite track: Repentless
Vector, by Cubozoa (progressive metal, full-length, released August 17, 2017, Raleigh, North Carolina) Favourite track: The Plague
Soup - Remedies At first only available as LP + CD package now there is only a CD only edition (yay). Very atmospheric, with a hefty dose of shoegaze building up to huge walls of sound. Anathema fans might really like this. Cover art by Lasse Hoille. Bandcamp full stream here: Remedies, by soup
