Discovering MRR

Melodic Revolution Records

Ed’s Letter

NEXT ISSUE ON SALE AUG 5 Hello, and

Bloddy Well Write

Send your letters to us at: Prog, Future Publishing, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London, W2 6JR, or email prog@futurenet.com. Letters may be edited for length. We regret that we cannot reply to phone calls. For more comment and prog news and views, find us on facebook.com under Prog.

LETTER

I’m 60 and grew up with all the

JOHN MITCHELL REBOOTS LONELY ROBOT

Lockdown heartache, lingering grief, and one very tight deadline have led to A Model Life, the “experimental” fifth album from the polymathic progger in his solo incarnation.

REMEMBERING STEVE BROUGHTON

The Edgar Broughton Band member and Tubular Bells drummer died in May.

AA WILLIAMS BACK WITH SECOND ALBUM AND SHOWS

The singer will promote As The Moon Rests with UK dates.

ARENA TEST THEORY ON 10TH ALBUM.

Vocalist Damian Wilson to make his mark on The Theory Of Molecular Inheritance.

MOTORPSYCHO GO FOUR FOR FOUR!

August’s Ancient Astronauts will be the Norwegians’ fourth album in as many years.

O.R.K. TO OPEN UP THEIR SCREAMNASIUM IN OCTOBER

The heavyweight proggers work the floor on album four.

SUPERGROUP SIX BY SIX LAUNCH DEBUT

Robert Berry on the trio whose roots spread from Saga to Saxon, via Keith Emerson.

AT LAST: NEW SIDES FROM KING’S X!

The prog metal innovators unveil Three Sides Of One in September, and tour dates.

ORGANIC SOUNDS AND DARK HISTORY: HEILUNG RETURN

The Danish folkers unearth fourth album, Drif, in August.

FAD GADGETS

Rhodri Marsden on three of the latest must-have gizmos currently putting the prog in progress.

CRISPIAN MILLS

The Kula Shaker linchpin on how Pink Floyd and Peter Gabriel’s producer Bob Ezrin helped the band to channel their inner prog rockers.

PROG IN BRIEF

Parisian prog metallers Spheres (right) will return on

SQUARE WILD

Manchester prog rockers find romance in blending together their musical passions.

PREFAB SPROUT

JORDAN: THE COMEBACK

OU

ALL AROUND THE WORLD Our far-out trip to far-flung prog

PROG IN BRIEF

Solstein vendi is the Henihil new quartet iumqui

SOFT FFOG

Krokofant side-project shine on with free-flowing jazz-rock debut.

DUNCAN MARQUISS

Guitar experimentations that search for a spark in krautrock, folk and celtic spaces.

MOUNTAINSCAPE

Reading’s mythical trio swap extreme metal for post-rock soundscapes.

BILLY HOWERDEL

A Perfect Circle’s guitarist returns to his earliest roots with his second solo record – and first album under his own name – as he draws inspiration from the British bands that first ignited his love for music.

THE PROG INERVIEW

Arthur Brown

THE MUSICAL BOX

MIKAEL ÅKERFELDT

…AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD

XI: Bleed Here Now INSIDEOUT

THE ALGORITHM

Data Renaissance FIXT RECORDS

THE ARISTOCRATS

The Aristocrats With Primuz Chamber Orchestra BOING! MUSIC LLC

DANNY BEARDSLEY

Chase The Sun, DANNYBEARDSLEY.COM

BIRTH

Born OMEN

AFFIRM

One More Moment, BAYLEYHUNT.BANDCAMP.COM

BLACK MIDI

Hellfire ROUGH TRADE

THE GATHERING

Beautiful Distortion PSYCHONAUT RECORDS

CHARLIE GRIFFITHS

Tiktaalika INSIDEOUT

DATADYR

Woolgathering IS IT JAZZ?

AL DI MEOLA, JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, PACO DE LUCIA

Saturday Night In San Francisco Live 12/6/80 EARMUSIC

ENNEADE

Withered Flowers And Cinnamon VALLIS LUPI

FINAL LIGHT

Final Light RED CREEK

GHOST OF THE MACHINE

Scissorgames , GHOSTOFTHEMACHINE.BANDCAMP.COM

ACE HANSEL JR

Songs From Croix-Noire MADHOUSE RAG RECORDS

OCEANS OF SLUMBER

Starlight And Ash CENTURY MEDIA

HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT’S ADEQUATE

The Confidence Trick GLASS CASTLE RECORDINGS

BILLY HOWERDEL

What Normal Was ALCHEMY/BMG RECORDS

I LIKE TO SLEEP

Sleeping Beauty RUNE GRAMMOFON

ART-ROCK

Chris Roberts samples the new releases on the prog/rock boundary .

DEREK SHERINIAN

Vortex INSIDEOUT

KNEKKLECTRIC

Alt Blir Verre APOLLON

LAST FLIGHT TO PLUTO

Random Karma, Fate And Destiny WHITE KNIGHT RECORDS

MONO

My Story, The Buraku Story TEMPORARY RESIDENCE

MORLOCK

The Outcasts CINEPLOIT

MY SOLILOQUY

Fusion RARE ARTISTS RECORDS

NEBALA

Lustuz Laþu Wōþuz Alu NORSE MUSIC

PROGRESSIVE FOLK

Paul Sexton travels from New York to Hull in the latest bucolic grab-bag.

THE TANGENT

Songs From The Hard Shoulder INSIDEOUT

RETURNED TO THE EARTH

Fall Of The Watcher RHYTHM DIGITAL

SUN’S SIGNATURE

Sun’s Signature PARTISAN RECORDS

UMPHREY’S McGEE

Asking For A Friend NOTHING TOO FANCY MUSIC

VLMV

Sing With Abandon NICE WEATHER FOR AIRSTRIKES

WIRE

Not About To Die PINK FLAG

ED WYNNE

Tumbling Through The Floativerse KSCOPE

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

Grant Moon has a rummage down the back of the Prog sofa for the ones that nearly got away…

HORSLIPS

More Than You Can Chew MADFISH

BABE RUTH

Darker Than Blue: The Harvest Years (1972-1975) CHERRY RED

THE FLOWER KINGS

Back In The World Of Adventures/Retropolis INSIDEOUT

KEEF HARTLEY BAND

Sinnin’ For You: The Albums (1969-1973) ESOTERIC

HEMLOCK

Hemlock ESOTERIC

STOMU YAMASHTA

Seasons – The Island Albums 1972-1976 ESOTERIC

SPIROGYRA

The Future Won’t Be Long: The Albums 1971-1973 CHERRY RED

RICK WAKEMAN

The Myths And Legends Of Rick Wakeman CLEOPATRA

FRANK ZAPPA

Zappa/Erie ZAPPA RECORDS/UME

THE WILD WORLD OF BARNEY BUBBLES: GRAPHIC DESIGN AND THE ART OF MUSIC

Paul Gorman THAMES & HUDSON

THE SOUND OF THE MACHINE: MY LIFE IN KRAFTWERK AND BEYOND

Karl Bartos OMNIBUS

JON HISEMAN’S JOURNEY IN THE TIME MACHINE

Martyn Hanson TEMPLE MUSIC

GRAHAM DEAN

Strange Beauty GONZO MULTIMEDIA

OPETH

Mikael Åkerfeldt cries out for more Flying

SIGUR RÓS

VENUE THE MET PHILLY, PHILADELPHIA, USA DATE 07/06/2022

CROWN LANDS

Headcount: yep, there’s definitely only two of them.

TOOL

VENUE THE O2, LONDON DATE 09/05/2022 T he

MAGENTA

VENUE ARLINGTON ARTS, NEWBURY DATE 21/05/2022 M agenta

VON HERTZEN BROTHERS

Never missing a beat: Von Hertzen Brothers. WILL

SYMPHONY X

VENUE PARK WEST, CHICAGO, USA DATE 19/05/2022 SUPPORT

STEELEYE SPAN

F or the first half of this concert

NMB

NMB: doing it all again in London. Has

MYSTIC FESTIVAL

VENUE GDAŃSK SHIPYARD, POLAND DATE 02/06/2022-04/06/2022 R eturning

MY PROG

The great and good of progressive music give us a glimpse into their prog worlds. As told to Grant Moon

IN MEMORY OF VANGELIS

His iconic movie soundtracks paved a new path for electronic music, but there was far more to Chariots Of Fire and Blade Runner composer Vangelis than dramatic film scores. The Aphrodite’s Child instrumentalist and Jon Anderson collaborator became a synth pioneer whose iconic music has even journeyed into space. His death at the age of 79 comes less than a year after the release of the long-awaited Juno To Jupiter. We join the prog world in paying tribute to him.

IN MEMORY OF ALAN WHITE

When Alan White joined Yes in 1972, he couldn’t have imagined that he would still be playing an active role in the band 50 years later. Yes dedicated their recent Close To The Edge UK Tour to the memory of their long-serving drummer, who died in May at the age of 72. The versatile musician was a fast learner who had also played with John Lennon, both in the Plastic Ono Band and on the album, Imagine. We look back over his unexpected career.

THERETURN OF THE THREE PORCUPINE

Never say never. After years of speculation and rumours, Steven Wilson has reunited with his former Porcupine Tree bandmates Richard Barbieri and Gavin Harrison for one of the most unexpected musical reformations. Prog catches up with the trio to discuss the story behind their big comeback album, Closure/Continuation, and find out whether this really is the end of Porcupine Tree’s 30-year career, or just a new chapter.

In Absentia

Where are the other Porcupine Tree members now?

Lightbulb Sons

Five bands that wouldn’t exist without Porcupine Tree.

A Great Day For Freedom

In April 2022, Pink Floyd announced they were releasing their first new music since 1994’s The Division Bell. The single, Hey Hey, Rise Up!, saw David Gilmour and Nick Mason reuniting to raise money for Ukraine Humanitarian Relief. But was the regrouping – which also included bassist Guy Pratt and Nitin Sawhney with a special guest appearance from BoomBox’s Andriy Khlyvnyuk – the shape of things to come? Or a one-off? Prog looks at one of this year’s biggest surprises

Brothers, Sisters And Beatrix Tales

Two years after the release of her solo debut, Ms Amy Birks is back with In Our Souls. Her second album finds her returning to her literary roots with inspiration from the Brontë sisters. She tells Prog about its creation and why she’s decided to begin work on a long-awaited new Beatrix Players record.

A Waking Mind Is An Open Mind

How do you stay fresh and vital more than 20 years into a career? The answer, for Claudio Sanchez, was found in revitalising Coheed And Cambria’s sound with an open mind and the help of a producer better known for pop punk than prog rock. Sanchez takes Prog on a curious journey through the latest instalment in The Amory Wars, Vaxis II: A Window Of The Waking Mind.

Maximum Break

Progressive music’s unlikeliest trio are back with a new studio album. The Utopia Strong’s Steve Davis, Kavus Torabi and Michael J York tell Prog how Timothy Leary, experiments on a discounted Chinese guzheng, and a sports promoter accidentally led to the creation of their second official release, International Treasure.

Rewiring Project

Fresh from their recent appearance at Winter’s End Festival, Welsh collective Last Flight To Pluto are ready to embrace Random Karma, Fate And Destiny. Vocalist Alice Freya and drummer Darren Joseph tell Prog why they’ve taken a different approach on their third album and how they hope it’ll help them to reach larger audiences.

One Man And His Prog

Twenty years into a career as one of British prog’s most prolific underground bands, The Tangent are focusing on long-form songs on their 12th album, Songs From The Hard Shoulder. Bandleader Andy Tillison talks to Prog about travel shows, anti-Tangent sentiment, and the rather surprising artist he’d really like to work with.

Dawn Spiritual

On her latest album, Elevation, Susanna Wallumrød rekindles her passion for Charles Baudelaire’s poems but embraces more traditional song structure. The experimental Norwegian musician takes Prog on a musical journey through the work of one of France’s most controversial writers via the art of a 20th-century occultist, Cameron.

THREE SPIRITS

After a brief foray into vocal-led songs, US trio Earthless have taken a more progressive approach on Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons. Their latest album finds them tapping into Japanese folklore and returning to their instrumental roots across three exploratory suites. Guitarist Isaiah Mitchell takes Prog on a journey through their sound.