PROG PRESENTS…

Discovering

Ed’s Letter

Hello and welcome to the latest issue of

Bloody 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.

PETER HAMMILL RE-RECORDS HIS ENIGMA-ERA ALBUMS

IF IT’S OUT THERE, IT’S IN HERE

GEDDY LEE CONFIRMS SPOKEN-WORD TOUR

Five UK dates, including London, Glasgow and Sheffield, announced for December.

OPETH ANNOUNCED AS BLOODSTOCK HEADLINERS

Enslaved and Green Lung up the prog quota next year too.

MOON SAFARI END 10-YEAR SILENCE

Swedes return this December with the much-anticipated Himlabacken Vol 2.

MOTHERHOOD INSPIRES MYRKUR

The experience of childbirth has helped Amalie Bruun see the world afresh.

ELP OFFSHOOT 3 TO RELEASE LIVE ALBUM IN NOVEMBER

Rockin’ The Ritz: Live 1988 makes vinyl debut.

CYAN GO BACK TO THE FUTURE AGAIN!

Rob Reed’s pre-Magenta band rework their second album for November release.

THE OMNIFIC UNVEIL SECOND ALBUM

Idiosyncratic Australian trio continue their singular low-end journey of bass-led prog.

MONG TONG AND MAYA ONGAKU TO TOUR EUROPE

Southeast Asian psych outfits will play UK in November.

FAD GADGETS

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

RICK ASTLEY

Inspiring the wider music world…

PROG IN BRIEF

Harp (right), the new musical project of former

THE MYSTICAL HOT CHOCOLATE ENDEAVORS

Dreamy US quartet hit the sweet spot between prog, shoegaze and psych.

SORRY, WE DON’T HEAR A SINGLE

Radio edits just don’t cut it, says a reader.

PROG IN BRIEF

Progressive quartet Unprocessed’s (right) new album …And Everything

POMEGRANATE TIGER

Canadian multi-instrumentalist reflects on the rise of AI with jam-packed third album.

BEN REED

British jazzer taps into the spirt of Canterbury on latest solo endeavour.

MAEBE

The British guitarist mashing up prog genres to build his ultimate wall of sound.

HEDVIG MOLLESTAD

The Norwegian powerhouse discusses her new collaborative project, retaining artistic freedom, and performing on the same bill as one of her musical heroes.

“We laughed a lot!”

To celebrate the release of Keith Emerson’s Variations box set, Rick Wakeman fondly looks back on his memories with the pioneering musician whom he refers to as his “blood brother in keyboards” and shares details of the concert that he and Emerson once dreamed of playing together.

The Talented Mr Emerson

A remarkable composer, arranger and virtuoso with a ruthless disdain for the wellbeing of the Hammond organs that became part of his signature sound, Keith Emerson built the foundations upon which progressive rock stands to this day. With help from the good and great of prog rock and beyond, here are 30 classic cuts from the genius of the Moog.

TREVOR RABIN

Every month we get inside the mind of one of the biggest names in music. This issue it’s Trevor Rabin. The South African-born musician and composer is best known in prog circles for his work with Yes in the 80s and early 90s, but he began his musical journey at a very young age, joining several rock bands in his home country before eventually finding success after he relocated to California. Since the mid-90s, his name has popped up on film soundtrack scores, his credits including action movie Gone In 60 Seconds and the remake of Disney’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. He was part of ARW with former Yes members Rick Wakeman and Jon Anderson and, although the project didn’t yield any recorded material, he’s since turned his attentions back to his solo work, with the new album, Rio. He discusses his remarkable career so far and where he hopes his current path will lead

STEVEN WILSON

Modern prog’s great visionary throws away the stylistic rule book to deliver an enigmatic, luxurious post-pandemic masterwork.

EARTHSIDE

Let The Truth Speak MUSIC THEORIES RECORDINGS

DEVENDRA BANHART

Flying Wig MEXICAN SUMMER

EDGAR BROUGHTON

Break The Dark ESOTERIC

CHRISTINA

Bar Stool Prophet TIGERMOTH A

D’VIRGILIO, MORSE & JENNINGS

Sophomore INSIDEOUTMUSIC

DISTRICT 97

Stay For The Ending SPIRIT OF UNICORN MUSIC

THE EMERALD DAWN

In Time WORLD’S END RECORDS

GOAT

Medicine ROCKET RECORDINGS

GONG

Unending Ascending KSCOPE

BRIAN ENO

Top Boy (Score From The Original Series) MUSIC ON VINYL/BEATINK RECORDS

FISH ON FRIDAY

8mm ESOTERIC

GREEN LUNG

This Heathen Land NUCLEAR BLAST

HAWKLORDS

Space HAWKLORDS

HEKZ

Terra Nova BMH AUDIO AOR

MYRKUR

Spine RELAPSE RECORDS

HEAD WITH WINGS

Without Intervention HEADWITHWINGS.BANDCAMP.COM

INFINITE RISING

Awakening INFINITERISING.BANDCAMP.COM

JORDSJØ

Salighet KARISMA

KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD

The Silver Cord KGLW

PROGRESSIVE METAL

Dom Lawson buckles up for a delve into the darker, heavier side.

OZRIC TENTACLES

Lotus Unfolding KSCOPE

LALU

The Fish Who Wanted To Be King FRONTIERS

MANZANERA MACKAY

AM.PM BFD

MOLYBARON

Something Ominous INSIDEOUTMUSIC

MOEBIUS

Aspirin CURIOUS MUSIC

PATTERN-SEEKING ANIMALS

Spooky Action At A Distance INSIDEOUTMUSIC

THE RESONANCE ASSOCIATION

Choose Euphoria TRAHQ.CO.UK

JAZZ PROG

Sid Smith rounds up the best releases from prog’s jazzier reaches.

BRUCE SOORD

Luminescence KSCOPE

RETREAT FROM MOSCOW

Dreams, Myths And Machines GRAVITY

STEIN ROGER SORDAL

As I Try To Remember… APOLLON

SOURCE

Emergence LISTENTOSOURCE.COM

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

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

Terror Management Theory

SEASON OF MIST An enjoyable yet formulaic introduction from the prog metal supergroup.

THIS WINTER MACHINE

The Clockwork Man WHITE KNIGHT

TIGER MOTH TALES

The Turning Of The World WHITE KNIGHT

KING CRIMSON

Larks’ Tongues In Aspic: 50th Anniversary Edition PANEGYRIC

DUNCAN PARSONS

I’m Here, All Weak DUNCANPARSONS.BANDCAMP.COM

MESHUGGAH

Chaosphere ATOMIC FIRE

STEELY DAN

Aja GEFFEN/UME

MIDGE URE

The Gift CHRYSALIS

XTC

The Big Express BURNING SHED

WHITE WILLOW

Ignis Fatuus KARISMA RECORDS

YES

Yessingles RHINO

FRANK ZAPPA

Over-Nite Sensation UMC

FRANCIS DUNNERY’S IT BITES

Live From The Black Country TIGERMOTH

1972: WHEN PROGRESSIVE ROCK RULED THE WORLD

Kevan Furbank SONICBOND

THE ROCK ARTIST’S PROGRESS

Charles Shorwell SPIRIT OF UNICORN MUSIC

STEWART COPELAND’S POLICE DIARIES

Stewart Copeland ROCKET

YES

Yes in the spotlight. Geddit? Spot-light? There are

HELD BY TREES

VENUE THE HALF MOON, LONDON DATE 21/09/2023 Though

AYREON

VENUE POPPODIUM 013, TILBURG, NETHERLANDS DATE 16/09/2023 When

ESBEN AND THE WITCH

VENUE STUDIO 9294, LONDON DATE 22/09/2023 SUPPORT PENELOPE

WISHBONE ASH

VENUE WYLAM BREWERY, NEWCASTLE DATE 19/09/2023 We hardly

BIG BIG TRAIN

VENUE CADOGAN HALL, LONDON DATE 13/09/2023 After a

TU-NER

VENUE REGGIE’S ROCK CLUB, CHICAGO, IL, USA DATE

A SUNDAY IN SEPTEMBER

District 97: a headline set of epic proportions.

65DAYSOFSTATIC

VENUE NEW CENTURY HALL, MANCHESTER DATE 15/09/2023 Almost

ROSALIE CUNNINGHAM

VENUE THE NIGHT OWL, BIRMINGHAM DATE 20/09/2023 Multi-instrumentalist,

ARCTANGENT FESTIVAL

Devin Townsend: when he says, “Jump” we say,

FRANCK CARDUCCI

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

Music For The Head

After a short pause, Steven Wilson is back with his unexpected seventh solo record, The Harmony Codex. Across 10 new tracks, the musician-turned-producer harnesses the very latest in cutting-edge technology to make an audiophile’s must-have album of the year and his most progressive release yet. Prog finds out more about the journey that led to its organic creation.

An Extraordinary Life

Coinciding with a new biography, An Extraordinary Life, on August 3 a commemoration of the music and legacy of the much-missed John Wetton rapidly grew from a small-scale live idea into a gigantic, star-packed five-hour celebration that was streamed across the globe. Prog grabbed a golden ticket to attend the once-in-a-lifetime event at Trading Boundaries in the Sussex countryside, a night when (rock) stars truly aligned.

Odd. Weird.

Refreshed and reinvigorated from their recent live shows, Ozric Tentacles are back with a full line-up and their 16th studio album, Lotus Unfolding. Following on from 2020’s Space For The Earth and leader Ed Wynne’s solo adventures, the psychedelic warriors are bursting with creativity to bring some light to darker times. Prog catches up with Wynne Snr to find out more.

Quiet Wright

To celebrate the reissue of his 1978 solo album, Wet Dream, Prog – with the aid of daughter Gala, ex-son-in-law Guy Pratt and remixer Steven Wilson – takes a glance at the joys to be found in Richard Wright’s compact solo output.

To Boldly GO

What started in 1998 as a hobbyist seven-inch label, putting out records by pals in Bristol, has blossomed into one of the UK’s – if not the world’s – most intriguing psychedelic and experimental labels, loved by both its fans and its own acts. Praised by Stewart Lee, Julian Cope and Elijah Wood, it’s time to celebrate 25 years of Rocket Recordings.

The Dreamer’s Ball

Neal Morse has returned to the Bible to inspire his latest concept album, The Dreamer – Joseph: Part One. The singermusician has harnessed the tale of big dreams and redemption woven with sibling rivalry and betrayal and transformed it into a progressive rock epic. Morse tells Prog all about it and also details his second collaborative album with Nick D’Virgilio and Ross Jennings.

In Bloom

Sixteen studio albums in and The Flower Kings show no signs of slowing down. Mainman Roine Stolt is clearly relishing one of his most creative periods with an ongoing reissues campaign and the release of Look At You Now. Prog finds out about the latest record, gets the lowdown on his creative partnership with Jon Anderson and discovers whether he really has made his Final Flight with supergroup Transatlantic.

Dreaming From The Inside

As they approach their 40th anniversary, Galahad are facing new challenges as an independent British band. Current release The Long Goodbye finds them with a stable line-up and embracing modified recording techniques. Prog catches up with vocalist Stu Nicholson and keyboard player Dean Baker to find out about their future plans.