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.

OLIVER WAKEMAN IS ROLLING IN CLOVER

IF IT’S OUT THERE, IT’S IN HERE

ZOMBI RETURN FROM THE DEAD

Pittsburgh’s synth-prog duo release their first album in four years.

ANDY LATIMER GUESTS ON NEW BASS &BIRO ALBUM

More and Daniel Biro solo record due for release this spring.

CAN SINGER DAMO SUZUKI DEAD AT 74

An influential figure, he remained an inquisitive musical spirit to the end.

WHEEL GET ANGRY ON “OUT THERE” LP

Band balance their heaviest music to date with their most conscious lyrical content.

TRANSATLANTIC ANNOUNCE EPIC NEW LIVE ALBUM

The multi-disc collection is rumoured to be their last release.

POWER TRIO SIX BY SIX GROW STRONGER

The band kick back against “difficult second album” syndrome.

FOLLOW-UP DUE FOR CHINA’S OU

Arriving two years after their debut album, One,

TRIFECTA ARE BACK WITH SECOND LP

The New Normal features aguest appearance by Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson.

CARL PALMER CAREER-SPANNING BOX SET IN APRIL

Fanfare For The Common Man includes his autobiography.

FAD GADGETS

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

JOHN ROBB

Inspiring the wider music world…

PROG IN BRIEF

KATE_HOCKENHULL Multi-instrumentalist Alison Cotton (right) releases her new

HARP

Ex-Midlake man looks to medieval England and 80s music production for inspiration.

COLDPLAY VIVA LA VIDA OR DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS

(Parlophone, 2008)

PSYCHEWORK

Our far-out trip to far-flung prog

PROG IN BRIEF

PRESS/RUBEN TERLOUW Dutch artist and Nordic folk pioneer

THE PINEAPPLE THIEF LIMITED EDITION

WIN!

AVIATIONS

Boston sextet create progressive metal for the head and the heart.

NOSPUN

US prog metallers look to the past and future in style.

PER WIBERG

Playing guitar, keyboards, organ, and a bass (or two), not to mention singing and producing his own albums, the multitalented Swede is in particularly adventurous form with his third solo release.

CHESTER THOMPSON

Every month we get inside the mind of one of the biggest names in music. This issue it’s Chester Thompson. The US-born percussionist got his first gig when he was just 13 and his adult CV includes stints with Frank Zappa, Weather Report and, more recently, Unitopia. He made his mark on the 70s jazz fusion scene and soon became Genesis’s go-to live drummer. Now in his mid-70s, he lets us in on some trade secrets from his storied career and reveals how his accidental new album, Wake-up Call, came about.

IT BITES FD

What’s in a name? Great British prog maverick Francis Dunnery reconnects with his past and moves forward at the same time.

ELBOW

Audio Vertigo POLYDOR

BARDIC DEPTHS

What We Really Like In Stories BARDIC DEPTHS

DANIEL BIRO

Hotel Erika SARGASSO

CAN

Live In Paris 1973 MUTE

THE CHRONICLES OF FATHER ROBIN

The Songs &Tales Of Airoea – Book 3: Magical Chronicle (Ascension) KARISMA

CLOUD PEOPLE

Simulacra APOLLON

GUILLOTINE SPRING

Eclosion GUILLOTINESPRING.BANDCAMP.COM

NORTH SEA ECHOES

Really Good Terrible Things METAL BLADE

SLEEPMAKESWAVES

It’s Here, But I Have No Names For It BIRD’S ROBE RECORDS

STUART HAMM

Hold Fast GUITAR ONE RECORDS

LUCIFER WAS

Ein Fix Ferdig Mann APOLLON

MOUNTAIN CALLER

Chronicle II: Hypergenesis CHURCH ROAD RECORDS

BILL NELSON

Starlight Stories SONOLUXE

OBSERVERS

The Age Of The Machine Entities SPECTRA RECORDS

MATT PAGE

Apocalypse Garden ELECTRIC SLEEP RECORDS

VENNART

Forgiveness &The Grain VENNART.BANDCAMP.COM

PSYCHIC LEMON

The Unheimlich Kingdom DRONE ROCK RECORDS

SQUEAKY FEET

Cause For Alarm SQUEAKYFEET.BANDCAMP.COM

PAUL TAYLOR

Whirl And Magnet DISCUS

JAZZ PROG

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

WHOM GODS DESTROY

Insanium INSIDEOUTMUSIC

THISTLE SIFTER

Circles THISTLESIFTER.BANDCAMP.COM

JANE WEAVER

Love In Constant Spectacle FIRE

PER WIBERG

The Serpent’s Here DESPOTZ

WORRIEDABOUTSATAN

Jæja WORRIEDABOUTSATAN.BANDCAMP.COM

YOBREPUS

ARhizome Revolution Part 1 APOLLON

ZOMBI

Direct Inject RELAPSE

PROGRESSIVE METAL

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

EMERSON, LAKE & POWELL

The Complete Collection SPIRIT OF UNICORN MUSIC

PETER BAUMANN

Phase By Phase ESOTERIC

ENSLAVED

Heimdal: Deluxe Edition NUCLEAR BLAST

JETHRO TULL

The Château D’Hérouville Sessions WARNER

GENTLE GIANT

The Missing Piece CHRYSALIS

MANDALABAND

Mandalaband/The Eye Of Wendor: Prophecies CHRYSALIS

NEKTAR

Recycled ESOTERIC

VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR

Still Life/Vital ESOTERIC

A BOOK OF WILD FLOWERS: SANDY DENNY, JONI MITCHELL & KATE BUSH

Jim Irvin SILVER HUTCHINS PUBLISHING

THE MARILLION & FISH FILES

Edwin Ammerlaan EA MEDIA

YES: EVERY SONG, EVERY ALBUM

Stephen Lambe SONICBOND

PHIL MANZANERA

Revolución To Roxy EXPRESSION

CALIGULA’S HORSE

VENUE UNDERGROUND ARTS, PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA DATE 01/02/2024

JON GOMM

VENUE OLD WOOLLEN, LEEDS DATE 27/01/2024 SUPPORT JO

IT BITES FD

If he squints hard enough, Francis Dunnery can

STEVE HACKETT AND FRIENDS

VENUE TRADING BOUNDARIES, FLETCHING DATE 19/01/2024, 21/01/2024 SUPPORT

GODSTICKS

VENUE THE PEER HAT, MANCHESTER DATE 01/02/2024 In

EXPLORING BIRDSONG

Exploring Birdsong push more boundaries. VENUE THE

BEATRIX PLAYERS

VENUE THE 1865, SOUTHAMPTON DATE 04/02/2024 SUPPORT COLIN

MICHAEL ROTHER

VENUE THE BARBICAN, LONDON DATE 03/02/2024 Michael Rother’s

TIM BOWNESS

VENUE THE HOPE AND ANCHOR, LONDON DATE 27/01/2024

PERIPHERY

VENUE THE ROUNDHOUSE, LONDON DATE 03/02/2024 SUPPORT CROOKED

AIRBAG/OAK

VENUE COSMOPOLITE, OSLO, NORWAY DATE 10/02/2024 It’s quite

SPOCK’S BEARD

Alan Morse and Ted Leonard trade licks. VENUE

CLOSURE IN MOSCOW

VENUE UNDERGROUND ART, PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA DATE 10/02/2024

KEVIN FEAZEY (THE FIERCE &THE DEAD)

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

Movements Of Visionaries

Fifty years ago, electronic music got a new beat when Tangerine Dream released Phaedra. The pioneering German group’s fifth studio album saw the Berliners relocate to the English countryside, and its motorik grooves played a key role in what was being defined as krautrock. We look back on the story behind one of the greatest experimental electronic albums of all time, its legacy and the synthesiser that informed its sound.

ANDWELLAS DREAM/ANDWELLA

To Dream NUMERO

COME TOGETHER

A quarter-of-a-century ago Bruce Soord founded The Pineapple Thief as a creative outlet for himself. Originally intended as a solo project, it soon grew beyond his expectations and the quartet’s latest album, It Leads To This, finds them switching things up even further. Prog catches up with Soord, drummer Gavin Harrison and bassist Jon Sykes to discuss their current release and find out why its creation turned out to be such a cathartic experience.

Books Of Wonder

Nostalgia isn’t a word that’s often associated with Bill Nelson, and yet he views the past through rose-tinted spectacles on his latest solo albums, All The Fun Of The Fair and Starlight Stories. The forward-thinking Be-Bop Deluxe and Red Noise bandleader tells Prog about his childhood heroes, beating the challenges of ageing and the flurry of new releases that are waiting in the wings.

Lightbulb Sons

Some double acts were just meant to be. Wilson & Wakeman – Arena vocalist Damian Wilson and Black Sabbath keysman Adam Wakeman – have become one of prog’s most creative duos, with a chemistry that’s unrivalled. Their latest album, Can We Leave The Light On Longer?, finds the pair exploring topics from AI to absent friends via some of the most heartfelt and tear-jerking songs Prog ’s heard in a while. We caught up with them to find out more.

Hats Off, Gentlemen!

Two albums and four years into their existence and with their music already labelled by some as ‘what The Beatles might have done if they hadn’t split up’, in 1973 cheeky Bristol prog types Stackridge found themselves in a studio with their production hero George Martin. But were they about to lose their heads for The Man In The Bowler Hat?

The Healing

Self-examination and emotional purging are common themes explored on Chelsea Wolfe’s albums, but her latest, She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She is her most intimate yet. The experimental singer-songwriter, who has previously collaborated with Russian Circles and Myrkur, discusses rebirth, cutting ties with the past and a new-found sobriety that found her swapping dark folk and gothic blues for a more electronic sound.

Into The Light

When Big Big Train’s frontman David Longdon unexpectedly passed away in 2021, there was uncertainly over whether the band would continue. Now with an updated line-up that includes PFM’s Alberto Bravin on vocals, the multinational collective are back with their 15th album. The Likes Of Us is for anyone who’s ever felt left behind, say the band. We find out about its creation and discover which member has been know to channel his inner Bee Gee after hours.

Liminal Space

Kyros’s last full studio album was released in 2020, when the world was in a different place. With freedom to roam again, the band are back with a bang on their fourth LP, Mannequin, and they’ve got plenty to say. Prog catches up with the pop-friendly, shape-shifting quartet to find out more.

The Ever-evolving Symphony Of Ihsahn

As the frontman of Emperor, Ihsahn rose to prominence in a black metal scene laced with screaming and violence. However, his music’s only grown more progressive, symphonic and melodic since. The avant-garde maestro tells Prog why his new, self-titled album is his most definitive and complex release yet

LISTEN & LEARN

With their fifth studio album, Stay For The Ending, District 97 continue to blur the lines between prog and pop, and for that, they have their fans to thank. As drummer Jonathan Schang and vocalist Leslie Hunt reveal to Prog, much of the album’s inspiration came from listening to their fans and the seasoned musings of Bill Bruford to help make their latest their most memorable yet.

Family Affair

It’s been four years since Fish On Friday released the acclaimed Black Rain, and, after a challenging period in his personal life, mainmain Frank Van Bogaert has returned with the heartfelt and atmospheric 8mm. He and bassist extraordinaire Nick Beggs discuss the unexpected inspiration that led to this milestone record.