CRITICS’ LISTS 2024

Discovering

What started life as an annual post-everything free

PROG PRESENTS…

What’s on your free Nice Weather For Airstrikes digital album Download the 15-track sampler from bit.ly/nwfa_sampler

Ed’s Letter

Hello and welcome to the latest issue of

Bloody Well White

Send your letters to us at: Prog, Future Publishing, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London, W2 6QA, or email prog@futurenet.com. Letters may be edited for length. We regret that we cannot reply to phone calls and we cannot always respond to individual messages. Find us on facebook.com under Prog.

STEVEN WILSON GOES FULL BLOWN PROG FOR HIS EIGHTH SOLO LP

The Overview examines the profound phenomenon experienced by astronauts looking down on Earth across two epic and breathtaking tracks.

SECOND SOLO LP FROM MARKO HIETALA

The eclectic Roses From The Deep brings the best of rock from across the decades.

DIM GRAY PICK UP THE PIECES ON THIRD ALBUM

Shards deals with the nature of change and upheaval.

ABWH REISSUE CLASSIC LIVE ALBUM

The new expanded edition of An Evening Of Yes Music Plus includes a host of extras.

NEKTAR’S DEBUT ALBUM GETS BOXED

Prog pioneers Nektar see their 1971 debut,

COHEED & CAMBRIA GET PERSONAL

Mainman Claudio Sanchez says their 10th LP “resonates differently”.

GARY KEMP ANNOUNCES HIS THIRD SOLO ALBUM

Saucerful Of Secrets singer-guitarist pays homage to music.

AMPLIFIER EMBRACE SOUNDS OF SILENCE

Sel Balamir and Matt Brobin discover the art of silent recording to return bigger than ever.

JANE WEAVER SPRING TOUR

Psych-progger Jane Weaver has announced a 12-date

EDVARD GRAHAM LEWIS NEW SOLO LP

Don’t be fooled by cheery title – this is an album full of the dark stuff, he cautions.

GHOST OF THE MACHINE ANNOUNCE SECOND LP

The consequences of violence are put under the microscope.

FAD GADGETS

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

GAVIN FRIDAY

Inspiring the wider music world…

PROG IN BRIEF

Space rockers Hawkwind (right) hit the road in

ODDLEAF

French proggers create a flutter with eco-themed debut.

TORI AMOS FROM THE CHOIRGIRL HOTEL

(Atlantic Records, 1998) As soon as Tori Amos

SENSIBLE MUSIC STUDIOS

Saluting the scene’s supporting crew

PROG IN BRIEF

MICHAEL PUTLAND/GETTY IMAGES Henihil iumqui dolent vendi Kevin

TOM PENAGUIN

French composer and instrumentalist takes a sonic trip to Canterbury.

OVERHEAD, THE ALBATROSS

Irish quartet pull on the heartstrings with dynamic post-rock.

WE ARE BODIES

Archive musician and TV composer create stadium-filling electro-prog sounds.

ROSS VALORY

Ex-Journey bassist on going solo, retracing his progressive roots and paying tribute to Santana.

THE PROG INTERVIEW DAVID SURKAMP

Every month we get inside the mind of one of the biggest names in music. This issue it’s David Surkamp. The US vocalist formed Pavlov’s Dog in the early 70s and went on to form Hi-Fi with Fairport Convention’s Iain Matthews in the 80s. Surkamp is now the only original member in the current Pavlov’s line-up and perhaps proof you can teach an old dog new tricks. He recalls the band’s glory years, being ditched by Todd Rundgren, those Geddy Lee comparisons, and the upcoming album, Wonderlust

MOGWAI

Prog? Post-rock? Noise? The follow-up to the most unlikely No.1 album of the decade proves the Scottish genre-blurrers have found an entirely new way to push things forwards.

MATT BERRY

Some of the best noises to hear this new year.

ARMY OF MOTHS

Epic and eccentric journey into sound from escapist chaosmongers.

NIK BÄRTSCH’S RONIN

Minimalistic masterpiece from acclaimed Swiss outfit.

BLIND EGO

RPWL guitarist plays hard and fast on his fifth solo album.

ALEX CARPANI

Engrossing existential voyage from art/prog rock maestro.

CROWSVSRAVENS

Another quickfire album from prolific US proggers.

CAHILL//COSTELLO

Atmospheric electro-acoustic double album from Royal Conservatoire of Scotland alumni.

HAWKWIND

Triple-disc live set captures the space rock veterans’ sonic destruction.

JONATHAN HULTÉN

Swedish folk-prog maverick expands his horizons dramatically.

DANEFAE

Nature and myth meet vocal acrobatics on Danish oufit’s impressive second album.

HENGE

Wild electro-prog from distant planets.

KROKOFANT

6 IS IT JAZZ? RECORDS

RANDY MCSTINE

Finely crafted stylistic mix from multitalented American.

MÚR

Icelandic debutants fuse brutality and beauty for an eclectic dark prog cocktail.

BILL NELSON

Fourteen unreleased Nelson instrumentals from 2015 finally see the light of day.

DORIE JACKSON

Second solo album from Kaprekar’s Constant singer.

ART-ROCK

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

THE SNOZZBERRIES

North Carolina psych quartet go further and freakier on album two.

OVERHEAD, THE ALBATROSS

Imaginative Irish post-rockers find their feet on dynamic second album.

ODDLEAF

Seventies-influenced French progressive music turns over a new leaf.

SOMOS EL VIENTO

Impressively stormy debut from Spanish post-rocker.

THREE CANE WHALE

Virtuoso multi-instrumental prog folk trio conjure up musical magic.

VIRTUAL SYMMETRY

Prog metallers push melodic boundaries to the max.

WARDRUNA

Dark Nordic folk collective bear down on another extraordinary concept album.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

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

YOBREPUS

Norwegian proggers follow-up pessimistic 2024 opus.

WIZRD

Second album from Norwegian supergroup delivers some serious magic.

WE ARE BODIES

Archive’s Dave Pen dips back into his mostly electronic side-project.

ANDERSON BRUFORD WAKEMAN HOWE

Yes break-off faction captured live in sound and vision in 1989.

LISA GERRARD

Former Dead Can Dance singer turned soundtrack composer’s solo material compiled.

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

An overlooked gem from the early Harvest catalogue.

KEVIN AYERS

Vinyl reissue of one of the Canterbury scene great’s most accessible LPs.

NEKTAR

Six-disc reissue of space rocking debut, complete with extras and 5.1/stereo mixes.

JEAN-MICHEL JARRE

Remastered edition of groundbreaking synth landmark.

SOFT MACHINE

John Etheridge’s Softs’ debut remastered.

SEVEN IMPALE

Dark prog mavericks give their 2014 debut another spin.

WHITE WILLOW

Norwegians’ misfiring fourth album hasn’t improved with age.

SIDEWAYS THROUGH TIME: AN ORAL HISTORY OF HAWKWIND IN THE 1970S

More than 30 interviews with Hawkwind’s many minstrels and acolytes.

CARDIACS: A BIG BOOK AND A BAND AND A WHOLE WORLD WINDOW

The idiosyncratic English art-rockers’ history detailed in a limited-edition chunky read.

WHAT ART DOES: AN UNFINISHED THEORY

“Art is a way of making feelings happen...” and other Eno-isms.

GOD WALKING PAST 1968-1976

Exhaustively long but illuminating doc about Merthyr Tydfil’s puff-loving finest.

Take a bow

THE PINEAPPLE THIEF VENUE WORLD CAFÉ LIVE,

COLIN BLUNSTONE

VENUE ERIC MORECAMBE CENTRE, HARPENDEN DATE

MIKE OLDFIELD’S TUBULAR BELLS: THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

VENUE PORTSMOUTH GUILDHALL DATE 12/11/2024 The

ANIMALS AS LEADERS

VENUE UNION TRANSFER, PHILADELPHIA, USA DATE

TRILOGY

VENUE THE FIDDLER’S ELBOW, LONDON DATE

SÓLSTAFIR

VENUE O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON, LONDON DATE

HELD BY TREES

VENUE THE LOUISIANA, BRISTOL DATE 16/11/2024

HEILUNG

VENUE KIRI TE KANAWA THEATRE, AUCKLAND, NZ

GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR

VENUE THE SALT SHED, CHICAGO, IL, USA

ORPHANED LAND

VENUE THE UNDERWORLD, LONDON DATE 30/11/2024

BLOOD INCANTATION

VENUE THE REGENT THEATER, LOS ANGELES, USA

JOE DENINZON (KANSAS/STRATOSPHEERIUS)

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

IN MEMORY OF PETER SINFIELD

His dream was to make an artistic contribution that would enlighten, provoke or stir, but Peter Sinfield became the lyrical mastermind behind some of King Crimson’s best-loved works. The poet had a significant influence on the world of progressive music also bringing his skills to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Roxy Music and PFM before branching out into the world of pop. Although he had retired due to ill health, his recent death at the age of 80 came as a shock to those who knew him. We pay tribute to him.

Defying The Odds

When it was released in 1997, This Strange Engine marked a different kind of Marillion. No longer were they afforded big-label advances and plush West End studios, but instead they were forced to get creative in a different way. As the album is reissued as a deluxe edition, the band look back on a period that found them writing with a new freedom and discovering that cultural appropriation isn’t the best way to win over South American audiences.

The French Connection

Art-rockers Klone have created some of the most progressive music of their career so far on their eighth studio album, The Unseen. Guitarist Guillaume Bernard discusses allowing the space for their sweeping, nourishing sounds to blossom and mature, and reveals why they’re setting their sights on some headline tours.

The Myth & The Magic

In 1984, Clannad released one of their best-known albums. Legend was the soundtrack to the cult TV show Robin Of Sherwood and helped them become the first Irish band to scoop a BAFTA. Forty years on, it’s been lovingly expanded with previously unreleased material and performed at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Prog takes a journey through Sherwood Forest with Moya and Pól Brennan to uncover the story behind the album that made them household names

Dark ness

As they head towards their 25th anniversary, Finnish prog-doom merchants Swallow The Sun are bringing a touch of hope to their more melancholic output with the transformative new album, Shining. Bandleader Juha Raivio discusses their brighter sound, Marillion’s influence and why this album is going big with Queen-style choruses.

Animal Magic

Much has changed in the decade since Mercury Rev last released a studio album, not least their line-up. Born Horses takes the ‘space blues’ band in a new and even more dreamlike direction that pays tribute to both beat poet Robert Creeley and former Faust member Tony Conrad. Frontman Jonathan Donahue and guitarist/keyboardist Sean ‘Grasshopper’ Mackowiak discuss maximalism, nature programmes and the art of trying to remove seagull sounds from their songs

Big Beasts

As they release their seventh album, And So I Watch You From Afar confirm their status as the big beasts of the post-rock world. The making of Megafauna is a tale of rattling the rafters of an old linen factory, celebrating the people and places that shaped the band, and seeing what they can get away with next, as bassist Ewan Friers reveals.

THE PURPOSE DILEMMA

Netherlands-based band Dilemma are back after six years with a genre-defying new album that mixes prog, pop and a touch of metal. Drummer and producer Collin Leijenaar explains how some crucial line-up changes helped mould their ambitious new album, The Purpose Paradox.

PROG CRITICS’ CHOICE 2024

I t’s that time again for the Prog

THE BEST THING I’VE HEARD ALL YEAR…

PHIL MANZANERA (ROXY MUSIC) “I first saw The

“We weren’t trying to make a pop song, that’s for sure”

As follow-up to the divisive Tales From Topographic Oceans, Relayer was never going to be an easy record to make. Crafted shortly after Rick Wakeman’s departure, it marked a more modern sound for Yes and became the band’s only studio album to include Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz. Prog steps back 50 years to uncover the story of the album that could have featured Vangelis.

“Relayer is one of the top three albums we ever did.”

In 2014, Sid Smith spoke to Alan White to look back upon the making of Relayer. White, who died in 2022, revealed why he thought the record was special and why it was one of his favourite Yes albums.

“We were cosmic brothers…”

Gryphon multi-instrumentalist Brian Gulland looks back on his friendship with Yes and opening for with them on 1974’s Relayer tour.

“Yes were moving more into that fusiony wild stuff.”

Band Geek multi-instrumentalist Richie Castellano on the personal significance that Relayer holds for him.