Mr Averell Features Members of Van der Graaf Generator and Others

Mr Averell is the name under which visual sound artist Rene van Commenee releases his song-based work. He first worked with Jackson a decade ago in a duo, and they released the album Batteries Included together.

Gridlock is the second Mr Averell album and features guest performances by Mike Garson (David Bowie), David Jackson, Hugh Banton and Judge Smith (Van der Graaf Generator), John Ellis (Peter Gabriel, Peter Hammill, The Stranglers), Lene Lovich, along with Stuart Gordon (Peter Hammill, Peter Gabriel, Massive Attack), Dyane Donck (Daisy Bell), Martijn Alsters, Willem Tanke, Ninca Leece, Tammo Heikens and Lisa Weiss.

“Mr Averell is a one-off and hard to classify. Is he a sensitive singer-songwriter, a rock music wildman, and avant garde performance artist or a musical clown? Maybe he's a little of each, and his music is always surprising and full of interest.” - Judge Smith

“René is a wonderfully creative artist who is always pushing the boundaries of music!” - Mike Garson

The album is an adventurous journey through very different kind of songs and instrumentals, but all with the typical, quite theatrical Van Commenée signature. 'Gridlock' should be listened from beginning to end and isn't just a collection of songs. Literally 'Gridlock' stands for the famous Dutch traffic jams, but also tells about the 'Gridlocks' in our lives and heads. The wonderfully produced album may take a bit of time to sink in but once it does, it becomes timeless and unique.

In support of the release of Gridlock plans for Mr Averell to perform in Europe are currently in the works.

Available on GONZO MultiMedia, UK – May 6, 2013

Available in the US and Canada - May 14, 2013

 

To purchase Mr Averell – Gridlock CD: http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/product_details/15550

IOEarth Confims New Singer

News came from the IOEarth Facebook page on Wednesday that they have a replacement singer following the departure of Claire Malin as announced here. The new addition is Linda Odinsen, 25.

Linda Odinsen jumped into the breach when we thought that our 'Cruise To The Edge' concert was going to have to be cancelled, and performed with IOEarth on the biggest stage in Progressive Rock. With only a 4 hour rehearsal...Linda showed us her dedication, devotion and guts at such at young age to step up to this huge commitment she fitted into IOEarth straight away. Therefore we are so proud to announce that Linda Odinsen will be IOEarth's new vocalist from NOW!!!

Said Linda: "I'm happy and proud to be joining such a talented and professional band as IOEarth ... not only are they great musicians, they are wonderful people too. The support from the band and fans all around the world has been unreal ... and I want to thank you all for welcoming me into the IOEarth family. I hope to see you soon at one of our shows."

 

New Nemo CD Due in September

Are we being manipulated?
 
Who benefits from us following, like sheep, preestablished rules unguardedly?

Political parties, religious organisations? Commercial companies, TV networks?

And for what purpose?

These are the questions that will be addressed in Nemo's new CD. After R€volu$ion and Barbares, French band Nemo will release "Le ver dans le fruit" (The Worm in the Fruit) at the end of September 2013. Planned as a double CD album, this will be their 8th studio album in 13 years.

Prolific band members Guillaume Fontaine (keys & vocals), Lionel Guichard (bass & vocals), Jean-Baptiste Itiers (drums & vocals), and Jean-Pierre Louveton (guitar and lead vocals) promise this CD will be varied but coherent, filled with music but not indigestible, daring but staying, faithful to
their personal sound, and at the same time experimental and beautiful.

The album goes on pre-sale on Monday June 3rd, and audio extracts will be available on the band's website at that time. Meanwhile, the band are preparing a video for one of the tracks, "Un pied dans la tombe (A Foot in the Grave)", which will be unvailed when the album comes out.

The cover will be designed by Stan-W. Decker, an artist with a growing fame whose work can be seen here.

External links:
Nemo - http://www.nemo-world.com/home
Quadrifonic Records - http://www.quadrifonic.com/en/

Frost* Go Off On A Tangent

Less than 2 weeks before their Celebr8.2 appearance, Frost* keyboard player and vocalist Jem Godfrey was involved in a bizarre incident involving a concrete garden trough and the index finger on his right hand. Hospital consultants informed him that to avoid lifelong damage to said digit he would have to wear a cast and was told that under no circumstances was he to attempt to use it.

At this point, Frost*, who are to be a major Celebr8.2 crowd pleaser, looked like they would have to pull out of the festival, which was due to be their  only show anywhere in the world in 2013.

Within minutes  of receiving the news, phones were buzzing to find a replacement keyboard player worthy of the herculean task of learning the complete Frost* set in less than a week. the Celebr8.2 promoters unanimously agreed that there was only one man who could fill such enormous Prog shoes. Parties were put in touch with each other and within hours Andy Tillison of The Tangent had nailed the Milliontown epic "Hyperventilate" and it was all systems go.

Jem Godfrey had this to say about the situation:

"I can't thank Andy enough for agreeing to lend a hand... quite literally in this case!"

Celebr8.2 promoter Jon Patrick added:

"This is a perfect exemple pf exactly what the Prog family can achieve when its backs are to the wall. Both Jem and Andy are two of the loveliest people that I have ever had the pleasure of working with and the fact that at the 11th hour they have come together, not only for us, but to not disappoint all the Frost* fans and the Celebr8 audience is a truly humbling experience."

If the Celebr8.2 lineup was not already a smorgasbord of European and transatlantic prog talent, this one set is going to be a once in a lifetime event that no true prog fan will want to miss.

Celebr8.2 tickets are still available, and the festival kicks off on Saturday May 11th at 2 PM with Birminghgam's finest, IOEarth!

Sanguine Hum Release Eagerly Awaited New Studio Album

Esoteric Antenna is pleased to announce the release of the eagerly awaited new studio album by modern progressive rock ensemble Sanguine Hum. 'The Weight of the World' sees Oxford, UK’s Sanguine Hum expand their musical horizons on all fronts with a seven-track collection of diverse compositions -technically challenging and exciting yet always melodic and direct. Songs such as “From the Ground Up”, “Cognoscenti” and “System for Solution” pursue the Porcupine Tree meets Radiohead approach of their debut record 'Diving Bell' with powerful yet intricate riffs propelling the songwriting that continues to make ever more inventive use of surprising twists and turns in the arrangement.

“Best prog rock album so far this century. The kind of record that prog rock bands 40 years from now will try to copy...” - Michael Bjorn, Strange Days (Japan)

 

Surprises are to be found as well in the instrumentation as the band open up the sound and more explicitly reference a love of electronica and the music of artists such as Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin, best heard in the song “Day of Release” as synthetic percussion and rumbling synths give way to chiming acoustic guitar and a soaring vocal melody. As a counterpoint, the album also features the highly atmospheric “Phosphor”, which sees Sanguine Hum break new creative ground. Perhaps even more exciting for a band that perhaps held some of their progressive influences in check on their debut album, is the 15-minute title track that manages the task of combining effective and emotional songwriting with thrilling musical developments that push the band to the limit. 'The Weight of the World' breaks new ground for a band at the forefront of truly “progressive” music.

 

Recorded at Oxford's Evolution studios, Joff Winks(vocals, guitars, programming), Matt Baber (keyboards, percussion, programming), Brad Waissman (bass) and Andrew Booker (drums, percussion) have pushed the creative boundaries of Sanguine Hum to produce one of THE truly progressive and landmark albums of 2013.

 

In support of the release of 'The Weight of the World', Sanguine Hum will be performing at The Borderline in London on Friday June 7^th with TIN SPIRITS and MATT STEVENS. The band will also be playing at Band on the Wall in Manchester on June 21st - same line-up as at the Borderline.

 

SANGUINE HUM - 'The Weight of the World' CD can be purchased at http://www.cherryred.co.uk/esoteric-exd.asp?id=4017

 

SANGUINE HUM - 'The Weight of the World' Limited Digipack 2 disc deluxe edition with Bonus DVD (NTSC Region Free): The Making of 'The Weight of the World' home movie.

 

For more information: www.troopersforsound.com