Friday, October 28, 2011

IPRS 92: Interview with Guy Manning

Hello everyone. The latest radio show, number 92, is now available for you to download. On this special show I have the great pleasure to speak with Guy Manning about his forthcoming release "Margaret's Children", a follow-up of sorts to his 2006 release "Anser's Tree".

Following the lives of 7 descendents of Margaret Montgomery, the album takes us on a journey through time, recounting the important moments in the lives of Margaret's descendants. These stories are enhanced with music that recall the times and places through which the characters evolve. A worthy follow-up to Anser's Tree, important moments from the last four hundred years are brilliantly examined, not in a didactic way, but strangely in a way that is also a reflection of our current worldwide situation.

Guy has some wonderful insights about this album, and I hope you like the interview... and the songs. About the songs: I only played three from the forthcoming release, a taster if you will, but I added songs from throughout his carreer (well from the albums I do own - I don't have all his CDs unfortunately). The release date is November 7th, and you can pre-order the album at Guy Manning's website.

Download show 92 here. The playlist is as follows:

1- Songs from Bilston House, by Manning (Songs from the Bilston House, 2007)
2- Margaret Montgomery, by Manning (Anser's Tree, 2006)
3- An Average Man, by Manning (Margaret's Children, 2011) - UPCOMING
4- No Hiding Place, by Manning (One Small Step, 2005)
5- The Calm Absurd, by Manning (Songs from the Bilston House, 2007)
6- The Year of Wonder, by Manning (Margaret's Children, 2011) - UPCOMING
7- The Southern Waves, by Manning (Margaret's Children, 2011) - UPCOMING
8- The House on the Hill, by Manning (Number Ten, 2009)
9- The Man in the Mirror, by Manning (Charlestown, 2010)
10- Steven, by Alilce Cooper (Welcome to My Nightmare, 1975)
11- Finale, by Manning (Charlestown, 2010)


As always, if you like the music, please encourage the artists by purchasing the CDs directly from him, or through your favorite retailer.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

IPRS #91

This week, a lot of new music. I was pleasantly surprised to receive the new Shadow Circus single this week. It's their first release since the excellent "Shadows & Screams", an album that received considerable airplay on my show, and it doesn't disappoint. I decided to play the shorter song, simply to give you a taste, but the second track, Rise, is a small epic, well worth picking up.

Lithuanian band The Skys just released their new album Colors of the Desert and it also is an excellent release. On the less complex side of the prog spectrum, it nonetheless holds beautiful songs with great melodies. Welsh band Magenta also just released their new CD Chameleon. With great songs, and the beautiful voice of Christina, Magenta delivers an album, if not full of surprises, at least consistent with their recent releases. As for Airbag's sophomore album, All Rights Removed, it is a much better album than their previous one, which is saying something since "Identity" was excellent.

Other notable releases: The Mercury Tree's Pterodactyls is great, and Matt Stevens' guitar work on "Relics" is flabergasting! Pandora's Sempre e Ovunque is great Italian prog and Majestic, with a three song CD, each over 10 minutes long, delivers a great album with a classic sound. Sweden's Simon Says released a compilation album of songs that mostly appeared on "Various Artists"' albums over the years.

Lastly, Peter Gabriel's New Blood has undeservedly received some negative reviews. Some have said that "Gabriel covers Gabriel badly", but I say that, contrary to his previous covers album "Scratch My Back", this album keeps the spirit and mood of the original songs. Gabriel's voice, as always distinctive, is put front and center, not buried by a band, and the emotions are felt even more profoundly in these versions. Some of the stand-out tracks could be heard on the radio show.

The playlist was:

1- Daddy's Gone, by Shadow Circus (Rise EP, 2011)
2- Walking Alone, by The Skys (Colors of the Desert, 2011)
3- Lethal Kiss, by The Skys (Colors of the Desert, 2011)
4- Red, by Magenta (Chameleon, 2011)
5- Guernica, by Magenta (Chameleon, 2011)
6- All Rights Removed, by Airbag (All Rights Removed, 2011)
7- Never Coming Home, by Airbag (All Rights Removed, 2011)
8- San Jacinto, by Peter Gabriel (New Blood, 2011)
9- The Rhythm of the Heat, by Peter Gabriel (New Blood, 2011)
10- Darkness, by Peter Gabriel (New Blood, 2011)
11- Pterodactyls, by The Mercury Tree (Pterodactyls, 2011)
12- Velociraptor, by The Mercury Tree (Pterodactyls, 2011)
13- Octarine, by The Mercury Tree (Pterodactyls, 2011)
14- Sempre e Ovunque, by Pandora (Sempre e Ovunque Oltre il Sogno, 2011)
15- Mosaic, by Majestic (Labyrinth, 2011)
16- Up, by Matt Stevens (Relics, 2011)
17- Sand, Part II, by Matt Stevens (Relics, 2011)
18- Relic, by Matt Stevens (Relics, 2011)
19- Minds of Mortal Men, by Simon Says (Siren Songs, 2011)


As always, if you love the music, purchase the CDs from the artists by following the links above, or through your favorite retailer.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

IPRS 90 Ready for Download

Another Saturday, another IPRS download. This time I cover the Summer's End Festival. Every year this festival attracts bands and fans from all over the world, and this year has certainly not been a disapointment. Of course, we all heard about the bands that were supposed to come and couldn't (Unto Us, K2, Amplifier, most of the members of Sunchild). They were missed, and for most of them it's only a matter of time before they do come to Summer's End, but this year's lineup was excellent.

So to give you a taste of what happend in that small area of England called Lydney, here is a sampling of the artists that did make it, that is all but Concrete Lake, of which I have no recordings. And to top it all off, my friend Peter O'Neill, who has been a Summer's End regular for years, has agreed to do interviews for this radio show. He did a great job, and got to talk to great artists after their shows: Dec Burke, Atony Kalugin, Andy Tillison, and members of Concrete Lake. the sound is a bit raw, and I do apoligize for that, but since the interviews are interesting, I decided it was better to present them than not.

By the way, next week's radio show will have an interview with Guy Manning, and a lot of new music!!

You can download show 90 here. (No longer available). The playlist is as follows:

1. Small Hours, by Dec Burke (Destroy All Monsters, 2010)
        - Interview with Dec Burke

2. Destroy All Monsters, by Dec Burke (Destroy All Monsters, 2010)
3. Gordian Knot, by Sunchild (As Far As the Eye Can See, 2011)
        - Interview with Antony Kalugin of Sunchild

4. The Ring of Eternity, by Sunchild (As Far As the Eye Can See, 2011)
5. Le miroir aux alouettes, by Lazuli (4603 Battements, 2011)
6. L'azur, by Lazuli (4603 Battements, 2011)
7. The Night, by Invertigo (Next Stop Vertigo, 2010)
8. Night on Broadway, by Invertigo (Next Stop Vertigo, 2010)
9. My 5th Season, by Casual Silence (Vertical Horizon, 2011)
10. Dagerous Disguise, by Casual Silence (Vertical Horizon, 2011)
11. 7th Sign, by Day Six (The Grand Design, 2008)
12. Lost Identity, by Day Six (The Grand Design, 2008)
13. Titanic Calls Carpathia, by The Tangent (COMM, 2011)
        - Interview with Andy Tillison

14. Smoke and Mirrors, by Arena (Pepper's Ghost, 2005)
        - Interview with members of Concrete Lake

15. Tantalus, by Arena (Pepper's Ghost, 2005)
16. Cardinal Sin, by Credo (Against Reason, 2011)

17. Sane Life, by Headspace (I Am, 2007)
18. Book of Dreams, by Magenta (Chameleon, 2011)
19. Winter Wine, by Caravan (In the Land of Grey and Pink, 1973)


As always, if you like the music, encourage the artists by purchasing the CDs either through their websites, hence the links above, or through your favorite retailer!

Friday, October 7, 2011

IPRS 89 Ready for Download

Hello friends and listeners. These past few weeks have been a boon for prog music lovers, with the new Steve Hackett, Agents of Mercy, Steven Wilson, Pink Floyd, Subsignal, Sunchild, and Jelly Fiche albums all available for purchase. for your listening pleasure, many of those new releases are featured in today's radio show. The new Manning album is also coming up, and I have been lucky enough to hear the new album. I offer you this one song from Margaret's Children, and will have an interview with the man himself in the coming weeks. My friend Andrew Wood went to the K-Scope show at Union Chapel, and has sent his report from the show. As you will hear, he loved it.

In the meantime, I will be seeing The Watch live on Saturday, while another friend, Peter, is in England at the Summer's End Festival for the weekend. He will be reporting on the shows and will send those reports for next week's radio show. Have a great week!

Download radio show #89 here (No longer available). The playlist is as follows:

1- Secret Garden, by Oneira (Natural Prestige, 2011)
2- Sea Dreams, by Oneira (Natural Prestige, 2011)
3- Panorama, by Oneira (Natural Prestige, 2011)
4- Au nom d'Apo Calypso, by Jelly Fiche (Symbiose, 2011)
5- Dualité, by Jelly Fiche (Symbiose, 2011)
6- Wearing Lies on Your Lips, by Nosound (Slow, It Gows, 2007)
7- Be What You Are, by The Engineers
8- The Sorry State, by Pineapple Thief (Tightly Unwound, 2008)
9- Dreaming Light, by Anathema (We're Here Because We're Here, 2010)
10- The Year of Wonders, by Manning (Margaret's Children, 2011) - Forthcoming
11- Road to Asheville, by Herd of Instinct (Herd of Instinct, 2011)
12- S.Karma, by Herd of Instinct (Herd of Instinct, 2011)
13- Vibrissa, by Herd of Instinct (Herd of Instinct, 2011)
14- Turn this Island Earth, by Steve Hackett (Beyond the Shrouded Horizon, 2011)
15- Between the Sunset and the Coconut Palms, by Steve Hackett (Beyond the Shrouded Horizon, 2011)
16- The Black Forest, by Agents of Mercy (The Black Forest, 2011)
17- A Quiet Little Town, by Agents of Mercy (The Black Forest, 2011)
18- Stars of Cardiff Bay, by Sunchild (As Far as the eye Can See, 2011)
19- As Far as the Eye Can See, by Sunchild (As Far as the eye Can See, 2011)
20- Feeding Utopia, by Subsignal (Touchstones, 2011)
21- Touchstones, by Subsignal (Touchstones, 2011)
22- Absalom, by Stick Men (Absalom, 2011)
23- Time's Insane Ashes, by Stick Men (Absalom, 2011)
24- Crack in the Sky, by Stick Men (Absalom, 2011)


As always, if you love the music then follow the links, or go to your favourite retailer, and purchse the CDs. It's the only way to ensure that artists continue to produce the music we love.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

IPRS #88

Hello dear listeners, glad to see you here again. This week on the International Prog Rock Rock are a lot of new releases, and some forthcoming ones, most of them double CDs... or more. Let's start with Steve Hackett. His new CD, Beyond the Shrouded Horizon, is available as a one CD or two CD set, and it came out this week. Steven Wilson's Grace for Drowning also came out this week and I only saw it as a two CD set at a very resonable price, really worth it for any music fan. Polish band Millenium's newest output, Puzzles, is also a double album.

But I must say that the winner this week is Pink Floyd. The newly remastered Dark Side of the Moon comes in multiple configurations.First there is the single CD of the Remastered album, then the double CD version, called the Experience version, with the live show taken from the 16 November 1974 Empire Pool show. The single CD version is also available in the Discovery boxset, which includes all 14 Pink Floyd albums. And last, but certainly not least, is the Experience boxset. This last one includes 6 disks, 3 CDs, 2 DVDs, and one BlueRay (and a lot of collectibles that are, quite frankly, not essential). I am quite thrilled at having this version of DSotM, since it includes 2 5.1 mixes and the original Quadrophonic mix from 1974.

As for the other bands featured today: Greylevel, a Canadian band, is great; Anubis's sophomore CD, A Tower is Silence, is even better than their first CD; Myrath's third output is a bit ahrder edged and very enjoyable; and White Willow's newest was worth the wait! Hope you like them and run to your nearest reseller to purchase them.

Next week's show will be a recap of the Summers' End festival being held this weekend in England. I'll have a special guest commenting on the shows, and hoefully talking with some of the bands.

To download show 88 click here (No longer available).
The playlist was as follows:

1. A Place Called Freedom, by Steve Hackett (Beyond the Shrouded Horizon, 2011)
2. Terminal, by
Greylevel (Hypostatic Union, 2011)
3. Already, Not Yet, by Greylevel (Hypostatic Union, 2011)
4. A Tower of Silence, by
Anubis (A Tower of Silence, 2011)
5. The Passing Bell, by Anubis (A Tower of Silence, 2011)
6. Archway of Tears, by Anubis (A Tower of Silence, 2011)
7. Eden?, by
Millenium (Puzzles, 2011)
8. The Tree of Knowledge, by Millenium (Puzzles, 2011)
9. Puzzled, by Millenium (Puzzles, 2011)
10. Visions, by
Haken (Visions, 2011)
11. Tales of the Sands, by
Myrath (Tales of the Sands, 2011)
12. Beyond the Stars, by Myrath (Tales of the Sands, 2011)
13. Braving the Seas, by Myrath (Tales of the Sands, 2011)
14. Searise, by
White Willow (Terminal Twilight, 2011)
15. Kansas Regrets, by White Willow (Terminal Twilight, 2011)
16. Remainder the Black Dog, by
Steven Wilson (Grace for Drowning, 2011)
17. Deform to Form a Star, by Steven Wilson (Grace for Drowning, 2011)
18. Money (Live), by
Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon 2011 Remastered)
19. Us and Them (Live), by Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon 2011 Remastered)


As always, if you love the music, purchase the CDs so that the artists may live off of their work and continue producing this excellent music we call Prog!