Jolly Unveils Music Video for "Dust Nation Bleak"

In other video news:

With the release of Jolly's new album The Audio Guide To Happiness (Part 2) only a week away, the band has unveiled their first video for their premier single, "Dust Nation Bleak."

The Audio Guide to Happiness (Part 2) has come to symbolize Jolly's triumph over Hurricane Sandy, the devastating storm that wreaked havoc on their studio and left Drummer/Producer Louis Abramson homeless just weeks before its completion. Luckily the album was saved from the disaster, completed in various friends living rooms, and is being released March 5th via InsideOut Music.

 

Jolly's new music video "Dust Nation Bleak" is filmed directly from the eye of the storm- recorded in the ruins of their studio, and home base. From the outside it may appear to be just another rock video in a gritty setting, but this location represents the sacred remains of Jolly's birthplace, and carries deep significance. The band comments: "When God gives you lemons, make a music video. Jolly loves you."

 

In support of the new album, Jolly will join label-mates Riverside on a small tour starting at the end of April, which follows a month of overseas dates with Riverside in March. A list of North American dates can be seen below.

 

The Audio Guide To Happiness (Part 2) Track List:

01. Guidance Three

02. Firewell

03. You Against the World

04. Aqualand and the 7 Suns

05. Dust Nation Bleak

06. Golden Divide

07. Guidance Four

08. Lucky

09. While We Slept in Burning Shades

10. Despite the Shell

11. As Heard on Tape

12. The Grand Utopia

 

Tour Dates with Riverside:

04/30/13 - Charleston, SC @ WindJammer - Isle of Palms

05/02/13 - Atlanta, GA @ Vinyl

05/04/13 - Gettysburg, PA @ RoSFest

05/06/13 - Dunellen, NJ @ Roxy and Dukes

05/08/13 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door

05/10/13 - Raleigh, NC @ The Pour House

05/12/13 - Mexico City - Jose Cuervo Salon

Line-Up:

Anadale - Guitar, Vocals
Joe Reilly - Keyboards
Anthony Rondinone - Bass

Louis Abramson - Drums

For more information on JOLLY, visit:

www.jollyband.com

www.facebook.com/jollyband

www.twitter.com/jollyband
 

New Steven Wilson Video "The Birthday (Ghost Story)"

Steven Wilson, whose new CD, The Raven That Refused to Sing, was officially released this past Monday, has also released a youtube Video intitled "The Birthday (Ghost Story)", a short story featuring music from "The Watchmaker", one of the great songs from his new CD.

Watch it here:



Don't forget, Steven's latest release  is available as a limited 4-disc deluxe edition (Blu-ray, DVD and 2CD) packaged in an impressive 128-page hardback book containing lyrics, short stories by Wilson, and haunting images and illustrations by Hajo Mueller. Standard double vinyl, CD and Blu-Ray editions are also available.

Steve will soon be on tour, so go to his website to find out if he's coming to a city near you.

www.stevenwilsonhq.com

Soft Machine Legacy Release "Burden of Proof"

Soft Machine Legacy makes their most powerful statement to date, delivering an album of epic proportions and their first studio output since 2007's Steam. Infectious grooves, undeniably hip vibes and sizzling performances dominate the outing, as the veteran progressive music masters continue to break new ground and offer listeners yet more previously-unseen facets of their dynamic musical persona. Featuring some intriguingly-inviting new writing, the album is a breath of fresh air for progressive music and a bold furtherance of the true adventurous essence that is the legacy of the great Soft Machine. It doesn't just offer the suggestion of venturing through ground previously untread -- by any of the Soft Machine incarnations -- it levels everything in its path on the way!

Broad in its scope and ambition, but sensitive, probing and playful in its delivery, Burden of Proof provides more than ample evidence that the legends remain at the top of their game, both individually and collectively. The group's two lead voices -- guitarist John Etheridge and saxophonist Theo Travis (currently touring worldwide with Steven Wilson)-- are in exceptionally fine form, whether gracefully enunciating a melody line in the pocket or dancing madly on the fringe. Also evident is the rock-solid anchoring of drummer John Marshall and bassist Roy Babbington, who keep proceedings tight and flowing throughout. Whether tip-toeing or stampeding, Soft Machine Legacy are as unified, focused and finely-honed as they've ever been -- delivering their crispest, most sparkling new material to date, in an undeniably inspired, unrelenting session. This is a fabulous, vital effort: a potent, impacting album encompassing the great spirit and aggressive pioneering approach championed by their namesake predecessors. For all fans of progressive music, the Canterbury scene, and the Softs, this superlative studio session is immediately 'essential' -- and easily the Legacy's finest, most high-reaching outing.

Track listing:

1. Burden Of Proof (5:51) 2. Voyage Beyond Seven (4:54) 3. Kitto (1:51) 4. Pie Chart (5:07) 5. JSP (1:03) 6. Kings & Queens (6:46) 7. Fallout (7:00) 8. Going Somewhere Canorous? (1:14) 9. Black And Crimson (5:05) 10. The Brief (2:28) 11. Pump Room (5:19) 12. Green Cubes (5:33) 13. They Landed On A Hill (3:03)

Personnel

John Etheridge: electric guitar Roy Babbington: bass guitar John Marshall: drums and percussion Theo Travis: tenor sax, flute, Fender Rhodes paino

Production

Recorded by Beppe Crovella, at Electromantic Synergy Studio, San Sabastiano da Po, Italy; August, 2012. Mixed and mastered by Andrew Tulloch, at The Blue Room, London; December, 2012 through January, 2013. Produced by Soft Machine Legacy. Executive Producer: Leonardo Pavkovic

Greg Lake Releases "Songs of a Lifetime" Live CD

Hot on the heels of a successful solo tour of the US, UK and sold out tour of Italy, legendary singer/songwriter Greg Lake has released a new live CD Songs Of A Lifetime on Esoteric Antenna / Manticore Records on February 25, 2013. Capturing all the excitement of Greg Lake live in concert, Songs Of A Lifetime documents Greg's musical history, from his beginnings with King Crimson to super-stardom with ELP to his illustrious solo career, through stories and songs. Performing all his most popular songs including "21st Century Schizoid Man", "From The Beginning", "Still....You Turn Me On", "Lend Your Love To Me Tonight", "C'est la Vie" and "Karn Evil 9", as well as homages to Elvis Presley and The Beatles and Curtis Mayfield, 'Songs Of A Lifetime' is a must have for Greg Lake fans and music fans everywhere!

As a founding member of King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Greg Lake has been a major force in music for over 40 years. In 2012 he embarked on a successful solo tour to perform 'Songs Of A Lifetime', a unique concert experience that was conceived whilst Greg was writing his autobiography.

Greg explains, "From time to time during the writing of my autobiography, these songs would crop up that were in some way crucial or extremely important in the development of my career. These were not always songs that I had written myself, but sometimes songs that had been written and performed by other artists as well. I realized that what they actually represented was the journey that I had shared together with the audience over all these years. Behind these songs there were often stories to be told and it occurred to me that the same must be true for the audience as well. It was then that I thought of the idea of doing a series of very small intimate concerts where I could perform these songs and exchange stories with the audience, in a way reliving the time when the music we shared together really became part of our identity and in a way became the backdrop to our lives, a sort of tapestry I suppose."

Greg Lake has long been considered a legendary voice and musical powerhouse whose impact changed the landscape of rock and roll. Many simply refer to him as "The Voice". Visionary and creative, Songs Of A Lifetime provides an evocative, emotional ride into the life and music of one of the world's most popular songwriters in a unique format which relies on audience involvement as well as the artistry of the performer. The recordings on the Songs Of A Lifetime CD were taken from a selection of shows performed on the 2012 tour.

Upcoming Autobiography

The CD release coincides with the upcoming release of Greg Lake's autobiography, 'Lucky Man', and was inspired by it, but the two are not the same. The autobiography is NOT an audio recording of the show, but a narrative of Lake's experiences from childhood to the present, including never before revealed details, funny and poignant moments, and colourful facts of his amazing career as one of the world's leading and influential musicians, songwriters, vocalists and poets. The autobiography will be released both as an audio book read by the author and the complete print edition is anticipated at the end of the year. In support of the release plans for tours in Japan, Europe, South America, USA and Canada are currently in the works and will be announced shortly.

Greg Lake Songs Of A Lifetime CD can be purchased at http://www.cherryred.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=3999



For more information: www.greglake.com

Zenit Release Highly Anticipated Third Album

 

One of the most respected progressive rock bands ever to emerge from Switzerland, Zenit, have released their third album The Chandrasekhar Limit on Galileo Records on January 28, 2013. Possibly the most ambitious release of 2013, right from the beginning of Zenit's new 69-minute masterpiece, Andy Thommen (formerly Clepsydra), affixes a seal with his distinctive bass playing on the first song (“Awaken”). Later, with the start of the guitar, you will somewhat be reminded of the Clepsydra sound: awesome guitar-bass team play! Here is the beginning of what to expect from this brilliant album – quality!

 

Says Andy Thommen, “We've chosen The Chandrasekhar Limit as the title because this mathematical threshold defines if a white dwarf star remains a star or becomes a black hole... So, as a band we feel that we are passing a crossroads without knowing where this track leads to. We do not know if we are above or below the Chandrasekhar limit.”

Zenit was founded in Switzerland in 1998 by bass player Andy Thommen, Keyboardist Ivo Bernasconi and drummer Gigio Pedruzzi, based on their wealth of experience with bands like Clepsydra, Changes and Brainstorm. In 2001, now with the addition of singer Lorenzo Sonognini, Zenit released their debut CD Pravritti with Italian and English lyrics, followed by various inspiring live performances in relevant prog festivals. In 2006, with the addition of Luigi Biamino on guitars, the band released the second album called Surrender. With captivating, elaborate songs and music that harkens to the work of bands such as Genesis, Marillion, Supertramp, Kansas and Gentle Giant, Zenit's second album garnered praise from critics and fans alike worldwide.

 

Says Andy, “After Surrender we did several shows, and we already had different pieces of tunes for this new album we were working on or just playing to see how it feels. On our show in Montreux, which was also filmed, we played two songs that made it onto The Chandrasekhar Limit: 'Awaken' and 'PiGreco'. We started writing and demoing the new album with our previous drummer Luigi Pedruzzi. For most of the songs we started on a rough idea by our keyboardist Ivo Bernasconi, then the whole band worked on it, until it was ready for a demo recording. Working on it for us means play it over and over again with absolute freedom to improvise changes, and normally when we get a few 'wow' reactions in the band we know we are close. The longest track 'The Daydream Suite' (25 minutes) was different. Ivo had just a basic idea; we started playing on it, it just came one note after the the other, one chord after the other. This was a magic band experience. When we finished recording the demos our drummer left the band. We made one single call to a friend and drummer. As he was teaching drums in Lausanne (in the French speaking part of Switzerland) we asked him if by chance he knew someone... His answer was 'Me'! Within a bit more than a half a year he was ready to record the drum tracks for The Chandrasekhar Limit with a fresh breath of new energy! In sum, the essence of our way to work is: play it, play it and play it again until it sounds good, and only then you can start recording.”

Zenit's musical influences are varied and diverse and include artists such as Genesis, Pink Floyd, The Flower Kings and Spock's Beard. Stand out tracks on Zenit's new album: The marvelous 17-minute song “Matrimandir” brings a breath of Asian sounds in a very subtle but delicate way without being brash, despite the Sanskrit lyrics now and then. The 25-minute opus “The Daydream Suite” brings to mind the work of Pink Floyd, including all the main elements a prog suite should have: crazy keyboard solos, melodic guitar lines, cool bass parts and complex choirs, harmoniously in action. The rocking instrumental sound of “Pulsar”, the sweet and sinful ballad “Club Lady” and the screaming-jazzy “PiGreco” song, jointly make up an impressive and progressive rock album of the 21st century.

Says Andy, “There was no structured plan for this album. No plan to make it symphonic, epic, neo or retro...it just came out as it is. There are jazzy and samba rhythms, even Sanskrit lyrics bits and Indian sounds and ambiances. The only thing we wanted to create was an ensemble of very different ambiances and feelings, and transmit to the listener the fun we have playing these songs.” Plans to tour in support of the release of Zenit's The Chandrasekhar Limit are currently in the works.

To purchase Zenit – The Chandrasekhar Limit CD: http://cdshop.galileo-records.com/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=82

For more information: http://www.fragile.net/