Album Review: Alcàntara – Solitaire

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Band: Alcàntara | Album: Solitaire | Genre: Progressive rock, Psychedelic rock | Year: 2020

From: Italy | Label: Progressive Gears

For fans of: Pink Floyd, Roger Waters

Pink Floyd is one of those bands with no shortage of imitators and near-clones. Less-blatant aping and influence are nearly inescapable in modern psychedelia and prog. Pink Floyd had many distinct sounds throughout their career, though, giving modern acts plenty of material to draw inspiration from. Alcànatara—a quintet hailing from Italy—is one of those acts that doesn’t try to hide their Floydian roots.

I tried to think of other acts to list in the “For fans of” section of the review header, but this band draws from late-70s Floyd so clearly, I couldn’t think of a more apt recommendation. This is not to call the music here derivative or unoriginal, though. Pink Floyd is a heavy, heavy influence, but I’d never mistake any of these recordings as some discarded track from The Wall’s recording sessions. Continue reading “Album Review: Alcàntara – Solitaire” →

Album Review: Louise Patricia Crane – Deep Blue

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Artist: Louise Patricia Crane | Album: Deep Blue | Genre: Progressive rock, Art-pop, Psychedelic rock | Year: 2020

From: UK | Label: Peculiar Doll Records

For fans of: Kate Bush, ‘80s and later King Crimson, Pink Floyd

Bandcamp | Spotify

I’ve been indulging in the lighter side of progressive rock lately. I’ve got a big backlog of black and death metal I need to cover, but progressive folk and art-pop have been scratching my musical itches lately. While not strictly a pop album by any means, Louise Patricia Crane’s solo debut, Deep Blue, draws heavily from acts like The Cocteau Twins and Kate Bush. The music is rife with psychedelic Pink Floyd-isms, and folk influences are liberally scattered throughout this record. King Crimson guitarist and vocalist Jakko Jakszyk was recruited for this project, and his distinct playing style and backing vocals augment the music. Continue reading “Album Review: Louise Patricia Crane – Deep Blue” →

Odds & Ends – June 22, 2020

Band: Chief Bromden | Album: Slunovrat | Genre: Post-punk, Progressive rock | Bandcamp

This Czech quintet play a noisy, chaotic blend of post-punk and prog. They make me think of a rawer, noisier Atsuko Chiba, or a more progressive Viet Cong/Preoccupations. Glassy synthesizers shine against jagged guitars, and the compositions twist and surge in exciting ways. Math rock flourishes are common, and squealing guitars contrast against a buzzing background. There are other surprising moments: the keys in the instrumental “Skelněná Krajina” give a feeling not unlike video game music at times, and the sprawling “Ken Kesey” features some electronic inclusions.

Score: 82/100

Artist: Aurora Ferrer | Album: Night Oracles and Falling Stars | Genre: Art rock, Electronic rock | Bandcamp

This album, while not strictly prog, is evocative of many prog and prog-related acts. The pulsing electronics are usually krautrock-y in nature, and the overall atmosphere is akin to acts like Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, and Pure Reason Revolution. The compositions are dense, creative, and driving. Particularly praiseworthy are the varied yet cohesive textures in each composition; the album has a distinct feel to it, but no two songs are quite alike.

Score: 80/100 Continue reading “Odds & Ends – June 22, 2020” →

Album Review: Jargon – The Fading Thought

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Artist: Jargon | Album: The Fading Thought | Genre: Progressive rock, Art rock, Chamber music | Year: 2020

From: Athens, Greece | Label: Independent

For fans of: Phideaux, Genesis, Peter Hammill, Steven Wilson

Bandcamp

The Fading Thought is the debut solo album of Greek keyboardist Jargon. Prior to this solo effort, he was one of the founders of the progressive rock band Verbal Delirium. There are some obvious sonic overlaps, but he’s managed to differentiate his solo sound from that of his band. The band’s efforts hew heavily toward certain prog-rock clichés; organ and bombast permeate the music. Jargon’s solo album, though, borrows extensively from chamber music and film scores. Piano and strings are given prominent roles throughout The Fading Thought.

The opening track, “The Film”, lacks traditional rock arrangement altogether. It’s a quiet, bittersweet instrumental led by piano with lush string backing. This flowing composition serves as a strong introduction to this record’s overall tone. Continue reading “Album Review: Jargon – The Fading Thought” →

Album Review: Once and Future Band – Deleted Scenes

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Band: Once and Future Band | Album: Deleted Scenes | Genre: Progressive pop, Jazz-rock | Year: 2020

From: Oakland, USA | Label: Castle Face Records

For fans of: Steely Dan, Electric Light Orchestra, Roxy Music, The Alan Parsons Project

Bandcamp | Spotify

Deleted Scenes is the second album from Oakland prog-pop outfit Once and Future Band (hereafter called OAFB). I was introduced to them via their self-titled 2017 album, which was their first full length release. Their self-titled is a sunny slice of prog-pop with ample jazz and folk touches. However, almost every song on that album felt one to two minutes too long.

The songs on Deleted Scenes are more focused than on OAFB’s self-titled, much to this record’s benefit. Rich electric pianos and synthesizer tones take center stage for most of the album, and vocalist Joel Robinow has just the right tone and timbre to complement it. Continue reading “Album Review: Once and Future Band – Deleted Scenes” →

Album Review: Louis de Mieulle – Sid€show 2

Artist: Louis de Mieulle | Album: Sid€show 2 | Genre: Jazz fusion | Year: 2020

From: New York, USA | Label: Dalang Records

For fans of: Return to Forever, Brainticket

Bandcamp | Spotify

Last year, New York-based bassist and composer Louis de Mieulle released Side$how, an instrumental, improvisation consisting of himself, a drummer, and two keyboardists. That album was one of my most pleasant surprises of 2019, given my usual leeriness about instrumental records. He deftly blended a jazzy backbone with proggy flourishes and touches of krautrock, zeuhl, and even electronic music.

On Sid€show 2, de Mieulle follows the same general template. Himself, a drummer, and two keyboardists improvise over a preconceived structure, employing the musical vocabulary of both jazz and progressive rock. Despite the similarities in how these two albums were composed and recorded, they have vastly different characters. Side$how had a bright, sunny atmosphere, but Sid€show 2 has a colder feel to it. Continue reading “Album Review: Louis de Mieulle – Sid€show 2” →

Album Review: JG Thirlwell & Simon Steensland – Oscillospira

Artists: JG Thirlwell & Simon Steensland | Alubum: Oscillospira | Genre: Avant-prog, Zeuhl | Year: 2020

From: Melbourne, Australia (Thirlwell) & Sweden (Steensland) | Label: Ipecac Recordings

For fans of: Magma, Univers Zero

Bandcamp | Spotify

JG Thirlwell is an Australian-born, Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist best known as the man behind the industrial act Foetus. He also acts the composer for the TV shows Archer and The Venture Bros, the latter of which is one of my absolute favorite shows. (It also made progressive rock a central plot element in one episode.) Simon Steensland is a Swedish multi-instrumentalist and composer with a long history in modern avant-garde rock music.

In addition to avant-garde and progressive rock influences, this duo makes extensive use of orchestral music. Much of this album sounds like it could have been the score for a creepy arthouse film. Atonal strings and minor key woodwinds dominate on this record, filling up most of the space not occupied by traditional rock instrumentation. Continue reading “Album Review: JG Thirlwell & Simon Steensland – Oscillospira” →

Odds & Ends – May 18, 2020

Band: Cheer-Accident | Album: Chicago XX | Genre: Avant-pop, Prog-pop | Bandcamp

One moment this album is brimming with squirmy, atonal synthesizers with eerie vocal arrangements, and the next it’s mellow, artful pop rock. Despite hailing from Chicago, there’s a very British sense of weirdness to Cheer-Accident’s work, most comparable to the inimitable Cardiacs. Strains of post-punk and folk merge seamlessly with progressive and pop rock to create something truly distinctive.

Score: 76/100

Band: Dai Kaht | Album: Dai Kaht II | Genre: Zeuhl | Bandcamp

I like Magma a lot. They’re one of my favorite bands, and I’m positive I’ll eventually do a Deep Dive entry on them. However, their shadow is nearly inescapable in the world of zeuhl (outside Japan, at least). Dai Kaht are a Finnish act who draw a huge amount of influence from Magma. Their sound is more guitar-centric than Magma ever were. On a technical level, the musicianship and compositions are complex. For all its oddness, it’s surprisingly catchy, and it is somewhat unusual for a zeuhl act to have guitar as its main instrument. But in the end, this release mostly sounds like an updated version of Attahk. If you like zeuhl, give it a listen, but don’t expect anything groundbreaking.

Score: 73/100

Edit: My opinion on this has improved a lot. Please see my Best of 2020 for my updated thoughts.
Continue reading “Odds & Ends – May 18, 2020” →

Album Review: Nord – The Only Way To Reach The Surface

Band: Nord | Album: The Only Way To Reach The Surface | Genre: Post-metal, Progressive rock, Post-hardcore | Year: 2020

From: Paris, France | Label: Klonosphere/Season of Mist

For fans of: The Dear Hunter, Sólstafir, Leprous, The Mars Volta, RX Bandits

Bandcamp | Spotify

When I first ran across Parisian quartet Nord’s second full-length album, The Only Way To Reach The Surface, I was initially leery, due to some of the genre tags on Bandcamp. “Djent” is something that always causes me a lot of apprehension, and “post-hardcore” indicates there’s a good chance I’ll hate the vocals. However, the djent influences are minor, and the way the post-hardcore manifests itself is mostly in the instrumental elements, much like The Mars Volta’s early work.

Structurally, this album follows a loose pattern for its first eight songs. Starting with its first track, “I. Love”, the album establishes a dreamy atmosphere. A soft synth pad drones under synthesized vocals, occasionally embellished with clean guitars. The transition to “II. Violent Shapes” is a sharp one, though, as that song explodes with black metal fury out of the gate. Blast beats and evil-sounding shredding smoothly mutate lighter post-punk tones, but the music shifts back and forth between those two poles, with ample math rock fills along the way. Continue reading “Album Review: Nord – The Only Way To Reach The Surface” →

Album Review: Elder – Omens

Band: Elder | Album: Omens | Genre: Progressive rock, Stoner metal | Year: 2020

From: Boston, USA (Originally); Berlin, Germany (Currently) | Label: Armageddon (US), Stickman (EU)

For fans of: Mastodon, Tool, Pink Floyd

Buy: Bandcamp | Amazon | Apple Music

Over the last few years, Elder have established themselves as one of the most interesting acts in progressive rock. Their albums Lore and Reflections of a Floating World deftly blended prog and psychedelia with a stoner metal backbone, and their 2019 EP The Gold & Silver Sessions saw heavy incorporation of krautrock and jam band influences.

The recording of Omens, Elder’s fifth full-length release, marked several major changes for the band. The most obvious of which was that the band underwent their first-ever lineup change to introduce a new drummer and guitarist/keyboardist. The band also relocated from Boston to Berlin, and the press for this record leading up to its release emphasized this state of change. Sonically, the most obvious change over previous releases is the widespread incorporation of synthesizers. Overall, though, Omens doesn’t stray that far from Elder’s typical sound; all in all, they’ve just added a few baubles. Continue reading “Album Review: Elder – Omens” →