Purson - In The Meantime

One of the band that have completely blown me away three years ago, is a group called Purson. Now Purson has been around since forming in 2011 by Rosalie Cunningham and with the release of their debut album The Circle and the Blue Door on the Rise Above Records label back in 2013.

I remember hearing their music in a Classic Rock Magazine CD sampler which was a compilation of Lee Dorrian’s Rise Above Records label entitled Poisoned Apples: A Rise Above Records sampler and when I heard their music I knew this was a band I needed to check out.

They are one of the best psychedelic-progressive rock bands to come out of London and they really capture the essence of the genre. Last year, they released a new EP entitled, In the Meantime on the Machine Elf Records label. And this another crowning achievement from the band and they are planning to go on tour with Ghost as an opening act in which it’s called the Black to the Future tour.

But let’s get to the EP. Opener, Death’s Kiss resembles the British Psychedelic-Folk Rock sounds of the late ‘60s as if Steeleye Span were a gothic acid folk band with a dosage of a Beatle-sque sound as Rosalie sings “Out of the frying pan and into the fire/swimming against the tide and sinking into the mire.” You have to admit, those are excellent lyrics to start the EP off with a cannonball going off at the right moment.

The thumping percussions, mellotron swarms, vocalizations, stomping beats, it is soon going to become a live favorite of their music. The blistering Organ and Guitars come right behind you with a dosage of Sabbath meets Blues Magoos meets early Floyd on the Danse Macabre.

The Guitars nails the Iommi sounds thrown into the mix with a ‘70s Doom Metal approach which I really adore right here and Rosalie’s voice just sends chills down the spine while the hypnotic bluesy punch gives it a vibration of Purson doing a score for one of the Spaghetti Westerns in the late ‘60s of filmmaker Sergio Leone and the criminal on the run for the Wanted Man.

The last 2-minutes is a climatic guitar structure between the riffs and lead that will have your jaws dropped and back into the heartfelt blues to close it off. The closer, I Will Be Good, is an ominous chiller just in time to get ready for Halloween. It has a psychedelic surfing rhythm that I could imagine the essences of The Ventures, Julian’s Treatment, and the Master of Reality-era of Black Sabbath that seems like an odd and interesting combination, but it works very well.

I really had a blast listening to their new EP and they can do no wrong for me. Psychedelic, Prog, Doom Metal thrives well for what to expect underneath the cavernous caves. Purson show no signs of stopping.

Unit Wail - Beyond Space Edges

I’ve been on a cosmic voyage of a band that knows the essence of King Crimson, Magma, and a dosage of the Zeuhl machine. That group is called Unit Wail. Unit Wail is the brain child of Shub-Niggurath guitarist Franck Fromy. Unit Wail launched back six years ago and their music is dark, sinister, heavy, and ominous that will send shivers down your spine. They have released three albums so far, and while this is my introduction to the band’s music, I have to say, they have me getting ready for an adventure of a life time that has a spirit about it.

That and their new album in which is their third album released on the Soleil Zeuhl label entitled, Beyond Space Edges is the journey into madness. It’s a concept sci-fi album that would have given Star Trek a big run for their money and show how a real story in different universes is done right. The story of the album is almost straight out of a story by filmmaker and spiritual guru Alejandro Jodorowsky.

It’s about a group of bizarre creatures leaving to prepare to go the moon and heading towards the womb of the Ziggurat (which resembles the Mayan Temples) and then sucked into the psychedelic tunnel and spat into an active atmosphere. In the dome, they are inside the utopian megalopolis as the wise man gives them a tour, his appearance of the master scares them, but he will take them on a course to an unknown planet.

This is where it gets bizarre. They land on planet X as it absorbs them into an interdimensional probe as their bodies are analyzed by a machine and mutated takes place as it lights up. At the end, the probe drops them on the moon as the earthrise enchants them. Even though the story is weird, twisted, and out of this world, the music is terrifying, but it’s staggering and getting you ready to set a course for an adventure into space that isn’t just a galaxy far, far away.

Not to mention the five highlights on the album. Imminent Take-Off begins with an ominous ambient/atmospheric introduction into madness that keyboardist Emmanuel Pothier does as he gives the listener a chance to imagine the weird creatures getting ready to embark on an adventure they will never forget before Franck and Phillippe Haxaire create the engines rolling on guitar and drums.

I really enjoyed Adrian Luna’s bass lines. Its jazz and rock in opposition mixed together in a blender. He has the combination between both Jannick Top and Stanley Clarke. And he shows his improvisations to the tunnels on Through the Wormhole. His fingers on the frets, takes him to higher places as it punches through the mirror like sharp objects in a faster tempo.

The Magma inspirations are in there which is evidential on Deep Inside Megalopolis. I can hear the sounds of the Udu Wudu and Attahk-era thrown in, followed by the Red-era of King Crimson thrown in there with Mellotron’s galore! The 6-minute D.N.A.A.T.M. (Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid Sychromous Transfer Mode) is where everything comes into the analyzation of mutation. 

Swirling and sending signals to the Moog, Mellotron, Robert Fripp meets Roger Trigaux’s guitar techniques where it’s clean and crunchier of difficult time changes thanks to Phillippe’s drumming that he sends into pure momentum as he builds it up like a powder keg ready to erupt.

The guitar sounds almost like a roaring machine ready for the transformation as Adrian’s Bass increases the transformation for the creatures. The last track, I See Earth which features guest musician Ana Carla Maza on the violin, creates these rumbling metallic roars on her instruments, gives you a chilling vibration as Emmanuel does an electronic finale on what will happen next as the earth rise hypnotizes them to find out what the travelers will do next.

I have to say, I was completely blown away from the moment I’ve put on Unit Wail’s third album. This was out of the blue and the perfect momentum on how they aren’t just doing it for show, they are doing this because they have potential and grab the right exact moment on where they would take their music into other universes. 

So if you love the Zeuhl genre, then dive deep into the ocean of Unit Wail’s Beyond Space Edges.

Homunculus Res - Limiti All'Eguaglianza Della Parte Con Il Tutto

Homunculus Res are an Italian Progressive Rock band from Palmero that carry the sounds of both Avant-Rock and the Canterbury scene like a flaming fire that refuses to burn out. The sound in their music reminded me of Picchio Dal Pozzo, Henry Cow, Soft Machine, Moving Gelatine Plates, Hatfield and the North, and Gong. The band is centered from composer, guitarist, and keyboardist Dario D’Alessandro.

And alongside Dario, the band considers; Davide Di Giovanni on Keyboards and Vocals, Daniele Di Giovanni on Drums, Percussion and Vocals, and Domenico Salamone on Bass. The collaborators feature Dario Lo Cicero on Wind and Flute, Federico Cardaci on Keyboards, Mauro Turdo on Guitar. Not to mention the special guests including Paolo “Ske” Botta (Yugen, Not a Good Sign) on Keyboards, Giovanni Di Martino on Microkorg, and Toto Puleo on Trumpet.

This is the band’s debut album released back in 2013 on the AltrOck label entitled, Limiti All’Eguaglianza Della Parte Con il Tutto. This feels almost like a trip down to memory lane of the Canterbury scene as if this was recorded back in 1974 and you could imagine Homunculus Res recording this back in time and showing how much appreciation of their love of the bands and carrying it with the mighty sword and not letting it go.

There’s also a quirky sense of humor in them also. Take for example, the swirling electronic synth improvisation of Sintagma. It’s very futuristic and off-the-wall that gives you a touch of between Marc Hollander’s Aksak Maboul and The Faust Tapes-era while the opener Culturismo Ballo Organizzare gives the band a chance to shine for a lot of fun with the vocals singing the title track, and the improvisations between keyboards, guitar, glockenspiel, and drums, give it a Gong meets Matching Mole vibration.

The Rhodes for a laid-back Coltrane-sque in a darker alleyway gives it a haunting feel with the fuzztone and moog of Jessicalaura but then the tempo changes up a bit in a Rock-In-Opposition ascending tone that you can imagine the Henry Cow momentum thrown in of Leg End before going back into the waltz in a haywire mode of the synths closing it out.

The vocals on (che ne sai tu di un) Cerchio nel Grano, resembles the wonders of The Northettes, and not to mention the Flute, and Piano. But then I love where it changes into a guitar improvisation of Phil Miller as if he did the improvisational solos with Egg! Very spectacular ideas! Rifondazione Unghie is an increasing driven beat between guitars, flute, and drums that almost reminded me of Kraftwerk’s Ruckzuck before the unexpected stop-and-go moment as wah-wah moog’s kick into the mix.

Puk 10 is where the keyboards of the Memotron, Moog, and Piano combined as one for a haunting momentum. I love how the ominous and moody-jazz flavor gives it a kick for that spooky vibration to see where they want to take the synth ideas for a sonic-surrounding and nailing it at the right moment.

I have a love of the Italian Progressive Rock and a little dosage of the Canterbury scene. Homunculus Res’ debut album is for me one of their best and their whimsical to show the fun and weirdness they bring to the table on how much homework they have done. I can’t wait to hear more of their music. So if you love the Canterbury Scene, then check out Homunculus Res’ Limiti All’Eguaglianza Della Parte Con il Tutto.

Not a Good Sign - From a Distance

Now you probably known that I’m a fan of the Italian Progressive Rock scene. Bands like; Le Orme, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Banco, Osanna, and Metamorfosi to name a few. And champions like Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth who admires the band il Paese dei Balocchi, shows that the genre is still growing the fires very bright. And one of the bands that show a lot of potential and hope in their music since forming in 2012, is Not a Good Sign.

Their sole self-titled debut album released on the Fading Records label received word-of-mouth and whether you love or hate them, they know what they are doing in their music to not just become a retro band, but carrying the flaming torch of the Progressive Rock sound and not let it die down. This year, they’ve released their second album entitled From a Distance.

And let me just say that this is a real treat and Not a Good Sign are amazing musicians and taking the accompanying sounds of the 1970s and make it powerful, emotional, strong, and the result on the follow up is an alluring adventure from start to finish. Songs like Going Down which gives Paolo “Ske” Botta’s keyboards a jazzier introduction as Alessio’s voice just sends chills down the spine in the haunting atmosphere that resembles Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway-era while Not Now sees Not a Good Sign going into the styles of Haken’s music but with an excellent vibration.

Pleasure in Drowning is a powder keg track with unexpected changes thanks to the guitar playing of a hard rock Crimson-sque adventure containing metallic and clean sounds with an annihilated punch. Open Window sees Paolo’s organ going into a deeper, darker, and cavernous sounds on his keyboards between both the Organ and Mellotron.

Before the bursting of the doors of Francesco Zaga blows it down so hardcore with the time signatures that you can imagine the intensity hitting at you with a kick in the stomach. It’s also Paolo chance to shine into those darker areas for a few minutes and then it’s back into the rhythm and organ melodic improvisation followed by Cassani’s bass lines. It’s very Jazz-like, but the groove fits into the brainstorming ideas they would come up with.

This is my sixteenth time listening to From a Distance. Knowing where the directions they will lead to next, and the entire album for me is an eccentric gem, Not a Good Sign put their footsteps in the lake very carefully and they have done it right! A band that shows no sign of stopping to see where they will go into next. It’s classical, jazz, contemporary, hard rock, and prog at its best. 

Anderson Ponty Band - Better Late Than Never

It seems like an interesting yet unexpected idea for a collaboration. The heart and soul vocalist of Yes meets the fusional violinist from his work with Frank Zappa and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Jon Anderson and Jean-Luc Ponty is perhaps one of the most creative ideas to come around when they collaborate and the magic is spot-on. That and the CD/DVD release of their live album entitle, Better Late Than Never shows the Anderson Ponty Band at their finest.

They recorded the show in Aspen, Colorado at the Wheeler Opera House on September 20th of last year in which they gave their first public performance. When you listen and watch both the CD and the DVD, you can imagine yourself being at the Opera House being very interested of listening to both the re-imaginations of the Yes songs that they do along with the band. The band considers; Baron Browne on Bass, Jamie Glaser on Guitar, Wally Minko on Keyboards, and Rayford Griffin on Drums and Percussion.

There are 14 tracks on the CD and 10 on the DVD in which you can see or listen to the entire show in your own living room. Ponty brings color and joy on his violin. And when you listen to his improvisation on Owner of a Lonely Heart, he’s nailing down through the groove as Jon is shining through his vocals. And while it may not be as it was in the golden-era, he still has it.

The reggae homage to Bob Marley, seems very much it could work on paper, and it interestingly does with the groove-vibrations on Time and a Word. Browne’s Bass and Minko’s Keyboards in the style of both Organ and Fender Rhodes, has a reggae-funk type of rhythm and you can imagine the audience nodding their heads and tapping their feet and dancing with the sound. Not to mention that little touch of the Beatles She Loves You thrown in for a couple of seconds.

The ambient/atmospheric ascends into a soaring sky as the band go into adventurous worlds with the dramatic turned almost bossa-nova/calypso feel on Infinite Mirage and the relaxation of A for Aria, it helps the Anderson Ponty Band a chance to relax and help the crowd get into the calming mood. Which is moving into a Jazzier tradition in the styles of Wonderous Stories.

Minko is capturing the sounds of both Thelonious Monk and Keith Tippett as he along with Baron, and Rayford lay down the groove for a Classical-Jazz walk into the sunset followed by the scatting vocals that Anderson does and Jean helping out with him to follow his improvisations on his violin. But Ponty nails it down. He lays down his chops to give the band a chance to go into the road with a blistering sun-rising adventure with an orchestral touch on Renaissance of the Sun.

But I love their take of Yes’ Roundabout. It’s in a different tuning, but done in the style as if both the group and the Mahavishnu Orchestra had recorded this composition for the Trident Studio Sessions and having a blast together and Zappa conducting them to see where they will go into next.

I really had a blast listening to Better Late Than Never. Even though I admire both the essence of Yes, Zappa, and Mahavishnu, I could tell they hit a home run with the audience and just in awe of the two combinations which is unexpected, but fitting well. They are planning to go on tour in the States starting on Tuesday October 27th in Glenside, Pennsylvania which is a suburb part of Philadelphia at the Keswick Theater.

So if you love the sounds I’ve mentioned, then be prepare to enjoy and experience the music of the Anderson Ponty Band.

Procol Harum - Home (Deluxe Edition)

Oscar Wilde once said that “Music is the art which is most nigh to tears and memory.” What he is saying is that while the images are beautiful and touching, the music itself can carry both the good and bad times that can nail the portrait very well. That and Procol Harum’s fourth album released in the summer of 1970 on the Regal Zonophone label and reissued by the good people from Esoteric Recordings in a 2-CD set this year entitled, Home.

It’s often considered one of the band finest albums, but it also shows their darker side. And they nail it spot on. With the dealings with death and one about corporate greed from the lyrical mind of Keith Reid, it shows them how they can take the lyrics into the harder times on why we have to go and when will be the time to say farewell. Both Matthew Fisher and David Knights left the band after A Salty Dog’s release as Chris Copping took over as he played both Bass Guitar and Organ.

Opener, Whisky Train is one of Robin Trower’s composition in which he and Keith Reid worked on, starts it off with a proto-hard heavy blues rock to knock it off the park. Robin is showing a lot of energy through his guitar playing as he’s channeling the sounds of Rory Gallagher and the late great Alvin Lee. It’s a mid-fast driven rockin’ roar to the highway as the percussion-like cowbells from B.J. Wilson gives that effect of train getting on the bluesy roar.

The haunting piano ballad of the inspiration behind the controversial 1969 classic Midnight Cowboy of The Dead Man’s Dream, shows Procol Harum giving a little bit of an homage to Harry Nilsson’s lyrical touches as the character going through a dying atmosphere and the organ and Brooker’s spoken dialogue in the midsection of the graveyard and crying out in fear. It’s a chilling piece, but the lyrics are well-written and heavier.

The diminished chords, double tracking-drums, thumping piano intro, and punch-like guitar lines of Piggy Pig Pig deal with the corporate greed in the government with lyrical lines of “Watch the book/the page is turning/how the tale unfolds/inside every cancered spectre.” Speculations on the loss of Jenny Drew, gives it a gothic background in the style of an Acid Folk-Rock Jim Croce structured piece with a spooky organ, accordion lament for the funeral of a young girl dying at the age of 26.

But Procol Harum show themselves having a grand old time. On Still There’ll Be More, its up-tempo beat on dealing with people who would cheat on either husbands or wives and give them a message on who not to mess with the line “I’ll blacken your Christmas/and piss on your door/you’ll cry for mercy.” It’s such a great song and Brooker nails it on those vocal arrangements.

Whaling Stories which would later be one of the band’s live favorites, and an early pioneer of the history of Progressive Rock, is perhaps one of their magnum opus alongside the 17-minute suite, In Held ‘Twas in I. The thunderous sea-crying shanty roaring of Trower’s guitar sends electricity as he descends his chords and solo followed by Brooker giving the last message as the crew send towards their doom. Before the militant funeral orchestral finale of the crew meeting their prophets and find peace at their wake.

The bonus tracks on the second disc, feature two BBC tracks they did for the David Symonds show, backing tracks, different takes, single Radio edit, George Martin mix in which he double-tracked the piano line, brought the guitars up into a different level to give it a sinister momentum on About to Die, and two remixes. There is a poster of the album in which features lyrics of the album along with a 20-page booklet with Henry Scott-Irvine’s liner notes featuring interviews with the band about the making of the album.

Mark & Vicky Powell have never disappointed me when it comes to Esoteric Recordings. And the Procol Harum reissues are a welcoming treat and I hope they will do more next year with the other albums (Grand Hotel, Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and Broken Barricades to name a few.) The reissues are a welcoming return to see where the band broke the door down and where they would make five more albums and various line-up changes before calling it a day in 1977 at the height of the punk and disco movement.

And many years later, they are still going strong and still going on tour.

Echolyn - I Heard You Listening

Echolyn had been around since forming in their hometown in Pennsylvania 26 years ago. So far, they have released nine albums. And their inspirations between the essence of Electric Light Orchestra, Wilco, Genesis, and Yes, they show no sign of stopping. Mind you, this is my introduction to the band’s music. And their new album in which it’s their tenth released this year in which they recorded back in September in 2013 and in April of this year, I Heard You Listening is a crowning experience.

The quintet brought everything on their music between the essence of Progressive, Symphonic, and Indie Rock rolled up into a blender and making it into a wonderful smoothie to drink into. Not to mention the six centerpieces on the album that will have your jaws dropped at each momentum. Sound of Bees is a waltz ballad with an alternative orchestral rock flavor to it with a soaring guitar rhythm and lead section. And I have to lyrical line “Everything’s gone/everything’s wrong/I’ll hide away/All I can hear is what’s wrong.”

Echolyn show a lot on what is going on in our lives of what is happening and forget about the bad moments and hideaway of what went horribly wrong. All This Time We’re Given is a reminiscent between the Animals-era of Pink Floyd and Air’s score to the 1999 film, The Virgin Suicides. It’s a haunting ballad done in the time signature in 4/4 as the lyrics deal with what’s to come after with nothing left to show as Messenger of All’s Right in which it’s the opening track starts with a piano ballad, guitars, and synths headed towards an ascending midsection.

It shows Echolyn going into a Beatle-sque melody that could have been used during the Abbey Road sessions before they head back into the ground for a lukewarm finale. But it’s Warjazz that sees the band heading into an increase rhythm section. It’s a right-in-your-face unexpected melody that is brilliant and the time signatures spread out like a list as to see where they will go next.

The drumming beat per minute of 166, has a Bill Bruford meets Paul Thompson style of percussion section. It’s a cross between the Red-era of King Crimson and Roxy Music’s sole self-titled debut album which is evidential on the track, 2HB. The thunderous Different Days has the instruments between Organ, Synth, Heavy Guitar midsection, and piano in a running beat.

The lyrics deal with wherever they go, they stay up and move away from the situations they are under and forget everything they remember by moving forward and the band’s writing is spot on wonderful. The closing track, Vanishing Sun is where everything is coming in full circle. I enjoy the hypnotizing melodies that fits in with the heavy section through the vocals.

Following by Church Organ-like sounds and Guitar, not to mention the late ‘60s psychedelic intro climbing melody, and the touches of Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot-era and the inspirational lyrics from the mind of Jeff Tweedy, and the finale of the clapping rhythm with the line ”All he wanted was to disappear, All he wanted was to take his life back.” It is a perfect ending to send it off into the heavens. Very much in the styles of The Who's Pure and Easy in the closing moment.

This is my fifth time listening to Echolyn’s I Heard You Listening. I was really impressed of the band’s music since hearing them back on United in Prog with Tony Romero and on Prog Rock Deep Cuts with Ian Beabout on the House of Prog website (www.houseofprog.com). And now I’m hooked into the world of Echolyn. And I can’t wait to hear more of their music and dive into their pool to see what adventures they have waiting for me.