Category Archives: Angelo’s Rock Orphanage

Vinyl instead of CDs, and books instead of eBooks? Yes, due to the taxman…

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The past 6 months I’ve bought about as much music on vinyl (LP if you will) as I bought on CD and/or as digital download. That was a bold move, but it feels good to hold these large covers again, have a readable sized lyrics sheet and force yourself to listen to music because every 20 minutes you have to flip a record. Nostalgia perhaps, but it works for me – even if new vinyl is more expensive than the same album on CD in many cases (which is somewhat covered by the fact that the vinyl often comes with a CD included, or a download link).

For books, I took the opposite root a few years ago, when I bought an Amazon Kindle – which was later (after my son stepped on the screen) replaced by a Kobo reader and some Kindle-to-ePub conversion software. Instead of further filling the living room and the study with books, I filled my laptop and my e-reader with e-books. That seems to slowly come to a halt now, thanks to our dear elected politicians in The Hague and Brussels, and the officials of which they are the marionettes. What happened? Well, since January 1st, just like for digital music and other ‘e-services’, VAT in the EU is calculated based on the country of the buyer instead of the seller. That means the eBooks I used to buy in the US or UK are now charged with 21% VAT instead of the much lower US or UK rates. So far so good, if the e-books I bought had been available in The Netherlands I would’ve had to pay that too – but Amazon (my preferred supplier of 20 years) had no Dutch web site so that was no issue.

Now that this has changed however, I found out that there are more (and equally annoying rules and regulations in place) that hinder me. Apparently, due to copyright protection, I cannot order e-books from the UK, although I can from the US. What bothers me more actually is that the new prices reflect very clearly that I do not only have to pay Dutch VAT now, but also a bunch of other taxes and surcharges. I complained about the price difference at Amazon, but even the friendly lady working there, who called me less than an hour later, could not explain all of that.

Just to show what I mean – here’s what happened. I wanted to buy the book Rocking the Classics by Edward Macan. An English book, so I went to Amazon UK. Nice, the e-book would cost me 10 pounds. However, after logging in, I got the message it could not be ordered outside the UK, so I had to go to Amazon.nl, the Dutch site.

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Amazon UK, without taxes

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Amazon UK, cannot buy from outside UK

On Amazon.nl, the book was on offer for almost 54 euros, over 4 times as much as the UK price. Our local VAT is 21%, so what explains the other 279% price raise? I have no idea, and I’m not sure I’m even willing to investigate this. Then the lady from Amazon Netherlands called and explained that VAT and other charges apply, and that these become visible after logging in and entering a Dutch address on Amazon.com.

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Dutch site – EUR 53,96 (four times as much as in the UK)

So, I went to Amazon.com, the US site and indeed (after removing some cookies) I found that the same e-book costs 19 dollars there. Then I logged in and suddenly the price because 60 dollars, roughly 53 euro indeed. With VAT applied, I could’ve understood 25 or 26 dollars, but this is double that.

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Amazon US: 19 dollars is a bit more than 10 pounds, but UK doesn’t apply VAT to books, so that’s understandable

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Amazon.com price for EU countries is 60 dollars – 21% VAT I can understand, but what is the rest about?

So, what did I do? I found out that VAT on e-books in the EU is higher than on real books, because European law considers them electronic services instead of books. A lobby is ongoing to change that by 2020, but I still have no clue what the other additional charges are. For now, I decided to take the same route as with music and move away from digital if I can or at least if the price gets too high. I ordered the hardcover edition of the book, which cost me 38 pounds in the Amazon UK store, but at least I can be reasonably sure that the additional money is not going to inexplicable surcharges (at least that is what I tell myself now).

Often, I feel a an urge to leave Europe behind and move to Canada, New Zealand or South Africa, and on days like this that urge gets even stronger. Unfortunately, I have no guarantee that things are better in these places…

Closing note: Amazon Netherlands will, based on this, consider adding more explicit information about taxes and charges on their web site. Let’s hope they go beyond considering it.

Paris 2008, a trio and Trisector

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Today I received an e-mail from Guigo Barros, a man from Brazil who despite the distance and the infrequent contact we have, I consider a friend for life. He is the one who asked me, around 8 years ago, to join the admin team at PrimageogArchives.com. We served on that team together four over four years – a time I won’t easily forget. The admins we worked with were all great people, as were the site collaborators. A lot of these people are still around there – Prog is a sticky business….

In Guigo’s e-mail was the above photo of (from right to left) Guigo himself, Martin Horst (a German site collab) and myself. We met one evening in Februari 2008 – in Paris, where Martin lived, and where Guigo was visiting, on vacation with his wonderful wife Ana.

We talked about music – obscure bands, well known bands, Zeuhl, symphonic, jazz rock… I was taking notes that led in the end to me picking up the unsigned bands section of ProgArchives later, and this site, Angelo’s Rock Orphanage last year. Always on the lookout for new, unknown gems…

One more memory from that trip is how I wrote my review for Van Der Graaf Generator’s album Trisector. The afternoon before meeting these wonderful people, I just sat down in a small park near the Sacre Coeur, put my headphones on and wrote that review, in the early February sun.

Guigo and Martin were just two of the good friends and musical contacts I made along the way, I’ll be posting more of these short ‘encounter stories’ here over time.

 

 

 

 

BunChakeze – Whose Dream?

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Imagine an album being recorded in 1985, and being released only 25 years later, in 2010. Sounds crazy? Well, this is exactly what happened with BunChakeze album Whose Dream?. The four people involved were Odin of London members Colin Tench (guitar,   synthesizer and vocals), Gary Derrick (bass), Cliff Deighton (drums) and Joey Lugassy (vocals). The former three founded the band, helped build a studio in exchange for recording time and then hired the Lugassy to fill in the role of the until then missing vocalist. Studio owner Alex Foulcer fulfilled a guest role on piano.

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After recording the album, the four disbanded. In 1992, they the album was remixed, but only in 2010, Colin Tench took the lead in releasing the album on CD, encouraged by Pasi Koivu, with whom he later founded Corvus Stone.

The album contains 9 tracks, which clearly show how these four men were influenced by late 1960s and early 1970s progressive rock . Music that was wanting air play and certainly of no commercial interest at the time of recording. However, times have changed again in the mean time, and this album is no misfit in the 21st century  revival of progressive rock.

The opening track BunChakeze is an energetic, short instrumental with ‘swirling’ keyboards and matching guitar, to warm up for the rest of the album. Once this is done, the band slows down for the first part of title track Whose Dream? Keyboard and piano guide the fitting rock voice of Lugassy, in what sounds like a melancholic ballad until the guitar and drums come in to make it into a more powerful, almost marching track. The circle closes when we go back to the first line of the intro, which is also the last of the song, once again only accompanied by the piano: Whose dream are you dreaming?

Walk on Paradise then is a more guitar oriented track, although the synthesizer is quite present in the opening. Initially, this doesn’t feel like paradise music at all – but when the rhythm becomes more stable and prominent, the feel becomes more positive. Briefly only though, the instrumental midsection removes the happiness again – in line with the lyrics (‘I am a prisoner who lives alone, chains hanging from the walls‘). After a quite heavy guitar solo the song takes a more melodramatic turn, in music as well as lyrics, as the main character is looking for a way out.

After this, the album gets to what I think are its four best tracks, starting with Handful of Rice. The music is carried by a staccato guitar riff (by some referred to as latin or hispanic, but I don’t fully see that reference). This is haunting in a way, especially in the mid section where it is accompanied by a droning synth and metallic sounding drums. Near the end the track speeds up a bit, maybe signifying new hope? New hope that certainly belongs in the next track, Flight of the Phoenix, after all, a phoenix always rises from the ashes in which it perishes. This is a track that opens with wonderfully played acoustic guitar, accompanying a well performed vocal melody. It’s not a happy tune, matching the darkness of the lyrics. Halfway, the electric guitar comes in and the song becomes melancholic. After a nice, melodic guitar solo, the music speeds up and when the phoenix rises, the ‘Clock stops!‘ and so does the music.

After this, the band takes us to 19th century North America, with Midnight Skies, telling us about how the young United States dealt with the natives. On this track, which starts out with almost jazzy guitar and bass, the 1970s influences of the band really show. While the bass and guitar build a rhythm, the keyboards go into Genesis like patterns, and a Pink Floyd resembling guitar solo follows. All of this build up to the request to let the native Americans take back the prairies and run free under midnight skies….

With Long Distance Runner, the direction changes once again. With two vocals (both by Lugassy as far as I can tell), singing a sort of dialog, this track starts with a musical like feel. After this it speeds up gradually and a slightly staccato guitar seems to imply the runner is really running. The drums on this track are not continuous, in various places only fills and breaks are played, which really gives an unusual effect to the music. At the end, the piano comes in for a bit more. What keeps me wondering about this one is the question whether the line in the lyrics ‘A Cinderella Boy becomes a Marathon Man‘ is a reference to Rush: they have Cinderella Man and released Power Windows including Marathon while BunChakeze were recording.

And then – it is time for The Deal, yet again a track in which the 1970s influences return. There is a guitar riff underneath this whole track that is so close to something (go hear for yourself) on Pink Floyd’s The Wall that coincidence is impossible. It’s not a rip off though, the track works perfectly by itself, and it may be the easiest one to get into on first listen. After this, all that’s left is dessert, a short instrumental reprise  of Whose Dream, which is mainly a slightly folky electric guitar tune.

I got this album almost 5 years after it was released, after missing it completely in 201o – and I’m happy to have it now. It’s by no means perfect, certainly production wise a few things could be improved (hollow vocals here and there, slightly sharp drums), but given its history that is something I can live with. I really like the last four tracks (not including the far from bad Whose Dream reprise), even if they are not as original in style in 2010 or 2015 than they were in 1985 I guess. Recommended for checking out for sure – and added to the regular plays a while ago over here.

April’s top 10 of blog entries

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April has come and gone already, so here’s another overview of the top 10 posts of the past 30 days. I’m happy to see Kristoffer Gildenlöw‘s new single Pass the Torch, released last week at the top – after only 5 days of publishing the review. Als interesting is the appearance of an older review, of Franck Carducci’s Torn Apart at the top of the list, right behind the brilliant album A Spark in the Aether by The Tangent – and just above the rest of last months reviews.

One thing to note: somehow, the gig review of Gentle Storm on March 26th has received the largest amount of views on my blog (over 600), most of which in it’s first week. No idea how that spread so fast, and it’s still in the top 10 of the past 30 days.

Kristoffer Gildenlöw asks us to Pass the Torch
The Tangent – A Spark in the Aether
Album Review: Torn Apart – Franck Carducci
Elephants of Scotland – Execute and Breathe (Album Review)
Karibow – Addicted (album review)
What to find inside? This Raging Silence – Isotopes and Endoscopes (Album review)
Nice Beaver @ JJ Music House 10-04-2015
Tiger Moth Tales – Cocoon
Steam Theory – Asunder (album review)
The Gentle Storm @ De Melkweg, March 26 2015  

 

Kristoffer Gildenlöw asks us to Pass the Torch

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Once upon a time, there was a man called Kristoffer Gildenlöw, a musician. This man Kristoffer got caught by the cuteness of baby elephants, which is perfectly understandable if you know how cute these can be. He also noticed that baby elephants and their cuteness may not be available to future generations, if we continue to allow their habitat to be destroyed and their parents being hunted down and shot just for the ivory of their tusks.

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That is why in December 2014, Kristoffer and some of his friends and partners organised a campaign to raise money the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. The campaign raised €3000, to be spent on care for orphaned.

As a follow up to that, on May 1st 2015, Kristoffer releases a single called Pass the Torch, to once again raise money to save and protect elephants. On this single, he is accompanied by a large group of Dutch, Swedish and English fellow musicians, who agreed to the cause and to submitting all profits made from the sales of the single to the wildlife trust.

The single itself is a 5 minute piece of somewhat surprising music. Kristoffer has a background in metal and progressive rock, but the opening of the track reminds somewhat of circus music, mixed with the jazzy piano of Paolo Conté (for those who know his 80s hit ‘Max’).  After the intro, the song gets more of a somewhat jazzy rock feel, with the continued presence of Kristoffer’s organ and bass playing. This gradually develops into a multi vocal, slightly rock musical like piece.

Halfway, a short narration might have a familiar ring to it for Genesis fans (“It’s one o’ clock…”), after which female vocals and the accompanying music take us to what could be a fifties music performance, before the circus like music returns, this time including a youth choir in the background.

Musically, there are some more surprises to be found, but I don’t want to spoil the fun of discovery by doing a second by second description. Rest assured that it will be fun to listen to, and to discover the organ, the bass, the singing saw, the copper section, the cello and so on. Not exactly a hit parade song, rather a full blown mini musical about being more respectful to Mother Earth. This of course goes back to what I described in the introduction to this little review – killing animals for fun and financial gain only, and cutting down forests is not exactly the way to preserve the planet. As Kristoffer puts it in the lyrics:

“We need a way that we can show our brilliance.

To pass the torch as human race

Set an example for a brighter future, or we will stand for a big disgrace. ”

A great single, for an important cause. I’d suggest anyone interested in good music and the well being of our planet head over to Kristoffer’s web site (or CDBaby) and get this single in exchange for a donation of €1 or more. Kristoffer is also releasing an album in January 2016 (follow up to 2010’s RUST), which will not contain this single, there you have another reason to get it.

Line up

Kristoffer Gildenlöw – piano, electric piano, organ, bass, guitar, vocals

Guest musicians:

Collin Leijenaar – drums

Maaike Peterse – cello

Anne Bakker – musical saw

Victoria Rule – trumpet

Rupert Whitehead – trombone

Ray Heame – tuba

Stephanie Tepper – flute and piccolo

Johan Hallgren – vocals

Taloch Tony Jameson – vocals

Maria Catharina – vocals

Students of Wateringse Veld College – Youth Choir

Site: http://www.kristoffergildenlow.com

For further inquiries contact: www.mymusicmattersmt.com

Spectral Mornings 2015

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Those who know Steve Hackett‘s work also know the center piece of his 1979 master piece Spectral Mornings. On April 27th, so yesterday, a charity EP was released which contains four different versions of that track.

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The first version is a re-recording of the track, with vocals (male and female) of the song, the second a piano version of the same. After these, a new rendition of the original follows, and the EP is closed with the classic mix, which stays closest to the original from 1979. Each of the four has its own merits, but played after one another they resemble a long, very enjoyable version of Spectral Mornings.

The EP is sold through Cherry Red Records, and as said, it’s a charity EP: all proceeds will go to Parkinsons Society UK, who are funding research into preventing and curing Parkinson’s Disease.

Tiger Moth Tales – Cocoon

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“Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin… This is a cautionary tale, and it concerns a man, a gifted man, living on an island made out of musical instruments….”

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That could be the beginning of an album review for Tiger Moth Tales‘ album Cocoon, crafter by multi-instrumentalist Peter Jones. To be honest, it is the beginning of such a review now. As I write this review, I have heard the album quite a few times, but during the final listen before writing this, the hairs on my arms still stood upright during the closing track. That must mean something, so let’s have a look at what Cocoon is, and what it has to offer…

As said, this is an album by the English multi-instrumentalist Peter Jones. A blind musician at that, one who has to rely fully on his ears, and what that means clearly shows on this album, on which he sings, and plays keyboards, talkbox, guitar, saxophone, whistles, sarod, zither, melodica, bells and percussion. The drums are programmed and Mark Wardle plays flugelhorn, but everything else is done by this one man, who als wrote all music and lyrics. I mentioned before that one man bands are quite common these days (in my review for Steam Theory), and here’s another one that proves that this can actually work well when focus is on releasing an album.

So… Cocoon, I reckon the best way to describe this album is by calling it a trip into the world of Peter Jones, fan of Steve Hackett, Genesis, Big Big Train, Frost*, Haken and many more. A fan of the kind that writes and plays his own music almost in tribute to his favourites – his own Four Seasons if you will (short tracks named after the seasons interleave the songs on this album).

That shows in many ways on this very versatile album, that echoes both the sounds of the 70s and modern rock. The opening Overture is not so much an overture of the music on the album, as an overture of the instruments the man can play and who his inspirations are. There is a dark keyboard melody in there, followed by a saxophone solo and then wild keyboard work that (on slightly less modern instruments) might not have been out of place in the heyday of Yes and ELP.

The follow up The Isle of Witches, on which the intro to this review is based, starts with a narrative and is the followed by dark music – telling the tale of a war between witches and wizards over an island. A song that has organ pieces, vocal effects, and even a metallic mid section (somehow reminded me of something on the very first Ayreon album). A track that requires listening – not suited as background music nor as a lullaby – unless you want to provoke nightmares.

Tigers in the Butter is a 14 minute track that has every aspect of a 1970s epic in it – it consists of different musical movements, one rocky another based on a piano melody and yet another having an eastern feel to it. The lyrics are slightly absurd, but at the same time thought provoking (we live our live in fantasy), and sung in a style that has aspects of what Peter Gabriel and John Wetton did in their younger years. Another listener, that is followed by a great instrumental, The First Lament. Great for those who love guitar, and especially guitar in (at least to my ears) the style of Gary Moore‘s Parisienne Walkways or The Messiah Will Come Again. Peter has a knack for keyboards, but the guitar is a very close second, if not equal. The additional touch of the flute in the beginning makes it into a Tiger Moth Tale yet again.

And then… the fun really kicks in with The Merry Vicar, a happy track with folk and musical influences in the versus, but with a fitting, more rock oriented keyboard and piano mid section. The lyrics about a vicar using music and absurdism to spread the word of God are brought in an equally absurd way as the vicar would himself. To me, this clearly gets the message across that it’s only too human to take everything so serious.

With the vicar gone, A visit to Chigwick is our next stop, and it’s all about childhood memories. Chigwick doesn’t exist – except in the singer’s head, as he sings (even though the name resembles that of Chiswick in London ). In reality, the town is based on English children’s TV shows Trumpton, Camberwick Green and Chigley – the name being a combination of the latter two [Added this explanation after Peter explained it]. The song starts out folky. It even reminds me briefly of Dirty Old Town, if it weren’t a folk traditional song but a modern composition. The keyboard, guitar and bass work on this track are brilliant, and the build up from folk to full instrumental rock is absolutely wonderful (and yes, there is a melodica on this one…, and it fits too). It’s almost a pity it only lasts for just under 9 minutes. Almost, not quite though, because there is that one closing track remaining that made the hair on my arms stand up, some 800 words ago, remember? That track is called Don’t let go, Feels alright. If we talk about emotion and build up in a song, this one has it all. Starting with a musical box, it quickly moves to a piano piece on which Peter sings in a wonderful emotional voice, accompanied by strings where needed. Later on drums and more layered, choral vocals are added, but only after two superb instrumental sections, with saxophone, guitar and keyboard solos that make you wonder whether this is really a single man playing…

Looking at Peter Jones’ bio on his web site, he is no stranger to the music business – having been appeared on a BBC program at age 8, and being a performing artist in the duo  2 to Go (playing clubs and corporate events). However, what he does on this album is in a completely different league, and it is a shame this album is drowning in the attention paid to the new works of old names. Tiger Moth Tales should be, has to become, a known name at some point, but for the time being this album has every aspect in place of a cult classic.

And just to raise the hairs on my arm again, I include a video here, of Peter’s rendition of the Genesis classic More Fool Me (also to make up for not having posted a Track-of-the-Day for almost two weeks). Tiger Moth Tales and Peter Jones, two names to keep in mind.

Nice Beaver @ JJ Music House 10-04-2015

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A few weeks before this gig, I heard Nice Beaver for the first time, on Marty Dorman‘s The Waiting Room. A shame really, given the musical power this band has shown since the late 1990s, and the fact that all band members live within an hours drive from my house. To make up for that, I wanted to go to their CD presentation, for the 2015 album The Time it Takes. Since I couldn’t make it, I decided to go see them a few weeks later at JJ Music House in Zoetermeer. Armed with a friend, Guido Kruyswijk, a camera and money to buy their back catalog I took off and was treated to a nice surprise: this very tight, driven live band.

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Due to the late announcement of this gig, and the fact that Renaissance were playing at De Boerderij, just a few kilometers away, the audience was a bit less than Nice Beaver deserves, but they weren’t playing to an entirely empty room either. During the gig, I heard the few tracks that were played in The Waiting Room, and many (for me) new ones, and I never got bored. Nice Beaver holds a recipe for powerful prog, with super tight drums, melodic bass, Camel like guitar and keyboards – and loads of melodic solos.

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Hans Gerritse

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Peter Stel

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Corné van Disseldorp

 

 

With a decent sound (the guitars could’ve been a bit higher in the mix, that’s all) and a slightly nervous vocalist Erik Groeneweg (who didn’t always reach the high notes the way he can) the band guided uit through most of their new album, three tracks from On Dry Land (2002) and a medley from Oregon (2004). A lovely set, and the band clearly enjoyed it, given the fact that drummer Corné and guitarist Hans were caught smiling more than once by the present cameras (including mine).

After the performance, we had a nice chat with the band, about how they record albums, how drummer Corné joined the band a few years ago and who does what outside just playing. Four great musicians, with an open mind and a good sense of humor were more than willing to talk – and to sign their album. Best joke of the evening: we were talking to Corné when the lights went of, indicating start of the performance so he had to go on stage. Upon leaving he said ‘We’ll continue this later’ – to promptly show up at our corner of the venue after the show saying ‘Sorry, I had to go do something quickly, where were we?’

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Erik Groeneweg

 

The powerful prog rock of Nice Beaver is a fairly unknown export product of The Netherlands, with their album being distributed world wide through Polish Oskar label. I’d recommend anyone to give them a try, and buy the new album – or see them live if you can (which is for the time being a hard thing to do outside The Netherlands and perhaps Germany or Belgium). Sometimes, the best music is made next door…

Setlist:

  • River So Wide
  • Close to Proximity
  • Culley on Bleecker Street
  • Oversight
  • Rainbow’s End
  • Timeline
  • Wintersong
  • The Time it Takes
  • Sound behind Sound
  • Lawnmower’s Day Off
  • Oregon
  • Beaver state
  • Waiting for the Bell
  • Love on Arrival

Sunny sunday morning

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The wind moves the curtain
The wall shows patterns of the sun
I hear the sounds of children playing
Another day has just begun

I erupt from the blankets
In my sleep new plans were spun
I hear the sound of music playing
Each day my life becomes more fun

As I put my clothes on
A beautiful song one sings
And as I hum along to that one
I hear my phone, the future rings

The wind moves the curtain
The wall shows patterns of the sun
I hear the sound of music playing
My life anew begun

The Tangent – Spark in the Aether

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The Tangent, that was band I hadn’t heard of until 2008, when on an evening at the former Progwalhalla web shop’s owner I got to hear (and buy) Not as Good as the Book. That was good, and what followed I liked as well – and now, there is Spark in the Aether, also known as The Music That Died Alone Volume Two, after The Tangent’s debut album.

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I think reviews of albums should avoid being ‘over the top’, certainly when new albums come out that have not yet had the time to prove or disprove their quality at the time of reviewing. With this one, I may have a hard time keeping myself to that, so please bear with me. This album is something that sticks to your mind, and since it is not released yet at the time I write this, I have no clue how long it will stick.

The album opens with Spark in the Aether, the title track, which is an up tempo, in your face track – driven by an energizing keyboard, and a driving bass. In your face, is the phrase that I expect will come to the mind of many fellow reviewers. Every once in a while a band comes up with a tune, a riff or a lick that makes you want to go back, and with this one it’s The Tangent’s turn. I posted this one earlier as track of the day, check that out if you want to sample it before convincing yourself you should get this album. Lyrically, this one is a first look at what master mind of The Tangent, Andy Tillison has in mind for us – here starting with a call to stop listening to the same old tunes and make up some new once, looking for the spark in the aether.

After such a fun opening, the rest better be very good as well. With Codpieces and Capes, that is well assured – no need guessing what this one is about. A 12+ minute epic about how progressive rock bands of the 70s were considered pretentious by the press, but to their fans were something completely different. Contains everything the prog bands of yonder days brought to play: loud keyboards, crazy riffs and tunes, flute, multi vocal choruses. Sometimes feels like ELP, then like Yes, and maybe even as Jethro Tull when the flute comes in, but always it feels like The Tangent. Best to have a good listen, this is sub titled ‘a love song‘ for a reason, and Andy’s lyrics explain it perfectly, he still loves his old heroes – or does he? Just keep in mind the closing verse ‘The critics said “pretentious”, my God they were so wrong…. (They were probably right about the rug)”. To the point, sarcastic, and with reference to a short description of an ELP gig at New Castle Hall, in which it is mentioned that ‘Greg stands on a nice rug’.

To calm down after already almost 20 minutes of great music, the album continues with Clearing out the Attic, a song about that somehow brought Caravan’s Golf Girl to mind when I first heard it. Jazzy, but rocky at times as well, and with a relaxed vocal that sings lyrics that are not easy to pin point, but show at least some sarcasm – seemingly about Andy’s own fiery words toward others, that put him in the ‘plastic bag’ of his own niche. A wonderful piece of jazzy progressive rock.

This is followed by an instrumental tribute to Pink Floyd’s Careful with that Axe Eugene, fittingly called Aftereugene. A well performed piece that has acoustic guitar in the intro, then builds a psychedelic landscape with organ, percussion, electric guitar and flute – followed by a very well executed, but somewhat scary, saxophone solo to top it of… ‘careful with that sax…’

But, an album by classic prog lovers, and certainly Andy,  as The Tangent are, needs a really long epic. This we find in The Celluloid Road, which in four different parts guides us through America, but with only references related to movies and TV shows. The music underneath goes from dreamy guitar music, through rocking soul, back to guitar tunes and once again to ‘brass and bass’ – an eclectic ride through the land of the free and the home of the brave, that ‘looks alright in the TV light’. Wonderfully build up and the lyrics are a brilliant way to describe this piece of the world.

Alas, after that 20 minute trip, it is time to return to the title track, with Spark in the Aether Part 2. This is a largely instrumental piece, once again with a bit of a jazz feel to it, until half way the organ comes in to build up a stage on which the jumpy, bouncy keyboard riff of the opening track can shine once again. Also, at this point the vocal return to repeat the chorus of the title track.

That would’ve been a fitting end, but The Tangent has added an encore, by putting a ‘radio edit’ of San Fransisco, one of the parts within The Celluloid Road, on the album. This is (almost) danceable, with a funky, soulful bouncing rhythm and melody. Would this get The Tangent airplay perhaps? Probably not, but on the right station it would work for sure.

This is among the best albums I’ve heard so far this year, and I reckon it will come out on top. Andy Tillison is a great musician and lyricist – and combining his talent with those of Jonas Reingold (bass, The Flower Kings), Theo Travis (sax, flute, Robert Fripp), Luke Machin (guitar, Machine) and Mogan Ågren (drums, Kaipa) makes The Tangent into a wonderful and very powerful band.

To avoid going really over the top, I’ll leave it at this. I love this type of music, and I hope you readers can love it too.

P.S. Thanks to Andy himself for providing a review copy of this album. I ordered the signed vinyl nevertheless, because the band needs and deserves support (and money) for a follow up to this.