Prog

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Last issue we were paying tribute to late Talk Talk singer Mark Hollis, this issue it’s 60s pin-up turned avant-garde experimentalist Scott Walker. I do hope next month I’m not called upon to comment on the passing of yet another amazing musician tak

“I’ve been vegan for nearly 20 years and have spent a lot of time experimenting in the kitchen with varying degrees of success. As I’ve got older, I’ve learned how to recreate my favourite meals from when I was younger, or dishes I’ve had while trave

Furious arguments play out on internet forums over the optimum material you should use to make the body of a guitar. The gentle warmth of rosewood? The elegant sustain of maple? The brightness of poplar? The artist known simply as Burls has no time f

Just who the hell was Arthur Russell? Immersed in the New York avant-garde scene, the US musician had originally studied Indian classical music and experimental composition before collaborating with such diverse talents as Allen Ginsberg, Philip Glas

Back in Prog 93, reviewing Saga’s So Good So Far… live album, Dave Ling queried whether there are too many live albums these days. My answer to his question is a resounding yes. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, most artists — prog or otherwise — went sev

As befits the passing of an artist as influential as Scott Walker, the plaudits from the music world came thick and fast following the news that he had passed away on March 22, 2019. “He took music to a place it actually hasn’t been since,” said long

“Growing up, I had the feeling that my dad was coming from a different place than other guitarists,” Dweezil Zappa says. “He seemed to mock the guitar hero idea in his physical movements onstage, and he expanded the possibilities of what soloing coul

“The past,” according to the famous LP Hartley quote, “is a foreign country. They do things differently there.” Or maybe Mr Hartley just didn’t have the technology at his disposal. In the 21st century, history isn’t so out of reach that you can’t pic

Second only to Britain’s own pioneering ground zero, the Italian prog rock scene in the early 70s was an undeniable epicentre for the entire genre. Despite the complex and often bewilderingly florid nature of their music, bands like Rome’s Banco del

“Meaningful lyrics, quirky time signatures and beautiful music that transports you to another world. Definitely some prog DNA in there..” Stuart Haynes “Concepts and astounding songwriting and musicianship. Always interesting to listen to with a nove

To state that music is more than a mere profession for a particular artist is, of course, tantamount to lame journalistic cliché. However, in the case of Jordan Rudess this declaration rings far truer than most. From the age of nine, when the New Yor

jo.kendall@futurenet.com Grand Tour ENGLISH ELECTRIC/PLANE GROOVY Big Big Train’s music has been described as “pastoral” and “quintessentially English”, and in their case we can probably take that to mean, “Imaginative, subtly nuanced, whimsical at t

It’s now almost summer, which means two things – hopefully more sunshine, and the bulk of the ArcTanGent line-up announcements. This year, that means a Battles headline set, or in other words, Christmas come early. In terms of upcoming releases, the

Nobody recites words quite like Patti Smith. The sheer relish she takes in diction, infusing every syllable with serenity or savagery, has impregnated her work since Horses. She’s as charismatic as ever on Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith’s The

Oslo sextet Tip The Scales bring together a wealth of jazz and classical music training and a passion for prog. Released on Hærverk Industrier, their self-titled album offers hippie rock with moody marimbas, vibraphones and cello up front. Pieces lik

Adrian Whittaker With Tim Booth, Tim Goulding & Ivan Pawle OZYMANDIAS Exceptionally engaging acid-folk biography, doubling as socio-cultural history. Who could have dreamed that the band who closed 1969’s seminal prog sampler Nice Enough To Eat carri

VENUE DYNAMO/EFFENAAR, EINDHOVEN DATE 22-23/03/19 A question often asked to us here at Prog magazine, and indeed a question that arises during our talk at Prognosis this weekend, is whether or not there is long-term viability in progressive music. On

VENUE ZIGFRID VON UNDERBELLY, LONDON DATE 16/03/2019 It’s a tough night to stage a prog show in London, what with Haken playing across town, and there’s a modest but enthusiastic audience waiting for That Joe Payne in Zigfrid von Underbelly. It doesn

VENUE THE SAGE, GATESHEAD DATE 20/03/19 Before this tour began it was announced that Roy Harper would be retiring from live work this year. Fair enough; at the age of 77 that seems perfectly understandable. Being on the road, while gratifying, has it

VENUE THE WILTERN, LOS ANGELES DATE 22/03/2019 It’s impossible to overstate the impact of Dream Theater’s 1999 concept album, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory, on both the band’s career trajectory and progressive metal as a whole. When the albu

VENUE UNION TRANSFER, PHILADELPHIA, PA DATE 05/04/19 Since the early 80s, Canadian quartet Voivod have been beloved for their highly creative, technical and exuberant blend of prog and thrash metal, with last year’s conceptual album The Wake solidify

VENUE THE UNDERWORLD, LONDON DATE 21/03/2019 The winds of change blow strong in the cinematic world of Crippled Black Phoenix. When Prog caught up with founder and chief songwriter Justin Greaves earlier this year, the band had firmly entered a new e

VENUE ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL, LONDON DATE 16/03/2019 Before Haken can make their splash on their biggest tour to date, there are two impressive young prog bands to enjoy. The highly anticipated Bent Knee, from Boston, emerge in a blaze of sound, lig

VENUE THE MILL, BIRMINGHAM DATE 24/03/19 SUPPORT LESOIR Poland’s Riverside boast some of the most captivating records within the modern progressive rock sphere over their 18-year career, but the shock passing of founding guitarist Piotr Grudzinski in

VENUE 013 POPPODIUM AND VARIOUS VENUES, TILBURG DATE 11-14/04/19 Prog’s annual pilgrimage to Tilburg fits in mind-boggling music from folk to psych to the outer limits of the avant-garde, as well as art exhibitions, interviews and panels. Just don’t

VENUE AFAS LIVE, AMSTERDAM DATE 16/03/19 Ten years ago De Staat shared a communal house in Nijmegen, the left-wing Dutch town affectionately known as “Havana-On-The-Waal”, with each bandmember receiving a monthly stipend of €200 from the government t

VENUE SWX, BRISTOL DATE 24/03/19 SUPPORT O.R.K. Bloody typical. You wait years for an ex-King Crimson drummer and then two come along at once. Effectively a hometown show for The Pineapple Thief, given that founder and frontman Bruce Soord lives an h

VENUE THE BORDERLINE, LONDON DATE 23/03/2019 Thanks to their many champions and The Merch Desk’s ever-lovely Nellie Pitts, who has shouldered the promoter’s responsibilities for this short foray to Britain, the exquisite and multifaceted French progg

VENUE MIRTH, MARVEL & MAUD, LONDON DATE 23/04/19 SUPPORT COWBOY FLYING SAUCER, AMESBURY BANKS Former Can vocalist Damo Suzuki has always been an artist of surprises, but today’s event is the culmination of a series of unexpected events. With just day

VENUE ISLINGTON ACADEMY, LONDON DATE 24/03/19 SUPPORT WHEEL, GHOST IRIS Progressive metal gets a bad rap sometimes, invoking ideas of monotonal angst, po-faced guys in black and guitar displays that can feel less about music and more about speed-frea