’ READERS POLL
rate Who did you t in the very bes ? prog in 2020
OSIBISA
How they took their Afro prog beat to the masses
THE GROUNDHOGS
Tony McPhee on their path from blues rockers to prog explorers
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THE FLOWER KINGS IAMTHEMORNING SOLSTICE ROBERT REED DEREK SHERINIAN CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX
PROG 116
INTRO
IF IT’S OUT THERE, IT’S IN HERE
DBA CELEBRATE THE GOOD OLD DAYS
Fourth studio album Halcyon Hymns aims to evoke a “bucolic summer” as friends Geoff Downes and Chris Braide fought off their lockdown blues… with a little help from Marc Almond.
Bright boys: DBA’s album features warm summer artwork by Roger Dean.
Geoff Downes and Chris Braide will release their fourth Downes Braide Association studio album, and fifth album overall, on February 5 via Cherry Red. Halcyon Hymns is their response to the lockdown blues – an attempt to reflect the sounds and feelings of the “bucolic halcyon summer” very few of us got to enjoy in 2020. The duo had been basking in the glory of two successful live shows at Trading Boundaries in East Sussex when lockdown was announced in the UK. While Yes, Asia and Buggles keyboardist Downes was happy enough to keep himself busy with various projects in Wales, songwriter 12 progmagazine.com
briefly and made a note to do something with and composer Braide found himself more them at a later date,” he says. “I can’t say why frustrated in California. it happened, but one day in the studio, as “Marc Almond suggested I get stuck into I listened to the bits and pieces of another DBA record to lift the ideas, suddenly the songs started malaise,” he recalls. “Somehow tumbling out as if by magic. it was hard to muster any “I’m not exaggerating or being enthusiasm for it. We had all been melodramatic. These new songs so upbeat at the recent shows and sounded like personal reflections, now here we were in a collective, “It was so easy, they just wrote themselves. It was creative void.” so enjoyable so easy, so enjoyable and so meant Nevertheless, Braide sat down at and so to be. Like a gift.” his computer and opened a folder Former Soft Cell vocalist of musical ideas Downes had meant to be. Almond makes a guest appearance previously sent him. “I’d listened Like a gift.”
Prog news updated daily online!
progmagazine.com
This month, Intro was compiled by
Dave Cousins says his veteran band prove they’re still fresh with latest LP.
Ironed out: Strawbs used more than just top-level recording gear on their latest album.
Strawbs will release what they describe as “extraordinary” new album Settlement on February 21 via Cherry Red. Leader Dave Cousins notes that they’ve been releasing LPs for 51 years – but reports there’s still plenty to say. “I can’t think of another band who can go from metal grunge to the lilt of an Irish ghost story – or from a song in 6/8 time to singing in 4/4 over a 5/4 backbeat – in half an hour,” he argues. He adds that the lyrics reflect the “political and social upheaval” of 2020, which saw the band working on the record remotely. “‘Once we went dancing through quicksilver days’, or ‘What the autocrats are selling you is sturm und drang’, or ‘All bear witness, come together, we are everyone’ – I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved,” he says. Producer Blue Weaver oversaw the efforts of Cousins, Dave Lambert, Chas Cronk, Dave Bainbridge, and Tony Fernandez from his studio in Germany. “Strawbs dusted off their instruments and set up the necessary technology to make it happen, ranging from state-of-the-art recording equipment to an ironing board!” he explains. “It’s unprecedented that a recording of this quality could be made without a single face-to-face meeting. There comes a time when every Settlement is due!” Guests on the 12-track follow-up to 2018’s The Ferryman’s Curse include vocalist Cathryn Craig, bassist Schalk Joubert and former Strawb John Ford. For more information, visit www.strawbsweb.co.uk. MK
WILL IRELAND
THE SPIRIT IS STRONG WITH GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT
Jo Quail makes a guest appearance on Ghost Tapes #10.
Irish post-rockers God Is An Astronaut launch new record Ghost Tapes #10 on February 12 via Napalm Records. Guitarist Torsten Kinsella says the band faced a “difficult decision” over whether to release the album without a tour, but they concluded, “It’s important for the band to put out material while it’s fresh.” He adds, “I don’t believe in holding back material. It’s relevant to me now, and it might not be relevant in, say, two years’ time.” He says their planned 15th anniversary shows for classic album All Is Violent, All Is Bright contributed to their raw approach, as they jammed the material before recording it – a first for them. They’re joined on the recording by cellist Jo Quail. While 2018’s Epitaph was dark and pensive, Ghost Tapes #10 is more Staying fresh: uptempo and retains the sound of a live God Is An band in a room. “The tone is the feeling Astronaut. of trying to move forward, and turn some negatives into positives,” Kinsella says. Visit www.godisanastronaut.com. AL
PRESS/BRYANMEADE
among the 12 tracks, as does David Longdon of Big Big Train. The lead song Love Among The Ruins was released in December; it’s described as “a delightful and uplifting love song, reflecting memories and tributes of a long-lost halcyon time in life.” With other titles including Your Heart Will Find The Way, Holding The Heavens, Warm Summer Sun and Late Summer, it’s easy to follow the duo’s thinking. “It was so great to witness Chris’ creativity in making my fundamental ideas come alive,” Downes enthuses. “He took the bare bones of melodies, harmonies and textures I sent him, and somehow crafted them into something way beyond my expectations or imagination. Love Among The Ruins is one of the many examples on the album of his rare genius at work.” Artwork comes from longtime Yes collaborator Roger Dean, who created a trademark lush verdant landscape inhabited by bright wildlife under a turquoise sky. Dean presents a painting session on the DVD that accompanies the extended edition of the LP, along with three lyric videos. A white double-vinyl edition will arrive on March 26. Halcyon Hymns comes eight years into DBA’s career. Their first release was 2012’s Pictures Of You, which announced their intention to deliver what they call a “delightfully accessible brand of progressive rock.” The debut LP was followed by 2015’s Suburban Ghosts and 2017’s Skyscraper Souls, then in 2018 the pair staged their first live show, also at Trading Boundaries. The result was 2019’s Live In England. “Working with Geoff has reacquainted me with the kind of music I love,” Braide said at the time, enjoying the distraction from his day job of working with pop artists including Britney Spears, Lana Del Rey, Christina Aguilera and Beyoncé. “To be able to make music like this with my dear friend is a real pleasure and reminds me why I got into music in the first place.” Now, having recently returned to his native England, he reflects: “It’s odd the way inspiration strikes. It never ceases to delight and surprise me when the muse comes to play – it can happen at any time and without warning.” Visit www.downesbraide.co.uk for full details. MK
STRAWBS REACH A SETTLEMENT
WILL IRELAND
Malcolm Dome Jerry Ewing Jo Kendall Martin Kielty Dom Lawson Alex Lynham Rhodri Marsden Julian Marszalek Alison Reijman Natasha Scharf Johnny Sharp Francesa Tyer Phil Weller
READERS’ POLL n some ways 2020 will forever be tagged with the epithet of ‘the year we’d rather forget’, what with Covid-19 running rampant and impacting our lives in ways many of us had never previously imagined. And yet it’s also been a year in which we’ve seen artists adapting to the ‘new normal’ by connecting with fans via a slew of online events, and, in a lot of cases, releasing albums just as they would in any ‘normal’ year. So then, this is the annual Prog Magazine Readers’ Poll. Owing to the cancellation of most live shows, we’ve dropped the Venue category (although I sincerely hope we’ll be voting on venues and gigs this time next year), and your response to those cancellations is reflected in the obvious winner of the Disappointment category. As for the rest, well, it really has been business as usual. And despite the pandemic, business has been good. Thank you to everyone who voted and congratulations to all the winners and runners-up. Long live prog in 2021.
Jerry Ewing – Editor 28 progmagazine.com
MARILLION: PRESS/ANNE-MARIE FORKER
I
2020
BAND
1. MARILLION 2. BIG BIG TRAIN 3. DREAM THEATER 4. FISH 5. THE PINEAPPLE THIEF 6. PENDRAGON 7. LUNATIC SOUL 8. HAKEN 9. CALIGULA’S HORSE 10. NICK MASON’S SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS “After what has probably been the strangest year of our lives, we feel very honoured to have won Band Of The Year – a serious accolade when we ponder the many brilliant and accomplished bands out there. Thank you to Prog and, of course, to everyone who voted for us. We’re thrilled to bits. We’ll raise a glass, and toast being with you all again in a better 2021. Love and handstands.” Marillion
ALBUM
1. FISH WELTSCHMERZ 2. RICK WAKEMAN & THE ENGLISH ROCK ENSEMBLE – THE RED PLANET 3. HAKEN – VIRUS 4. PENDRAGON – LOVE OVER FEAR 5. THE PINEAPPLE THIEF – VERSIONS OF THE TRUTH 6. LUNATIC SOUL – THROUGH SHADED WOODS 7. WOBBLER – DWELLERS OF THE DEEP 8. CALIGULA’S HORSE – RISE RADIANT 9. DYBLE LONGDON – BETWEEN A BREATH AND A BREATH 10. MARATHON – MARK KELLY’S MARATHON
UNSIGNED BAND
2. POTTER’S DAUGHTER
“We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who voted for Esthesis. We are truly honoured to have won the Unsigned Band category in the Prog Magazine Readers’ Poll for 2020, and we hope our album The Awakening will continue to bring some light and happiness to people in these difficult times.”
“After receiving the recent news that the Prog Magazine critics had awarded Weltschmerz their Album Of The Year, it’s a truly wonderful accolade to have it voted for by the readers as well. It’s a fabulous feeling to have my final album recognised in this manner, especially in these difficult and challenging times. It’s perhaps fitting that an album titled Weltschmerz – world pain – has touched so many in 2020 and, on behalf of all the musicians involved in writing and recording it – especially Steve Vantsis, my principal co-writer and co-producer – I want to thank everyone who voted for it. I’ve said that this was the album I always wanted to hear as a teenager and to make as a musician and this award means a hell of a lot to me. Thank you.”
Esthesis
Fish
1. ESTHESIS (www.esthesis.bandcamp.com)
(www.officialpottersdaughter. bandcamp.com)
3. ZOPP
(www.zopp.bandcamp.com)
4. ABEL GANZ
(www.abelganz.bandcamp.com)
5. DIKAJEE
(www.dikajee.bandcamp.com)
6. JOHN HOLDEN
(www.johnholden.bandcamp.com)
7. GRAVITY MACHINE (www.gravitymachine.bandcamp.com)
8. BEAR THE MAMMOTH (www.bearthemammoth.com)
9. JUPITER HOLLOW
(www.jupiterhollow.bandcamp.com) 10. APOSTLE (www.apostle.org.uk)
progmagazine.com 29
This Creeping
Malaise Few albums from the 70s have such relevance today as Animals. It captured the moment when Pink Floyd made the giant leap from lush to harsh, from a pillow of winds to cold shafts of broken glass. Although some fans missed the expansive soundscapes of its predecessors, its lyrics tore into the evils of capitalism and abuses of power and seem even more apposite today than at the time. Prog explores the ugly beauty of Floyd’s 10th studio album. Oink Oink: Daryl Easlea Image: Hipgnosis/Storm Thorgerson/Aubrey Powell/Pink Floyd Music Ltd
I
n the long, hot summer of 1976, Pink Floyd were holed up in their brand new studio in Islington making what would become their 10th studio album, Animals. Ten years earlier, they had been the sound of the underground and soon began making their name on the London scene. Thanks to 1973’s The Dark Side Of The Moon, Pink Floyd had become the biggest underground band in the world. And, now, as the establishment themselves, they were old news. Britain was in the grip of industrial unrest and a drought that seemed to provide a metaphor for the lack of direction in the country. Far-right groups were stirring, punk rock was emanating from the children of those who’d welcomed Floyd a decade earlier. With one eye looking over his shoulder, Roger Waters wrote a Pink Floyd album that remains
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discrete within their catalogue even today. Released at a time when anything more than a three-minute, three-chord thrash was an early candidate for cancel culture, Animals stands as odd and as proud as those four thrusting chimneys on the cover. Even today, for an album with such a well-known, iconic sleeve, comparatively few know the music within. Given that the group had already attained megastar status, it was a difficult album to promote, aside from the fact it was by Pink Floyd and they promoted themselves. With three pieces all over 10 minutes long, there was no track to take to radio. Even in the US, where singles had repeatedly been taken from albums, they knew the game was up, and had nothing to offer. Just how did a group that had the world at its feet come to make quite such a bitter, idiosyncratic record?
“I don’t think the humour of the work has ever really escaped in the way it might have.” Roger Waters
progmagazine.com 37
OSIBISA
F
ifty one years ago, four expatriate Africans and three Caribbean musicians came together in London as Osibisa. Flying their “crisscross rhythms that explode with happiness”, UK audiences had never seen anything like the seven smiling figures in African robes harnessing highlife brass fanfares and explosive percussion breaks to supercharged progressive rock, igniting an unfettered joy and cavorting rarely seen at gigs before. Osibisa’s euphoric celebration of African culture, crosspollinated with rock, jazz and soul, was a whole new thing, laying crucial foundations for world music live and on record. The band’s roots go back to saxophone-playing leader Teddy Osei’s childhood in West Africa. Born in 1937, he was introduced to traditional instruments at school, taught himself sax to jazz records at college and formed ‘highlife’ band The Star Gazers with future Osibisa drummer Sol Amarfio. The pair were joined by Osei’s trumpeter brother Mac Tontoh in The Comets, scoring
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ECHOES/REDFERNS/GETTY IMAGES
Words: Kris Needs
drummer Conrad Isadore, their 1969 album, Us Coloured Kids, a black rock presaging classic. After Samuels was recruited by Stephen Stills and Isadore joined Manfred Mann Chapter 3, Richardson was left with the band’s equipment. Meeting Ginger Baker’s Air Force percussionist Remi Kabaka led him to African rhythms as well as meeting Osei and Trinidadian organist Robert Bailey. Their name derived from ‘osibisaba’ (Fante for highlife), Osibisa’s original ‘beautiful seven’ were completed by Grenadian bassist Spartacus R . 20 20 ssions, The Boyhood Se and Nigerian percussionist-tenor a West African hit in saxophonist Loughty Lasisi Amao. (I Feel) Pata Pata in 1958. Arriving As a black band in racism-rife in London in 1962, Osei washed 70s Britain, Osibisa fought to win dishes until winning a Ghanaian crowds and usually succeeded, government grant to study music generating a buzz without hype and drama. In 1964, he formed or trend-hopping. Melody Maker’s Cat’s Paw, warming up Osibisa’s melting pot corralling highlife, Richard Williams started a press rock and soul. buzz with glowing write-ups, Coming to the UK from notably their breakthrough Antigua at 11 and growing up in appearances at Ronnie Scott’s, north London, guitarist Wendell declaring, “They make quite a point of being unclassifiable… ‘Dell’ Richardson formed the Highlife, jazz, rock, blues, soul, Sundae Times with bassist and – most of all the African Calvin ‘Fuzzy’ Samuels and
Osibisa with Paul Gambaccini (back row), Ed ‘Stewpot’ Stewart, Dave Lee Travis (front), Noel Edmonds (front).
“Paul McCartney would never have known, but he kept Osibisa together.” Dell Richardson
heritage. Truly, this is Black Music… with purest joy.” After signing with MCA, Osibisa recorded their self-titled debut album. Produced by Tony Visconti, with architectural designer Roger Dean creating the cover (that would eventually bring him to the attention of Yes) and the band’s flying elephant logo, Osibisa captured the live show they’d started taking around the world, spreading their joyful message. After 1971’s Woyaya (‘We are going’), with its poignant title track anthem, Osibisa released more albums as line-ups changed. In 1975, they had their biggest hit with the single Sunshine Day, which reached No.17 in the UK Singles Chart and ensured they had a lifelong place on the nostalgia circuit. Despite suffering a stroke, Osei still helms the Osibisa brand, and Richardson is a sporadic mainstay. Latest album The Boyhood Sessions: Sunshine Day includes songs sent to director Richard Linklater for the comingof-age epic Boyhood and includes new versions of Sunshine Day and a live acoustic mix of Woyaya. Prog caught up with Osei and Richardson, at a safe distance, to learn more.
PICTORIAL PRESS LTD/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Every month we get inside the mind of one of the biggest names in music. This issue it’s Osibisa. The Afrorock band formed in 1969 and were responsible for bringing African music to new audiences in Europe and North America. A young Roger Dean created their early album covers and their combination of African rhythms with Latin grooves played an important role in popularising world music. Over the years, they’ve captured the hearts of audiences at Ronnie Scott’s and the Royal Festival Hall, as well as Cropredy Convention. Founder members Teddy Osai and Wendell ‘Dell’ Richardson tell the story of their musical mission…
Osibisa in 1976: pure joy.
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Edited by Dave Everley prog.reviews@futurenet.com
New spins…
TRANSATLANTIC One record, twice the fun? All-star prog maximalists prove there might be too much of a good thing with twin versions of their fifth album… Words: Grant Moon Illustration: Mark Leary
“
W
e have always had the attitude that more of anything is never enough,” asserts Transatlantic drummer Mike Portnoy, proudly. “But this time we have taken that idea to a new extreme.” And, boy, have they. Transatlantic’s self-produced fifth album, The Absolute Universe was fleshed out in Sweden in late 2019. Then, as Portnoy, Neal Morse, Roine Stolt and Pete Trewavas worked on their parts in their respective studios, the music – says Stolt – kept “expanding and expanding”. Ultimately they settled on two variations on the same record: a 60-minute, single-disc ‘abridged’ version subtitled The Breath Of Life, and a 90-minute, double-disc ‘extended’ one, called Forevermore. The shorter isn’t an edit of the longer, because that’d be too straightforward. Instead, each is a fresh recording, with alternate compositional elements, lyrics, and songs. Between the two, what you get is, if not the best of both worlds, certainly the most of them. Like the band’s 2009 comeback opus The Whirlwind, The Absolute Universe is one long, loosely conceptual piece split into separate tracks: a gargantuan, labyrinthine and majestic prog symphony that hits all the notes you’d expect of these seasoned hands. The Breath Of Life, Overture ushers us in on a mysterious, cosmos-wide synth with ethereal guitar notes and some Star Trek-like string lines, the music taking a knotty turn as all four members lock into the groove and weave their magic. Stolt’s been busy with The Flower Kings of late and his guitar chops are sharp and solid throughout. Morse is on form too, be it on Hammond, Moog or Mellotron, and the ever undersung Trewavas’ bass bubbles and fizzes admirably. This horrible year must have been particularly hellish for the energy bomb that is Portnoy, and the force of his personality and virtuosic skill seem more pronounced now. His talent’s out of lockdown, and channelled like a laser.
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The Absolute Universe INSIDEOUT
It’s clear that more is more, bigger is better. Present and correct are the punch-the-air anthems (Reaching For The Sky, Can You Feel It) and the huge, layered choruses (as on the jubilant Higher Than The Morning, which wears its 11/8–12/8 metre with consummate ease). Morse takes most vocal lines as per usual, and his acoustic guitar-led Take Now My Soul is imbued with his signature Christian rock feel with the lyrics: ‘Carry me through Lord, I’m comin’ home’. Elsewhere on the album Stolt gives a moody read of the Deep Purple-ish Owl Howl and strident The Darkness In The Light, which he adorns with some beautifully jazzy, Arabian-flavoured licks. Ever the subtly fantastic foil, bassist Trewavas’ functionalyet-likeable vocal sells the minor-key piano flourishes of Solitude, and Portnoy’s gravelly tones suit the deliciously sleazy riff of Looking For The Light.
The musicians have long sublimated their influences – Genesis, Yes, ELO, Queen, Floyd – to the point where they speak their heroes’ words with a voice and vocabulary all their own. Lyrically their metaphors remain traditional to the degree of simplistic, but these are a welcome astringent to their complex musical accompaniment. The tone and magnitude of latter day Transatlantic music arguably lacks some of the light and shade of earlier works like SMPTe and Bridge Across Forever, and at times this one feels almost like a test of resilience, of fealty. When transcendent closer Love Made A Way finally ebbs away, the listener has had a lot of bang for their Transatlantic buck. Ironically the longer version of the album is the superior listen. You’d have to A/B both albums to compare and capture all the differing elements. For example, the Forevermore cut of Overture is augmented with vocals, has more space between orchestral peaks and more meat to its proggier passages. Reaching For The Sky becomes Heart Like A Whirlwind, with a completely new set of lyrics and extra passages, and Take Now My Soul is retooled as Swing High Swing Low. It’s the extra tracks that make the real difference. Bully is the band in full, frenetic instrumental flight, and Rainbow Sky and Sun Comes Up Today are hugely enjoyable, 70s inflected pop-rockers. Once you’ve heard these, you miss them on the shorter iteration of the album. The view from the cockpit of the Transatlantic mothership remains clear: more is more, bigger is better, longer is stronger. Their proven, bountiful chemistry has allowed them to produce something as monolithic as The Absolute Universe… and twice. But while having an ‘All But The Kitchen Sink’ and ‘Kitchen Sink ‘N’ All’ version makes for an opulent artistic statement, here’s a hangnail of a thought: could an objective producer have helped them see the wood for the trees, make choices, and fashion the one great album currently residing inside two very good ones?
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