We haven’t been down this particular rabbit hole for a bit, last time it was those than welcome yellow ladders that took us down there, this time we have the new Star Period Star album, Airbridge main man Lorenzo Bedini’s solo album and a taste of things to come from Wobbler’s Lars Fredrik Frøislie, Bank Myna, Ekzilo and…

Lorenzo Bedini – Who Never Was – Airbridge main man/songwriter Lorenzo Bedini is about to release his first solo album Who Never Was and as we said when Airbridge released their wonderful second album, Openings, a couple of years ago, some thirty odd years on from their first; “Airbridge are a delight, lets put that there first, set the stall out as it were, walk the railway line eating too many Black Jacks and sherbet-filled flying saucers”. That quote from our Airbridge review is offered as we find this new solo album from Mr Bedini to be very much taking us down similar roads as that excellent Airbridge album did. This is very much a prog thing in an 80s way, this in a down the Marquee in 1982 and as Lorenzo rightly explains “this is a hand-crafted album, on which all instruments and voices were recorded live, in real time and without MIDI, artificial intelligence to preserve feeling and atmosphere”. And yes, rather like the Star Period Star album reviewed down there, this is as much about feeling and atmosphere as it is anything else. Who Never Was is a deliciously melodic album, a rich restrained melodic prog rock allbum, it tastes of walking in the park and misplaced childhoods, of that hopeful time back there in the early 80s, that place where Airbridge originally came from, that thing that bound us all. It almost nostalgic both is terms of sound and sentiment, in terms of those subtle spiralling keyboard bits – “Who Never Was is an album that charts the effects of life on the development of a human being: what we set out to be and what we become” – there you go, an album about that classic prog thing, life, an rather delicious album about misplaced childhoods, hopes, dreams and what became of it all… (sw)  

Bandcamp

Previously on these pages

ORGAN THING: The delight of Airbridge, the cult 80’s prog band are back with another new album and a rather forward looking first taste…

ORGAN THING: Three wholesome slices of prog rock, new albums from Airbridge, Diagonal and A Formal Horse…

Star Period Star – Twilight Saving Time (Jet Propulsion Records) – The vital thing that Star Period Star have always had is that need they have to be genuinely properly progressive, they’ve always had it, they had it when we first encountered them somewhere in the mid 90s when their debut seven inch landed here, they are just naturally properly progressive. Star Period Star have always been firmly rooted in what most people would recognise as Prog Rock, there are always huge slabs of classic bits of thing that tastes of bands like 70s Genesis as well as bits of American jazz and hints of Rush and such and as the band (or whoever put together their Bandcamp page) say themselves,  “Star Period Star’s fifth studio album, Twilight Saving Time features bits of 70s-ish pop rock with jazzy bits, progressive rock, one complex long-form acoustic piece, and other grand, humble and lofty adventures. At times heavy, and at others, experimental and ambient”.  Not hearing too much of the ambient side they talk of, this is a rather positively busy album, there’s a lot going on here, plenty of light and shade though, they have things balanced and yes there is a 70s American pop feel to some of it – they’re from Savannah, Georgia by the way, they do sound American. There are hints of American 70s pop rock along with the complex prog and experimental adventure, thankfully none of that tedious Neo Prog by numbers nonsense. Right now they’re kind of sounding like Billy Joel playing with ideas Camel might have sent his way back in his earlier days not long after his time in Atilla. And now with Fraid Not they’re sounding very (very) prog without obviously sounding like anyone, experimental yet acceptable, Star Period Star, rather like Cheer Accident, always sound like they need to challenge themselves as much as they need to challenge their audience. Things are balanced, always accessible, lyrically interesting, American history, things to further explore, Poison Squad and such.   

Some might find the production or the sometimes raw quality of the vocals a little challenging, these ears rather like the lack of slickness, the honesty, it does kind of almost sound like one of those glorious tape albums from back there in the early days of IQ, Quasar or Tamarisk, it feels real, lived in, warm, proper, it feels right. There’s some gloriously adventurous instrumental passages, excellent chemistry, Means of Production is one of the most epic two and three quarter minutes of proper prog rock you’ll will have heard in a long long time and without ever getting too self indulgent or self aware (and thankfully without ever needing to show off). There’s some excellent playing as well as interplay and composition on this latest Star Period Star album. An album that’s a good as anything they’ve done over what must be a thirty year lifespan now, love that hint of Turn it On Again in the middle of the aforementioned Poison Squad and the jazz rock feel of Caipirinha Hangover, there’s something just really satisfying about Star Period Star, something just right about them, a band who you suspect still write letters. Albright, Mather is almost Americana in a folky Led Zeppelin kind of way, some of it tastes of Kansas or Styx before it goes way out there with the instrumental passages that kind of hints that supper might be ready before it heads out beyond the stars. Mostly this latest album tastes of no one but Star Period Star and if you allow it the time to properly reveal itself then you will find that, once again they’ve made a rather fine prog rock album. Kind of like the cover as well, Star Period Star are the raw real proper deal. (sw)   

Bandcamp

What else do we have down here? Well this sounds epic

Bank Myna – Now we can only hear one piece from the French band’s forthcoming Eimuria album right now (out on April 25th via Stellar Frequencies/Modulor), but hey, what a a massive piece it is. Epic experimental piece it is… “Bank Myna is the architect of a unique universe where dark post-rock, drone, sonic experiments and doom-like incursions mingle. Among a mystical voice and dronian soundscapes, Bank Myna’s music offers free structures within which the sounds are ample, deep and the play on textures permanent….”

And some more…

Lars Fredrik Frøislie and a rather tasty first taste of the forthcoming second solo album, Gamle Mester (Old Master), an album where we’te told “Lars Fredrik Frøislie pays homage to the greats of the past. Drawing inspiration not only from the pioneers of progressive rock but also from art, literature, and mythology, the album reflects on timeless acts of creativity that still resonate today. The title is derived from the ancient oak tree “Den Gamle Mester,” found at Krødsherad Prestegård, which also inspired a poem of the same name by Jørgen Moe. This symbolic tree serves as a unifying theme throughout the album, representing wisdom, endurance, and the passage of time….” Right now we can only hear one rather expansive instrumental piece on his Bandcamp page, it is a rather impressive piece though and he is the keyboard player from Wobbler so hey, he has good form…

What else is there down thing prog rock rabbit hole? Well there are a couple of tastes of the forthcoming Ekzilo album waiting t obe heard ahead of the release next month..

Ekzilo – Quantum Phase Transition (Astronomy Recording Music) – Instrumental epicness from Spain and a couple of tastes of a forthcoming album via Bandcamp. The two slightly bombastically rich tracks bode well in terms of the rest of album, we’ll let the music do the dancing around the architecture…

We’ll mention the new album from Leeds band Ghost Of The Machine while we’re here, they just released a new album, all a bit too polite and melodic neo prog by numbers for these ears, but hey, you might like it, consider the mention a slice of whatever…

And while we’re here, that rediculously prog-ridden video for the Parade single taken from second album Bewitched released in 1984 by Andy Summers and Robert Fripp. The Complete Recordings 1981-1984 by Andy Summers and Robert Fripp on 3CD/1Blu-ray, alongside a new 2024 David Singleton mix of I Advance Masked on 200-gram vinyl will be released on March 28th, 2025. More here

And that Billy Joel album we were talking about… “Before going solo, Billy Joel was one half of a Psychedelic / Heavy Metal band called Attila. They released their one and only album in 1970…”