We said this last time we went down the rabbit hole, the prog scene was a big part of where Organ started, down the Marquee with the cutting edge of IQ, the majesty of Pallas, the bite of Twelfth Night and the rest of them back there and while the prog scene is maybe a little too polite and maybe not that progressive these days it is still worth checking out what the now rather insular scene offers now and again. Yes I am repeating myself here, I did say all this last time, time and tide and all that, who needs an introduction? We are constantly shouting about the really properly progressive things of course, the things the prog scene and their glossy magazines seem to mostly be oblivious to, the bands on the real progressive cutting edge, bands like Cheer Accident, Yowie or Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Extra Life or Kayo Dot or Slift or anything truly progressively exciting. The brutal prog of those Flying Luttenbackers would probably send your average porcupine bothering big big pineapple tree follower running to those hills, most do called prog bores the hell out of me these days, when it does dare to be properly progressive like Extra Life were over at New River Studios then…
Yes, there are still some more conventional “prog” things worth your time so yes, let’s go down that rabbit hole again we like to go down now and again. Here’s a thing or two that has come to our attention in recent times, some old, some new, nothing borrowed, not too blue. This time we start with a new release of something not that new from Caravan…
Caravan – The Shows Of Ours…Live (Madfish) – Now how long is this review going to take? Are there enough hours in the day? The simple answer is no, here’s a quick dive in and I guess a breezy sunny day day helps, Caravan are a rather breezy sunny day kind of band. A ten disc box set of live recordings? I mean, you have to be some kind committed devotee, not sure there’s that many bands capable of making me trawl through a ten album box set of live recordings in a forensic trainspotter-ish way, Cardiacs probably? Van Der Graaf certainly, Fast Eddie period Motorhead perhaps? A box set of Velvet Underground factory rehearsal recordings accompanied by a fifteen hour Andy Warhol film (did they ever rehearse, wasn’t everything a performance piece?).
Caravan have always sounded very (very) nice in the nicest possible nice kind of ways, in a slightly excentric English cream tea and let’s watch the cricket from under the tree at Canterbury kind of way, never really regarded then as much in terms of progressive rock, not sure where the “pioneers” tag that keeps getting attached comes from? They were surely no Yes, never anywhere near as dangerously challenging as say King Crimson, they were/are a very ‘nice’ pleasant enjoyable kind of band. All mid-pace politeness in a harmlessly unoffensive kind of breezy uplifting very nice way and well here I am half way through disc one and the press release says “Madfish are proud to present the new ten LP box set from progressive rock pioneers Caravan. Titled The Shows Of Ours…Live, the new set includes ten LPs of iconic Caravan performances from the band’s live peak with four previously unreleased concerts – Keele University 1976, Bobino 1980, Diss 1998 and Wavendon 2001. Completing the set is a beautiful 60-page collector’s book with previously unseen photographs and contributions from the band”.
And here I am five tracks into the first disc and resisting to temptation the moan about the stupid overuse or misuse of the word iconic and a pleasant enough keyboard solo part way through 9 Feet Underground and what can be said? Now and again Caravan threaten to bite, that keyboard solo about five minutes into Love In Your Eye jolts things for a moment or two and there is a genuinely experimental bit a couple of minutes later as they loosen up and now we’ve jumped to Disc Ten and a rather nice sixteen minute medley and well, there are people who will happily pour over every second of this vast collection of live performances, Caravan are a much loved much respected institution of a band, for some they’re a band who really really do matter…
“Among the many gems is a standout performance from Keele University, now available for fans to enjoy for the very first time. Unearthed from the personal tapes of keyboardist Jan Schelhaas, Keele University 1976 captures the band in elegant transition – fluid, playful, and at ease in their own skin. There’s also the long-rumoured 1980 concert at Bobino, Paris – finally rescued from the world of unofficial bootlegs and presented here in fully remastered form. With crisp fidelity and room to breathe, it reveals a line-up locked in and stretching out, riding the sweet spot between structure and spontaneity. The journey continues into later years with a 1990 recording from Old Buckenham High School – a performance once tucked away on a boxset-only CD release, now restored and reintroduced on vinyl for the first time in all its charm.
From swirling organ solos to playful lyrical turns, every track hums with the unmistakable spirit of a scene that was always more than just music – it was a movement. Whether you’re a longtime devotee or a curious newcomer, this is your invitation to step into the velvet-draped, tea-scented haze of a bygone era. Compiled with the full blessing and input of the band. The Shows of Ours… Live is part time capsule, part revelation – a portrait of Caravan as a live band and a tribute to their subtle but lasting mark on progressive music history”
– Not sure about that bygone era bit? Surely it is a timeless thing rather than an exercise in nostalgia? And I’m really not sure this is for the curious newcomer although it is a good illustration and I guess it it is as good as anything as in introduction surely this is only for the hardcore fan? Ultimately theirs is a very nice polite very English sound that now and again gets a touch progressive but really is more of a very peasant, on the right day very rewarding, easy listening take on the ideas of 70s prog. It really is hard not to like Caravan’s cup of tea…
The discs….
1 – Keele University 1976
2/3 – Bobino, Paris 1980
4/5 – Old Buckenham High School 1990
6/7/8 – Park Hotel, Diss 1998
9/10 – Stables Theatre, Wavendon 2001
The Shows Of Ours…Live will be released on Madfish on 22nd August if you should have spare £250.00 hanging about then find it via those prog pushers at Burning Shed
Next up, a gathering of flies…
Flies Are Spies From Hell are releasing some of their earlier material, they just posted this video; “Back in 2007 our pal Matt Redman filmed us and started editing together a video. It was abandoned but just 18 years later we’ve got it finished off! They were good days. It’s fun being in a band, I highly recommend it…”
The early-years album which features this Mountain Language remaster is available from Bandcamp, Demos + Live 2004-2007 dates from a time when the instrumental London band (I always thought they were from Chichester, did they leave home?) were finding their feet and maybe sounding a little more ‘proggy’ and a little less epic in rather Post Rock way then they do these days and if I really am honest, I kind of prefer what they were doing in their maybe a little less obvious early days, that isn’t to say what they do now isn’t well worth checking out if you enjoy and epic instrumental post rock flavour or two, the band have evolved in a rather accomplished manner since these recordings…
exo-X-xeno – Luminous Voyage — Flight – “exo-X-xeno is a project about musicianship and crafting adventurous conceptual compositions into amalgamated tapestries of progressive rock sounds” – those rather grandeous press release claims did rather set the warning bells of, this is about as progressive as a pint of warm alcohol free beer, the best track on here sounds like a Jadis out-take, the bits that hint at sounding like a modern take on Yes are just No! There’s very very little of the musical adventure promised, and if there are “amalgamated tapestries of progressive rock” to be found here then these ears aren’t hearing them! What I am heating is rather well played modern watered down notion of ‘prog’ by numbers and really nothing more than that. Reaching for Beyond, the best track here might have just about made it on as a bonus track on a Union re-issue, that track is almost very nearly half-decent for a brief moment and hey, come on, how many times are you going to sing the title? Lyrically this is tediously repetitive and well, franky when this kind of thing peddled at people as an example of what ‘prog’ is then it just can’t be allowed to just politely pass, things like this masquerading as prog really does annoy me!
“This release features complete “Live Lyrics” for an immersive lyrical journey, accompanied by visionary cover artwork from Craig Maher”; the artwork is as cliched and as tediously obvious as the rest of it and the most annoying thing of all, is that you know that if these ‘respected’ musicians with long track records were to grow a collective pair then the band founded by composer, vocalist and guitarist Craig Maher, exo-X-xeno, a musical constellation consisting of bassist and backing vocalist Billy Sherwood (Yes, Toto and Conspiracy with Chris Squire), drummer Jay Schellen (Hurricane, Yes and Asia), and legendary keyboardist Patrick Moraz (Refugee, Yes and The Moody Blues) probably could have made a properly progressive challenging forward looking piece of art rather than this weak-kneed conservative cowardly take on what people are told is Prog Rock. You might enjoy it, it is kind of harmless, I’m off to listen to the most recent Slift album or at least some Van Der Graaf Generator or maybe last year’s Sleepytime Gorilla Museum album ahead of their forthcoming European tour, here, go treat yourself to some Sleepytime – Sleepytime Gorilla Museum’s new album reviewed. This gift is not like other gifts, this is a glorious return, more coherent maybe, a complex revivification indeed… (sw)
If you really want it then here are the exo-X-xeno album details and such on Bandcamp
Here you go, lots of properly progressive prog on this list from the end of the year – ORGAN: Our best 43 albums of another very musically busy 2024. Who did we rate? The Flying Luttenbachers, Extra life, Earth Ball, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Gazelle Twin, English Teacher, Slift, Uniform…
Just a reminder of things said last year; Slift – Ilion (Sub Pop)– Make no mistake, this is powerful, everything the French band did in 2024 was big, the pieces of music, the gigs, this album, the proper progressiveness of it all – This is massive, everything about Slift is massive, this is a towering album, exhilarating, more than that though, these songs are big. ‘Ilion’, the French Prog band’s Sub pop debut, isn’t just about…
Did we post this Komara piece already? probably, you progheads proably don’t read anything other than these rabbit hole pages though do you?
Komara – Komara II (7D) – “The genre-defying trio Komara return with Komara II, a powerful new release that pushes sound boundaries and challenges musical convention. Featuring King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto, avant-garde guitarist David Kollar and visionary trumpeter Paolo Raineri, the album blends ambient textures, industrial grit, and jazz-infused improvisation into a haunting, cinematic experience” and well, not sure about the ground breaking genre-defying bit, it kind of sounds like a lot of things that were floating around on the edges of the free festival scene of the 90s mostly on bills featuring ex members of Gong or bands opening for Ozric Tentacles, that isn’t to dismiss Komara though, this is a rather fine, rather mellow album that does hint at an experimental edge or two. “Special guests include Arve Henriksen, Deborah Carter Mastelotto and sound designer Bill Munyon, adding further depth to the album’s rich, experimental palette. As with their first album, this release is visually anchored by a striking cover design from Tool guitarist and visual artist Adam Jones” and well we’ll politely ignore that rather cliched rather awful album cover and note the rather filmoid post rock Godspeed flavours of opening track Gerund before we get the dub-ish hints of Allina Day and the Ullulators/Oroonies/Better Days feel of Relocating Children. The album really comes into its own with the nine minutes of smouldering midsummer late night heatwave Post Rock atmospherics of Gray Apples Fall and the equally evocotive Judgement Day before what is probably the stand out track on this mostly instrumental album, a rather colourful rather clever (never too clever) piece called Utorok Cowboy. This is an album that could very easily be dangerously muso, that could be about nothing more than just accomplished musicians showing of technique, thankfully, as impressive as they are in terms of playing, it never ever feels like a show-off album, Komara II has warmth, soul, spirt, feel and when the jazz-infused improvisation is allowed to flow underneath the bones of it all then it is all rather beautifully experimental. Not sure about ground breaking or genre-defying but this is a fine album. You might like to note that the band will be performing several shows this summer in Europe with Pat Mastelotto’s former King Crimson bandmate Trey Gunn joining the band. Find more via Bandcamp. (sw)
And while we’re talking about the 7D label and Komara, there is an excellent album sampler that’s free to download and comes loads with things to explore, a highly recommended compilation, find that on Bandcamp as well.
“Immerse yourself in the experimental world of 7D Media with this carefully curated 30-track sampler, spanning almost three hours of boundary-pushing music showcasing the innovative artistry that defines the label. Featuring contributions from Tu-Ner, SONAR, original Santana drummer Michael Shrieve, Happy Rhodes, Stick Men, Kansas violinist Joe Deninzon, Crystal Beth, Jason Blake, Matt Dorsey (Sound of Contact, ProgJect), and many more…”
Next? Once you go down that rabbit hole then that’s it….
Guranfoe – Gumbo Gumbo – Guranfoe are from Norwich, Gumbo Gumbo is a rather beautiful album that dates from 2022, an album that had figured regularly on the Other Rock Show, and album that really should have been mentioned around this parts long ago. Hey, we can’t be everywhere at once however much we might try to be (and they’re not big on communication or response to all that radio play either). Thos glorious album gets a mention today because Guranfoe have a couple of gigs coming up with the excellent Needlepoint (more about those gigs further down in a minute). Needlepoint are from Oslo, Norway, here’s the link to a review of their brilliant album from last year – ORGAN: Albums, even more albums before the year really does end – Chopchop’s blue kites, the drawings of Howie Reeve and Friends, the full bodied prog rock of Rainbow Face, Trio HLK’s Anthropometricks, Tusmørke, King Gizzard’s flight and Needlepoint’s glorious Remnants Of Light…
Gumbo Gumbo is is just a beautifully flowing properly progressive album, properly prog rather than truly progressive, just a delightfully upbeat instrumental album that goes to all the right places in such a gloriously on it kind of way. Wonderful stuff, exuberant, alive, played in such a joyously affirming kind of way. Skilfully done without ever needing to show off (well not too much), hints of many things without ever being obvious about any of it, Genesis, Rush, Canterbury, Caravan, loads of Yes, you can never have too much Yes, never sounding dated or retro though, a timeless slice of classic instrumental prog. Never twee, plenty of bite, always delightful, an absolute joy, and album to play on repeat, here’s the album is on Bandcamp and here’s Guranfoe’s Linktree
And here is that excellent Needlepoint album from last year, and oh, we may as well run the whole album review again. The gigs details are on Guranfoe’s Linktree
Needlepoint – Remnants Of Light (BJK Music) – Oh now, this one is rather magnificent as well, this really is an impossible task, will we get it all in before we get to the end of the year? Have we saved the best to last? I’ve pulled up my favourite hoodie, a black hoodie? Running through Marina Organ’s radio playlists here seeing what has been missed on these chaotic pages and who’s knocking at the door and who’s not there when you open it. My thoughts were astray for a moment, one more cup of tea, Needlepoint are something richer than a cup of tea though. Oh, that’s a busy bit, hang on, no falling asleep here, Muse on The Hook, does the muse have a hook? Needlepoint hook, they have hooks, deliciously bold ones, big prog rock hooks delivered with gentle delight and all as timeless as can be. Needlepoint are from Oslo, in Norway and today (or whatever day it was) they say they saw a moment that looked like a smile, I rather like that.
They could, once again, be from Canterbury, and it is a smile we have kind of known for a while, this is magnificently uplifting and music growing into the sky, enchanting, tearful eyes, like lakes, lashes electric, everything bright, heaven born and ever bright, no not really but you know the leader of the starry skies would smile on hearing this rather fine album. It does sound positively Hatfield and The North and and 1970s and that, in this case, for once, is no bad thing. Oh that start to Blank Sheet was rather unexpected, you won’t get a second chance to hear that for the first time or to listen to the plans the birds are making and the land they all share. They sound all very nice but then there’s the chunky bits, the bits that need a bit more chewing, the bits that think about taking off, oh that flight path of the final track is so so good. And then back to the start of it all again and that crane soaring up high and all those crows, thousands of them all merging with the leaves of the trees. How can you change the point his point of view? Hang a light above while his head is in the sand? Oh this is good, Head in The Sand is far too good for you to put your head in the sand and ignore it, wow, that bit there! That bit two minutes and five seconds in to Head in The Sand, are they getting a touch Van Der Graaf shaped on us? You don’t have to laugh, you don’t have to cry, let them find your soft spot, follow your heart… And that intro to While Our World is Still Revolving is just so glorious good, and let them offer you help and directions so you know where to go. Oh there’s so many good bits, little bits, whole bits of bits, all if it, the details, the take offs, the invites, the flights, more than just fancy, how could it be? And they do have things to say, they do question things with such subtle imagination. And now, rather fittingly, there is only the last Remnants Of (this year’s) Light left and everything really is just right here, if this is the last album written about here in 2024 then that would be a perfect way to end an excellent musical year. (sw)
An album so good it made the end of year list – ORGAN: Our best 43 albums of another very musically busy 2024. Who did we rate? The Flying Luttenbachers, Extra life, Earth Ball, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Gazelle Twin, English Teacher, Slift, Uniform…
Previously down the rabbit hole….
ORGAN THING: A new IQ album? Do they still have it? IQ’s new album Dominion explored in full…
You are an Other Rock Show regular aren’t you? ORGAN THING: Last night’s Other Rock Show, brought to you on London arts radio station Resonance 104.4fm with Umlaut, Deerhoof, Needlepoint, Dazzling Killmen and more went like this…
THE ORGAN 