'Tis the Season to Celebrate All Things Prog

Season's Greetings fellow progheads!  I am absolutely dumbfounded with how fast the sands of  2019 fell through the hourglass.  This is the time of year the Concert Closet takes a look back at everything discovered these past 12 months, thanks you my faithful followers for coming back week after week, and posts some holiday music to keep it festive.

Before I begin with words...I think a joyful musical opening from Jon Anderson is appropriate; a perfect Christmas singing voice if there ever was one...

                             

If you've been following this blog for any length of time, and I certainly appreciate all of you who do, you know I am not one to post a best of, top releases of, favorite albums of, or any other subjective list that arbitrarily ranks 2019 prog music releases.  I started this blog more years ago than I can believe to help promote the new and up and coming prog bands and artists looking to stake out their acreage in the prog garden.  I also enjoy those that have been around the Concert Closet a while, managing to somehow stay low under the radar.  So to that end I prefer to shine a brighter light across all the wonderful music the prog garden has to offer and let you the listener decide.

However; a slight twist this year as I take a look back at the music that filled the Concert Closet these past 12 months and look ahead to what 2020 has in store...so much good prog and so little time...

I opened 2019 with a review of Kaleidoreal, a hard charging eclectic group from Sweden.  This is the type of band that challenges the naysayers who claim prog is dying a slow miserable death.  If you truly are a proghead then you live for the next incarnation of the genre..."Prog Yet to Come" if I am allowed to paraphrase another Christmas classic...

What followed was some fun music; Shineback, Kinetic Element, The Inner Road, The Steve Bonino Project, and Sproingg to name but a few.  These are bands and musicians that truly enjoy their craft, don't take themselves too seriously, and yet are able to bring quality prog to the listener.

Of course the prog garden also has those that are quite meticulous; Lonely Robot, Deep Energy Orchestra, Abstract Aprils, and Coma Rossi come to mind.  Serious in craft but not so much that emotion and feeling are lost in translation.

Still others fall somewhere on either side of the prog garden divide; Crocodile, Sir Chronicles, Oceanica, Machines Dream, Pattern-Seeking Animals, Apostles of Chaos, Nad Sylvan, and The Emerald Dawn take up acreage here.  Prog that can get under your skin, flow over your consciousness, or just relax you after a long day.

And so we reach another break in the deluge of words for a second holiday treat for the ears...Trans Siberian Orchestra is masterful at taking timeless classics and bringing them into the modern world...enjoy...


                       

As 2019 draws the curtain for the final time I want to first thank all of you for immersing yourself in my world.  Progressive music is so much more than a respite from reality--it's an alternate universe that allows the listener to get lost in a world of sound that fills the mind and spirit with a soothing balm...

One last holiday clip, an updated version of a personal fave.  It just isn't Christmas without King Crimson and some Frippertronics...
 
                   

As 2020 draws closer, I hope to bring you more new bands, new releases, and (hopefully) interviews with some of the up and coming prog musicians of today.  Look for new music from Seconds Before Landing, Scarlet INside, Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate, Different Light, Happy Graveyard Orchestra, and more.

So celebrate the holiday season however you choose.  Relish the time with family and friends, and please come back when the curtain rises on the continued search for all things prog 2020...

Happy Holidays...until next time...

Mark Rowen "Radiance"

Glad to have you back fellow progheads!  The search for all things prog is quickly honing in on 2020 yet there is still so much of the 2019 crop waiting to be harvested.  Wandering across the prog garden I am awash in so many great artists and bands offering their sound for your listening pleasure, I almost don't know where to begin.  However; I did stumble upon an independent artist with a great debut album; join me in checking out Mark Rowen and "Radiance," released in September.

Getting right to it, I begin with "My Shadow Walks Alone."  Strong guitar opening bleeding right into crisp female vocals, a pleasant surprise.  A solid percussion foundation keeps the song balanced with top notes of Animal Logic echoing through my headphones...an excellent way to start the week...

Moving down the playlist I notice an interesting song title; "Lure of the Siren."  As the washing up on shore intro fades to a beautiful acoustic guitar, I am once again mesmerized by Lisa's vocals; they are quite alluring.  The canvas darkens; the mood changes while the tension rises.  The atmosphere goes from sultry dark to the brighter colors of the night as drums and guitar once again fill out a song reminiscent of Gandalf's Fist with a good healthy pour of early Kansas added for effect.  The name on the album cover may be Mark Rowen, but he has surrounded himself with quite the supporting cast, which leads me to...

Liner Notes...Calling Harrogate UK home, Mark Rowen has spent years playing guitar and building his reputation.  All that hard work paid off in September with the release of this debut.  Mark plays guitar along with keyboard programming and providing backing vocals.  Joining him on this endeavor are Lisa Box with those superb lead and backing vocals, Leigh Perkins on keyboards and backing vocals, Paul Teasdale on bass and backing vocals, and Barry Cassells on drums.  Mark came to play music the way most do--the sound of a guitar hero pulling him in.  For Mark it was Robert Fripp at first then Django Reinhardt and Pat Metheny.  Go big or go home as they say...

You can purchase the album at Bandcamp and follow Mark on Facebook and MarkRowen.

One last drop of the laser, this time on a cut called "Trick of the Light."  The percussion stands front and center here, balanced perfectly with Lisa's vocal work.  The top notes are The Inner Road and
I Am The Morning.  This song is so simple yet so deep; as it pours through the headphones you just want to fall into the sound.

The clip below is "Carousel" and it is the perfect piece to close out with...the curtain falls slowly as the piano plays gently, once again allowing Lisa's haunting vocals to echo on.  When the album ends you will want to start it again and let it  play on a continuous loop while you sink deeper still...

                         

So fellow progheads, a new entry to the Concert Closet that defies a hard label.  Staying mainly in the experimental and symphonic sections of the prog garden with hints of AOR and jazz, Mark Rowen appears to be an artist who avoids being defined absolute and forced into a pigeonhole.

Now once again the search for all things prog continues...until next time...

Nad Sylvan "The Regal Bastard"

Hello fellow progheads!  Extremely grateful to find you back here in the Concert Closet; with all the holiday chaos and mayhem starting to take up your time I appreciate the  inclusion.  This week the search for all things prog took me once again to Inside Out Music and the latest release from Nad Sylvan.  Back in 2017 I reviewed "The Bride Said No," the second part of a vampirate concept trilogy.  This past July, Nad completed the set with album #3, "The Regal Bastard."  Remembering the pleasure derived from his previous work, I am very eager to dive into his latest creation...

Timing a vampirate concept album review to coincide with the holidays is atypical for some perhaps, but it fits right in with my "don't follow the crowd" way doing things.  First song to pulse through the headphones is the title cut.  Not an ominous outpouring as you might expect; this is a much more eloquent piece.  The keyboards flow like billowing satin, wrapping themselves around strings that are as relaxing as they are intoxicating.  As Nad's vocals fill your mind, the guitars and percussion come from below and envelope the entire piece.  The tempo picks up as does your pulse...just ride it out... 

Now the mood is set--this is not a commonplace album dealing with the world of vampirates...not at all.  Going farther along the playlist I discover "Oahu."  Here is that dark, "walk through the haunted woods" song I was anticipating--but nothing on this album is as it seems.  Nad confounds your senses as he continually builds a tension that threatens to tear the veil between two worlds, only to calmly settle back into a solemn, restful serenity...

Liner Notes...Nad kept "the family" together for this album; just about everyone from "The Bride Said No" turns up on one or more tracks on "The Regal Bastard."  Steve Hackett, Tony Levin, Guthrie Govan, Nick D'Virgilio, Jonas Reingold, Nick Beggs, Sheona Urquhart, Jade Ell, and Tania Doko and more make this not only a crowded studio, but an A-List one as well.

For this album Nad not only played guitars, keyboards, percussion, and laid down the vocals--he also wrote, arranged, produced, and mixed the record.  Even the album art was his inspiration brought to life.  When you know what you want...

Nad Sylvan also has quite the resume; in addition to his solo work, he has performed with Unifaun, Agents of Mercy, Karmakanic, and Steve Hackett's Genesis Revisited. 

The final selection for review this week is "Honey I'm Home."  Quite the ornate piece; I'm reminded of Spock's Beard and (ironically enough) early Genesis. For an album whose concept is the world of vampirates--the final chapter in the trilogy--it is extremely upbeat.  Perhaps that's the point; the final song in this three album set brings you home, and isn't home supposed to be your sanctuary?  Hackett's guitar work on this cut is absolutely brilliant.  Wrap yourself in this instrumental send-off and feel the grime of the world wash away...    

To purchase this latest release and more go to NadSylvan or InsideOutMusic.  You can also follow Nad on Facebook and Twitter @SylvanOfficial.     

Your ear worm this week is  "I Am the Sea."  Fittingly, the song opens as if you're in the attic of an old Victorian mansion and the light of the full moon fills the room, accented by a flickering candle.  This is that eerie, obsessive song you want from a vampirate trilogy.  Nad is a master at making each song--even on a concept album--entirely unique unto itself.  Guthrie Govan is the guitar virtuoso on this cut, and he works with the drums to create an atmosphere that strikes you from all around.  Let this song creep into your head and melt your subconscious... 

           
                

Another seven days, another great prog garden discovery.  As a fan of the concept album, I was especially intrigued by this "concept trilogy."  Nad had a vision and carried it all the way through; the fact that it took four years to complete while he was involved with other projects just speaks to his desire and determination.

Much of prog music dives deep, getting into one's soul and finding the nerve that drives you.  Sometimes it's just a relaxing stroll through the inner workings of the mind; other times the music just explodes all over the inside of your head.  Regardless of the reason why you came to the prog garden, it is the pleasure and joy you find that keeps you coming back.  Nad Sylvan seems to get that; even when he goes deep he still seems to absolutely enjoy what he's doing.  When the artist exudes positive energy--even on a vampirate concept album--the music can't help but be good.

And now the part of the blog where I tell you the search for all things prog continues on...until next time...