Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax 2: Future Sequence (2012)

9/26/12 10:53AM
Video for Astral Body (no Embed again, LAME!)
http://www.altpress.com/aptv/video/video_premiere_between_the_buried_and_me_astral_body

here's what I wrote last week about it:


I listened to it twice, some nice moments, but I'm afraid the band have become a bit too focused on the excessive rather than the concise. It's not bad, but I'm not sure if it's that much better than The Great Misdirect which I was highly disappointed in. 

The 15 minute epic towards the end "Silent Flight Parliament" does work well, along with a couple of other tracks. But I'd be surprised if I get attached to it enough for it to even make my top 10 for the year. But maybe it'll grow with a little time. 


9/7/12 12:07AM

new trailer/making-of video and write-up.

Somewhat intriguing. Fucking lame that metalsucks doesn't include an Embed that I can tell/find.


7/23/12 11:53AM

preorder link



01. Goodbye to Everything
02. Astral Body
03. Lay Your Ghosts to Rest
04. Autumn
05. Extremophile Elite
06. Parallax
07. The Black Box
08. Telos
09. Bloom
10. Melting City
11. Silent Flight Parliament
12. Goodbye to Everything Reprise



I can't hear it yet since I'm at work. I'm on the fence about preordering given many Preorders don't ship in time.

7/17/12 10:49AM

http://metalblade.com/btbam

b-motuh story

Drop date is October 9th. It says there it clocks in around 72 minutes; that may not be a good thing (see The Great Misdirect).

But it really should depend on how well-written the album and songs are. Stressing the words "written" and "songs."

Also mix/production and flow. I do enjoy The Parallax EP from last year, but at the same time, I'm not sure over time, how well it will compare in their catalog. Perhaps how well this turns out, could impact that.

Progressive rock/cutting-edge metal innovators BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME have set "The Parallax II: Future Sequence" as the title of their new full-length album. The CD, which clocks in at approximately 72 minutes, will be released October 9 and features artwork from Charlotte, North Carolina artist and designer Chandler Owen (UNDEROATH, SHAI HULUD, HOPESFALL). The group — Tommy Rogers (vocals / keyboards), Paul Waggoner (guitar), Dustie Waring (guitar), Blake Richardson (drums / percussion) Dan Briggs (bass) — is currently preparing for its direct support slot on the Summer Slaughter tour that kicks off in Los Angeles, California at the House of Blues on Friday, July 20.


"The Parallax II: Future Sequence" was recorded at The Basement Studios in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with longtime friend of the band and producer Jamie King. Jamie engineered, mixed and mastered "The Parallax II: Future Sequence", which makes this the sixth release Jamie and BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME have worked together on.


Regarding the concept of "The Parallax II: Future Sequence", the new full-length album picks up where the 2011 EP, "The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues", left off.


"The two main characters of the story take on a journey through space and time with the unenviable task of having to cure the flaws of humanity by any means necessary," comments guitarist Paul Waggoner. "While the EP served mostly as an introduction to the characters, 'Future Sequence' contains the action of the story. The lyrics are written in the stream of consciousness style, which really helps to capture the perspective and emotion of the characters. We really enjoyed the challenge of writing this record, and I think we were all pleasantly surprised with how well the music and lyrics jived with one another. I couldn't be happier with how 'Future Sequence' turned out."


Vocalist and keyboardist Tommy Rogers adds his thoughts on the musical direction of "The Parallax II: Future Sequence": "This album is BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME on steroids. I feel like we have created an album that perfectly mirrors the band we've been trying to create since day one. An album that has sounds that will stimulate many genres and music fans alike. A conceptual journey that takes the listener to worlds that seem familiar and worlds that make you scratch your head. From start to finish this is music we want to create, not music we think people want us to create. We create songs that keep us (and hopefully you) excited about heavy music. Keep listening… something new will be there each time. Enjoy the music… we enjoyed writing it."


"The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues" (released in April 2011) is a three-song strong, 30-minute tour de force of modern heavy music. Produced and engineered by the Grammy award–winning David Bottrill (TOOL, MUSE, KING CRIMSON, DREAM THEATER) with BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, the record soared to No. 54 on The Billboard 200 chart in its first week of release while landing the No. 5 spot on the Hard Music chart, and No. 8 on the Independent Albums chart in its first week of release. "The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues" also debuted in Canada charting at Mo. 62 on the Top 200 Current chart, No. 6 on the Hard chart, and No. 14 on the Independent chart.


07/16 Sauget, IL @ Pops w/ Periphery, Job For a Cowboy
07/18 Farmington, NM @ Top Deck w/ Periphery, Job For a Cowboy

The Summer Slaughter Tour w/ Cannibal Corpse, The Faceless, Periphery, Veil Of Maya, Job for a Cowboy, Goatwhore, Exhumed, and Cerebral Bore
07/20 Los Angeles, CA @ House of Blues
07/21 San Diego, CA @ SOMA
07/22 Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
07/23 Scottsdale, AZ @ Venue of Scottsdale
07/25 Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
07/26 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
07/27 Mission, TX @ Pharr Events Center
07/28 Houston, TX @ House of Blues
07/30 Tampa, FL @ The Ritz
07/31 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
08/01 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
08/02 Knoxville, TN @ The Valarium
08/03 Charlotte, NC @ Amos Southend
08/04 Richmond, VA @ The National
08/05 Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero
08/07 Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
08/08 New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
08/09 Albany, NY @ Northern Lights
08/10 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
08/11 Montreal, QC @ Heavy MTL
08/12 Toronto, ON @ Heavy TO
08/14 Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
08/15 Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s
08/16 Chicago, IL @ House Blues
08/17 Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
08/18 Louisville, KY @ Expo Five *No Cannibal Corpse
08/20 Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall
08/22 Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
08/23 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
08/24 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
08/25 Anaheim, CA @ The Grove

08/27 Tucson, AZ @ The Rock w/ Periphery, Job For a Cowboy
08/29 Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom w/ Periphery, Job For a Cowboy
08/30 Springfield, MO @ Remington’s w/ Periphery, Job For a Cowboy

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Vuvuzela - Hollow Choir (2012)

9/25/12 11:58PM

1 Our Ghosts 4:31
2 Star Shoes 2:50
3 Sylvia 2:54
4 Rings and Things 2:53
5 The New 4:30
6 Distracted Eyes 2:33
7 Like A Lion 3:10
8 The Hollow Choir 3:39

(track list info is from a promo that Motor Oat Records kindly sent to me to review, which should come soon as I'm already enjoying this album a fair amount just streaming on my pc speakers)



Release date is October 23rd on Motor Oat Records

"Using a clever story Waltz/Prog band Vuvuzela announce the date for their upcoming release."

http://www.wearevuvuzela.com


"Rings and Things" is pretty sweet. Rather Kiss Kiss-like, but with piano and other chamber instruments. Damn, I'm a bit more intrigued by this album now.

5/1/12 12:00PM




Band meeting today to start making plans for the release of our 1st lp "The Hollow Choir."

What was going to be a debut EP, has become a full-length debut record from among others, Kiss Kiss /Solo artist Josh Benash.

This also of course was helped/supported by a successful Kickstarter campaign last August.

Stylistically, from hearing what I have (which is not a ton), they are somewhat of a Chamber/acoustic group, using minor keys, and featuring harp? and other strings. I'm not even sure how much vocals they use, but my memory of that is a little cloudy.

the Kickstarter campaign had a video with some of that, which can be viewed here.

more to add in due time. But I'm pretty excited to check this out, now after 9 or so months (or more, since I heard about them probably around the 2010 CMJ Festival).

Also to add the fact Josh's solo record is pretty sweet, and of course his past work with Kiss Kiss.

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Emanuel & the Fear - All We All [Official Music Video]

A young mother-to-be finds her city being overrun by technocrats and seeks escape.

Not a bad video, which is almost like a short film. It seems to be getting at the idea of technology and the mass population of being in the city is the worst thing for this woman to bring to her about-to-be born child. And even just giving birth in that environment.

So, she by some miracle, escapes to a body of water and ends up on an island which in a more natural, simpler circumstance to have her baby. It sort of reminds me of The Blue Lagoon or Lost (or even Gilligan's Island) in a way.

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Rush @ Target Center 9/24/12

I just got back from the show in Minneapolis at Target Center.

NIGHT A version 3*

Set 1:

Video Intro (Gearing Up)
Subdivisions
The Big Money
Force 10
Grand Designs
The Body Electric
Territories
Analog Kid
Bravado
Where's My Thing (with drum solo)
Far Cry
Intermission (Clockwork Angels String Ensemble enters)

Set 2:

Video Intro (The Appointment)
Caravan
Clockwork Angels
The Anarchist
Carnies
The Wreckers
Headlong Flight (with drum solo)
Halo Effect (with guitar solo intro)
Seven Cities Of Gold
The Garden
Manhattan Project
The Percussor (drum solo)
Red Sector A
YYZ
(Clockwork Angels String Ensemble exits)
The Spirit of Radio

Encore:

Tom Sawyer
2112 Overture/Temples of Syrinx/Grand Finale
Video Outro (Office Of The Watchmaker)

The Highs:

a) Seeing some of the 80's tunes and RTB's stuff live. Although I probably would have taken the B set list with "Middletown Dreams" and "The Pass" instead of "The Body Electric" and "Bravado."

b) The String section when they could be heard namely on songs like "The Garden" and "The Wreckers."

The videos for the most part added stuff. "The Body Electric" and "Territories" come to mind.

The Lows

a) Target Center *supposedly* had a redesign in their approach to live music and has improved their sound quality. Uh, I'm not sure if they made it WORSE. Throughout the whole show there was a BASS AMPLIFIER that was jacked up so high, the String Ensemble was barely audible (at times not at all).

b) I saw the set list beforehand, although I failed to notice the fact BU2B was missing from the 2nd Set. A minor issue, but still, that song arguably is my favorite track off CA. I wonder if anyone knows why the band omitted it from the set. I'd trade songs like "Seven Cities of Gold," "The Anarchist," "Halo Effect" or even the "Title Track" and "Carnies" for it. I hope they do another leg and include it in the set list again.

c) Some of the arrangements seemed a bit extended/different. For one, "Manhattan Project," the 2nd half either was changed, or extended for the string section. Also Alex messed up in a few spots.

All in all, a good show. Rush still include a lot with the Visuals that are entertaining. Although not unlike a lot of other groups with a bit of a visual element, the BRIGHT LIGHTS really deter my enjoyment at times. I forgot to bring my sunglasses, but the frequent high-beam excessive flashes, that easily can cause Flash Burn is something I have never understood's purpose.

But compared to the other 6 times I've seen them, I'm not sure how well this show compares. Which is a little sad given their new studio record is the best thing they've released in quite awhile. And having the string section I figured would add all the more reason for this show to be HUGE. And perhaps if it had been at XCel or an outdoor venue like TCF Bank Stadium, it might have. But the people who are doing the sound at Target Center didn't give any evidence concerts there will sound any better than they used to (nor compare at all with XCel).

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Amanda Palmer IS PAYING the extra musicians: Sept/Oct 2012 Tour

http://www.amandapalmer.net/blog/20120919/

I don't likely have time to go in to great detail about all my thoughts with this, but I'll try and summarize what I meant to write within the last week, and now my reaction to this.

#1) The musicians she is/was asking to play with her KNEW about the circumstances before volunteering/being selected to play with her.

#2) these were in all likelihood going to be LOCAL musicians, or musicians that were to play for the show that were in THEIR HOMETOWN ONLY.

#3) Amanda has about 35 shows on this tour where she made this request (North America and Europe), and given that, just do the math about HOW MANY DIFFERENT MUSICIANS would be playing with her. 10 per show? 15 per show? maybe even up to 25 per show? I just guessed if it were to average 15 per show, 15 x 35 = 525 musicians. So there's a good chance she's be playing with approximately 500 different musicians on this tour.

#4) The Kickstarter Money. Yes, she raised the unthinkable $1.2 million dollars, but if PEOPLE ACTUALLY READ MORE ABOUT IT, they'd have realized SHE HAD A BUDGET AND PLAN FOR MORE OR LESS EVERY CENT OF THAT MONEY ALREADY, WHICH DID NOT INCLUDE PAYING 1-OFF PERFORMANCE MUSICIANS AT EVERY GIG.

#5) And let's say she wanted to change things and actually PAY each and every musician that played with her. Okay, how much? $100? well, that's $50K right there. Even $50 would be $25K, or MORE????? Again, she OUTLINED IN DETAIL where EVERY CENT was going more or less, and the 1-off show players were not in that plan.

#6) Should they be in that plan? Well, maybe, but 1st and foremost, THAT'S HER DECISION. Is it SELFISH? I guess it should seem payment enough, if you are an unknown musician just with the chance to gain exposure and experience playing with her and her band, in front of a large crowd who likely have never seen you play before anyway. Plus the other little perks like free tickets, beer, etc that she mentioned.

#7) In just considering numbers, $100 is an extra 50K, $50 25K, I concluded maybe around $20 or $25 wouldn't be so outlandish in moving $ around, or instead, Amanda just BUYS THEM ALL DINNER perhaps.

That all being said, from a PR standpoint, this does help, but I will stand by that I don't think she needed to do this. But whatevah.

I hopefully will write some kind of review soon of Theatre Is Evil, as I do like her new album quite a bit, although not quite as much as my initial impression. The bonus tracks for the Kickstarters are pretty tasty, including "The Ukele Song" namely.

For what it's worth, it charted today on Billboard, for its 1st week at #10. Nice Fuck You to Record Labels, but given it's hype and distribution, for a 1st week, that doesn't seem so surprising.

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Kimbra - Come Into My Head (Official Video)

slick looking, she's a patient at a psychiatric ward of some kind. Not bad, although admittedly, if she's going to do videos for the new songs, "Sally I Can See You" would make the most sense to me.

Perhaps something to mention if I get the chance to chat with her next month at the show in Minneapolis.

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Metal Evolution: EXTREME METAL?

http://www.indiegogo.com/ExtremeMetal

Their goal of $175,000 may be a stretch. Although, it does say:

"In the event that we don't reach our goal, we've brought together a consortium of Extreme Metal record labels and sponsors who have committed to helping make-up the funding shortfall."

I'd like to see it, however, if it is the length of the other episodes (45 minutes), trying to cram all the Extreme Metal styles into that short a time seems like inevitably, they will miss many names. However, beggars can't be choosers I suppose.

I do find it rather lame how it was *too extreme* for VH1 Classic to air, lol. Based on what? the lyrics? And this is on a Cable network, lol.

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Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day (Live Concert Film) Theaters/DVD

Cinema Listings

Not finding Minneapolis on there, only the Landmark Theatres. Landmark is 1 of the companies there to show it on OCTOBER 17TH.

Listing.

This of course is a film of the O2 reunion show they did for a benefit in 2007.

Thankfully I don't believe this DVD in the theater screening conflicts with any of the October concerts I am scheduled to see (Kimbra, Menomena, nor Amanda Palmer, but I may not be remembering every show around that time right now).

However, until I see an actual listing for Lagoon or Uptown (I'd be shocked if it ended up at Edina), this is kind of meaningless. I suppose I might buy the DVD, but seeing it in the theater would be a much bigger deal.

Right now, the only cities that Landmark has listed are here:

Boston - Kendall Square Cinema
Chicago - Landmark's Century Centre Cinema
Chicago Landmark's Renaissance Place Cinema
Denver - Greenwood Village
Denver - Olde Town Stadium 14
San Diego - Hillcrest Cinemas
San Francisco - Embarcadero Center Cinema
San Francisco - East Bay Shattuck Cinemas
St. Louis - Plaza Frontenac Cinema

Marcus Theaters?

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Porcupine Tree on HIATUS (or extended break? or whatever synonym you want to use)

9/12/12 12:14PM

here's another new, extensive Interview with Steven Wilson, although not a vast amount of news regarding The Tree, but he does mention perhaps getting together next year.

But there's more from where the original Used Bin Radio (and other interviews from earlier this year) came from.


Speaking of Gavin Harrison, we can now move on to Porcupine Tree! It’s now been almost three years since you guys released The Incident, so is there anything in the works right now?

No, not really. We haven’t split up and with no intentions of splitting up, but it seems like each one of us is working on different things at the moment; Richard (Barbieri) has just released an album with Steve Hogarth, Gavin is touring with 05Ric and Colin (Edwin) has also released a couple of records, so nothing is going to happen this year, maybe next year. I think it’s a matter of when we all feel it’s right and I think we are all very much in agreement that it’s time to reinvent the sound at this point. I felt with The Incident for the first time, even though it’s a good record, that we are starting to get stuck in a certain sound and for me the peak was really Fear of the Blank Planet and In Absentia. The Incident didn’t strike me as having anything new so it felt like it’s time for a change.

That’s exactly what I was going to ask next, because Porcupine Tree started off as a spacey, kinda old school prog band which ended with Signify then transitioned to a more song structured approach with Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun and the latest incarnation was he more Metal inclined sound of your last four albums, so can we consider the next album as the start of Porcupine Tree Mark IV?

I think it has to be, otherwise there’s no point carrying on. I think it needs to be reinvented, I don’t know how yet, but there’s no point of us making another record of that style and we all agree on that. So the time taking off to do other things is important. Not that I want to give an impression of my solo work being a side project, because it’s not, I think it’s the most important one, but Porcupine Tree is still very special for me, of course it’s been the most successful of all the things I’ve done, not by design but it just seemed to connect with the most people, but I never want to get in the situation of making records just to please the fan base, which a lot of bands do, in fact it’s what most bands do, making records just to please the fans, I think I’m more selfish than that. I think you’ve got to take the Scott Walker approach, when have to say something say it, whether it takes five years or ten years and I think our fans are the kind of fans that will still be there, like Kate Bush fans or Peter Gabriel fans they’ll still be there, or even Tool fans, I mean how many years have you been waiting for a tool album?

Six!

And when the Tool album does come out everyone will listen to it, so I hope that our fans will be there when we release on ourselves.

Yeah, they definitely will. So do you think the next Porcupine Tree album will take from the improv jazzy elements of Grace for Drowning?

I don’t think so, because there’s one band member who hates jazz, so I don’t think that element will be likely to appear on the record but I’m sure that when we do sit down to make the record you will probably hear the influence of the stuff each one of us has been doing, because that’s part of the plan, each one goes does his own thing pick up some new influences and come back and we put those together again. I am curious, I don’t know what kind of music we are going to make, but there will definitely be no metal aspect, I think the metal thing is done. Just that metal guitar sound is boring.


Good interview anyway, as always it's interesting to read Steven's take on the music industry especially.


Perfect! Final question, of course you know that there are millions of bands coming through in almost every genre, what would you recommend for startup bands to make it in music?

...[edited for space] To summarize: do it for yourself, do it because you love it and if, by accident, your music connects with an audience, great but there’s no career route in music anymore. Record companies aren’t signing artists anymore, unless it’s shit like American Idol, because it’s easier for labels that way; sign an artist, sell a million records, then dump the artist and sign another one.




July?..last noted time 4/25/12 5:57AM
New live CD/DVD
that's great and everything, however, bands on hiatus, put out dvds and live releases all-the-time.
I will say, I noticed someone on twitter ask Steven Wilson (or whoever runs his twitter) about PT and he said having to mention the band being on a break right now has been a bit tiresome (or something close to that, I'm just paraphrasing). Sort of like, he wish he hadn't, and maybe more so, wishes I and some other sites hadn't.

Edit: nor remembering, someone asked about the site that posted the April Fool's joke.

But regardless, based on where he's at and the work on his next solo record, which is coming early in 2013 I recall reading, PT is still not amongst the work he or the other members are doing right now, save for this live CD/DVD.

I still think the very earliest an all-new original-music album will come out (save for maybe a b-sides or something) will be in 2014.

announcement

Kscope have just announced on the twenty ninth edition of their post-progressive podcast that Porcupine Tree will be releasing ‘Octane Twisted’ a 2CD/DVD set on November 5th. The audio and video will be taken from the band’s show on 2nd May 2010 at the Riviera Theater, Chicago, which was one of the many shows on tour in which ‘The Incident’ was performed in it’s entirety. More details are coming soon!

For those unaware, on Used Bin Radio last week, they aired an interview with Steven Wilson, which hopefully will be stream/download/podcasted soon. But he basically said what also was said about
Porcupine Tree here, that they are on HIATUS. He also said PT WILL LIKELY COMEBACK at some point, when he feels they are ready to "reinvent" themselves. In the mean time, Steven Wilson is busy with his solo records and Storm Corrosion among other things that are not Porcupine Tree.

more to add/edit...

edit: some of the comments on the forums are claiming that link is from an April Fools joke. That may be true, but I know for a fact, hearing it from the horse's mouth himself live face-to-face, it is in fact true.

He didn't actually use the word "hiatus" I don't think, nor did he say Porcupine Tree are broken up, done, over, etc. But he more or less said his muse is making the music for his solo records, and making music THAT THE MEMBERS OF HIS CURRENT TOURING BAND CAN/WILL/ENJOY PLAYING.

Grace For Drowning has a lot of JAZZ influence to it, at least in parts, and he said how with Porcupine Tree, there is at least 1 member who isn't interested in incorporating JAZZ into their music. Whereas the band he has on tour and is currently writing music for (or with?), he can. And he stressed at more than 1 point, how he has been listening to older JAZZ and "experimental classical" music. The Used Bin guys asked about what he has been listening to, and he said Rock music isn't really where his interest is as in exploring/discovering.

But just to humor the folks who are convinced this story is a joke and the next Porcupine Tree album is right around the corner, I'd just like to bring up how likely that really is.

Right now Steven Wilson is writing music for his next solo album, some of which his band has even played live. But presumably, the music for it will be written the rest of 2012, and soon after recorded. Either towards the end of 2012, or more likely early 2013. Then the record will be released, and in all likelihood, another tour supporting that record will happen in 2013.

another earlier (late February I recall) source

What’s the timeline for the next solo album?
It’s not going to be until next year. I’m in no rush because there’s a lot of promotion still to be done for Grace for Drowning in terms of getting the record to people who haven’t discovered it. We’ll be touring it for the next six months at least. We’re also going to film a Blu-Ray DVD on the next tour to document the current repertoire and lineup. I’m writing with recording in mind for late summer or autumn, with a view to releasing the album in Spring 2013. So, it’s still a long way off. I’m a great believer that when you feel inspired, you should take advantage of the opportunity. I know some people think I’m an endless supply of music, but I’m not. I go through periods when I have nothing coming out and nothing to say. Right now, I feel inspired, so I’m striking while the iron is hot.

So, the very EARLIEST any music could even be written by Steven Wilson and/or the other members of PT would be in the Summer or Fall of 2013. And assuming that actually did happen, the album wouldn't actually get released until sometime in 2014, thus 5 years after the last PT album The Incident.

But based on the interview with Used Bin Radio, the odds of even that happening aren't likely. The biggest reason is, making music for PT right now isn't where Steven Wilson is at right now. Where his muse is, is making music for his solo albums, Storm Corrosion and other things like doing the 5.1 and remixes for bands like King Crimson and Jethro Tull.

And so it sounds like, the point PT can "reinvent" themselves, music will be made by them. But that very easily will be a number of years after his next solo album even.

He's kind of modeling himself and PT's career after King Crimson and Robert Fripp. King Crimson's career is filled with breaks, hiatuses and reinventing their sound.

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Marillion - Sounds That Can't Be Made (2012)

9/12/12 5:15AM

Well, the FINAL track list is actually different than the posted below (and what was sent in Promotional form, I'm pretty certain).


1. Gaza
2. Sounds That Can't Be Made
3. Pour My Love
4. Power
5. Montreal
6. Invisible Ink
7. Lucky Man
8. The Sky Above The Rain

I'm not sure if it will ultimately mean much, but playing the album with the original track order, I think I may initially prefer, but whatevah.

These are my initial thoughts.

Montreal - is terrific. It's a great multi-part epic in the Marillion tradition. Lyrically, I think it may be one to enjoy more and more at 1st, as it has a lot of pop culture references and the description of an experience at the Fan Weekend there.

Gaza - I am enjoying, although not as much as I thought I might. Another multi-part epic, that I suppose can be said dives into for the most part, new sounds texturally for the band. I'm sort of getting a "Cathedral Wall" (from Radiation) or even "House" (from marillion.com) sort of vibe in different ways. It's closer to that epic, than say "Invisible Man" (or even "Ocean Cloud"). I think this may benefit with time and end up being a Marillion classic if it grows enough. But no guarantees.

Sounds That Can't Be Made - the outro is my favorite part. The "Aurora Boreallis" and what not is pure goosebump-worthy Marillion that I love. Like "Gaza" this may grow a bit with time, but for now, I'm enjoying this enough.

Power - Another tune that I'd say already has grown on me, and like the title track, the *powerful* outro to it is the best part.

The Sky Above the Rain - nice, but nothing stands out specifically yet, unless I'm mixing it up with another piece, there's a brief (inspirational) section that sounds a bit like The Dear Hunter's "Home."

Invisible Ink - liking, but nothing stands out really just yet. Although this, like many tunes on the album, starts a bit slow.

Pour My Love - more lyrical, and another slower piece. Nothing greatly stands out yet, although I hardly hated this one.

Lucky Man - effort points, especially to H, but I'm wondering if this may fall into the "Most Toys" "See It Like a Baby" category. It may grow like a tune such as "Built In Bastard Radar" as it does have a classic bluesy melody line, but I'm struggling here. Much like the Bend Sinister tune "We Know Better" or The Dear Hunter song "Go Get Your Gun" this tune I'm wondering if I'll ever understand it's value (or it's place on this record even). Like I said, the band sound like they put a lot into this tune, I just don't know how much this song has to it, to demand that level of effort anyway.

I dunno, I'd love to eat my words in the future about it, but it may be one to skip every time.

That all being said, this record is definitely good, and perhaps even already better than Happiness is the Road. The Marbles comparisons might be a bit premature, as I'm suspicious I'll find the addiction I had to that album (or find any of their albums again to be honest, as sad as it sounds to myself about my favorite band).

But overall, there's a lot to like, and it should still place pretty high on my 2012 Index. But is it an album of the year challenger? Unlikely, now having heard it a couple of times. But within their catalog, it still compares pretty well. I think "Montreal" alone may make this memorable enough.

I am anxious to check out the DVD that comes with the deluxe edition, and of course some of these tunes live.


8/10/12 6:10AM

new trailer, 13 minutes so I haven't watched the whole thing yet. But I'm getting a bit more optimistic about it now.




7/17/12-7/18/12 10:27AM - 12:08AM

Even though this track list hasn't been officially announced in this order, I'm going with this, as there are many who've heard it, the below video shows the songs in this order, plus the story below it shows it as well.

Also in this post below, it includes some good info about the track list. "Gaza" being a 17 minute epic. John Helmer wrote lyrics to one track.

1. The Sky Above the Rain
2. Pour My Love
3. Montreal
4. Invisible Ink
5. Lucky Man
6. Gaza
7. Power
8. Sounds That Can't Be Made

http://www.rocksquare.com/Community/MusicNews/808 (thanks to Stephen Humphries)

The British band Marillion has released the first song from its September album, Sounds that Can't Be Made. The new song, "Power," is a mid-paced rocker with a prominent burbling bass line, lock-step drums and an intricate lace of chiming guitars and keyboards. Singer Steve Hogarth delivers an anguished vocal about the perplexing ways a lover casually wields power over him. The song's quiet, rain-sodden middle-eight suddenly shifts into a surging tsunami of an outro, which features torrid soloing by guitarist Steve Rothery. (Hear it, below.)

The five-piece band also announced the track listing of Sounds that Can't Be Made, the band's 17th album in a 25 year career.

The Sky Above the Rain
Pour my Love
Montreal
Invisible Ink
Lucky Man
Gaza
Power
Sounds that Can't be Made

Rock Square can exclusively reveal that poet and author John Helmer contributed a song lyric to the album. Helmer regularly contributed lyrics to each of Marillion's albums from Season's End (1990) through Marillion.com (1999), but hadn't had any lyrical input into the band's four most recent albums.

Though "Power" is the first release from Sounds that Can't Be Made, guitarist Steve Rothery conjectures that the lead single may be "Pour My Love," which, he says, sounds like Marillion meets Prince. Sounds that Can't Be Made includes several epic tracks, including "Montreal" and "Gaza." In a recent interview with Rock Square, keyboardist Mark Kelly said that the album's 16-minute centerpiece, "Gaza," is "very heavy subject matter" and that "Steve Hogarth was concerned about getting it right lyrically because it’s such a sensitive subject."

Sounds that Can't Be Made will be released through the earMusic label on September 14. A deluxe edition, featuring 128 pages of artwork in a hard-back book, an extra DVD disc featuring interviews with the band and a selection of tracks performed live in the studio, is now available for pre-order at here.


New song "Power"



They played it live, and I actually had Steve Hogarth after the show, tell me he felt it was the worst song on this album, lol.

I've already read some glaring reviews of STCBM via facebook, from admitted fanboys/fangirls. But some comparisons to Marbles.

I dig this tune, more than the other new track they played live "Lucky Man," in Chicago. But as far as this record, I'm still at status quo. I want to love it, and I'm sure I will for some of it. But I'm not expecting to as much as Marbles.

5/31/12 9:09AM

nice cover for what it's worth. As far as the Jimmy Kimmel thing, I'd be surprised if it happened, but if it did, it would be nice.

Facebook Post from Lucy/The Band

So it's May 31st and we're on our last day of rehearsing before our equipment gets shipped off to the USA for our North American Tour which starts next week. We've heard today that we've sold 10,000 tickets so far - thank you all so much for your support! There are tickets left for most gigs if you haven't got them already - see www.marillion.com/tour - we won't let you down and we even promise to... play a couple of the new songs from Sounds That Can't Be Made!

'Sounds That Can't Be Made' can be pre-ordered right up to the day it's released later this year and we thank all of you who have given us your hard earned money so far - it really has allowed us to put time and love into this album and we hope that you will enjoy the results. As an added bonus, for those of you who pre-order before June 1st, you will be entered into a draw to win some fabulous prizes www.marillion.com/preorder/index.htm.

We thought we'd use this Eweb to share the album cover with you - we love it and hope you do too. We'll try to give you more news about the album over the next few weeks - the closer we get to finishing it, the more we can tell you.

One last thing - as many of you know, mainstream media don't tend to be in love with Marillion! There is a great chat show in the USA called Jimmy Kimmel Live and they have shown some interest in having us play. A Marillion fan has started a Facebook campaign https://www.facebook.com/GetMarillionOnJimmyKimmelLive to try and get us on the show - we are very flattered by this and appearing on this show would be amazing for us! Even if you don't live in the US, can we ask you a huge favour again and ask you to go and 'like' that Facebook page?
Fan power has worked well for us in the past and perhaps it's something that can work for us again - you never know until you try!
That's all for now and we look forward to seeing at least 10,000 of you out on the road!
Mark, Steve, Ian, Pete and HSee More





4/2/12 11:57AM


facebook
also see links to their now CRASHED website about pre-orders. I'll try and edit some of this later.

2 April 2012 - New Album Pre-Order Campaign

After what seems like an AGE to us (and you too, no doubt!) we have decided on the songs which will comprise our next album and we can tell you that the next Marillion album will be titled...

SO...UNDS THAT CAN'T BE MADE

Backing tracks are already finished and we're now at the overdub stage (or "the colouring-in"). We have song titles too, but we'll wait just a little longer before announcing those.

We are planning to create exclusive Special Editions of ’Sounds That Can’t Be Made’ which we'll be making available as a PRE-ORDER directly from us through marillion.com

Following the success of previous pre-orders, we plan to make 2 different versions available:

Option 1: Deluxe Campaign Collectors CD Edition
This version will include 128 pages of artwork & lyrics presented in a deluxe hard back book. This collectors edition will also contain an extra DVD disc featuring interviews with the band and a selection of tracks performed live at the Racket Club; all filmed during various stages of the making of the album.

You can Pre-Order the Deluxe Camapign Edition from:
http://www.marillion.com/shop/albums/sounds-deluxe.htm

Option 2: The Standard 1CD Release
This version will be a 1CD Jewel case version of the album containing song lyrics & condensed album artwork.

You can Pre-Order the Standard 1CD Edition from:
http://www.marillion.com/shop/albums/sounds.htm

When will it be released? What will be on it? When can I order? What about a tour?

Just like previous pre-orders, we have set up a page on our website to answer all of these questions, and will continue to add to the list as we receive feedback from you by email and on our Forum/Facebook pages.

What we CAN tell you though, is that we expect the album to be ready sometime before September 2012 (we can't set a firm release date as our creative process doesn't always run to a timetable..) with an extensive tour planned throughout 2012 and into 2013.

All the tour dates have now been announced and are up on the marillion.com TOUR section. http://www.marillion.com/tour/index.htm

From the US onwards we will perform occasional "2 nighters". These shows will have a completely different set-list across each of the 2 nights. This will happen in the following towns:
New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Amsterdam, Paris, Milan and Barcelona

We have also announced the 2013 dates for our bi-annual Marillion Weekends in Holland, Montreal and the UK! See www.marillionweekend.com for more details.

Phew! We hope we'll see a lot of each other over the coming months.

Okay, back to Sounds That Can't Be Made......

You are able to pre-order the album NOW, and each pre-order for the Deluxe Campaign CD Edition will automatically enter you into a variety of prize draws including:

Sound-check/ front row passes to the 'Sounds That Can’t Be Made' tour, Meet-and-greets, Signed artwork, Your own private Marillion gig PLUS more as we think of them!
Only the first 5000 people to pre-order will appear in the thanks list. (We would thank you all, but we'd need a bigger booklet!)

By being part of the ’Sounds That Can’t be Made’ Pre-Order Campaign you will once again be acting as our "Record Company" by contributing to the recording, manufacture and marketing of the album.
We'd rather make this album with you. We did it before and it was great. When we skipped the pre-order for Somewhere Else we know that many of you felt disappointed that you weren’t part of the ‘whole process’. So it's no longer about the money, it's about the taking-part and a show of faith. This, frankly, blows our minds, and your support means more to us now than ever.

We meet so many bands who are envious of our amazing family around the world and we certainly don't take this for granted. We now find ourselves famous for the "Marillion business model" which is a scream, really, because the term debases what's really going on. We thank you all for being a part of this thing in the past; just as we gratefully acknowledge everyone who will preorder this forthcoming album.

So there you go - the new pre-order!

If you have any QUESTIONS, please, PLEASE go to http://www.marillion.com/preorder/index.htm (where most issues will already be
addressed) before writing to us - it'll be quicker. You can also join the discussions on the Marillion Online Forums (which we constantly monitor) if you have any outstanding queries.

We're very excited about this album - it's taken us some years to ensure it's something special. We hope over the next few weeks and months to thank you for your loyalty - we will try and keep updating you regularly with updates from the studio; both by email and in our new Racket TV Lounge (http://www.marillion.com/tvlounge.htm) on the new and fabulous marillion.com website!

It won't be long, yeah..
h, Ian, Mark, Pete, Steve

You can Pre-Order the Deluxe Camapign Edition from:
http://www.marillion.com/shop/albums/sounds-deluxe.htm

You can Pre-Order the Standard 1CD Edition from:
http://www.marillion.com/shop/albums/sounds.htmSee More

yeah, so that's the deal. My favorite band, 1st record since 2008's Happiness is the Road. Big deal? sorta, kinda, maybe, yes in some ways.

Pre-Order, I suppose I shall take the plunge, depending on budget, with the 2-disc hardbound book and dvd, etc.

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Media Addicts - Autonomy (2012)

9/7/12 1:05AM

Media Addicts on Facebook
CD Baby link for Autonomy: with samples



1 Seven 7:58
2 Pocket Snake 6:37
3 How the World Ends 0:56
4 Whimper 5:56
5 Mr. Nice Guy 6:12
6 Someday We'll Tell It About You 5:57
7 Intuition Pump 7:39
8 Legend 3.0 5:31
9 Old Hat 5:39
10 Zeitgeist 15:15

I want to bump this entry, as I have finally been able to hear this album, since I picked it up a few weeks ago at the CD release show.

It is terrific. Very much, like Elsewhere, the more I play it, the more each track seems better. The closing epic of sorts "Zeitgeist," while seems soft and quiet, has this nice repeated theme, that goes in and out, and then strays only to eventually be reprised in a coda.

I spoke to their saxophone player David Hirsch at that show about this album, and he remarked how it was heavier than Elsewhere, and I might agree to a small extent. Billy Graczyk their guitarist, does use some dark, heavy riffs, that almost border on a Doom Metal-side.

But this band is outstanding using dynamics and crescendos. "Seven," "How the World Ends," "Intuition Pump," etc all include them. And the new version of "Mr. Nice Guy" might be even better than the original from Elsewhere.

I really enjoy their layering, and the busy drum work from Eric Miller. David's sax of course works well as a lead melody and counter melody to Billy's guitar. While bassist Brent Wallace stands out frequently, namely some of his upright bass parts which act as lead-ins or lead parts.

Like most jazz/jazz-related music, they are even better live. But this album is rather mesmerizing at times, so much so, I likely will continue to back a lot before the end of the year.

The cover art even almost reminds me of The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra's All Out of Peaches in a way with a crazy head piece on a body (see here).

What is a bit sad and ironic, is the fact I finally got to see them live after wanting for a couple of years, and their drummer Eric Miller is apparently moving away soon. I'm not sure how that will effect his and the band's future, but in the short term, they may not have many shows to support this album for awhile. It makes me glad I didn't miss that cd release show even more too. Also Eric's a really good drummer, whose very busy and precise (which you kind of have to be to play this kind of music), who I wonder how easy it may be to find someone good enough to fill-in or replace him.


Also, they played a couple of new tunes live that were not on either of their records. 1 being this extremely cool, almost Pink Floyd or Space Rock-like echoing sections from Billy's guitar effects specifically, that had my jaw dropping. I really hope that song gets recorded, as it would be a shame to never get to hear it again.

7/17/12 2:38PM
This is the 2nd full-length record from this Twin Cities-based Jazz-Rock group. I honestly can't trace where I 1st saw their name, but I know I picked up a copy of Elsewhere their 2008 debut record, in June of 2010. I may have even mentioned them in this blog then, but my memory escapes me right now.

As far as Jazz and Jazz-Rock/Jazz-Fusion or even progressive rock-related artists in Minnesota, these guys are definitely in there. Although I'll confess, I haven't grown attached to their debut album, and maybe more importantly, I still have yet to see them live.

But they have a CD-release show scheduled for Friday August 24th at The Artist Quarter in downtown St.Paul. So, hopefully that'll finally give me a chance to see them in person, and pick up a copy of this new album of theirs.

Could this be one of, if not the best local record of 2012? Lehto & Wright, The Bewitched, The Royal Veil, Brice Plays Drums and The Book of Right On of course will likely factor in there, among others. But I'm pretty excited to finally hear this next month.

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Mike Linden - Bubble & Squeak (2012)

http://mikelinden.bandcamp.com/






1 Megajumbo 6:41
2 Mutant Butterfly 4:56
3 Paper Planes I: Kites 5:29
4 Paper Planes II: 1903 5:48
5 De Vuelta a Casa 7:32
6 Killer Robots 5:00
7 The Adventures of Uncle Penny Bags 3:51

Mike Linden on Facebook
The Super Pilots on Facebook

Okay, time is short as it always seems to be, and I'm trying to catch-up on about 17 blog entries in 1 night.

But this is a delayed review of this excellent debut album from Mike Linden, a young guitarist from Apple Valley, MN who met some-of and formed the Jazz-Fusion group The Super Pilots a couple of years ago while at school in Boston at Berklee College of Music.

And the players involved on this, his solo record (by-name) are The Super Pilots guys.

But as far as this album, it's a really well crafted and produced, jazz-fusion record of sorts. Most comparable to Return to Forever and perhaps a little Al Di Meola. But for example the Paper Planes suite/epic really reminds me of Marillion (the 2nd part 1903, I swear I hear "Runaway" from Brave at various times) or Pink Floyd.

Also the last piece "The Adventures of Uncle Penny Bags" is a bit country or bluegrass-like. I almost think of The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra when hearing that one.

Overall, every piece the writing and playing is excellent. From the drum fills and cymbal work from JP Bouvet, to the mood setting piano of Dave Mackay, to even some of the funky basslines of Jason Weiss, and Mike's outstanding shifting tones, this record works repeatedly. Very much less-is-more.

These guys are a young band, however, the membership may change depending on circumstances with location (2 members are from Minnesota, 1 from England, and 1 from out East I recall). But, having missed their show in 2011 with Brice Plays Drums, I was thrilled to catch Mike and The Super Pilots twice a few weeks ago. And Mike's supposedly staying here and will play more live, with perhaps some other musicians. The 2nd show in Burnsville "Art and All That Jazz" festival, they covered the likes of Pat Metheny, Chick Corea and even Destiny's Child. Like many Jazz groups, they excel even more live.

But for those unable to see Mike or The Super Pilots, I'd highly recommend giving the Bandcamp page a stream or 2.

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Everything Everything - Arc (2013); "Cough Cough" video

9/7/12 12:00AM

Facebook with Links to Preorders



Regular Edition
1 Cough Cough
2 Kemosabe
3 Torso Of The Week
4 Duet
5 Choice Mountain
6 Feet for Hands
7 Undrowned
8 Arc
9 Armourland
10 The House Is Dust
11 Radiant
12 The Peaks
13 Don't Try

Deluxe Edition
1 Cough Cough
2 Kemosabe
3 Torso Of The Week
4 Duet
5 Choice Mountain
6 Feet For Hands
7 Undrowned
8 _Arc_
9 Armourland
10 The House Is Dust
11 Radiant
12 The Peaks
13 Don't Try
14 Awe/Arc
15 No Plan
16 Justice
17 Duet (Alternative Version)
18 Don't Try (Everything Everything Remix)
19 Distrikt!


Play.com = a European site. Will Arc receive distribution in North America? maybe by the Summer. I can't see myself not ordering it regardless, and the Deluxe Edition of course.

8/30/12 6:06AM




Music video by Everything Everything performing Cough Cough. (C) 2012 Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited

The new single 'Cough Cough' from Everything Everything is released on the 14th October 2012 through RCA Victor.

The new album 'Arc' will later be released on the 14th Jan 2013.

For more information on Everything Everything, their new album or the band's October tour please visit:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everythingeverythinguk
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/e_e_
Official website: http://www.everything-everything.co.uk
Music video by Everything Everything performing Cough Cough. (C) 2012 Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited

dig it, and pretty excited for this album. More soon (hopefully).Man Alive from 2010, still remains a rather impressive debut record.

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Early Ghost - Cadaques (2012)

Facebook link



We are so pleased to announce the release of our first album, Cadaques, on the 29th of September. To celebrate, we will be holding an album launch weekend on the 29th and 30th of September! The first album release show will be at Servant Jazz Quarters in London on the 29th followed by a local show on the 30th at The Royal Oak in Lewes. A BandCamp link to the digital release will also be posted up here on the 29th. Hope to see you all at the album release shows!

Early Ghost - 'Cadaques' Promo from Early Ghost on Vimeo.

Long story short, I got wind of this UK-based band back in 2010 from a video from Casey Crescenzo of The Dear Hunter during his making of The Color Spectrum. He used a song from them as background in 1 of his videos. The song "1914" had this great almost vintage style of Alt-Country/Folk/Western ala Ennio Morricone or Calexico that really caught my ear.

I went on to pickup both their last EP We Crossed the Waves and their 1st. They fast became a "band to watch." They even opened for I think it was Team Me last year, and I hoped they might also get to play a show with Revere at some point.

Anyway, as the posts above show, this is their debut record, and it comes out in just a few weeks. Kind of short notice. I suspect it'll be up on their Bandcamp page on the 29th. But hopefully some more details, like a track list, will come soon.

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Local Natives interviewed by Shitfork Media

http://www.facebook.com/localnatives/posts/462764063757610

Well as much as it pains me to cite Pukefork, I want to pass this interview along.

1) Because I'm a huge fan of Local Natives (and Cavil at Rest) and this Blog's history more or less gives a ton of evidence of that. And LONG before Pitchfork or more or less anyone outside of a few circles (absolutepunk?) and their hometown, knew them.

2) They have been awfully quiet, and perhaps for the better. But this is the 1st semblance of information about their 2nd album.

3) All the Fleet Kittens and Grizzly Cubs fans will be silenced when this record finally does drop.

The interview does talk about how different, and heavy/heavier? this album may be. The stuff they have been listening to? Dylan, Paul Simon, Cocteau Twins, respectable, but definitely not necessarily vastly different or heavier than their previous sound.

It does say this album is expected to come out early 2013. "Early" may mean May, or may mean like February. When that release date comes out and other information about it is announced, of course I'll try and post it in here as soon as I can.

I do wonder a bit about the Hipsters. If they forgot about these guys. But it is good regardless, because when they started to blow up, I felt a bit left out, so if they became more of a cult band again, I might be happy. And if they get bigger, well, they likely will be around still. Although who knows if their music will be as good (seen it many times, but I want to believe it doesn't matter. Kelcey's mom sadly, even just passed away, so inspiration certainly wouldn't seem to be lacking).

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Classic Rock Presents PROG: Prog Awards

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19492677

I'm not entirely sure why I'm passing this along, but I suppose the biggest reason is to give my take on these so-called "Prog" Awards.

#1 At the end of the day, what are they? Awards, and for a pretty obscure magazine that frankly, caters almost universally to what is in the UK and Europe. Understandably to a point given most of the early history of "Prog" or "progressive rock" was based in England. But that only flys to a point.

These are basically the equivalent to Cable Ace, Saturn or any other obscure Awards that more or less nobody will remember (if they even ever hear about them to begin with).

But even for what they are worth, "Prog" magazine, if they really wanted to cover "progressive" music, music that is pushing boundaries or at least of value that does pay homage (and not pure tribute/3rd rate clone-music), they would open up the boundaries of the content of their magazine. Beyond UK and Europe, and beyond just "rock" in general. In other words, they'd cover ethnic music, extreme metal (and the bevy of it's sub/sub-subgenres when they are actually not derivative), power-pop, jazz, post-rock, soul, folk, bluegrass, and the plethora of other genres I'm not even thinking of at the moment.

They'd cover bands that are popular among progressive rock fans ONLINE.

for example, dredg. Have they ever mentioned them ONCE in their magazine? I doubt it.

Ne Obliviscaris? I'd love to be wrong, but I'd be shocked.

Pepe Deluxe?..uh, maybe in some dream that was in a parallel dimension.

Even The Dear Hunter or The River Empires, etc etc

I guess what I'm saying is "Prog" magazine and their Prog Awards =/= AllMediaReviews Approval.

I do find these kinds of awards a bit silly and pointless, but it does have me think, maybe I could briefly post in their categories, with my own nominations an equivalent. I.e. IF I WERE PICKING THE NOMINEES/WINNERS.

Not now, and I'll admit to being totally backed up on a lot of stuff in here like Early Ghost, Everything Everything, Between the Buried and Me, Muse and more. But maybe if time does come my way, I'll try and throw up my own version of the "Prog" awards, and maybe add in 1 or 2 of my own categories like best Vinyl issue/reissue or something.

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