Here’s some music that various members of the Prog team have been grooving to this week…
EDITOR - JERRY EWING
HAKEN - COCKROACH KING
With the news still hot that Haken will play London’s Garage on May 26, ahead of the release of their hotly anticipated fourth album, the time is right to reappraise ourselves of the vibrant young talent of this British sextet. And what better than the vocal interplay of Cockroach King from_ The Mountain_. And of course, the band’s great promo video that went with it.
DEPUTY EDITOR - HANNAH MAY KILROY
HEXVESSEL - EARTH OVER US
Cult Finnish folkies Hexvessel create cosmic prog that’s beautifully eerie. Earth Over Us is jaunty yet haunting, with the atmosphere of a strange woodland ritual.It’s taken from their brand new album When We Are Death, which is out now.
ART EDITOR - RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER
KICHIE KICHIE KI ME O - ARE YOU LAND OR WATER (THE DELUGE)
Sounding like the sort of thing you say while tickling your loved one, Alexander Kloster-Jensen’s Kitchie Kitchie Ke Me O is an intriguing mixture of driving beats, crystal sharp guitar riffs and brooding ambience nicely blended into a warm and inviting sonic experience. This track from the second album, Are You Land Or Water doesn’t know whether to jump up and down with a glowstick or wave it’s arms in and out whilst sitting cross-legged on the floor nodding sagely. And neither do I so I’m doing both
NEWS EDITOR - NATASHA SCHARF
COPIA - HOSTILITY
‘Colossal’ rockers Aussies Copia handed me a copy of their current album Eleven: Eleven at a gig last year and I was seriously impressed by what I heard. Lead song Hostility is four-and-half minutes of infectious progressive metal with a symphonic edge. Should be of interest fans of Threshold, TesseracT and Dead Letter Circus too.
REVIEWS EDITOR - GRANT MOON
BERT JANSCH - THE KINGFISHER
This Sunday (Jan 31) sees the first of two tribute concerts to the late, great Scottish guitarist. Opening the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, ‘Bert Inspired’ will take place at the Old Fruitmarket, with Jacqui McShee, Bernard Butler and Robert Plant all on the bill. Then on Monday artists such as Ryley Walker and Blur’s Graham Coxon play in Jansch’s honour at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. You only need to listen again to a sparse, elegant piece like The Kingfisher to remember why the man’s worth such homage. His bird-centric concept album Avocet was released on Charisma in 1979, his endlessly inventive picking accompanied by bass from his former Pentangle bandmate Danny Thompson and the swooping violin of multi-instrumentalist Martin Jenkins. Reissued on glorious vinyl by Earth next Friday (Feb 5), it’s an album well worth revisiting.
LIVES EDITOR - MALCOLM DOME
PURSON - ELECTRIC LANDLADY
A band growing with remarkable rapidity. This is the first single from new album Desire’s Magic Theatre, and it shows that Rosalie Cunningham, who does almost everything herself in the studio, has a cuning grasp on how to balance retro psych with forward thinking agitation. A senses enhancing kaleidoscope.
