Big Big Train release new instrumental single ‘Apollo’
Track taken from forthcoming album Common Ground due out July 30th
“Apollo” is the second track to be taken from Big Big Train’s forthcoming album ‘Common Ground’ due out on July 30th, 2021 on English Electric Recordings. The new album, recorded during the worldwide pandemic, sees the band continue their tradition of dramatic narratives but also tackles issues much closer to home, such as the Covid lockdowns, the separation of loved ones, the passage of time, deaths of people close to the band and the hope that springs from a new love.
“Apollo” is a seven-minute plus instrumental written by Big Big Train drummer Nick D’Virgilio and will be an undoubted highlight when the band tour in 2022. “When the time came to start coming up with ideas for the next BBT album, I felt very strongly that we should include a quintessential instrumental track. I wanted to write the band’s version of Genesis’s Los Endos and to make a track that really showed off the talent of all the amazing musicians in this band. I knew that the team could totally play anything I threw at them, and boy, did they prove me right! I thought about the unique instrumentation of BBT. We have so many wonderful ‘voices’ to play with and I wanted every one of them in this song. In the big end bit, I can totally envisage the crowd with their hands in the air going back n forth, all of the lights and haze on the stage, the band just absolutely slamming, the crowd singing along with the melody the BBT brass ensemble is playing, until we reach a glorious end.” Watch the video for “Apollo” here:
Tracklisting: 1. The Strangest Times 2. All The Love We Can Give 3. Black With Ink 4. Dandelion Clock 5. Headwaters 6. Apollo 7. Common Ground 8. Atlantic Cable 9. Endnotes
‘Common Ground’ sees the band taking in wider musical and lyrical inspiration from artists such as Elbow, Pete Townshend, Tears For Fears, Elton John and XTC, as well as acknowledging their more progressive roots. As ever, Big Big Train will take listeners on a journey, be it waiting for the UK 5pm pandemic press conferences (’The Strangest Times’) to the library of Alexandria (‘Black With Ink’) to the bottom of the ocean (‘Atlantic Cable’).
For the ‘Common Ground’ tour, which will be their most extensive to date and which will culminate in the UK with a show at the prestigious London Palladium, Greg Spawton (bass), David Longdon (lead vocals, flute), Nick D’Virgilio (drums, vocals) and Rikard Sjöblom (guitars, keyboards, vocals) will be joined by Carly Bryant (keyboards, guitars, vocals), who contributes vocals to ‘Common Ground’, Dave Foster (guitars), who plays on two tracks on the new album, Clare Lindley (violin, vocals) and by a five piece brass ensemble. The band expect to announce North American tour dates shortly.
Big Big Train was initially founded in 1990 and went through several line-up changes, but in 2009 the band decided on a fresh start, and the core of the current version of the band was born. Since then, they have gone on to win four Progressive Music Awards, played sold out shows and seen their last album, 2019’s ‘Grand Tour’, reach #1 in the Official UK rock charts and break into the top 40 in the Official UK album charts. The band toured the UK for the first time in 2019, culminating in a sold out show at London’s Hackney Empire, subsequently released as the critically acclaimed Blu-ray ‘Empire’, and 2022 will see the band performing their largest UK tour to date along with their first ever dates in North America.
When King Crimson returns to action this July, it will be the seventh year that the band has toured since returning to performing live in 2014, a run only interrupted by the lockdown in 2020. In that time, the audience has been reinvented, as much as the band itself, something Robert Fripp noted after the band’s performance in Pompeii, Italy’s famous amphitheater:
“In Pompeii, a large percentage of the audience was young couples; KC moved into the mainstream in Italy. I walked onstage knowing that this band’s position in the world has changed level.” – Robert Fripp
The band’s shows regularly include material from twelve of their thirteen studio albums, including many songs from their seminal 1969 album In the Court of the Crimson King, described by Pete Townshend as an “uncanny masterpiece.” The 7-piece line-up play many historic pieces, which Crimson has never previously played live, as well as new arrangements of Crimson classics – “the music is new whenever it was written.” There are also new instrumentals and songs, as well as compositions by the three drummers, Pat Mastelotto, Gavin Harrison and Jeremy Stacey, which are a regular highlight. A unique show, where seven of the best musicians in the world play music without distraction or adornment.
Robert Fripp celebrates a new tour:
“The Crimson Beast Is in Go! Mode. Totally excellent news! Much hooraying! Glad times are here!
The Crimson Beast Of Terror has woken from its enforced slumbering and is venturing out to stomp flat the psyches of innocents not yet experienced in the hammering onslaught of King Crimson’s uncompromising pounding – bish! bish! bish! – before turning on a beat to jellify hearts with gut-wrenching passion and soul-squeezing epic unfoldings to remind us that we are all mere subjects in the unfolding drama of the universe’s unfathomable mysteries while simultaneously rocking out and having a great time bopping about with Tony and Bobby and Gavin and Jakko and Mel and Pat and Jezza too.”
ROBERT FRIPP, though best known for his work in King Crimson, has contributed to numerous albums by players as diverse as Brian Eno, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Blondie, Talking Heads, Daryl Hall, The Roches, Peter Hammill, Keith Tippett, David Sylvian, The Orb, and The Grid. His 1979 solo album, Exposure was described as “the Sergeant Pepper of avant punk.” He has appeared twice in Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Guitarist of All Time poll, although Fripp claims these are likely to have been mistakes by the typesetter.
TONY LEVIN has been a member of King Crimson since 1981. Internationally renowned and constantly in-demand for his distinctive bass work, he also tours with Peter Gabriel with whom he has worked since 1977. He has appeared on albums by Paul Simon, John Lennon, David Bowie and countless others and recently formed his own band, Stick Men alongside Crimson drummer, Pat Mastelotto.
JAKKO JAKSZYK was a member of Level 42, before working with Mel Collins as part of ex-KC alumni group, 21st Century Schizoid Band between 2002 – 2004. His solo album, “The Bruised Romantic Glee Club” (2006) was his first recorded collaboration with Fripp, followed by “A Scarcity of Miracles” in 2011. An acclaimed producer in his own right, Jakszyk has recently mixed Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson’s UK Top 20 album, “Homo Erraticus.”
MEL COLLINS was previously a member of King Crimson 1970 – 1972 appearing on “In The Wake Of Poseidon” (1970), “Lizard” (1970), “Islands” (1971), “Earthbound” (1972) as well as a guest appearance on “Red” (1974), the final King Crimson album of the 1970s. He subsequently worked with The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, Dire Straits, Eric Clapton and many others, before returning to King Crimson in 2014.
GAVIN HARRISON joined King Crimson in 2007, playing a series of dates in the USA the following year. A respected author and tutor, he has also recorded three albums with The Pineapple Thief, though Harrison is probably best-known for his work with Porcupine Tree. Modern Drummer magazine placed him in their Top 50 Drummers of All Time.
PAT MASTELOTTO joined King Crimson in 1994 after working with Robert Fripp and David Sylvian. A member of the hugely successful American 1980s group and MTV favorites, Mr. Mister, he is at home in both experimental music working with KTU as well as pop and rock appearing on albums by The Rembrandts, Hall and Oates and XTC.
JEREMY STACEY is a British drummer. His early work included the 1990s band, The Lemon Trees (with twin brother Paul Stacey on guitars, Guy Chambers and others) and Denzil. He has also played with Sheryl Crow, the Finn Brothers, Nick Harper, Noel Gallagher, and many more. On March 7, 2016, it was announced that he would be taking the place of Bill Rieflin as the center drummer on the 2016 King Crimson European tour, a position he retained even after Rieflin’s all too brief return to the band as a keyboard player.
King Crimson tour dates:
July 22, 2021 – Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall July 23, 2021 – Delray Beach, FL – Old School Square July 24, 2021 – St. Augustine, FL – St Augustine Ampitheater July 26, 2021 – Orlando, FL – Dr. Phillips Walt Disney Theater July 27, 2021 – Atlanta, GA – The Fox July 28, 2021 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium July 30, 2021 – Fort Worth, TX – Will Rogers Memorial Auditorium July 31, 2021 – Cedar Park, TX – H-E-B Center August 2, 2021 – Greenwood Village, CO – Fiddlers Green Amiptheater August 3, 2021 – Sandy, UT – Sandy Ampitheater August 5, 2021- Concord, CA – Concord Pavilion* August 6, 2021 – Los Angeles – The Greek Theatre* August 7, 2021 – Scottsdale, AZ – Talking Stick Ballroom August 23, 2021 – Saratoga Springs, NY – SPAC* August 24, 2021 – Northampton, MA – The Pines Theater* August 26, 2021 – Canandaigua, NY – CMAC* August 27, 2021 – Lewiston, NY – Artpark Ampitheater* August 28, 2021 – Rochester Hills, MI – Meadow Brook Ampitheater* August 29, 2021 – Highland Park, IL – Ravinia* August 31, 2021 – Milwaukee, WI – Miller High Life Theatre* September 1, 2021 – Cleveland, OH – Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica* September 2, 2021 – Huber Heights, OH – Rose Music Center @ The Heights* September 4, 2021 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center* September 5, 2021 – New Haven, CT – Westville Music Bowl* September 7, 2021 – Philadelphia, PA – The Mann Center* September 9, 2021 – Forest Hills, NY – Forest Hills Stadium* September 10, 2021 – Boston, MA – Leader Bank Pavilion* September 11, 2021 – Washington, DC – The Anthem*
(*Support “The Zappa Band”)
As well as standard tickets, the band’s label, DGM, also has announced sale of VIP Royal Packages, limited to just 72 per show. The Royal Package gives priority seating at the front of the venue, early access, special merchandise, and personal insights and answers from David Singleton and one of the band members. These are on sale now from DGMLive.com. https://www.dgmlive.com/tours?liveshow=on.
For more information:www.dgmlive.com painting by Francesca Sundsten
For more than 50 years, Nektar has taken legions of fans on audio-visual journeys to far reaches of the universe and the depths of the ocean with their immersive blend of sight and sound. These prog-rock pioneers have been champing at the bit to get back on the road and are excited to announce they will tour America’s Northeast and Midwest this autumn, with many more dates scheduled through Spring 2022.
The “Vinyl Sides Live” Tour marks Nektar’s eagerly awaited return to the road, spotlighting some of the best-loved “album sides” from their evergreen catalog, as well as 2020’s acclaimed release, “The Other Side,” plus new material. Nektar changes their live show every single night; fans love to follow along on the journey.
Founding member Mo Moore says, “After doing 31 dates at the beginning of 2020 and getting into tour shape, we were stopped in our tracks by COVID.”
The band made the most of this ‘down time’ by preparing for their upcoming tour, adding another 90 minutes of music to the 3 hours of repertoire they performed on the previous tour. Audiences will be treated to entire album sides from some of Nektar’s epic recordings – including “A Tab in the Ocean,” “Remember the Future” and “Recycled,” as well as “The Other Side.” Rounding out the shows will be expanded offerings from other albums; unfinished tunes from 1978 that the band has rediscovered; as well as brand new compositions the band has created during their weekly online and in person get-togethers.
“I think the next shows are going to be even more exciting, as we will continue our direction of not doing the same set twice if we have multiple dates at one venue or are playing two gigs that are drivable,” says Mo. “This keeps the music fresh and gives incentives to our ‘Nektarines’ to attend more than one show, knowing they will be different.”
Nektar has captured the imagination and admiration of listeners the world over with their multimedia concerts, melding a jam-band vibe with superb musicality and a visual cornucopia that perfectly complements the performance. A Nektar show is an unparalleled feast for the senses.
Formed in Germany in 1969 by British expats, Nektar soaked up the musical freedom they found in their new home, favoring extended compositions and concept albums over the constraints of pop. They were among the progenitors of the progressive rock movement of the 1970s as well as the jam-band scene that arose in the late 1990s. Their sound traveled well to the States, where they enjoyed Top 40 success with “A Tab in the Ocean” (1972) and “Remember the Future” (1973). Nearly 20 albums and a half-century later, the band’s artistic and personal charisma has earned them masses of devoted fans, who have flocked to festivals such as NearFest and ProgStock, and venues like the Wildey Theatre (where they perform multi-night sold-out shows) to indulge their passion for the Nektar experience.
Currently, Nektar features three of the original members – Derek ‘Mo’ Moore (bass guitar, vocals), Ron Howden (drums, percussion, vocals) and Mick Brockett (visual environment). Ryche Chlanda (guitar, vocals) and Randy Dembo (bass guitar, bass pedals, 12-string guitar, vocals) are alums of previous Nektar incarnations. World-class multi-instrumentalist Kendall Scott completes the lineup on keyboards; his performance credits include Project/Object and Ryche Chlanda’s Flying Dreams. They will be joined onstage by Maryann Castello on backing vocals, and Maryann will also oversee merchandise sales and VIP events.
“The Other Side” has been hailed as “an epic concept album” and “the best recording by Nektar since ‘Recycled.’”
“The whole album is a love song,” says Mo. It’s also a memorial to friends the band has lost, including fellow founding member Roye Albrighton, who passed in 2016, and their long-time sound mixer Vinny Schmid.
Mick Brockett, whose visuals are integral to Nektar performances, is upgrading his renowned light show with assistance from the band’s digital wizard, Jay Petsko. The update will incorporate additional film clips plus a rich trove of previously unseen photos of the band on and off tour.
Mick creates a visual environment that directly reflects what the band is playing on stage. “I’m like the Wizard of Oz, behind the curtain,” Mick says. “I’m ‘playing’ this all in real time.”
NEKTAR ‘VINYL SIDES LIVE’ TOUR DATES
SEPT 22 – DARYL’S HOUSE CLUB – PAWLING, NY SEPT 23 – THE LINDA/WAMC – ALBANY, NY SEPT 24 – HAMBURG PALACE THEATRE – HAMBURG, NY SEPT 25 – BEACHLAND BALLROOM – CLEVELAND, OH SEPT 26 – TOKEN LOUNGE – WESTLAND, MI SEPT 29 – IRVING THEATER – INDIANAPOLIS, IN SEPT 30 – THE WILDEY THEATRE – EDWARDSVILLE, IL OCT 01 – THE WILDEY THEATRE – EDWARDSVILLE, IL OCT 02 – THE WILDEY THEATRE – EDWARDSVILLE, IL OCT 06 – PABST THEATER – TURNER HALL – MILWAUKEE, WI OCT 07 – ARCADA THEATRE – ST. CHARLES, IL OCT 08 – DES PLAINES THEATRE – DES PLAINES, IL OCT 29 – NEW JERSEY PROGHOUSE – RAHWAY, NJ OCT 30 – THE BEARSVILLE THEATER – WOODSTOCK, NY
Italian Prog ensemble Syndone will be releasing their new concept album “Kāma Sūtra” on June 10th.
The sacred text “Kāma Sūtra” is the “Bible” of how to achieve pleasure in sexual intercourse.
The Kāma Sūtra (aphorisms on pleasure) therefore constitutes for Hindus a compendium on the art of loving and achieving sexual pleasure, in a way consistent with the ancient rural and pastoral origins of their religious culture. This culture still considers love in all its most natural manifestations, from poetry, to singing, dancing, painting, sculpture to enhance its divine sanctity of procreation and the adoration of the principle of life, also through erotic pleasure.
Even in modern India, as in ancient India, the dominant impression offered by Hindu culture is still that of a world in contact with all the natural forces that transfer the richness of life into an existence permeated by tenderness, by pleasure and beauty in all its manifestations.
Like the movements of sex, music and lyrics go in and out of the different variations of the concept of Kāma Sūtra in history and in the contemporary; Kāma Sūtra is here intended only as the sound of a word already heard from which people begins to wonder.
For Syndone it becomes text and pretext to sink the nails with passion in the love between two people, in today’s real prostitutes, in provocation. Images, symbols, roles and people; among all a true story, the one of Giorgio Perlasca, hero against Nazism and many other common stories, among which, maybe, the ours, with invented characters, divinities, erotic symbols and much, much love.
“Kāma Sūtra,” the eighth album of Syndone, is a key to unhinging the menageries of progressive doctrine. In fact, it is the least progressive album of Syndone, but the news is not bad for this at all: the forays into more rock material are interspersed here and there by the scratches and sweeps of the Hammond that refer to Brian Auger and John Lord, from choral fragments where you can feel the smell of Queen. If “Mysoginia” was Géricault’s Raft of the Medusa, “Kāma Sūtra” is a painting by Kandinsky. To be fascinated, the wonderful “We Are the World We Created” is enough. Finally, David Jackson’s saxes and the beautiful vocal duet with the singer Annie Barbazza are a certificate of authenticity of a new masterpiece.
Syndone’s music, supported by the analytical and deeply cerebral texts of Riccardo Ruggeri – a front-man with great theatrical and an amazing voice – is something truly surprising: next to small jewels that shine with joy and pain, sweetness and of bitterness, it burns the fuel of the most genuine rock.
Born in 1989, in the wake of the second progressive wave, Syndone – led by Nik Comoglio – have delved into every aspect of niche music during their first quarter of a century.
Seven excellent albums (Spleen/1990, Inca/1992, Melapesante/2010, La Bella è la Bestia/2012 and Odysséas/2014, Eros & Thanatos/2016 and the new Mysoginia/2018) have come out of this collaboration, contaminated with tones that, more often than not, have gone beyond all codes and frontiers.
Their sound – which reflects the moods of Emerson Lake & Palmer to a certain extent – is not restricted to a slavish reading of the British band though. It tends to revitalize their spirit with formulas that have little to do with the style per se and move towards new shores, new sounds characterized by a rock background with extensive classical openings (sometimes played on strings), all tied together by a very expressive, sometimes theatrical, voice which brings everything together in an original, cultural and innovative product.
While their name might elicit thoughts of the Holy Shroud or Sindon (and all the rules and regulations surrounding it) kept in Turin, we could say that, in the meantime, it also brings to mind the provocative magic of this subalpine capital. Nik explains, “We wanted a name that would evoke all together ‘Sacredness,’ ‘Turin,’ ‘Spirituality’ and ‘Scored Grooves’ (like an old vinyl LP) so I thought of Syndone, with the ‘Y’ to distinguish it from the famous relic and make it International at the same time, without being blasphemous. This name in fact immediately evokes Turin in any part of the world… and I liked this!”
Syndone Riccardo Ruggeri: composition, vocal, lyricist Gigi Rivetti: composition, acoustic and electric pianos, clavinet, keyboards Marta Caldara: composition, vibraphone, timpani, keyboards Simone Rubinato: composition bass, taurus bass e keyboards Eddy Franco: drums and percussions Nik Comoglio: composition, orchestration, arrangements, Hammond, Moog, Juno dist., Mellotron and keyboards
The hibernation is over, the world, slightly-all-the-time, is becoming more – sort of – normal, or the normality we used to know is over, and now it became the new normality. After 14 months of not touring, finally, one of the artists on MoonJune’s booking roster is doing a small ‘local’ tour – LEVIN BROTHERS, featuring two legendary brothers PETE LEVIN (keyboards) and TONY LEVIN (bass) with JEFF CIAMPA (guitar) and JEFF SIEGEL (drums).
We decided to call it: VACCINATING RHYTHM TOUR 2021 and dates are JUNE 09 – MARLBORO, NY (The Falcon) JUNE 10 – SELLERSVILLE, PA (Sellersville Theater) JUNE 12 – LEWES, DE (The Room at Cedar Groove )JUNE 13 – KENNETT SQUARE, PA (Kennett Flash) JUNE 16 – PAWLING, NY (Daryl’s House Club) JUNE 17 – HUDSON FALLS, NY (The Strand Theater) JUNE 18 – SYRACUSE, NY (The Westcott Theater) JUNE 26 – BEARSVILLE, NY (Bearsville Theater)
It will be great to see some of You on this dates, You an also say to the band’s 5th member, Horatio Nardini, who will entertain fans at the merch table, selling CDs, LPs, Box Sets, Books, as well this great VACCINATING TOUR 2021 T-shirt, which we have just received, and Tony was very kind to take a nice selfie. If not able to come to one of the above mentioned shows, You can buy T-shirt on this
After this tour, Tony Levin will be extremely busy with KING CRIMSON, then THREE OF A PERFECT PAIR Music Camp (with Adrian Belew and Pat Mastelotto, as well Markus Reuter), then KING CRIMSON again, then STICK MEN in Europe in October, and again KING CRIMSON in Asia/Oceania, and much more in 2022.
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