by Kev Rowland | Dec 9, 2018 | Reviews
When I started writing some thirty years ago, one of the reasons for doing so was that I was aware of some wonderful music which the mainstream press ignored. Being able to sing and/or play instruments no longer seemed to be as important as it used to be, and the state of music being played on normal commercial radio filled me with despair, so I just didn’t listen to it anymore. This is how I became involved in the underground scene, and over the years have been fortunate to hear some incredible music which otherwise would have passed me by. Earlier this year Peter Matuchniak sent me a copy of his latest project, ‘Gyreland’ by Bomber Goggles and I loved it immediately. One of the people involved in that was Steve Bonino, and we soon discovered we had a lot in common and I interviewed him for his latest album, ‘Stargazer’ (which is awesome, everyone should have a copy). Following on from that he sent me some of his older material, and I am currently playing Children of the Moon from 2014. My only question has to be, why on earth didn’t I come across this before?
Children of the Moon is multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Steve Bonino, with singer Pascale Elia and drummer Jimmy Keegan. If that isn’t enough in the way of Spock’s Beard credentials, Ryo Okumoto guests on one song and it was mastered by none other than the mighty Rich Mouser. To say this album is a delight is a masterful exercise in understatement. Power pop, pop rock, crossover prog, melodic rock, call it what you will but know that there are some gorgeous songs here with great hooks. Both Steve and Pascale take turns on leads, as well as harmonizes, while Jimmy shows yet again why he is such an in-demand drummer as he adds nuances here and there without removing any emphasis from the melody.
There are quite a few different styles here, and “Everybody Loves Love” is a standout country number (the pedal steel is a wonderful touch), while “My Young Man” is a singer-songwriter classic which belongs in the late Sixties with gorgeous harmonies. Special mention must be made of Amy Tori, who guests with flute on five songs, and this adds an additional sense of class and style to the album that works really well. Many of the songs seem incredibly personal, so much so that I felt at times that I was almost intruding, but it was all so good that I couldn’t turn away. The CD is still available, and it is also possible to stream through Bandcamp, and I can only urge all those into wonderful psychedelic power pop to get straight over to https://thesteveboninoprojects.bandcamp.com/album/children-of-the-moon and discover it for yourselves.
9/10 Kev Rowland
by Kev Rowland | Dec 9, 2018 | News, Reviews
I first really started paying attention to Atreyu with the release of 2004’s ‘The Curse’, but although I grabbed all their albums up to 2009’s ‘Congregation of the Damned’ I hadn’t realized they had got back together after the hiatus following that to release an album in 2015, and here they are now back with the next, the seventh in their career. It is hard to believe that Atreyu has been together for twenty years now, as they still sound as angry as ever, mixing that aggression with melody and metal to create a sound designed to throw a mosh pit wherever they play. I also put them into the same category as Killswitch Engage and Avenged Sevenfold, all bands out there creating their own masterpieces and not worrying about the rest of the scene. There are parts of “The Time Is Now” which one would say belongs far more in the canon of their recent touring partners Slipknot than Atreyu. These guys have been turning it up and cranking it even harder than they used to, and took inspiration from their classic ‘Lead Sails Paper Anchor’ as they experimented and brought all the ideas under the Atreyu banner.
There is a freshness, which has been brought about by the way of working. “Every song with the exception of two was fully written in the studio,” says Brandon Saller (drums, vocals). “We’d split off into groups and crank out two ideas per day. We’d never written a fresh idea from scratch every day. Spontaneity makes things flow so much better though. We also never spread an album out like this either. We laid the foundation with five recordings, sat with them, and finished with a better picture of where we wanted to go.” Atreyu is very much back, and this reminds me so much of why I loved ‘The Curse’ when it was released. Methinks I need to dust that one off and put it on, as this has reminded me of what a powerful band they are. Superb.
8/10 by Kev Rowland
by Kev Rowland | Dec 9, 2018 | New Releases, News, Reviews
This is the debut album from Dutch neo-prog band The Dame, which as the name might suggest is built heavily around the female lead singer, Marian van Charante. They have been gaining a lot of attention for their image and style, as apparently they aim to convey a feeling of the Roaring Twenties in what they do, although it must be said that with a download as opposed to a CD that isn’t necessarily apparent. For the most part, the keyboards are actually quite basic and in the background, but given that Thijs de Ruijter is actually the son of the guitarist Stephen and is just 16 years old perhaps that is understandable.
The songs feel like stories, which is very much a positive, and Marian moves between singing softly and bringing in elements of Alanis Morissette with her phrasing. It is pleasant enough, but this just doesn’t shine the way it should. Some of that is down to the arrangements which feel a little clunky at times, and the production which often pushes the snare drum over the top of the guitar. The use of acoustic guitar as an additional rhythm works well, but I can’t get nearly as excited over this as many others seem to be.
6/10 by Kev Roland
by Kev Rowland | Dec 1, 2018 | Reviews
Is it really five years since Simon Godfrey (Tinyfish, Valdez) presented us with the debut Shineback album? Unlike the debut this isn’t a concept, but is very much a progression in terms of ideas and approach. “We humans do a marvellous job of failing to communicate with one another, often when it matters most”, says Simon. “All the songs on ‘Dial’ carry that as an underlying theme. Musically, very much like the debut album and last year’s ‘Minotaur’ EP, the new record seeks to hop the fences between genres, just to enjoy the process of getting dirty while in the hunt for buried sonic treasures”. Alongside Simon’s regular writing partner (and label mate) Robert Ramsay, guests returning from ‘Rise Up Forgotten…’ include Matt Stevens (The Fierce & The Dead), Dec Burke (Frost*, AudioPlastik, Darwin’s Radio), Hywel Bennett (Dec Burke Band) and Henry Rogers (Touchstone, Mostly Autumn). New collaborators Tom Slatter, Daniel Zambas (We Are Kin), Karl Eisenhart (Pinnacle) and Simon’s bandmates in Valdez Joe Cardillo and Tom Hyatt are also involved. There are quite a few people taking part, but normally this is just for one song (not all on the same one), so while there are five guest guitarists adding to proceedings, Matt and Karl combine on “Kill Devil Hills”, while Tom Slatter is just on “Here I Am” and Hywel is on the title track, while Dec allows himself some real attack on “Consider Her Ways” so it isn’t really a guitar fest.
What really makes this work is the deftness and lightness of approach, with Simon using plenty of keyboards to create an environment for his vocals and ideas to really shine. There are times when the music is very much in a light, high register with virtually no bottom end, but this contrasts against a rocky approach, with the feeling that we are back in the early Eighties and synth-based power pop is the order of the day. Just listen to “Consider Her Ways” and I can guarantee that you will soon be singing along with the chorus and petitioning Chief Elephant to get this released as a single. This is an album which is just plain fun to listen to, and Simon firmly nails his prog credentials to the wall by closing the album with one song that is more than twenty-six minutes long, and one that goes past thirteen. In many ways it is a very modern album, also looking back into the Eighties and Nineties, bringing together multiple commercial styles with pop and prog to create something that is a load of fun, and never takes itself too seriously. The delicate emotional piano of the title song counterpoints what has gone before, and if ever an album deserves multiple plays it is this one as every time I have listened to it I have gained something else. When the debut album was released, BEM was very much in its infancy, but now is easily one of the most important prog labels around, so let’s hope that this release gains the kudos and publicity it deserves, as this is a delight.
8/10 by Kev Rowland
by Kev Rowland | Nov 16, 2018 | Reviews
Formed in 1991, many progheads became fully aware of Ten Jinn with their second album, 1999’s ‘On A Darkling Plain’. Lead singer/keyboard player John Strauss moved to Sweden in 2001, and although Ten Jinn released their third album ‘Alone’, in 2003, that was also the year of their final live show at Draken Theater in Stockholm. John returned to the States in 2004, but then undertook a Master’s degree program for music theory/composition, and it took a long time for Ten Jinn to become operational again. But, in 2017, a mere 14 years on from their last album, Ten Jinn were back. Joining Strauss was drummer/bassist Mark Wickliffe, and guitarists Ken Skoglund and Mike Matier, so three of the quartet have been there since the debut while Skoglund was in the band for the previous album so this is very much a continuation as opposed to a brand new band trading under an old name.
‘Sisyphus’ is an eight-part programmatic work that tells the story of the founder and King of Corinth after whom it is named. Because of affronts to the gods, while alive, Sisyphus was condemned in death to spend eternity in Hades rolling a boulder to the top of a mountain, only to have it roll back down each time he completed the task. It was originally conceived as a classical work (for string orchestra and piano), and was then reworked to include rock instrumentation and vocals so that it tied in with earlier albums. The band then started working on shorter songs to get it all up to album length, when the idea was mooted to undertake an instrumental mix which would be more indicative of the original concept. So the album contains just two songs, 26 minutes long each, with one being the instrumental version of the other.
Many bands have attempted, with lesser or greater success, to combine orchestra with rock music, but generally, these are approached from the rock side first, with orchestra then added to it. Here the reverse is true, as it was originally a classical piece with rock added. There is no doubt that of all rock bands, the one they have most in common with is The Enid, but there is less pomp, more piano. Also, the vocals are very strong indeed, and the result is something that is modern classical, progressive rock, singer-songwriter, symphonic metal, all these things and so much more. For all its complexity, it is also an incredibly accessible album, one that feels wonderfully light even when though there is a great deal happening within it. Strange to think that there were 14 years between this album and the previous one as the band are tight, focussed, moving through multiple styles and facets with ease.
Since this release, the band has produced the wonderful ‘Ziggy Blackstar’ album, which is a tribute to Bowie, and John tells me that he has almost completed writing “Worlds: the Four Worlds of the Hopi Cosmology” which is in four movements (worlds) total running time about 60 minutes. Whether they soon get back into the studio or hit the festival circuit, is a matter of current debate. Whatever happens, Ten Jinn is back and very much making up for lost time.
10/10 by Kev Rowland
by Kev Rowland | Nov 16, 2018 | Reviews
I only recently discovered Fruits de Mer Records, but they are rapidly becoming one of my very favorite records labels as they seem incapable of putting out a bad release. This triple vinyl album came out in October, but the pressing has already sold out, and having been playing this it is not difficult to see why. What we have here are 27 songs that were originally recorded between 1966 and 1968, which have now been given a new lease of life, providing more than two hours of incredible music. One thing to note is that two of the songs are new live versions by the original bands, namely The Yardbirds and The Pretty Things, while The Electric Prunes also make an appearance with their take on “7 And 7 Is”.
But, for me the highlight is The Luck Of Eden Hall and their crazed version of Alice Cooper’s “Reflected” which appeared on their debut album ‘Pretties For You’. Alice themselves revisited the song and turned it into “Elected”, but the guitar on this version as it goes through distortion and a wah-wah pedal, along with Keith Moon-style drumming is just wonderful. Kris Gietkowski’s keyboards sound as he is in Procol Harum, and no-one could ever imagine that this is a new recording, so vintage does it seem. I also had to smile when I heard a great version of “Beck’s Bolero”. I undertook my degree in Wolverhampton a million years ago, and the Wolverhampton song at the time was Jeff Beck’s “Hi Ho Silver Lining”, so needless to say we all had copies of the single, and this was the B-side so is a song I know really well, although I hadn’t played it for years, and Icarus Peel do it proudly.
This really is a wonderful album, so get onto eBay and see if you can track down a copy, and get on the FdM mailing list so you don’t miss out next time! 10/10
side 1
1. The Past Tense – Magic In The Air (originally by The Attack : recorded in 1967)
2. LoveyDove – Bedazzled (originally by Drimble Wedge and the Vegetations : 1967)
3. Campbell Stokes Sunshine Recorder – Amelia Jane (originally by Made In Sheffield : 1967)
4. Jack Ellister – Aquarius (originally by The Zodiac:Cosmic Sounds : 1967)
5. Rob Gould – Granny Takes A Trip (originally by The Purple Gang : 1967)
side 2
1. Mark McDowell and Friends – Up The Wooden Hills To Bedfordshire (originally by The Small Faces : 1966)
2. Anton Barbeau – Sunshine Superman (originally by Donovan : 1965)
3. The Electric Prunes – 7 and 7 is (originally by Love : 1966)
4. Moonweevil – Child Of The Sky (originally by The Deviants : 1967)
5. Kris Gietkowski – A-Minor Explosion (originally by Don Shinn : 1966)
6. The Yardbirds – Think About It (live in 2016) (originally by The Yardbirds : 1968)
side 3
1. The Locker Room Cowboys – We Love You (originally by The Rolling Stones : 1967)
2. King Penguin – White Bird (written : 1967, released by It’s A Beautiful Day : 1969)
3. Aunt Cynthia’s Cabin – Solitary Man (originally by Neil Diamond : 1966)
4. The Luck Of Eden Hall – Reflected (originally by Alice Cooper : 1968)
side 4
1. The Honey Pot – Kites (written by Hackaday/Pockriss; recorded by The Rooftop Singers / Simon Dupree and the Big Sound : 1967)
2. Cary Grace – 1983 (A Merman I Should Be…) (originally by the Jimi Hendrix Experience : 1968)
side 5
1. Sidewalk Society – A Saying For Today (originally by The Action : 1968)
2. Jay Tausig – Let No Man Steal Your Thyme (trad. recorded by Anne Briggs : 1963 / Pentangle : 1968)
3. Magic Bus – Tribal Gathering (originally by The Byrds : 1967)
4. Proud Peasant – Down At Circe’s Place (originally by Touch : 1968)
5. Icarus Peel – Beck’s Bolero (originally by Jeff Beck Group : 1966)
side 6
1. The Green Ray – Dusty (originally by John Martyn : 1968)
2. Ex-Norwegian – Winter (originally by Family : 1968)
3. Consterdine – Fly (originally by J.K. & Co : 1968)
4. The Gold Needles – The Smell of Incense (originally by West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band : 1967)
5. The Pretty Things – Loneliest Person (live at the Half Moon, 2010) (originally by The Pretty Things : 1968)
By Kev Rowland
