For your consideration, recent releases from the worlds of prog, jazz, folk, country and marvelously unclassifiable music. As usual, purchase links are embedded in the artist/title listing, with streaming previews below the review. Can, Live in Paris 1973: Another immensely enjoyable archive release from the guys who sent krautrock into orbit with a winning combination of tight grooves and freeform jamming. The fresh angle this time around is the presence of late vocalist Damo Suzuki; locking in with Jaki Liebezeit’s propulsive percussion, the throbbing bass of Holger Czukay, and Michael Karo ..read more

Two years after their fine debut album, SiX by SiX — Saga guitarist Ian Crichton, Saxon drummer Nigel Glockler and veteran vocalist/bassist/keyboardist/arranger Robert Berry — release their sophomore effort Beyond Shadowland on April 26th. The 11 new tracks hit hard and strong, stretching out in an eclectic variety of directions but always stuffed full of upbeat lyrics, killer melodic hooks, thrillingly crunchy guitar work, and tough, grounded percussive grooves. What with the pre-release singles “The Arms of a Word” and “Obiliex” – the pronunciation of the latter somehow becoming a running ga ..read more

Happy Easter. Someone at Progarchy usually posts some version of Marillion’s “Easter” every year, but this year it seems more fitting than ever. The lyrics of the song refer to The Troubles Ireland experienced for much of the second half of the twentieth century, and the title and lyrics also reference William Butler Yeats’ poem, “Easter, 1916,” about the 1916 Irish rebellion. In troubled times like these, with violent bloody wars popping up all over threatening to draw us back into darker times, Marillion’s “Easter” rings out truer than ever: What will you do? Make a stone of your heart? Wil ..read more

Steve Hackett: Genesis Revisited – Foxtrot at Fifty + Hackett Highlights, The State Theatre, Kalamazoo Michigan, March 23, 2024. Yet again, another Progarchist beat me to reviewing Steve Hackett’s current tour — this time by three months! I can’t complain, though; Connor’s November review and last fall’s CD/BluRay release convinced me to catch Hackett in concert for the fifth time since he resumed stateside touring in 2013. And I’d say this most recent gig — played to over 1500 fans that packed a historic downtown theatre in Gibson Guitars’ original hometown — was the best of the five. As I me ..read more

In an unexpected turn of events, a new supergroup has been formed. It’s a quartet featuring some of the most impressive musicians today — Steve Vai, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, and Tool drummer Danny Carey. Called Beat, the band will play King Crimson music and they’ve been announced by none other than the King Crimson mastermind Robert Fripp. Read more….Easily one of the most mind-blowing lineups you can ever come up with ..read more

“The third time’s the charm.” Is it? Strangeness and charm? “A drug for angels?” Yes, charm, but only a bit of strangeness; I’ll get to that.  To charm means “to delight” or “to enchant.”  When we say “the third time’s the charm,” does this imply that the first and second times were lacking?  Often, perhaps, but not this time.  If you’ll indulge me for a moment, allowing that every time so far has been “the charm,” then harken, friends… The third album from The Bardic Depths, What We Really Like in Stories (release date March 7th, 2024) is a charm that brings a most welcom ..read more

Big Big Train, Live at Sweetwater, Fort Wayne, IN, March 1, 2024 Band: Alberto Bravin (lead vocals, keyboards, guitar), Nick D’Virgilio (drums, vocals), Oskar Holldorff (keyboards, backing vocals), Clare Lindley (violin, vocals, keyboards, guitar), Rikard Sjöblom (guitars, keyboards, vocals) and Gregory Spawton (bass, bass pedals, acoustic guitar/12-string), and Cade Gotthardt (trumpet, keyboards) Setlist: Folklore, The Connection Plan, The First Rebreather, The Florentine, Summoned By Bells, Mead Hall in Winter, Telling the Bees, East Coast Racer, A Boy in Darkness, Love is the Light, Apollo ..read more

Big Big Train, Sweetwater Performance Theatre, Fort Wayne, Indiana – March 1, 2024 Four years ago this month, Big Big Train’s first North American tour was cancelled, a victim of the worldwide COVID pandemic. Just over 28 months ago, a more ambitious debut tour fell apart before it could even be announced, following the shocking death of BBT singer/songwriter/frontman David Longdon. Finally – finally! – last Friday night, nearly 250 fans (including me, my wife and fellow Progarchist Bryan Morey) packed a state of the art auditorium at the largest music retailer on the planet. We waited as the ..read more

When it comes to obscure prog bands, these guys might just take first prize. Fifty years ago, four British chaps known collectively as Sindelfingen released their only complete studio album, the delightfully named Odgipig – but only 100 copies were made available. Thanks to the Internet, however, we now have regular access to a particularly rare gem such as this one. Odgipig, although somewhat inconsistent in places, is a solid and even rather original debut. Unlike many of their prog contemporaries, Sindelfingen forwent the typical keyboard setup and opted instead for a glockenspiel (played ..read more

Yes, I have a backstory with The Bardic Depths: spoken word shouts on their 2020 debut album, then a special guest credit on keyboards for the 2022 follow-up Promises of Hope. And the fun continued when, early in 2023, project originator Dave Bandana asked me to whip up another snippet of pipe organ for the third TBD opus! Out on March 7th, the new album What We Really Like in Stories features the quartet at the core of The Bardic Depths: Dave B. on vocals, keys and guitars; Gareth Cole (Fractal Mirror, Paul Menel) on guitars and vocals; Peter Jones (Tiger Moth Tales, Red Bazar, Camel, Cyan, m ..read more