Latest news:
(from multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Steven McCabe):
I am pleased to report that the sessions last week with singer Ken Senior went extremely well. Despite a few technical glitches (pops and crackles inexplicably being recorded at the same time as the vocals!), we managed to record some seven songs - including the backing vocals! Luckily, Ken, being the pro that he is, had already spent some considerable time rehearsing the material in the weeks before the session, against my backing tracks, so it was a job well done! The task at hand now, of course, is to edit through the material, selecting the best takes, cleaning up any rogue interference and then mixing the tracks into something resembling a finished product. It is unlikely all of the songs will make the next CD, unless it is a double album. Regardless, the next CD will be the first to feature vocals since "Architect of Light". I know a lot of you have been waiting for this and I certainly think the new songs top that album by a huge margin. The unexpected highlight of the recording sessions was the song Lost Summer - a song about longing, regret, growing up and saying goodbye to the past. Ken sung it beautifully. Each verse is in a different key and the vocal parts are a tad tricky, but what a song! :) The final track list will not be decided yet until the mixing of all the tracks is complete. The material is thematically linked but the album will not be a concept album. I wrote, recorded and mixed a brand new instrumental piece called Mood #9 last week. I needed a brief acoustic guitar piece (finger picked, no less!) for the long section of the album. After messing about a bit, the song just happened and it was all done in around 2 hours. It is just over 2 minutes long. Incidentally, there are enough Mood pieces to make an album in its own right! Most of the Moods have never been released, and it would make a good CD or download project. One for the back burner! The other new song Falling to the Ground was written and recorded over two evenings before Ken arrived at the studio. It is a very complex song, featuring lots of verses and intricate instrumental passages, and we only had time to record a guide vocal as Ken only got to hear it at the sessions for the main material!
Tangerine Dream will celebrate their 40th Anniversary in 2007 with the release of their new album, "Madcap's Flaming Duty", which is dedicated to the memory of former Pink Floyd guitarist Syd Barrett. The CD will be released via Voiceprint Records on Monday, April 2nd, 2007.
Track Listing: 1. Astrophel & Stella, 2. Shape My Sin, 3. The Blessed Damozel, 4. The Divorce, 5. A Dream of Death, 6. Hear the Voice, 7. Lake of Pontchartrain, 8. Mad Song, 9. One Hour of Madness, 10. Man, 11. Hymn to Intellectual Beauty, 12. Solution of All Problems.
Line-up:
Edgar Froese - keyboards; bass, guitar; harp; dobro
Thorsten Quaeschning - keyboards; recorder; V-drums
Bernhard Beibl - el. & ac. guitars, violin
Linda Spa - flute, bagpipe; didgeridoo
Iris Camaa - drums, percussion
Chris Hausl - vocals
With:
Gynt Beator - Irish bouzouki
Thomas Beator - Irish bouzouki
Here is the track list of the new Porcupine Tree album, "Fear of a Blank Planet", which is set for April release through Roadrunner Records in Europe and Atlantic in the USA:
1. Fear of a Blank Planet 7.28
2. My Ashes 5.07
3. Anesthetize 17.42
4. Sentimental 5.26
5. Way Out of Here 7.37
6. Sleep Together 7.28
Iranian group Arashk has just completed their new album, "Roar" (their third), describing it as progressive Hard Rock / Metal. The CD will be released in April.
Shadowside announce new lineup: Fernando Peto is the new Shadowside bass player. He joins replacing Lucas De Santis, who left the band due to personal reasons. Also, with the departure of guitarist Ricky Slater due to differences of ideals with remaining band members, Shadowside goes on as a quartet - at least for the time being. The band's current lineup is as follows: Dani Nolden (vocals), Bill Shadow (guitars), Fernando Peto (bass) and Fabio Buitvidas (drums).
Luna Negra Records presents FestivAlterNativo-2007 (Jazz-Fusion, Folk- & Progressive Rock):
Saturday, June 16th 2007, 16:30
Teatro De La Republica
Juarez and Angela Peralta St.
Historical Downtown, Queretaro City
Queretaro, Mexico (free entrance!)
Thanks to Queretaro's Art & Culture Institutes, the University of Queretaro and Luna Negra, SC; this year's FestivAlterNativo will take place on June 16th at the majestic Teatro de La Republica, located in downtown Queretaro - a wonderful colonial city just 200 km (125 Miles) north of Mexico City. The last two editions of the FestivAlterNativo gathered six of the most representative Mexican alternative music bands. This year, Luna Negra has stepped into a new territory and has set a roster of top-notch artists from Spain, Chile and Mexico. All of them, excellent yet independent musicians and performers.
Participants:
Jorge Campos Kuintet (Chile)
Amarok (Spain)
Gigur (Mexico)
Cabezas De Cera (Mexico)
Saena (Mexico, feat. Jose L. F. Ledesma & Margarita Botello)
About Luna Negra:
Luna Negra is a Mexican non-profit association devoted to the promotion of alternative music and arts through the production and distribution of CDs, cassettes, DVDs and books, as well as the organization of cultural activities, mainly in the fields of jazz, classical, progressive rock and electroacoustic music by local and artists from overseas. In more than ten years since its foundation in 1995, Luna Negra has become the leading progressive / alternative music independent record label in Mexico and the CDs they've produced CDs are now distributed through the major dealers around the world including Musea (France), Margen (Spain), Recommended Records in the U.K., and Syn-Phonic, Kinesis Inc., Of Sound Mind, Wayside Music and others in the U.S. The Luna Negra roster of artists includes names like Banda Elastica and Jose Luis Fernandez Ledesma & Margarita Botello (Mexico), Amarok, Andres Olaegui Trio and Psicotropia (Spain), and Perfume de Mujer, Naranja Mecanica and Musica D'Repuesto (Cuba).
About participants:
Jorge Campos Kuintet: Chilean composer, Jorge Campos has been regarded as one of the best Latin American bass players nowadays. Being a member of bands such as Congreso and Fulano, Jorge Campos has developed a unique sound: a blending of traditional Andean folk tunes, jazz fusion and progressive rock. In his solo career, Jorge has recorded two CDs: "Machi" and "La Ausencia de lo Sagrado". In 2001 he produced the CD "Araukania", consisting of jazz arrangements of the music of South American songwriters Violeta Parra and Victor Jara. The Kuintet is his last musical experiment.
Amarok: Amarok hails from the Northern Spanish region of Catalonia, although the band was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1990. The band has become one of the best progressive rock acts in the world having participated in important festivals such as Prog Day (North Carolina, USA); Gouveia Art Rock Festival (Portugal); Baja Prog (Mexico) as well as a large number of festivals all over Spain. The sound of Amarok has evolved through the years getting closer to the new music, Mediterranean fusion and symphonic progressive rock. In 2001, their CD "Tierra de Especias" was elected as "The Best Spanish New Music Recording" by the Spanish musical magazine Todas las Novedades.
Gigur: A new Mexican band into free jazz, collective improvisation and contemporary progressive rock, Gigur has independently released a CD called "Fin del Tiempo (en tus manos)", which has received very good reviews amongst progressive rock collectors and reviewers who had found reminiscences of King Crimson, Radiohead and Ozric Tentacles mixed with Pat Metheny and Joe Satriani. In other words, a must for any progressive rock fan.
Cabezas De Cera: There's no doubt about it, they're the most innovative Mexican band in the last few years. Cabezas de Cera gigs continuously all over Mexico and has successfully participated in prog rock festivals in France, Spain, USA, Argentina, Chile and Costa Rica. Cabezas de Cera's musical proposal takes the less conservative elements of jazz, collective improvisation, rock music and an uncommon ability to build their own instruments, which translates into a very unusual sound. With great CDs and a live DVD, this bands joins names like French TV (USA), Akineton Retard (Chile), Las Orejas y la Lengua (Argentina) and Lazuli (France) as one of the most daring progressive rock bands in the world.
Saena: Not only the 70's symphonic progressive rock has influenced Saena. Featuring Jose Luis Fernandez Ledesma & Margarita Botello, Saena performs a musical language in which unconventional rhythmic bars, contemporary music arrangements and jazz hints converge. With former members of progressive heavy weights Nirgal Vallis and sonic escapers Decibel and Nazca, the band comes alive in 2005 with the idea of creating a well crafted symphonic rock with lyrics, in Spanish, full of romanticism and metaphors in the vein of Yes, Genesis or Van der Graaf Generator.
The 2 CD album, "Guitars Dancing in the Night" - A Tribute to Santana, has been mastered. Here is its final line-up / track listing:
Disc 1:
Carl Hupp Project (USA) - Touissant L'Overture 5.55
Nemo (France) - Incident at Neshabur 4.33
Spirits Burning (USA) - Soul Sacrifice 6.33
Goad (Italy) - Black Magic Woman 9.02
Maury E I Pronomi (Italy) - Flor de Luna 4.48
Canvas (USA) - Brightest Star 4.53
Viima (Finland) - Taboo 5.21
Projecto Heleda - El Farol 4.37
Jeff Bragg Band (USA) - Hope You're Feeling Better 4.09
Sonic Pulsar (Portugal) - Mirage 5.22
Individual Choice - Life is Just a Passing Parade 4.11
Violeta De Outono (Brazil) Let the Children Play 4.53
Giogentile (Italy) - Europa 5.03
Madmen & Dreams (USA) The Nile 4.14
Fonderia (Italy) - Jim-Jeannie 5.58
Disc 2:
Central Unit (Italy) - Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation 7.13
The Rob Sbar Noesis (USA) - Open Invitation 6.35
Ten Midnight (Italy) - Just In Time to See the Sun 3.55
Elicotrema (Italy) - You Just Don't Care 4.22
William Red Rossi (Switzerland) - Samba pa Ti 4.59
SADO (Italy) - Jingo-Tales of Kilimangiaro 5.20
Conqueror (Italy) - Love Devotion Surrender 5.42
Giobia (Italy) - No One to Depend On 4.06
Kephas (USA) - Smooth-Guajira 6.27
Fabrizio Fedele (Italy) - Bella 4.07
Pleasure (Italy) - Persuasion 7.05
Lucio Lazzaruolo (Italy) - Oyo Como Va 3.17
Mist Season (Finland) - Aqua Marina 4.58
Berna Park Hotel (Italy) - 5.58
Quiet Celebration (USA) - El Morocco 4.47
