The CD releases "Gemini" by symphonic rock vocalist Lana Lane and "Hommage Symphonique" by Lane's keyboardist / producer / husband Erik Norlander have entered the New Music Weekly College Chart at #10 and #8 respectively. The airplay charting follows on the heels of two other Norlander project releases - first the Erik Norlander & Friends DVD/CD release "Live in St. Petersburg" and the 2CD release "Revolution Road" by Rocket Scientists, both charting 1-3 months ago. Norlander is also the keyboardist and a core member of Rocket Scientists.
Lana Lane's "Gemini" is an album of classic rock covers from the 60s and 70s featuring the backing musicians Vinny Appice (d), Tony Franklin (b), George Lynch (g), Mark McCrite (g, v) and Erik Norlander (k) along with Kelly Keeling providing additional duet and harmony vocals. Gemini is the astrological symbol for twins, and since this is Lana's second album of all covers, the album carries the theme of "two" throughout. Lana recorded two songs by each classic rock artist for this release: a pair of songs each originally recorded by Cream, Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, Heart, Jefferson Airplane and Foreigner. Of particular note is Lana's "Pink Moon Suite" that combines the song "Johnny Moon" - originally recorded by Heart - with songs from most of "Side One" of Pink Floyd's landmark "Dark Side of the Moon" album.
Erik Norlander's "Hommage Symphonique" is an album of progressive rock covers recorded by Erik along with Gregg Bissonette (d), Don Schiff (b), Mark McCrite (g) with Kelly Keeling handling all of the vocal duties. Erik employed a small ensemble of acoustic instruments featuring Jon Pappenbrook (trumpets flugelhorn), Eric Jorgensen (trombones), Mike Alvarez (cello) and David Schiff (woodwinds). David is the brother of Don Schiff, and in addition to Don's NS/Stick work on the album, he also fills out the acoustic string ensemble with the new Bowed Guitar instrument. Erik's choice of covers reflects his own broad musical taste, performing songs originally recorded by ELP, ELO, Yes, Rick Wakeman, King Crimson, Procol Harum and Jethro Tull and Chuck Mangione. The last artist may sound the most surprising, but Erik's stirring rendition of Mangione's "Children of Sanchez" brings this jazz-fusion classic more into Erik's world of symphonic progressive rock supported by his seasoned and highly versatile band.
Lana Lane - Gemini and Erik Norlander - Hommage Symphonique albums follow the already acclaimed 2CD release, "Revolution Road", from Erik's band Rocket Scientists. The Rocket Scientists musicians appear throughout these two new titles continuing the collaboration and bringing it to new heights. Like Rocket Scientists - "Revolution Road", these two new CDs are distributed in North America and Europe by ProgRock Records which continues another successful collaboration with Erik and Lana's Think Tank Media label. Lana Lane - Gemini and Erik Norlander - Hommage Symphonique were released on November 23, 2006 on the Avalon label in Japan and officially on January 30, 2007 on Think Tank Media / ProgRock Records with advance sales starting in December 2006.
10T Records is excited to announce the signing of Fromuz, a 5 piece instrumental band from Uzbekistan (hence the name: From UZ) and the release of their debut CD/DVD "Audio Diplomacy", on February 20, 2007. The music of Fromuz is a high-energy blend of complex Progressive Rock, Metal and Jazz Fusion, along with healthy doses of Classical and European influences.
Fromuz was officially introduced to the world through the compositions that they debuted in April 2005 at the Youth Theater of Uzbekistan, in Tashkent. This incredibly energetic and expressive live performance is testimony to the intense musical statement that is Fromuz. This seminal live performance, entitled "Playing the Imitation" (of life), was elaborately filmed and has been produced as a DVD, which is to be released in early 2007 along with the audio CD of the performance.
"When we first heard Fromuz, we were floored by their combination of intricate composition, fiery improvisation and their unique mix of classic progressive elements and fusion within a very modern sound", says 10T Records president Steve Carroll. "I believe that Fromuz is the perfect fit for 10T Records as we continue to seek out artists who strive for originality beyond genre borders".
Most recently Fromuz has been invited to perform at the 2007 edition of the Baja Prog Festival in Mexicali, Mexico. "Audio Diplomacy" will be released in plenty of time for everyone to familiarize themselves with this amazing act prior to their Baja Prog performance in March of next year. The artwork for the CD/DVD was created by Ken Westphal, known for his design work on both releases by Proto-Kaw.
"Audio Diplomacy" is available for immediate pre-order through the 10T Records website. All orders received between now and the official release date will ship by the end of the week prior to the official release. Additionally, selected tracks from "Audio Diplomacy" are available to listen to in their entirety through the 10T Records :
Jeremy (Morris), whose first two progressive albums, "Pilgrim's Journey" (1995) and "Celestial City" (1997), were among Kinesis Records' best-selling CDs for quite a long time, has just completed his new recording, "Glow in the Dark". According to Jeremy, this is his mot progressive effort to date.
Day Shift have been busy putting together 8 new songs which they will record on a new album they plan to release Spring next year.
Latest news:
Henry Crud who has been a floating, invisible member of Day Shift since the band was formed, recording music, writing words and creating artwork for our CDs, will now be performing live with the band next year on synthesizer, sax and theremin.
Gigs:
Day Shift plan to start gigging again in the new year with their new line-up including Henry Crud who is planning to wear a bunny suit for his first gig with them. They plan some interesting surprises for live gigs in the new year - mixing up performances and instrumentation from gig to gig.
After less than a year since the completion of their critically acclaimed debut album, "Cycles", the Trans-Atlantic duo of Chris Brown and Ronald Wahle, Ghost Circus, are already in the process of recording their new album.
The new Knight Area album "Under A New Sign" will be released via The Laser's Edge label on March 7, 2007.
Upcoming Concerts:
09-12-2006 - De Rozenburcht, Boskoop, Holland
06-01-2007 - Loose End, Reeuwijk, Holland
28-04-2007 - Hoekpop, Boskoop, Holland
09-06-2007 - Sponsor Festival, Hazerswoude, Holland
December 27: Wilkes Barre / Plains, PA - River St. Jazz (opens at 9:30PM)
December 28: Utica, NY - The Electric Company (special free show)
December 29: Albany, NY - Red Square (with U-Melt; GZ at 10:00PM)
December 30: Burlington, VT - Nectar's (with The Breakfast; GZ at 9:00PM)
Uzbekistan's leading progressive rock band, Fromuz will be playing at the BajaProg festival in Mexicali in March 2007. This will be their first time to play in the West - a great opportunity to hear them! I am also happy to announce that the band has signed with 10T Records, who will release their new album, "Audio Diplomacy" (a CD/DVD 2-disk set), early in the New Year. All this has been officially confirmed.
Bruce Main's newest CD, "Elements", is now available from . The album features a prog rock song cycle featuring his usual pithy comments, this time about the subjects of global warming and climate change. The cast of characters has expanded on "Elements", lead vocals being handled by Mark Phraner (Phreeworld) and Freddy Krumins (James Byrd's Atlantis). Brian Phraner plays the bass guitar as always and Don Freeborn provides the beat. Bruce Jones guests again, this time on piano.
Founding Happy The Man members Stanley Whittaker and Frank Wyatt, with guest musicians Peter Princiotto and Chris Mack, are pleased to announce the December 15, 2006 release of their duo project CD, Pedal Giant Animals. The music covers a wide range of genres from explosive progressive rock sagas, through acoustic instrumentals and avant-garde jazz, to symphonic soundscapes. Please visit the PGA website for more information and to order the CD directly from Crafty Hands Studio.
Yeti Rain is a dark ambient project featuring William Kopecky on fretless bass and Roger Ebner on wind synthesizer, who have produced "Discarnate". The duo's music is otherworldly and visionary, the perfect soundtrack for a disturbing dream of inner and outer spaces. Kopecky's backward loops, ethereal melodies and resonant tone combined with Ebner's haunting and inspired performances make for a heady listening experience that can best be described as an aural hallucinogenic. Kopecky and Ebner met at a music club one evening in the late spring of 2005 when both their bands happened to be sharing the stage. Mutually impressed with each other's talents, they decided to record together at Ebner's Blue Thread Studios. Thus began a series of experiments in spontaneous composing that resulted in a compelling collection of strange and darkly beautiful soundscapes. By the summer of 2006 the CD was near completion and the duo had to find a suitable label. Unicorn Records in Canada had already released two excellent prog rock CD's featuring Kopecky on bass (Kopecky's BLOOD and Colossus ADEA by Parallel Mind), but Yeti Rain's music is something else altogether. It's not progressive rock, but it's definitely progressive. So Kopecky contacted Michel St. Pere at Unicorn and asked him to give Yeti Rain a listen. St. Pere promptly replied, saying the duo doesn't need a label; what they really need is a doctor! With that kind of understanding, it was obvious Unicorn Digital was the best choice for Yeti Rain.
Intricate arrangements, incredible drumming, innovative bass/ guitar/ keyboard interplay, and imaginative vocals all begin to describe Puppet Show - a group of musicians based in the heart of Northern California's 'Silicon Valley'. Formed in 1994, the group plays music that combines fluent melodic work with odd meters and strong vocals. As a bonus, their songs also come complete with multiple sections, instrumental breaks, a solo or two, quiet and loud parts, and occasional snoring. The band garnered critical acclaim for their Bay Area live performances in the 1990s including standout gigs at East Bay Prog Day and headlining the Expose Concert Series premier event. Response to the release of Puppet Show's debut album "Traumatized" in 1998 was so strong that the band also got the opportunity to play at the international festivals Baja Prog and ProgFest in the following years. After a great start, the future of the band began to look uncertain in 2000 when it appeared as if various otherwise-positive life events might deal a fatal blow to Puppet Show. "Real" jobs, family matters, and a few drummer changes slowed down the pace of the band's efforts to complete their follow-up album. Despite the setbacks, and through long periods of little progress, the band persevered and worked through the many obstacles encountered during the writing and recording for the group's long-awaited and aptly-titled second release - "The Tale of Woe". Mike Grimes of Puppet Show said, "We're excited to be teaming up with ProgRock Records to release our second album, "The Tale Of
Woe". We like what the label is doing and feel that Puppet Show's music is a good stylistic fit, so when given the opportunity it was easy for the band to decide to sign with ProgRock". "For me Puppet Show was one of the early bands that showed me American prog was still alive and well, along with their label mates at Kinesis, they were all breaking new ground, so it was both a treat and a surprise to suddenly hear from the band that a new album was done and it was my pleasure to be able to work with them on their comeback and I'm especially pleased that they will be performing at the Rites of Spring Festival in April 2007", Shawn Gordon, President of ProgRock Records said. "The Tale of Woe" is the second album by Puppet Show and the first on ProgRock Records. Inspired by bands like Genesis and UK, they have a sound all their own, but will also appeal to fans of those bands. The CD can be found . The album is available for immediate order and will ship in early January. The CD is discounted $2 during the pre-order period.
The Third Ending has signed with US-based ProgRock Records for the sale, promotion and distribution of their self-titled debut album. Formed in 2002, this quartet, hailing from the unlikely city of Hobart on the island of Tasmania, has spent the past several years blending their diverse backgrounds and tastes to record their self-titled debut album. The Third Ending is an exciting young band with a fresh and organic sound, filled with strong songwriting and memorable melodies. The band had this to say, "It is with great pride, pleasure and excitement that we announce. Many thanks must go to Shawn Gordon, president of ProgRock Records, for his patience and support during what turned out to be a very long negotiation process, and to our many fans, friends, and supporters who helped us along the way. We are looking forward to a bright new future working in conjunction with ProgRock Records". "One of my DJ's sent a copy of this to me thinking I would like it, boy was that an understatement, I absolutely loved it and then starting contacting the band to see if we could work together, they are a great bunch of guys and I'm extremely pleased to have them on our label", Shawn Gordon, President of ProgRock Records said. "The Third Ending" is the ProgRock Records debut release from The Third Ending. This is an album with a lot of melody, musicianship and hooks and should appeal to fans of Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd, Spock's Beard, and Dream Theater. It can be found . The album is available for immediate order and will ship in mid-January and be available at your favorite brick and mortar retailer on March 13, 2007. Presales are discounted $2 on the ProgRock Records site until the album starts shipping.
The 21st edition of Metalmania Festival - the biggest metal fest in Central-Eastern Europe - will take place on 24th March 2007 in Spodek Hall in Katowice, Poland. As usual there will be two stages where about 25 bands will perform for thousands of metal freaks!
BANDS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN PERFORMING ON THE FEST'S SMALL STAGE CAN SEND THEIR APPLICATION TO THE FOLLOWING EMAIL ADDRESS, THE DEADLINE BEING JANUARY 8, 2007.
New releases:
Mind Key (Italy) - ""Habemus Poland" DVD
SBB (Poland) - "Live in 1979" DVD
SBB - "Lost Tapes, Vol.2"
"Lost Tapes Vol.2" (Studio & Live Recordings 1971-1979)" is the third part of the great anthology that encompasses the whole of SBB's musical output. When, over two years ago, the box "Anthology 1974-2004" was released, it was believed that SBB's studio archives no longer hold any secrets. However, as an investigation into that matter ensued, so many long since forgotten recordings came to light that something had to be done about it. Hence, after the 22-CD "Anthology", the 9-CD box "Lost Tapes, Vol.1" was released. In accordance with what was announced at that time, the world is now offered the second part of "Lost Tapes", filled to the overflowing with recordings that are previously unreleased, unknown or forgotten and, above all, perfect in every respect!
Metal Mind Productions are also proud to announce a very special event that will take place on the 12th of February 2007 in Stodola Club, Warsaw, where Vader (Polish Death Metal legend), Solitude Aeturnus and Onslaught will play a sort of mini-festival which will be recorded and filmed for a DVD release.
This band from Stockholm is quite different from their label mates, as their music is rooted in the RIO movement, with the influences of Univers Zero and Magma.
IQ's most ambitious DVD project to date is now available from their Online Shop although it's also due to be released in the shops in time for Christmas. This new double DVD release features two complete concerts from their 2005 "Dark Mattour" tour, the first with ex-Robert Plant drum virtuoso Andy Edwards. The two concerts are however very different in atmosphere: Disc 1 features the band's highly acclaimed headline concert at NEARFest 2005 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, from the rarified atmosphere of the Zoellner Arts Centre Theatre, whilst Disc 2 features the performance from the rough-and-ready outdoor stage at the Burg Herzburg hippy festival in Germany. Both discs are packed with extras including additional footage from the soundcheck at NEARfest and the preceding concert in Montreal, plus "Stage and Screen" tour diary. The total running time is over 260 minutes and features Dolby 5.1 surround-sound or stereo option throughout. And it's NTSC so it will play on all DVD players. Format: NTSC (PAL compatible), Region 0.
Forthcoming release:
Steve Thorne (UK) - "Emotional Creatures Part Two"
Steve Thorne's new album is scheduled for a March 2007 release though he hopes to have some copies to sell at the Marillion Fan Convention. Steve describes the new album as "proggier than the last one"(!), and regular guest stars Tony Levin, Geoff Downes, Nick d'Virgilio and Dave Meros together with Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison have already recorded their parts. Steve will soon be on the road yet again at the following venues:
05/12/06 - King Tut's, Glasgow, UK (with It Bites)
06/12/06 - Carling Academy 2, Birmingham, UK (with It Bites)
07/12/06 - Islington Carling Academy, London, UK (with It Bites)
08/12/06 - Academy 2, Manchester, UK (with It Bites)
15/12/06 - The Brook, Southampton, UK (With Steve Harley)
And if you fancy a weekend break at Center Parcs in Holland, Steve will be one of the special guests at
on February 3.
Other projects:
IQ - new studio album: release planned for September 2007 with a tour to follow.
IQ - "Forever Live" : although virtually complete, the DVD release of Forever Live has now been postponed until the second half of 2007 to avoid it delaying the new IQ album.
Martin Orford - "The Old Road": also delayed until after the projected release of the new IQ album, the new solo project will also appear in late 2007. However Martin is continuing to work on the album at home.
Frost: Recently Jem Godfrey announced that the promising new band Frost, featuring our very own John Jowitt and Andy Edwards will be calling it a day: "Increasing time, financial and commitment levels have decreed that I'm no longer able to give Frost the attention it was starting to require and, as such, I have made the decision to suspend the project indefinitely. It's better, I feel, to not do it at all than do it badly." After such a great debut album, we were all sorry to see the premature demise of Frost. But you can still catch Jem Godfrey and John Mitchell together with John and Andy at the following show:
10.12.06 - Scala, London (with The Flower Kings)
Jadis: After Martin Orford left Jadis earlier this year, John has now also left the band because of busy working schedules and less creative input.
Blind Ego: When Germany prog rock band RPWL were supporting Arena on a recent tour John was asked by their guitar player Kalle Wallner to join his new project, Blind Ego. The band have been working on recording an album recently, which is expected to hit the shops early 2007. Besides John, the recording will also feature John Mitchell, Paul Wrightson and Clive Nolan (on backing vocals!).
Robin Taylor is undoubtedly one of the most prolific artists from the Scandinavian scene of Progressive Rock. Almost unknown in his native Denmark (where Prog went out of fashion in the late 70s), Robin is getting more and more attention from abroad, where his personal and highly unique music has been achieving a lot of praise. "Certain Undiscoveries", released by Russia's Prog label MALS, is the sixth album from his >Taylor's Universe ensemble. The group includes saxophone legend Karsten Vogel (of Secret Oyster and Burnin Red Ivanhoe fame), drummer Rasmus Grosell and mixes a lot of influences (Secret Oyster, King Crimson, minimalist and classical composers) into progressive jazz-rock, which really doesn't sound like anything you've heard before. Robin plays electric, acoustic and bass guitars, a wide range of vintage keyboard instruments and assorted percussion. The CD will soon be available from Musea Records.
