 I'm typing as fast as I can ... ow ... ow ... ow ... Maybe I should try using my fingers. |
 3/27/08 |
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MAMFest Madrid Art Music Festival |
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The first edition of Madrid Art Music Festival will take place on Saturday April 26, 2008 at the
theatre of Centro Cultural Nicolás Salmerón, in Madrid, Spain. The main organizer
is Carlos Plaza of Kotebel, who will also be one of the
acts playing there. They will be joined by fellow Spaniards Senogul,
plus Baraka from Japan and
Trettioåriga Kriget from Sweden. All but Kotebel have
recently released a new CD (all reviewed in the GEPR this release) and will doubtless be
playing music from them.
For further info and ticket information, and to hear musical samples from all these bands, please check out the official MAMFest MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/mamfest. -- Fred Trafton |
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Strangelet New album from Hands is released |
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Strangelet, the first new album from Dallas-area-based Hands
since their acclaimed Twenty-Five Winters from 2002, has been released. Initial release is
electronic-only, on the usual places ... iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, AmazonMP3,
etc. Soon, there will also be a high-rez release from the Hands website,
which is currently being upgraded but nearly complete and ready to go. Lastly will come the "hard media"
... a special edition CD with extra tracks, video, booklet and autographs, which will be available from
their website, and finally a commercial CD available from the usual online retailers like Amazon,
DGM, etc.
I haven't got to hear the new release yet, but I should be able to soon. When that happens, I'll update the Hands entry with my thoughts. In the meantime, check out their MySpace page for download links, lyrics, liner notes and all other news concerning the release. -- Fred Trafton |
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GEPR Top 15 Albums of 2007 |
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OK, so it's already so late that it's probably pointless. But I wanted to do this
anyway ...
I've never done a "Top Albums" pick before, but I thought I'd try it this year. I've looked at several other lists from other sites, and it's amazing to me the diversity of albums ... there's not a whole lot of consensus, though I did see many of my picks on some of the longer lists. For what it's worth, here's my favorite releases from 2007. I couldn't decide which album was #1 and #2, so there's two that share the top spot. Why 15? Too many good albums were left off when I stopped at 10. There's still a couple more I would like to see on the list, but ... well, you have to stop somewhere.
-- Fred Trafton |
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Update on Andrew Latimer |
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 NEARFest 2003 Photo by Fred Trafton |
Andrew Latimer, well-known to prog fans as the guitarist and mastermind of
Camel, has suffered from a blood disorder called
polycythaemia vera since 1992, which has since progressed to myelofibrosis.
This is not the sort of "progressive" thing we would wish for Andrew. The fatigue
suffered from this condition was why Latimer ceased touring after the 2003 "Farewell
Tour".
As of December of 2007, he has received a bone marrow transplant which is hoped to improve his condition, and is doing well in the hospital. According to Latimer's wife and publicist Susan Hoover, it will be many weeks before it is known if the transplant was completely successful. As of the last Camel web site posting, Andrew is doing well, but may have a rocky road to recovery ahead. We at The Gibraltar Encyclopedia wish him a speedy and successful recovery. Up-to-date information can be found on the Camel web site ... click to the "News" section. -- Fred Trafton |
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Progressive Rock Musical "O Nox Ultima" Web site launched |
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A few years back (2001), a christian prog-metal band named Divine
in Sight released a wonderful album called The Sorrow and the Promise. I gave it a great
review in the GEPR, calling it "one of the best progressive albums I've heard so far in 2001".
I've been in touch with Divine in Sight's main composer
and lead guitarist Bart Boge since then, and I've known he was working on another magnum opus
since about 2003. I believe I even mentioned it once in a previous Prog News item. Now he's ready
to unveil this project to the public, and has put up a web site to spur interest.
The new project is O Nox Ultima, which will be a musical play and a 2CD recording. The script with stage direction will be included on one of the CD's, so I assume that any church or theater group who wishes to perform it will have everything they need to do so when they get the CD set. The band will be updating their progress on the new web site and I'll be following it as they continue work. If you'd like to support the project, you can even pre-order a copy of the CD, which Bart says he hopes will be ready in summer or fall of 2008. The new web site is at http://www.onoxultima.com. |
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Robin Taylor's new Prog band |
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News from Robin Taylor: "This fall I've formed a new band, Art Cinema, together with a totally unknown singer/songwriter and a very well-known guitar hero from the metal scene. At the moment we are recording our debut album together with some other fine players, and we expect the project to be ready for release in the Spring." |
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Progressive Rock Opera "She" debut October 31, 2007 in Wyspianski Theatre, Katowice, Poland |
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Caamora is the name for a project from Clive Nolan (Pendragon
and many others) and Agnieszka Swita. They have created an epic production of the H. Rider Haggard novel
She. The first performance of this two hour production was held on Halloween Night in the Wyspianski Theatre,
Katowice, Poland. The production was scheduled to feature guest vocals from Alan Reed
(Pallas / Neo), Christina Booth
(Magenta), Karl Groom (Threshold),
John Jowitt (IQ, Jadis,
Neo), Hugh McDowell (ELO) plus an
orchestra and choir.
The She album has been recorded in the summer of 2007, with a partly staged performance which was filmed in Wyspianski Theatre for DVD on 31st October 2007. The album and DVD box set is scheduled for release on 21st January 2008. |
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Demise of a Prog band |
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News about Akacia: After releasing three "critically-acclaimed" progressive rock albums, Akacia has called it quits. Due to medical problems, a divorce and a crisis of faith on the part of one key member (more important in a christian band than a secular one), the band has found they can no longer continue. I was very sorry to hear this, as I was one of the critics who acclaimed their music, and in spite of the fact that I found their religious message to be superfluous, I'll really miss them for the sake of their fantastic music. I can only hope to hear more later from individual members, which may yet happen. I'll let you know if I hear anything. -- Fred Trafton |
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New Album announced from Holding Pattern |
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[via Press Release] Surveillance Records is pleased to announce the reunion of the legendary U.S. progressive rock band, Holding Pattern. The new album Breaking The Silence is currently in preproduction and will be released worldwide November 30,2007. Due to success of guitarist /composer Tony Spada's critically acclaimed 2005 solo album The Human Element and recent Japanese tour, there has been much anticipation regarding this possibility which should excite the old fans as well as all fans of instrumental progressive rock. The album features original members Tony Spada (guitars), Robert Hutchinson (drums), Tony Castellano (bass,keyboards) and Mark Tannenbaum (keyboards)along with Rob Gottfried and album cover artwork by Genesis album artist Paul Whitehead. Please visit www.holdingpatternusa.com for additional information. |
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New Prog book released The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock |
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[via Press Release] Dig out that long lost box of vinyl records, slap on some headphones and travel back to the '70s: prog rock! The bastard child of all rock's offspring was heavy, bombastic and flashy - and all the better for it. Here's your veritable guide to progressive rock, with band histories, musical synopses and critical commentary, all presented in the historical context of a timeline. Album by album, we'll chart each release from the giant dinosaurs of the era and uncover eccentric Eurorock obscurities as we create the ultimate head music playlist. We'll trip through concept records, indulgent solos and epic album-side long compositions in a definitive reappraisal of rock's most cerebral and renowned genre. The candid prologue and epilogue offer one of the most coherent portraits of the progressive rock era, while the discography details offshoots, solo albums, side projects and more. From the British kings of prog rock, to the eclectic Italian progressives, heady German krautrock artists and European jazz fusion groups - it's all inside! Please visit lulu.com for additional information. |
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F2 Music re-releases Solstice back catalog |
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 Silent Dance |
F2 Music has re-released all four albums from the UK progressive rock band
Solstice. These are subtitled "The Definitive Edition" because they've all
been remastered and have bonus tracks added.
Their first album, Silent Dance has become a 2CD set in this edition. The first CD is the original album, and the second includes early demo recordings and a 1983 session recorded at the BBC for The Friday Rock Show, released here for the first time. The second album, New Life is also a 2CD set, with the second CD also featuring some demo recordings plus some live bootleg material recorded in 1983-85 released here for the first time. Circles is the only single-disc re-release in the set, though even this one has bonus tracks ... demos and early versions of several of the songs on this album. But The Cropredy Set is even more interesting. The band originally performed this set and filmed it with the intent of releasing it on video. But sound problems rendered the audio portion of this recording unusable. Undaunted, the band went into the studio the following day and recorded a live version of the same set recorded without an audience. The second disc in the re-release is a DVD of the concert with the studio recording dubbed in as the soundtrack. Even F2 calls it "a little rough", but it's essential viewing for any Solstice fan. The Solstice re-releases are available from the British Progrock Records and soon the American one as well. |
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Associated Sites:
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 Ground and Sky Progressive Rock Album Reviews |
 Progressive World Progressive Rock Album Reviews |
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 Jurriaan Hage's Axiom of Choice Progressive Rock Album Reviews |
 ProgressoR Progressive Rock Album Reviews |
 Gnosis Progressive Rock Album Ratings and Reviews |
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The GEPR is maintained by Fred Trafton Email me at: webmaster@gepr.net Site last updated: 3/27/08 |
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times since Aug. 30, 2004