It isn’t going to change the world

Now far be it from me to stand in the way of tradition (I am in fact, at the moment, sporting a delicious set of mock Tudor eaves supported on a combination of Roman Pillars and Greek Columns – after all if you are looking for quality support that’s pleasing to the eyes, it’s hard to do better than the classics), so here is the UT round-up of what’s been plugged in to the listening holes at Thangcentral over the last 12 (ish) months. It must be said that this is in no order (although I have tried to make the words sit next to each other in a way that makes sense to someone other than my cat).

• Big Big Train – English Electric (Full Power). Parts one and two of this frankly astounding piece put together in a hardback book with a new running order and extra tracks. I cannot express in words (which makes this utterly redundant) how much this album has got under my skin this year. Just when I think I’m over it and don’t listen to it for a while, it manages to slip like a curling kettle into the cd player and before you can say ‘songs about dodgy painters’ I’m sat there, amazed once more. I think it’s fair to say this will be treated as a classic in years to come.
• Haken – The Mountain. I have to repeatedly put my hat on in order to take it off again in the direction of the Haken fellas, an album that actually had me laughing the first time I heard it. Laughing in a good way that is.
• Riverside – Shine Of New Generation Slaves. Prog from Poland (insert gag about Polish rockers and how this is in fact referring to rockers from Poland and not an instruction to polish rockers, as that will not end well for Granny, or indeed the home help she lands on) (decide gag is poor and remove before final draft).
• Lifesigns – Lifesigns. Featuring  Nick Beggs – the go to bass man for British prog who also appears on –
• Steven Wilson – The Raven That Refused To Sing (and other stories). The animations for Raven… and Drive Home both reduced me to tears the first time I watched them. Which I figure means that either they are immensely powerful on a deeply emotional level OR I need to pull myself together.
• Yes – Close To The Edge. Steven Wilson waves magic wand over what is probably the ultimate Prog album.
• King Crimson – Red. Steven Wilson waves magic wand over the album that is the ultimate Prog album for people who don’t think that CTTE is the ultimate Prog album.
• Von Hertzen Brothers – Nine Lives. Another album that keeps finding itself in the cd player, looking at me with a knowing eye.
• Queens Of The Stone Age – Like Clockwork. Rather than an fan fiction take on the last Rush album, a cracking collection of tunes that you find yourself humming in the paint aisle at B&Q, but we’ll gloss over that fact.
• The Fierce And The Dead – Spooky Action. For some reason I find myself playing this in the bathroom. No idea why.

No doubt I have forgotten many and may well come back to this and add them when I do remember. Unless it’s dark of course.

What has fueled many an acquisition this year has been Prog magazine http://www.progrockmag.com and the accompanying radio show on teamrockradio.com . Every Sunday night (work permitting) I now settle down ready to note down new and old bands I’ve never heard of but now have a deep-seated NEED to research etc. Oh that reminds me,  The Custodian – Necessary Wasted Time. See! I knew I had forgotten some. Oh this could go on for pages, so in the interests of brevity and the desire to imbibe a cup of Lady Grey, I shall call this Donald and end it here.