PNVII
Prog Night Seven (PNVII) The Word Of Jon Special
Public transport, where do I start…..well, both Flat Sky and Pete Cheers came via the train and in both cases had trains cancelled on them, Flat ended up walking from Bristol Temple Meads and Pete ended up in a kidney costing taxi ride from Westbury. Shocking.
Anyhow, once Flat and myself had taken part in a Pre Prog Night listening of all 3 discs of King Crimson’s ‘Radical Action To Unseat The Hold Of Monkey Mind’ and Pete Cheers had navigated his way across country, we were all in situ and ready to start pulling albums from the Fez Of Choosing.
The albums that came out were….
- Big Big Train – Folklore (PC)
- Steve Janson – Tender Extinction (RW)
- Riverside – Shrine Of New Generation Slaves (FS)
- Rush – Roll The Bones (FS)
- Vangelis – The City (PC)
- Jon Anderson – In The City Of Angels (FS)
- Marillion – F.E.A.R. (RW)
- Jon Anderson – Animation (RW)
- Gaudi + Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – Dub Quwwali (PC)
Remaining in the Fez –
- Anderson/Stolt – Invention Of Knowledge (PC)
- Jon+Vangelis – Private Collection (RW)
- Ozric Tentacles – Strangeitude (FS)
Interestingly enough no one put Jon’s ‘Song Of Seven’ in, perhaps because we’ve all heard it quite a lot, or maybe thinking that someone else would have put it in. Also no Yes albums – but as we discussed, it would be kinda cheap to put a Yes album in when there is so much other Jon around.
Post Prog Night Sunday Special (PPNSS)
The Neal Morse Band – The Similitude Of A Dream’. The first listen for this rather large body of albumage. A double disc of a doozy, each one over 50 minutes. suffice to say that we all agreed that on the first listen it got a thumbs up but would really need more plays to get amongst it fully. At this point in the proceedings Flat Sky departed, heading south on the cycle path towards the train station.
Talking of getting amongst it, Cheers and myself took a wander up the Bristol/Bath cycle path ‘nothing major, just a spot of fresh air’. Ahem.. some two hours later we returned having wandered further than we initially intended, the extra mileage prompted by some pondering of where the original tracks would have laid and did they merge here, well looking at the back of the houses and the gaps there, yes I think they may have, look at the bridge footings there, oh look a platform…..
Anyway, having finally returned slightly chilled we enjoyed …
Big Big Train – ‘Stone And Steel’ Blu-ray
The Making Of Peter Cheers ‘He’s In Your Ears’ Limited Edition Digital Download
Yes – The Making Of ‘Fly From Here’ DVD
Yes – ‘Songs From Tsonga 35th Anniversary Concert’ DVD
At which point it was time to call it a day.
I sit typing this while the vinyl of Jon’s Animation spins on the Thangcentral deck. A masterpiece of an album and a reminder that we all need Jon in our lives.
I would go so far as to say if more people had Jon in their lives the world would be a much better place…….
Before I sign off, a massively huge enthankingment to Flat Sky and Pete Cheers for braving the trails and tribulations to get here, as ever there was lashings of awesome sauce!
May the Word Of Jon be with you.
Soon….
God you know he wears a blue t-shirt, with ‘god’ inscribed in heaven on both sides.
#PNVII
#WOJ
PNVII
The ‘Word Of Jon’ special.
Any four albums that feature the divine presence of Jon Anderson go into the Fez Of Choosing.
Then there is a Choosing.
A Rejoicing.
A Oneness.
Can there be a more fitting time for a collective appreciation of and basking in, the works and wonders of Jon?
I think not.
#WOJ
#PNVII
Long Time No Banana
Playlist and Ponderings
I’ve been meaning to do this for a while and just haven’t got round to it. Now that the nights have turned up early and the darkness is bigging itself right up, I figure now is as good a time as any to start this nonsense.
And nonsense it will be….
So, pull up a screen and ponder why the dickens am I listening to that….
In no particular order…..
ANOHNI – Hopelessness. Equally beautiful and brutal at the same time. One of those rare albums where I find myself playing it straight again afterwards.
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away / Skeleton Tree. Had the opportunity to see the film ‘One More Time With Feeling’ and it prompted another flurry of listening to Mr. Cave and friends latest offerings. Brilliant songs and stunning noises from Warren Ellis and the posse.
Anderson/Stolt – The Knowledge Of Invention. It’s Jon! Yay! And the man is on form here. This album really does show just how poor the last Yes album really is, but don’t get me started on that. Suffice to say this is as good as you want it to be and better.
Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool. This lot can’t really put a foot wrong can they?!
Iamthemorning – Lighthouse. Thanks to Flat Sky for the heads up on this one. Winner of the Prog Mag’s Album of the year award a few months back and featuring a guest spot from Marius of Riverside. Proper Prog this is. Looking forward to what they do next.
Marillion – F.E.A.R. I’m not going to say anything other than this is as good an album as I wanted and hoped it would be. I’ll be the first to admit I’m a card carrying Marillion fan so here is not the place to be looking for any bad reviews of their work. Seriously though – it’s bloody good. Nuff said.
Steve Jansen – Tender Extinction/Slope. This is one of those lovely examples of sticking your neck out and having a punt only to discover that it’s marvelous! I had seen Steve Jansen’s Slope on the Burning Shed website and even received a postcard of the album cover popped in with a disc I bought from them (one of the delights of using Burning Shed – they always pop a postcard of some sort in with your delivery – ace!), then Tender Extinction was reviewed in Prog Mag and I decided to see what this Steve Jansen bloke was about. Turns out aside from being the drummer in Japan, he is a crafter of delicious musical morsels. Perfect for chilling out, or walking, or reading, or just being.
I think that is enough to be going on with – but let us not forget that we are fast approaching the event of the season – PNVII! Prog Night Seven – The Word Of Jon special. Quite how I am supposed to decide which Jon featuring albums I’m going to put in the Fez Of Choosing I don’t know. There may have to be a bit of ‘well I think THAT will be chosen by someone else so I’ll choose THAT’, but then that can go horribly wrong can’t it…..
We shall see.
Until then……Prog On.
Unclethang 
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