God you know he wears a blue t-shirt, with ‘god’ inscribed in heaven on both sides.
#PNVII
#WOJ
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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.
Prog Night VI Aftermath
The dust has settled and Snetterton has found his missing jigsaw piece, all that is left now is to quickly run through what occurred. Please note the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
PNVI adhered to the now time honoured methodology of four albums each into the Fez Of Choosing, one (or more) of which was to be an album by Mike Oldfield (Uncle Mike). The Fez worked it’s magic and the following came out…
- Big Big Train – The Underfall Yard (UT)
- Uncle Mike – Songs Of Distant Earth (FS)
- Jon Anderson – Olias Of Sunhillow (PC)
- Uncle Mike – Incantations (PC featuring Dr Matt Pope)
- Rick Wakeman – Journey To The Centre Of The Earth (PC)
- Bruce Soord – Bruce Soord (UT)
- Yes – Keys To Ascension 2 [Disc 2] (FS)
- Leftfield – Leftism (FS)
- Uncle Mike – Amarok (UT)
That left everyone feeling hahahahahahappy so the next morning after some completely unnecessary wake up music (Uncle Mike’s Innocent) there was a breaking of fast followed by the Sad Cosmic Pixie Chasers’ Outdoor-a-thon.
Having returned from the sunny but blowy exterior the Prog continued with some added visual elements …..
- ABWH – An Evening Of Yes Music Plus (Exit FS)
- Marillion – Unconventional
- Yes – 9012 Live
- Marillion – Brave 2013
At which point the weekend was brought to close by Uncle Mike’s Discovery.
The next day Pete Cheers broke the rail network.
Prog Night Six (PNVI)
It approaches like a winged piano.
#PNVI
Post PNV Post
As the Fez Of Choosing is returned from whence it cameth, here for those of a bent mind is the list of what came out, what didn’t come out and what never went in……
OUT OF THE FEZ (in order of appearance)
Vangelis – Spiral
Marillion – Misplaced Childhood
The Neal Morse Band – The Grand Experiment
Gong – You
Marillion – Season’s End
Rush – Grace Under Pressure
Gazpacho – Tick Tock
Jethro Tull – Thick As A Brick
Tangerine Dream – Underwater Sunlight
Steven Wilson – Hand. Cannot. Erase.
LEFT IN THE FEZ
Yes – 90125 (Although it got played Sunday morning – Cheeky!)
Tangerine Dream – Le Parc
Tangerine Dream – Underwater Sunlight (yep – two calls for Underwater Sunlight – RIP Edgar)
Rush – Permanent Waves
North Atlantic Oscillation – The Third Day
Shearwater – The Golden Archipelago
Interesting notes of a fashion, no Mike Oldfield anywhere near the Fez Of Choosing, in fact after some discussion, it would seem that Mike has never featured anywhere on a Prog Night. PNVI perhaps?
Good to see lots of TD requests in memory of Edgar Froese and a prime slab of Gong for David Allen.
(editors note – I dinnae put any Marillion in – how restrained was I?)
PNV
Soon
So very soon
#PNV
Ear fillers
It’s been a great start to the year with new releases from Steven Wilson and The Neal Morse Band already. Both of which have been getting loads of air time here at Thangcentral.
Other noticeable listens include –
Rishloo – Living As Ghosts With Buildings As Teeth
Public Service Broadcasting – The Race For Space / Inform Educate Entertain
Tangerine Dream – Hyperborea
Edgar Froese – Aqua / Pinnacles / Stuntman / Epsilon In Malaysian Pale
(Which reminds me – Edgar Froese and TD have some of the best titles for tracks – Mysterious Semblance At The Strand Of Nightmares is a prime example).
Haken – Restoration
Shineback – Rise Up Forgotten, Return Destroyed
Lonely Robot – Lonely Robot
King Crimson – Vroom Vroom
I’ve also been injecting some excitement into my morning regime by listening to Stewart Copeland ‘Equalizer’ soundtrack in the shower. It puts a spin on the day and no mistake.
As far as what’s coming out later on in the year, I’m getting moist at the thought of new stuff from Living Colour, Faith No More and an EP from Big Big Train.
Laters
New Night
A night of listening to music that had either come out in the last twelve months or ‘been discovered’ in the same period (OED).
The hard part was getting the list down to just four albums to go into the fez of fun (later to be selected at random).
So many top slabs of soundage appeared in the last year! Anyhow the list of those that made it into the fez and the made it back out again is as follows (in the order that they were played, just for the detail freaks out there – or as I like to refer to them – me)……..
The Black Keys – Turn Blue
King Crimson – The Elements (disc 1)
Anathema – Distant Satellites
Big Big Train – English Electric pt1
Tangerine Dream – Pergamon
First Aid Kit – Stay Gold
Kirsty Hawkshaw – Meta-Message
Gazpacho – Demon
A pretty well rounded collection of tunes, vearing into a wee bit of, dare I say, Country (!) I dare.
Anyhoo the next day bought yomping in rather warm sunshine followed by a ‘good lord just how good are Rush’ viewing of the Clockwork Angels tour dvd which led us nicely into the Vangelis doc ‘Journey To Ithaca’. How do you follow that? Well you slap on the final ‘absolutely no more I’m seriously not tweaking this again ever’ cut of Bladerunner.
Then and only then do you retire to bed, replete and looking forward to what the people on the street are already calling ‘Prog Night Five (PNV)’.
Post Field Listening
Snetterton and I recently spent a week in a field along with some rather impressive stages and the such like.
Having recovered and rinsed whatever that was out of the sleeping bag, the below have been bouncing off the walls here at Thangcentral –
The Black Keys – Turn Blue
Jack White – Lazaretto
Bruce Soord and Jonas Renske – Wisdom Of Crowds
The Pineapple Thief – All The Wars, Someone Here Is Missing, Tightly Unwound
Patrick Moraz – The Story Of I
Sanguine Hum – Live In USA
Coming soon to a letterbox nearby and causing no end of excitement and in the case of the latter, a wee touch of apprehension, new albums by Robert Plant and Yes.
Until then – get outside, if only to get the washing in before it rains.
Unclethang 
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