I know there are others on this board that dig progressive rock. Well here's a thread to discuss bands that fit into this genre. So here's the initial post. Check these guys out!



Half Zaftig



Posted on the DADAtheBand Message Board:

Half Zaftig - the best album of the year is now available by DougOrama

Doug is a Sports and Concert photographer.

OK, you've probably never heard of them, unless you got in to Yogi from a few of my past rants. His current band is called Half Zaftig, and they have just released "Life Like Luster."

Half Zaftig is progressive rock with a hard edge, heavily influenced by Mike Keneally, King's X, Kevin Gilbert and stuff like that. If you like any of those bands I'm sure you'll love this stuff. It's an awesome production. Even the art work is fantastic. I love that guy's work! Some of you who don't even like the music will want one of the "dogs & cats" t-shirts they have for sale.

Please take a listen for yourself (Fair Use is my personal favorite) and support independent music! Screw the crappy evil record industry. These guys deserve to be HUGE!


You can hear them here:

Half Zaftig Myspace Page


"Sounds like" blurb from their myspace site:

Half Zaftig sounds exactly like Led Zeppelin spilling a beer on Living Colour at a party that King's X threw for Trent Reznor and The Beatles at Frank Zappa's house. Yeah, just like that!

Best prog discovery of the year for me is Apple Pie, a prog band from, of all places, Russia.

http://www.myspace.com/applepieprogband

http://applepie-mus.narod.ru/News_eng.html

They sound a LOT like Spock's Beard/Neal Morse, but without the preachy jesus stuff. I'm not usually into bands that sound this much like another band, but since Neal Morse is no longer a functioning entity in the realm of music I can actually stomach, these guys are doing a pretty good job of filling the void.

wow... Half Zaftig definitely has that heavy King's X/Mustard Seeds/Beatles sound... I'm bummed they're not on Lala... I guess they'll make my "eventual get it" list... I'm digging their stuff on MyS.

wow, Steve... you really like cheesy keyboards ("Solution" was the 1st song to pop up)... sorry to say that Apple Pie doesn't have my number like Half Zaftig does. now onto the other songs... OK, they're better than the initial onslaught of the cheesy intro in the song "Solution." Re: cheesy jebus-y stuff, they do have xian satirist-musician Rick Altizer in their Top friends.

In a deathmatch, HZ beats out AP in the first round, though.

~fff

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of some of their keyboard sounds but compositionally it's the best prog-rock record of the year so far. Really good writing can overcome some bad keyboards.

I don't know if this qualifies as prog... but I've been digging In a Nutshell. They're sorta post-rock (a la Mogwai, Godspeed! & Explosions in the Sky) and sorta emocore vocals (a la Sunny Day Real Estate). Their song "Shamaniac" is my fav thus far...

http://myspace.com/inanutshellband

~fff

As soon as you say "post-rock" and "emocore," it no longer qualifies as prog. :-P

There's got to be a wanky indie-rock thread around here somewhere though.

oh, right... "progressive music" tends to not progress into any new territories... I forgot...

Haha...I know, I've thought about that contradiction many times myself. *shrug*

Just...the phrase "post-rock" gives me hives. I wanted to take it seriously, but then I heard GYBE and all was kind of lost.

ah, there's way more out there than G!YBE... Explosions in the Sky are kinda melodic at points. Mogwai, too. Euphone is more jammy, flow-oriented post-rock. G!YBE can be kinda droney. Do Make Say Think is another one. And, Holy Fuck might be my favorite post-rock band at this time. Some of Steven Wilson's other stuff might classify as "post-rock," like Bass Communion or maybe I.E.M. & the UEM CD. His more straight-forward stuff is way better, though... duh. Post-rock is definitely not for those who like "songs," per se. It's all more meandering.

Eh, I guess I'll stick to posting about "prog" in here...

~fff

I've always been on the edge of Prog Rock. I love Art Rock. Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon is still my favorite album. But to be honest, I'm not really that hip to more than a few songs by the rest of the Big 6...

Big 6 Prog bands: Genesis, Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, King Crimson, Jethro Tull & Pink Floyd.

I learned about this group on the Progressive Music Society (PMS) Yahoo list.



Abducting the Unicorn 5/25/1999
137 3/11/2002
Variations of a Dream 5/19/2003
10 Stories Down & 4 Stories Down 6/27/2005
Little Man 11/21/2006

The Pineapple Thief (TPT)

I consider Variations of a Dream one of the top 5 CDs of the 2000's. It's the album Coldplay always wanted to make. The English scene is producing Coldplay sounding bands at an alarming rate. Last I heard it was up to 5 per minute... Anywho... TPT has the sound but they actually do something with it. There's more instrumentation, lead guitar, interesting lyrics (I mean come on, how bad can Chris Martin's life be?) and changes in textures. It may not be pure prog, but it leans that way.

I was told that Abuducting the Unicorn wasn't very good for a debut, so I ended up buying it last. Truth is, I like it more than 10 Stories Down, but I really dig 137. There's a song on that CD called Kid Chameleon that bounces around in my brain after I've heard it for hours.

Little Man is their newest CD. It just hasn't been burning up my CD players and I'm not really sure why? They have a new one due out in October/November. However, you need to know that this is still a small label band selling their stuff on the Cyclops. Therefore, you either have to order it off their website, which has treated me right on a couple occasions or find a dealer like Zeit Meister.

Here's their Myspace Page

Clodplay does music so generic that of course people think that some new band sounds like them, even though their influences are probably quite not Clodplay. I hear more Radiohead in Pineapple Thief (specifically the Thom Yorke-ish vocals for "God Bless the Child"). Good stuff, though... thanks for the links, regardless of how many times you write about Clodplay comparisons.

~fff

Okay, here's a posting from the Yahoo Group Progressive Music Society that I reposted without permission for your benefit... The MySpace Page was enough for me to buy both CDs.


Nosound - New Album and Free Dowload/Circa at the Coach House...



--- In progressivemusicsociety@yahoogroups.com, "Burning Shed (announcements)"

Three years on from debut album Sol29, Nosound returns with its highly anticipated second album, 'Lightdark' (its first release on the Burning Shed label).

Regarded by critics and fans alike as one of the most interesting up and coming alt/art rock bands in Europe, `Lightdark' sees the Nosound identity evolve into something even more focused and powerful.

'Lightdark' inventively combines influences from '70s psychedelia, '80s/'90s ambient and contemporary alt/progressive rock.

Recorded in Italy, England and the US throughout 2006 and 2007, the album develops further the promise of debut album 'Sol29' and exhibits a stronger group identity which reveals a greater contrast between atmospheric detail and the walls of sound created by the band on stage.

Highlights include the 15 minute epic 'From Silence to Noise', the ethereal 'The Misplay' (with cellist Marianne DeChastelaine), and the epic piano/mellotron driven ballad 'Someone Starts To Fade Away' (which features No-Man's Tim Bowness on vocals).

The album is in a jewel case, and features a stylish 16 page booklet with photos and lyrics.

Preorder Now (for £10.00 GBP) from BurningShed. Shipping 4th February

The `Lightdark' album track `Places Remained' is available as a free download from the Burning Shed download store.

Regards,

info@www.burningshed.com


Ok, I plagerized this one from my buddy mike in Adrian Belew's group....I thought he did a fine job....

Also, will anyone here be at The Coach House for Circa? I will!
Dwight

<<Hey All,

I just have to tell you about a wonderful band! If you know who Porcupine Tree is and Steven Wilson....then you hopefully know about his other project no-man.

Well there is a wonderful musician in Rome Italy named Giancarlo Erra who has an awesome band called NoSound. They are very much like no-man or the more melodic sounds of Porcupine Tree. And yet NOT AT ALL a clone band.



Giancarlo's first release was Sol29 a very beautiful piece of music! And his newest album due to ship on Feb 4th is called Lightdark. This new album has Tim Bowness on vocals who is part of the band no-man with Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree. His voice is stunning on the no-man projects and even more so on the new lightdark by NoSound.

There are lots of freebies here on this website if you just join the group. I would say that Giancarlo is more than generous with his fans! Hope you will all check it out.

Nosound

There are also some samples here on the MySpace Page.

Nosound My Space

Hope you all enjoy!

Peace,

Mike/Dwight>>

New PT CD available for pre-order!



PORCUPINE TREE
"We Lost The Skyline "
Available: 02.26.08

On the 4th October 2007 Porcupine Tree arrived for an in-store performance and signing session at Park Avenue CDs in Orlando, Florida, with 200 fans also in attendance. Although it was originally planned that the full band would play, lack of space dictated that it was only the 2 guitarists / singers Steven Wilson and John Wesley who delivered an impromptu performance, including many songs rarely (if ever) played by the band, making for a very special and intimate show. Fortunately this one-off performance was captured by Full Sail (with their remote recording facility) and the complete 8 song, 33 minute show is now being released in a digipak sleeve... ORDER FROM US AND GET A FREE POSTER COMMEMORATING THEIR INSTORE EVENT!

Tracklisting:
1. the sky moves sideways - (4.02)
2. even less - (3.27)
3. stars die - (4.33)
4. waiting - (3.52)
5. normal - (4.52)
6. drown with me - (4.09)
7. lazarus - (4.29)
8. trains - (4.04)


U.S. fans can also order from Park Ave CDs and get a free poster with it. (Burning Shed suggests this to save on shipping from the UK)

On Jan 30, 2008 4:40 AM, announcements Burning Shed <announcements@burningshed.com> wrote:

Porcupine Tree's in-store acoustic live performance, 'We Lost The Skyline', is now available for pre-order from the shop section of www.porcupinetree.com and the Porcupine Tree section of www.burningshed.com

The mini-album comprises a 33 minute, 8 song, in-store performance from Orlando, Florida, recorded on 4th October 2007.

From http://www.jambase.com/Articles/Story.aspx?storyID=13505

BRITISH PROGRESSIVE ROCK DYNAMOS
PLOT BUSY SCHEDULE IN NEW YEAR

Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Treewill spend a busy 2008 releasing or recording no less than 8 albums by the band and its members' solo projects.

The first major event for Porcupine Tree is the re-release on April 29 of their seminal 2000 album, Lightbulb Sun (Snapper Music/ Peaceville), in a new 5.1 digital surround mix by Porcupine Tree bandleader Steven Wilson. Wilson received praise for his surround mix of 2007's Fear Of A Blank Planet. It nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Surround Sound Album" category, Sound & Vision named it the best surround sound album of 2007 and Classic Rock Magazine crowned it their album of the year.

Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison, named "best prog drummer" for the second consecutive year in the 2008 Modern Drummer reader's poll, will join King Crimson for 10 U.S tour dates in New York, Chicago, Nashville and Philadelphia this August, with additional dates to be added in 2009.

Other 2008 projects for Porcupine Tree include:

-A double live album to be released in multiple formats in September

-Filming a new concert DVD in October for 2009 release

-The first ever Porcupine Tree tour dates in Australia and Russia this summer

-Steven Wilson's debut solo album in late 2008

-The May release of Schoolyard Ghosts by Steven Wilson's band No-Man with singer Tim Bowness, and a No-Man European mini-tour

-The release of British rockers Anathema's new album, produced by Steven Wilson

-The release of Porcupine Tree keyboardist Richard Barbieri's new solo album

-The release of Porcupine Tree bassist Colin Edwin's new album with Geoff Leigh as the band Ex-Wise Heads

http://www.porcupinetree.com/

[Published on: 4/7/08]

That's a little overkill, but I am intrigued as to what SW's solo album might sound like.

Honestly, with where I am personally, I'm hoping it's a more song-oriented effort along the lines of Blackfield, since he can get his prog on with PT and do the more ambient thing with No-Man.

We have a winner!


Building An Empire by Demians



Here's Amazon's blurb: Hailing from France, Building An Empire is the impressive debut from Demians, one of the freshest new faces in the Progressive Rock world. The nine songs within take the listener on a journey through a world of deep emotions and great spirituality. What started as Nicolas Chapel's individual project has evolved into a real band, and Chapel left himself plenty of time to recruit the right musicians for his musical ambitions. He has teamed up with drummer Michaël Roponus, bassist Antoine Pohu and keyboardist Anthony Broggia, who passed their baptism of fire live on stage last year and are eager to play as many shows as possible in 2008. In fact, so impressive a debut Building An Empire is, Steven Wilson of the legendary Porcupine Tree has even commented, saying: "One of the most assured and accomplished debut albums I've ever heard, the textures and dynamics within the music are breathtaking. A must for anyone that appreciates the art of epic and ambitious 21st century rock music" The initial pressing of Building An Empire is packaged in digipak format and includes the bonus track, Earth .

MySpace


I copied this post by smails from the DADA Message Board.


Demians debut album, Building an Empire, comes out on May 20th. Really good stuff, from the two tracks I've listened to.

Here's some info on Demians and the debut album:

Let’s introduce the debut by this brand new band with a surprising quote. Mind you, it’s not any old quote, but rather an accolade courtesy of Steven Wilson, ingenious mastermind of prog rock superstars, Porcupine Tree. “One of the most assured and accomplished debut albums I’ve ever heard, the textures and dynamics within the music are breathtaking. A must for everyone that appreciates the art of epic and ambitious 21st century rock music” is Wilson’s comment on 'Building An Empire', the debut release by French act Demians.

The compositions, music, lyrics and arrangements on the album that has impressed Wilson so deeply were conceived by Nicolas Chapel, an alert artist with his own visions who brings to bear his artistic inexperience as a strong trump card. “I really started working on this album with an extremely naive approach”, he admits. “Musical styles or genres don’t mean anything at all to me, so I really concentrate on what my feelings are when I work on music. No boundaries, no expectations, and absolutely no limits”. He used the instruments like tools, or rather like a painter uses his paints. “It’s not about writing long songs for the sake of it, or writing short songs for radio airplay. It’s all about emphasis, sometimes taking the time to let ideas develop in their own space, at other times getting straight to the point”.


Review from Tero Honkasalo:

This new solo album by the French multi-instrumentalist Nicholas Chapel has been highly praised by Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree. And he isn't wrong. Building An Empire is without a doubt one of the best progressive records ever released. To be honest, only reviewers like me are able to water down the excitement of discovery that this record causes in the listener. That is done by comparing this record to other important artists. I'm sorry, but I'm not skilled enough for any other kind of analysis.

Nicholas's voice has the same kind of sensitivity as Maynard James Keenan (of Tool and A Perfect Circle fame). Some of the sung sections are rhythmically very close to the style of singing employed in A Perfect Circle, and you can spot some similarities to Porcupine Tree and Riverside in the instrumentation.

The general sound of Building An Empire is soft and mellow. It's like exceptionally good fudge. The taste remains in your mouth for a long time and it doesn't stick to your teeth. The songs have been crafted with care and consideration. Every detail is important. The compositions develop little by little like Agatha Christie novels. The opener The Perfect Symmetry, clocking in at almost ten minutes, contains not a single dull moment. The next song Shine is only 3:17 minutes long, but nevertheless just as enjoyable as any other song on this rather colorful, beautiful, powerful, ambitious, listener friendly and strongly addictive record. I wonder if I've been ignoring my sweet tooth for too long, because this record tastes exceptionally good!

For your information, Nicholas has formed a live band around him. Nothing has been scheduled yet except the release party gig, but hopefully that'll change and we'll see Demians in Finland as well.
5/5

I'll check them out. There's been a real lack of interesting new prog in the last couple years, I feel like.

Reflections - An Act Of Glass

- the music of Andrew Gorczyca

New Prog Supergroup…



Here’s the blurb on their MySpace page:

What should be described as a true labor of love for drummer Chris G was finally completed in the spring of 2008, set for an official release date in July of the same year. The recorded work, a tribute CD of the music of his late brother Andrew, is the culmination of nearly four years’ effort devoted to countless sessions of studio recording time.

At its core, the music would fall into the progressive rock category - given some of the elaborate arrangements and instrumentation. A total of eighteen progressive rock players were recorded in twelve different studios located in six different American cities. This host of artists associated with the genre (including Adrian Belew, Nick D’Virgilio, Phil Keaggy, and Mike Keneally) provided the cast of players sought by Chris to re-create Andrew’s music with professional flair and credibility. Thanks to their talents, Andrew’s musical spirit will now endure, accessible to all.

Andrew Dean Gorczyca was born on August 14, 1963. He was raised along with several siblings near Washington, DC, in the comfortable suburbs of Maryland. The family had a somewhat normal middle-class upbringing, typical of the era. Music entered his life at an early age, most likely through the influence of an older sister, distant cousins, and friends in the neighborhood. On one Christmas, his parents gave the three boys their first chance to play music. Andrew chose to learn the guitar, and never lost his fascination with it.

He discovered a sense of versatility by shifting his focus to electric bass, and it was here that Andrew and Chris began playing together as bassist and drummer. Their teenage brotherly rhythm section quickly gained momentum as a solid playing unit in their circle of musician friends. By age twenty, Andrew had devoted himself to creating his own compositions, playing and recording most or all of the parts into his trusty four track machine. Drawing on his love of progressive rock, he crafted songs and lyrics that were challenging, emotional, and honest. He continued to write and record as life moved forward, never concerning himself with trends or music industry distractions. His most prolific period was during the 1980s into the 1990s, though his ideas continued to emerge thereafter.

Andrew passed away during the night in early August 2004, at only forty years of age. As a true artist, his music was his one true passion in life. Soon after his passing, Chris became the caretaker of Andrew’s collection of music. It contained all of his finished songs, demos in various forms of completion, and notebooks with scribbled sections of lyrics. His work was never well documented, so it was quite a challenge to organize everything. Aside from a few exceptions, Andrew never sought out other musicians for collaboration. He never tried to record his songs in a professional studio; preferring the privacy and economy of his home studio. This did affect the sonic quality of his work, but ideas were always the most important thing to Andrew.

As the only other musician in the immediate family, Chris resolved immediately to preserve those ideas. There was a need to do more for the music, rather than just carefully store artifacts. He wanted to celebrate the work by treating it to modern recording techniques and inviting some notable progressive rock players to perform the material. Thus began the epic task of scheduling players and managing studio time in the fall of 2004. After nearly four years of planning, playing, and producing, the finished work finally saw the light of day. According to Chris – "We strove for a balance of staying true to the songs as written while letting the artists bring something of themselves to the music." Within that framework, Reflections – An Act of Glass was completed as a lasting tribute to Andrew and the music that meant everything to him.

Reflections - An Act Of Glass features:

Adrian Belew: guitar, vocals
Bryan Beller: bass
Nick D'Virgilio: vocals
Shawn Farley: bass, guitars
Chris G: drums, keyboards, percussion
Randy George: bass, keyboards
Andrew Gorczyca: vocals
Wil Henderson: vocals
Phil Keaggy: guitars
Mike Keneally: guitars
Ted Leonard: vocals
Dave Meros: bass
Rich Mouser: guitar
Rick Musallam: guitars
Ryo Okumoto: keyboards
Billy Oskay: violins
Greg Strickland: bass
Marc Ziegenhagen: keyboards


http://www.myspace.com/actofglass

It’s very inexpensive! Order here:

http://chris-g.com/reflections/