R-Kive

I'm halfway through the BBC's 2014 Genesis Documentary. Can't tell you how much joy I'm filled with.

Joy and Bailey's.

Honestly couldn't tell you.

Inabit x

Blog

Prog Blog

Is Prog Blog Prog? Hmm.

Haven't blogged in f**king ages. I've been busy. Here, have some Genesis.

Crazy Town

Is it Prog? NO

...

What the f**k.

...

I mean... What? Just look at that video thumbnail. Not a lot could be less Prog.

I'm gonna tell you all a short moral story, so grab a cup of cocoa and get comfortable. I'm afraid it doesn't have a lot to do with Prog, but bear with me, I've been at the wine.

Now then, let me take you back to the days when I were but a wee lad. Most weekdays I'd come home from school in the afternoon, dump my bag on the floor and run to the wireless in my bedroom to listen to the Chris Moyles show. At the time some of the music was ok, most of it was naff, but I listened for the banter, and aside from this I was fascinated by the overall production of the show. In those days I wanted to be a disk jockey, or a producer, or a script writer, or a playlist clerk. I was also a huge fan of Mark&Lard, remember them? The risqué duo of windup scamsters from the North, with one foot heavily placed in the glory days of comedy and the other boldly treading the icy waters of 'What's the filthiest material we can get away with broadcasting at 2pm on national radio?' As it was though, during the hours their show aired I was usually sitting through double maths or running away from a rugby ball.

Of course, all of this changed when a friend introduced me to Iron Maiden's 'Rock in Rio'. I was a late bloomer. Don't judge me.

Somewhere amongst the Radio1 playlist though was 'Butterfly', which I remember being a half decent choon back in the day. You know, one of those tracks you'll only confide your enjoyment of to a select few trusted friends. So after being taken aback by seeing Crazy Town appear on the Download lineup for this weekend, I figured I'd give some of their other material a listen.

Right, you know those moments when you unwittingly decide to try something completely and utterly senseless and stupid, and it takes about three seconds before you fall into the deepest regret and embarrassment? This was one of those times. I ended up watching the mutant spawn of S'Club7 and Lil Wayne. In fact, I feel the need to make a public apology. I am deeply ashamed by my actions, and vow to never repeat them. Each to their own and all that, but I implore you to do the same.

Again... What the f**k?

Did I say this was a moral story? I did, didn't I. B****cks. Well, I guess the moral is... Erm... If it's Prog you're after, probably look somewhere other than Download Festival?

But you knew that already. I'll get me coat.

As a footnote, I am looking forward to seeing Anathema and Opeth this Friday; maybe I'll report back on proceedings. For the rest of the weekend, I shall be taking it as it comes, skipping merrily between hardcore, rap-metal, heavy metal, blues, pop-punk and classic rock with a huge grin on my face and a beer in hand.

See you there?

Charity

Is it Prog? YES

...But only really when Phil Collins does it. The rest of the time it's not particularly Prog, but nevertheless still a wonderful and powerful thing, and also one you should partake in.

Standing on the shoulders of giants though are my radiant bandmates Gemma Lawler and Amie Chatterley, who will each be travelling five kilometres on foot in the name of Science. And by Science, I mean they'll be raising money so that other people can do Science.

Cancer Research UK needs no introduction I'm sure, and it is in their direction that the proceeds will be heading. So I beg of you, please donate what you can to motivate the girls, but more importantly so that Cancer Research can buy more Petri dishes and continue to save lives every day. It'll make a difference.

Here is the Link (<-There it is) to the girls' JustGiving page. Please, please give it a visit and make a donation.

Colourful both by nature and by language, Gem and Amie also govern their own Blog if you're into that kind of thing. They get a lot more hits than I do, but then it is a lot better than mine.

If you'd like to join me in cheering them on and throwing tomatoes as they valiantly pursue their quest, the event is in Redditch on the 15th of June.

Ta very much!

Shrine

Is it Prog? YES

And so it comes to be that a chance encounter once again introduces me to another brilliant group. It was whilst re-homing some surplus drums that I started chatting to drummer Liam Kearley. We exchanged band names, and I started listening to Shrine's 'Closer To The Sun' EP.

Blimey was I blown away by this one.

Shrine are a four piece band from Brighton who have already received high acclaim from the likes of Metal Hammer, Thrash Hits and BBC Radio1's D.P. Carter, and I hear they've bagged a slot at Knebworth this year too. These days it is very difficult (and I would say wrong) to pigeonhole any group into a single genre. These guys cover many bases by branding themselves as somewhere between math rock, aggressive hardcore and post rock. They are indeed all of those things, sometimes all at once, but to me their outside-the-box composition and experimentation grants them that all important Prog status.

The first thing that struck me was the sheer tightness of this band. The music is intricate and complex, but still powerful and engaging. It takes a great deal of skill to be able to pull off this kind of thing, and Shrine are faultless. If you're into Mastodon but fancy something more precise and varied, check these guys out.

I'm definitely looking forward to hearing more in the future. Tight as f**k, lads, keep it up!

Riverside

Is it Prog? YES

I'm fairly happy this evening, I'll tell you why.

I f**king love new Prog. Neo-Prog, Avant-Garde, Art-Rock, Neo-Art-Rock, Avant-Garde-Neo-Prog. Whatever. I'm regularly on the hunt for new tracks and artists to take me on a journey somewhere. Every now and then however I'll stumble across a new group completely by accident, who take me completely by surprise. Earlier this evening I was browsing YouTube for some live Porcupine Tree, and these guys managed to find their way to the top of the suggested videos.

By the looks and sounds of things they already seem to have a huge (and well deserved) following. So I'm pretty late to the party, but I'm used to this by now, after all I was born too late to catch one of my favourite bootlegs being recorded in my home county.

Here's a clip from a live DVD of theirs, it is truly beautiful.

Long story short, I recommend you check them out. I don't have a lot of info right now, but I shall certainly be educating myself further as to their back catalogue.

So, thanks for reading. Remember, send me your suggestions as to bands, objects, artworks, all of that.

I'm off for a pint.

Eurovision

Is it Prog? NO

On the surface of it, Eurovision is definitely not Prog. But is that just a hurried jump to conclusions? It's unpredictable, varied, encompasses a wide variety of different genres and instrumentation. It's a glorious coming together of very different nations and cultures to celebrate a wonderful art form that we can all share and enjoy.

*Cough* Is it b****cks. It's none of those things. It's not about the art; the music is usually instantly disposable, and most of these performances will never be seen or thought of again. It's a glorified popularity contest and a tacky variety show for those of us at home. Prog doesn't need to be popular, it doesn't need to be voted to the top of a league table. In fact Prog would be perfectly happy to just exist on its own, oozing beauty and wonderment, shrouded in mystery and undiscovered for an age like an archaeological relic.

In previous years, to determine who should best represent our nation in song and dance, potential candidates have been put to a public vote. Ok, for a start most people are not Prog. Even if Steven Wilson did put forward the most brilliant 3 minute masterpiece, you can bet the population would rather latch onto a looped Amen Break, predictable synth chords and some recycled lyrics about clubbing. However this year I understand a song was chosen for us by the BBC. Clearly the public cannot be trusted with such things, and although I'm inclined to agree, music chosen by a commitee ranks just as poorly on the Prog scale. I haven't heard the UK's entry yet, so I may well be pleasantly surprised. I'm hoping to at least hear some metal in there this year, like this beauty from a few years back:

Thunderstone - Face in the Mirror

If there's one redeeming factor of Eurovision, it must be its unpredictability. That is if you haven't researched the acts beforehand, but then why would you do that? Usually the only way I can enjoy the song contest is heavily intoxicated, so this year I'll be watching the night unfold with a bottle of Baileys and friends close by to share in the bewilderment, probably sporting a stunned 'wtf' face.

No, it isn't Prog. See you on Twitter!.


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So, leave a comment if you'd like to submit more items for judgement by the giant progressive scales of justice in my head. If you like what you read, or if you think I'm an idiot, get in touch and all that. Banter!

Space!

Is it Prog? YES.


In the true spirit of Prog I'm starting with something ridiculously over ambitious and far more vast than I can cover in a sensible amount of time in order to hold your attention.

Of course Space is Prog. It goes on and on for bloody ages, and in the grand scheme of things it's actually very rare that you come across some decent content to focus on. Not unlike this blog in fact. Most of it is pretty much featureless and only serves to make the interesting bits even more impressive, but it's all good in its own way.

When I'm trawling Wikipedia and reading Space related content, I often find myself clicking through pages which focus on physics and chemistry, planetary trajectories  and interstellar clouds, all of that gubbins, and science by its very definition is progressive. Constantly trying to better itself and discover new ways of doing things, that's what it's all about. Just when you thought you knew your favourite Prog album back to front, you give it another listen and something else you never noticed before will jump out and grab you. Science!

I think to most people, Space evokes images of the distant future, when technological advancements will hopefully bring us a lot closer to exploring ever more distant worlds. That's Prog as f**k.

So we're off to a good start, I reckon. The list of things we could cover is probably endless, be it an album or a band, or even just a random object. I think I might do Lego next, or Lighthouses, those are pretty Prog. So send in your suggestions for future topics by leaving a comment. Feel free to agree or disagree, let me know what you think of the site, and also point me towards new bands. Ta.