AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST
GRANT MOON has a rummage down the back of the Prog sofa for the ones that nearly got away…
Included in the high-pedigree ranks of Dutch/Brit five-piece Dilemma are former Darwin’s Radio frontman/Frost* guitarist Dec Burke and Kayak/Neal Morse drummer Collin Leijenaar. The band’s sumptuous new platter Random Acts Of Liberation (Butler Records/Music On Vinyl) is steeped in modern prog textures and totally packed with hooks, moods and melodies. Twelve-minuter The Inner Darkness hits numerous prog G-spots, Prodigal Son touches on Steven Wilson/John Mitchell territory, and on the likes of the metallic Pseudocomaphobia Burke and Paul Crezee’s guitars frequently succeed in boggling the mind.
Keiron Phelan’s work with littlebow saw him classified as unclassifiable, and post-rockers State River Widening won the singer a certain cult following. On his likeably diverse and acerbic solo album Peace Signs (Gare Du Nord), he leads his collective through a crafted, slightly psych set that evokes Donovan, Tindersticks, Knifeworld and much in-between. Clever, melodic flute hooks are detailed by harp and organ, one of the songs is actually called Canterbury, and Brona McVittie offers beautiful, folky counterpoint to Phelan’s pleasingly natural voice. The lyrics are wry (New Swedish Fiction), the music often mesmerising (Satellite Hitori, Song For Ziggy), and the Genesis-friendly 12-strings of Apple Shades are among the many things to enjoy here.
Seasoned keyboardist/guitarist Tim Brown’s one-man project is Blurred Turtle, and it really sees him come out of his shell. The eponymous, self-released album is a fun, symphonic and at times avant-garde dive into Brown’s synth-heavy, instrumental soundworld. You might hear some of these sound presets on a Rick Wakeman or John Carpenter record; other cheapo brass patches, you certainly wouldn’t. There’s a wholeheartedness to Riding The Crests, intense musicality in the surging Heading Out, and Brown’s tongue-in-cheek sense of pomp throughout is contagious. Two different bands supply our djenty goodness this time around. Shading are a progressive metal quintet from Venice, Italy. Their self-released album The Vanishing Of
Our Lore posits ‘a hostile world ruled by high-functioning machines and artificial intelligence’. Yes folks, another dystopian sci-fi world concept album, but a well done one at that. It’s song-centric, atmospheric and packs a real punch, with eye-watering vocals from the brilliantly named Damiano Affinito. TesseracT’s Acle Kahney mastered the brutal track Breathless, which gives you an idea of where they’re coming from.
And last but by no means least, psychedelic trio Little Jimi are coming at you from a garage in Bordeaux, and they’ve clearly enjoyed something altogether more mind-expanding than a bottle of the local claret. On EP.1 (MRS Red Sound) the young trio take the sledgehammer stoner rock of Queens Of The Stone Age and wreath it in a Hawkwind haze, and they’re great. Modern vintage sounds, reverberating vocals and big, woozy riffs to nod your head to: what’s French for
‘Light ’em if you got ’em’?