Curved Air, North Star

For whatever reason I paid almost no attention to the prog rocker British group Curved Air in their heyday. I heard their big hits on the radio and did not hate them; otherwise I was moving into other directions then.

They disbanded and reformed several times and last year recorded a new album, North Star (Curved Air 002). I was sent a copy, listened, and was surprised that I rather liked it. A few months later and here I stand with a review of same.

I like it. They do some of the old songs, some new ones and some covers, notably Lennon's "Across the Universe." The original singer, Sonja Kristina, is there and she sounds fine. Kirby Gregory is on lead guitar and makes a good showing as does violinist Paul Sax.

It's about a prog-psych ambience, some nice prog-type arrangements and a little bit of soloing, and the songs, which strike me as memorable. They get a rich group sound, too.

So if you aren't into prog you may not care for this music. But if you are it is a most pleasant surprise. It's good for all that.

Transatlantic, Kaleidoscope

If you are in the spacey prog-psych rock zone today or feel the need for something new in that realm though it may not be your current steady fare, Transatlantic may be just the thing--specifically the album Kaleidoscope (Radiant 15278-2).

It combines some of the hardness of progmetal with the intricate compositional-arranging and instrumental acuity of the classic middle-period Floyd, Yes, Crimson, Genesis and the like.

Now to do that without sounding like a clone of those bands isn't easy but Transatlantic pulls it off. The quartet gets a very integrated sound out of the lineup--Roine Stolt on guitars and vocals, Pete Trewavas on bass and vocals, Neal Morse on keys and vocals, and Mike Portnoy on drums and vocals.

This is their fourth studio album; they have been at it off and on since 2000, and their group dynamic by now is palpable. You can feel it.

So they run through some very nice originals that have that long-form medley-thematic extendedness that lets you float along indefinitely.

It's one of those albums that convinces you that art-psych-prog rock is far from dead. And that should tell you something of the quality here. Nice!

Tim Morse, Faithscience

Tim Morse has something. On his second album Faithscience (Amethyst Edge Productions 42001) you hear it consistenly. It's a set of 11 originals with a prog-fuze through-composed kind of eclectic yet somehow original brilliance. Tim sings, plays keys and guitars, Jerry Jennings plays a nice electric guitar, Gordon Stizzo drums with hardness and sensitivity, Jim Diaz plays bass, Mark Dean appears here and there on drums, bass and guitar, and then there are various guests including some strings and brass now and again.

The arrangements and the songs have a fully composed, tightly drawn-together solidity that you might expect from great prog-fuze but do not always get. Here Morse gives you the full magilla of noteful passage in a sea of lyric expressivity.

This is a prog landmark of sorts. It isn't going to convert prog-haters but it will be manna for prog-lovers.

Tim is a real talent out there.

Gazpacho, March of Ghosts

Following Friday's posting, we continue logically to Norwegian post-progger's album March of Ghosts (Kscope), which was created in a white-heat burst of inspiration following their tour and the resultant double CD London (see Friday's post).

This is a thematically unified package of some brilliance: art songs of a high caliber, nicely wrought arrangements, melancholy, vocals and musicianship of distinction. It's symphonic, it has some Euro-Mideast folk elements to brighten up the program and it shines with a kind of largess. High art, this is.

Based on this and the previous live album, I would have to sat that Gazpacho plies some of the most creative and interesting post-prog music today. March of Ghosts has a one-vast-work flow to it that triumphs. It's very beautiful...