Portuguese proggers Factory Of Dreams to appear on "Gothic Visions Vol 2" compilation

Portuguese/Swedish Prog Goth metal act Factory of Dreams has issued the following announcement about contributing a track to the upcoming Gothic Visions Volume II compilation:

Factory of Dreams are proud to announce that they'll be part of Gothic Visions Volume II (CD + DVD) with both a song and video clip. So, grab your hands on this fab compilation this October! After last year's first release of the Gothic Visions CD + DVD Special Edition compilation Echozone will release the second one in October of this year. The Gothic Visions is produced in cooperation with the underground magazine Crawling Tunes and other media partners.

The release will be fully promoted within the campaigns starting from August to November of 2010 and will be featured in advertisements, reviews plus featured on online radio and TV shows. The new edition includes a full packed audio CD, a DVD with more than three hours of music plus more than three hours of video clips, live performances, gothic visuals, etc.

More news can be found at www.myspace.com/projectcreation and www.myspace.com/gothicvisionsdvd

Hawkwind announce new tour and album

Legendary space rockers Hawkwind will embark on a major UK tour in December 2010 in support of their new studio album Blood of the Earth.

The nationwide tour consists of 13 dates. Tickets are priced at £20, are available from the National Credit Card Hotline 0871 2301101 or can be ordered from www.seetickets.com. The tour kicks off at the Holmfirth Picturedome on Friday December 3rd. Support for all dates comes from UK rockers The Jokers.

In addition to the UK tour, Hawkwind will appear at HAWKFEST 2010 next month, which returns to Afton Farm on the Isle Of White. Curated by the members of Hawkwind, Hawkfest takes place between August 27th and 29th. Hawkfest originally came about after the breakdown of the free festival movement in the mid to late 1980's. The band felt that major festivals had lost what made them great. Gone was the intimate, carnival atmosphere and the colourful characters, only to be replaced with huge-scale commercialism.

Wanting to get back to the roots of what made festivals so enjoyable, Hawkwind constructed a family friendly event where children could play and explore, whilst parents watched great music, safe in the knowledge that the kids would be safe. Tickets are priced at £70, for further info visit www.hawkfest.com.

Hawkwind Tour Dates:
Friday 3rd December - Holmfirth Picturedrome
Saturday 4th December - Glasgow O2 ABC
Sunday 5th December - Newcastle O2 Academy
Monday 6th December - Lincoln Engine Shed
Wednesday 8th December - Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall
Thursday 9th December - Worthing Assembly
Friday 10th December - Liverpool O2 Academy
Saturday 11th December - Manchester Academy
Sunday 12th December - Salisbury City Hall
Tuesday 14th December - Bristol O2 Academy
Wednesday 15th December - Bedford Corn Exchange
Thursday 16th December - Oxford 02 Academy
Friday 17th December - London HMV Forum

Lee Abraham gives away free The Lee Abraham Band track

Big Lee Abraham, the former Galahad basser, has been generous enough to make his song Pictures In The Hall available as a free download from his website

The track is a new 2010 The Lee Abraham Band recording of the title track of his 2004 solo album Pictures In The Hall, and features the talents of Sean Filkins on vocals, Rob Arnold on pianoey things, the posh sounding Christopher James Harrison on guitars and Gerald Mulligan on drums. Bad boy Lee does the rest himself, while Rob Aubrey twiddles knobs. As always.

The Lee Abraham Band will be supporting Brummie proggers IOEarth at The Peel on July 31st, in what will surely be a night to remember!

New download only single by Art Of Infinity released on August 20th

German Art-proggers Art Of Infinity are set to release the single Cosmic Rain (Radio Edit) via various online retailers on August 20th. The bands press release says:

With “Cosmic Rain (Radio Version)“ German music group Art Of Infinity internationally release one of their most successful compositions as an official download single.

“Cosmic Rain (Radio Version)“ is timeless Space Pop made in Germany. This is music for people all over the world. (BSC Music, 2010)

You can listen to a clip from the song here

The band are also featured on Fireworks Magazine June/July issue cover CD, the chosen track being Utopia (UK Edit). The original 18 minute track was on the bands 2008 release Endless Future. You can hear Utopia (UK Edit) on Art Of Infinity's MySpace page.

The Reasoning release "Acoustically Speaking" via Bandcamp.com

Welsh proggers The Reasoning have released their latest album, Acoustically Speaking on the increasingly popular Bandcamp website.

The 9 track album, which contains acoustic versions (obviously) of tracks from the bands first three albums, is going for a fiver. As with pother Bandcamp releases, you can choose your preferred quality, from the lossless FLAC to the popular 320k, via the obscure OGG and others.

Silhobbit hope to see more bands taking control of their music and royalties by using sites such as Bandcamp, rather than the stiffling iTunes!

Track Listing

• The Thirteenth Hour
• In The Future
• Script Switch Trigger
• Aching Hunger
• Dark Angel
• The Nobody Effect
• Sacred Shape
• Within Cold Glass
• A Musing Dream
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Get Ryan Bartek's entire discography for free

Notorious underground journalist/musician Ryan Bartek unleashes his entire discography as a free download

…the following is a statement from Mr. Bartek:
“In the spirit of ‘Independence Day,’ I hereby offer my entire discography for free -- no strings, no catch, no shoddy I-Tunes wrangling -- 6 albums, one book and the legendary “Pan-Tribal Socialist Manifesto". This includes…

A.K.A. Mabus – “Lord of the Black Sheep” (LP, 15 Tracks: 2006)
Sasquatch Agnostic – “Complete Mammalography" (3 EP’s & 41 Tracks: 2007-2009)
Jack Cassady – “The Real Man In Black” (LP, 14 Tracks; 2008)
& PDF files of the classically cult “The Big Shiny Prison” (2010) and “The Pan-Tribal Socialist Manifesto” (2006)

“Before I continue further, let it be known that any missing items will be released later this year, including the cult underground film Dadbot: The Motion Picture (2004) and a reissue of my first book The Silent Burning (2005) on 9/11/2010.

Currently I am in the Northwest (PDX, USA) working on two new records (Jack Cassady & Sasquatch Agnostic) and preparing for the European sequel of “The Big Shiny Prison” which will take place Summer 2011 alongside a guerilla acoustic tour. Any interested parties please contact me in terms of me interviewing you for this book or simply weird avenues for me to explore, odd people to meet, etc.

I’ve never been to Europe and simply cannot wait. Even if it’s a one-way ticket & a passport, I’m showing up next year. To hell with starvation – I want Paris…

Former Pallas singer Alan Reed announces debut solo release

Alan Reed - for 25 years the vocalist with Scots progressive rock band Pallas - is delighted to announce his debut release as a solo artist.

C'est La Vie is a Greg Lake song specially recorded for the forthcoming Emerson, Lake and Palmer tribute CD The Endless Enigma to be given away free with the next issue of Classic Rock presents Prog magazine. It features Alan's unique voice and 12-string guitar alongside the spectacular piano playing of Mike Stobbie, also a former member of Pallas.

Alan said: "When I heard about 'Prog' magazine's ELP project I immediately thought of this song, as it's one I've always loved playing. I persuaded Mike that we should take time out from working on my forthcoming solo album to see what we could make of it. I'm very pleased with the results."

Alan and Mike continue to work on the album - tentatively entitled HomeGrown - which encompasses a range of styles from Celtic-folk to progressive rock.

You can keep up to date with the latest developments, including studio video reports, at Alan's 'official' Facebook page.

YouTube of the Week - The Pineapple Thief "Nothing at Best"

Yeovil based proggers The Pineapple Thief have been around for a decade or so and have just released their latest album Someone Here Is Missing through KScope Records. This is the bands third release on the post-progressive label following 2008's Tightly Unwound and last years retrospective 3000 Days double album and to help promote it, they have released the track Nothing Is Best as a single. The film noir-esque video, as can be seen below, was directed by Arnfinn Moseng and Negar Bagheri and combines 2D animation techniques with live action special effects.

The single can be bought from iTunes and Amazon, while the album can be got from KScope / Burning Shed.

Remember the address to nominate clips is

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Summer's End announce full line-up and ticket sales

The team behind the hugely successful Summer's End Festival have announced the full line up of this years festival, to be held once again at the Town Hall in Lydney, Gloucestershire over the weekend of 8th - 10th October.

Friday 8th October
The Defence of the Realm with 3Js and a P (featuring Jem Godfrey, John Mitchell and Pete Trewavas)
Tinyfish
Unto Us

Saturday 9th October
An evening with Karmakanic and Agents of Mercy
Unitopia
Ark
Dead Heroes Club

Sunday 10th October
The Watch
Sylvan
Phideaux
TBC
Multifuse

Full details can be found at www.summersend.co.uk

Whimwise headline Johnstock 9 in Littlehampton today

Southcoast proggers Whimsise, led by ex-Enid/Jadis/Dagaband mann Nick May will be headlining the ninth Johnstock festival, held at the New Inn in Littlehampton today. The festival starts at noon and lasts until midnight and features 14 local bands with all proceeds going to charity. More info on the festival is to he read at johnstock.org.

Whimwise will also be playing the following dates:
Thursday June 3rd - The Beehive, Swindon
Saturday June 26th - Mandala Stage, Glastonbury Festival
Sunday June 27th - Mandala Stage, Glastonbury Festival
Sunday July 4th - Riverside Festival, Peterborough
Friday July 23rd - The Small Festival, Gillingham (Dorset)
Saturday August 7th - Slaithwaite Conservative Club, Huddersfield (with Harvey Bainbridge of Hawkwind)
Saturday August 21st - The Winchester, Bournemouth (with Daevid Allen of Gong)
Saturday October 9th - The Ferry, Glasgow (with Focus)

80s proggers Quasar back up and running

Quasar the band that spawned Landmarq are back in the game. Mainman Keith Turner, who relocated to California for obvious reasons, and has quietly been getting a band together and reviving the Quasar name.

The final piece in the jigsaw is Keren Gaiser who sings and plays the keyboards. She joins Keith, Robert Robinson (also on vocals and keyboards), PJ Shadowhawk on drums and guitarist Greg Studley.

The band are working on a new album, which you can hear demos of at their website www.quasar.netne.net

Twelfth Night play London, Rotherham and Loreley

Twelfth Night will be playing a couple of more shows this month, following their excellent sets at Reading and Leamington. The band will be playing The Luminaire in Kilburn, London on Friday 28th May, and at the Montgomery Hall in Maltby, Rotherham on Saturday 29th.

At both gigs Twelfth Night plan to play 2 sets, starting around 8pm, and finishing around 10:40pm, with an interval of about 20 minutes somewhere in the middle. This means they will be playing over 2 hours on both nights. Apparently, a "very old" piece of music will be performed at these shows for the first time since 1983.

The band are also planning to record the show in Rotherham, and provided it turns out to be halfway decent, will be releasing it. Ticket holders for the Rotherham gig will be able to buy it at a reduced cost.

Twelfth Night will also be playing at this years Night of the Prog festival held in Loreley, overlooking the Rhine. The festival takes place on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th September, and also features Marillion, The Enid, Pallas (who will be releasing their new album at the festival) and Galahad (which means that Roy & Dean will be playing two sets)

The full line up is:

Saturday 4 September
The Enid
Marillion
Gazpacho
Sylvan
Solstice
Moongarden

Devo confirm track listing for “Something For Everybody”

Devo have confirmed the track listing for Something For Everybody – their first studio album in 20 years.

The track listing was a result of an innovative online Official Song Study that Devo recently ran on their official website www.clubdevo.com. Fans were asked to listen to sixteen new Devo songs, and select their favourite twelve. The twelve songs that received the most votes made it to the final cut of the album.

The album, which includes the single Fresh, will be released by Warner Bros. Records in UK on June 14th, followed by a US release on June 15th. The album will be available on CD, Vinyl and as a digital download.

CD Track listing is as follows:
1) Fresh
2) What We Do
3) Please Baby Please
4) Don't Shoot, I'm a Man
5) Mind Games
6) Human Rocket
7) Sumthin'
8) Step Up
9) Cameo
10) Later Is Now
11) No Place Like Home
12) March On

Gong to play Birmingham HMV Institute on September 20th

Following the announcement of their UK tour last month, the legendary progressive/psychedelic rockers Gong have added a fourth date at the newly refurbished Birmingham HMV Institute venue on Monday September 20th, shortly after the venue’s grand opening night of Friday September 17th.

Gong first played at the Birmingham venue back in 1968, when it was known as the Digbeth Civic Hall.

Support for all four UK concerts comes from very special guests Nik Turner’s Space Ritual, tickets for Gong’s Birmingham HMV Institute concert are on-sale from Monday May 24th, tickets: 0871 230 0333 / www.seetickets.com.

After the success of last year’s 40th Anniversary UK tour, and the critically acclaimed studio album 2032, Gong’s other 2010 UK tour dates include Glasgow 02 ABC (Sept 9), Manchester Academy (Sept 10) and London HMV Forum (Sept 11), tickets for these 3 concerts are on-sale now from 0871 230 0333 / hmvinstitute.com.

Bristol proggers Crimson Sky release iTunes single and headline The Peel

Bristol based proggers Crimson Sky have released a brand new single, You! through iTunes. The single, the second track to have emerged from the writing / recording sessions that have taken place after the release of the bands debut Misunderstood can be bought for just £0.79 from iTunes here.

The band are gearing up for their first London headline gig, at The Peel on Saturday 26th June, when they will be supported by the affable Tim Burness

More details on the band and stuff on their website.

YouTube of the Week - Pallas "Fall and Rise"

As you all know, Scottish proggers Pallas are working on their new XXV album in deepest, darkest Scotland. The album is the follow-up to their 1985 classic The Sentinel. This weeks You Tube clip features the track Fall and Rise, filmed during rehearsals at The Mill Recording Studio prior to the bands at The Peel in Kingston on Saturday 22nd May.

As mentioned the band will be playing at The Peel on Saturday, where they will be supported by Gloucestershire proggers Also Eden, with both bands having new frontmen!

Remember the address to nominate clips is

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Coralspin end search for new bass player successfully!

Following on from the news below that former Coralspin bass player Steve Kightly has made an appearance on Dec Burke's solo album, comes the news that the Nottingham based proggers have found his replacement.

Local boy Paul Sneap joins recent acquisition, drummer John Stopher and the rest of the band - Ellie Blyth (vocals, keyboards), Scott McQueen (keyboards) and Jake Simmons (guitar); as they work towards releasing their debut album.

Paul has featured in several Nottingham bands over the years, including Mensch and ABBA covers band Castles (below). No, we're not sure which one he is either!

Frost* and former Darwin's Radio frontman Dec Burke is back!

We at Silhobbit.com got this press release sent to us at the weekend:

Dec Burke – new album, Destroy All Monsters, out end May 2010.

Dec Burke is a man who doesn’t like to let the grass grow under his feet. After Darwin’s Radio’s acclaimed 2009 release, Template For A Generation, Dec, impatient with the speed at which things were moving with DR, decided to leave and go his own way at the beginning of 2010.

Now he is bursting forth on to the scene again in a remarkably short space of time with a self-penned and self-produced album, Destroy All Monsters, which has 9 stunning tracks and is just over 45 minutes long. As well as the bulk of the guitars and all the vocals on the album, Dec also plays most of the keyboards.

Dec says: “I can’t sit still, I have to keep busy, and having the excitement and maybe at the same time the dread of leaving the comfort of a band and going into the big bad world to run my songs up the flag pole, so to speak, was daunting. But in the end, I wasn’t totally alone, and I have had some excellent contributions from some super musicians. It’s been a really enjoyable and rewarding process. I wondered at first if I would be able to write on my own without input from a band. But by golly, I think I’ve done it, and am pleased as punch with how it’s all sounding.

Also appearing on the album are:
Steve Kightley (Bass)
Nathan King (bass)
Carl Westholm ( keyboard solo on ‘Promised’)
Hywel Bennett (guitar solo on ‘Small Hours’)
Tim Churchman (drums)

For more information and pre-orders, visit www.decburke.com

We've been lucky enough to hear one of the track, Small Hours, and are mighty impressed. The boy Burke's done good!

Deep Imagination April news

The new studio album by German ambient proggers Deep Imagination, entitled Awareness, is expected to be released this summer. You can hear a two minute preview of the album at the bands website (www.deep-imagination.com) or on their MySpace page.

Mainman Thorsten Sudler-Mainz is joined by saxophonist Stefan Höllering and Art of Infinity bandmates Thorsten Rentsch and keyboarder Matthias Krauss. Photo's from the recording sessions can also be seen at their website.

The bands 10 minute track Gemstones (The Collective Edit) is featured on the new SynGate Records sampler The Collective - Volume 2 (The 2010 Mix). More iinformation on this can be found at www.syngate.net.

Progessive Paul Wiffen

Nobody has done more for progressive-rock than Paul Wiffen (except Steve Hackett).

Paul really is one of those "been there - done that" people. He has been behind the mixing desk with Peter Gabriel and up on stage with 3/4 of It Bites. Paul has genuinely clocked up enough prog-miles to be able to get to the dark-side of the moon and back!

Silhobbit.com is proud to be associated with such an important asset to the music we all love, progressive rock, and so you can imagine that with that pride there will always be those wanting to upset the apple cart and knock down the great and the good.

In this Sour Grapes report, Paul shows why he is genuine and not afraid to speak his mind whilst other politicians tiptoe around the issues whilst sitting on the fence. It is alleged that he banged the heads of Steve Howe and Steve Hackett together whilst recording the GTR album! Who else would have such balls!