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)
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 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:
Friday 3 September
Pallas
Twelfth Night
Three Friends
Ars Nova
Galahad
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
Following this, the band will also be playing these dates: Friday 9th July - The Brewery Arts Centre, Cirencester Thursday 22nd July - The 12 Bar, Swindon (supporting Black Bonzo) Friday 30th July - The Poacher - Portishead, Bristol Friday 6th August - The Cambridge Rock Festival
More details on the band and stuff on their website.
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!
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)
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.
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!
Magenta's record label, Tigermoth Productions, have set up a special website where Magenta fans can purchase and download rare and unavailable Magenta tracks.
Rob Reed explains We are excited about this site because it gives the band and the fans benefits beyond normal MP3 outlets. From the fans side, it gives them the option to download better quality MP3s than are usually offered and in several formats also. Tracks can be bought as complete albums or individual tracks. At the moment we have many titles available, from instrumental tracks to live recordings, to completely new mixes and currently unavailable tracks.
We plan to keep updating and customizing the content over the coming months and welcome feedback back regarding the site.
You can check the Bandcamp site out for yourself by shooting on over to magenta.bandcamp.com where the first releases are an 8 track album entitled Magenta : Rareties Vol 1, Magenta : Seven (The Instrumentals), Magenta : The Singles and Magenta : Gathering Live
In other news, the Live at Real World CD/DVD is almost finished, and the band will be announcing release dates in the next few weeks.
Porcupine Tree's "Anesthetize" to premier in London's Leicester Square
Anesthetize, a new live film from Porcupine Tree, is to be premiered at a special screening in the Prince Charles Cinema at London's Leicester Square on Thursday May 20th at 7pm. The screening will be introduced by the band and filmmaker. Members of the band will also be available to sign copies of the film, which is being released on Kscope as 2disc set (DVD + Blu-Ray), following the screening.
A limited number of tickets for this special evening are available to purchase from the www.princecharlescinema.com (or by calling 0870 811 2559) for only £10 (plus 75p booking fee).
Anesthetize follows the band’s latest album The Incident which was released last year to massive critical acclaim. The album marked another step forward in the incredible journey of the band from a solo studio project created by Steven Wilson in the late eighties to a grammy nominated act and one of the world’s most revered live bands, currently selling out arenas across the globe and wowing fans with their incredible performances.
This 130 minute film captures the power of band’s live show. Directed by long-time collaborator Lasse Hoile, the film was recorded in high definition on multi-cameras over two nights at 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland in October 2008. The concerts featured tracks from throughout the band’s career until that point including a complete performance of the Fear of a Blank Planet album.
Anesthetize collects the highlights from the two shows and presents them on both DVD and on Blu-Ray. It is only the band’s second DVD release and will be available on Kscope in May 2010 as either a 2-disc set (DVD + Blu-Ray) or as a single disc (DVD) release.
no-man's classic "Wild Opera" album to get Deluxe 2 CD rerelease
Wild Opera, no-man's third album, released in 1996, is regarded as the most inventive and unpredictable album in the band's catalogue. The new 2 disc Kscope edition of the album is now available to pre-order from the Kscope store.
Rapidly shifting from distorted grooves to sinister, Jazz-inflected Trip-Hop and from choked Rock riffs to more traditional ballad fare, Wild Opera represented a thrilling departure for the band and has since become seen as a classic one-of-a-kind statement of uncompromising creative intent.
Long out of print, the original CD is now a highly - sought after rarity, with copies changing hands for over £100 on Ebay.
This deluxe 2CD reissue additionally includes all of the Dry Cleaning Ray mini-album, alongside b-sides and exclusive rarities from the era. The media-book packaging features new artwork created by long-time No-Man/Porcupine Tree collaborator Carl Glover.
The Pineapple Thief – new album plus special offers
Someone Here Is Missing, the new album from The Pineapple Thief, is currently available to pre-order from the Kscope store. Limited special CD and vinyl editions along with t-shirt bundles are available. In addition the store also has various titles from the band’s catalogue at special discount prices for a limited period.
Tightly Unwound and 3000 Days are available for only £8.99 while the last few remaining copies of The Dawn Raids EP (volumes 1 & 2) are available as a bundle for only £6.
Go to the Someone Here Is Missing mini-site for more info on the new album. The site also offers a free mp3 from the new album, downloads featuring Storm Thorgeson's artwork, audio samples and more.
You can hear also a track from the new album on the latest edition of the Kscope podcast.
Someone Here is Missing can be purchased from here.
The long awaited DVD of the band’s performance in Tilburg is now ready in both DVD and Blu-Ray formats. The tracklist for DVD/Blu Ray is as follows
1. Intro
2. Fear of a Blank Planet
3. My Ashes
4. Anesthetize
5. Sentimental
6. Way Out of Here
7. Sleep Together
8. What Happens Now?
9. Normal
10. Dark Matter
11. Drown With Me
12. Cheating the Polygraph
13. Half-Light
14. Sever
15. Wedding Nails
16. Strip the Soul / Dot Three
17. Sleep of No Dreaming
18. Halo
19. Outro
Extras (on Blu-Ray only)
1. Way Out of Here (live film directed by Lasse Hoile)
2. My Ashes (live film directed by Lasse Hoile)
3. Wedding Nails (live film directed by Lasse Hoile)
4. Strip the Soul / Dot Three (live film directed by Lasse Hoile)
Prodigal is the bonus track on the audio CDs.
Check out the pre-order page on the Burning Shed website for more details.
After the success of their 2009 40th Anniversary UK tour and the critically acclaimed new studio album 2032, Gong, the legendary progressive/psychedelic rockers will return to the UK in September 2010 for three special concerts in Glasgow, Manchester and London. Support for these dates will come from very special guests Nik Turner’s Space Ritual.
Tickets for Gong’s September UK tour go on sale at 10am on Thursday April 8th and are available from 0871 230 0333 / www.artistticket.com. Dates include: Glasgow 02 ABC (Thursday Sept 9 - £18.50), Manchester Academy (Friday Sept 10 - £18.50) and London HMV Forum (Saturday Sept 11 - £20).
The forthcoming UK concerts will once again reunite core Gong members, including original founding member Daevid Allen (Guitar, Lead Vocal), Steve Hillage (Lead Guitar), Gilli Smyth (Space Whisper, Poetry), Miquette Giraudy (Synthesizer), Chris Taylor (Drums), Dave Sturt (Bass) and Ian East (Sax, Flute).
Nottingham based prog band Coralspin are once again on the lookout for a new member. Keyboarder Scott contacted us this week and sent us an official press release:
PRESS RELEASE 2-4-2010
Coralspin have had to say goodbye to their wonderful bass player Steve Kightley. The recession saw Steve's freelance work dry up, and he has reluctantly had to accept a job offer which involves moving South. Steve was a much-loved member of the band, and his enthusiasm and ability was an inspiration. He will be sorely missed. He didn't want to leave, in fact his wife had to drag him kicking and screaming from the rehearsal room, and he says he will continue to be the band's biggest supporter. Expect to see him in prog circles again soon.
Anyone who is interested in the playing bass for us should go to our website coralspin.com for more details.
Some better news is that we have found a new drummer, John Stopher, who is a mighty kick-ass rhythm machine.
Prog stars add their name to Charity Event for the Mongolia Crisis
After being moved by hearing about, and seeing the news of the dzud (a severe winter following a dry summer) crisis that is currently hitting Mongolia (see video clip below), several local music stars, including John Mitchell (It Bites, Arena), Raff Achour (Boot Led Zeppelin), Rob Sowden (Arena) and Andy Sears (Twelfth Night) will be giving up their time and performing at a charity concert in Reading on Saturday 10th April.
The concert, held at The Turks in London Road, Reading, will be raising money for the Cambridge Mongolian Development Appeal (CAMDA). There is more information on the crisis at www.elephantjournal.com and on the concert on Facebook.
The Facebook event describes the crisis: Since late December, Mongolia has been stricken with severe snow storms of such severity that by February, with 90% of the country badly affected, the situation was officially announced as being what is known as zud or dzud. The extreme cold - down to minus 50c in places - and deep crusted snow is depriving millions of animals from grazing, and following a drought summer resulting in low stocks of stored feed, large herd numbers have frozen or starved to death.
A dzud is a winter storm of extreme severity, often preceded by a drought summer. They tend to arrive in cycles of around 11 years, the last being 1999-2000. Then, and during the succeeding 3 years, millions of herd animals perished from starvation or exposure. Temperatures plunged to minus 50c in places. Tens of thousands of nomadic herder families lost almost all their animals, forcing them to give up herding and migrate mostly to the capital Ulaanbaatar, with severe impact on its ability to cope with such an influx. Ger encampments sprang up on the capital's outskirts, and inevitably hardship and poverty overwhelmed these rural immigrants.
Yet again the present dzud is taking its toll in much the same way. Official figures indicate that 198 soums in 19 (out of 21) aimags are suffering very severe, or severe dzud weather with snow depths ranging from 20 to 120 cms (8 inches to 48 inches). The lowest recorded temperature of -47C was recorded in Uvs province, and overall temperatures in the worst affected provinces during early February averaged -35C.
Nationwide, animal losses have mounted to 4.6 million as at 24th March, including the loss of 2,800 camels, 158,000 horses and 264,000 cattle. The GOM has appealed both nationally and internationally for aid, especially fodder for the animals. Working groups and troops and vehicles have been working to open blocked roads and to deliver limited amounts of hay, fodder, food, clothes and medicine to badly affected herding families. The severe weather is likely to continue in many places until the thaw in May, when the toll will be much greater.
Hot News
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 
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.
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.
Devo have confirmed the track listing for Something For Everybody – their first studio album in 20 years.
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.
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 
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.
We at Silhobbit.com got this press release sent to us at the weekend:
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 (
Magenta's record label, Tigermoth Productions, have set up a special website where Magenta fans can purchase and download rare and unavailable Magenta tracks.
The long awaited DVD of the band’s performance in Tilburg is now ready in both DVD and Blu-Ray formats. The tracklist for DVD/Blu Ray is as follows
Nottingham based prog band Coralspin are once again on the lookout for a new member. Keyboarder Scott contacted us this week and sent us an official press release:
After being moved by hearing about, and seeing the news of the dzud (a severe winter following a dry summer) crisis that is currently hitting Mongolia (see video clip below), several local music stars, including John Mitchell (It Bites, Arena), Raff Achour (Boot Led Zeppelin), Rob Sowden (Arena) and Andy Sears (Twelfth Night) will be giving up their time and performing at a charity concert in Reading on Saturday 10th April.
