As the drapery falls on 2013, we asked a bunch of our favourite progstars: what was the best new thing you heard all year?
CHARLIE GRIFFITHS (HAKEN)
“Some might not consider my favourite progressive album of the 2013 to be prog at all, but Arc by Everything Everything, is amazing! They are playfully genre-bending in the same way Gentle Giant were, but with a totally modern sound. The songs are catchy as hell too!”
SEL BALAMIR (AMPLIFIER)
“Instructions: firstly, crossbreed ELO with The Beatles. Next, add in a pinch of psychedelia something like Jellyfish. Infuse the slacker-esque vibe of Beck – Presto: Lonerism by Tame Impala.”
ANNA PHOEBE
“My choice is quite random – a band called Guillaume Perret And The Electric Epic – self titled. This is their debut album. It’s so different from anything I’ve heard. It’s prog, jazz and metal. They just blow me away.”
JOHN YOUNG (LIFESIGNS)
“I’m going with Gordon Giltrap and Oliver Wakeman’s Ravens & Lullabies.It’s an album full of flair and imagination that obviously captured the hearts of people around the globe (proggy and non). A great collaboration from two most talented chaps.”
ANNIE HASLAM (RENAISSANCE)
“I love Speak by I And Thou. It’s beautiful and extremely melodic, powerful and dynamic prog rock music, with high calibre musicianship..”
MIKE PORTNOY
“Hands down my fave prog album of 2013 was Haken‘s The Mountain. It combined everything I love about progressive music: great musicianship, diverse styles, unforgettable melodies, epic songwriting.”
ANDY TILLISON (THE TANGENT)
“I’m torn between Magenta‘s 27 Club and Maschine‘s Rubidium. These two albums provide me with all the things I am familiar with, yet always love to hear done really well. They also take the true spirit of progressive rock’s intentions and develop it somewhere new.”
GEORGIA LEWIS (MASCHINE)
“Steven Wilson’s The Raven… has a dark beauty, that’s expressive and yet complex. He paints with sound, creating atmospheric tension that flows with incredible musicianship.”
MATT BABER (SANGUINE HUM)
“For me, it’s Scott Walker’s Bish Bosch. It’s an album that’s progressive in the same way that Mt Everest is a bit of a tough climb. This is just off the scale inventive, visionary, gorgeous, disgusting and scary all rolled into one.”
DANNY CAVANAGH (ANATHEMA)
“Amok by Atoms For Peace. Every five years or so, my musical landscape is completely altered, and I am reborn as a musician. My vision enhanced. This did this for me.”
MATT STEVENS
“My album of the year is Sanguine Hum’s Weight Of The World. An imaginative and exciting record, with real depth of arrangement and not afraid to take influences from outside the conventional prog genre.”
KIM SEVIOUR (TOUCHSTONE)
“My album of 2013 is Echo Street by Amplifier. It has the perfect balance of delicate vocal and instrumental harmonies and gut crunching wall of sound. Sel’s wonderful tone rides the flowing currents of the music beautifully. It’s emotionally provoking.”
OLIVER WAKEMAN
“I’ll plump for Lifesigns’ debut. It was great to hear an unashamedly progressive album full of real atmosphere and well crafted songs. John Young’s choice of keyboard sounds are great and some of them may well be worth ‘borrowing’ for my next record!”
DEZ NAGLE (THE SAFETY FIRE)
“Karnivool‘s Asymmetrical is not only my favourite prog album of the year, but one of my all time favourites. A band for me who are prog in the truest sense of the word, and are consistently progressing.”
SONJA KRISTINA
“Steven Wilson’s The Raven… is a masterpiece. I came across the video online and was entranced. Beautiful melodies and atmospheric arrangement and production. Haunting!”
MATT COHEN (THE REASONING)
“There have been so many amazing albums, but my number one album of 2013 is the new Dream Theater self-titled album. Melodic, rocking, flowing, catchy – a true return to form.”
JACK SHARP (WOLF PEOPLE)
“We’ve become massive fans of Koordinaten by Swiss two-piece Klaus Johann Grobe. It’s motorik krautrock but with far more humour, exuberance and skill than most of their peers. Such a great and exciting band, especially live.”
ALIA O’BRIEN (BLOOD CEREMONY)
“There’s no contest here: Purson’s crushing debut album The Circle And the Blue Door occupied my stereo for the larger portion of the year. With its meandering song forms, eerie mellotron hooks, virtuosic soloing, and generous doses of phase shifter, this album embodies an aesthetic that is both backward-looking and forward-leaning—Purson is truly its own psych-prog beast!”
Source Link:
http://www.progrockmag.com/news/progstars-choice-the-best-new-thing-ive-heard-all-year/
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