TEE "The Earth Explorer"

TEE is a five piece flute front progressive rock band from Tokyo, Japan. Their so-called 'European' sound is unique considering their far-east origin. The imaginative tunes with complex ensembles and rhythms will definitely catch the attention of prog lovers all over the world. Their sound will remind you bands like Camel, King Crimson, Asia Minor or even Frank Zappa on some parts. The band was formed in 2004 when... more

Kevin BARTLETT

You may not know his name but you have definitely heard his music more than once or twice in your life. Maybe on HBO, or on MTV, or on VH1, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel. Doesn't ring the bell? How about American Idol Rewind, or Dr. 90210? We had interviewed Kevin Bartlett a couple of years ago when his second solo album GLOW IN THE DARK was released. Bartlett has been quiet since that time but but he has been secretly brewing new projects. A few months ago he had put a new song...more

Peter Hammill, founding member of Van Der Graaf Generator, released his 28th solo album " nearly 3 months ago. He recently got back home from a short tour covering North America, Canada and Italy. In the 70's when bands like...more

FRIGHT PIG Barque At The Lune *** REVERSAL OF GRAVITY Scuba Gear ***

IAN NEAL / ALL IN THE GOLDEN AFTERNOON

Track List:

Ian Neal is a British musician who recently released this album titled “All In The Golden Afternoon”. It took him 3 years to finish the recordings of this project which was influenced by Lewis Caroll’s work. Keyboards and guitars are the two major instruments played by Ian, however throughout the CD there are samples of readings of poetry by a child (Ian himself sounding like a little kid). Although it is an instrumental album for the most part, you can feel that the songs are written around a theme. Since we are talking about Alice in Wonderland, I believe this theme is about “a past time”, like childhood. The poetry readings of the child give you the feeling of flashbacks.

Ian’s music reminds me of Genesis, Mike Oldfield and even Camel on some parts. He blends ambient and rock to create the sound of his own. As far as computer effects go, you will find virtual mellotron on this album.

The first song "Shining, Really Brightly" opens up with the reading and it is a nice blend of ambient and pop-jazz with a changing tempo. "Alice" sounds more like, it could have been written by a Scandinavian because of its cold atmosphere. The third track of the album, "All In The Golden Afternoon" is somewhere between Camel and Goldfrapp and stands out alone compared to the other songs. This is one of my most favorite songs on this CD along with "Violet, White, Lilac Lily" which has some vocals on it. And I have a feeling that making a CD with vocals was not Ian’s intention, however when you hear this song you can’t help but think that vocals would take this CD to a totally different place. This song also includes samples of the sounds of hand played wine glasses recorded on a virtual mellotron. The vocals are very new-age, kind of like Enya.

There are songs on which you will hear acoustic or electric guitars as leading instruments. Like "She", or "Kingdom of the Birds". These instruments change the ambiance of the album and actually make it sound more like old school prog. As for the “electronic” elements, I can say that they will not bother you. Ian keeps these effects as close to natural as possible in my opinion. However I find myself needing more guitars as well as vocals.

Altogether, this is a well thought project, and you will notice that a great deal of time went into it. Also, the use of the virtual mellotron brings All In The Golden Afternoon to a more prog-y place, if you think about finding a real one might be a little costly. This CD is a pretty good fusion of different genres like prog rock, ambient and maybe a little classical. If you like early prog but are open to listen to electronic stuff, you might like All In The Golden Afternoon.You can actually download the album through Ian’s website at: ianneal.com.

STEPHANIE BUTLER