DAYS BETWEEN STATIONS

Days Between Stations is the creative partnership between guitarist Sepand Samzadeh and keyboardist Oscar Fuentes. The duo came together in Los Angeles in November 2003, and named the band after the 1985 novel by Steve Erickson. The band’s sound – Samzadeh calls it “art-rock,” Fuentes labels it “post-prog” – reflects their varied influences, as well as a shared disregard for stylistic boundaries... more

BILLY SHERWOOD

We are much honored this month to have Billy Sherwood (CIRCA:, former YES) as our interview guest. He just released his new CD titled "At The Speed Of Life". Currently, beside his solo projects he is one of the members of the band CIRCA:, formed by ex-YES members Tony Kaye and Alan White, along with Jimmy Haun. They released their first solo album in 2007, followed in 2008 by a live DVD. They are currently in the studio working on their second solo CD...more

Kate BUSH / Never For Ever

1980‘s “Never For Ever” is Kate’s 3rd album. The album was co-produced by Jon Kelly & Kate herself. One of the most interesting things about this album is that it is the first record by a British female artist to top the UK album charts. (Wikipedia). Kate’s progressive approach to music reaches its peak with Never For Ever. She tastefully blends different genres including folk, oriental, rock, classical and jazz. Unlike her first two albums which she wrote on piano, this one was written on synths... more

UMPHREY'S MCGEE / LIVE AT THE MURAT

Umphrey’s McGee is a Chicago based six-piece band. Their music reflects a wide range of different progressive approaches like Frank Zappa, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons; and jazz touches from Miles Davis and Spyro Gyra. The band has been around for over ten years now with 4 studio albums. Band members are: Brendan Bayliss (guitar, vocals), Jake Cinninger (guitar, vocals), Joel Cummins (keyboards, vocals), Andy Farag (percussion), Kris Myers (drums, vocals) and Ryan Stasik (bass).

Live at the Murat was recorded on two consecutive nights: April 6th and 7th of 2007 in Indianapolis, IN. All songs are handpicked by the band, and put on a two CD set that runs over 2 hours. The sound quality of the recording is very good and the participation of the audience is remarkable. The first disc has 11 songs. First 4 are especially interesting: “In The Kitchen” with an acoustic structure for the opening, followed by two improvisational songs, first one is acoustic and the second one is electric. “In The Kitchen” then comes back with its electric structure to end this fiesta.

"Higgins" is a very interesting song where the band shows their experimental side with sudden moves from one genre to another: The intro reminds me of The Police with jazzy reggae sound mixed with rock, but it only lasts for a short time when they switch to a more psychedelic almost Pink Floyd kind of sound. And this again becomes later a crazier Zappa like music.

There are two other outstanding songs on this CD: "Nothing Too Fancy", with its interesting time changes and "Eat", with the King Crimson taste. The second CD is more like a jazz rock fusion. Especially "The Triple Wide" and "Angular Momentum". “Push The Pig” is yet another great song. Although this is a first official live release of the band, they have various live albums you can find, (check their website). These guys obviously love live performances because they love to improvise and they know how to draw the audience in, which is a very important detail to keep the energy up in order to interact. Each song is a puzzle with totally different pieces, and it all comes together to create a beautiful picture

HANDE BURDG