Before After Sience

The genre of progressive rock has a proud history, and many would agree that Pink Floyd is the band that helped break it into the mainstream. "Seconds Before Landing", the ambient rock collective, formed by musician and composer John Crispino, has released its first full length album.

Before Breakfast with their debut album I Could Be Asleep If It Weren’t For You. The Sheffield duo have always explored feminist issues through the telling of personal stories – fusing their classical knowledge and rich arrangements with raw expression.

BLK JKS are a seminal force in the South African underground. After an extended hiatus the Johannesburg foursome, championed by The Mars Volta and TV On The Radio (amongst many others), return with a groundbreaking new album.

This second release on New Focus from the musicians from soundSCAPE highlights the cultivated programming of this Italian summer festival focusing on contemporary music. Two of the three works, by Jesse Jones and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, are narrative and text driven, while the third, by Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez is inspired by visual art and the creation of musical systems. Throughout, the musicians from soundSCAPE perform with virtuosity and commitment, highlighting the richness of these scores, absent as they are of bombast and traces of stylistic agendas.

The album comprises the pianist/composer's recordings of four preludes and one fugue from J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, each followed by an After Bach piece written by Mehldau and inspired by its WTC mate. The album begins with Mehldau's own "Before Bach: Benediction" and ends with his "Prayer for Healing."

"Before the Flood" is a documentary from Fischer Stevens that follows actor Leonardo DiCaprio on a three-year journey as he surveys the impact of climate change. Its soundtrack is a superb collaboration between multi-instrumentalists and producers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, revered composer Gustavo Santaolalla, and Scottish post-rock outfit Mogwai. Opening things nicely is the title track. Comprised of minimal yet solid electronic beats and wavering Swarmatron sounds, the piece is littered with some melancholy piano and striding basslines. Santaolalla's diverse use of strings and acoustics also functions perfectly upon Reznor and Ross' canvas of intertwining electro-organic beauty.

If there's one thing you can rely on in the wild world of rock'n'roll, it's that Neil Young never ceases to surprise his listeners. In the last 55 years, in which he has released albums, this is a constant. On his new album "Before And After", Young approaches a completely eclectic collection of mostly obscure songs like a painter approaches a new color palette.

The music on Before and After Science at times resembles Another Green World ("No One Receiving") and Here Come the Warm Jets ("King's Lead Hat") and ranks alongside both as the most essential Eno material.