Drive Magazine From Autumn 2016

Autumn 2016 marks for the fortieth anniversary of the British musical revolution that was Punk Rock, fanfared by the release of ‘Anarchy In The UK’ by the Sex Pistols and ‘New Rose’ by The Damned. Marking this monumental birthday, ACTION TIME VISION is the first-ever box set to document the independent punk scene, which was born with Punk and thrived outside of the major label framework.

Top of the Pops from 1978 includes hits from Sham 69, Ian Dury, Elvis Costello, Blondie, The Boomtown Rats, Kate Bush, Dan Hill, Boney M, Bob Marley, 10cc, ELO, Manfred Mann and many others.

The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter is the fifth full-length album by American singer-songwriter Josh Ritter. It was released in the U.S. on August 21, 2007, in Ireland on September 7, 2007 through Independent Records, and released in the rest of Europe on October 1, 2007 by V2 Records. The record was recorded in a Maine farmhouse dating to the 18th century. According to Ritter: "Lyrically, musically, and in terms of production, it's the most adventurous record I've made yet and I think when you hear it you're going to be surprised. Seriously, repeatedly, and in a good way." In regards to The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, Paste Magazine described Ritter as the poster-boy of Americana music. As with previous albums, Ritter was compared to the great American songwriters like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

In May 2017, days before succumbing to cancer, Jimmy LaFave staged a final show in Austin at the Paramount Theatre, an all-star farewell and thank you to the music community he adoringly called home. Even in his own passing at the age of 61, LaFave’s voice provided comfort, wisdom, and healing to a hurting world. Posthumous double-disc Peace Town arrives nearly a year later, a last gift from the incomparable song crier. Like calculated final collections from David Bowie, Warren Zevon, and Leonard Cohen, each song rings with meaning. Opening on Pete Townshend’s “Let My Love Open the Door,” LaFave recasts the pop anthem with a stirring emotional appeal, followed by one of only three of his own compositions among the 20 tracks, “Minstrel Boy Howling at the Moon.”

Elvis Costello recorded the 15 songs that comprised his covers album Kojak Variety in 1990, but the album sat in the vaults for five years, with some songs trickling out on soundtracks, with the entire album eventually leaking out as a bootleg prior to its release in 1995. Given this slow, steady crawl to release and the nature of bootlegs and B-sides, it's reasonable to assume from its slow unveiling that the album was a collection of covers that he recorded with different bands over different years, when quite the opposite was true – all 15 songs were the cut with the same band, all sequestered away in Barbados.

I Trawl the Megahertz, Paddy McAloon's first solo album, is as likely to perplex and infuriate as it is likely to stun and spellbind. Grand, heavily orchestrated, predominantly instrumental, and not the type of thing you put on prior to going out or when you're in the mood for cleaning the house, the record is incredibly powerful – almost too powerful – even when held up against everything from Prefab Sprout's past. The most significant song is the opener; 22 minutes in length, it's nearly elegiac in it its mournful tones played out by a swaying string arrangement and a weeping trumpet. Throughout its duration, Yvonne Connors speaks matter-of-factly – yet dramatically enough to be poignant – as she rifles through fragments of her memory, the most disarming of which reads like this: "I said, 'Your daddy loves you very much; he just doesn't want to live with us anymore.'"

Welcome to the latest mix of progressive music that makes up the contents for the new Prog magazine cover disc. We kick off with a couple of tracks taken from the much-anticipated new albums from Mostky Autumn and Blackfield, and "Tomorrow Dies" and "Family Man" most certainly do not disappoint. Then we have a trio of great new acts making their Prog debuts: Koyo, Serpentyne and Kaprekar's Constant - all with different and unique sounds, and all of whom you'll be reading more about in future issues of Prog. Beatrix Players, Grice and The Mighty Handful have all appeared on our CD before, and we welcome them back with open arms, before we close with the heavy psych vibe of Jerusalem and the eclectic approach of the aptly-named Intrigue. A great selection of diverse sounds from this wonderful progressive universe that we are lucky enough to write about.