With Book 3, The Chronicles of Father Robin reach the final chapter of “The Songs & Tales of Airoea”. This dynamic and soulful journey starts with the upbeat “Magical Chronicle”, a vocal driven track full of lush harmonies and clear references to prog classics such as Gentle Giant, Yezda Urfa and the Canterbury Scene. From the atmospheric “Skyslumber” and the soaring prog ballad that Yes never wrote, “Cloudship”, the album burst into the dynamic psych-rocker “Empress of the Sun”, a song full of energy and contrast eventually sliding into a keyboard lead middle part reminiscent of The Doors at their most adventurous. Finishing the album “Lost in the Palace Gardens” starts off with a beautiful acoustic guitar part brining associations to British folk bands such as Steeleye Span, but also the guitar work of a certain Jimmy Page. The track follows up with vocal parts where Andreas Prestmo and Aleksandra Morozova’s voices perfectly complement each other, making it a perfect culmination of this highly ambitious body of work where Father Robin explores the cloud lands in the Sky.
The Chronicles of Father Robin is a Norwegian prog-rock supergroup, with members hailing from Norway’s symphonic prog kings Wobbler, the ever non-definable Tusmørke, seasoned post-rockers The Samuel Jackson Five and the elusive prog gem that is Jordsjø. “The Songs & Tales of Airoea”, 30 years in the making, is a cohesive triple concept album with 18 songs set in an alternate archaic world for over a period of three decades. The first album, “Book I”, will be released on September 15th, with the single Eleision Fields preceding it.
The Chronicles of Father Robin is a Norwegian progressive rock band consisting of members from the bands Wobbler, Tusmørke, Jordsjø, and The Samuel Jackson Five. The music is inspired by the 70's Prog scene and was conceived over a period of 30 years. In 1995, in a Norwegian high school, they worked on the whole concept of the Father Robin trilogy. After some line-up changes and the addition of musicians, the band started to rearrange some old songs and work on new material which resulted in 18 songs of Symphonic Prog released as a boxset first and separately in September 2023.
Following Father Robin and his travels through the archaic world of Airoea, Book 2 takes our protagonist to the underwater city of Oriasaleah and over the Sea of Ayrouhr…
Five Man Electrical Band, one of the more creative Canadian groups of the early '70s, edged toward the American "big-time" without ever really receiving its due. Springing from the accomplished harmonies of all five bandmembers and leader Les Emerson's socially-attuned penmanship, the band was equally at home firing off catchy pop hits ("Signs," "Absolutely Right") as it was with more ambitious, roots-rock-grounded album material ("Coming of Age," "Country Girl Suite"). Fifteen-track collection Absolutely Right does justice to both sides, and how these merged to culminate in the environmental polemic sweep of "I'm a Stranger Here" and decidedly odd chart-fodder "Werewolf."
Iona Brown, violinist and sometime conductor of the Academy of St. Martin and the fields, clearly understood how different Telemann was from other baroque composers - and what was needed to really bring out his special qualities. Unlike J.S. Bach and Handel, who were keyboard virtuosi, Telemann, who had unusual interest in and an especially keen ear for instrumental sonorities, spent his early years (secretly) learning to play all the instruments available in his time. Despite his prodigious musical gifts, his upper middle class family did not want him pursuing what was then the low occupation of musician.