L'europe en Train

The sophomore effort from Georgia-raised, Britain-based vocalist Kristina Train, 2012's Dark Black is a brooding, atmospheric collection of slow-burn pop songs that put her burnished, sultry croon at the fore. Picking up where 2009's Spilt Milk left off, Dark Black finds Train once again working with British singer/songwriter Ed Harcourt, as well as songwriter/producer Martin Craft. Together, they've come up with an album that builds upon Train's twangy Southern roots layered with a baroque, cinematic aesthetic. Train's vocals are often drenched in an echo-chamber sound, often backed with boomy, resonant percussion, languid piano parts, eerie orchestral sections, shimmering baritone guitar lines, and even some light electronic flourishes. In that sense, the album brings to mind the work of such similarly minded contemporaries as singer/guitarist Richard Hawley and neo-soft rock singer Rumer as much as it does the classic soul-inflected '60s sound of Dusty Springfield.

Gravy Train were a progressive rock group from Lancashire, England, formed by vocalist and guitarist Norman Barratt in 1969. Also featuring J.D. Hughes (keyboards, vocals, wind), Les Williams (bass, vocals) and Barry Davenport (drums), the band would record four studio albums. The first two were released on the Vertigo label, the latter two by Dawn Records. In 1973, Gravy Train moved from Vertigo to Dawn Records, the progressive offshoot of Don Kirshner’s PYE Records label. This produced Second Birth — eight tracks, two of which ("Strength of a Dream" and "Tolpuddle Episode") were released as a single. Again it failed to set the charts alight.

Among the lesser-feted jewels released by the Vertigo label during its swirly-logo purple patch, Gravy Train's restful hybrid of jazz-tinged virtuosity, folky pastorals, and heartfelt vocalizing peaks on this, their second album, and that despite A Ballad of a Peaceful Man doing little more than treading water when compared to the experimental peaks of its predecessor. Part of the album's appeal lies in the then-novel concept of splitting its contents neatly in half, the hard rockers on one side, the softer material on the other. On the whole, the ballads have dated a lot better than the monsters, particularly "Alone in Georgia," which clashes sweet soul with (of all things!) Southern rock and, for some reason, sounds a lot like the Heavy Metal Kids.

Typifying the excesses that have frequently been denounced in their genre, UK progressive rock band Gravy Train recorded a series of albums for Vertigo Records and Dawn Records in the early 70s bedecked in grandiose, conceptual artwork. The group’s core members were Norman Barratt (vocals/guitar; b. 5 February 1949, d. 30 July 2011), Barry Davenport (drums), J.D. Hughes (woodwind/keyboards/vocals) and Les Williams (bass/vocals). Their first, self-titled 1970 album was dominated by Hughes’ flute melodies, which earned the group initial comparisons to Jethro Tull, as well as extended rock riffs. One of the songs, ‘Tribute To Syd’, was an obvious salute to the genius of Syd Barrett.

English Boy Wonders is the second studio album by the English progressive rock band, Big Big Train. It was released in 1997 by Giant Electric Pea. In February 2008, it was announced on Big Big Train's BlogSpot that English Boy Wonders was going to be re-recorded and partially re-mixed. It was re-released on the band's new record label, English Electric, on 1 December 2008. The re-release adds one track and changes the running order. Big Big Train are an English progressive rock band formed in Bournemouth in 1990. Until 2009, the band were mostly as a studio project band headed by Gregory Spawton and Andy Poole with changing line-ups and guest musicians. They have released eleven studio albums and three EPs.

Gathering Speed is the fourth studio album of the English progressive rock band, Big Big Train. It was released in 2004 by Treefrog Records. It is dedicated to the airmen and women who lost their lives in the Battle of Britain. The song The Road Much Further On was originally titled You Can't Draw Love. It was inspired by Spawton's then seven-year-old daughter. The album as a whole was a return to progressive rock for the band. It is the first album in which Sean Filkins recorded vocals, replacing Martin Read. It is also the only album in which Laura Murch recorded vocals, and the only Big Big Train album not to feature any songs solely written by Greg Spawton.

Submergé par la déferlante du numérique, qui brouille radicalement les frontières entre les médias (cinéma, télévision, BD, Internet, téléphonie, etc.), le cinéma serait en train de mourir : la chaleur du photochimique a cédé le terrain à la froideur du pixel et le hors-film a commencé à envahir, avec ses transmissions par satellite, les salles dévolues au septième art. Pourtant le cinéma est partout : il s’inscrit sur de nouveaux supports et s’affiche sur de nouveaux écrans. …