A spinoff of its parent magazine, Classic Rock Presents Prog takes a look at progressive music and the artists who weave them together. Each issue takes a soul-searching foray into the hearts and minds of the heroes of rock, reviewing both new and old releases. Building upon the history of some of the most genre-defining pieces ever devised and those who followed who continue to refine, revolutionise and completely discard the formulas of those who came before. Reflecting on the proud genesis of this unexpected genre, Classic Rock Presents Prog is an able tutor for those in the dark about the evolution of progressive music, and a tonic for existing fans.
Moot Point are proud to announce the release of the debut album from King Moot, a Dorset-based electronic duo. It Just Fell follows last year’s single, Crushed Elms, and contains nine curiously crafted electronic pieces. King Moot like to describe themselves as the masters of gloomy electronic soundscapes. Influences include Shane Carruth, Cliff Martinez, Air, Boards Of Canada, and Modus-era Photek.
There is no need to wait for winter end to feel how lovely spring is. We always look for it as season heralding something fair and beautiful to come into our life. Indeed, this is the most extraordinary season invented by nature. How beautiful, charming, gentle, magnificent and flawless it is! So much imbued with solemn music, heady fragrance, exceptional warmth, flowers and vivid colors… Its coming never fails to awaken our best feelings so that, having surrendered to them, we could delight in love, joy and happiness to the full. Jane Maximova: "When you listen to a new piece of music it provokes either feeling of the past or that of the future. "Four Seasons - Russian Spring" is one of the few albums provoking feeling of the future, the very feeling we usually experience in springtime".
'Quiet Storms' is a new Galahad album with a difference. As the title suggests, Quiet Storms shows a more mellow and at times pastoral side to the band’s output containing almost none of the bombast and heaviness of the previous three studio albums, instead the majority of the songs and their arrangements evoke a more laid back, spacious and introspective atmosphere. As well as featuring songs included as ‘extras’ on recent re-issues, Quiet Storms also includes several new songs along with new re-workings of older songs plus a few tracks which were included on the 2014 EP’s now appearing on an album for the first time…
Konx-om-Pax's first two albums for Planet Mu moved from amorphous ambient abstractions (Regional Surrealism) to bright yet half-dissolved rave nostalgia (Caramel). With Ways of Seeing, producer/graphic designer Tom Scholefield places a greater focus on beats and melodies, yet his music remains just as dreamy as it was before. Scholefield recorded Ways of Seeing after relocating from his hometown of Glasgow to Berlin, and while the album is certainly his most techno-influenced release yet, it sounds nothing like the sort of dark, paranoid techno one might associate with the city. Instead, it's joyous and even beach-ready, exuding warmth through hazy, lo-fi textures.
Donovan Leitch's instantly recognizable vibrato may not appear until track six, but the casual "Hurdy Gurdy Man" fan has no business picking up this four-disc/sixty-song collection of the Scottish troubadour's four decades of whimsical pop confections and beatnik balladry. Sony's Try for the Sun: The Journey of Donovan includes a previously unreleased documentary from 1970, a lovely book that chronicles the singer/songwriter's storied career, complete with quotes of praise from current hipster bards like Devendra Banhart and the Polyphonic Spree's Tim DeLaughter, and 15 B-sides, rare demos, and live recordings, all housed in the finest faux-purple velvet box one could imagine.