The first public performance by Pallas' new vocalist Paul Mackie took place at Aberdeen Tunnels on Friday 23rd April and to mark the occasion both the gig and the rehearsal was recorded and will be released as a download under the title "Reel and Raw", as the name suggests it captures the band live and as live at the rehearsal with no overdubs, multitracking or going back to fix the odd glitch.



A press release from the band says:

The "Reel", as in reel to reel, section was recorded a few days before the gig at The Mill recording studio where the band are also working on the new album "XXV". Four tracks from the new album are featured in the current live set so Reel and Raw allows a sneak preview that only hints at what is to come. XXV is conceived as a follow up to The Sentinel set 25 years later when mankind has not lived up to their potential. Developments of familiar musical and lyrical themes will be heard on Young God and Fall & Rise and Violet Sky is probably destined to be a full blown Pallas classic though the current version is stripped of its rather special big ending, we can't be giving away all our secrets just yet!

The "Raw" section was recorded directly from the soundboard and ambient microphones at The Tunnels, a venue under the main street of the bands home town of Aberdeen reminiscent of some of the great club venues the band has played in Europe, with the same great atmosphere too, quite a night to remember and well worth sharing with you we think!

With a couple of gigs under our belts this year we've some more coming up: The Peel Saturday 22 May and the Glasgow Ferry Sat 7th August. The downloads are available HERE.

The new single "Nothing At Best", the first to be taken from the new album "Someone Here Is Missing", will be available to download from iTunes from May 17th. The b-side to the single "Open Waters" is an exclusive digital only track written during the album sessions and only recently completed for the "Nothing At Best" single.

The new video for "Nothing At Best" directed by Arnfinn Moseng & Negar Bagheri is now premiering on the album mini-site. Combining 2D animation techniques with live action special effects, Arnfinn and Negar have created a beautiful film noir-esque video which captures the mood of Nothing at Best perfectly.

Tigermoth Records is delighted to announce the release of the long-awaited debut solo album by Magenta front woman Christina - “Broken Lives and Bleeding Hearts” on June 1st. A limited edition pre-order is NOW available from the Magenta shop. The first 100 CDs ordered will also be signed by Christina.

Christina has co-written all 10 tracks with long-time collaborator and multi-instrumentalist Rob Reed (Magenta, Trippa, ChimpanA) who also mixed and produced the album. Other guests on the album include John Mitchell (It Bites, Frost), Steve Balsamo (The Storys, ChimpanA), Troy Donockley (Barbara Dickson, the Bad Shepherds) and Chris Fry (Magenta), with a wonderful remix of “Deep Ocean” by Jem Godfrey (Frost).

Says Christina of the album: "Although it’s not Prog, it’s pretty varied and I hope that Magenta fans will find plenty to like. It’s certainly been a labour of love, and I really believe it’s the finest set of songs I’ve ever written."

Varied it certainly is, from the acoustic, gospel-tinged opener “Free” to the progressive pop of “Immortality”, and the dramatic balladry of “Tales of Tales of Broken Hearts”, not to mention the bluesy swagger of “Do or die” or the smooth, jazzy “Deep Ocean”. These are songs that are immediate yet full of depth, beautifully performed by the Cardiff-based singer songwriter.

Christina also talks about the heartfelt subject matter of the album: "All of the songs look at the up and downs of human relationships. Inevitably, there’s a lot of heartbreak involved, but I’ve also tried to show how resilient the human heart can be, so there’s an upbeat message too." She laughs. "So I guess, it’s a bit of a concept album!"

A five minute sampler of the album can be heard at the Christina's MySpace page. The opening song “Free” can be downloaded HERE and a video for the song is now available on the Myspace page or on YouTube. Watch out for news of a launch gig, coming very soon.

Norwegian prog band Airbag are to start work on a new album on May 27th. The as yet untitled follow up to their 2009 debut album "Identity" will be recorded through the Spring and Summer of 2010. The band's original drummer Joachim Slikker left the band in March of this year and Henrik Fossum, who was behind the kit at the iOpages festival will be playing drums on the upcoming album. The band commented on the upcoming sessions on their website, saying: "We have lots of new songs that we intend to record and some of them will end up on the record. We’re extremely excited and proud and can’t wait for you all to hear it!"

arK, the band led by John Jowitt (IQ, Arena and Frost*) have formally signed to the ProgRock Records label for the release of their forthcoming album 'Wild Untamed Imaginings'.

Shawn Gordon, President & CEO of Prog Rock Records, said: "I'm delighted to welcome John Jowitt and arK to my label, ProgRock Records. "Back in the mid-90's I had a musical epiphany - I discovered that prog hadn't gone away, it had just become harder to find for a guy in California. I soon discovered a wealth of new bands in England, well they were new to me! Bands like Jadis, IQ, Pendragon, Shadowland and others. "And there were a couple of common denominators: musicians whose names just kept popping up in the best of this music. One of those was John Jowitt. I had the pleasure of meeting John and seeing him play at the first two ROSFest gatherings and I was hugely impressed with the quality of music he was involved with. "So when he approached me about arK, I didn't hesitate for a second. It's great to welcome John and arK to a group of artists which includes the likes of James LaBrie, Steve Walsh, Michael Sadler and many other notables from the Progressive Rock firmament."

John Jowitt commented "We're as pleased as punch to be working with Prog Rock Records on the new arK album. I've known Shawn for many years from playing shows in the States and his passion for the bands and the music really stood out - he really wanted to make this happen. We're very excited to be working with Shawn and looking forward to bringing our very English band to a world-wide audience." Joining Jowitt in the 2010 incarnation of arK are original members Tony Short on vocals and flute, Pete Wheatley - lead guitar, Steve Harris - guitar synth, and new member Tim Churchman, formerly of Darwin's Radio, on drums Jowitt, currently voted British Classic Rock Society's best bass player, describes the sound as theatrical, folky & proggy!

After much discussion and soul searching, it has been mutually decided that Guy will no longer be partaking in future Tangent activities. Both Guy & Andy (Tillison) would like it to be known that this decision has been reached amicably. The reasons are simply the fact that Guy's band MANNING and THE TANGENT are both working hard on projects (both on stage and in the studio) and over the past two years, progress for both bands has been halted as a result of intense activity by one or the other. This leaves Guy free to focus entirely on his own music, and for the Tangent's new four piece lineup augmented where possible by Theo Travis, to arrange gigs and recording sessions equally independently. Both Guy and Andy are sure that this will not be the end of musical collaborations between them. They are parting company in just ONE respect, i.e The Tangent.

Both MANNING and the TANGENT have recently had successful and very well received performances at major festivals and the future looks good for both parties. On a personal note, Guy and Andy would like to add that their work together in the Tangent has been very rewarding and also a lot of fun. They both feel very proud of what the band has produced/achieved.

Best wishes from both.

Credo's third album will be released in the Autumn of 2010, a follow up to their 2005 "Rhetoric" release. A name was decided for the album at the beginning of May,with the band saying:

"After trimming our long list of suggestions down to a shortlist of a dozen, and hummed and hawed over whether to have a Proportional Representation or a First Past The Post electoral system, and had secret meetings with minority parties to form a coalition, we have a democratically elected new album title: 'Against Reason'".

Produced again by Mike Varty, mixed by Karl Groom and recorded and mixed at Gargoyle Studios and Thin Ice, the album will be released on F2 Music and extensive touring will follow in Autumn 2010.

Roger Hodgson has issued a list of songs that he expects Supertramp not to play during the 70/10 Supertramp Tour, which include Dreamer, The Logical Song, Give A Little Bit, It’s Raining Again, Breakfast in America and Sister Moonshine… Me Roger Hodgson’s website delineates the songs in full ...

“When Roger Hodgson left Supertramp 27 years ago he and Rick agreed that the band would not play Roger’s songs. Their agreement was for Supertramp to become a vehicle for Rick’s music and Roger would go forward with his future secured by his songs and his voice. And it wasn’t just a gentleman’s agreement. The publishing company & the contract legally recognize which songs each songwriter actually wrote and Roger was given legal copyright and approval rights for his songs and Rick for his.”

Rick Davies has issued the following statement on the Supertramp website:

“In June of 2008 Rick Davies went to meet with Roger Hodgson to discuss the possibility of a reunion with him. After fifteen months of discussions, last fall Rick and Roger did not come to an agreement as was hoped. Roger decided to continue his solo career as he has since leaving Supertramp twenty-seven years ago.

After a bit of soul searching and much encouragement and support from Supertramp’s longstanding promoters, Rick decided to put the band back on the road. The “70-10 Tour” is a celebration of 40 years of Supertramp, which Rick started in 1970, but it is not a reunion with Roger Hodgson. We wish Roger well and look forward to playing for you this fall.

We sincerely hope this puts an end to the confusion that has been circulating on the internet and in the press”.

In response to an ever-increasing popular demand, The Reasoning’s second release of 2010 will be a full acoustic album, entitled Acoustically Speaking. Featuring 10 tracks, this will bring you reworked, re-interpreted acoustic versions of tracks from all three of our studio albums. Work in the studio begins on May 17th (next week!), with a view to having the completed product available by the second week in July, in good time for the Highway to High Voltage evening.

Following the festival, we want to bring you as many live acoustic shows in the UK as possible throughout the summer season. This is where we’d like offer all of you the opportunity to get involved…in a big way!

First of all, we will running a competition over the coming weeks, to find a guest percussionist for the album, so please start practicing your tambourine skills! Our second proposition is as follows. If you would like The Reasoning to perform an acoustic show at your local venue/pub, etc, then we want to hear from you right now. Please send your request and your contact details to Graeme at Cathedral Management info at cathedralmanagement dot com - and he will tell you exactly what you need to do next.

The remainder of the year promises to be equally busy and action-packed. We’re off on our travels again this September to Europe and Scandinavia (including a couple of shows in Norway with the awesome Pagan’s Mind) and there will be another UK headline tour from The Reasoning in November…for which we have a few surprises in store. As if that weren’t enough, writing for our fourth studio album is already underway, so watch this space for further details.

In order to celebrate its 10th anniversary, the Prog Résiste Convention will take place in the Spirit of 66 (Verviers, Belgium), as usual, on October 8th, 9th and 10th. The main event will take place on Saturday and Sunday with only "prog headliners" to be revealed on June 1st. On Friday 8th, a special event (Convention-Off) will be scheduled. More details to be announced HERE (select 2010 to access the 2010 section). The website is only available in French.

Another event will take place on October 9th in Ciney (Belgium), in the Salle Cecoco : The third part of the "Echoes of the Sun" Floydian Convention for Pink Floyd fans with an exhibition "In the heart of the Moon" starting at 17.00 and two tribute concerts scheduled at 18.30 by Terminal Frost and Cover Age. Further info can be found HERE.

...we just would like you to know that the three final bands have been added to the line-up. On Friday 1 October, the festival will be opened by the French band KLONE, who will released new album right now. On Saturday talented newcomer HAKEN from the UK will open and on Sunday LOVE DE VICE from Poland will open the last day of the festival. The complete line-up is:

Check out: www.progpower.eu for further details.

In a recent interview for with Chord Struck Magazine Wilson mentions the “early days” of the project ... "I started writing with Mikael [Åkerfeldt] last month, finally. It's still in the very early days. We wrote about 15 minutes of music last month in my studio near London and we're very excited about it. I think people are going to be very surprised by the direction. If they're expecting some kind of death-metal-progressive rock, they're going to be surprised [because] it's not like that," Wilson continues. "If you put the two of us together, the last thing we're going to do is something similar to what people already know from our most high profile project. It's very arty, very ambitious; it's going to be epic. We're still writing. [It's going to be] very dark, very twisted, very experimental. It's still rock music, but we're trying to do something really, really special and really different with this."

Read the full article HERE.

Steven W's "IEM" (Complete IEM Box Set) is available for pre-order. The box set of 4 cds contains the complete recordings made by SW between 1996-2001 for his krautrock inspired project The Incredible Expanding Mindfuck in a stunningly packaged 4 CD box set on ToneFloat. Complete I.E.M. contains every single note officially released by the project, 3 full length albums and 1 EP, each presented in its own Japanese style mini LP sleeve, packaged in a hardback slipcase box accompanied by a Carl Glover designed 60 page-booklet. This release is both an homage and a final farewell to I.E.M. and is strictly limited to 2,000 copies worldwide. Shipped in a high quality protective cardboard mailer.

You can pre-order the Box set from Head Phone Dust mail order.

"Ahead Of The Field" is a library album which Ant composed for music publishers De Wolfe/Rouge Music. Originally commissioned in 1984, it's now being released as a commercial album for the first time. The album's primarily a showcase for Ant as a composer rather than a performer. As a library project it had a number of requirements in the initial brief, a key one being the use of then-contemporary electronic drum and synthesiser sounds.


In 2 weeks time we'll also be accepting pre-orders for Ant's "Sail The World" 2010 reissue. Ant has again agreed to sign all pre-orders! Sail The World (originally released in 1994) features music composed and recorded by Ant for the TV coverage of the Whitbread Around The World Yacht Race. It's a remastered reissue with 3 extra tracks and new artwork!

Montreal-based "Mystery", featuring Benoit David, the current lead singer of Yes, along with "Hamadryad", will both officially launch their latest releases with a double-bill show on Saturday, May 22 2010 at the Olympia de Montréal (1004 St-Catherine Street East, Montréal • 514-845-3524).

For Mystery, "One Among the Living" is their 5th studio album, and for Hamadryad, their 4th release is entitled "Intrusion".


This show will also celebrate Mystery's return from their highly anticipated gig at RoSFest 2010 in Gettysburg, PA, and Hamadryad's upcoming European tour scheduled to begin in August 2010 where they will headline the prestigious Crescendo festival in France. Both bands will also promote the release of their new albums and will tour throughout Quebec in 2010. Tickets are on sale at the Olympia boxoffice and through Admission.

It is our great pleasure to announce the third edition of Ino-Rock Festival which, just like in previous years, will take place in the fabulous scenery of the Brine Park (Park Solankowy) in a Polish spa resort, Inowroclaw. This time, on September 11th, we will see the performances of four fantastic bands: Votum, Airbag, Ozric Tentacles and Anathema.

It’s spring again and Mangrove is looking forward to a great May month! And we wish the same to our fans: so check out the special low price of only 10 euro for every cd bought through our webshop! Furthermore every cd will be signed by the band members. Now there is no reason anymore to not getting introduced to the world of Mangrove music. And there’s no reason anymore not completing your Mangrove collection! This is your chance: special prices only during May!