Last year was, I think I mentioned in my last post, a strange year for most if not all of us. Many of the effects of 'Lockdown' on us - as individuals and as a society - are yet to be fully realised, but one thing I've noticed about myself is what I can best describe as an increased 'meh' to most things. The tedium of spending so much time in the same space, with little interaction with anyone other than the one closest to me, and very little change in scenery other than for my daily walk - usually over the same route - is perhaps beginning to have consequences for my overall mood and demeanour.
There have been some positives to this almost house arrest: I've got a lot more reading done than in previous years; I've spoken to my mother on the phone more frequently than I have done; I've explored more of Derbyshire during the brief respites between lockdowns. But I've missed just popping out for a day trip somewhere, or to visit family; I've missed going to gigs and meeting friends for a drink and a chat; heaven help me, I've even missed shopping!
As we have seen recently with the demise of Debenhams & Arcadia Group stores from what's left of our High Streets, shopping is now increasingly, and perhaps irreversibly, happening more on-line - as is meeting, working and worshipping. Will a return to 'normality' see that change back? Only time will tell.
Music has not totally stopped: new music has arrived this year, and there are four albums so far this year that have aroused my interest in some shape or form.
Secondly is the fifth album, and the first since 2014, from Prog 'supergroup', Transatlantic. Their latest offering - The Absolute Universe - comes as a 65-minute single CD, subtitled 'The Breath of Life' (Abridged Version) and/or as a 91-minute double CD, subtitled 'Forevermore' (Extended Version), and as a 97-minute 'Ultimate' blu-ray version. Only a Prog band would feel that 65 minutes is abridged, and needs extending to 91 minutes, or even 97! The music is typically Transatlantic, with clear vocal contributions from ex-Spock's Beard front-man Neal Morse and Flower Kings' Roine Stolt. There's nothing to my ears particularly surprising about this collection: it is cinematic, epic prog, emotively played and sung, and Neal manages to work his spirituality in as expected, but not in an overtly cloying way. There are subtle differences between the two versions, other than the running time which, for the completist, probably means that both are needed. The only oddity for me is that the closing track on both - a song called 'Love Made A Way' - has a closing chord that lasts almost 2 minutes (with other stuff happening over it)! If you like Transatlantic, you'll probably like this...
Steve Hackett has been nothing short of prolific over the past 10 years, with 5 studio albums, regular tours and 6 live albums from those tours, and he has now released his first collection of classical guitar music since 2008's 'Tribute' - 'Under A Mediterranean Sky'. This is wonderfully evocative - perfect for a dank, drizzly February afternoon - conjuring-up as it does the warm sun and azure skies of Italy and Spain.
And finally comes one of the most anticipated albums so far of this year, and one, like its predecessor, of the most 'Marmite' albums: Steven Wilson's 'The Future Bites'. Wilson has a way of managing to attract and repel equally; to strike both anticipation and disdain in the hearts of his listeners. The issue for many (I venture to state) is that his more recent albums haven't sounded like Deadwing, or anything else that Porcupine Tree recorded, but then if Progressive music continued to sound like it always has done, would it be 'progressive'? Wilson, it seems to me, is pushing the door (and sometimes the walls as well) of 'progressive' music, and perhaps taking it a step or two further. In The Future Bites there are 'flirtations' with Pop, and with EDM, but there are also - particularly in the Deluxe Edition 3-disc set (a concept that he wickedly appears to send up in the excellent 'Personal Shopper') some clear echoes of PT at their best. This is a telling critique of (post)modern life and its (at times) obsession with celebrity, 'retail therapy' and social media. It is a record which grows with listening: yes, one that jars at times musically, if one is not used to the different styles and genres used, but a forward-thinking piece of progressive music in a time of uncertainty and stagnation.
There has been other music this year, but there'll be time for that later (some of it's not released until March!). But let me know what you think...
Excellent!
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