"prog rock is again being hailed for restoring art to modern rock, allowing innovative musicianship to be revered instead of reviled."

Renée Graham of The Boston Globe takes a look at the perceived prog rock revival in this article. Perhaps a return to prog rock as a legitimately respected and commercially viable musical genre would help curb the piracy problem….who wants to wait to download a 25 minute drum solo from a P2P network? It’s quicker to drive to Best Buy….

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"It’s wildly, glorious excessive, indulging the prog-rock impulses that are simply too ecstatic for rock to leave behind." — John Pareles @ the New York Times offers his take on the new Mars Volta album.

"…the result is a homogeneous shitheap of stream-of-consciousness turgidity." Sam Ubl over at Pitchfork has a slightly different viewpoint than John Pareles on the new Mars Volta album.

"Focus groups are toilet paper: They’re only used to cover your ass. You can get
a focus group to tell you anything you want. When we do focus groups, tastings
really, we have two choices: Does it taste good, or does it taste like crap?
Yummy or crappy? Good or bad? It’s not rocket science. And you get really good
information. You have to be careful to make a distinction between getting the
answers you want and honest answers." –the CEO of Jones Soda has a few pearls of marketing wisdom for Fast Company.

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My colleagues who don’t appreciate my prog rock proclivities are advised to stop reading this post now and go back to fawning over the Bright Eyes album. This post is of interest to those colleagues who’ve requested to see a bit more about the music near and dear to my heart, and also for those friends and freaky acquaintances who still have tattered Roger Dean posters on their walls and a well-thumbed copy of "The Hobbit" by the bedside…

Rhino will release the long awaited 3 CD box set of previously unreleased live material from Yes on May 10th. Here’s the tracklisting, along with the date and location of the recording:

Disc 1

1. Then John Peel’s Sunday Show (3/12/70) 5:16
2. For Everyone John Peel’s Sunday Show (3/12/70) 4:35
3. Astral Traveller Konserthuset, Gothenberg, Sweden (1/24/71) 7:27
4. Everydays Konserthuset, Gothenberg, Sweden (1/24/71) 11:05
5. Yours Is No Disgrace Crystal Palace Bowl, London (7/31/71) 11:50
6. I’ve Seen All Good People Crystal Palace Bowl, London (7/31/71) 8:22
7. America Crystal Palace Bowl, London (7/31/71) 16:20
8. It’s Love Crystal Palace Bowl, London (7/31/71) 10:35

Disc 2

1. Apocalypse Cobo Hall, Detroit (8/17/76) 3:04
2. Siberian Khatru Cobo Hall, Detroit (8/17/76) 10:11
3. Sound Chaser Cobo Hall, Detroit (8/17/76) 11:18
4. Sweet Dreams Queen’s Park Rangers Football Ground, London (5/10/75) 6:20
5. Future Times/Rejoice Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA (10/8/78) 7:04
6. Circus Of Heaven Forum, Inglewood, CA (10/5/78) 4:54
7. The
   Big Medley (Time And A Word/Long Distance Runaround/Survival/The
   Fish/Perpetual Change/Soon) Forum, Inglewood, CA (10/5/78) 25:51
8. Hello Chicago International Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL (6/9/79) 2:11
9. Roundabout International Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL (6/10/79) 8:40

Disc 3

1. Heart Of The Sunrise Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA (10/8/78) 11:30
2. Awaken International Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL (6/10/79) 18:13
3. Go Through This Madison Square Garden, NY (9/6/80) 4:12
4. We Can Fly From Here Madison Square Garden, NY (9/6/80) 7:01
5. Tempus Fugit Madison Square Garden, NY (9/6/80) 5:26
6. Rhythm Of Love Houston Summit, TX (2/19/88) 7:00
7. Hold On Houston Summit, TX (2/19/88) 7:20
8. Shoot High, Aim Low Houston Summit, TX (2/19/88) 8:40
9. Make It Easy/Owner Of A Lonely Heart Houston Summit, TX (2/19/88) 6:32

As a longtime fan and collector of unofficial live Yes recordings, this collection is the kind of thing I’ve been hoping to see released. Let’s just hope it sells enough to keep Rhino motivated to mine the vaults….

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A tip of the hat to the just released Hatwise Choice compilation which is a stellar collection of previously unreleased rare and live tracks by Canterbury legends Hatfield & the North.

Hatfield & the North recorded 2 superb albums for Virgin in their 3 years as a band and toured Europe relentlessly. With elements of pop, jazz and the absurdist humor that was a hallmark of the 60s/70s Canterbury scene, Hatfield & the North was prog rock that didn’t take itself too seriously. Despite the intricate passages and complex arrangements, they managed to avoid the overly-long solos and grandiosity that gave prog rock a bad name. And unlike many of their prog rock bretheren (who couldn’t swing if they were in a hammock), the Hatfields were able to balance their instrumental verbosity with jazzy grooves that were very infectious.

And now 30 years later, the band themselves has released this compilation, with tracks selected by the band members themselves, wonderful packaging and fascinating liner notes. For a premium, you can purchase a version autographed by the band. This release is highly recommended.

Hatfield & the North are but one of thousands of bands from the last 30 years who flew under the popular music radar but developed a fanbase that continues to show interest. The ability to press a small run of discs targeted to hardcore fans and create a simple mechanism through the net to sell them is a growing segment of the industry that artists and labels should be watching, emulating and improving upon. So much tape is sitting around deteriorating when it could be generating income for artists and labels while making a fanbase very, very happy.

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I highly recommend downloading this live recording of the Hellborg, Lane and Sipe Trio. Bassist Jonas Hellborg, guitarist Shawn Lane, and Drummer Jeff Sipe (aka Apt. Q258) first started playing together in 1995. They toured pretty relentlessly through June of 1997 before splitting. They have released four albums as a trio, all of which are live. They allowed the taping of their live shows (often giving soundboard patches) and encouraged the sharing of those shows through tape trading. This free download is one of those live recordings,
and one of their last as a band.

Bassist Jonas Hellborg had cut his teeth with guitarist John McLaughlin, serving as the bassist for McLaughlin’s 80s formation of Mahavishnu. Sipe had played drums for Zappa/Fusion/Sun Ra influenced Aquarium Rescue Unit under the leadership of Col. Bruce Hampton. Sipe also played drums with neo-bluegrass jamband Leftover Salmon. Both are truly amazing players, but it’s the guitar that is the heart and soul of this trio.

Shawn Lane was one of the most moving, profound andextraordinary musicians I’ve ever heard, with a technique that bordered on genius. So much of his music so powerful yet it has remained criminally underheard. Sadly, Shawn Lane died on September 26, 2003 at the age of 40. His official website can be found here.

I’m perpetually fascinated by the experience of how music, musicians and audience find one another. The inertia of the one-to-one and one-to-many relationships is accelerated, focused and refined, with patterns and "webs of trust" becoming more prominent and intuitive to navigate. This ability to discover and hear music through the Internet is a remarkable system with a
lot of moving parts that’s occasionally taken for granted, sometimes taken advantage of and mis-utilized, but often very rewarding. Hear for yourself….

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Happy Birthday…my blog enters the world today….this blog shares birthdays with my sister, and also with Yes vocalist Jon Anderson.

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