Time to revive this thread!
The latest albums to listen to are:
Progstreaming:
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Jack O' The Clock - "Repetitions Of The Old City II"
I heard of this band quite a few times and I remember trying out some of their music, but nothing stuck. Apparently this is a sequel to their 2016 release. The violins, banjos, flutes and other interesting instruments are giving it a folk sound. It makes me think of
Jethro Tull in places (because of the vocals). Of course I'm only quickly skipping through the songs for the purpose of this thread, but I can definitely see myself listening to this! It goes into my playlist in any case.
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Fuchs - "Station Songs"
Hans-Jürgen Fuchs is a German multi-instrumentalist and the husband of Ines Fuchs (
Ines has her own Neo-Prog band). First song (
The Invisible Man) has a
Supper's Ready section in the middle. Kind of a rip off, but a real nice one at that. Nice keyboard sounds. It has a Neo-Prog vibe to it. Obviously their main reference is
Genesis. I think it's somewhere between
Barock Project or
Big Big Train. Some very nice melodies and Tony Banks-y chords. Not bad at all!
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Armonite - "And The Stars Above"
A mostly instrumental band with some classical influences. Some of the nice bass parts are played by the immediately recognizable Colin Edwin (
Porcupine Tree). But apart from that, there's not really a PT influence. It's pretty bombastic and ambitious. And it might be a bit too much for someone who prefers vocals alongside the music. Try for yourself. I think it's pretty cool.
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Subsignal - "La Muerta"
Well, what can I say. I don't think this needs an introduction. Catchy stuff again! I already ordered the CD. When I was listening to this I liked it instantly, which was not the case with their previous album. But it WAS the case with "Paraíso". I think this album is a return to form. You just can't ignore this album.
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Lunatic Soul - "Under The Fragmented Sky"
Typically
Lunatic Soul. What a strange way to start the album. The repetitive structure of many of these songs is very mesmerizing. I think I like this better than "Fractured". But to be honest, I haven't listened a lot to that one. This album is more like the first two albums.
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Homunculus Res - "Della Stessa Sostanza Dei Sogni"
If you're allergic to Italian Prog, the title of this album might make you nauseous. But this is not typical RPI. It's more reminiscent of the Canterbury scene. It does have Italian lyrics though. I think it's pretty charming music. If they told me this was written and recorded in the 70's, I would believe it immediately.
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Gazpacho - "Soyuz"
And then there's the new Gazpacho. Again, this needs no introduction. Everybody knows that you cannot judge an album of this band after less than five listens. So I won't. It does sound like Gazpacho again. Nothing really changed in ten years. I have this on CD and it's my intention to really enjoy it in the future. Not yet though.
That's enough for now, concerning Progstreaming. (There's also
Feronia,
AElementi,
Marygold,
Monnalisa,
Arcaprogjet and a lot more!)
Because I also want to tell something about
Progstreaming Extended (for Spotify/Apple Music/Deezer users):
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Spock's Beard - "Noise Floor"
I was listening to this yesterday, and was surprised. The band said this album would be more straight forward. Fans and critics were either praising or loathing the new direction. But I don't hear it. It's again very decent Spock's prog. Opener
To Breathe Another Day kicks in very convincingly. I think they keep this momentum for the rest of the album. I never really got into "The Oblivion Particle", which I found to be a bit of a mixed bag. This on the other hand, is probably the best Spock's Beard album with Ted Leonard. I was really surprised by
So This Is Life, which sounds like ELO, complete with the vocoder, the string section, the harmony vocals and the "this is over" lyrics. Ted does his best Jeff Lynne impression. Love it.
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Arena - "Double Vision"
Yup, it's there. So if anyone still hasn't heard it: it's there. But seriously, you haven't heard it? It's awesome!!!
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TumbleTown - "Never Too Late"
Ok, so I guess it's never too late (haha...
) to discover a new band, right? A Dutch band that screams Neo-Prog. The keyboard player is Erik Laan (
Silhouette) and he has some nice sounds in his toolbox. Other participants are members of
Seven Day Hunt. I can't help it, but the vocals feel a bit misplaced. This album is not bad, but I don't think I'll push myself to listen more to this.
Another mention for a band on
Progstreaming Access (and then I'll promise to stop)
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Colouratura - "Unfamiliar Skies"
If anyone is into Canterbury Scene, then you should check this out. This is very relaxing and takes me back more than a few years. There's a lot of jazz and psychedelic in the package as well. The singer reminds me of Richard Sinclair (
Caravan). But it's mostly instrumental anyways. The mixing gives it a real Retro-prog sound which is nice if you're into that.
Vesuvian Tidepools is a nice instrumental song! There's a lot to like! I wonder what you guys make of it.
