Jon Anderson Working On Olias Of Sunhillow Sequel

Jon Anderson has been working on a sequel to his first solo album ‘Olias of Sunhillow’ for the past 6 years. 

Jon describes the album, to be called ‘The Songs of Zamran: Son of Olias’ as a slow baking cake.

“It is ongoing. I have written the story now five times. It is driving me crazy,” the former Yes singer says.

In the six years so far he has been working on Zamran Jon has released other music. “I put out an album called ‘Survival and Other Stories’ last year. Then I put out a piece of music called ‘Open’. ‘Open’ is a 22-minute work and it explains where I am going musically and how Zamram will enventiually appear. It’s not ready yet. It’s like a cake. I have all the ingredients but I haven’t put it in the oven yet,” he said.

For Zamran, Jon has been working with collaborators online from all over the world. “I have written with a lot of musicians through the internet, including with a guy in Australia and someone from France and America. It is a slow process. It will happen when it happens,” he said.

‘Olias of Sunhillow’ was released in 1976. “It is a special album. It was my first solo album and people really loved it,” Jon says. “It still sounds good today. I listened to it about a month ago for the first time in 20 years because a young guy out of Philadelphia started learning the whole album with his friends and he wants to perform it with me next year. So I had to go and learn the songs. I don’t remember any of them”.

Jon wrote, sang and played all instruments on ‘Olias of Sunhillow’. “I locked myself away and went crazy out of my brain,” he said. “If you go to do a solo album you should be by yourself. That’s what I was thinking. I had all the instruments I was going to use like sitar and drums and things. It came out the other end four months later and for the first time I put ‘musician’ on my passport knowing that I was a musician”.

Jon Anderson will tour Australia for Bluesfest.

Sideshow dates are:
March 28, Brisbane, Powerhouse
April 3, Newcastle, Lizottes
April 6, Sydney, Factory Theatre
April 10, Melbourne, The Corner Hotel
April 14, Adelaide, The Gov

source :noise11.com

James LaBrie Producer Hails Next Album

James LaBrie’s producer says the Dream Theater singer’s next album is going to be great – and he’s “super-stoked” to be working on it.

Peter Wichers, who until recently was guitarist with Swedish metal band Soilwork, is behind the desk as LaBrie works on the follow-up to 2010 record Static Impulse.

Wichers says: “I am honoured to be a part of a project with amazing musicians and and people such as James LaBrie, Matt Guillory, Ray Riendeau, Peter Wildoer and Marco Sfogli. All I can say is that this album will be great.”

It’s due out later this year – and so is Dream Theater’s twelfth studio album, which the band will start putting together this month.

Guitarist John Petrucci recently told Metal Insider: “Everybody is hired, the studio is booked, and the vision for the type of album has been talked about and secured.

“Before we go into an album, I like to sit down and think about what we’re going to do instead of just going in and winging it. I’ll usually come up with some sort of proposal, and we’ll talk about it a bunch of times over the course of the month, and get everyone on the same page.”

The record will be Dream Theater’s second with drummer Mike Mangini after the shock departure of ex-mainman Mike Portnoy in 2010. Mangini appeared on A Dramatic Turn Of Events but didn’t contribute as a writer.

Petrucci says: “We wrote it without him and he came in and tracked. This time, he’s going to be in from day one, so we’ll write together as a full group. The tapes that we have from doing that a bit on the road have been incredible – he was really quick and had great creative concepts. I think it’s going to be a very cool experience.”

source :progrockmag.com

Rush Get Lullaby Treatment

Rush are the subject of the latest Rockabye Baby album of lullaby cover versions, to be released on January 29.

The 12-track record – masterminded by Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth’s sister Lisa – includes calmed-down versions of The Spirit Of Radio, Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta, Closer To The Heart and more.

The Hall of Famers’ trademark sound has been reinterpreted with Mellotron, vibraphone and bells, and producers say they’ve turned the volume down from eleven to two.

They ask: “Do you have a modern day warrior putting up a fight at bedtime? Looking for a reliable way to put baby to sleep and not some fly by night sandman? Try Rockabye Baby’s tender lullaby versions of Rush’s hard rock hits. This magic music will bring your baby closer to the heart of slumberland.”

Roth admits the album is more for adults than babies, but hopes both will get something out of the soothing music.

Tracklist
1. 2112: Overture
2. Limelight
3. Fly by Night
4. The Spirit of Radio
5. Freewill
6. Tom Sawyer
7. Working Man
8. A Farewell to Kings
9. The Trees
10. Red Barchetta
11. Subdivisions
12. Closer to the Heart

source :progrockmag.com

Ray Collins of the Mothers of Invention Dies

Ray Collins, a singer who co-founded the Mothers of Invention with Frank Zappa but left when "too much comedy" started appearing in the band's songs, died on Monday Dec 24th at a California hospital. He was 75.

The Claremont, Calif. resident had been at Pomona Valley Hospital since suffering a massive heart attack on Dec. 18, according to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Doctors took him off life support on Saturday.

Collins is responsible for hiring Zappa in 1964 to play guitar for his bar band the Soul Giants, which in short order morphed into the Mothers. Record producer Tom Wilson signed the group to Verve Records and by the time debut album "Freak Out!" emerged in 1966 the band added "of Invention" to their name and Zappa had become the creative leader.

Collins sings lead on much of the avant-garde classic, a double set that includes the single "Who Are the Brain Police?" as well as "Hungry Freaks, Daddy" and the 12-minute "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet."

The album, which did not sell well but holds cult classic status, was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999.

Collins stayed on with the band for 1967's "Absolutely Free" before dropping out before the recording of followup "We're in It for the Money" in 1968. He came back later that year to provide the falsetto parts in the Mothers' doo-wop concept album, "Cruising With Ruben & the Jets" before leaving again out of creative differences with Zappa, who died in 1993.

"Too much comedy, too much making fun of stuff," Collins said in an interview with the Daily Bulletin. "I just wanted to make beautiful music. I was raised on Johnny Mathis and Nat King Cole."

Instead Collins retired from music, living what has been described as an "aimless existence" in the following decades, working as a taxi driver, a dish washer and living out of a van for a number of years. His only income came from songwriting royalties and Social Security.

source :newears.com

No Genesis Revisited For Anthony Phillips

Former Genesis guitarist Anthony Phillips says he’d never consider reworking their music – because he still feels negative about his last six months in the band.

He co-founded Genesis in 1967 alongside Peter Gabriel, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks and Chris Stewart. But he left following the recording of second album Trespass in 1970, after struggling with severe stage fright.

He was replaced by Steve Hackett, who recently released his second Genesis Revisited volume – and although Phillips remains pleased with some of the work he did, he couldn’t bring himself to follow Hackett’s lead.

The guitarist tells Something Else: “My experience on the road during the last terrible six months with Genesis was so traumatic that I think it would be the last thing I would do.”

Asked if his stage fright is now behind him, he says: “It’s not really being put to the test right now – but I fear not.”

However, Phillips believes the band became a much stronger musical force after hitting the road, and their experience helped them move on from the embryonic phase immortalised in debut record From Genesis To Revelation.

He says: “There was a huge, lost world of material in between, as we went from our schoolboy holiday song-based album through similar songs, but more mature, through to our first experiments with longer forms.

“We had to raise the tempo and power to get noisy crowds to listen. We went from songwriters who played a bit on an album to a fully equipped, fighting-force live band.”

Since abandoning live performance Phillips has enjoyed a bus and successful solo career. He boasts a catalogue of 27 albums to his name, including Private Parts and Pieces XI: City of Dreams, which was released earlier this month. But his Genesis work remains important to him.

“I have a lingering affection for the songs from before Trespass,” he says. “I recently came across one called Everywhere Is Here. It’s hopelessly steeped in the 1960s, but I thought: What a gas it would be to do it with Tony on piano, Mike on bass, me on guitar and Pete singing. Those, for me, were the good times.”

source : progrockmag.com

Mastodon Track For Monsters Inc Prequel

Mastodon have revealed they’re writing and recording a song which is set to appear on the soundtrack for Monsters University, the prequel to Pixar’s animated hit movie Monsters Inc.

The prog metal outfit’s haven’t yet named the track that will act as background in the story of how creepy creatures Sulley and Mike, the stars of the 2001 film, met each other.

In a posting on their Facebook page, later removed, the band said: “Writing and recording a song for the new Monsters Inc movie!”

Meanwhile, guitarist and singer Brent Hinds has also revealed that Mastodon are in the process of writing new material for the follow-up album to The Hunter.

He tells MTV: “A lot of the stuff I’m writing is in open G-minor. I’m playing a lot of slide guitar and getting really Jimmy Page, really eerie.” He describes the new material as “Radioheadish and very spooky.”

Hinds isn’t the only band member getting down to business. He explains: “Those dudes are always working. There’s never a shortage of music because all of us are working.”

And while he expects the band will gather in their studio in January, he’s not convinced their next record will appear in 2013.

“We’ve never put out an album a year,” says the axeman. “That would be unlike us. So maybe we could tour for another year on The Hunter. It’s very possible.”

source :progrockmag.com

Hawkwind’s Huw Lloyd Langton Dies

Hawkwind have announced that former member Huw Lloyd Langton has died after a cancer battle. He was 61.

The guitarist joined the band in 1970, appearing on their self-titled first album. He returned for a second stint in 1979 and remained for nine years, ultimately appearing on ten of their records.

He’d been a member of Widowmaker and played as part of Leo Sayer’s band. He’d continued working with Dave Brock – the pair recently performed a charity concert for the Devon Air Ambulance Trust. He also made regular guest appearances with Hawkwind, or performed support slots.

He fronted his own band, the Lloyd Langton Group, which released nine albums. He also played session guitar for the Meads of Asphodel.

The band say in a statement: “Our great friend and fellow musician Huw Lloyd Langton has sadly lost his long battle with cancer. He passed away peacefully last night (Thursday) at home, with his wife Marion by his side.

“Huw had been bravely fighting cancer for a couple of years, but was determined not to let the battle affect his day to day life. He continued to play his guitar, laugh, joke and share the great love he had in his heart, with all who knew him.

“As he wished, he was at home when the time came.

“Huw was one of the great guitarists with an individual style and character. He is gone but never forgotten by any of us. He will live on in our music and in our hearts.

“A book of condolence has been opened.”

source :newears.org