Oct
12th,
2020 Inhaling
Green re-issue is out now The
album has been out of circulation for quite a while,
but now it's back! I took the opportunity
to address various frequency related issues that had
always bothered me on the original - now these have
been fixed in the remastering process and I'm much happier
with the overall sound, especially in headphones. Note
that this is a remaster, not a remix! I'd have
loved to do a remix, however numerous parts were recorded
as audio on a system that is now so obsolete it won't
work on any current device - so those parts are lost
to me forever. It's a salient reminder of the
relentless march of technology, and how so much can
be lost without constant archiving and re-archiving
as formats and digital storage standards change. And
here's the irony - documents written 600 or even
1000 years ago can still be read, but a bunch of
audio files recorded 20 years ago are completely irretrievable.
Aug
24th,
2020 Inhaling
Green is coming back - with extras Although
my second album has been out of print for some
years, people have still been asking whether it will
ever be re-issued, as they missed it the first time
around. Well the good news is that it's coming
out of its cryogenic freezer, buoyed by two bonus tracks.
The first is a completely new recording of 'Night of
the Condor', one of my favourite tracks from my first
album Straight On Til Morning. The second is a
brand new, previously unreleased instrumental
piece, 'Lord Percy's Folly', co-written with Dick Foster.
The artwork has also been freshened up and redesigned
to go with a rather nice LP-style mini gatefold sleeve.
I've
always been fond of this album, and felt it deserved
a second crack of the whip - in particular due to the
title track, which represents my first earnest foray
into the longer-form orchestral prog approach
of later material. Release
date is to be confirmed, but hopefully towards the end
of September - and pre-orders will also be available
very soon. Nov
2nd,
2019 At
last - it's out! After
a long delay and many sleepless nights, Catharsis exists
in the physical world and available now! I'm really
pleased with how it looks and sounds, and so far the
reviews have been really encouraging. Here are
a few...
Sept
19th,
2019 Release
Date Update Apparently
it's a very busy time of year for CD manufacturers,
with numerous other artists also releasing albums.
So we're in competition for factory time! Frustrating,
I know - and consequently the release date has been
adjusted to October 14th to allow for any possible
delay. Apologies in advance if that happens - with luck
we may be able to ship the albums before then. Fingers
crossed, and thanks for hanging in there!
Aug
18th,
2019 On
Sunday 18th, ITfM Radio's 'The John Armes Show' had yours
truly guesting in an hour-and-a-half interview special,
featuring tracks from the new album Catharsis, as well
as a few musical favourites of mine culled from my bizarre
record collection. If you missed the show, it's up now
on Mixcloud - you can listen to it HERE.
Aug
10th,
2019 Here's
a second taster from the album - 'The Devil's
Bridge', featuring vocals by Tony Patterson, with lyrics
by Dick Foster.
July
30th,
2019 OK, it's compilation time! Just two months to go now until the release... Here's a quick taster of the album!
July
24th,
2019 Time
for some
more detailed info about the album!
Catharsis is a personal journey
inspired by the landscape, history and legends of the Ariège region in
the French Pyrénées. Its mountains, caves, stunning vistas and centuries
of often turbulent history cry out to be translated into music. Each
track marks a much loved place in the Ariège, or a time in its history, real or imagined.
Format: Deluxe two-disc, hardback Mediabook with audio CD, 20-minute DVD video, and 36 full-colour pages of photographs and lyrics.
CD Album: Red Blood on White Stone 8.47 Three Tall Towers 4.56 Convivium 3.22 The Devil's Bridge 4.35 The Market At Mirepoix 4.22 Gathering Mists 2.45 A Widow In Black 5.05 Mountain Mother 13.35
DVD: Adventures in the Ariège - a progumentary Extras
Filmed
over a two-year period, the DVD progumentary
delves into the background to the album, visiting
the locations in the Ariège relevant to each
track. We had enormous fun making the video, despite
being deluged by rain in Mirepoix (we made a virtue
of that!) Multiple visits to some places were
often necessary, hanging around waiting for that perfect
cloud formation or a well-timed beam of sunlight - a
perfect opportunity to take in the incredible scenery,
devour a tasty picnic of French bread and cheese and
learn my lines! I wonder if it's like that for
Lucy Worsley?
Release date is still on track for 30/9/2019. I hope to be doing
pre-orders soon - I'll post info about that when it's set up - probably
in the next few weeks.
Oh, and here are some screenshots from the DVD...
July
17th,
2019 The
album masters have been sent to the manufacturer - so
now the anxious wait for the finished product to arrive.
Here's what the front cover looks like...
July 13th,
2019 Catharsis - guest musicians I'm delighted to say the new album features the vocal talents of:
Tony Patterson Amanda Lehmann Pete Hicks Andy Neve
And rocking the electric violin, the multi-talented Steve Unruh (United Progressive Fraternity, Resistor, Samurai of Prog)
Hard workers all, they've now been released from the Magnus Boot Camp!
Oh, and there was some chap called Steve Hackett...
July
12th,
2019 Getting seriously into gear now - I've settled on a manufacturer for the
album. Once the artwork is finalised it can all go off, then it'll be
the long wait for those boxes! No twiddling of thumbs, though - the task
list dosen't seem to get any smaller...
July
8th,
2019 IT'S
DONE!! 'Catharsis' is finally mixed, tech checked,
mastered and finished! I'm really pleased with how it's
turned out. And especially excited because it will also
have something extra that will be a real enhancement. Next
step - off to the manufacturer. More details to
follow...
April
29th,
2019 Forty-two
years ago, four hopeful young prog musicians, collectively
known as Autumn, went into an 8-track demo studio in
Portsmouth to record a selection of tracks. Never once
suspecting those tracks would be released, it wasn't
until 1999 that they were released as a limited run
on CD to critical acclaim, much to surprise of the band.
The album was called Oceanworld. Those musicians
were Mark Easton, Robbie Dobson, Steve Hoff and some
guy called Nick Magnus.
Fast forward another
20 years... and today, April 29th, Oceanworld was released
for the first time on vinyl - just as it would have
been back in 1977. You could think of it
as the album's long delayed homecoming...
Feb
4th,
2019 Whatever
happened to the 2016, 2017 and 2018 blogs? Visitors
to these pages will have noticed an apparent absence
of activity here over the past two years. Or at
least it may appear that way... Facebook has rather
taken over as the best way to keep folks posted
about what's been going on. Unlike FB posts,
these website blogs are only seen if intentionally sought
out. Things have been anything but idle though,
and I'm happy to say I've been beavering away on another
album. It's a few months away yet, but the plan
is to make it something special - more than just an
album! So even if I fail to update these blogs,
you can always check out my Facebook page - any news
of note will appear there first!
)
