Remember Us (The Pineapple Thief, 2003)

No doubt the closing track from the album "Variations on A Dream" is one of the best achievements by The Pineapple Thief and not only because of its duration time (some 16 minutes). This song is based on beautiful chords and strongly build on melodic grounds. The instrumental passages are simply perfect, exploring both modern and traditional prog, settng up a deep and atmospheric mood. The central spacey section also has a psychedelic taste, and the following arpeggio introducing the electronic side of the track couldn't be more suitable.

This is the 2011 K-scope remix artwork. The original release

on Cyclops catalogue (2003) came with a different cover.

Different horizons seem to match into an evocative and diversified musical trip, where wonders and emotions follow each other. And if Prog Rock main problem lies on transitions, The Pineapple Thief certainly worked it out, providing unpredictable and moving gateways between their different worlds. In a word, this is an unmissable track, one of the 21st Century milestones of our genre.

Don't Go Deep Into The Forest (Aican, 2016)

These Russian musicians really got me. Their approach to music is original and challenging, featuring a great deal of moods and inspiration sources. Even without keyboards, their 2016 second album is full of progressive treasures and musical charms. This title track, for example, ranges from modern prog to space/ambient music, including some metal hints here and there.

Lena Kotek is responsible of this beautiful cover art.

The arcane background of the song, the strongly effected riffs and the sweet, even melodic sections build up a long and evocative journey through an inner forest of sounds and emotions. I especially like the final part of this epic, a beautiful specimen of guitarist Vitaly ‘Krikston’ Pereladov's eclectic style, including dreamy, distorted and even bluesy elements, beautifully supported by the rythm section, namely Roman Varaksin and Max Shein. Believe me: this is worth your next twenty minutes of spare time.

Desert (Steve Linnegar's Snakeshed, 1982)

These musicians come from South Africa and this is maybe their proggest track, a 14 minutes song deeply influenced (IMHO) by Animals-era Pink Floyd and some pastoral British bands. Guitarist duo Steve Linnegar and Martin Kopelowitz  founded this band in Cape Town and recorded theirt first album between South Africa and London. I do think this is a fascinating and enjoyable composition, featuring atmospheric passages and beautiful tempo changes, even if I read many ungenerous reviews about this track and "Classic Epics" album, labelled as a derivative and "less than average prog pop" release.

The cover reveals Linnegar & Kopelowitz's passion for martial arts.

Likely because of my musical ignorance, I confess that I enjoyed "Desert" very much, and I still listen to it from time to time. What I especially like here is the open minded approach of the band, melting so many different styles in one coherent song, with a liquid and warm texture where prog meets soul. I'd like to know my progfriends' opinion about this old piece of music.