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.

Movement IV (Clearlight, 2003)

You'll find more about Cyrille Verdeaux and his musical creature Clearlight elsewhere in my blog. Suffice to say here that this talented keyboardist and composer came back in 2003 with another spiritual and symphonic work full of magic and involving a dozen musicians. I know I should consider the whole album as a single suite divided into six movements, but I think some of them are stand alone tracks, especially this fourth one.

"Infinite Symphony" was the eighth studio album by Clearlight.

The concept of "Infinite Symphony" is based on Indian religions and links this work to other compositions by Verdeaux. But don't worry: "Movement IV" isn't a new age track, just inteded for relaxation and spiritual isolation. This is a solid progressive composition, where a variety of instruments and themes build up an epic mood where the piano, the winds and the electric violin (played by Trevor Lloyd) play a leading role. I feel an inner energy in this music and I appreciate the open minded arrangements of such a flushing instrumental. Definitely, Clearlight are hard to die.

Yellow Garden (Taal, 2003)

Frankly, it's impossible to give even a vague definition to Taal's music. The words eclectic and innovative are just approximate labels to begin with. These French musicians released two albums in the early 2000s and apparently love all kinds of music. More than this, they have the cultural and creative strength to put all those inspirations into well structured and coherent songs. This is the case with "Yellow Garden", coming from the album "Skymind".

"Skymind" was the second studio album by Poitiers-based Taal.

A bit of Symphonic rock (on the King Crimson side), a pinch of gypsy music, just a smell of heavy rock... and here you are an enthralling piece of prog, so thick and rich that you have to listen to it many times in a row to catch all the sophisticated solutions Taal found out. Electronic effects, distorted guitars, piano vibrations, violin and church bells... just name it! And the themes are so good... what else should a poor progfan ask for?

Dances on Gobelins (X Religion, 2003)

I enjoyed this track very much, as I like weird, pseudo-gothic things, especially when a good deal of irony is involved. If you ask me, this could be a perfect soundtrack for a Tim Burton's film: there's that same kind of childhood's magic and the right amount of fantasy too. This is a band from Uzbekistan - yeah, Uzbekistan, not Greater London - and before this "Dances on Gobelins" they had released some harder kind of prog with a different name.

I think this is a good example of electronic-oriented prog.

 

X Religion like electronic devices: Albert 'Al-Bird' Khalmurzayev plays up-to-date keyboards and here you'll also find an excellent bass work (via Digitech) by Vitaly 'Progressor' Menshikov. The third member is Valery 'Ptero' Vorobjov, whose electronic drumming tops the band's electro-pie in such a coherent way that I'll forgive them the lack of a "true" drum set. And also their nicknames. Furthermore, I must admit that in this instrumental track electronics go on well with a clearly classical inspiration and the final effect is a very pleasant one.

Windowpane (Opeth, 2003)

This is the opening track of Opeth's first truly progressive album, titled "Damnation". And this is for those loving gloomy, morn atmospheres, sad themes and mournful sounds. But this is also a beautiful song, full of poetry and packed with Mellotron-driven nostalgy, a song that captures all the subtle charms of a rainy day seen through a windowpane and all the grey, elegant visions of such a narrow landscape.

 

"Damnation" is a morn and beautiful work, IMHO.

The track begins like a Scandinavian post-prog one, with a pulsing, constant rythm supporting a slow and claustrophobic keyboard work, but the songs goes on in a rather surprising way. A splendid finale including a dreaming guitar and a Keys-bass guitar interplay widens the perspective and brings back a pure progressive sound. Steven Wilson's production does all the rest.

Birthday Card at Christmas (Jethro Tull, 2003)

Well, today is Christmas, after all. And this is a great song, IMHO. It's the opening one of "The Jethro Tull Christmas Album", a band's hardly predictable hit released in 2003. Ian Anderson explained this song title: his daughter was born on Christmas day and her birthday was always on a minor key, as the big event somehow diminished it. So, this is kind of a repayment for her and all the others born that same day.

...And what a beautiful, seasonal cover art!

It's a short and folkish track with a very strong and beautiful flute intro leading to a classical Jethro Tull's ballad. Another splendid flute solo graces the middle section of the song and a third one, tight and windy, closes it. Really, listening to this track is a very good way to wake up at Christmas and it's exactly what I did today... but I'm sure I'll listen again to this long before next december!

The Same River (Riverside, 2003)

I'm fond of the darker and nocturnal side of this Polish band, I think they have the right touch when it comes to explore our common inner fears and hidden feelings. This is exactly the case with the long and hypnotic "The Same River", taken from the album "Out of Myself" (2004) but originally issued in a 2003 promo, published in 300 copies, their first ever release. All guitars and drums are in the spotlight, while keyboards provide a light background and surface now and they with beautiful sour sonds.

This is where all began for Riverside.

A promo released at their own cost in 2003.

The vocals come in in the second part of the track, adding their own contribution to the oppressive mood of the song. This section, with its bass guitar à la Roger Waters is really good, but I like even more the next one, beginning with a chorus variation in a lower volume and leading to the beautiful final guitar solo. In short, a well composed and richly arranged song, with several different moments and moods, mostly dark but with some brighter and peaceful passages too. A perfect specimen of modern prog rock and a great outset for Riverside career.

Suite: Dreams (Manning, 2003)

As you certainly know, Manning is the name the multi-instrumentalist Guy Manning (of The Tangent fame) gives to the band he gathers around himself on a regular basis to produce his own records. "Suite: Dreams" is by far ma favourite Manning's track. It's a beautifully written suite in 6 movements, exploring the world of dreams. It begins with a slow, very good melody and goes on through many different changes and many different genres, as usual for this artist. I especially like the recurring main theme variations and the wide range of instruments and musical solutions involved in this song.

You'll find this suite  in "The View from My Window" album.

There's a strong presence of wind instruments, thanks to Tim Moon - also proving himself on the fiddle - and they weave original plots with Manning's guitars and keys. Guy also has a beautiful voice, sounding like some American country singers and fitting so well in his eclectic music. He  knows very well how to balance electric and acoustic instruments, old fashioned sounds and modern samples and machineries... and he knows even better how to enchant an old prog lover like myself...

The Evening Wind (Satellite, 2003)

Some years ago a friend of mine, a classic prog fan, asked me about neo-progressive; he had just heard some Marillion and wanted to know more. I submitted this song to his attention and he was positively surprised. Satellite is a Polish band founded by members of split up Collage (there's somenting about them too in this blog), especially by drummer Wojtek Szadkowski, who also signs most of the new band's songs. Their music is exactly what neo-prog is or should be: lighter than pure synphonic rock but never trivial, never too easy or poppish. "The Evening Wind" opens the first album by Satellite, called "A Street Between Sunrise And Sunset" - wow, the title itself is a challenging one! - and is a 12 minutes well written and well performed track, obviously IMHO.

You can't be wrong: this is a Mark Wilkinson's art...

The vocal themes are pleasant and rather fast tempo, keyboards provide some anthemic riffs, often duelling with guitars, while the rythm section always sustains and diversifies the track pace. Some changes from fast to low tempo are very good and remind me of best IQ's songs, with a stronger accent on airy melodies. In addiction to this, there are intriguing lyrics about the difficult transitions from sorrow to hope we all experience sooner or later. This song is like a riviving whipping of chilly breeze, the Evening wind we sometimes welcome as an old friend at the end of the day.