Top albums from the Year 2011, Part 2: The Near-Masterpiece

    Somewhere beneath the level of timeless masterpiece status lies a group of albums whose quality and merit deserve categorization of something like "near-masterpiece." These are albums that have either achieved a Fishermetric score of between 90.0 and 87.0 or whose high points or quality level make it remarkable enough to remain affixed in my memory.

From the Year 2011, you will find below six (6) albums releases deserving, in my opinion, of the "near-masterpiece" designation.  

4.5 Stars; Near-Masterpieces

(Ratings of 89.99 to 86.67)

19. MOOGG Le ore, i giorni, gli anni

Wonderful Canterbury jazz in the vein of HATFIELD AND THE NORTH (without The Northettes)--all this from a quartet from Brescia!

Line-up:

- Gianluca Avanzati / bass

- Marco Dolfini / drums, percussion, vocals
- Toni Gafforini / electric piano, synths, Mellotron
- Ivan Vanoglio / guitars

1. "Le Ore I Giorni Gli Anni" (7:22) is a great jazz tune in the Canterbury/CARAVAN/HATFIELD AND THE NORTH tradition using many of the same instruments and sounds as well as constructions and stylings as those bands. Great song. And a pretty good voice from drummer Marcos Dolfini! I LOVE the both of the two different guitar soli in the fourth minute. Such a fun song! There's even a bass solo! (14/15)

2. "Classe 21" (6:38) The drumming is so 1970s! So are the keys, rhythm guitar and bass lines. Wonderful replication and execution--yet sounding fresh! I love the second section with its vocals being run through an effects box and the awesome lead guitar sound. (8.75/10)

3. "Il Perche' Di Esser Me" (5:48) great song:  pacing, melodies, mood, performances, and vocals. One of my favorite songs from the year! Like something from the great 2009 MAD CRAYON album, Preda. (9.5/10)

4. "Gli Arroganti" (instrumental) (7:18) has the definite vibe of 1970's Black Sexploitation movie soundtrack music: Herbie Hancock doing a Bill Cosby show soundtrack. Great bass and Moog play. (8.5/15)

5. "Responsabilità" (4:30) has such a HATFIELD sound and feel to it--though the vocal is so AREA/Demetrio Stratos! My favorite part of the song is the instrumental soli! (8.75/10)

6. "Lunalia" (instrumental) (4:41) is a gentle, simple, pretty, four-chord, keyboard-driven soft-jazz instrumental. Nice but nothing earth-shatteringly new or beautiful here. Kind lame lounge filler stuff. (7.5/10)

7. "Moogugni" (instrumental) (3:06) another soundtrack that could easily come from the 1970s--AREA or some African-American funk-jazz band. Very tightly performed. (8.5/10)

8. "Welfare Botanico" (14:41) opens with an almost-DEODATO "Also Sprach Zarathustra" sound and feel to it before everything quiets down and restarts with a hypnotic organ, bass, and drum line over which the electric guitar solos. By the end of the second minute, we've heard some bridges, transitions, and shifts which allow the keyboard a turn in the solo position. At 2:15 it turns back to the electric guitar until a stop-and-start bridge at the end of the third minute leads into a very pretty CAMEL-like section. This part could've been on Moonmadness! 
The fifth minute takes us through a few twists until at 4:35 Marco's mellifluous voice sings us into the palm of his hand. Beautiful! And powerful. Then, at the six minute mark, we turn into an awesome kind of KHAN Space Shanty-like jam section--which goes on at a great speed for over three minutes before we slow down at the 9:10 mark for a return to the Deodato electric piano sound and another spacey, jazzy hypnotic section. Nice drum play in this section! At 10:42 we move into a little more upbeat, almost disco-beat section. How HATFIELD-ish! Nice! Even the ensuing 'delicate' vocal section is fitting--especially as it precedes the crescendo of voice, synths and band into one of the high points of the album. How perfect! Not the most sensibly constructed song but it is an awesome rollercoaster ride--one that should not be missed! (28.5/30) 

These guys have not only picked up the torch on some amazing sounds and influences from the 1970s but they've embraced and made it their own. Definitely a band to keep one's eye on for the future!

90.0 on the Fishscales = B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music and a very welcome revival of all that was great with 1970s Canterbury style music.

20. SANHEDRIN Ever After

Another stellar album from AltrOck Productions' Fading Records subsidiary--this one from Israel! Excellent prog sound palettes with outstanding sound and studio production for these instrumentals.

Line-up / Musicians:
- Gadi Ben Elisha / electric, acoustic, classical & 12-string guitars, mandolin
- Aviv Barness / keyboards, saxophone
- Shem-Tov Levi / flute
- Sagi Barness / bass
- Igal Baram / drums & percussion
With:
- Michael Lam / English horn
- Elinoy Yogev / bassoon

1. "Overture" (3:07) great tension in a cinematic way with flute, electric guitar, and keyboards trading time in the lead position. Great drumming. (9/10)

2. "Il Tredici" (11:46) very CAMEL-like--even down to the bluesy guitar melody lines--but the airy flute lines are more akin to those played by FOCUS floutist Thijs van Leer. Pretty, cinematic, but perhaps a little too drawn out. More great drumming. (22/25)

3. "Dark Age" (6:18) I love the anachronistic and Celtic elements of this mostly acoustic song. The main melody and sound of the opening 90 seconds is quite similar to some of the songs of Katharine Blake's Mediæval Bæbes--but then we switch gears into something that sounds more founded in the music of ELP. At 3:15 we then come to a complete stop to look both ways: first looking down the street into the town church before turning down an alley into a more shop-and-look adventure before finally turning out into some heavy traffic on the main road at rush hour: thick and heavy. A solid and well-crafted song if a little aimless and inconclusive (like a montage of several themes spliced together). (9/10)

4. "The Guillotine" (6:00) this one has two motifs, covering two very different styles and speeds, that alternate back and forth over the whole song. (Could be that we're watching a series of victims being paraded to the gallows for public guillotining.) (8.667/10)

5. "Timepiece" (5:30) a smooth, CAMEL-esque piece with a heavy presence of Hammond beneath it all. The flute play is the highlight for me. The second half becomes more hard-drivin' with some excellent pedal steel guitar. (8.667/10)

6. "Sobriety" (8:19) opens with an airy openness reminding me of Irish flute rock or Prog Folk newcomers from Greece, CICCADA. In the first half of the second minute the music slows down and becomes almost pensive and hesitating--even when the excellent guitar-and-flute melody lines are presented over the top. The flute and guitar untangle themselves to present their own separate melodies, interwoven together. Quite excellent and quite CAMEL-ish. At 3:45 things get quiet again as Hammond supports bass and spaciousness in a pretty, almost dreamy section. At 4:55 the bass establishes a new riff that is supported by drummer's rim hits. Nice groove! But, alas! it is too short lived--despite the flute's brief contribution of a most excellent melody. Instead, everything quiets down as a storm swells and finally breaks loose at 6:45--this time with bassoon and English horn taking the lead before being danced around like the wind by the flute and guitar lead. One of the best songs on the album despite it's many unpredictable twists and turns. (18.5/20)

7. "Tema" (1:08) a pretty little classical guitar duet--quite reminiscent of Ant Phillips. (4.5/5)

8. "Steam" (9:30) fading in with Genesis-like riff the music quickly turns FOCUS-like with flute and charged electric guitar trading barbs like sparring partners for a couple of minutes. Things turn to a different style for the next motif in the third minute before returning to a different FOCUS-like organ-based motif at the end of the fourth. The church organ remains as the baseline instrument over the next pedal steel guitar lead and even into the jazzier MAD CRAYON-like section at the end of the sixth minute. Fender Rhodes takes the lead while echo-pedal steel guitar notes float around in the background. At 7:15 the electric guitar and bass break the tension with some aggressive chord play but then at 8:05 a more straightforward power drive motif is launched over which the lead guitar plays a bluesy lead before backing off to reveal the prominent bass play. This then all comes abruptly to an end as the whole band goes through a very classical-music-like full chord sequence to a crashing end. Interesting journey--one that definitely felt like a journey! (18/20)

Total Time 51:38

An excellent album I saw appear on PA but was unable to hear until I discovered Progstreaming--What a great find that site is!! Sanhedrin has been a great listen--all instrumental, which I like, but not boring or predictable, and with great engineering and production. I love Shem-Tov Levi's flute melodies as well as Igal Baram's excellent drumming, but the entire ensemble is awesome. At times they veer close to cheezy 'smooth jazz,' but the layers, shifts, and sounds keep them on the side of prog. No, this is not CAMEL--or FOCUS, but . . . there are moments . . . Still, a great infusion of fresh music. Highly recommended!

89.09 on the Fishscales = B+/4.5 stars; (marked down for lack of vocals) a near-masterpiece of cinematic, classically-modeled progressive rock music.

21. AUTUMN CHORUS The Village to the Vale

A brilliant album with folk choral type vocals set over some very pastoral music (despite the presence of drums). Unusual with an amazing male lead vocalist (Robbie Wilson) and interesting use of organ, strings, horns and effects (recorded in a church??) With only one song clocking in at less than five minutes--and three over seven--I'm not sure this album deserves the "Crossover" label; I think a "Folk" label would be much more appropriate--though the band calls themselves "Post Rock/Modern Classical"--both of which there are definite presences. There is even a strong feel of church chorale influence. As Robbie sings--and the effects cause a church-like echo--one cannot help but feel transported to some sacred or angelic venue. Amazing to have this kind of voice singing over Post Rock/Folk Rock music! "Progressive" in the truest sense of the word.

Line-up / Musicians:

- Robbie Wilson / vocals, guitars, trumpet, organ
- Luke Foster / drums, glockenspiel, piano
- Peter Evans / bass, glockenspiel, percussion
- Chris Lloyd / guitars, thumb piano
With:
- Thomas Feiner
- Anna-Lynne Williams
- Bruce White
- Helen Whittaker

1. The opener, "Three Jumps the Devil" (7:06) surprises with the 1:45 minute glockenspiel bells and xylophone intro before a definite Post Rock/Math Rock sound kicks in--plus horns, strings,. Then the amazing voice of Robbie Wilson enters at 2:38. Robbie's voice is reminiscent of some of the great folk/ psychedelic voices of the late 1960s--including JESSE COLIN YOUNG, TIM BUCKLEY, DONOVAN, ART GARFUNKLE, etc. What a voice! What a song! One that my life feels so much the richer for having encountered. (14/15)

2. The album's second song, "You'll Wait Forever" (6:29) is very much like a piece of classical chamber music--with, of course, the occasional voice lead angel Robbie Wilson. Unfortunately, the strings' lead melody gets repeated a bit too often, minimalistically, wearing thin on the listener, yet, as a chamber piece it is undeniably gorgeous. (8.75/10)

3. "Never Worry" (4:00) offers another church-like / chamber setting for Robbie Wilson's voice to grace us with. I like the presence of both the horns and the lower, almost spoken male voice beneath Robbie's lead. Then it becomes more choral form. For some reason this song reminds me a bit of a song that crosses SIMON & GARFUNKLE with MARK HOLLIS. I can tell that this was painstakingly constructed and realised. (8.75/10)

4. Unfortunaely, by the time song 4, "Thief" (7:26), rolls around, the music and slow pace is getting a bit old. Still, given a chance, "Thief" does change things up a bit: it is more of a story, less chamber/ church-like, and uses piano and drums, and contains, of course, an absolutely stunning lead vocal. At 4:40 the upbeat kick in reminds one of the true rockers of Post Rock/Math Rock. (13.5/15)

5. "Brightening Sky" (5:24) is a dynamically diverse song with the other diversion being the intermittent presence of a female vocalist with voice almost as angelic as Robbie's. (9/10)

6. At 16 minutes in length, song 6, "Rosa", is the album's longest. A choral presence accompanies the neoclassical music of the first 4:20. After that it softens to present space for Robbie's plaintive voice. In the tenth minute starts a true Post Rock/Math Rock song à la MONO--starting very slowly, very quietly, very minimally, while Robbie sings an amazingly angelic vocal--soaring above the notes of picked guitar strings and floating keyboards like Icarus to the sun. At 12:20 the music breaks into crescendo as if the heavens had burst open with rain or sunshine. 

     This is a sensitive epic fit for any church venue. (26.25/30) An amazing song. If only I understood its objective. (Should I be on my knees?)

7. "Bye Bye Now" (5:33) tugs at one's heartstrings because of the presence of the spoken voices of small children. The integration of the child and mother's (and, later, father's) voices is done over the entire song, the first two minutes of which are constructed like a very slow dirge. At the two minute mark, Robbie begins singing--at first in solo, and later in chorus. The song threatens to pick up at 3:00 when the little child says "Bye!" but then quiets back down, lets the child and mother speak again, then takes the final minute to fade. 

     At the end I find myself asking, "Why? What was the purpose of this song? What was he trying to say? Did he know he was going to die soon?" (8.75/10)

It is definitely a stunning album, start to finish. The long intros and exceptionally patient, delicate fades throughout the album make it an exercise in DELIUS/ELGAR/BRITTEN listening. Overall, I come away from listening to this album feeling as if I've just heard bits of FLEET FOXES and THE DECEMBERISTS playing over music by SIGUR RÓS, PAUL SIMON, DIRTY THREE, RADIOHEAD, and, of course, the three composer giants mentioned in the previous sentence. Despite the breathtakingly delicate, sensitive, beautiful vocals on display in The Village to the Vale and the sophisticated 'modern classical' musical constructs, there is a musical sameness, a kind of ennui that prevents me from giving this album 5 stars "masterpiece" status.

Total Time 52:03

89.0 on the Fishscales = B+/4.5 stars; a near masterpiece of soul-enriching music--a record that is highly recommended as an excellent addition to any prog rock music collection. Check it out! Decide for yourself. But come to the experience with time, quiet, and patience: you'll be amazed at what unfolds.

Post Script: Band leader, composer, and voice extraordinaire, Robbie (Lloyd-)Wilson, sadly passed away from cancer on December 13, 2016. His supreme talents have been taken from us far too early. We are so very fortunate to have this album as a testament to those skills.

22. ABRETE GANDUL Enjambre Sismico 

A very impressive AvantGarde/RIO band from Santiago, Chile, Abrete Gandul's 2011 album Enjambre Sismico sounds as much as a KING CRIMSON (plus flute and more prominent synthesizers) adventure as it does like the rest of the AltrOck Productions cast--which it does.

1. "Hacia la nada" (4:27) sounds so much like 4 A.D.'s DIF JUZ--awesome! (9/10)

2. "Necro sistema" (3:02) drives a little harder, with drums and heavily treated guitars drawing the most attention. Nice bass play starting at 1:20. Fripp-like sustained lead guitar and piano come to foreground in the third minute. (9/10)

3. "Marejeda" (7:29) starts out more ambient New Age, with tuned percussives and weird synth-generated noises setting up the mood in the first two minutes. Drums, bass, synth washes, and dissonant lead guitar arpeggi take over at the 2:05 mark. A melodic, major key chord sequence sets up the fourth minute as heavily-flanged guitar strums and synths draw attention away from the awesome drumming. A more syncopated, odd-timed section begins and then shifts (to that DIF JUZ sound!) in the fifth minute. Shift again to melodic chords in the sixth minute but then go back to King Crimson-like rhythms and sounds again for the final 90 seconds. Cool, intricate, and well-performed song! (13.5/15)

4. "Consecuencia natural" (10:26) is an expose of very jazzy leanings--from jazz-sounding lead guitar to weave with the electric jazz bass and more delicate, syncopated drums. At 2:30 everything breaks down to simple sounds: two alternating notes throbbing off of the bass, space-flanged guitar notes, some rack lead and cymbol play from the drums. This gradually becomes the foundation for a much more avant-jazz weave over which a sonorous tenor sax plays its heart out. Not my favorite song but I certainly appreciate the creativity and emotion being expressed herein. (16/20)

5. "Colapso" (11:19) opens with about 30 seconds of heavily treated electric guitar strumming two chords before the band signals its participation. At the 1:20 mark, the band finally establish the song's foundation--around and over which it builds and twists and mellows and amplifies around and around over the next four minutes. The a mellow section supports the gentle play of a solo flute until the 7:20 mark, at which time the band restores the original sounds and foundational sounds and variations upon the previously established chord and time structures. At 8:35 a PT-like heavy section opens the way for some serious KING CRIMSON Red-era music! Awesome! To the end of the song! (18/20)

6. "Convergencia caótica" (8:01) opens with some very spacey yet-ominous sounds congealing into a heavy, fast-driving jam during which guitars and thick, chunky bass and a variety of synthesizer sounds take turns trading brief solo jabs at one another. In the fourth minute it sounds as if everyone is about to take it up a notch in intensity when things suddenly quiet down for a bit. Return to heavier drive before the flanged guitar starts to play his freaky chords. A couple more quiet sections and some more pinao-based straightforward time signature sections allow different sounds to have their moments in the sun--including the bass, drums, and electric piano. I like this one! (18/20)

7. "Intangible" (7:55) opens with piano and electric guitar weaving their arpeggi together. Bass, drums, and second guitar join in to lay foundations for some synthesizer soloing. At 1:18 the weave shifts and the pace quickens to set a Crimsonian stage for some nice though subdued Allan Holdsworth/ lead guitar soloing. Then at 3:20 things wuiet down in the background--though the jazz drums stay busy and the guitar-piano weave remains present in the background--so that some heavily flanged guitar can squeak out some lead sounds. The music builds a little until at 4:55 the Allan Holdsworth imitator is given full command. Just as quickly we're back to some King Crimson Frippisms and interesting synthesizer sounds solo in exchange with the fuzzed bass. The drum work throughout is truly worth attending to but nowhere as much as here, in the seventh and eighth minutes. (18/20)

8. "...y ahora qué?" (7:20) lets the bass establish it's initial stop-and-start structure, which morphs into a nice and easy jazzy walkabout over which soprano sax, electric piano and electric rhythm guitar have their say. A shift around 1:25 into the more syncopated, stutter-step structure allows alto sax and lead guitar to take their turns in the solo light.  (13.5/15)

are both very jazzy--though of very different styles,  is very spacey/psychedelic (and RPI sounding), and my favorite,  is full of heavy, powerful chord sequences and treated guitars and synths, but the rest could easily pass for King Crimson inventions of the past twenty years.

88.46 on the Fish scales = five stars; a masterpiece of progressive rock music. A solid effort of well-composed and well-performed music very much in the KING CRIMSON tradition. These are some very talented musicians. Definitely a band to keep following.

23. OZRIC TENTACLES Paper Monkeys

Ed & family's sixth studio album release of the 21st Century.

Line-up / Musicians:
- Ed Wynne / guitar, synth, programming, co-producer
- Silas Wynne / keyboards, synth, sampler
- Brandi Wynne / bass, co-producer
- Ollie Seagle / drums & V-Drums, percussion
With:
- Kyle / percussion (1)

1. "Attack of the Vapours" (5:22) like STEVE HILLAGE with rock beat, frenetic Indian-like percussion, and conversing synth cats! Definitely one of Ed's most speedy and computer-roboticized pieces. (8.75/10)

2. "Lemon Kush" (6:15) a bit of a rocker that conjures up concepts like OT doing mock ups or mix-medleys of old rock classics (here The Who's "Eminence Front" with Alan Parsons Project's "I Robot" and Jan Hammer's "Miami Vice Theme").  It's hard to imagine that all of these tracks were played at these breakneck speeds; might they have been computer-sped up for the final mixes? Very interesting. (8.875/10)

3. "Flying Machines" (6:26) some Petri Walli/Jimi Hendrix-like guitar shredding dispersed over one of the simpler rhythm tracks and song constructs I've heard from OT in a while. (8.66667/10)

4. "Knurl" (6:08) I know this one was built around Brandi Wynne's gorgeous TONY LEVIN-like bass line. How much fun would it be to be in the studio when these guys go through their vast array of tried and true sounds and styles of world and traditional music sounds and styles in order to find which combination and permutation "fits" best with the current construct they're working on. This one has no certain traditon for its source and so must justifiably be labelled a "mutt," "mélamge," or "hybrid." It is, however, a bit of a lame duck in terms of taking space where originality could stand tall. (8.666667/10)

5. "Lost in the Sky" (7:20) I know it must be terribly difficult to constantly have to try to reinvent one's sound, style, or library of sound from album to album--especially over a 25-year span--but to borrow not one but two signature sounds from one song ("Stretchy") for a new song is inexcusable. Perhaps this was a period where fans were clamoring for more of the old (I know it was before the fire that destroyed all of their equipment). (13.125/15)

6. "Paper Monkeys" (7:17) opens like a classic heavy rock song from the 1970s--like something by Ted Nugent or even Jeff Beck (especially in the bass and drum rhythm section); very rock lead guitar-led and -oriented. Not only are they reaching back for old riffs and sounds to build their songs upon, they're actually going beyond their usual psychedelic and space rock sources. Too straightforward and one-dimensional. A lot of people will like this one for yet another hyperspeed journey. (13/15)

7. "Plowm" (7:52) interesting synth sequence to open. Deep funky bass-led band jumps right in within 30 seconds, setting up a nice weave over which Ed's searing lead guitar and multiple synth sounds take turns injecting their perspectives, short-lived or not. Different upper-register e-guitar strumming around the three-minute mark followed by bridge to alto pan flute-like synth solo. Nice low-end, well-spaced guitar chords in the fifth minute before they turn into one of Ed's fiery flanged Todd Rundgren-like solos. It's quite a nice solo; too bad it's stuck way back there in the garden. (I love Todd's lead sound.) Finally something that feels a little fresh. A top three song for me. (13.5/15)

8. "The Will of the Wisps" (10:42) What?! Dreamy, spacey? An all-synth weave (before the militaristic drumming rises to the fore)? A little Andreas Vollenweider here? Another "too bad" cuz Ollie Seagle's drumming is actually rather remarkable. I actually enjoy this kind of "world space music" quite a lot--and do not miss the guitar or funky bass; it's always fun for me to see/hear what a whole room of computer keyboard players can weave together. The Balinese "will 'o' wisp" voices in the sixth minute are cool, but I have to admit that the guitar track introduced disappoints me--even though it's just Jan Akkerman-like rhythm work. Another wave of Balinese voices and we switch into the domineering presence of the full wah-blues guitar. Fortunately, he doesn't go off into a full-blown testosterone-fueled solo until well into the tenth minute. (George Thorogood!) Despite the let-down of the final three minutes, this is another top three song for me. (18.25/20)

9. "Air City" (3:53) sounds like a percussionist's happy variation of Jan Akkerman's classic, "Skydancer." My other top three song. (8.875/10)

Total Time 61:15

This is the most computer-manipulated music I've ever heard from the OT crew--which begs the question: Can this music actually be performed live by non-robotic human musicians? Also, is the overwhelming dominance of breakneck-speed songs on this album indicative of any issues within the band? (Like impatience, time limits, or amphetamine use?)

88.44 on the Fishscales = B/four stars; overall, this is an album of solid it, at times, familiar Ozrics songs with just enough fresh ideas to make it an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially if you're already a fan. 

  

24. INTROITUS Elements

What a nice find! And how heartwarming that it's 'all in the family' Bender! 

Line-up / Musicians:
- Anna Jobs Bender / lead vocals
- Par Helje / lead guitar, backing vocals
- Henrik Bjorlind / guitar, flute, keyboards
- Mats Bender / keyboards, production & mixing
- Dennis Lindkvist / bass
- Mattias Bender / drums, backing vocals
- Johanna Bender / backing vocals, percussion, keyboards

1. "The Hand That Feeds You" (14:18) solid epic with some solid play from a talented rhythm section, some great lead guitar work, and some astonishingly fresh keyboard play. The lyrics are a little banal.(27.25/30)
2. Earth (1:22)
3. Like Always (8:22)
4. Wind (2:02)
5. Restless (8:14)
6. Fire (1:36)
7. "Dreamscape" (11:48) bombastic and dynamically diverse with some great melodies and more astonishing keyboard work and lead guitar play. (23/25)
8. Water (1:58)
9. "Soulprint" (17:02) a very nicely-composed song with Anna's best vocal performance on the album. The synthesizer players are so talented and creative! And Par Helje is not far behind with his lead guitar work. Great drumming as well: rock solid in driving the music forward with relentless vigor. (32/35)

Total Time 66:42

What comes through most in this album is the unabashed enthusiasm for making music. The songs here are very fresh, quite unpredictable (except maybe the drums and lyrics), and full of many quite astounding soli chord, key, tempo and mood shifts. The album is basically five prog songs with four brief interludes serving a s spacers between the two. I'm not going to review each song. I find each long song to be excellent with the opener, "The Hand that Feeds You," the seventh, "Dreamscape," and the finale, "Soulprint," to be ready to be launched into the pantheon of classic prog songs. The vocals are great, the drums and the rhythm section quite adequate, the guitarist is mega-talented and quite creative--reminding me of JON MITCHELL (KINO, ARENA, FROST*--IMO, one of 21st Century prog's two or three greatest guitarists)--but it is the keyboard player(s) that blows me away: Mats' solos are completely "outside the box," creative/innovative, amazing, and cool. And even his background key work is, to me, astounding for its unpredictability and yet perfection.

Definitely a band to watch--and an album I will listen to again and again. While the lyrical content is a bit sappy and atypical for prog, I enjoy the personal and familial sentimentality.

88.0 on the Fish scales = 4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music.

25. TIRILL Nine and Fifty Swans (2011) (Literate Prog Folk) is a much more mature and sophisticated version of the Tirill from 2003's A Dance with the Shadows. Her voice styling has become more breathy, her choices in instrumental support and pacing more diverse, and her male companion on background vocals helps present a nice contrast and edge to her music. The lyrics are all taken from the poetry of W.B. Yeats--which makes for gorgeous English lyrics. Great idea!

Line-up / Musicians:
- Tirill Mohn / vocals, acoustic guitar, Mellotron, violin & percussion (10), composer, arranger & producer 
With:
- Dagfinn Hoboek / vocals (1,2,5)
- Kostas Stefanopoulos / vocals (9)
- Tonje Ettesvoll / backing vocals (9)
- Johanne Gallagher / voice (Gaelic)
- "Wandering Finn" /spoken word (8)
- Nils Einar Vinjor / guitar, bass
- Jan Tariq Rahman / piano
- Audun Kjus / flute & vocals (10), arrangements
- Nick Jones / violin (4)
- Sigrun Eng / cello 
- Herman Schultz / double bass 
- Øyvind Sørensen / percussion

1. "O Do Not Love Too Long" (4:42) synth drone with effected electric guitar notes are joined by picked acoustic guitar, seashore bird noises, double bass, and strings. At 1:10 Tirill enters singing "sweetheart" wish such endearing surprise. Awesome vocal arrangements for the three voices at the end of the second minute. Flutes. Gorgeous interplay between the flute, cello, and ethereal electric guitar in the final 90 seconds leading up to an amazing finish! What an opening song! My first top three song.(9.5/10)

2. "The Cap & Bells" (4:05) flute and strings open this with a gentle weave before falling back for finger-picked guitar and bass to support Tirill's singing. The brief chorus adds several instruments and a male backing vocalist (Dagfinn Hoboek). Flute is added to brief instrumental interlude. Pretty if rudimentarily-designed song. (8.25/10)

3. "He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven" (2:47) fretless bass, Celtic harp, electric guitar, and gently picked acoustic guitar set up this one in a proggy soundscape for Tirill to breathe her delicate vocal over. Great interplay between all of the electric instruments in between the vocal passages. (4.5/5) 

4. "To A Child Dancing In The Wind" (3:04) breathy, the Celtic-infused as flute, bass, and strummed guitars open this one. At 0:38 cello and violin join before dropping out for Tirill and hand drum to enter at 1:00. More force in Tirill's vocal delivery than usual. She sounds like a cross between Delores O'Riordan of The Cranberries and Harriet Wheeler of The Sundays. A top three song for me. (9.5/10)

5. "Parting" (2:33) male-voice-led with Tirill performing a prominent harmony/background vocal though occasionally being the lead. Cello, double bass, gently picked effected electric guitar and picked acoustic guitars support throughout. Again, I am intrigued and enamored of the electric guitar's subtle yet important contributions. (4.25/5)

6. "The Fisherman / Carolan's Ramble To Cashel" (5:03) bicked stringed instruments, hand shakers, Celtic flute and harp are joined by subtle electric guitar sounds to create a gentle Celtic weave long before Tirill joins in--this time reciting the poetry of Yates (in a Celtic-infused accent!) In the "instrumental" sections between Tirill's recitations a wizened voice whispers phrases in some Gaelic tongue. Interesting song! Very creative. (8.75/10)

7. "Before The World Was Made" (3:10) delicate, Spanish folk sounding guitar supports Tirill's beautiful breathy vocal. Bass joins, as does background vocal and a second nylon stringed guitar--Spanish--for solos and support in the second half of the song. Beautiful! (9/10)

8. "The Song Of Wandering Aengus" (4:00) tingling windchimes and Fripp/Eno-esque electric guitar sounds open this. Picked acoustic guitar chords support Tirill's vocal. At the end of the first minute she is joined by the eerie, almost disturbing voice of "Wandering Finn" doubling up the lyrics in a theatric Celtic spoken voice as well as bass, hand percussives, and cello. Interesting! (8.5/10)

9. "The Song Of The Old Mother" (2:33) spaciously picked notes of acoustic guitar and humming open this one before Tirill's up-close and personal voice breathes Yates' words into my ears. At 1:08 she is joined by a male voice harmonizing and the strumming of an additional acoustic guitar. (4.25/5) 

10. "The Wild Swans At Coole" (5:30) opens with Tirill's a cappella voice but is soon joined by Audun Kjus in harmony and by gently picked acoustic guitar, bass, hand percussion, violin, and, in the instrumental section, flute and cello. (8.25/10)

Total time 37:27

87.94 on the Fishscales = B=/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive folk music and an excellent addition to any music lover's album collection. Beautiful and subtle renderings of some of the English language's most beautiful poetry.

26. PENDRAGON Passion

I like the heavier way Pendragon re-invented themselves in the Naughties--and it continues here only with far more catchy melodies. Great sound production and engineering creativity. And I love Nick Barrett's mastery of the electric guitar solo (though there is far less of it on display here than what is typical for a Pendragon album).

Line-up / Musicians:

- Nick Barrett / vocals, guitars, piano (7), keyboards, programming, co-producer
- Clive Nolan / keyboards, backing vocals
- Peter Gee / bass guitar
- Scott Higham / drums, backing vocals

1. "Passion" (5:27) industrial-style rhythmic foundation over which Nick delivers an awesome vocal. Wow! What a start! If the rest of the album lives up to this high it will be amazing! The heavy PT/metal influences are showing. (9/10)

2. "Empathy" (11:20) (17.5/20)

3. "Feeding Frenzy" (5:47) nice multi-faceted song. (8.5/10)

4. "This Green And Pleasant Land" (13:13) INCREDIBLE lyrics; pretty song. (22.5/25)

5. "It's Just A Matter Of Not Getting Caught" (4:41) (8.75/10)

6. "Skara Brae" (7:31) heavy but lushly "orchestrated" and vocalized with plenty of melodic lines and dynamic shifts. Lots of signs of mature song construction and confident performance skills. (13/15)

7. "Your Black Heart" (6:46) harkens back to Gabriel-era GENESIS with its sensitive picked acoustic guitar start and vocal. The dominant chords (basically, two) over the entire song give it a …And Then There Were Three... or TONY PATTERSON feel--very much like a FLOWER KINGS song passage. Almost a reprise of "This Green And Pleasant Land." (12.75/15)

Total Time: 54:45

After starting off with such a bang, the album started to peter out and soften noticeably as one approached the end. 

87.62 on the Fishscales = B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music and a shining example of mastery of a cross-sampling of styles though still well within the Neo Prog umbrella.

27. THE FUTURE KINGS OF ENGLAND Who Is This Who Is Coming? 

This is really more of a soundtrack to the chilling short story by M.R. James called "Oh Whistle And I'll Come To You Lad." The music matches up amazingly well with the story, progressively getting scarier with each song. The band has diverged quite a bit from the Post Rock/Math Rock/Psychedelia of a few years ago.

1. "Journey to the Coast" (2:04). The arrival in the bucolic East Anglia beachside town is well represented with this folksy mandolin-based tune. There is even a track in the song dedicated to songbirds sounds! Feels like a place that I'd like to visit! (8/10)

2. "The Globe Inn" (4:26). Organ, simple drums and notes slowly picked on a guitar are superceded in the B section by eerie synths and voices. Decending guitar scales and reversed guitar and organ enter for a kind of C coda before the B part returns. Very BLIND FAITH-like. A lull at 2:14 allows the eery bass line to present, alone, before the band returns with a doubled-up lead bottle-neck guitar solo in the vein of ERIC CLAPTON or even GEORGE HARRISON takes over. Then, out of the blue, at 3:18, a very cool, very powerful and fully CAMEL-like 'controlled' crescendo section takes over till end of song. (9/10)

3. "Finding the Whistle" (2:01) is a lot like a GENESIS interlude song from The Lamb. (9/10)

4. "Watcher Part 1" (1:56) sounds as if ROY ORBISON, FLEET FOXES, GREEN LINNETT RECORDS, and MIKE OLDFIELD all collaborated. Very cool song. (10/10)

5. "Who Is This Who Is Coming?" (9:09) opens with very odd bending synth notes, joined by sustained fuzzy guitar notes. It has a bit of an Ambient ENO feel to it for the first two minutes. Add horn-like and girl-screaming synth notes until at 2:57 an non-English-sounding male voice says something which ushers in a new eery theme of music--though it's really more like a scary movie soundtrack, complete with samples of clock ticking and someone's boots trampsing through tall grass. At 5:34 a slow synthesizer section begins--using sounds like TANGERINE DREAM. Long-held acoustic guitar strums and more synthesizer play join in. Eery and synth mastery. (8/20)

6. "Convinced Disbeliever" (3:59) begins with the alarm of a windup clock. Guitar power chords and drumming sounding like IRON BUTTERFLY or BLACK SABBATH enter. Cheesy switch at 0:58 to B part. The music is rather "B movie"-ish. At least until the all-too-brief, but wonderful OLDFIELD-like guitar solo at the 1:38 mark. Return of cheesy two-chord rock theme. Give it lyrics and it would fit right onto an early 1970s SABBATH/BUTTERFLY/or even GRAND FUNK album. I guess it works. I'm smiling, though I might be cringing. (7/10)

7. "Watcher Part 2" (1:59) begins like a ELP song, GREG LAKE sing while being harmonized by another GREG LAKE-like b vocalist. Very nicely done. Could be a TRAFFIC or STRAWBS tune, too. (9/10)

8. "A Face of Crumpled Linen" (10:17) begins with the recorded sound of wind buckling at the windows and doors. Guitar, bass, and synth introduce a theme which is then taken over by a different keyboard sound. Cymbol play begins and then full drum play as bass and guitar play establish quite a nice groove over which portamento synth plays. Additional guitar and tracks (two that I count) enter, one strumming a partially muted strum, the other playing a distorted, untuned lead. By 4:30 all instruments have faded away leaving an organ-sounding synth slowly forming odd diatonic chords by moving an upper note against an unchanging mid-keyboard note. At 6:20 full band returns in a kind of TANGERINE DREAM/PINK FLOYD style. (The instruments are all recorded in quite a raw, under-processed and not-necessarily cohesive way.) Things quiet down again briefly before letting an electric guitar arpeggio take over the base rhythm. Drum and synth play build before horns and the full band comes crashing in for a kick ass groove--but only for the final minute. Then the groove--and the song-- end quite suddenly! (9/10)

9. "Spectacle of a Scarecrow" (5:54) begins with an electric guitar establishing a chord progression with arpeggios. When the full band joins in it is with a fury that quite reminds me of CRAIG SAFAN's ripping "Confrontation" from TANGERINE DREAM's soundtrack of Michael Mann's 1981 movie, Thief. (9/10)

While the music here is sometimes not so proggy, more soundtrack-like, and often reaches back to styles and sounds (even production value) of the early 1970s, it is a really admirable rendering of a story to music. One to experience, say, alone in a shack on a stormy night. One of the few albums I've heard that is actually better without headphones.

86.7 on the Fish scales = 4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music.

The Rankings for 2011

1. THE AMAZING Gentle Stream

2. CORDE OBLIQUE A Hail of Bitter Almonds

3. ANATHEMA Falling Deeper

4. FAUN Eden

5. THE PSYCHEDELIC ENSEMBLE The Dream of the Magic Jongleur

6. CICADA Pieces

7. FAUNS Awaiting the Sun

8. NORTH SEA RADIO ORCHESTRA I a Moon

9. WOBBLER Rites at Dawn

10. ALIO DIE Honeysuckle

11. MY BROTHER THE WIND I Wash My Soul in the Stream of Infinity

12. GA'AN Black Equus

13. CAMEMBERT Schnörgl Attahk

14. FREQUENCY DRIFT Ghosts…

15. LAGARTIJA Particelle

16. AKT Blemmebeya

17. SLEEPMAKESWAVES …and so we destroyed everything

18. FEN Epoch

19. MOOGG Le ore, i giorni, gli anni

20. SANHEDRIN Ever After

21. AUTUMN CHORUS The Village to the Vale

22. ABRETE GANDUL Enjambre Sismico

23. OZRIC TENTACLES Paper Monkeys

24. INTROITUS Elements

25. TIRILL Nine and Fifty Swans

26. PENDRAGON Passion

27. KATE BUSH 50 Words for Snow

28. WHITE WILLOW Terminal Twilight

29. SOLUS3 Corner of the World

30. KARDA ESTRA New Worlds

31. TUNE Lucid Moments

32. TENHI Saivo

33. THE FUTURE KINGS OF ENGLAND Who Is This Who Is Coming? 

34. AUTUMN CHORUS The Village to the Vale

35. SANHEDRIN Ever After

36. IONA Another Realm

37. SKE 1000 autunni

38. HUMBLE GRUMBLE Flanders Fields

39. FACTOR BURZACO II

40. BON IVER Bon Iver

Honorable Mentions:

EDISON’S CHILDREN In the Last Waking Moments

UNEXPECT Fables of the Sleepless Empire

AMPLIFIER The Octopus
LEPROUS Bilateral

DISCIPLINE To Shatter All Accord

SEAN FILKINS War and Peace and Other Stories of Love and Hate