Album Reviews View More

Sophie Tassignon – Khyal

Sophie Tassignon – Khyal

It is a while since I have listened repeatedly to an album in a foreign language where the lyrics are obviously central to the whole exercise remain a mystery to me, the singer’s voice becoming another instrument, but I suppose…

Drifting Sun - Veil

Drifting Sun – Veil

Drifting Sun have never flinched from staring into the heart of darkness; indeed they seem to relish it, and Veil, their latest offering, is no exception. It is a conceptually complex album, exploring such existential challenges as sin and betrayal,…

Mansoro - Everyday Fate

Mansoro – Everyday Fate

Marco Mansoro is a Brazilian multi-instrumentalist, in his own words, writing “songs that create a positive energy and cause a feeling of faith in the good things in life”. Everyday Fate is an instrumental album that was released via Bandcamp…

Van der Graaf Generator - Still Life

Van der Graaf Generator – Still Life [Remastered]

Esoteric’s approach to reissuing albums on vinyl seems as canny as picking names out of a hat; it’s impossible to predict what they’ll choose next. With stablemates Van der Graaf Generator, Esoteric have selected two rather opposite entries from the…

A Different Aspect (ADA) View More

A Different Aspect #92

Featured artists: Cédric Theys | Great North Star | Siobhan McCrudden | Daniel Crommie | Exowst Scotland Rounding off the ADA section for 2023 we have five bite-sized reviews taking a snapshot of just some of the albums, EPs and…

A Different Aspect #91

Featured artists: Steve Broomhead | Teea Aarnio | Nathanaël Larochette | Exowst Scotland In this ADA update of bite-sized reviews, we take a snapshot of just some of the albums, EPs and singles to land at TPA: • Steve Broomhead…

Concert Reviews View More

Franck Carducci & The Fantastic Squad / Stuckfish

Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Newcastle Saturday, 9th March 2024 It was certainly another great evening of driving, melodic prog rock in the North-East with Franck Carducci returning to the Innisfree Social Club, less than 7 months after their last…

Fusion 5: Music Without Frontiers - Day Three TPA banner

Fusion 5: Day Three

The Civic Hall, Stourport Sunday, 3rd March 2024 MONKEY TRIAL (David Edwards) Day 3 started out in a soothing and chilled-out fashion with the ambient prog and electronica soundscapes of MONKEYTRIAL. I’ve seen them several times and always enjoy the…

Fusion 5: Music Without Frontiers - Day Three TPA banner

Fusion 5: Day Two

The Civic Hall, Stourport Saturday, 2nd March 2024 RUBY DAWN (David Edwards) Carola Baer’s Ruby Dawn started proceedings wonderfully on Day 2 of Fusion 5 – with another captivating, dreamy and hypnotic set of prog and groove-led rhythm, focusing on…

Fusion 5: Music Without Frontiers - Day Three TPA banner

Fusion 5: Day One

The Civic Hall, Stourport Friday, 1st March 2024 The ever growing Fusion Festival was held at the beginning of March with attendees gathering from around the U.K., Europe and even the U.S.A., such is the growing attraction of this excellent…

John Hackett Band (with Heather Findlay) at Darlington Forum 15 March 2024

John Hackett Band / Heather Findlay

The Forum Music Centre, Darlington Friday, 15th March 2024 John Hackett and his band returned to the Forum in Darlington after 18 months and gave a truly exceptional performance of progressive rock full of diversity, swirling with a myriad of…

Soft Machine

Soft Machine

Acapela Studio, Pentyrch, Cardiff Thursday, 22nd February 2024 It’s cold and wet outside, but inside the cosy confines of Acapela it’s warm and filled with the smell of freshly baked pizza. Arriving fairly early to make sure I could grab…

Richard Wileman & Chantelle Smith

Richard Wileman & Chantelle Smith / VÄLVĒ

The Victoria, Swindon Sunday 18th February 2024 The Vic is a lovely venue, friendly and welcoming with an excellent stage room downstairs, today laid out with seats to rest the weary bones of the 30+ lucky audients who have assembled…

The Pineapple Thief at SWX Bristol February 2024

The Pineapple Thief / Randy McStine

SWX, Bristol Thursday, 22nd February 2024 The Pineapple Thief return to home territory in Bristol on a damp February night for only the second date of their European Tour, performing much of their excellent new album It Leads to This,…

Interviews View More

Sydney Taieb – Atlantis Chronicles - TPA interview

Sydney Taieb – Atlantis Chronicles

The Parisian aquatically-themed prog metal group Atlantis Chronicles was formed in 2010 and released their third album Nera in 2022. The group’s impressive musicianship stayed with reviewer Basil Francis who decided to seek out drummer Sydney Taieb for some more…

Nick D'Virgilio (Big Big Train)

Nick D’Virgilio – Big Big Train

Following the release of Big Big Train‘s (BBT) fifteenth studio album, The Likes of Us, TPA’s Alex Driessen was given the opportunity to interview one of the members of this originally British band. The choice fell on American drummer/singer Nick…

Storm Deva

Storm Deva

A week or two before Christmas, TPA’s Roger Trenwith sat down with Carollyn Eden and Stuart Clark, a.k.a Storm Deva, and they had a good old natter, discussing their backgrounds, how the band formed, their influences and the recently released…

V Ä L V Ē, Chloe Herington (right)

Chlöe Herington – V Ä L V Ē

Chlöe Herington is a woman with a long history on the prog-adjacent fringes of this weird scene we inhabit. TPA’s Roger Trenwith had a chance to chat with her about her project V Ä L V Ē, their imminent new…

Peter Horvath - The Anderson Council

Peter Horvath – The Anderson Council

After seeing The Anderson Council’s incendiary performance at a local venue in New Jersey, TPA’s John Giordano was able to grab a few words with vocalist/guitarist Peter Horvath and lead guitarist Michael Potenza. The two were both warm and engaging,…

John Boegehold – Pattern-Seeking Animals

John Boegehold – Pattern-Seeking Animals

Not only is John Boegehold of Pattern-Seeking Animals one of the more prolific artists working in any genre today, he is one of the warmest, most gregarious persons you could hope to meet. The following is an edited (no, really)…