Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Prog Music Artist Leon Alvarado To Release New Album “Charging The Electric Dream” Featuring Music Spanning Several Decades

Prog music artist Leon Alvarado will be releasing his new album “Charging The Electric Dream” on December 15th! According to Leon, “‘Charging The Electric Dream’ is a very personal record without any collaborators or guest musicians. If I were to describe it, I would say that it is an album of what I like to call headphone music, because it plays out more like a soundtrack that stimulates the listener’s imagination. Like many of my other records, you can hear my inspirations throughout the album. There are definitely nods to Brian Eno, Wendy Carlos, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre. It is not a Prog album per se, but definitely something that Prog fans can appreciate.”

Says Leon, “‘Charging The Electric Dream’ refers to revitalizing material I recorded in response to the electronic music that influenced me throughout the years.  I am giving it a new life by releasing it for the very first time.”

The music on the album was recorded periodically over a span of several decades. To reflect this, the artwork shows a collage of Leon’s face constructed of passport photos taken over many years. A video for the title track will be released concurrently. A short film titled “Outside The Dream” will follow the release.

Primarily known for his record label and music promotion artwork, in 2008 Leon Alvarado released his first album, “Plays Genesis and Other Original Stuff” as an ode to one of his favorite bands. Since then, he has released several records and worked alongside an impressive list of well-known musicians such as Rick Wakeman, Bill Bruford, Billy Sherwood, Jon Davison (Yes), John Goodsall (Brand X), Trey Gunn (King Crimson), Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, KC), Jerry Marotta, (Peter Gabriel), John Helliwell (Supertramp), Tony Franklin (The Firm), Johnny Bruhns, (Circa), Edoardo Scordo, Damian Darlington (Brit Floyd), Ty Tabor (King’s X) to name a few.

Leon’s musical output can be categorized as a blend of Prog Rock with Ambient, some Classical and a measure of Fusion. Each piece, as well as his library as a whole, is a constantly evolving musical landscape that can simultaneously embrace the listener in familiarity, while embarking on exciting and experimental journeys of sound.

Release date: December 15, 2022
Personnel:
Leon Alvarado all instruments
Engineered by Leon Alvarado
Engineering Assistance by John Douglass
Mastering by Maor Appelbaum
Label: Melodic Revolution Records

To purchase: https://leonalvarado.bandcamp.com/album/chasing-the-electric-dream

For more information:
leonalvarado.bandcamp.com/
mrrmusic.com/leon-alvarado

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Friday, December 2, 2022

UNQUIET MUSIC LTD To Release New Single “I Succumb” Feat. Members of King Crimson, Lifesigns, Stick Men and Earthdriver On November 30th!

From forthcoming album “Meme/Music” Featuring Pat Mastelotto (Stick Men, King Crimson), Jon Poole (Cardiacs, Lifesigns), Markus Reuter (Stick Men), Adrian Benavidès (Earthdiver)

On December 2, 2022 Unquiet Music Ltd. release their new single, “I Succumb” - the first taste of their second album ‘Meme/Music’.

With instrumental contributions from Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson, Stick Men), Jon Poole (Cardiacs, Lifesigns, Dowling Poole) Markus Reuter (Stick Men) and Adrian Benavidès (Earthdiver), “I Succumb” is a song of despair to the life of the average Westerner. Enslaved by normality; condemned to capitulate to the injunction of love. Mind and body torn between the desires of individuality and undifferentiation.

The single announces Unquiet Music Ltd second official album “Meme/Music” on CD and download (via Bandcamp). The album is composed by JP Rossi, and produced by Markus Reuter (Stick Men, Reuter/Motzer/Grohowski, Anchor & Burden), crossing multiple boundaries between the electronic and the acoustic, between complexity and simplicity, between deep contemporary classical structures and textures and punchy art rock drive.

A song of despair to the westerner’s life enslaved by normality and condemned to succumb to the injunction of love. A mind and body torn between the desires of individuality and indifferentiation”

Bass beats and electronic noises of the multigrid dimensions of the city and the network clashing in a routine of pressure. Hammering guitars and gut-wrenching solos surround a couple of heartbreaking melodic choruses.”

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/9AtiO8iBi-E

Unquiet Music Ltd’s 2020 debut album, “In the Name of.. (A Prayer for our Times)”, was an arresting and hypnotic mix of contemporary classical structures, urgent solo and choral voices, and electric art-rock sonority. An abstracted electronic Mass, it merged Messaien-ic detail and depth with needle-like mechanistic precision and a hallucinatory atmosphere. Two years on, “I Succumb” illustrates the next step for Unquiet Music: avant-garde pop reflections on human connection and communication, more song-based and lyrical.

The single builds on classic yet still fresh starting points (the eerie human-vs-technology accents of Berlin-era David Bowie; the twitchy psychology of Ray Davies; the flaring relentlessness of King Crimson and the industrial chants of Laibach) while retaining the teeming post-classical sophistication of previous Unquiet Music Ltd work. Packed with contemporary neuroses and dread, it sits in an uneasy bed of bass beats and electronic noises (representing the multi-levelled grid-and-network dimensions of urban living, clashing in an inhuman routine of pressure) while hammering guitars and gut-wrenching solos surround heartbreaking melodic choruses.

In complete contrast, companion track “Love Of A Dog” is a different kind of vulnerable. Absolutely exposed, unafraid of sentiment, and peculiar (in a good way), it’s a childlike tribute to animal friendship webbed up in organ, unexpected choir and Jon Poole’s tender fretless bass. Another reflection on connection, another example of the shifting Unquiet Music perspective.

Tracks:

I Succumb (Single Version) 04:20
Words, Music: JP Rossi. Arrangements: JP Rossi, Adrian Benavides
Voices, Keys & Electronics: JP Rossi. Guitars: Adrian Benavides. U8 Touch Guitars ®: Markus Reuter. Electronic Drums, Traps & Buttons: Pat Mastelotto

Love Of A Dog 05:08
Words, Music, Arrangements: JP Rossi
Voices & Keys: JP Rossi. Fretless Bass: Jon Poole

Recorded at La Maison Rouge and musicians’ studios 2020-2022
Mixed in at Studio Ritmo & Blu, Italy, by Stefano Castagna *
* Except “I Succumb” mixed in Austin, Texas, by Adrian Benavides
“I Succumb” stems mixing by Stefano Castagna
Mastered by Lee Fletcher
Produced by Markus Reuter for Unquiet Music Ltd
Cover art by ARTMK
Booklet Digital collages based on images by Tobias Reber, Denis Rodier, JP Rossi

What people are saying about Unquiet Music Ltd’s new album:

A pretty ‘out there’ album… Jean-Philippe Rossi writes and constructs the stuff in a very unique and unorthodox manner. It was a fun project to contribute to in that it was so different to anything else I’ve ever worked on.” - Jon Poole (no stranger to “out there” albums) on contributing to “Meme/Music”

One of the most extravagant and unusual albums I’ve mixed this year! I love this great album!” - Stefano Castagna / Ritmo&Blu studios

To purchase:
Bandcamp: Bandcamp: https://unquietmusicltd.bandcamp.com/album/i-succumb-single-free-download

For more information:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnquietMusicLtd/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ayySw5v5jY1zL18mGolZw
Instagram: Unquietmusicltd

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Monday, November 28, 2022

New Book “Within Without Volume 02 Legacy of Love” Out Now!

Featuring an essay by King Crimson’s Tony Levin

Bringing together photographers, illustrators, designers, musicians, writers and visual artists, “Within Without Volume 02” publishes personal stories and artistic renderings on the theme “Legacy of Love”.

The essays inside are eclectic: a piece by musician Tony Levin, “In The Company of Ghosts”, tells the story of the final King Crimson concert in Tokyo, Japan. “And these ethereal figures who have visited me through the tour - I cherish them too. I ask of them now a last favour; to remain with me tonight, for this last show. I will go onstage in the company of ghosts”; another piece, “Again”, by author Monika Radojevic, depicts a personal story between two sisters, "my love for her is a persimmon unpeeled, covered in bruises but ripe and staunchly waiting for teeth to set upon its meaty sweetness."

Contributors: Hatsue Andrews, Rohan Ayinde, Lia von Buddenbrock & Fabian Blaschke, Joseph Tokumasu Field, Charlotte Gosch, Jay Harper, Tony Levin, Mags McKean, Lara Monro, Elsa Muñoz, Kasia Murfet, Studio other types, Monika Radojevic, Angela Reimer, Nouel Riel, Samira Saidi, David Singleton, Iona Singleton, Julia Zenteno.

We celebrate the work of each artist who took on the theme and made it their own. Profits will be going to The Children’s Orchestra Society in NYC.

Out Now!


To purchase: https://www.withinwithout.co.uk/shop/p/within-without-volume-02

More information: https://www.withinwithout.co.uk/

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Friday, November 18, 2022

Sonja Kristina of Curved Air Narrates Neuschwanstein’s 1976 Progressive Rock Epic “Alice in Wonderland” Album – OUT NOW!

The original version of Neuschwanstein’s “Alice in Wonderland” had narration in German but, for the first time, this has been replaced with English language parts read by Sonja Kristina of Curved Air.

Musically this 1976 album belongs among the great prog albums and sits between Rick Wakeman’s and Jeff Wayne’s iconic narrated rock albums. This edition has been re-mastered with a booklet that includes two separate sets of liner notes (with rare images) on the history of the band and Sonja Kristina’s 2022 vocal sessions.

Sonja Kristina said of the release “I was delighted to narrate this wonderful psychedelic musical version of Alice’s dream in a dramatic instrumental landscape.  I loved Alice in Wonderland as a child and I’ve really enjoyed returning to the magic of this story. This album deserves to be thought of as a classic progressive rock album of the 1970s, so I’m pleased to have recorded the narration for it.”

This was the only mid-1970s album in the ‘Narrated Rock’ genre to be unavailable in English…until now.

Available from:
Amazon CD: https://geni.us/AliceCD
Spotify: https://geni.us/AliceSP
Apple Music: https://geni.us/AliceAM

Orders placed directly with Cherry Red (while stocks last) will come with a postcard signed by Sonja Kristina: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/neuschwanstein-alice-in-wonderland-ft-sonja-kristina/

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Monday, November 7, 2022

Claire Hamill Releases Her New Solo Album, “A Pocket Full of Love Songs”, Which She Wrote and Recorded in and Around Lockdown – OUT NOW!

Claire Hamill is celebrating over 50 years in the music industry and she’s best known for her hit “Baseball Blues”, her work with Wishbone Ash and for writing Eva Cassidy’s hit “You Take My Breath Away”.

Claire Hamill released her much-loved debut album “One House Left Standing” on Chris Blackwell’s Island label in 1971 and worked with John Martyn, Steve Howe from Yes and a host of others as she developed her folk roots into new age music and beyond.

“A Pocketful of Love Songs” was written during lockdown and features songs from the heart on all aspects of love and life.

Claire Hamill said of the release: “There’s never been a better time to fall in love than now. I’m exploring the boundaries of my imagination and bringing together my thoughts and feelings in song form, to make sense of my life and my decisions. Maybe they’ll reflect some of yours too.”

The album is available from all good retailers and via the below links:
Amazon CD: https://geni.us/arch013cd
Apple Music: https://geni.us/arch013am
Spotify: https://geni.us/arch013sp

Also available directly from Cherry Red: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/claire-hamill-a-pocket-full-of-love-songs/

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Friday, November 4, 2022

King Crimson’s “In The Court Of The Crimson King – King Crimson At 50” Documentary By Toby Amies Blu-Ray/DVD Set Available November 18th

Also available as Limited Edition 8 disc boxed set from 2nd December

Described by Variety magazine as “really about as good as rock documentaries get,” the long-awaited, official King Crimson documentary by Toby Amies will be released in physical form on Nov 18th as a 2 Disc Blu-Ray/DVD set. An 8 Disc boxed set containing 2 Blu-Rays, 2 DVDs and 4 CDs will follow on December 2nd.

The 8 Disc boxed set includes the full King Crimson film, an early edited version of the film, a live concert from the 50th anniversary tour and a unique camera-only performance, plus a plethora of additional footage. 8 discs packaged in 4 miniature gatefold sleeves, with a 48-page booklet housed in a rigid outer case. Booklet includes notes from film director Toby Amies, David Singleton and Robert Fripp. Also includes the music from the original soundtrack and more, over 4 CDs, many tracks previously unreleased and/or new to CD.

The 2 Disc Blu-Ray/DVD set includes the full documentary film, an early edited version of the film, the final performance of the classic “Starless” from the band’s final ever concert in Tokyo, Japan in December 2021 and four trailers/shorts.

King Crimson has been described as popular but never populist. Just as King Crimson has been, for more than half a century, an atypical rock band, this film is a refreshingly atypical music documentary.

Toby Amies’ film about one of rock music’s most enduring, but simultaneously elusive, bands, “In The Court of the Crimson King – King Crimson at 50” provides a unique insight into the working process of a complex touring band, interspersed with contributions from previous band members to provide a contextual backdrop to the band’s past, as the most recent (2014-2021) line-up tours the world just before and during its 50th anniversary.

As King Crimson producer and band manager, David Singleton observed of the film: “All of life is here, not just music, and certainly not just rock. It has rightly been described as going beyond King Crimson into a ‘universal, inspirational study of what it is to work or dream to work as an artist.’”

While director Toby Amies writes of the experience: “In the Court of the Crimson King is not a film that wants to tell the audience what to think, rather it presents several different points of view about the creative process and what it means to be in this most unusual band; leaving the audience with a sense of both how complicated it all is, but also just how incredibly rewarding the King Crimson experience is both for the musicians and its fans.”

Robert Fripp announced that King Crimson had “moved from sound to silence” on social media after their final date in Japan in December 2021, making this release all the more poignant as a unique record of the band’s longest lasting line-up with tantalizing glimpses of the band’s history.  

Here’s what the press has said about “In The Court Of The Crimson King – King Crimson At 50”:

The film is angular and abrasive, exacting and playful, extremely funny and achingly melancholy.” - THE OBSERVER

“This unflinching portrait of the prog rock band is like an episode of The Office but with huge drum kits, grizzled roadies and rapturous fans” - THE GUARDIAN

“By turns comical and melancholy, it may be the most revealing film about working life in a band since Spinal Tap.” - THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

“A fascinating look at both a venerable institution, the dynamics of working as a multi-limbed unit that’s ruled by a single iron fist, and what it takes to play this type of music.” - ROLLING STONE

Doc about a Prog-Rock Perfectionist Is Nearly Perfect Itself. About as good as Rock documentaries get.” – VARIETY

Revelatory” - UNCUT

“A compelling insight into the tetchy men of prog rock. Their dedication to music is a joy, the persistence of Toby Amies ranks alongside Nick Broomfield. Even if you go in knowing next to nothing about King Crimson, you will leave feeling like lifelong enthusiasts.” - BBC RADIO SCOTLAND / RADIO TIMES, Siobhan Synnot

“The film ponders mortality, why music matters, and the sacrifices that bringing difficult art to the stage entails.” - THE TIMES

“In The Court of the Crimson King : King Crimson at 50 goes straight into the pantheon of those documentaries which enable us to appreciate the painful truth of what being in bands is actually like...there is no higher echelon.” - MOJO


To pre-order:
https://shop.schizoidshop.com/king-crimson---film-expanded-set---in-the-court-of-the-crimson-king---king-crimson-at-50-p1954.aspx
https://shop.schizoidshop.com/king-crimson---film-blu-ray--dvd---in-the-court-of-the-crimson-king---king-crimson-at-50-p1955.aspx

For more information:
https://www.dgmlive.com/news/kc-doco-soundtrack-preorder

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

One of the Most Sought-After Krautrock Albums, Twogether’s 'A Couple of Times,' Has Been Re-Released on CD and Digital Platforms – OUT NOW!

Twogether were a German drums and keyboards rock duo from Düsseldorf, formed in 1973 out of musicians previously in The Crew and Blue Squad. They never did many gigs and only existed for a short while after completing their sole self-produced album.

A Couple of Times is a much sought-after rarity among collectors and was released in 1973 and has been unavailable on CD for over a decade.

This 2022 remaster features new liner notes by surviving member Reinhard Fischer and has also been approved by the Klaus Bangert Estate. Two bonus tracks from a non-album single (their only other release) have also been included.

Surviving Twogether member Reinhard Fischer said “We didn't play together long enough for something to develop from it but from the mixture of our individual ideas about music this album came into being, a bit of everything and many opposites.”

Available now:
Amazon CD: https://geni.us/TwogetherCD
Spotify: https://geni.us/TwogetherSP
Apple Music: https://geni.us/TwogetherAM

The album is also available to order here: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/twogether-a-couple-of-times-expanded-edition/

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com