Live (2CD)

"Mikael Åkerfeldt, mastermind of Swedish band Opeth, has recorded the original score for the new Netflix series Clark, directed by renowned film-maker Jonas Åkerlund. Clark is the incredible story behind Sweden’s most notorious gangster Clark Olofsson, whose infamous crimes gave rise to the term “Stockholm syndrome.” The score for this 6-part series will be released as a Standard CD Jewelcase & Gatefold 180g 2LP vinyl via InsideOutMusic."

Steve Hackett returns to his roots.  This is the second time he's revisited the Genesis years.  This two disc set features reworking of material that Steve co-wrote.  In addition to members of his touring band, he has assembled an amazing array of guest musicians to help reinterpret classic Genesis compositions: Roger King, Amanda Lehmann, Christine Townsend, Dave Kerzner, Dick Driver, Francis Dunnery, Gary O’Toole, John Hackett, John Wetton, Mikael Akerfeldt, Nad Sylvan, Nik Kershaw, Phil Mulford, Roine Stolt, Steve Rothery, Nick Magnus, Neal Morse, Jeremy Stacey, Conrad Keely, Nick Beggs, Steven Wilson, Rob Townsend, Jakko Jakszyk, Simon Collins, Lee Pomeroy, Djabe.Tracklisting Disc 1:The Chamber of 32 Doors (6:00)Nad Sylvan: VocalsSteve Hackett: GuitarsDick Driver: Double bassRoger King: KeyboardsGary O'Toole: DrumsChristine Townsend: Violin, ViolaRachel Ford: CelloJohn Hackett: FluteBenedict Fenner: Additional ProductionHorizons (1:41)Steve Hackett: GuitarsBenedict Fenner: Additional ProductionSupper’s Ready (23:35)Mikael Akerfeldt: Vocals (1)Simon Collins: Vocals (2)Steve Hackett: Guitars, Vocals (3)Conrad Keely: Vocals (4)Francis Dunnery: Vocals (5)Lee Pomeroy: BassRoger King: KeyboardsJeremy Stacy: DrumsDave Kerzner: additional Keyboards & programmingBenedict Fenner: Additional ProductionThe Lamia (7:47)Nik Kershaw: VocalsSteve Rothery: GuitarsSteve Hackett: GuitarsLee Pomeroy: BassRoger King: KeyboardsGary O'Toole: DrumsJohn Hackett: FluteBenedict Fenner: Additional ProductionDancing With The Moonlit Knight (8:10)Francis Dunnery: VocalsSteve Hackett: GuitarsLee Pomeroy: BassRoger King: KeyboardsJeremy Stacey: DrumsJohn Hackett: FluteRob Townsend: Soprano Sax, WhistleFly On A Windshield (2:54)Gary O'Toole: Vocals, DrumsSteve Hackett: GuitarsRoger King: KeyboardsLee Pomeroy: BassBroadway Melody of 1974 (2:23)Gary O'Toole: Vocals, DrumsSteve Hackett: GuitarsLee Pomeroy: BassRoger King: KeyboardsThe Musical Box (10:57)Nad Sylvan: VocalsSteve Hackett: GuitarsLee Pomeroy: BassRoger King: KeyboardsGary O'Toole: DrumsRob Townsend: Soprano SaxCan-Utility And The Coastliners (5:50)Steven Wilson: VocalsSteve Hackett: GuitarsNick Beggs: BassRoger King: KeyboardsGary O'Toole: DrumsChristine Townsend: ViolinRob Townsend: WhistlePlease Don’t Touch (4:03)Steve Hackett: GuitarsDick Driver: Double BassRoger King: KeyboardsGary O'Toole: DrumsJohn Hackett: Flute- Total: 73:20 Tracklisting Disc 2: Blood On The Rooftops (6:56)Gary O'Toole: Vocals, DrumsSteve Hackett: GuitarsDick Driver: Double BassPhil Mulford: BassRoger King: KeyboardsRachel Ford: CelloChristine Townsend: ViolinRob Townsend: Soprano SaxThe Return Of The Giant Hogweed (8:46)Neal Morse: VocalsSteve Hackett: GuitarsRoine Stolt: GuitarsLee Pomeroy: BassRoger King: KeyboardsGary O'Toole: DrumsJohn Hackett: FluteBenedict Fenner: Additional ProductionEntangled (6:35)Jakko Jakszyk: VocalsSteve Hackett: GuitarsRoger King: KeyboardsAmanda Lehmann: Harmony VocalsEleventh Earl Of Mar (7:51)Nad Sylvan: VocalsSteve Hackett: GuitarsNick Beggs: BassRoger King: KeyboardsGary O'Toole: DrumsRipples (8:14)Amanda Lehmann: VocalsSteve Hackett: GuitarsPhil Mulford: BassRoger King: KeyboardsGary O'Toole: DrumsUnquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers … (2:12)Steve Hackett: GuitarsRoger King: KeyboardsGary O'Toole: DrumsBenedict Fenner: Additional Production... In That Quiet Earth (4:47)Steve Hackett: GuitarsNick Beggs: BassRoger King: KeyboardsGary O'Toole: DrumsRob Townsend: Soprano SaxAfterglow (4:09)John Wetton: VocalsSteve Hackett: GuitarsPhil Mulford: BassRoger King: KeyboardsGary O'Toole: DrumsAmanda Lehmann: Harmony VocalsA Tower Struck Down (4:45)Steve Hackett: GuitarsDick Driver: Double BassRoger King: KeyboardsRachel Ford: CelloJohn Hackett: FluteChristine Townsend: ViolinsCamino Royale (6:19)Steve Hackett: Guitars, VocalsAttila Egerhazi (Djabe): GuitarRoger King: KeyboardsNick Magnus: Keyboards; AtmospheresGary O'Toole: DrumsSzilard Banai (Djabe): DrumsTamas Barabas (Djabe): BassZoltan Kovacs (Djabe): PianoFerenc Kovacs (Djabe): TrumpetBenedict Fenner: Additional ProductionShadow Of The Hierophant (10:45)Amanda Lehmann: VocalsSteve Hackett: GuitarsSteven Wilson: GuitarNick Beggs: BassRoger King: KeyboardsGary O'Toole: DrumsRob Townsend: Soprano Sax, Flute 

Legendary rock guitarist Steve Hackett will release his new studio album “The Circus And The Nightwhale” on 16th February 2024 via InsideOut Music. A rite-of-passage concept album with a young character called Travla at the centre of it, “The Circus And The Nightwhale”s 13 tracks have an autobiographical angle for the musician who says about his 30th solo release: “I love this album. It says the things I’ve been wanting to say for a very long time.” Recorded between tours in 2022 and 2023 at Siren studio in the UK – with guest parts beamed in from Sweden, Austria, the US, Azerbaijan and Denmark, the line-up for “The Circus And The Nightwhale” includes some familiar faces alongside Steve on electric and acoustic guitars, 12-string, mandolin, harmonica, percussion, bass and vocals. Roger King (keyboards, programming and orchestral arrangements), Rob Townsend (sax), Jonas Reingold (bass), Nad Sylvan (vocals), Craig Blundell (drums) and Amanda Lehmann on vocals. Nick D’Virgilio and Hugo Degenhardt return as guests on the drumstool, engineer extraordinaire Benedict Fenner appears on keyboards and Malik Mansurov is back with the tar. Finally, Steve’s brother John Hackett is present once more on flute. Summing up “The Circus And The Nightwhale”, Steve says: “It’s a lovely journey that starts dirty, scratchy and smoky and becomes heavenly and divine. How can you resist it?” 

Vly began as strangers sending 1's and 0's across the Atlantic Ocean. British-based guitarist Karl Demata had a vague idea and a few demos, when a friend put him in touch with New York singer / artist Keith Gladysz. Keith began working on the demos, adding a more melodic, dream-like and decidedly indie sensibility. "It was a new way to work", says Gladysz. "The music and collaborative art I've made always started with people I knew, and creating naturally came out of that understanding. That's not the case with Vly. We managed to make an album without ever meeting. There was no gauge or reference point except for the music. It was a total shot in the dark".The sound of Vly shooting in the dark hits elements of progressive rock, classic rock, folk, early-Floydian psychedelia, intimate pop melodies, massive walls of epic guitar riffage, post-classical, post-rock and electronic music. And it's the diverse background of the members that lead to the breadth of their sound.The progressive sentiment of Italian keyboardist Elisa Montaldo quickly attracted the ear of Demata. "The first time I heard Elisa play" says Karl "I knew we had to be in a band. Her innate melodic approach and instinctual understanding and knowledge of 'anything prog' is simply remarkable"."Karl asked me to join the project at the very beginning" Elisa picks up: "My idea of prog is somehow more vintage, more typical 70's Italian style. After various experiments on arrangements and sounds, I went to Karl's studio to record most of the keyboards, where we found the right balance".Connecting with strangers, and expanding circles of mutual friends became the pattern for Vly. Karl next recruited experienced bass player Chris Heilmann who worked together previously in Crippled Black Phoenix. Chris provided a solid backbone with a more classic rock attitude.Demata doesn't hold back when talking about Sweden-based musician Mattias Olsson. "He is simply a genius. And he's never predictable as a drummer. Mattias also contributed some vintage keys and odd analog noises, which have a definitive effect on the bands sound. A common friend described him as a 'lateral thinker', and I can't think of a better way to describe him."Vly makes good on the futuristic dreams of the late 1990's, when promises of international recording sessions via the Internet excited incredulous musicians. Now that it's a reality (thanks to Dropbox and Skype), the method may be less glamorously sci-fi than one had hoped; still, they get the job done."I always disliked the cliches about music as a universal language, and more recently about the Internet bringing people together", explains Keith. "I'm even more uncomfortable with those sentiments now, since Vly proved them true".Vly's debut album, I / (Time) is available on the Laser's Edge imprint September 18, 2015. It's engineered and produced by Karl Demata, with additional production by Keith Gladysz and Mattias Olsen, and audiophile mastering by Bob Katz.VLY is:Keith Gladysz (Diet Kong, Typical Reptiles) - Vocals.Karl Demata (ex-Crippled Black Phoenix, Karl Demata Band) - Guitars, synths, programming.Elisa Montaldo (Il Tempio Delle Clessidre) - keyboards and synths.Chris Heilmann (ex-Crippled Black Phoenix, Bernie Torme', Shark Island) – Bass.Mattias Olsson (ex-Änglagård. White Willow, Necromonkey) - Drums & keyboard 

APOLLO: The ancient Greek and Roman God of music and poetry.SONS OF APOLLO: The new supergroup featuring members of Dream Theater, Mr. Big, Guns ‘N Roses, and Journey.In early 2017, rumors began circulating about a new secret project including former Dream Theater members Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian. Finally, on August 1st, the duo revealed the details to the rest of the world, introducing their new band, SONS OF APOLLO.Reuniting to form SONS OF APOLLO, Portnoy and Sherinian join forces with guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (ex-Guns N’ Roses), bassist Billy Sheehan (The Winery Dogs, Mr. Big, David Lee Roth) and vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (ex-Journey, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force). Their debut album, Psychotic Symphony, will be released October 20 on InsideOutMusic/Sony Music. Psychotic Symphony was produced by the dynamic production duo of Portnoy and Sherinian, also affectionately known as “The Del Fuvio Brothers,” the nickname given to them over 20 years ago during their time together in Dream Theater.SONS OF APOLLO formed very organically, its seeds planted with a predecessor group, as Portnoy explains: “Derek and I reunited shortly after I left Dream Theater in 2010 and we put together an all-instrumental touring band with Billy Sheehan and Tony MacAlpine. That was my first time working with Derek since the ‘90s when he was in Dream Theater, and it was just great to be working with him again. Ever since that tour, which was really just a one-off live thing, he has been nudging me to start a real, original, full-time band. The timing just had never been right, because I had too many other things on my plate. Long story short, the time was finally right to take the bait and put together a band.”“Mike and I work at a relentless pace in the studio,” continues Sherinian. “The music is modern, but we have an old-school soul. What is unique about SONS OF APOLLO is that we have true rock n’ roll swagger along with the virtuosity-- a lethal combination!”But what to call the next great supergroup? “Derek was mainly the one behind the name,” says Portnoy. “I have a list that I keep on my phone of about a hundred different band names, which I constantly have to refer to every time I have a new band every year (laughs). So I pulled up the list and Apollo was one of the names on the list. It was a word that both of us really liked. We started fiddling with different variations of the word. One of the original band names we were working with was Apollo Creed, the character from the Rocky movies, but after lots of different discussions on different variations, Derek suggested SONS OF APOLLO and it seemed to stick. Apollo is the god of music, so with that in mind it seemed like a fitting name.”With Portnoy, Sherinian and Sheehan having previously toured together in the aforementioned lineup that came to be known as PSMS, playing instrumental versions of various songs drawn from each member’s history, SONS OF APOLLO was the next logical step. They kept that fire burning and stoked it higher by bringing in a different guitarist, adding a vocalist, and creating all original material. The nine songs comprising Psychotic Symphony incorporate the progressive style and individual technical prowess Portnoy and Sherinian shared together in Dream Theater, combined with the swagger and groove of Van Halen, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin.“I have known Mike and Derek for a long time, so when they came to me with SONS OF APOLLO, I jumped on this straight away,” says Thomas Waber, Label Manager/A&R International of InsideOutMusic. “However, the album they ended up recording exceeded my already high expectations by a long mile! We couldn’t be happier about it!”SONS OF APOLLO will hit the road in 2018 for their first worldwide tour.“This is a real band,” Portnoy declares. “This is going to pick up for me and Billy where The Winery Dogs left off, in terms of this being the next logical full-time thing for us. I’m not saying The Winery Dogs have broken up, because we haven’t, we’re just on a break. SONS OF APOLLO is absolutely going to be a full-time band and we plan on touring all over the world throughout 2018 and, honestly, it is the priority for all five of us.”Sherinian agrees, “We will go on a worldwide crusade in 2018 to bring SONS OF APOLLO to as many people as possible. Apollo was the God of Music, and we are his mighty offspring!”SONS OF APOLLO ARE:Mike Portnoy – drums and vocalsDerek Sherinian – keyboardsBilly Sheehan – bassRon “Bumblefoot” Thal – guitar and vocalsJeff Scott Soto - vocals 

Formed in Oslo in 1992/93, WHITE WILLOW has built a reputation over the years as a diverse, subtle, progressively-focused group, their albums always critically acclaimed and revered as influential. They were a part of the original revival of progressive rock in Scandinavia that also included Änglagård, Anekdoten, and Landberk, and original Änglagård drummer Mattias Olsson is the drummer of WHITE WILLOW. Fusing influences from 1970s prog rock and folk rock, hard rock, electronica, and even some pop influences, with each album they explore new territories. A common thread throughout all the albums though, is the use of female vocals and the employment of huge arsenals of vintage keyboards and synthesizers, notably Mellotrons, Chamberlins, Moogs, Solinas, Prophets, and more. Among the bands/artists admired by WHITE WILLOW are Genesis, Blue Öyster Cult, King Crimson, Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell and Norwegian bands ranging from Høst to Darkthrone.WHITE WILLOW’s first album since 2011’s well-received Terminal Twilight sees the outfit exploring some of the most “progressive” territory the band has ever ventured into, with several lengthy tracks and more instrumental passages than they are usually known for. Musically the album builds upon the foundation of its predecessor, with a modern approach to production. Future Hopes also features a heavy use of synthesizers, including the unique textures of the famed Blade Runner synth, the Yamaha CS80.The Future Hopes lineup, which as always is a loose constellation of musicians with multi-instrumentalists Jacob Holm-Lupo and Mattias Olsson at the core, sees the return of several WHITE WILLOW stalwarts, including flautist Ketil Einarsen (Jaga Jazzist, Motorpsycho), keyboardist Lars Fredrik Frøislie (Wobbler, Tusmørke), and bassist Ellen Andrea Wang (Pixel, Manu Katché Quartet). The singer is however a new arrival. Venke Knutson is best known in her native Norway for a string of Top 10 hits and is well established as a solo pop artist. She came into Holm-Lupo’s orbit as a guest singer with his other project, The Opium Cartel. Guesting on several tracks and putting a clear stamp on the album is Norway’s trailblazing guitar hero Hedvig Mollestad, known from her own Hedvig Mollestad Trio. Holm-Lupo felt the material needed a soloist who could both navigate the tricky, almost jazz-influenced chord and time changes on the album while at the same time retaining a rock edge, and Hedvig fit the bill perfectly.Future Hopes was mixed by highly respected Norwegian Grammy-nominated engineer Christian Engfelt, known for his work on the Elephant9/Reine Fiske album, Atlantis, and the Todd Rundgren/Lindstrøm collaboration, Runddans. The record was mastered by Grammy Award-winning audiophile legend Bob Katz, and completed with a specially commissioned painting by Roger Dean. The CD and digital versions of the album also feature two bonus tracks, including an original tune, “Damnation Valley,” as well as WHITE WILLOW‘s unusual cover of The Scorpions’ classic dirge, “Animal Magnetism,” re-interpreted as a Tangerine Dream-like electronic piece while still retaining the heaviness of the original. The star on the track is New York-based clarinetist David Krakauer, knows as the world’s foremost klezmer clarinetist, with countless credits to his name both with his own projects, in jazz constellations, with many of the world’s best philharmonic orchestras and with soundtrack music. Krakauer is a recipient of many prestigious nominations and awards, from DownBeat to the Grammys.