CD/DVD Releases: 3 New Releases From ProgRock Records For August/September 2010

The Players:

Christoph Hessler ? Vocals
Thomas Zipner - Guitar
Sebastian Wagner - Bass
Moritz M?ller - Drums

Tracks:

1. Right Through Me
2. Prodigy Composers
3. Ghostwriter
4. Snapshot
5. Early Bird
6. In Satellites
7. I Have a Place For You On Google Earth
8. Interspheres> 9. State Of The Divine
10. Soap Bubbles In The Rain
11. The Far Out Astronaut
12. Tear Down the Walls

The second is a band that needs no introduction, as we've give them some "column inches" here on these pages already - plus there are component parts that are certainly no strangers. The band, arK; the album, Wild Untamed Imaginings, which was released last Tuesday, August 10 (Price $16.95; Discount: 5% thru August 28th 2010).

From the adventure of a child's mind at the excitement of going on holiday, to a chance meeting full of possibilities that can never be anything more, from ordinary people caught in an extraordinary conflict to what might lurk behind those suburban net curtains, to leaving the earth to escape man made destruction, each song tells a different tale. Mixing folk, hard and progressive rock to evoke the storylines, Ark's unique line-up, including flute and guitar synth rather than a keyboard player gives the band a signature sound all of their own, yet distinctly English.

?I always felt that the band and it?s music never got the exposure and reward it deserved,? says Jowitt, known for his success with iQ, Jadis, Frost* and Arena. ?I?d long wanted to try to get the songs out to a wider audience. When Steve Harris got in touch last year, it seemed the ideal opportunity. I hadn?t expected Pete and Tony to be up for it, but a chance meeting with Pete in the pub showed exactly the opposite to be true. And hopefully, we can show everyone what they missed!?

The Players:

Peter Wheatley - Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Tony Short - Vocals and Flute
Steve Harris - Synths and Acoustic Guitars
John Jowitt - Bass and Backing Vocals
Tim Churchman - Drums

Tracks:

1. Boudicca's Chariot
2. Coats of Red
3. Flagday
4. New Scientist
5. Hagley
6. Gaia
7. 8th Deadly Sin
8. Change Pt 2
9. So You Finally Made It
10. Kaleidoscope
11. Nowhere's Ark

And the third of the trio is t and Anti-Matter Poetry, which was also released last Tuesday (Price $16.95; Discount:5% thru August 28th 2010)

German multi-instrumentalist, singer, producer and control freak t, is back with his 3rd album. After fronting German prog rock masterminds Scythe and 2 highly acclaimed solo albums, he took four years to write, perform, mix, produce and co-master Anti-Matter Poetry, a 68 minute concept album. t, again, played all the instruments and sang all parts here.

Art is a bitch, and so is literature - and music. they always present us worlds well out of reach - pipedream kingdoms of epic journeys, heroism, boundless yearning and lots of all the things we are, well, let's face it, not. Art is, insofar, simply destructive for your everyday middle class John Doe. It makes him long for things he neither really wants or needs: danger, uncertainty, lovesickness, bleeding hearts, je ne sais quoi. So, for our private universe, poetry is condensed destruction. It is antimatter. This album deals with the cliches that we retreat to when we celebrate unrest. When we crave for craving. When we swap the sun for a black hole. When we die a little to feel our lives again. This album is furious about the stupidity behind this. It is also helpless in avoiding it. It is a one-way street monologue. It is anti-matter poetry.

The Players:

t ? All instruments and vocals

Tracks:

1. The Wasted Lands
2. Hairdressers Symphony
3. Phantom Pain Scars
4. I Saved The World
5. Rearview Mirrors Suite
6. Antimatter Poetry

[Source: TSM Productions]