Musea Releases From November...
Date: Saturday, December 29 @ 15:13:46 UTC
Topic: Album Release News


Some of the titles Musea Records released this November include a pair of releases from Japanese group Gerard. As Musea writes, "No, Gerard is not only a French-flavoured first name! It's also the name chosen by the Japanese keyboards wizard Toshio Egawa (Novela, Sheherazade, Earthshaker...), at the time he created his own band at the beginning of the Eighties. The beginnings of the band were marked by an elegant and elaborate symphonic music relying on the Progressive rock played by Yes, Genesis and friends during the previous decade.

"Issued in 1983, the eponymous album was the leader of the remarkable Japanese Progressive rock movement that was about to start. Gerard's fame got bigger with Empty Lie, Empty Dream in 1987, and stronger with Irony Of Fate four years later. The omnipresent impressive and skilful; keyboards have become a specific characteristic of their music since the co-founder Yukihiro Fujimora (future author of the fabulous aggressive guitar parts in Vienna) left the band.

Save Knight By The Night was initially issued in 1994 under the pseudonym Toshio Egawa's Gerard. This was the occasion to discover a completely different group, largely influenced by Emerson, Lake & Palmer and U.K., giving an explicit meaning to the term "power-trio"! The prevailing bass with guitar accents of Atsushi Hasegawa and some amazing drum parts courtesy of Masahiro Goto contribute to give that unique music an impact usually found in the best hard-rock bands! The instrumental band features from time to time Canadian singer Robin Suchy.

"The Pendulum was issued in 1996, and Pandora's Box the following year. Meridian (mostly tracks from the first period revisited in 1998), Live In Marseille - Battle Triangle (Gerard was invited to perform in France during the Year of Japan in July 1998), The Ruins Of A Glass Fortress (2000) and Sighs Of The Water (2002) follow.

"Entitled Power Of Infinity, the 2005 release features Italian singer Alex Brunori, former member of the Progressive rock band Leviathan. We are also offered the chance to rediscover in video a show simply out-of-this-world, and explicitly called Chaos Live. Here's an essential band, for every Progressive rock lover..."

In 2010, Gerard released Ring Of Eternity, originally via Altavoz; Visionary Dream was released in 2011. Both are now reissued by Musea.

Also now available via Musea is Big Big Train's English Electric. "Big Big Train is a British band whose music falls in line with Genesis and Pink Floyd. This group mixes the efficiency of rock -- powerful, dynamic, incisive riffs guitar -- with a certain talent to make endearing melodies like Galahad or Pendragon. The vocals blend perfectly with layers of keyboards and delicate piano chords.

"Gathering Speed (2004) is a concept album about a pilot of the Second World War, which invites the audience to a flight through atmospheric sounds. It combines a classic rock art and contemporary influences.

"Big Big Train had a turning point in their career with The Difference Machine (2007), rising a few notches in a hierarchy particularly noted. It must be said that the British band knows how to choose their guests carefully. The presence of a certain Nick D'Virgilio behind the drums is certainly not for anything in this qualitative jump , not to mention that he also invited his friend Dave Meros to share the position of bassist along with another big name of the instrument: Pete Trewavas (Marillion). In short, this is not a coincidence that his inspiration is felt, the release came closer to standard bearer Spock's Beard. This trend continues with The Underfall Yard (2009), a magnificent opus of more than 22 minutes long. Moreover the arrival of a new singer, we also note with pleasure that Nick D'Virgilio is back in the game, alongside Francis Dunnery (It Bites) or Jem Godfrey (Frost*). But this is almost a deal with such detail. Essential! Rightly acclaimed as one of the finest achievements of the year 2009, The Underfall Yard sees Big Big Train permanently installed as a force to be reckoned with on the Progressive rock scene. Presented as an interlude before the next studio album, Far Skies Deep Time EP will probably do nothing to dispute this fact! Published the following year, this cake of forty minutes peaked with a title more than 17 minutes long, "The Wide Open Sea." Note the presence of the now faithful D'Virgilio behind the drums; and guitar notes the appearance of a certain Dave Gregory, XTC guitarist. Essential again!"

English Electric was released September 3, 2012 by the band and now made available via Musea Records. "[...] English Electric takes the listener on a journey through the English landscape, from the mining towns of the north to the chalk hills of the south," the band note on their website. "Along the way, extraordinary tales are told of inland navigators, art-forgers, miners and men of industry; stories of people who dream of the daylight but are given up to the depths.

"English Electric is a celebration of the people that work on, and under, the land and who made the hedges and the fields, the docks, the towns and the cities.

"'Tell me do you know the song of the Hedgerow?'"

English Electric Part Twowill be released on March 4th 2013. Pre-ordering will be available from late January.

Lebocal - Bist Du Froh? - "This fifth installment of collective LeBocal draws its vitality in a rock energy ('Oranienstraáe,' 'All Of My Friends,' 'Mad Song') which is expressed with freedom and without concession by singer Ernie Odoom. The matter -- electric, distorted -- that Guillaume Perret (sax effect) brings allows new sound combinations with the rest of the group ('Breathe Together,' 'Disko Mobile'). Finally, the big band is expressed through tracks like 'Jungle Boc' and 'Africa,' 'where my money is' declaimed one text by Laurent Gaudin (Savoyard poet). An original album that allows you to delve into various aesthetics, without ever denying ... His envies, his pleasure, his madness...

"Magnésis has perpetuated for a long decade [or more] a certain French tradition of dramatic and sophisticated songs that was so well embodied by Ange in the Seventies. The vocalist Eric Tillerot and his band of merry troubadours have developped a significant discography, including epic concept albums evolving between songs, medieval universe and Progressive rock. One can recall the first album Les Voyages De Mikado (1992), a historical panorama about the Burgundy Dukes' epic [trip], whereas Etang Rouge was inspired by fantasy legends. [...] Magnésis presented its indisputable masterpiece, the most successful L'Immortel Opéra (2005). This was once again a concept-album dealing with themes that are dear to the band: imagination, a pact with the Devil... And this time, even the great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart himself is involved! Here is an album that will delight the Seventies-nostalgic fans, but also every bucolic Progressive rock connoisseur.

"The seventh opus by Magnésis is once again a concept-album, written by the usual suspects Frédéric Przybyl and Eric Tillerot. The duet got its inspiration from Jules Verne this time, creating a story about a modern Noah-Nemo. Le Royaume D'Océanéa (Musea, 2010) offers more than an hour of bombastic Progressive rock, served by no less than three potential keyboards players. One could also find find links with the works of Eric Serra, the composer for all movies made by Luc Besson, and especially Le Grand Bleu. Carefully written and composed, performed with intensity and precision, not to mention well produced, this piece of work is a musical treasure for all Seventies lovers. Welcome on board!"

Faits D'hiver... is a live album released this year.

"Concept-instrumental album [by] Scieur Z [Scie-Né Muzic (Pour Films Imaginaires)] leads us into worlds sometimes spacey, melancholic and sometimes even disturbing ... Guitar-Cello (hybrid sound between electric guitar and viola da gamba) and electrified musical saw are here to honor, inducing atmospheres full of surprises, with parts specifically designed for what the band likes to call its 'imaginary movies' ... creating a texture where lyrical flights and intimate melodies come together ... Somewhere between Yann Tiersen, Mike Oldfield, Cascadeur, Philip Glass, Robert Wyatt, Brian Eno, or King Crimson ... The art of swimming in the deep, in troubled water in the middle of the songs of whales, the undulation of sawfish and the sirens call ..."


"Débora Seffer is the daughter of French saxophone player Yochk'o Seffer, who was the brainchild of ZAO. Since the early Nineties, this young musician has been considered as a promising hope of today's jazz scene: a virtuoso violin player as well as a gifter composer. She was already to be found in very good company on the Violin Connection (1988) compilation, the second release of the Musea label in CD format. Sixteen years later, the lady offered a beautiful eponymous opus. This album, engineered by Mark Haliday under the musical direction of the great Didier Lockwood, is exceptional. Débora Seffer's vocals are full of feeling and groove. These nine pieces explore new musical territories: this is brilliant jazz-rock fusion, but mixed with blues, ethnic and electronic elements. Thierry Maillard's elegant Fender Rhodes parts meet Jean-My Truong's versatile drumming: the musical basis of a sophisticated and worked-out music. An excellent piece of art!" The release now available from Musea is Someone To Watch Over Me.

"Assurely a good thing for everyone who likes to be surprised and shaken up! French drummer Bruno Tocanne created the ImuZZic network ten years ago. He has developed different bands with it. For several years, he established a transatlantic musical partnership in playing with Canadian saxophonist Quinsin Nachoff, trumpet player Russ Johnson and Canadian bassist Michael Bates. The quartet called "new songs," is a newest group where Bruno Tocanne is joined by the French trumpet player Rémi Gaudillat, a distinguished member of the ImuZZic community, and Swiss trombonist Samuel Blaser, well-known for his outstanding ability to renew the art of trombone and the double-bass player Michael Bates. Between formal writing and improvisation, the four musicians undertake a work on complex melodic structures.

"'In A Suggestive Way was released in 2012: A very nice record, once again, the title perfectly reflects the impressionist and meditative music. Tocanne Bruno and his companions passed their wager, that of freedom and mutual listening, never strike a speech, but instead suggesting everyone to follow his imagination. Paul Motian can be proud of the tribute which is rendered here by Bruno Tocanne' - Denis Desassis."

Published on the Musea label in the year 2011, Time Machine was the fourth solo album of Argos' drummer Ulf Jacobs. Lyrically, it's about the fascination of time travelling, freely adapted from the famous novel by Herbert George Wells. Musically speaking, the album sounds like classical Progressive rock, with lots of Mellotron, Moog, Hammond organ and opulent drumming in the style of the Golden Seventies. Clouds is the fifth solo album by [...] Jacobs and it's his second release on Musea Records. After the Progressive Rock suite Time Machine (2011) he felt encouraged to produce another conceptional work. Clouds lets you see things different, from the richness of light to the fear of the dark. The music is contemporary Progressive Rock with lots of Mellotron, Prophet, Roland CR78 and opulent drumming as well as modern ambient sounds, featured by Thomas Klarmann (Argos) on bass and Àkos Bogati Bokor (Yesterdays) on guitar. Have fun listening!"

In addition, Musea is distributing the following Gonzo CD titles: Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe - Live At The N.E.C. - October 27th, 1989, Galahad - Beyond The Realms Of Euphoria, GPS - Two Seasons - Live In Japan - Volume One, Jefferson Starship - Tales From The Mothership, Anthony Phillips & Andrew Skeet - Seventh Heaven, The Reasoning - Adventures In Neverland, Cristiano Roversi - AntiQua, Simeon Soul Charger - Harmony Square. And these DVDs: Zappa On Zappa - The Lost Broadcasts and New Riders Of The Purple Sage - The Lost Broadcasts.







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