Seriously. In the last two days I had nine CDs and about seven vinyl records arrive at the house. I have no idea how or when I’m going to find the time to sit back and luxuriate in them all, let alone write about them (that’s not quite true, I may have written about two of them already). And since next week is the summertime vacation playlist, I guess this week will be one more round of recent physical acquisitions. It has to end sometime, right?

Right?

• Arjen Anthony Lucassen – “Pink Beatles In A Purple Zeppelin”
• Nolan Potter – “Do I Have to Tick Your Tock?”
• Johnny Blue Skies – “If the Sun Never Rises Again”
• Flied Egg – “Rolling Down The Broadway”
• Norio Maeda – “Tsugara Jongara Bushi/Day Tripper”

This playlist is going to be very prog-heavy, and we’re kicking off with a tongue-in-cheek SF satire from Arjen Anthony Lucassen, better known by his main outfit Ayreon. I went on a Lucassen rampage last week, and this is one of five records I grabbed. There are references galore to his 70s heroes throughout 2012’s Lost In the New Real, which is the prog version of his most recent release, the excellent Supersonic Revolution which was one of my favorite albums of 2023…Speaking of my favorite albums, I wrote about Nolan Potter and his Music Is Dead as probably my favorite album of 2021. His new album The Perils of Being Trapped Inside A Head is just as good, a ton of delirious psychedelic garage pop/rock that’s barely left my stereo…I’ve only spent a few hours with it, but I am totally thrilled Sturgill Simpson…uh, I mean Johnny Blue Skies is back and doing his singular thing on the literally released today Passage du Desir. Gone is the bluegrass and back is the modern progressive country that made A Sailor’s Guide to Earth one of my favorite things ever…and has ben getting constant play in the house…I just reviewed the great underground rock of Flied Egg, and particularly called out this Uriah Heep inspired rocker that just slays in the house when I play it. If you like classic heavy rock, you need this album in your collection…Another essential is Rock Communication, released for the first time in North America and one of the best jazz soul funk to come out of Japan, courtesy of Norio Maeda and his All-Stars. Shades of Zappa circa Waka Jawaka and the kind of stuff David Holmes emulated for his Oceans scores (think The Meters and Booker T with more jazzy funk). Unfortunately it’s not on streaming services, so if you’re using the Spotify playlist below you instead get his cover of the Beatles’ “Day Tripper” instead.

• Carmen – “Bullfight”
• Caligonaut – “Emperor”
• Airbag – “Tyrants and Kings”
• Kaipa – “Sommargryningsljus (single edit)”
• Ayreon – “My House on Mars”

The second half is ALL PROG, BABY. Carmen was one of the bands I heard about from Sea of Tranquility’s essential prog of the 70s, and the L.A. by way of London group Carmen has a spacey vibe to they prog which, combined with flamenco guitar, lots of latin flavor and production job by Tony Visconti makes for a stellar debut in 1973’s Fandango in Space… If you’re not familiar with the Norwegian prog scene, you’re missing out on some of the best progressive rock being made anywhere in the world. Caligonaut is an offshoot of the wonderful Wobbler, and “Emperor” is the opening track from their (as of now) sole album, 2021’s Magnified as Giants. Lots of heavy guitars and fuzzy keys that rock hard…Airbag gives off huge Pink Floyd and Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree vibes – never a bad thing. The Century of the Self is their latest album, and this shorter track has some of the immediacy I love from the band…Kaipa is a relatively new discovery, one I connected to through Roine Stolt of The Flower Kings, who got his start with this band in the 70s. New album Sommargryningsljus is a lot to chew, so glad to have this single edit for you to digest as I listen to the full hour and a half record…Finally we end as we began, but this time Lucassen is in his official Ayreon guise. The Universal Migrator series has so much incredible music it was hard to pick, but “My House on Mars” just has something, whether it’s that super cool intro or the lovely chorus, take your pick…

Be safe, and see you next week.