This time next week I’ll be on a plane to an island where I will do nothing but lay on the beach with a book, eat, and repeat. It’s all that’s on my mind (other than actively trying to ignore work which is of course the exactly opposite of actually not thinking about work), so a quick playlist of the new music that’s come through the door in the past week. I really have a problem, but it ain’t the worst one to have right now, you know? So I’ll count myself very lucky and just get on to the tunes.

• The Alan Parsons Project – “A Dream Within A Dream”
• Agnus – “Pinturas y Expresiones”
• Roine Stolt’s The Flower King – “Rio Grande”
• Easter Island – “Face to Face”

I knew nothing about The Alan Parsons Project except they were considered kind of prog, and of course that Parsons was a big part of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, so when they announced a half speed remaster of the original mix of their debut I was all in. Still digesting it…I’ve been a big fan of boutique label PQR and the obscure prog and psych reissues they’ve been releasing – each one is a trip and Agnus, an Argentinian band whose sole record from 1980 is a perfect example of the kind of weird stuff the label loves, folky and proggy and a little jazzy…Roine Stolt is no stranger here, and I have no idea why this was a solo effort instead of a proper Flower Kings album, because it sounds like the leftover tracks from the records made around that time, anyway…It’s a double shot of PQR this week as I also grabbed the first formal vinyl release for Easter Island, the eponymous 1979 debut from the Kentucky prog band.

• Devin Townsend – “Canada”
• Pyramid Mass – “Unrest”
• Ricotti & Albuquerque – “Don’t You Believe Me”
• The Cure – “And Nothing Is Forever”
• Low – “Fly”

Time to get a little heavier with some Devin Townsend. I grabbed the reissue of his 2001 solo release Terria as well as the blu ray for his Ziltoid performance at the Royal Albert Hall for cheap. I think I prefer latter Devy to his earlier work, but like a lot of this music, I’m still digesting it…I randomly grabbed the debut from Pyramid Mass and was bowled over by their very unique take on doom metal: there’s a lot of abstraction and weird prog tendencies without actually calling directly out to it. Their new EP Gargling Rot might be even better, with symphonic touches added to the morass of punishment…

Lightening the mood is Ricotti & Albuquerque, a blind buy I 100% don’t regret. This is a 1971 gem of early jazz rock mixed with soul and R&B, a potent brew from vibraphonist Frank Ricotti and guitarist Michael de Albuquerque…I’m still undecided on the the latest album from The Cure. On the one hand, I do love the return to their more morose, mopey days from the 80s, but the album is so long and one-note on first listen I need to let it sit more. “And Nothing Is Forever” though hit me instantly…Finally because I don’t own any physical media from them, I grabbed a vinyl of Double Negative from Low because, well…there was really no one like Low.

Be safe, be good to each other. See you next week.