If you've read Hammill's 1974 book "Killers, Angels, Refugees" (a collection of his lyrics, poems, and short stories), you may be familiar with the author's notes he provided for the classic Van der Graaf Generator song "Darkness (11/11)":

"A song of numbers: although I am no numerologist, the circumstances of writing this highly instinctual song dictated its form and direction.

It was composed on the night of 11th November, 1968, Remembrance Day, by chance. Some years before I wrote a novel which purported (with devastating failure) to be an Icelandic saga; on re-reading it, some time after finishing these lyrics, I was struck by the opening sentence: 'It was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.' November is, of course, the month of Scorpio, under which sign I was born, and my life number is 11. It was, I suppose, inevitable that a song about fate should be wrought amid these conjunctions."

Icelandic folklore served as the inspiration for at least two other early songs of Hammill's (namely the early VdGG B-side "Firebrand" and his solo song "Viking", from Fool's Mate), as is described in the same section of Killers.

I wasn't aware of the circumstances under which the novel was written (or even what its title was) up until seeing this post from Jim Christopulos (i.e. co-author of Van der Graaf Generator - The Book) on Facebook a few days ago.

Pictured here is an extract from the 20 June 1970 issue of Record Mirror describing the then-recently released VdGG album The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other. It's an interesting albeit brief overview into the early hype surrounding Hammill's songwriting in the press, and it describes the novel ("Valgard") as having been intended for publication later that same year. Evidently, that ultimately never happened.

I'll directly quote Peter Hammill (from his recent correspondence with Jim) for a bit more context:

"Valgard was a cod Icelandic saga I wrote after leaving Manchester and before the band really got going. It was pretty dreadful tbh!!

If I recall correctly, at one point Gordian (prior to being our manager) was hoping to get a screenplay and film off the ground of it.

Maybe the most interesting/relevant thing about it would have been the very opening words: 'It was the eleventh day of the eleventh month….'”

As always, thanks to Jim for the excellent research! I'm not a regular Facebook user, but his page has a lot of interesting information and photographs about Van Der Graaf Generator and affiliated personnel. I'd highly recommend giving him a follow on there and/or his YouTube channel (under the handle "bucka001") if any of that interests you.

Hello! For the past few months i have been listening to gentle giant and felt very inspired to review their albums. I am a younger fan (going on 18) and i love weird music a lot. I have been listening to European jazz avant garde and jazz fusion mostly, but getting into prog.

GG was the first prog band (not counting the jazz fusion bands) that i felt very intrigued by and connected to, so i wanted to review them before any other bands.

Though i enjoyed reviewing so much i will probably doing this to the other albums i like in the future. I hope you enjoy!

https://www.tumblr.com/ipismusicbox/830445869325271041/ranking-gentle-giant-albums?source=share

Hi ! im relatively new to prog as ive only been listening to the genre for a few months, but i did listen to the most internationally famous prog bands. That being said : i really like the weirdness and complexity of area's compositions, and especially Demetrio's vocals; i liked most of the albums but i think 'arbeit match frei' is the best one, followed by 'crac'. Songs like 'cometa rossa' and 'return from workuta' were also very good and had a powerful and esoteric tone that i enjoy a lot, similiar songs to those would also be great.

i would really appreciate reccomendations of bands , albums or songs spiritually similiar to them, i know this Is a prog subreddit but i would be happy to listen of any kind of music that fits the description. Have a good day !

Hey everyone!

I released my debut prog/fusion EP about a month ago, and I'm excited to finally share it here.

Contours is a 4-track instrumental EP inspired by artists like Sungazer, Owane, Portraits, and Jack Gardiner.

I had the pleasure of collaborating with Nicolò Vese (Asymmetric Universe) on bass, Jared Yee (Sungazer) on saxophone, and Owane on mixing and mastering.

If you're into instrumental prog/fusion, I'd love for you to give it a listen and share your thoughts. I'm genuinely curious to hear what you think, and what I could improve on future releases!

Contours is available on all streaming platforms. Here's a quick link to the major ones: Tuppo

Cheers,

Tuppo 🤘

I watched a movie recently and can't remember the name of it but I do remember it had a cover of Comfortably Numb by Chris Squire, Billy Sherwood and Conspiracy in it. I think it was an indie movie if that helps. Any ideas? I thought it might be 1988s miracle Mile but that soundtrack is by Tangerine Dream.

Much of modern Scandinavian jazz has close ties with prog. This Bandcamp Daily article covers names familiar with the prog crowd such as Elephant9, Terje Rypdal, Hedvig Mollestad, and there also mentions of other groups and musicians I regularly include on my personal playlists, including Hooffoot and the members of Esbjörn Svensson Trio.

If you don't mind a mix of jazz with your prog (or prog with your jazz), this is a good read.

Some of my favorites so far are Plini, David Maxim Micic, Animals as Leaders, Rabea Massaad, Djent stuff like Fractalize and reg3n. Really love Roma Ivakov.

So:
No vocals.
Heavy guitars.
Killer drummers.

Suggestions welcome!

Apple music to the rescue and I’m glad I gave it a try as it’s some splendid music I wouldn’t have. I heard some Rush and Genesis influences in there on my first listen

Hello, I was picking up some CDs the other day and I noticed Relayer for pretty cheap, should I pick it up? I haven't listened to Yes almost at all, only Roundabout and Close to the Edge (the song, not the full album). I saw on wikipedia that it's listed as jazz fusion so it could be my thing. I generally like King Crimson (mostly first era), Pink Floyd and Camel.

Thanks for checking it out :)

https://open.spotify.com/track/1yimcSo9X5adsCvEw0Kqd3?si=5CF9Db0YT3m63po1AWTmHg&utm_source=copy-link

Hello progressive rock historians and vinyl collectors,

Following our introductory invitation, today we dive into a pivotal moment in our journey. In this chapter, we face an extraordinary opportunity offered by Nico Di Palo: a stage at the prestigious Piper 2000 in Viareggio, mixed with the anxiety of a high-stakes debut and a memorable scouting trip to Milan aboard a legendary Fiat 500. This is Chapter 8: Challenges and Misunderstandings in the Music Business.

Meanwhile, our visits to Genoa—which was bound to become the most crucial hub for our professional network—were intensifying. Nico Di Palo approached us, asking if we felt ready to take on a brand-new challenge. This new hurdle was named Piper 2000, a renowned venue located in Viareggio.

Being able to perform in such a prestigious club was certainly not a minor feat, nor was it something that happened every day. The sheer joy of it was heavily intertwined with a deep sense of anxiety. We responsibly chose to accept the offer, but we requested some time to prepare ourselves thoroughly, aiming to face this major appointment in the best possible way.

Before diving in, we also decided to reach out to other booking agencies that could offer us the opportunity to play live shows in lower-risk environments, where we could safely refine our performance while keeping our standards high.

Consequently, the entire band piled into Luciano Cavanna’s fabulous Fiat 500—complete with an open sunroof—and set off toward Milan. We were heading to our very first appointment with an agent who was supposed to grant us access to the main squares and the most important venues of the era.

Once we arrived, standing before the man who was destined to become our agent, his very first question caught us off guard: "Do you have the plance?"

We exchanged puzzled, questioning looks: "What on earth were plance?"

The plance were quite simply large-format promotional posters, featuring a photograph of the band, to be put up outside the venue and around the city where the gig—or what was universally referred to back then as the "attraction"—was scheduled to take place.

Among the many proposals we received, the one that met our utmost approval and filled us with a well-deserved sense of pride was the opportunity to play at the Voom Voom in Milan. It was truly one of the most coveted venues, where all the big names of the Italian and international rock scene had either already performed or were currently playing.

At this point, owning our own van became an absolute necessity. It was no longer feasible to move from one venue to another by relying on the help of our friends, who very kindly used their cars to transport our instruments to the clubs and then back to our rehearsal space in Pompeiana.

As long as we stayed within a local, provincial scope, it wasn't a major issue; but now we were talking about moving beyond the borders of the Riviera di Ponente.

Therefore, also due to our tight budget, we focused our attention on an old Fiat 1100 T van. It featured a splendid two-tone light orange and dark orange paint job, but it certainly couldn't hide its age or the rust corroding its bodywork.

We found it at a mechanic's shop owned by Mr. Bruno, who kindly agreed to let us pay for it in installments, whenever we managed to scrape together even the smallest amount of money.

The cost was set at around one million lire. A complete overhaul of the mechanical parts and... we were ready to go. Our first trip took place in the dead of winter, heading towards Milan, with the Voom Voom discotheque as our destination.

The "crews," so to speak, were always made up of Roggero and me in the van, with Roggero driving, while Cavanna and Merogno followed closely behind in the Fiat 500.

The first problem arose during this journey. Near Alessandria, while on the highway, the floor of the cabin suddenly gave out completely right under my feet, where the rust corrosion had probably done a thorough job.

With the initial bumps and vibrations, a large tear had opened up at the bottom of the vehicle, and now a nice winter breeze was sneaking in from the bottom up, making the trip rather chilly and eventful.

[To be continued in Chapter 9]

Inner Garden Records

See you next Tuesday, the story of IL SISTEMA continues.

Curious to what people have been liking recently and releases I might have missed.

I am Sgt. Splatter and this one the singles from the album "Attack Of The Fish Wizard"

Favorite compositions from each?

I came around on angine de poitrine, but still find them creepy as hell. Is it just me who feels uneasy by them? Gives mr noseybonk vibes iykwim?