#neo prog

[j-tillow]

[marilliongifs]

[marillionsfiles]

[cadencewishes2]

Marillion - Kayleigh

[vinylspinning]

Marillion: Brief Encounter (1986)

Everything 1984’s Real to Reel was -- a captivating live collection immortalizing neo-prog legends Marillion at their in-concert prime -- ‘86’s Brief Encounter mini-album -- a lopsided selection of random singles, B-sides, and live tracks -- was not!

Released to coincide with Marillion’s opening slot on Rush’s Power Windows tour of the U.S. and Canada, this five-track set was named after (but didn’t actually include) the first section of Misplaced Childhood’s “Bitter Suite” for which it was named.

Instead, Brief Encounter’s secondary mission was to give that album’s breakthrough U.K. No. 1 single, “Kayleigh,” a second chance to gain some traction in America, where it had barely cracked the Top 100, via a live version that would later resurface on ‘88’s The Thieving Magpie.

But the EP got no help from the inclusion of forgettable B-side, “Lady Nina” (boasting electronic drums more suitable to Depeche Mode), nor from the “Lavender” single’s contagious but slightly repetitive (Mark Kelly’s infinitely repeated keyboard figure was to blame) flip-side, “Freaks.”

Side two kept up the promotional tactics with live recordings of the title tracks of Marillion’s first and second albums, Script for a Jester's Tear and Fugazi, credited to London’s Hammersmith Odeon show in January of ‘86, but most likely recorded at Leicester’s De Montfort Hall a few months later.

All of which reflects the rather hasty and clumsy assemblage of this release and its eventual inexpressive sales in America, while insatiable European fans probably purchased more import units of this U.S. only release than their counterparts across the Atlantic.

And this may seem like super-fan nitpicking, but Brief Encounter’s cheap-looking harlequin pattern cover “art” unfortunately broke away from the iconic and fantastical Mark Wilkinson paintings that graced every other Marillion release of the Fish era.

Not that it mattered ...

Marillion, as we know, never did break big in America -- not with Fish, nor with his successor Steve Hogarth -- and Brief Encounter has justifiably sunk to the murky bottom of the band’s discography, rarely re-issued or even mentioned again, except by geeks like me. 

More Marillion: Market Square Heroes EP, He Knows You Know EP, Script for a Jester’s Tear, Garden Party EP, Fugazi, Assassing EP, Real to Reel, Kayleigh EP, Misplaced Childhood, Lavender EP, Clutching at Straws, The Thieving Magpie (La Gazza Ladra), B’Sides Themselves.

[bappychaps]

Battles - 'Gloss Drop'

CD - 2011 Warp Records

[iheartmoosiq]

This Friday continues to be a phenomenal new music day as London Grammar unveils a new taste from their sophomore album Truth Is A Beautiful Thing, which I’m so excited for I can’t even begin to describe how giddy I am. Oh Woman Oh Man is an evocative beauty. Hannah Reid’s flawless voice is a focal point, per usual, but Oh Woman Oh Man’s gentle trip hop and ethereal soaring production on the song are requisite partners in this intoxicating spree. Pre-order London Grammar’s album Truth Is A Beautiful Thing, here, ahead of its June 9th release via Ministry of Sound / Metal & Dust. 

[j-tillow]