Dazed #11: Camelias Garden, The Imagined Village, Fernwood, Luna Rossa, Narrow Pass, Minimum Vital

This latest batch of quality prog turned out to have a largely acoustic character which coincided nicely with the first hints of the coming spring here in Finland: increasing light, sun warming the air during the days, sounds of birds... My favorite time of the year :)

Camelias Garden from Rome was recommended in one of the many prog groups on Facebook, and I'm grateful whoever it was that gave the hint. You Have A Chance is a marvelous debut album that echoes Tull, Renaissance, early Genesis but adds a rich splash of the band's own Italian personality. It's one of the sunniest, airiest, most optimistic prog records I've heard and I truly hope this 2013 album will have a sequel soon.

My rating: 4,5 / 5

Recommended in Big Big Train's facebook group, Bending the Dark, the so far latest album from The Imagined Village, took me totally by surprise. The band's - well it's more a project, really - earlier efforts were a decent upgrading of British roots music, but this 2012 album goes way beyond that. Effortlessly mixing genres and cultures, the band switches from Irish laments to jazz-spiced electronica in no time and manages more than a few prog tricks here and there. It's a unique album that grows on you and its strong points easily outweigh the few less powerful moments.

My rating: 4 / 5

Fernwood are another British folk-based ensemble with prog leanings. I have so far only listended to their debut, Almeria, and must say I like it. It's nothing immensely memorable, but it's very good atmosphere music, with warmth and expressiveness aplenty; Anthony Phillips would be a natural reference point. The compositions could be more developed and detailed, but maybe the later albums have taken care of that already. As a debut, very promising indeed.

My rating: 3,5 / 5

The first Luna Rossa album, Sleeping Pills and Lullabies, was one of my favorites in 2013. So the expectations were high for the follow-up. My initial reaction to Secrets and Lies was slightly reserved; the immediate magnetism and drama of the debut seemed a little more downplayed and the music a little more ordinary. But the more I have listened, the more I like this. It's an intricate album that guards its soul a bit more than its predecessor did, but the effort is worth it. Recommended to anyone with appetite to innovative female auters along the lines of Kate B., Jane S., Joni M.... you know.
My rating: 4 / 5

Italy's Narrow Pass is one of the bands I have discovered when just browsing for new prog releases. Their latest sounded truly fabulous on first listen but I decided to go through their output from the beginning. Their debut, A Room of Fairy Queen's, from 2006, is more than solid. It's a nicely balanced whole that covers a musical ground that's half Steve Hackett and half something folkier and more acoustic. I enjoy this a lot and will report on their 2nd and 3rd albums in my next postings.

My rating; 4 / 5

Another continental band I discovered during the browsing session mentioned above was the French Minimum Vital who have been around for a fairly long time. I checked out a cd that has their first two albums, Envol Triangles / Les Saisons Marines, in one; those records date from 1985 and 1987, respectively. I believe they only represent the initial musical stage in a long evolution, and in a way they are dated, sounding very much like the 80's fusion oriented bands tended to sound. But there is definitely something original bubbling under the surface as well, and the overall impression is of a young band paying its debts to Brand X and Tull's instrumental pieces before moving on to find their own true voice. Not great but nice and, in retrospect, pretty interesting too. Will continue with their discography later.

My rating: 3 / 5