Big Big Train

Recording English Electric

2011-12-31T16:31:00.000Z

We're getting close to completing recording work on English Electric after three more very productive days at Aubitt studios in Southampton. We recorded drums for The Permanent Way, Judas Unrepentant and Worked Out and vocals for Judas Unrepentant, Worked Out and The East Prospect of Winchester From St Giles' Hill. We also had time to record drums for some tracks for Station Masters, including Make Some Noise and new versions of Fighter Command and Summer's Lease.

There are more photos from the studio on our Facebook group page.

Best of 2011

2011-12-21T12:35:00.000Z

I thought I'd do a quick round-up of the releases I've enjoyed during 2011.

The finest new album I've heard this year is Elbow's Build a Rocket Boys! It's a CD of subtle and beautifully-constructed anthems, best enjoyed, I'm sure, whilst drinking a glass of the accompanying beer. Runner-up to Build a Rocket Boys! was probably Last by The Unthanks.

I've not owned a Steve Wilson / Porcupine Tree CD before but finally caved in and bought Grace For Drowning. Initially, I found it a bit light on songs with perhaps too much 'noodling', but after several listens the songs began to reveal themselves. Now I think it's probably the best out-and-out prog album I've heard for many years.

In the last few weeks I've been listening to 50 Words For Snow by Kate Bush. I've not spent enough time with it to reach a conclusion, but I suspect that two of the songs (Snowflake and Misty) are as good as anything she has ever done. And speaking of established artists who can still surprise, the best song of the year was, by a long way, the new version of San Jacinto on Peter Gabriel's orchestral album, New Blood. The album as a whole is a curate's egg, but San Jacinto is simply breathtaking and features a jaw-dropping vocal performance. It includes several moments of astonishing beauty and I urge anyone who hasn't heard it to listen to it on a good system or on good headphones.

I've read a lot of books this year, but very few have stayed long in the memory. The best was probably Edgelands by Michael Symmons Roberts and Paul Farley. However, judging from the presents under our tree, I will have a fair few books for Christmas so may find a gem amongst those (possibly Max Hastings' All Hell Let Loose or The Great Sea by David Abulafia , both of which have received high praise.)

I haven't seen many new films in 2011 and none of the ones I've seen were anything other than mildy entertaining (maybe I've just chosen badly, or maybe the cinema is too expensive these days.) However, there have been a number of brilliant tv series which suggests to me that some of the best film-making is now for the small screen.

Two of my favourite comedies have been the very clever and elegantly-written American show Bored To Death (which has sadly just been cancelled) and an English series called Rev which is about an inner-city vicar and his parishioners. Rev is both very funny and intensely moving. It seeks out and finds the good in all of the characters, no matter how unsympathetic they may appear.

And alongside the comedy, there has been great drama too. I'm a big fan of George RR Martin's Game of Thrones novels and was delighted that the HBO series was such a strong piece of work. Series 2 is eagerly anticipated in the Spawton household (my son plunged headlong into the books as soon as series 1 came to an end; it's good to see a teenage boy read thousands of pages of high-quality fiction with such evident pleasure.)

Another drama series which reached for the sky was The Walking Dead. On the surface, it's a well-made and sometimes very scary horror series. However, season 2 has also explored some deeply moral issues and the fascism which is beginning to emerge amongst some of the desperate characters is as frightening as the zombies.

The final two programmes I'd like to mention are both crime dramas. I'm not into crime as a genre, so these two took me by surprise. I really didn't think I'd spend 30 hours watching the Danish drama The Killing, for example, but I was quickly hooked. Better still, though, was the Italian series Romanzo Criminale which was tucked away on an Arts channel. Romanzo Criminale tells the true story of a gang of deeply unpleasant criminals who 'take' Rome in the 70's and 80's. It's complex, gripping stuff and the casting is brilliant with a bunch of actors showing extraordinary on-screen presence.

As I say, the characters in Romanzo Criminale are not at all sympathetic (even the Rev Adam Smallbone would struggle to find the good in these guys) but there is something magnetic about this unholy band of brothers (Libano, Freddo, Buffalo, Dandi et al), their nemesis Scialoja and the beautiful Patrizia).

That's it for my 'best of' list. We're back at work next week for the penultimate Aubitt Studio recording sessions for English Electric. If I get chance, I'll do some updates from the studio on our Facebook group page. In the meantime, I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Greg

Far Skies EP on Spotify

2011-11-26T13:24:00.001Z

The Kingmaker version of the Far Skies EP is now available for listening to on Spotify:

Far Skies Deep Time

In Aubitt

2011-10-30T11:29:00.000Z

We've just spent two more days at Aubitt studios completing the vocals and flute for A Boy in Darkness, The First Rebreather, Keeper of Abbeys, Hedgerow and Summoned by Bells.

There is still plenty to do; more drums with Nick at Christmas, more vocals, strings, harp, guitar, organ etc. but we are well on schedule for mixing in March.

Here are a couple of pics from the session (more on our Facebook group page.)

Big Big Train brass band

2011-10-16T12:30:00.002+01:00

Today, we are reunited with the BBT brass band which played a huge part in the sound of The Underfall Yard CD. We are recording performances for the forthcoming English Electric album. We'll post some updates from the studio on our Facebook page.

English Electric vocal sessions

2011-08-23T10:26:00.000+01:00

We're spending a couple of days at Aubitt studios recording vocal parts for English Electric. We're doing some live blogging on progress on our Facebook page.

A good weekend

2011-08-14T15:46:00.002+01:00

It's a typical summer's day here in England, bit of sun; a few showers to dodge. After the horrors of the riots last weekend, many things, like the weather, seem to be getting back to normality. In the last few days we have spent too many hours glued to the news channels watching scenes of mayhem (and also of solidarity and dignity) unfold. Whilst the political and social commentators are still, understandably, doing their stuff in the Sunday papers, I've found that it's time to come up for air and do the things I like to do. So, this weekend, I've been writing lyrics for the new album and watching a bit of sport.

Both of my kids are keen badminton players and, as a family, we spend much of the winter at tournaments as they compete. For those who aren't in the know, badminton has a bit of a reputation as a relaxed and gentle game played by young and old alike. However, at the highest levels, it's a ferocious sport requiring astonishing levels of fitness and agility.

This weekend it's the finals of the badminton world championships which are being held in London. An English pair has reached the final of the mixed doubles and I'm looking forward to watching that later today. The most prestigious events, however, are the singles finals and today's mens' final, featuring the best singles players of all time (Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei) turned out to be perhaps the greatest badminton game ever seen. There was something primeval about the winning moment, as Lin Dan addressed the crowd looking like King Leonidas before the Spartans at Thermopylae, or Stuart Pearce after scoring that penalty.

Sport is great. And so is music.

Inbetween the badminton games, I've been finishing off the lyrics to The First Rebreather, one of the songs on the new album. The idea for The First Rebreather was given to me by Dave Gregory who, after listening to Winchester Diver from The Underfall Yard, remarked that it reminded him of another historic diving story; this time about Alexander Lambert who dived heroically into the flooded Severn Tunnel in 1880.

I'd not heard of the story before and, on the basis that you can never have too many progressive rock tunnel-diving songs, started reading up about Lambert. One particular online article caught my eye and gave me the title of the song. After that, it was a question of finding some angles that interested me so that it wasn't just a story about a diver and a tunnel.

As a young child I was fascinated by the tale of Beowulf descending into the mere to slay the beast and this added a mythical backdrop to Lambert's journey into the dark. Of course, I also had to include one or two references to the Divine Comedy, as I did in Winchester Diver.

So, for me, at least, it's been a good weekend; a set of lyrics completed and a great sporting contest witnessed.

Kingmaker. New song. 13th July.

2011-07-08T10:45:00.001+01:00

The covermount CD on the next issue of Classic Rock Presents Prog (issue 18, available from 13th July) features a new 10 minute song by Big Big Train. The song is called Kingmaker and is an exclusive release for Classsic Rock Presents Prog.

Kingmaker will not otherwise be released on CD in the UK or the United States, although it will at some stage be available for purchase as a download from iTunes, Amazon, Bandcamp etc.

What is so special about prog?

2011-06-25T16:35:00.006+01:00

There was a thread on Progressive Ears the other day which piqued my interest. I suppose it was a variation on the 'what is prog?' threads, which are beyond tedious, but it got me thinking about what sets 'prog' apart from other genres.

The thread was initiated by 'Homburg' who stated:

I've been listening to a lot of classical and jazz lately. It would be easy for me to dismiss prog as relatively unsophisticated, yet I keep returning to it, whereas I return to other forms of rock increasingly rarely.

There have been a lot of rock bands (e.g. Talking Heads, U2, REM) who are just as intelligent as the smarter prog bands, so what is it that makes prog special for us?

Surprisingly, a lot of responses were dismissive of the premise of the thread:

Myself, I find nothing special about it. There are a few songs here and there that I can get into, but not many. Still trying to research and find some other tunes I can get interested in. Seems a losing scenario, though. (Gruno)

Prog hasn't been "special" for many, many years for me. The old stuff from the 70s is still special, but the whole "scene" (the 3rd Wave, internet, etc.) that started in the late 90s (for me) stopped being special 6-7 years ago. (Vic2002)

Absolutely Nothing! Only prog fans think it is special. Prog is no more or less special than any other genre. (Stoneage dinosaurs)

Responses of this nature made others wonder why the authors frequented a progressive rock forum.

Some of the other answers were lighthearted:

But seriously.....I've analyzed this situation thoroughly, and at great length, and have come to the conclusion that it is multiple-necked stringed instruments. That is what is so special about Prog. Especially if you've got a 12 string joined to a bass, that gets extra prog points. (WideOpenEars)

...while other respondents did attempt a serious answer:

The extended songs are the key. I cannot get enough satisfaction of a 3 minute song. I need development, breaks, changes in tempo/key...and it should still be rock music. (Soul Dreamer)

...and Homburg returned to add his own explanation:

I think it's the texture I find so pleasing: rock guitar alongside classical-style piano, melodies and complex rhythms, harshness and delicacy, flippancy and grandeur. Hard to emcompass in three-minute songs yes.

For me, Soul Dreamer's and Homburg's answers are about right. Bearing in mind that music from so many other genres is just as, or more, sophisticated or complex than prog and that technical proficiency isn't peculiar to progressive music, it clearly isn't special because it is 'superior' in any way.

I enjoy good songs and tunes but also like instrumental music, so prog has the right balance; more so than other genres. I also like music and words that connect on an emotional level and, again, the best prog ticks that box, when some other genres don't. And prog is also better than most genres at dynamic variation - from quiet moments to powerful grandiose sections within the same track.
I can, of course, get the tunes and the emotion from lots of music, but I'm often left wanting more if the instrumental sections and effective dynamic variations are lacking.

A good example of what I mean can be heard in the music of Elbow. On their most recent album, there is a beautiful song called Lippy Kids. Great lyrics and soundscape, lots of emotion.

But it fizzles out just when it should be gathering itself for a big dramatic conclusion and, when I listen to it, I end up thinking: 'why can't they let themselves go a bit more?'

Indeed, for want of a better word, I wonder if they'd reach even greater heights if they were just a bit more 'prog'?

Soundcloud

2011-06-12T13:39:00.001+01:00

We have a new Soundcloud page.

Just some songs from Far Skies Deep Time and The Underfall Yard on it at the moment, but we will make available some exclusives in future months.

Hallowed be thy prog

2011-05-18T08:02:00.004+01:00

Ignatius Insight, which is a Catholic website, has published an article on prog rock by Professor Bradley Birzer. Professor Birzer has a very interesting perspective on the genre and the article is a terrific read.

Further commentary on the article can be found on The American Culture website.

Goodbye to the Age of Steam (2011 re-issue)

2011-04-25T21:52:00.000+01:00

Completing the trio of BBT-related releases over the last few weeks is the re-issue of our first album, Goodbye to the Age of Steam, which is now on sale in the BBT shop (and will be available from Amazon UK and USA from May 3rd).

Goodbye to the Age of Steam was originally released on the GEP label in 1994 and has been unavailable for the last few years. It isn't representative of where we are now as a band and it wasn't something we intended to go back to, but Rob Aubrey had a window in his schedule last year and offered to re-mix it from the master tapes. The 1994 version of the album was recorded and mixed on a very tight budget and the opportunity to achieve the best possible sound quality with a complete re-mix was something we could not resist.

We have also added three bonus tracks to the album to ensure the 2011 version of Goodbye to the Age of Steam is a value-for-money release. Firstly, there is an extended version of Losing Your Way, featuring an instrumental section which was edited out of the album version; then a track called Far Distant Thing which we recorded for a radio session in 1993, and finally, an instrumental track called Expecting Dragons which reworks some of the album themes and motifs and which features the band's modern line-up.

Those of you who are familiar with the original release will also notice that we have used new artwork for the re-issue. The painting for the 1994 cover was sold at auction and we have no idea where it is. So we asked our artist, Jim Trainer, to paint some new images. Cracking job he made of it too (the re-issue features a 12-page booklet which includes a number of Jim's paintings.)

So, there it is. We've now completed our programme of re-issues and, from this point on, it is all about the future as we continue work on English Electric and start thinking about some gigs.

In the meantime, I hope you'll find something to enjoy on Goodbye to the Age of Steam. It's certainly not up there with The Underfall Yard or Far Skies Deep Time, but it's part of the Big Big Train story.

Sean Filkins - War and Peace and Other Short Stories

2011-04-14T10:08:00.000+01:00

Sean Filkins, Big Big Train vocalist on the Gathering Speed and The Difference Machine albums has just released a solo album. I haven't heard the CD yet, but there is a track streaming on Sean's site (where it's also available for purchase for a tenner, which includes P&P.)

David in Dusk magazine

2011-04-08T09:51:00.000+01:00

David was interviewed by Mario Giammetti for the December issue of Dusk (the excellent and longstanding Italian Genesis magazine.)

Mario has now kindly made the interview available online and in English. It's a very interesting read and is well worth checking out. There is a link to it on David's blog.

Tin Spirits

2011-04-01T10:21:00.001+01:00

The first Tin Spirits' CD,Wired to Earth, is out now. It's a beautiful album of guitar-based prog which avoids the well-trodden road of Nu-Prog or Nu-Metal heaviness and, instead, establishes its own path. My understanding is that the album has been printed up as a limited edition to start off with so I strongly recommend popping over to the Tin Spirits' website and buying a copy while it's available (it costs just £6.95). Tin Spirits is: Dave Gregory (guitars), Daniel Steinhardt (guitars and vocals), Doug Mussard (drums and vocals) and Mark Kilminster (vocals and bass).

Tubular baebes

2011-03-13T12:02:00.001Z

This is already going viral, so I thought I'd do my bit:

Video review of Far Skies

2011-03-04T14:22:00.000Z

Liveprog has developed an innovative approach to CD reviews which, I think, works very well. Here is Marcel Haster's review of Far Skies:

Other reviews can be found on the Liveprog website.

In the Cage at Abbey Road

2011-01-30T13:54:00.001Z

Many thanks to Mark Hornsby who allowed us to sit in on a session at Abbey Road last week. The session was memorable for a number of reasons; firstly, simply because it was at Abbey Road; secondly it involved recording a full 48-piece orchestra, which isn't something you get to see every day; thirdly, because the orchestra were recording versions of In the Cage and Kevin Gilbert's beautiful A Long Day's Life.

The recordings were for future re-issues of Nick D'Virgilio's Rewiring Genesis and Kevin Gilbert's The Shaming of the True.

Studio One is the largest recording space in Abbey Road and has been used for many film scores (including the Lord of the Rings). I assumed we'd spend most of the time in the control room (the picture above is from the control room of Studio One looking out into the recording room) but we were able to wander in and watch the orchestra in action (mobile phones turned off, of course, the mere thought of my phone ringing during the middle of a take was almost too much to bear.)

So, we were 'up close' as the players turned over the score for the first time and began warming up and practising the tricky bits.

Within a few minutes the orchestra tried a run-through of the first track, In the Cage, to sort out any teething problems. It was a spine-tingling moment when the 'pulse' at the start of the song began and the opening chords drifted in. The arrangement was absolutely beautiful; faithful to the original but using the full scope of the orchestra to enhance the composition.

Banks' keyboard solo was played, for the most part, by the 20 violinists (they took it in their stride; all of the musicians were from London's top orchestras). The last flurry of notes from the solo was played on brass instruments and this proved a particularly challenging section.

After a couple more complete run-throughs, In the Cage was pretty much in the can. There was time to focus on two or three of the more difficult sections and these were recorded in short takes just to ensure that everything was as it should be.

Next up was A Long Day's Life. Two separate versions were recorded and, again, the arrangements and performances were simply stunning.

During breaks in the session, we were able to pop into Studio Two (where most of The Beatles albums were done) and Studio Three (this was Pink Floyd's main recording studio.)

We were also pleased to find out that the Pro-Tools operator for Mark's session had recorded Sigur Ros' Ara Batur from the Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust album. This was a huge session involving the band plus the London Sinfionietta and the London Oratory Boys Choir.

Prior to recording Ara Batur, Sigur Ros had tuned up un-announced to have a look around the studios. I understand their response to seeing the various recording rooms was, like ours, one of awe.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I'm a bit of a history buff, and Abbey Road elicits the same feelings as any of the major historic buildings in England. We walk into the rooms and we look up and we wonder: 'what have these walls seen?'

So this is Christmas...

2010-12-30T17:34:00.002Z

Left-to-right: Nick D'Virgilio, Dave Gregory, Greg Spawton, Rob Aubrey,
David Longdon, Andy Poole. Photo by Neil Palfreyman

And what have we done?

Bloody loads, actually. In three days of work at Aubitt studios we recorded the drums for 15 songs (over 100 minutes of music). It's all good stuff too, no 'leftovers'. About an hour of music (perhaps slightly longer) will feature on the new album English Electric, which leaves lots of additional material for our forthcoming retrospective / introduction to... / 'best' of... / rarities collection, which will be called Station Masters.

We filmed some of the recordings so will try to post some video excerpts in the next few weeks. Nick was in fine form, as you will see.

After completing the sessions we had time for a band photo shoot in Winchester and also had a very nice curry with Mr Martin Orford who showed absolutely no signs of retreating from his musical retirement (it does seem that Martin's keyboard solos on Fat Billy will be his last recordings.)

Enjoy your New Year celebrations, wherever you are. We are looking forward to a very productive (and progressive) 2011.

Twelve Days of Progmas

2010-12-19T17:14:00.001Z

Christmas is coming fast and, this year, we will be spending much of it at Aubitt, recording drums for our next album English Electric (plus some other tracks which we will be releasing on another CD in the next year or so). The reason for recording over the Christmas period is that Nick has a few days in England prior to the opening of Cirque du Soleil's Totem in London.

If we get the chance, we'll upload some dispatches from the studio, but, until then, I would just like to draw your attention to this rather fabulous video by Somewhere celebrating the twelve days of progmas (hat tip: Dave Gregory).

Jacques Brel

2010-12-05T16:07:00.000Z

Jacques Brel is the subject of our song The Wide Open Sea from the Far Skies EP. For those who are not familiar with Brel, this astounding performance of Ne Me Quitte Pas is a good introduction:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za_6A0XnMyw&feature=related

Illegal downloading

2010-11-21T10:28:00.005Z

I need to get this off my chest.

I'm relatively relaxed about illegal downloading of our music. It's irritating that so many people feel they can help themselves to our music, but I'm not convinced that those downloads would convert directly into sales if the internet was magicked away. And the internet has been the tool that we've used to grow the sales of the band, so we've taken the view that you need to take the rough with the smooth.

Our approach in the last few years has been to reduce the temptation to illegally download our music. Therefore, we:

keep our CD prices as low as possible and offer 'bundles' in our shop
make our music freely available to listen to on streaming sites such as as Spotify and Last FM
work with internet radio stations to make our music available via podcasts
offer full-length free downloads and streamed songs on our own website
try to make our CD's a desirable product (we spend a lot of time and money on design)
emphasise our independence from record labels (in other words, if you take our music, you are stealing directly from the musician, not some amorphous record company)

Our hope is that this approach makes a difference and, if our growth in sales is an indicator, then it has. But occasionally, I do find myself getting dispirited. The release of the Far Skies EP has caused me to be especially downhearted.

With Far Skies we wanted to reward our loyal fans who have joined our mailing list over the years. So, we offered the CD ahead of general release to people on our mailing list. There is, of course, a benefit to the band in this approach as many more people have subsequently joined our mailing list, meaning we are better able to target direct sales at individuals in the future (rather than distribute through dealers when we sell at wholesale prices.)

Unfortunately, within just a few days of the pre-orders being sent out, Far Skies started popping up on numerous torrent sites. What really pisses me off is that it is highly likely that somebody on our mailing list took it on themselves to upload our music (the only other possibility is that somebody who received a promo copy uploaded the CD. However, we have sent very few promos out for Far Skies, and none ahead of the pre-orders).

One of the advantages of being in charge of our own label is that we can keep a proper track of sales. For the pre-order of Far Skies we have a spreadsheet which includes the name of everyone who has ordered the CD. The CD isn't available from anybody else at the moment so this spreadsheet should include everyone who has bought the CD so far. I was reading some of the early reviews and ratings of Far Skies on Progarchives the other day and noticed that some of the most recent ratings had been from people that do not appear to have bought the CD.

Now, I have no intention of besmirching these people; maybe they received the CD as a gift, or borrowed a copy from a friend, so there is a reason that they have been able to rate our music without appearing on a database of people who have bought it. Or maybe they are judging it after hearing the music on a podcast or internet radio station; in which case, fair enough I suppose (although passing comment on an album when you haven't got access to the music in an uncompressed format, and don't have the artwork and the lyrics in front of you is a bit rum.) But if any of them has given a rating to the album after downloading the music from a torrent site, now that would be bloody cheeky.

If there is anybody reading this who has downloaded music from us illegally, please visit our shop and think about making a purchase. We are selling 41 minutes of new music on Far Skies for just £6 (which includes shipping), so it's not like we're driving people to the download sites with unreasonable prices.

We are an entirely independent band and everything we earn from the music goes straight back into the band. Listeners should at least reflect on that before taking our music.

Far Skies CD's

2010-10-29T17:02:00.001+01:00

All pre-orders for the Far Skies EP received before the 25th October have been posted today (with the exception of signed copies - those will ship next week.)

We support our little rural Post Office by shipping all our sales through them and, as I suspected, we overwhelmed them a bit today. However, they worked hard to get all the packets stamped up and I think that they were all done in time for the last post.

Orders we received in the last couple of days will be sent tomorrow or Monday.

The International Prog Rock Show (BBT special)

2010-10-28T14:24:00.000+01:00

On October 24th, The International Prog Rock Show broadcast a BBT special to celebrate the release of the Far Skies Deep Time EP. The show features an in depth interview with Andy Poole, a selection of songs from our back catalogue and a preview of all of the songs from Far Skies. The show is now available for download (there is a link to the download page for the show on the IPRS blog.)

Many thanks to Rick Blake and Frank Marceau for making this happen.

Busy week

2010-10-27T08:26:00.000+01:00

We're busy packaging pre-orders for the Far Skies Deep Time EP at the moment. We are a little bit behind as we have also had to grab a couple of days in the studio this week to finally finish off the Goodbye to the Age of Steam remix and bonus tracks (that's me, above, recording Expecting Dragons last night.)

The reason for the untimely studio booking is that VAT is increasing again in January so we want to get Age of Steam pressed up before Christmas to save ourselves a bit of money.

We'll be finishing Age of Steam today and after a celebratory curry will get back to the packaging and shipping. All pre-orders should be on their way by Saturday at the latest.

Goodbye to the Age of Steam is NOT being re-issued on 18th October

2010-10-17T14:24:00.000+01:00

It's been pointed out to me that Amazon are advertising a re-issue of our first album Age of Steam with availability from 18th October.

I'm assuming that this is just an error on Amazon's part, but if it's not, then I don't know who has taken it upon themselves to re-issue our music. The rights were given back to us by GEP a few years back and we have the master tapes in our possession.

Our re-issue is due in the spring next year. It's been completely re-mixed and re-mastered and has bonus tracks and new artwork. If this imposter re-issue is for real rather than a mirage, I do urge you to ignore it and wait for the official version.

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen

2010-10-10T15:21:00.001+01:00

Today is the 50th anniversary of the publication of Alan Garner's The Weirdstone of Brisingamen.

When I was seven years old, our English teacher sat us down (legs crossed) on the tiled floor of our classroom. She read the first chapter of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen to the class. We were, to a boy and girl, spellbound. Then she shut the book up and told us to finish it for ourselves. I rushed straight off to the library and nabbed a copy; and that was the day I became a lover of books.

Hats off to you, Mr Garner.

Far Skies Deep Time EP pre-order

2010-10-01T22:28:00.000+01:00

As some of you have noticed, we've started sending emails out to the mailing list with EP pre-order details.

Please be patient if you are expecting an email and haven't received one yet as we have several thousand to send and they are going in batches over the next few days. If you haven't heard from us within the next 10 days, then it will be worth checking by emailing us at:

bigbigtrain@hotmail.co.uk

The European Perspective: Far Skies Deep Time Exclusive

2010-09-27T20:56:00.003+01:00

On September 25th, David 'Wilf' Elliott's The European Perspective show on the Dividing Line network featured an interview with David Longdon as well as an exclusive broadcast of the Far Skies Deep Time EP.

The show is now available to listen to online. There are two options; you can hear just the BBT bit here, or you can hear the whole 4 hour show (which includes the BBT bit as well as some very tasty music from other bands) here.

Just a reminder that the EP will be released on the 25th October and for the first two months (until Christmas Day, in fact) will only be available to buy if you are on the BBT mailing list. It is not too late to join said list and this can be easily be achieved by clicking here and following the instructions (if you've bought CD's directly from us before, you should already be on the list.)

We will start sending emails to people on the mailing list (with ordering information) in the next couple of days.

Far Skies Deep Time - insight

2010-08-29T13:54:00.000+01:00

More insight on the forthcoming Far Skies Deep Time EP at David Longdon's blog.

The Underfall Yard on Spotify

2010-08-21T12:33:00.001+01:00

The Underfall Yard is now available on the wonderful Spotify.

New CD coming soon: Far Skies Deep Time (EP)

2010-08-04T22:48:00.002+01:00

Big Big Train with Rob Aubrey (photo by Amy Mumford)

We've finished recording our new EP and will shortly be back in the studio to mix and master it. The plan at the moment is to release Far Skies Deep Time in late October. There will be no pre-order campaign and initially it will only be available to those who are on our mailing list (if you've bought a CD directly from us in the past and haven't changed your email address recently, then you will feature on that list.)

The Far Skies EP is generously proportioned (about 41 minutes of music) and features the following track listing:

Master of Time
Fat Billy Shouts Mine
British Racing Green
Brambling
The Wide Open Sea

Master of Time is a cover of an Anthony Phillips song. Anthony and Mike Rutherford had originally planned to record Master of Time for inclusion on one of our favourite albums, The Geese and the Ghost, but ran out of time during the album sessions. A demo of the song appeared on the recent re-issue of The Geese and the Ghost. We thought it was a beautiful song which deserved a full band treatment and so decided to record our first ever cover. Ant has heard the BBT version of Master of Time and has given us his blessing and we do hope that we've done the song full justice.

Fat Billy Shouts Mine was originally part of a suite of music for The Underfall Yard album. We didn't get chance to finish recording the song in time for the album and so are pleased to be able to release it as part of the Far Skies EP.

British Racing Green and Brambling feature a lot of music within concise arrangements. We are very proud of these two songs which both tell the story of doomed relationships.

The EP concludes with the 17 minute The Wide Open Sea. This is a very different epic for us, very unlike our previous songs of this sort of length. It tells a story of Jacques Brel and is, I think, one of the best things we've done.

The Big Big Train line-up on Far Skies is:

Andy Poole
Dave Gregory
David Longdon
Greg Spawton
Nick D'Virgilio

and the EP also features Danny Manners on double bass, Jon Barry on guitar and Martin Orford on keyboards.

More news soon.

The Resurgence of Prog

2010-07-23T14:14:00.001+01:00

Interesting new article on prog in The Guardian. Read it here.

In search of vintage sounds

2010-07-10T18:17:00.003+01:00

Andy, firing up the Quattro

We've been struggling to replicate a couple of the keyboard sounds we used on Age of Steam and had decided we just had to accept the use of substitute sounds in one or two places.Then we found out that Martin Orford (who co-produced Age of Steam) was selling some of his gear. To our surprise, the list of items for sale included the Yamaha SY85 which he had brought in to the studio and used on the album back in 1994. It was this keyboard which had generated the missing sounds. So now we have access to them again.

So many notes to choose from...

The list of items for sale also included Martin's Roland A-90 which was his main stage keyboard for many years, and we've taken the opportunity to try that out with a view to buying it. We've not owned an 88-note keyboard before and it is an impressively massive beast which is unlikely to be popular with roadies.

It's been fun firing up these vintage keyboards (especially as many of Widge's live patches are still in evidence) and as long as we can get the midi working on the A-90, I think we'll be buying it.

In sharp focus

2010-07-08T20:30:00.000+01:00

Popped into Aubitt studios the other night for a chat with Rob and Mike Holmes, who are finishing off the new The Lens album.

The Lens was the immediate antecedent of IQ (which was formed out of the ashes of The Lens in the early 1980's.) When I heard that Mike was revisiting The Lens I was slightly sceptical; I wasn't sure what the point of it would be.

I was wrong to be unsure. Mike played us three of the tracks from the forthcoming album and they sounded absolutely brilliant. There were shades of Camel, Pink Floyd, Hawkwind (and, of course, IQ) in a setting of contemporary sounds and with an almost Trance feel at times. It has been beautifully recorded as well.

I'm not sure when The Lens album will be released, but do check it out.

Inside and out

2010-06-27T19:33:00.005+01:00

Outside, the sun is shining and the girls are looking ever more beautiful in their summer dresses. There is tennis, football and motor racing; there are music festivals, the beach, barbecues and beer. And yet we find ourselves staring, once again, at the walls of an airless recording studio, trying to nurse a number of different projects to completion.

In the last few years, a regular schedule of releases has enabled us to get noticed and build momentum. The new albums and reworked or remastered reissues have all done well for us in continuing to build an audience. In short, we need to keep working hard, as a lengthy gap between releases is not a good option for us.

So, work hard we must. We're 95% there with the Goodbye to the Age of Steam remix. And we're about three-quarters done with the new Far Skies Deep Time EP, too, with vocal sessions booked in for July and mixing in August. Both of those CD's will be fully completed by the end of the summer and should be out in the autumn.

Yesterday, we restarted work on the English Electric album, opening up sessions that we hadn't touched for a few months as we need to get them ready for drum recording in the winter. These sessions contain about 70 minutes of new songs and there is a huge pile of work to do on them to get them ready in time. Some of the songs are fairly complete, others more sketched out. We opened up two yesterday for a careful listen, one called East Coast Racer and another called Worked Out. Both of them sounded like they were full of potential. It's the process of unlocking that potential that we need to crack on with.

In addition to Age of Steam, Far Skies and English Electric, David is developing ideas for our most ambitious project yet, which we'll aim to complete after English Electric in 2012 or 2013. This new project is shaping up to be a mighty piece of work.

So there is much going on at the moment, enough to keep us busy for some time to come.

And I am also conscious that we have had a number of amazing offers for gigs and festivals, so much so that we need to start thinking about whether we can afford to take some time out from our recording schedule to take up some of those offers. For now, recording and releasing music seems to be the way to build the band, but at some stage a change in tack may be necessary to take things to the next level. And it could be fun, too.

'Crap! That was loud'

2010-06-14T18:53:00.002+01:00

Another fabulous weekend at the folk festival. Looks like the musket-fire during the parade may have been a tad loud for the good burghers of Wimborne, though.

Fetchez la vache

2010-05-30T18:08:00.003+01:00

Sadly, technical gremlins got in the way of the planned completion yesterday of the remix for the re-release of our first album, Goodbye to the Age of Steam. Rob ('you're paying me less than the minimum wage for this') Aubrey and Andy worked on until the early hours, but were unable to get it finished. Still, significant progress was made and we should be able to get things tied up with one more session.

We've suddenly found ourselves with a whole heap of work to complete in the next few months. In addition to the Age of Steam remix, we need to finish off recording and mixing the Far Skies Deep Time EP that we're planning for an autumn release. The EP should come in at 40 minutes plus, so some might call it an album, but for us it's a (rather substantial) hors d'oeuvres (...betcha didn't know I could speak French...) before the release of the English Electric album, which is due in 2011.

And that's the other huge piece of work we need to do, because Nick D'Virgilio is due in England in the winter months and we need to get the whole of the album far enough along to record the

drum sessions while he's here. So, there is much to keep us occupied.

As I'm writing this, I'm listening to the Age of Steam mixes we have completed. And mighty fine they are sounding, too. As my tweeting suggested yesterday, Age of Steam is a bit of a period piece as we were using many of the keyboard sounds which were fashionable in the early 1990's. By the time we got to 1997's English Boy Wonders, we had stripped things back mostly to guitar, organ and Mellotron, so the 2007 remix for that album allowed us to use the much improved samples of those instruments which are now available.

For Age of Steam, though, we used a lot of sounds which lock the album into a more specific time frame. One of the decisions we had to take at the start of the remix was whether we should replace those sounds with something we might have used if we were making the album today.

After a bit of soul-searching we decided that we would stick to the orginal sound canvas for the album. This was a challenge in itself, as we no longer own the keyboards that we used back in 1994. And many of the keyboard parts for the album were not on the original 2 inch tapes, so we've had to recreate them using sounds which are as close to the original ones as possible.

As well as a full remix of the original album, the Age of Steam re-release will feature a couple of bonus tracks. One of these is an extended version of Losing Your Way including a section of music we decided not to use on the album version. The other bonus track is a mashup of the two instrumental tracks on the album recorded by the Big Big Train of 2010 (featuring David on flute and keyboards and Nick on drums.) And of course, we use our current palate of sounds and tastes, so it is possible to get a very direct idea of

how we've changed over the years.

Finally, the new Age of Steam will also feature some beautiful new cover and booklet artwork by Jim Trainer. The original cover painting by Kev Thompson has been lost, so we've asked Jim to do some new artwork and he's turned in a magnificent set of images.

More news on Age of Steam when we have a release date.

Wild River

2010-05-11T21:00:00.000+01:00

We are pleased to add Wild River, David Longdon's first solo album to the Big Big Train shop.

Wild River was recorded before David joined Big Big Train during a period of change (from one century to another). David Longon: "My old life was changing into an exciting/terrifying period in which I wondered what my new life would be like. The album is about the passing of time, love, death and the inevitable impermanence of everything. It is not a Prog album but it has elements of progressive rock within it. It's an eclectic mix and I had an interesting journey making it".

Wild River (2004) features many musicians collectively known as The Magic Club. The CD contains the guitar playing and Mellotron work of XTC's Dave Gregory.

BBT SSGB

2010-05-09T16:16:00.001+01:00

Here is a photo from a recent BBT photoshoot on the glorious SS Great Britain in Bristol.

Left-to-right: Dave Gregory, Greg Spawton, Andy Poole, David Longdon.
Photo by Amy Mumford

The Golden Thread

2010-05-09T16:01:00.001+01:00

Why is the band called Big Big Train? We still get asked that question, and the answers I've given over the years haven't always been consistent. In the early days, we were slightly embarrassed about admitting to showing too much of an interest in railways as we were frightened of being labelled as train-spotters, so we hid away from the obvious context. In more recent years, I've learned not to care.

The truth is, I like trains, dammit. I like railway stations and lines and all of the associated paraphernalia.

It's in the blood, you see. My grandad was a railway men and my mum was brought up in a railway cottage, a stone-throw from the line and a few paces from the engine sheds at Leicester yard, where her dad, a wheeltapper, spent all of his working life.

The picture below is of the yard (the Leicester Midland Locomotive Depot) and was taken just after the second world war. My mum lived in one of the terraced houses to the immediate left of the huge circular engine shed. She lived there for all of her childhood, only leaving in the late 1950's, when she got married.

Last weekend we took Mum back to the East Midland town of Leicester to revisit her past.

Whether you think large-scale immigration is a good or a bad thing or have no particular view on the subject, it is not a controversial point to observe that inward migration has brought major change to this part of Leicester which, in community terms, is now an area where madrassas, mosques and halal butchers have replaced the corner shops and churches familiar to my mum's generation.

The landscape has changed as well. Some of the terraces have been demolished (including my grandad's old house) and replaced by flats and industrial units, although enough of the old houses survive to get a feel for the area as it was. And many other things have also remained the same. The Royal Mail sorting office where one of my uncles worked is still a postal depot. Mum's girls' school has changed its name but not its function; the park she played in and walked across to get to the school is still there and still beautifully kept.

And down on the railway, whilst the engine sheds have gone, the sidings remain, although silent now; the rails are rusting and grass-grown and there are no engines any more.

Leicester yard in 2010, view taken from the bridge shown at the top of the previous picture. Mum's house would have been on the right of this picture, behind the trees

As we left the area, we stopped at a crossing for a little girl, maybe 7 or 8 years old. Her face lit up as she ran headlong across the road to the safety of the pavement. She may well have been on her way to play in the park. A half a century ago, that little girl could have been my mum.

Big Big Train is now a two blogs band

2010-04-23T13:59:00.000+01:00

David Longdon has joined the blogosphere, so we are now a two blogs band. As well as BBT stuff, David will also be talking about his solo career and, like all good bloggers, will share his thoughts on life as he finds it.

You can read his blog here.

The success of Classic Prog

2010-04-13T18:48:00.000+01:00

I was chatting to Classic Prog earlier today about our future plans 'n' stuff and I asked, with some trepidation, how well the mag was doing. It would seem that it is doing very well indeed.

Classic Prog is selling around 25,000 copies per issue now, which I think is bloody impressive for a specialist music magazine.

Long may it prosper.

Fat Billy Shouts Mine

2010-04-04T20:32:00.000+01:00

We're hard at work on an EP for release later this year, prior to the completion of the next album, English Electric.

More news on the EP later, but in the meantime, here is an excerpt from one of the songs on the EP, Fat Billy Shouts Mine. It's a sad tale about a footballer called William 'Fatty' Foulke, a goalkeeper from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The excerpt isn't mixed or nuffink, so it's a bit rough and ready, but you'll get the general idea.

The fiery Moog Voyager solo is from Martin Orford.

Cover stars

2010-04-02T16:24:00.002+01:00

There's a big interview with us in the new issue of German-language magazine Progressive Newsletter. Excerpts from the interview (in English) can be found here.

DPRP Poll

2010-03-07T15:49:00.000Z

Another pleasing poll result in the Dutch Progressive Rock Pages poll. We came 7th in the best album category and 5th in the best individual track category with The Underfall Yard.

This is very pleasing news as we are one of the top independent bands outside of the major artists to feature in the best album poll (the major artists I'm talking about include Porcupine Tree, Transatlantic, IQ and Dream Theater. The 'independent' bands ahead of us are Riverside and Gazpacho. And, in fact, we are ahead of both of those in the best track category, only behind the four major artists previously mentioned.)

It's also worth remembering that our album only came out in December. If we'd released it a month or two earlier, I suspect we'd have done even better.

There are a number of other Big Big Train highlights in the poll. David came 6th in the best vocalist. For somebody whose voice is new to most of the prog audience, that is a brilliant and thoroughly well-deserved result. Dave Gregory came 10th in the best guitarist (he would have come 9th but somebody got confused and voted for me rather than Dave. Doh.) And Nick D'Virgilio came 5th in the best drummer category for his performances on The Underfall Yard.

Incidentally, The Underfall Yard is currently third in the best album of 2009 category on Progarchives. Voting for this poll remains open so the position does change from time to time, but we've been in the top 5 for quite some time now.

A Farewell to Bard

2010-02-22T21:06:00.001Z

We're down to the last couple of boxes of the Bard CD and will shortly be saying goodbye to this release for ever, as, once the last copy is sold, it will be deleted and will not be reissued nor made available via iTunes.

Bard was our first album as an indie band and the first to come out of our own studio, so it was an important release for us at the time. But it's no longer representative of where we are or want to be and so it's time to say farewell.

This is not a moment quite in the order of Boromir's death scene in the Lord of the Rings, and certainly a long way short of Butch and Sundance's final dash into sepia-toned history. But it does make me feel a little nostalgic and so, tonight, I shall raise a glass to Bard.

iTunes Essentials: Modern Prog

2010-02-13T17:08:00.005Z

On February 10th, iTunes released one of their essential compilation downloadable albums. This one rather pleasingly avoids any labels that I may have had a recent genre-based rant about, and is called simply: Modern Prog

The album is structured into three sets of songs - 'The Basics', 'Next Steps' and 'Deep Cuts'. The complete album of all three sets consists of 75 songs, and will set you back 60 quid. 'The Basics' set of 25 songs from the album is 20 quid and features The Mars Volta, Radiohead, Opeth, Steven Wilson, The Pineapple Thief and many others. Big Big Train is also featured on 'The Basics' set with 'Last Train' from Underfall.

There is quite a time lag in getting sales reports from iTunes so I haven't seen how The Underfall Yard is doing, but the fact that we have been selected for this release suggests that things are going pretty well.

Neo, retro, who gives a shit-o?

2010-02-05T18:18:00.001Z

Lots of nice reviews about the album have appeared, which is very pleasing. However, I confess to being a little irritated by the common shorthand descriptives of 'neo-prog' and 'retro-prog' that have appeared in some of the reviews.

I do hate both of those terms. 'Neo' is normally used in a 'look-down-the-nose' kind of way. 'Retro' is less damning, but suggests that there is no sense that a band is trying to do anything original at all. And is it possible to be both 'neo' and 'retro' at the same time? Maybe it's the start of a new sub-genre: 'retro-neo'?

People do, of course, need to get an idea of what a band sounds like from album reviews, and I have to say I much prefer the direct comparisons to other bands. If someone says we sound a bit like Genesis if they'd returned to their 'progressive' roots in the 1980's, as Slartibartfast does in his Progarchives review, then I'm both pleased and flattered.

Interview with David in Classic Rock Presents Prog

2010-01-22T11:58:00.002Z

Look out for an interview with David in the next issue of Classic Prog (available from next Wednesday.)

The editor of Classic Prog, Jerry Ewing, also reviews The Underfall Yard.

Does anybody have the original artwork for Goodbye to the Age of Steam?

2010-01-15T13:59:00.003Z

We're just debating options for the remixed re-release of Goodbye to the Age of Steam and it is beginning to look like a CD release is viable rather than just a download-only version. However, we don't have the original painting for the cover. I know it's a long- shot, but I thought I'd ask whether anyone knows of its wherabouts?

It was painted by a chap called Kev Thompson and we know that he sold it onto somebody. Was it a prog fan who bought it (in which case we might be able to track it down) or was it somebody

who liked pictures of Cornish engine houses? (in which case we haven't got a chance.)

Can anybody help with this? (cue: tumbleweed in the comments)

Aural Moon Album of the Year

2010-01-11T20:45:00.000Z

Results from the annual Aural Moon radio station poll:

1. Big Big Train - The Underfall Yard
2. IQ - Frequency
3. The Tangent - Down and Out in Paris and London
4. Steve Hackett - Out of the Tunnel's Mouth
5. Transatlantic - The Whirlwind
6. Porcupine Tree - The Incident
7. Riverside - Anno Domini High Definition
8. Agents Of Mercy - The Fading Ghosts Of Twilight
9. Unitopia - The Garden
10. Beardfish - Destined Solitaire
11. Phideaux - Number Seven
12. Touchstone - Wintercoast

The Underfall Yard on iTunes

2010-01-05T21:38:00.000Z

Just a quick post to say that The Underfall yard is now available to buy from iTunes.

Happy New Year to you all.

Independent Album of the Year...The Underfall Yard

2009-12-26T19:48:00.001Z

Jason Warburg, editor of The Daily Vault (one of the oldest and most well-established review sites on the web) has just announced that The Underfall Yard is his independent album of the year.

Jason's eloquent review of The Underfall Yard is here .

Re-issue news

2009-12-24T13:18:00.001Z

Stocks have been running low of the Gathering Speed and The Difference Machine CD's and rather than re-order a fresh supply of the existing jewel-case CD's, we've decided to give them a makeover.

Gathering Speed will shortly be re-issued as a digipack with an 8 page poster booklet featuring previously unseen artwork and including, for the first time, the lyrics. The album has also been remastered by Rob Aubrey. The Difference Machine will be re-issued in January as a digipack, again with previously unreleased artwork.

The Difference Machine re-issue will also feature an additional track called Hope You Made It*. This song was part of the concept for the album and was recorded during The Difference Machine sessions. However, its inclusion took the album to around the 60 minute mark and we were looking for a tighter track-listing so decided to leave it off the original album.

Finally, we were looking to re-issue a re-mastered version of our first album, Goodbye to the Age of Steam, as an iTunes-only release in 2010. However, Rob Aubrey has kindly agreed to completely re-mix the original album from the master tapes so the re-issue will be of the highest possible quality. I'm not sure yet whether we'll do a limited pressing of Age of Steam or just go with the download-only version; we'll have a think about that in the next few weeks.

Anyway, the smell of mulled-wine is luring us to the kitchen, so we would just like to take this opportunity to wish all of the readers of this blog a very Merry Christmas and to thank you for your support.

Andy, David and Greg

* If anyone has the original version of the album and is keen to have the unreleased track without having to buy the CD again, please e-mail us at bigbigtrain@hotmail.co.uk and, when the album is re-issued, we will send you a link to a free downloadable version of the song in CD quality.

USA Progressive Music Poll

2009-12-16T18:01:00.000Z

We've been nominated for the top prog album of the year on USA Progressive Music, so if anyone wants to vote for us (or, indeed, any of the other albums on the list) please check the shortlist out. I doubt we'll get very far because the album has been released so late in the year and therefore will have had less reach than the others, but it would be good to pick up a few votes.

The Underfall Yard Podcast

2009-12-12T22:41:00.001Z

I am very pleased to announce that David 'Wilf' Elliott's latest radio show in The European Perspective series is devoted entirely to Big Big Train and The Underfall Yard.

The European Perspective is an unmissable progressive rock show which is broadcast every week on The Dividing Line website. The show can be streamed or downloaded from The Dividing Line (the last four episodes are hosted on the site so The Underfall Yard episode will be online there for the next month.)

However, David Elliott has also kindly made available a permanent link to the show here.

The podcast is in four parts:

A section on our influences featuring a track from 10 of the albums which have most influenced BBT
An interview with me and Andy about the history of the band featuring some of our older tunes
An interview with David about his background in music, including his solo career, his time in the Genesis machine, working with Martin Orford and joining Big Big Train. Some songs from David's solo album Wild River and from The Old Road are featured during the interview.
A playthrough of the entire Underfall Yard album with commentary from me and Andy

Here are the specific details about the show from the Dividing Line website:

Duration: 282:48 minutes - Filetype: mp3 - Bitrate: 160 KBPS - Frequency: 44100 HZ

'This week the European Perspective is given over entirely to a celebration of this uniquely English band. Starting with a look at some of the music from the albums that the band themselves say "made Big Big Train", we then talk to Greg and Andy about the evolution and future for Big Big Train, and then to David Longdon, their new vocalist. Finally The Underfall Yard gets an airing, in its entirety, with a commentary from Messrs. Spawton and Poole.

◦Genesis - Dancing with The Moonlit Knight from Selling England By The Pound, 1973

◦Prefab Sprout - Jordan: The Comeback from Jordan: The Comeback, 1998

◦Premiata Forneria Marconi - Appena Un Po' from Per Un Amico, 1972

◦XTC - The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead from Nonsuch, 1992

◦Mew - Am I Wry? No from Frengers, 2003

◦Sigur Ros - Hoppipolla from Takk..., 2005

◦Anthony Phillips - The Geese And The Ghost fromThe Geese And The Ghost, 1977

◦Van Der Graaf Generator - Scorched Earth from Godbluff, 1975

◦Elbow - The Bones Of You from The Seldom Seen Kid, 2008

◦Steve Hackett - Jacuzzi from Defector, 1980

Interview with Greg Spawton and Andy Poole of Big Big Train, featuring the following:

◦Wind Distorted Pioneers from Goodbye To The Age Of Steam, 1994

◦The Shipping Forecast from English Boy Wonders (Remastered), 2008 (originally released 1997)

◦For Winter from Bard, 2002

◦High Tide, Last Stand from Gathering Speed, 2004

◦Summer's Lease from The Difference Machine, 2007

Interview with David Longdon of Big Big Train, featuring the following:

◦David Longdon - About Time from Wild River, 2004

◦Martin Orford - Ray Of Hope from The Old Road, 2008

◦David Longdon - In Essence from Wild River, 2004

◦David Longdon - Wild River from Wild River, 2004

◦Martin Orford - Endgame from The Old Road, 2008

◦David Longdon - This House from Wild River, 2004

◦David Longdon - On To The Headland from Wild River, 2004

The Underfall Yard, with commentary from Greg Spawton and Andy Poole:

◦Hope This Finds You (from The Difference Machine)

◦Evening Star

◦Master James of St. George

◦Victorian Brickwork

◦Last Train

◦Winchester Diver

◦The Underfall Yard'

All pre-orders are on their way

2009-12-11T16:17:00.000Z

All pre-orders made up to 10th December are now on their way and, provided there are no postage problems, should arrive on or before release date. We will continue to post new orders within two days of purchase.

Generally speaking, long distance air-mail pre-orders were shipped first, then EEC and then finally UK (sent by first class post.) Orders requesting signed copies also went in the last batch today.

If you have any concerns about your order please e-mail us on bigbigtrain@hotmail.co.uk and we'll sort any issues out.

Permission for bottom lip to tremble, sir

2009-12-11T15:17:00.000Z

The Band of the Coldstream Guards' new album, Heroes, featuring two of the intrepid Big Big Train brass players and heartily recommended by me in an earlier post, has now entered the upper reaches of the charts.

This article in the Daily Telegraph explores the attraction of the album to men of a certain age. Colour Sergeant David Desmond, who was responsible for the beautiful brass arrangements on The Underfall Yard, manages to find the perfect Black Adder quote for the article.

New interview online

2009-12-09T23:42:00.000Z

There are quite a few interviews and articles due to be published about Big Big Train in the next few weeks (plus an in-depth podcast on the band - more news on this later.)

One of the first of the interviews is online now on the Caerllysi music site (Caerllysi are specialist dealers in progressive music.)

Just one week to go

2009-12-07T18:06:00.001Z

The Underfall Yard will be released on 15th December. That means there is just one week to go to buy the album at the introductory price of just £8 (which includes worldwide shipping.) Pre-orders will ship to arrive on or just before the release date.

From the 15th December, the price will increase, although we'll try to keep the rise as low as we can as we know that money is tight at the moment.

Our secure online shop can be found at our homepage here. The first track on The Underfall Yard, Evening Star, can currently be heard on the music player on the homepage (replacing Winchester Diver) and the full free download of the 23 minute title track also remains available there for a limited time.

The Band of the Coldstream Guards

2009-12-04T16:58:00.001Z

Two of the brass players from The Underfall Yard, Dave Desmond (trombone) and Nick Stones (french horn) are members of the Band of the Coldstream Guards* and feature on a new album called Heroes. My copy has just arrived and it's already one of my favourite albums of the year, with the right mix of rousing tunes (eg Ron Goodwin's glorious 633 Squadron and Eric Coates' Dambusters) and adagio-style pieces (eg Nimrod, I Vow to Thee My Country).

Highly recommended.

* Our other brass players are: Jon Truscott - tuba (Central Band of the Royal Air Force) and Rich Evans - cornet (the Army Air Corps Band).

Classic Rock Track of the Day is...The Underfall Yard

2009-11-25T18:25:00.000Z

Just to set the seal on what has been a Very Good Day for BBT, the title track of our new album has been chosen as track of the day on the Classic Rock website.

Classic Rock Presents Prog

2009-11-25T12:52:00.000Z

Last Train, one of the songs from The Underfall Yard is featured on the covermount CD of the new issue of Classic Rock Presents Prog which is out today.

Many thanks to Jim Green who also gave us a mention on the Classic Prog letters' page.

David was interviewed on Total Rock radio at lunchtime today and they also played Last Train and Master James. If I can find a listen again feature, I'll post a link.

Big Big Train on Total Rock Radio

2009-11-24T17:17:00.003Z

Classic Rock Presents Prog Editor Jerry Ewing and writer Philip Wilding will be hosting a three hour prog show on Total Rock Radio tomorrow (Wednesday 25th November) from 12 noon.

David will be interviewed on the show at around 12.25.

Saw Mew

2009-11-19T13:23:00.000Z

Saw Mew the other day. Decided it was time for Eleanor, my 15 year-old daughter, to experience the beer-stained environment of a student-union gig for the first time, so we headed off to the Bristol concert.

I've often wondered what it would be like to have seen Genesis in '71 or '72, as they delivered their extraordinary shows to committed audiences that were small enough to ensure you could get close to the action, and yet also big enough to feel that you were part of something that had genuine significance.

I think I understand what it would have been like now.

As for Ellie, she turned to me at the end and said that it was, quite simply, the best night of her life.

Jem is back

2009-11-12T13:50:00.000Z

It seems that our good friend Jem Godfrey has returned to blogging. Jem's blog was a major influence on the development of this one. It's great to have him back.

Big Big Train on The Rogues' Gallery

2009-10-28T08:00:00.002Z

A number of songs from the new album will be played on Frans Keylard's The Rogues' Gallery show on The Dividing Line. The show will be broadcast at 3am GMT this Friday. It's then made available as a downloadable podcast in good quality audio. I think Frans will also be playing the new Transatlantic album on the same show.

Update: The Podcast is online now.

The Train now arriving...

2009-09-30T07:56:00.006+01:00

The Underfall Yard will be released on 15th December. From today until the release date, the album can be pre-ordered here for an introductory price of just £8, which includes worldwide shipping. It will not be available from any other source before the 15th December. Pre-orders will be shipped so that the CD arrives on, or slightly before, the release date.

The Underfall Yard is the first Big Big Train album to feature our new singer David Longdon. Across the 60 minutes of the album there are also powerful performances from Nick D’Virgilio, Francis Dunnery, Jem Godfrey and Dave Gregory.

We have made all 23 minutes of the title track available for free download in high quality audio here.* Even if you don't want to buy any Big Big Train music at the moment, please download the track and listen to what we think is a significant contribution to progressive music.

If you are new to Big Big Train, you can read about us here. If you want to buy a CD but are not sure which one(s) to splash out on, a beginner's guide to our CD's is here. Our shop, where you can buy CD's securely, is here. On the shop page, there is a music player where another song from The Underfall yard can be heard.

The Underfall Yard is a collection of songs which tell stories, some old and some new. The listener will travel through the tunnels made by the great Victorian engineers in England’s chalkhills, will hear the mournful laments of coastal villages lost to the sea on storm-filled nights, will meet the grand architect of castles, and hear the tale of the man who saved a great cathedral from collapse by diving under its flooded foundations.

We hope you enjoy our new music.

Greg Spawton

* Update - I've had a number of e-mails asking who plays what on the download track. The credits (and lyrics) can be found on the site, but I'll put them on here as well for ease of reference:

The Underfall Yard by Big Big Train

Performed by:

Nick D'Virgilio Drums

Dave Desmond Trombone

Francis Dunnery Guitar solo, guitar

Rich Evans Cornet

Jon Foyle Cello

Jem Godfrey Synthesizer solos

Dave Gregory Guitar solos, guitars, electric sitar

David Longdon Vocals, flute, glockenspiel

Andy Poole Bass, keyboards

Greg Spawton Guitars, keyboards, bass

Nick Stones French horn

Jon Truscott Tuba

To answer some of the specific questions I've had, Francis Dunnery's main parts are at 4.37 to 6.25, Jem Godfrey's at 6.26 to 7.20 and 19.18 to 20.10, and Dave Gregory's at 13.10 to 14.45 and 21.10 to 22.15. Dave Gregory also plays electric sitar in a number of places in the song.

Prog is back (official)

2009-09-24T12:42:00.001+01:00

Very interesting article just published on the BBC website.

Sheriff of Wimborne

2009-09-20T19:00:00.004+01:00

At the risk of turning this blog into Hello magazine, I am going to mention that I just bumped into Keith Allen in Wimborne. Only two nights ago, me and the kids watched him get blown up in the last episode of Robin Hood.

I remember him being a very edgy character in the Comic Strip series, but he seemed like a nice bloke.

I can't help thinking, though, that my girlfriend would have much rather we'd bumped into Guy of Wimborne (Richard Armitage - also photographed above) rather than the Sheriff.

Spitfire overhead

2009-09-20T12:08:00.002+01:00

A couple of weeks ago we had a short display from the Vulcan; yesterday we had a Spitfire appear low overhead. I frantically summoned my 13 year old son who is going through an Airfix phase at the moment (that morning he'd bought himself a P51D Mustang to build) and we had the pleasure of a few moments together looking up at the sky, hands shading our eyes, whilst the Spitfire threw us a few of its shapes, did a quick victory roll and then headed off to the east (to the Goodwood Revival I assume?)

Mixing

2009-09-12T18:22:00.000+01:00

Just a quick update from the studio, where we are now well into the mixing stage.

Rob has completed initial mixes of Master James, Winchester Diver and Last Train. This evening we aim to finish the first mix of The Underfall Yard. We've got tomorrow off to do some listening to the initial mixes and then we have three more days next week for mixing Victorian Brickwork and Evening Star (plus any snagging.)

The Underfall Yard has proven to be quite a beast to tame - we're using 142 tracks, which is 100 more than the meaning of life.

An autumn of epic tracks

2009-08-26T20:56:00.003+01:00

No sooner do Porcupine Tree announce a 55 minute epic on their new album (reviewed here by King Crimson biographer Sid Smith), then Transatlantic go longer with the announcement of a 77 minute track on their forthcoming release.

Our own little contribution to an autumn of epic songs comes in at just over 22 minutes.

However, despite the relatively piffling length of our tune and the undoubted pedigree of our fellow prog bands, I'm confident that our song will make some waves.

There is not long to wait now before it gets a hearing. Whilst The Underfall Yard CD is due on 15th December, all 22 minutes of the title track will be available as a free download from 30th September as a taster for the album.

More news soon.

Vulcan overhead

2009-08-23T16:58:00.002+01:00

You may have noticed from my endless twittering yesterday that I was on the beach enjoying the Bournemouth Air Festival. I am pleased to say that the Vulcan made just as deep an impression on my 13 year-old son as it did on me when I was a child back in the 70's. It's the combination of thunderous noise, the extraordinary beauty of the design and the vast size that does the trick.

Today, I've been sitting in my back garden and I can hear that the Vulcan is back. It's about 3 miles away, above the seafront but is still filling the sky with thunder.

In the early 1990's, they used to have an airshow at Hurn airport, just up the road from me, and I remember a visit from the Vulcan back then. It did some aerobatics a few hundred feet above my house. Every window shook in its frame.

Almost as loud today and yesterday was the Typhoon. What a class act that is. It appeared seemingly out of nowhere, rearing up above the pier. After a ten minute display, it made an awesome exit - vertically upwards at speed, where it disappeared into a bank of cloud.

Dave Gregory with Big Big Train

2009-08-16T09:28:00.004+01:00

Dave Gregory: not lazy at all (photo from Guitargonauts)

I am pleased to announce another very special guest joining Big Big Train on The Underfall Yard. Dave Gregory is the guitarist and keyboard player for one of my favourite bands, the glorious XTC. His astounding discography includes appearances with Peter Gabriel and Porcupine Tree.

Dave's guitar, sitar and mellotron playing has become a major feature of The Underfall Yard and I can't wait for you to hear the performances that he's turned in for Big Big Train. They are, quite frankly, brilliant.

If we do decide to return to live performance in the next couple of years, I very much hope that Dave will be joining us.

More news on The Underfall Yard soon.

Jem Godfrey and Francis Dunnery with Big Big Train

2009-08-14T16:42:00.003+01:00

Jem Godfrey has these kind words to say on the Frost* forum:

'Happy to say, I've just contributed a couple of keyboard solos to the excellent sounding new album by Big Big Train. The track is called The Underfall Yard which is also the title track and is nipping at the toes of 23+ minutes long. I got a chance to really cut loose in a way I don't think I've done before, I used pretty much every controller available on the V-Synth using a sound I programmed especially and I'm really pleased with the end results. It's not often I get to have a good old thrash in 11/8! The track also features a rather immense solo from that Cumbrian scamp Francis Dunnery, so although we never met, we do end up sharing a song together which is rather nice.

BBT's new singer is a bit of a revelation too and the whole thing is shaping up to be, IMO, their best work to date. I can't wait to hear the whole thing. BBT have a wonderful Englishness about them and they do things very much their own way which I deeply admire. They're prog's best kept secret and now I can count myself as a contributor to their history. I'm dead proud of that.'

Having had the opportunity to hear Jem's and Francis' performances at close hand, I am pleased to report that they are, indeed, immense and add a huge amount to The Underfall Yard.

More news on another very special guest at the weekend

Rough mix of The Underfall Yard

2009-08-05T13:22:00.004+01:00

Before we go into Aubitt for mixing, we like to put a rough mix of the album together as a final check.

I've just had a listen to Andy's mix and it's proven to be illuminating. It's all sounding rather splendid (although I would say that, wouldn't I) but it shows we have a few parts to replace or improve including some cello, some dodgy guitar playing that's been there since the original demo and one or two other bits and bobs.

The most interesting thing for me is that the track order, which has been set in stone for some time, has turned out to be wrong. The album starts with an instrumental track and I always intended this would be followed by Victorian Brickwork, one of the two epic songs on the CD. However, Victorian Brickwork has a gentle start and it just feels like the album drags a bit before it gets going. So I'm moving Master James of St. George up the order to track number two.

Hopefully, that will sort the pacing out.

Haken

2009-07-30T17:30:00.002+01:00

There are some great new releases coming in the next few months - new Mew album, new Prefab Sprout , the first live Genesis box set and, of course, our own little album.

Another CD I'm really looking forward to is the first release by Haken. This is a band I've only just become aware of; they had a track on the sampler CD on Classic Prog 2 which sounded slightly otherwordly, like something PFM might have recorded in their heyday. So, I sought out their only currently available release, a demo featuring 6 songs from 2007 and 2008.

It's a very strong debut. The quality is limited slightly by what I imagine was a restricted recording budget, but like all great demo's, it shows a band reaching for something that they don't quite have the resources to achieve.

When they get there, and most surely they will, Haken will be a force to be reckoned with.

Dream Theater are Haken's self-confessed heroes, but their music shows a wide-ranging set of influences. They are heavy at times, but very comfortable in the quieter sections (many heavy bands seem, to me, to play quiet bits just to make the heavy bits sound louder.) Haken do both piano and forte very well.

They also are capable of writing uncommon, haunting, melody lines and I love the structure of their songs - they are good at getting back, in interesting ways, to choruses or themes, even if they've been on a lengthy instrumental excursion.

Haken is a band to watch out for.

The view from the garden gate

2009-07-25T16:39:00.006+01:00

Just back from a holiday on the North Yorkshire Moors.

Me being into history, we stayed at an English Heritage cottage at Rievaulx Abbey. This is a place which is both difficult to spell correctly, and stunningly beautiful.

This is a general view:

And this was the view from the garden gate of the cottage:

One of the best things was that we had the run of the site after it closed to visitors each day, which gave us the chance to enjoy sunset walks and, later on, ghostly torchlit wanderings.

Rievaulx is an utterly fabulous place. Speaking to the staff and keepers there, they were all transfixed by it. It is spellbinding.

Close of play

2009-07-17T21:18:00.003+01:00

'tis done.

We now have a bit of time for editing, sound effects etc before mixing in September.

Now onto the 'b' sides

2009-07-17T13:03:00.003+01:00

The album recording is completed.

We are going to spend the rest of the day on two non-album tracks, Fat Billy Shouts Mine and a cover of Master of Time, an Anthony Phillips track which was intended to be on The Geese and the Ghost but only ever got as far as a demo. It's a cracking little song.

Morning Star

2009-07-17T12:04:00.001+01:00

Early start today. Finished off Master James and now recording the flute solo on Evening Star.

We laid some bricks today...

2009-07-16T17:51:00.001+01:00

Victorian ones.

Now we are onto castle building with Master James of St. George.

Then we're having curry and beer.

Warning, this album may blow your girlfriend's tits off

2009-07-16T13:41:00.002+01:00

Or so says Andy.

We're moving onto Victorian Brickwork now, one of two longer pieces on the album

We're hoping to cause some spontaneous tit detonation with this one.

Here we go...

2009-07-16T12:11:00.002+01:00

The final recording session for The Underfall Yard is underway. We're starting today with Evening Star, a short instrumental which is intended to set the scene for the rest of the album. All sounding splendid so far.

More later.

The shop is not broken anymore

2009-07-09T18:35:00.002+01:00

The shop is back on line (thank-you, Robert.)

New Sigur Ros

2009-07-06T20:26:00.003+01:00

The new Jonsi and Alex album (Sigur Ros solo project) is being previewed here

Mojo has this to say:

"A yearning, almost devotional quality... file alongside Talk Talk's Spirit Of Eden and Henryk Gorecki's Third Symphony."

The shop is broken

2009-07-06T12:40:00.002+01:00

Apologies, our online BBT shop appears to be unable to take orders at the moment.

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible and there is, of course, our very competitively-priced Amazon shop in the meantime.

Cool as Folk

2009-06-14T16:36:00.009+01:00

Driving into Wimborne for our Saturday morning bacon sandwich, we stumbled, by accident, upon the town's annual folk festival, held under a glorious sunlit sky.

If anyone doubted that folk is overcoming the negative coverage it gets as the music of choice of middle-aged, sandal-wearing bearded-types*, then Wimborne, this weekend, would have convinced them that times have changed: folk is now cool.

What we found in this small Dorset market town was a thriving sub-culture which revelled in its eccentricity. Men, women and children wandered around wearing morris and mummer outfits which went way beyond quirky. Alternative types could be seen enjoying the music and dance alongside the gentryfolk of Dorset.

We also found an abundance of musical ability and an overwhelming sense of joy. In short, it was a brilliant experience.

* The morris dancer is often perceived as the pejorative folk archetype. But even here, things have changed. Many of the younger morris dancers have an almost goth-like image. It seems that they have passed over to the dark side.

Vocals, photos, and curry

2009-06-04T18:56:00.008+01:00

Last week we spent some time at Aubitt Studios recording vocal, flute and mandolin parts for The Underfall Yard. This was the first time that David has recorded with Big Big Train and I am pleased to report that we had two brilliant days. The sessions were incredibly productive and we had an absolute blast.

We started with Winchester Diver before tackling the rather formidable 23 minutes of the album's title track (a song which Rob thinks will be his biggest ever mixing project.) We finished the sessions with The End of the Line. That leaves just two more songs to do to complete recording on the album (we also have two additional non-album tracks to finish off.)

Martin Orford joined us for a celebratory curry at the close of recording on day one. Martin had spent the day on the footplate of an engine on the Mid-Hants preserved railway line and seems to have no regrets at all about leaving the music business (although I did catch him reading the IQ article in Prog magazine, and we are hoping to lure him out of retirement for a solo or two in the future.)

As well as the recording sessions, we also took part in the first photo shoot of the new BBT line-up (more pics on our Flickr page.)

Finally, I had the pleasure of meeting Simon and Paul from Tinyfish who are working with Rob on the mix of their first DVD. From what I saw and heard, the DVD is going to be a cracker.

Some video footage of The Underfall Yard vocal sessions will be online soon.

Picked up a good book

2009-05-31T18:10:00.006+01:00

One of the things I find most frustrating is that I'm not particularly well-read. I went through a phase in my 20's when I started to read some of the classics and some more challenging modern fiction. I even bought Ulysses, but put it away until I was ready for it.

Truth is, I don't think I'll ever be ready for it. I got fed up one day when reading some impenetrable passage of magical realism by an author whose name I cannot remember and picked up Julian Rathbone's The Last English King instead. This was different, this was...fun. And interesting. And very moving.

After Rathbone, I got into Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden, Steven Pressfield and then went back to David Gemmell (I read Gemmell's fantasy novels when I was a teenager and loved them; my 13 year-old son has subsequently worked his way through my ageing collection of Gemmell paperbacks with great energy and passion.)

From historical fiction, I moved on to factual historical books (again, something I read a lot of when I was a teenager)and also discovered a love for books about engineering and popular science. And that, broadly, is where my tastes lie now. In fact, my current reading list covers rather typical 40-year-old-male territory. By the side of my bed, should you choose to look there, you will find books on Alexander the Great, Anglo-Saxon England, Victorian Engineering, D-Day and disused railway lines. Oh, and also an autobiography by Bill Bruford.

In fact, probably the only constant in my reading habits over the last quarter of a century has been books on rock music. And I think Bruford has just written one of the best of them.

Bruford's book is not yer typical kind of book about rock. If you're after a straightforward canter through Bruford's musical life, then this isn't the place to start. Instead, it's a portrayal of the world-view of an unusually thoughtful musician coming to the end of his career. Sure, there are some interesting anecdotes in there about Yes and Crimson and Genesis, but this book is valuable because of its insight, because it makes you think.

Is this the best prog album ever made?

2009-05-24T21:39:00.006+01:00

Selling England has been voted the best ever prog album by readers of Classic Rock Presents Prog.

I voted in the poll, which has just been published in the second issue of Prog, and put Selling England at number one. However, I haven't listened to it properly for a while so, as the light faded, I drifted off into the garden for a listen on my iPod to give it a critical appraisal.

I could go on and on about the extraordinary ensemble playing, sophisticated writing and arrangements, the beautiful pastoral feel and the several key moments on the album that almost define prog at its best.

But I won't. I'll just say that, yes, it is the best prog album ever made.

Infamy, infamy...

2009-05-24T11:25:00.014+01:00

The Progressive Rock Hall of Infamy site is an interesting new blog.

Whatever your opinions on the content of the blog, it's certainly written in a combative style.

Here is an excerpt from PRHOI. It's an attack on Yes which sidesteps the obvious targets and takes a swipe at Relayer, Going For the One and Tormato (best not to read any further if you like everything Yes have done):

'Over the years, thinking more and more about the time lost to Rick Wakeman’s keyboard peregrinations and Anderson’s sheep-being-slaughtered vocal excesses, I came to despise Yes, blaming them for ruining Prog and making an already bleak and sorrowful world an even darker place with the truly wretched excess of their output. There have been many things said about Yes, and if I wanted to, I could keep the PRHOI in business for the next five years just publishing reviews of Yes albums proper, various side-projects and the myriad groups they somehow inspired to make similarly indulgent and pointless music. I’m going to pass on that option, as I’m forbiddingly depressed enough already to ever survive writing my thoughts on Tales from Topographic Oceans or Wakeman’s own Journey to the Center of the Earth madness. Instead, I’m going to deal with three of the albums that Yes released over a roughly 40 month span in the mid to late 70’s, albums that signaled a band in decline and yet simultaneously at the height of their powers. For as they died, like a great god or king, they resolved to take everyone down with them, and the results of this infernal pact with the Lords of Suck were Relayer, Going for the One, and Tormato – the last perhaps the worst and most ridiculous title ever bestowed on any album, crap or classic, Prog or mainstream. Look at that goddamn album cover, look at it – and tell me your liberal heart still yearns to abolish capital punishment for a crime against aesthetics so vile and miserable. Shark Sandwich was made up, but these motherfuckers were coming from the heart.'

'The incomprehensible – and in my view inexcusable – long-term popularity of Yes is largely due to a phenomenon I have observed in other culturally-challenged sub groupings of society – prison Nazis, collectors of Thomas Kinkade paintings, people with a lot of Pottery Barn flatware in their kitchens. The problem is one of mistaking all similar product with being of similar quality; i.e., if I like King Crimson, it is only natural that I would have a yen for Yes. If I drink beer, then Budweiser or Kokanee will be fine if Pilsner is too expensive. If mushrooms make for a good trip, perhaps I’ll try huffing nail polish remover. The point is, none of these quasi-syllogisms ring true, and are in fact dangerous misjudgments that help define the culture whore as opposed to the truly cultured.'

I happen to think that Going For the One is one of the greatest of all prog albums, but I have some sympathy for the PRHOI position on Relayer (excluding the lovely 'Soon' section, of course)...

'Relayer was in the spirit of earlier Yes efforts, meaning that the record starts with a 21:55 second “song” that is about as focused as a drunk’s urine stream and hops from notion to notion (none of the elements could be properly called “ideas”) like a third-grader who forgot to take his Ritalin. Sadly, as Steve Howe’s guitar work is often dynamic – there is even what appears to be a little nod to Jimmy Page’s brilliantly messy solo from “Heartbreaker” on “Sound Chaser” – the music is controlled by the interruptions of Alan White’s overly noisy drums and the unusually aggressive vocal stylings of Anderson. Indeed, what identifies Relayer the most to me is its sheer noisiness – new member Patrick Moraz, having replaced the grandiose stylings of Rick Wakeman on keyboards, is given little chance to do other than offer fills to violent bursts of cacophony and the ever-present threat of Anderson’s bleating; allowed to calm these tracks down a little, Moraz might have proved valuable. As it is, he’s lost in a mix overrun mad with ego'

Tormato, however, gets the full broadside:

'Finally, the triumvirate collapses utterly on Tormato, an album so worthless that I almost feel bad for the kind of band that would produce such drek. Not a lot can be said about the banality of this waste, so why not just consider the song titles and tell me that you have any desire to actually listen to the fucking thing: “Don’t Kill the Whale”, “Arriving UFO” and “On the Silent Wings of Freedom” – the last very probably the worst song on any of the three disastrous albums in question'

It's worth reading the whole post at the Hall where a number of other bands and sub-genres are targeted in similar fashion.

Where there's prog there's brass

2009-04-23T18:54:00.006+01:00

The first of a number of videos on the making of our new album, The Underfall Yard, can be found here. This short film is about the recording of the brass session for the album and, if you have a fast enough internet connection, is best watched in high definition.

One beautiful summer's day, a couple of years back, I was in Bath, near the Parade Gardens, when I heard the stirring sound of an English brass band. I can't remember what they were playing, but it was a slow piece, and this extraordinary, melancholy music filled the gardens where children played and old men slept in deck chairs. At that moment, I realised that Big Big Train needed a brass band.

We commissioned Dave Desmond to to write some arrangements for a brass quartet and recorded a session with Dave (trombone), Nick Stones (french horn), Rich Evans (cornet)and Jon Truscott (tuba) a couple of weeks ago. It was a very enjoyable session which captured the sound that I had heard on that summer's day in Bath.

The video contains music from three tracks on the album, Evening Star, The Underfall Yard (which builds on themes established in Evening Star), and Victorian Brickwork.

Next month, there will be a second video featuring the first vocal sessions.

The brass is done

2009-04-12T14:57:00.006+01:00

Our session with the brass quartet the other night was a huge success. I'll be posting some footage of the session on our new YouTube channel in the next few days.

In the meantime, here is a pic of Jon Truscott, one of our brass players, in action (incidentally the deeper notes of a tuba make Moog Taurus Bass pedals sound, frankly, a bit wet.)

Successful parenting

2009-04-12T12:29:00.006+01:00

At certain times parents will reflect on how good or bad a job they have made of bringing up their children.

My daughter has just named her cat after the foremost Icelandic post-rock band*. This makes me feel that I am not doing too badly at the moment.

*His full name is Sigur Hoppipolla Ros. Not a name I'm looking forward to having called out at the vets.

New album: progress report

2009-03-29T08:10:00.014+01:00

There is a point reached in the making of an album when the creative process almost becomes of secondary importance to project management. We’ve reached that point now. This is the most complex album we’ve worked on, with a number of different threads that we need to draw together. The convergence point is getting ever closer as the album is due to be released later this year, and it is time to get organised (our main organisational tool being a notebook called ‘The Underfall Yard Bible’ which is rapidly filling up with aide-mémoires .)

A lot of work is happening at the moment. I’ve just finished off the lyrics for the album and David is developing the vocal and flute parts in his studio, preparing for recording at Rob’s place in the next few weeks. Andy and myself are going back over the album demos (which are evolving into the finished tracks) and re-recording bass, guitar and keyboard parts as necessary (some parts will make it all the way from the demo onto the album if they fit the bill.)

Meanwhile, a number of CDR’s of work-in-progress have been (or will shortly be) despatched to various guest artists so that they can prepare their contributions.

Early next month, we have a session booked at Rob’s to record the brass parts with the chaps from Kate Rusby's band (the elegiac sound of an English brass band is what we’re trying to capture) and then we need to crack on and get the session for the string quartet booked up.

In view of Big Big Train's new line-up, we'll also be launching a new YouTube channel in the next few weeks. We'll use the new channel to document progress with the album recording.

So, it’s all beginning to happen, the pages of the 'Bible' are filling up and it looks like we'll be spending another summer indoors, topping up our studio tan.

New Interview

2009-03-28T21:27:00.001Z

A new interview with me has just been uploaded onto Progwereld (it's in Dutch.)

Spotify

2009-03-17T18:57:00.002Z

A new web-based music service called Spotify has been getting a lot of press coverage recently.

Thanks to our good friends at CDBaby who handle our digital distribution, Big Big Train will shortly be available on Spotify, so I thought I'd check it out to see what it offered.

After a quick software download and a few minutes of testing, I am able to report that Spotify is completely brilliant. And utterly addictive.

As I'm writing this, my Spotify connection is temporarily unavailable and the lack of streamed music from the site is making my experience of working on this computer much less pleasurable. Sure, I could put a CD on, or fire up iTunes, but I want the diversity offered by Spotify and I want it now.

So, what is it? (as Cat once said in Red Dwarf.) Well, as Cat went on to say in the same sketch, it's a sort of magic door. The door leads into an endless music library where you can instantly play (almost) anything that's ever been released. Songs are streamed on request to your computer. Audio quality is good. You can pause, rewind and fast-forward. You can create playlists and save your favourite songs. You can find links to other similar artists. However, you never own the music as it isn't downloaded or saved, only streamed.

Spotify are hoping, in the future, to make available all of the music which has ever been released. At the moment, they are a long way short of this (there are some major gaps - eg Pink Floyd), but vast numbers of songs are being added every day and they are not just focusing on the major artists.

I tested the depth of music on offer by looking for music by one of my favourite bands, Mew. As far as I could see, everything they've ever released is on there, including some obscure 'b' sides I'd never heard before. I then went prog-surfing and found music by the big boys (Genesis) down to more esoteric bands like Gentle Giant. They even had every PFM song.

I went looking for more modern prog. There is nothing yet by Frost or Spock's Beard, but The Tangent are there, as is The Old Road CD by the internet's arch-enemy, Martin Orford (but, strangely, no IQ.) I then checked out some of the heavier bands I like - Oceansize and Mastodon, Draconian and The Mars Volta, all present and correct.

I also looked for some new music. The brand new Bell X-1 album got great reviews in the papers at the weekend. That was there, although the new Doves album isn't yet available.

I haven't even started to get my head around what Spotify will mean for the music industry and for independent bands like BBT. It certainly gives a lot more opportunity to legally sample the range of music on offer by bands. However, whether that will translate into sales is harder to assess. Some people may find that Spotify offers all the music and convenience they need. Others will use it to sample new music and better inform their purchases. So, from the industry perspective, I'm not too sure about Spotify.

Speaking as a fan and consumer of music, however, I'm all for it. I've already heard some music I'm going to go on and buy and other stuff that I've always wanted to hear but would never fork out for.

Do check it out.