Big Big Train on The Rogues' Gallery

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...

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)

Very interesting article just published on the BBC website.

Sheriff of Wimborne

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

'tis done.

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

Now onto the 'b' sides

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

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

We laid some bricks today...

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

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...

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

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

New Sigur Ros

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

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

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

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

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.