09 October 2018: Damanek & KAUAN

From The Prog Report:
A recent gem of an album was released in 2017 on GEP (Giant Electric Pea) records by a new band called Damanek.  The album titled ‘On Track’ came out in May, 2017,  and is the brainchild of Guy Manning, former member of The Tangent and the United Progressive Fraternity, which released a fantastic album in 2014 called ‘Fall in Love with the World’.  Manning, also an accomplished solo artist, has built a great band here with music similar to the UPF album.  The band premiered the new material at least year’s Summer’s End festival in Europe.
The album is a mix of world music and prog, featuring lots of percussion, sax and horns, multiple keyboards and harmonies.  The opening song with the odd title “Nanabohzo and the Rainbow” would fit nicely on a Toto record, while the second track and likely single “Long Time, Shadow Falls” is a track Peter Gabriel might approve of.  “Believer-Redemmer” is a straight-up smooth jazz track, but it fits nicely here, while “Oil of Arabia” has a Steely Dan vibe.  And of course there is the epic closer “Dark Sun” which will satisfy any Prog urges.
Guy Manning holds nothing back on this release and the band assembled is top-notch.  This is not heavy prog metal but make no mistake, this is outstanding musicianship.  For a relaxed and enjoyable experience, this is a great album.  We recommend checking this one out.

Studio Album, released in 2017

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Nanabohzo And The Rainbow (7:49)
2. Long Time, Shadow Falls (7:47)
3. The Cosmic Score (5:56)
4. Believer-Redeemer (5:48)
5. Oil Over Arabia (5:33)
6. Big Parade (4:15)
7. Madison Blue (3:12)
8. Dark Sun (13:43)

Total time 54:03

Line-up / Musicians

- Guy Manning / lead & backing vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, e-bow, percussion, composer
- Sean Timms / keyboards, banjo, backing vocals, production & mixing
- Marek Arnold / saxes, clarinet, keyboards, MIDI controller
- Daniel Mash / bass

With:
- Phideaux / vocals (8)
- DavidB / backing vocals
- Julie King / backing vocals
- Kevin Currie / backing vocals
- Antonio Vittozzi / guitar
- Luke Machin / guitar
- Chris Catling / guitar (4)
- Nick Magnus / keyboards & arrangements (3)
- Stephen Dundon / flute (7)
- Eric 'Tooch' Santucci / trumpet (4,6)
- Alex Taylor / trombone (4,6)
- Brody Thomas Green / drums (1-6)
- Ulf Reinhardt / drums (8)
- Tim Irrgang / percussion

Releases information

Artwork: Tony Lythgoe

CD Giant Electric Pea ‎- GEPCD1055 (2017, Europe) 

Kaiho is KAUAN’s eighth album following 2015’s lauded Sorni Nai, and focuses on childhood and the transition to adulthood, when the death of a loved one shatters halcyon beginnings and makes clear the stark reckoning that awaits in the end. 
"This is a new circle in KAUAN’s life. We’ve been slowly walking through the genres of music, and now I feel we are coming to a destination. To me, it sounds like a very mature and comprehensive sequel to our 2009 album Aava tuulen maa. And yeah, it will have a totally different sound because we've taken on a new approach and recorded with very old-school methods (most of the sounds were sculpted before tracking and there was almost no digital processing)."     -Anton
Tonight we'll be playing the entirely instrumental version of this album recently released as a digital download on Bandcamp.