🎵 Super pumped to receive one of my “grail” albums in today’s mail: “Flame” by Richard Barbieri and Tim Bowness 😍

@pgor there really is a whole ‘school of rock’ around these guys and their fellow collaborators. Look forward to the review.

@JohnPhilpin Wasn't familiar w/ Bowness but his voice fits well here. Filled w/ obvious Barbieri, washes over you but not filler. If you like JBK, “Lumen”, and “Not the Weapon But the Hand” (closest resemblance IMHO), it's worth seeking out.

@pgor funnily enough it is the Barbeiri side of the collaboration that draws me in … not the Bowness side. That siad if you like him - definitely take a look at No-Man (got them all) - @minton specifically pointed me at their last two .. which musically I like - but the Bowness voice grates on me …

I touched on this ‘musical network’ - which for me centers on Wilson here

@JohnPhilpin @pgor I love Tim Bowness’s last few solo albums. He has the sort of voice I could listen to sing anything.

@JohnPhilpin My journey was Sylvian+Fripp > Rain Tree Crow/Japan > JBK > other solo/mixed projects. PT didn't work for me until “In Absentia”; Wilson not until “Hand.Cannot.Erase” (but dig “Raven” now). Love the varied paths to finding these works.

@pgor In Abstentia was my first ever exposure to P Tree .... which took me in to the backlog and his other projects ... also introducing me to G Harrison and RE-Introducing me to R Barbeiri (since I was already a Japan fan - but had gone a 'gentle' Sylvian route - so knew nought of RTC). I came to Fripp via K Crimson - waaaay back in the day ..... and have tracked him moderately closely since then … though not close enough to have picked up on his work with Sylvian!!

Re Wilson … his solo work for me is absolutely him going into his own … though To The Bone - while I continue to enjoy doesn’t achieve Raven or Hand.Cannot.Erase status !!

Like you - I enjoy the networks of music themes and bands … Wilson has opened up a lot to me - not just these threads - but also Opeth, Anathema, Pineapple Thief/Bruce Soord etc ….. not to mention his re engineering of a lot of the classics of the early 70s - including - of course the entire back catalogue of King Crimson …. talk about closing the circle!

@pgor BTW - ever come across Pete Frame ?

I had his two books a long time ago. Long gone / misplaced / lost ….. BUT, if you have an interest in the music from those days … and sounds like you are interested in the connections - it is fascinating!

@stefp after @pgor post this morning I was out today and so put on Together We're Stranger and Schoolyard Ghosts as I drove. Why those two? Because in earlier chats where I had declared my problem with Bowness voice ... @minton told me I needed to revisit those two ... and so I keep doing that ... and I have to say - the voice is becoming less of a problem ......

@JohnPhilpin This has caused me to listen to these albums for the first time. IMHO (after one listen) the music and vocals don’t feel like they mesh. The music of “Flame” is less ambient and meshes better with the vocals.

@pgor oooh - interesting

@JohnPhilpin Pete Frame…think I have heard the name but am unfamiliar with specific work. I'm fascinated not just w/ chrono tree but the individual trees fans like me enter, e.g. coming to Genesis pre- or post-Gabriel or which formation of King Crimson first encountered.

@JohnPhilpin Listen to “Brightest Blue” or “Flame” (admittedly, high points of the album) if you haven't.

@JohnPhilpin familyofrock.net

@pgor I am definitely a Gabriel man / I saw them play at a school dance in York before anybody had heard of them Gabriel going was a massive loss to the band .... and Hackett going nearly put the nail in the coffin but then when Collins really took over I was gone

crimson ... likewise since day one

@jacob new news on all fronts ... will definitely check them out - thankyou

@JohnPhilpin Heh, “Invisible Touch” was my first Genesis awareness, “Selling England” sealed my fate. My KC entry was “Vrooom”/“Thrak”, have mostly worked back (“Discipline” is my fave).

@pgor Did you ever get as far back as Genesis to Revelations?

@JohnPhilpin In the form of “Where the Sour Turns to Sweet”, yes. I still pop it on, but infrequently.

@JohnPhilpin I'm in the minority(?) of equal opportunity Genesis fans as a result of coming in later and working back.

@pgor The original power pop album

@pgor Not sure that I totally understand that - but I think most people that saw Genesis when I first saw them are probably dead these days!

@JohnPhilpin I see too much effort put into arguing Gabriel vs Collins, but I like them both in their own ways. I think it helps that I didn't follow them through the transition, just saw it in retrospect.

@pgor yes - agree - two very different bands - one i loved - one i did not ... by biggest beef with Collins is that he turned the band into Phill Collins with Genesis ... that seemed to have little differentiation to Phil Collins solo ... its a shame - because he had the chops to do something different - witness his BrandX work in the early days ...

@jacob as the weekend approaches - saved off those two links for a proper listen this weekend - thanks again

@JohnPhilpin both of these groups have other albums. Dicscipline’s frontman has fantastic solo albums. Like Wilson, the band was a name for his solo work. The Night Watch after this album was renamed to The Watch. Both are still active. But these two are my favorite. I’m sure you’ll enjoy.

@jacob Discipline didn't click for me, but I'm digging The Night Watch. Need to find a copy to buy instead of just Youtube.

@pgor Did Discipline not click because it was too heavy? Frontman, Matthew Parmenter, has solo work which is more lyrical and melodic. My favourite from his solo work is "Astray” album. This following song, in particular touches me deeply ”Between me and the end”: www.youtube.com/watch Less rocky, but with more feeling. Amazing singing here.

@jacob I plan to go back and give it another listen, but my first impressions were too technical and dry.

@pgor If you like "The Night Watch", you might want to check their following albums, but note that the band, except the frontman, was changed and the name was changed to “The Watch”. 🎵