Roger Dean – Isle Of Man Exhibition Photo Cards

Words and photos by Tim Darbyshire.

In addition to the excellent stamp sets produced by the Isle Of Man Post Office for the current Roger Dean exhibition ‘Islands And Bridges’, a set of art cards – featuring all 26 paintings included in the exhibit – has been produced.

Ideal for framing, each full colour card measures 8 x 6 inches and is printed on quality paper stock. On the reverse of each card is a description written by Roger, detailing the background and inspiration for the painting.

The 26 images are a nice mixture of the familiar and the less so. There’s 10 or so images from YES albums, and the recent ‘Premonitions’ image used for Steve Hackett’s box set in 2015.

The outer wallet contains a brief biography and career outline, and the whole set makes a nice companion to the ‘Islands And Bridges’ First Day Cover and Presentation Stamp Pack. All these products – apart from the sold out signed version of the First Day Cover – are available direct from the Isle Of Man Post Office website.

For GBP 22.50 including worldwide shipping, the set is pretty good value and a welcome addition to any collection.

 

 

 

 

Genesis – The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, The Ultimate Record (by Robert Ellis)

Book review by Tim D

Published in late 2014 by The Rock Library, Robert Ellis’ deluxe limited edition hard backed book ‘Genesis – The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, The Ultimate Record’ is a must for all early Genesis fanatics with 180 pages of colour and black and white images, most never published before. Limited to a worldwide release of 500 copies, this book is a worthy addition to any serious Genesis collection.

In late 1974 Genesis released ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’, a double concept album based around a Peter Gabriel-penned story centering on Rael, a New York street punk.  It proved to be Gabriel’s swansong with Genesis as he left the band at the end of the accompanying tour in Summer 1975.  Nowadays, ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’ has attained almost mythical status among fans but in late 1974 the band decided to perform the entire double album to unsuspecting and sometimes bewildered audiences who were still expecting to hear ‘Supper’s Ready’ and ‘The Cinema Show’.

Despite 102 live performances between November 1974 and May 1975, the show was never filmed (although several good audio recordings exist).  Photographer Robert Ellis documented the band at Island Studios during the recording sessions in September 1974 and photographed the live show in the UK, Paris, and Cascais (Portugal) in 1975.

The ambitious stage show was the first rock show to use multimedia to illustrate the story line.  The music was backed up by slides projected onto three large (for 1974/5) screens behind the band.  The slides rarely worked perfectly, lighting was minimal and early attempts at pyrotechnics nearly killed members of the road crew in Oslo!  Despite these unforgiving conditions, Robert’s images accurately record the show for posterity.

Each book is signed by the author, Steve Hackett has added some kind words and each track is treated in turn in the book with images from the stage show.  Also included is a ‘special promotional supplement’, a 24 page booklet of Robert’s photos from Peter Gabriel’s only reunion show (to date) with Genesis  – the ‘Six Of The Best’ WOMAD Benefit Festival in (a very wet) Milton Keynes in 1982.

According to Robert, “I want this book to be seen as a companion to the album, not a critique of the songs, the band, or the show – more an extended super deluxe packaging for a live album that never was.”

This is without doubt a quality production – with a hefty GBP 85 price tag, but worth every penny.  For more information and more sample pages see The Rock Library/Robert’s website.

 

16th December UPDATE from Robert Ellis via Twitter:

Thanx guys!! only a very few of this numbered edition left. Take a look inside..book2look.de/book/J7xoef8Joi

Index – The Art of Steven Wilson’s Music by Lasse Hoile & Carl Glover

Book review by Tim Darbyshire

‘Index’ is a newly published collection of selected artworks, many unseen before, of Steven Wilson’s various projects.

Published in September 2015 by The Flood Gallery to coincide with Steven Wilson’s two nights at The Royal Albert Hall in London, ‘Index’ is a deluxe hardback artwork collection covering the period from Porcupine Tree’s  2002 album ‘In Absentia’ through to Steven Wilson’s fourth solo album in 2015 ‘Hand.Cannot.Erase.’ Originally available in two editions, the sold out red covered ‘Royal Albert Hall Edition’ (limited to 800 copies), and the standard green edition.

The book contains photographs from long term Steven Wilson collaborators Lasse Hoile and Carl Glover. Lasse has been working with Steven since 2002 and Carl since 1994. As well as 340 photographs (178 of which are unpublished before), the 240 page book features an introduction from Steven Wilson and an interview in the form of an extended conversation between Lasse and Carl.

The projects covered include Porcupine Tree, no-man, Blackfield, IEM, Bass Communion, Continuum, and his solo releases. The size and style of the book fits comfortably alongside the deluxe editions Steven Wilson is so keen on producing. Of course, the quality of the images is such that it can be appreciated without being a fan of the music.

The Green edition is still available from The Flood Gallery and Burning Shed

Hypergraphia: The Writings of David Sylvian 1980–2014

Book review by Tim D

‘Hypergraphia – The Writings Of David Sylvian  1980–2014’,  is an impressive hard backed offering featuring 638 pages, mostly in full colour.

Released in November 2015 ‘Hypergraphia’ is the final release from David Sylvian’s label Samadhisound. Four years in the making ‘Hypergraphia’ is published in a limited edition of 3,000 copies worldwide, with an extra 500 signed and numbered copies which naturally sold out very quickly.

The first thing that strikes you when handling the book is the sheer quality of it – the pages are printed on prime stock paper and the volume is pleasingly weighty.

The book is a comprehensive collection of David’s lyrics and poetry covering his career to date from 1980, accompanied by artwork and photographs relevant to the writings. Long time art collaborator Chris Bigg was responsible for the design of the project, and it has to be said this volume is a real treat for fans. Sylvian has curated or contributed all the art, with notable offerings from artists as Atsushi Fukui, Anton Corbijn, Katharina Grosse, Tacita Dean and Kristamas Klousch.

Aesthetically pleasing throughout, the book is a chronological journey of David’s work with three major interviews underpinning the sections for each release. The contents section clearly sets out format so you can look up your favourite album or period, but really the reader does not have to know who David Sylvian is to enjoy the artwork and writings included.

The quality and content of the book is simply stunning – nothing more really need be said. Couple this with Chris Young’s excellent biography ‘On The Periphery – David Sylvian A Biography’ and you really have the comprehensive guide to Sylvian’s story.

For more information and ordering see http://davidsylvian.com/hypergraphia/