DAYS BETWEEN STATIONS

Here we have the fourth album by duo Oscar Fuentes Bills (keyboards) and Sepand Samzadeh (guitars). I was convinced this was the first time I had come across them until I realised they first came to attention after they sent some material to Bruce Soord who then used some of it as the basis for the song "Saturday" on The Pineapple Thief's '12 Stories Down' which I reviewed more than 20 years ago. This particular album has had a long gestation in that its' conception goes all the way back to the mid-2010s when Oscar and Sepand began working on music for a documentary film about artist Jean-Paul Bourdier with friend Alexandre Dorriz (who had shot the original footage). This is why the album is subtitled 'Music For A Film', and why there is just one song, "Being", with vocals (provided by Durga McBroom), which is also the only song to feature real drums (Scott Connor) as the rest of the album is just the duo. It also explains why the Hipgnosis-style cover is so striking, as the photograph was taken by Jean-Paul Bourdier himself.

However, while all of this is quite fascinating (at least to me), there is the strong impression while playing this that there is something missing, and I think this must be the visual element. The music was written to emphasise the imagery they were seeing in his pictures and existing films, but without that element being present this can at times drop too much into the ambient and lose interest for the listener. That the two musicians have a wonderful collaborative spirit which explains their more than 20 years of working together, but this does not feel like an album but rather a collection of pieces which are looking for a home. This is art which is not quite standing on its own, as although we get feelings of Tangerine Dream, Vangelis and JMJ, it is not enough to fully maintain interest and when the drum machine makes an appearance it is clunky and detracts from the overall.

While I would be interested in seeing the documentary, I think this will only make sense musically when one has the images to go with it.

DAYS BETWEEN STATIONS 4th album based on the original soundtrack of the film, a documentary on the artist BOURDIER. All the instrumental pieces are therefore excerpts from the original soundtrack planned starting with melancholic cinematic art-rock, allowing you to navigate ethereal, ambient and saving landscapes, Durga McBROOM as a guest vocal on the last title.

"Waltz for the Dead" begins in the style of Am'lie POULAIN, a memory of Yann and his magical accordion, fresh, swirling, freshly bucolic and French at heart. "Proof of Life" follows, a languid air with an Asian atmosphere on an electronic pad. "Seeds" pastoral symphony entrance, chamber music with its solemn, haughty, invasive post-rock air. "Unearth" dark piano, vibration of the notes before the start of the classical melody declining the ambient air in a crystalline way of a sidereal beauty. "Intermission" as its name suggests on a jerky, vibrating electronic moment. "Stone Faces" introspective moment with the guitar playing its notes while the synth rounds them off for the musical moment in the style of CARPENTER, DAFT PUNK, disconcerting.

"Paradigm Lost" follows, slow minimalist new age progression, invasive synthetic sound, hypnotic with the electronic pad and the suave melody, marshmallow, creamy candy; memory memory of the works of Wally BADAROU. A guitar solo, the first of the album, comes to brighten up, adding languor, dynamism and energy. The track of the album for its creativity. "Ascend" crystalline piano arpeggio, classico-romantic-melancholic air to use for meditation, ideal in the background of a documentary, it's good timing. "Being" with the ethereal voice of Durga on a slightly pompous air, Scott's metronomic drums helping him in this rhythmic, catchy piece. A title to reflect on the work of BOURDIER which this column will make you want to research. The guitar solo recalls Sepand's delicate touch before the return of the basic piano illuminating the title.

Sepand Samzadeh (guitars) and Oscar Fuentes Bills (keyboards) met in 2003 and have been making music under the Days Between Stations project name since 2007 (based on the title of Steve Erikson's debut novel). However, it was only with the release of their third album, Giants in September 2020, that I came across them? and I'm very pleased I did, too.

Giants is one of my albums of the last year and is a sumptuous slice of '70s epic prog rock with a modern edge, intermingled with a range of compositional styles and moods across the seven tracks.

Fuentes and Samzadeh are joined by a number of guest artists for this, their most proggy album, and it is the presence of Billy Sherwood of Yes which contributes to the soundscapes resulting across most of the tracks. He previously co-produced their second album in 2013, but here he contributes vocals on most of the songs, as well as bass and even drums. The combination of personnel works very well.

The album kicks off with an almost 17-minute epic, Spark, and the '70s Yes/ELP-style keyboards set the tone for a lot of what is to come. Sherwood's driving bass and strong multi-tracked vocals, allied to the ebb and flow in tempo of the retro keyboards and some lovely plaintive guitar runs, makes it a great start to proceedings.

However, the beautiful, piano-led and multi-layered ballad Witness the End of the World provides a refreshing contrast, and the rich vocals of Durga McBroom (Pink Floyd touring vocalist) are a real treat. Last time I heard her was on some great backing vocals to the 'Prog From Home' version of Dave Kerzner's Into the Sun (one of my lockdown highlights from those dark days).

Another Day has some of the best, most emotional vocals I've heard from Sherwood, supported by deep, growling bass, and flowing symphonic prog ensemble work ? the pace often mirrors the labours of Sisyphus as he pushes the boulder up the hill day after day, to great effect.

Fourth track Goes by Gravity is a complete contrast and shows that the band do not want to be tied down to a particular prog-style all the time. The distinctive vocals of XTC's Colin Moulding accompany an '80s synth-sounding piece of power pop/art-rock that would have not been out of place in his former band's singles catalogue. Wickedly catchy, it's an earworm that will stay in your head for a while, if you let it. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it's a quaint diversion before a full return to prog rock on the title track.

Giants might be four minutes shorter than Sparks but it is another epic and more than its equal. A piano introduction and soothing flow of guitar and keyboards, with almost Big Big Train-style lyrical content, gradually opens up in true Transatlantic or Wobbler fashion, with lush instrumentation, searing solos and even a Floydian ending to bring it to a close. Lovely stuff!

After that, the final two tracks would always struggle to match that intensity, but the instrumental The Gathering packs a lot into its four minutes. A late-night jazzy piano gives way to Hackett-like acoustic guitar, the pace picking up steadily as the layers of music are applied.

Final track The Common Thread is a Sherwood-written song and could easily fit on a latter-day Yes album ? especially with the Howe-style soloing and the vocal harmonies that conclude it. With funky, rich bass, the vocals are almost Winwood-like at times. It's a good track but perhaps lacking the coherence or 'wow factor' the earlier epics had.

The overall result is a fine prog rock album which deserves a much wider listening on this side of the 'Pond'. Funetes and Samzadeh are very talented musicians and composers who have benefitted from some of the best work I have heard Billy Sherwood deliver for some time (as if freed from the weight of expectation he faces from some Yes fans in filling the shoes of the iconic Chris Squire). He even does a respectable job on the drums, although I did wonder what a more experienced progressive drummer such as a Gavin Harrison or Craig Blundell might have added to the party. Maybe next time?

Finally, it is great to see Paul Whitehead supplying the album cover art ? a real bonus. I didn't spot any croquet mallets and hoops on the lawn, but they might be there somewhere!

(From The Progressive Aspect)

DBS is releasing its third album at the end of the year with more accomplished, more complex and a little less unstructured titles than its predecessors. The titles have a good taste of the seventies, there is an obvious jazzy side to certain pieces, others are more in the form of "radio-edit" titles if the radio could still spend a little musical creation, that's another story . Confirmed artists like Billy Sherwood come to set the rhythm of dinosaurs like YES; Durga McBroom just gave her voice more sensitivity on "Witness the End of the World" and I had stopped on this album too to listen to the still young voice of Colin Molding on "Goes by Gravity"! It's done, it's beautiful, but it still remains on the same Yessian tone of the 70's with a fruity and variegated progressive rock quite difficult to access; you have to land several times to dive into their crazy and extroverted world and not hesitate to go through their musical drawers to go far, very far. A more successful album but with the same creative blood as their predecessors.

At a very first glance ... well ... the cover art, painted by Paul Whitehead, reminded me of the Nursery Crime album somehow. And then I was pointed to some greek legend, I mean the tied up giant somehow. The huge robot on the other hand wears a dinosaur pic ... uhmmmm .... this is somewhat weird. Some food for thought in any case, about a possible concept existing behind that for example. DAYS BETWEEN STATIONS are Sepand Samzadeh (guitars) and Oscar Fuentes (keyboards). It's their third album in the meanwhile, released seven years since the previous 'In Extremis'. And now attention, they have teamed up with jack of all trades Billy Sherwood yet on this occasion. Everybody who is fairly up to date when it comes to the prog scene will know that he had a presence on uncountable productions recently, more than every other musician, at least I'm aware of. Not sure if he still has the overview. Much of it didn't appeal to me really, to be honest, but luckily it is different this time.

Hey, the Sherwood impact is important here, as he rather skillfully plays bass and drums throughout, and cares for the lead vocals on top. Above that he was in charge as the producer and helped the band with arrangements and lyrics. Experience pays off. Hence here we have a recommend issue. Take your time for this excurse. Exemplarily I will highlight the extended opener Spark that shines with varied layers and moods, Hammond and Mellotron drenched moments, partially reminiscent to the likes of Genesis and King Crimson. Finally the The Common Thread is a song written by Sherwood himself, and shows some obvious YES similarity. DAYS BETWEEN STATIONS have produced some proper delicate progressive rock stuff with a total length of about 60 minutes. Aside from the aforemetioned influences fans of Big Big Train and similar should pay attention also. 3.5 stars.

"Giants" is a decent album from these guys, though it sure has the Billy Sherwood stamp all over it (not a bad thing!), especially the songs on which he sings. He also plays bass (some really nice Chris Squire style), and some surprisingly great drums. I especially like the way they miked the drums for this album - feels a bit like you're sitting in the middle of the drumkit.

A couple of songs or passages of songs still have that Pink Floyd feel. A lot of this album then comes off sounding a bit like a YES album with Sherwood's Squire-like vocals and bass playing, and some very good keyboards from Fuentes. I have to say that I'm not overly impressed with the guitar playing from Samzadeh. It is generally mixed kind of low on the album, and I feel (personally) that the whole album could have benefitted from bringing the guitar a lot more up front in the mix. He favors that "wailing" sound; it's very subtle playing. But he still just doesn't impress me. If Steve Howe is a 10 (and he may just be an 11... ;-) in the world of prog rock guitarists, then this guy comes in at around a 6 or 7? He's good. I like great.

Good album! The opening track is the best - energetic and interesting. I feel like I've heard track #4 "Goes By Gravity" someplace before; perhaps on some various artists compilation album. Or it's very close to some other song? Nothing to skip on the album, but perhaps not as evenly original or impressive as I would like these days. 3-1/2 stars today.

What happens when you put Peter Banks, Tony Levin, Colin Moulding, Billy Sherwood, and Rick Wakeman together? You get a band with big names and high expectations. Oftentimes the result is a huge disappointment. Luckily, however, In Extremis wasn't one of them; I was instantly excited by the first track, "No Cause for Alarm," which showcases some mega- bombastic orchestration and heavy work from the rhythm section. In other words, this cast of stars gets off on the right foot. From here we basically get an album which is full of nice groove and a sort of ambient, almost neo-prog atmosphere. "In Utero" works great as spacey background music, "Visionary" showcases nicely textured guitars along with some fantastic drumming along with Levin's top notch bass playing, and "Eggshell Man" turns out to be one of the strongest tracks on the record with lots of variety, moving from pastoral and folky acoustic sections to powerful sitar, mysterious Russian sounding folk influences, and a powerful, screaming synth solo which moves the piece to a heavy and moving ending. While there are some moments which recall much of what I don't like about the neo-prob vibe, particularly "The Man Who Died Two Times" with its poppy Asia-esque leanings, the album certain has some brilliant and epic moments, such as "In Extremis," which opens up with epic choir harmonies leading to an ominous organ before really getting started with some fantastic lead vocals and otherworldly moods laid down by drums and leads guitars. In the end, while the various members of Days Between Stations have produced their best work elsewhere, this is certainly an album that die-hard fans of these accomplished musicians can pick up and not feel disappointed.

To be honest, since the eponymous debut in 2007 we all knew this band had the potential for greatness, but as the years drew on that premise appeared less and less attainable. I'm happy to say that the wait was worth it, as cliche as that sounds, because not only has the follow-up eclipsed the excellent debut in every category, it's progressed to a new level entirely.

"In Extremis" is easily one of the most impressive progressive rock releases of 2013 because of the fluid and varied arrangements and strong musical vision. Many reviewers have gone through a track-by-track review so I will abstain from that, but I will say that there is no filler on this album.

Highlights: Eggshell Man and the ambitious title track. The Man Who Died Two Times should be a tune that everybody should hear because it has all the ingredients to be very popular. I don't want to jinx it, but that tune should get a lot more attention from the mainstream than it has! I could easily see this used in a movie. Heck, why not just make a movie to feature the song?

Final thoughts: must have album, fine artwork, plenty of things to keep prog fans VERY happy. I'm hoping that the follow-up won't keep us in suspense for another 6 years! Also, hard as it may due to the nature of the band, I'd LOVE to see this performed live - it's a bucket-list worthy pursuit.

5 stars - essential

In Extremis (2013) is the second album of the American duo Days Between Stations. Released in May the album has plenty of celebrities as guest musicians, including in the cover department.

The artwork of the CD, as I mentioned, was done by the Brittish artist Paul Whitehead, that is famous for his covers for Genesis (Trespass, Nursery Crims & Foxtrot), Van Der Graaf Generator (H To He Who Am the Only One & Pawn Hearts), Le Orme (Smogmagica, Elementi & L'infinito) among many others.

In the musical side the album has, besides the duo Oscar Fuentes Bills (keyboards) and Sepand Samzadeh (guitars), many stars. To begin with we have Tony Levin (bass) and Billy Sherwood (drums and lead vocals) in all the tracks. Then we also have Peter Banks, Matt Bradford, Colin Moulding, Ali Nouri, Jeffery Samzadeh, Rick Wakeman, Josh Humphrey and Chris Tedesco. All those guests alone would be able to drag much attention to In Extremis (2013).

On my opinion In Extremis (2013) is a extremelly well written album with absolutelly great music all the way through, especially in 'Eggshell Man' and the suite 'In Extremis'. Fantastic keyboards and guitars are all over the album and Tony Levin bass is also something to pay attention to.

When it comes to the drums, I wouldn't say they are bad, Billy Sherwood did a good job drumming. But, as ALL his producings, the drums sound has his 'trademark', so you can expect the mid 90's drum sound with FAR TOO many effects, specialy in the cymbals. They are really annoying sometimes.

But I honestly cannot say that the aforementioned fact would ruin the album. Not at all. 5 years in the making and you have many good moments to enjoy, specially in the Symphonic Department.

Prog fans will note many familiar names snatching up guest spots on Days Between Stations' second album, which is a testimony to the strength of the material here - their debut album didn't exactly provoke an explosion of publicity, but they've clearly produced something here to interest and intrigue the likes of Billy Sherwood, Tony Levin, XTC's Colin Moulding and Yes veterans Rick Wakeman and Peter Banks.

It's a particularly notable release since Banks' guest spots on the epic title track (and the scarcely less ambitious Eggshell Man) were amongst his very last studio sessions. Not only did Peter's death before the album's release add a streak of irony to the "thoughts of a dying" man concept, but it also gave Days Between Stations the unexpected challenge of presenting an album capable of standing as a respectful monument to Peter, an accomplishment which they just about pull off. This is pretty solid stuff, all told, though don't expect anything which will upstage the more famous material the guest artists have been involved with.