Kscope

The new album from acclaimed singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Maiah Wynne was written, self-produced and recorded by Wynne during an exceptionally transformative period in her life - Into the Waves was created between her first international tour, a move across the world, returning to education, and building a new life after years of isolation. Most of the recordings were captured on the road in hotel rooms using a laptop, with Wynne playing more than a dozen instruments across the album.    Maiah joined our host Billy Reeves for a lively chat about living in London, her shock at finding herself in a band with Alex Lifeson of Rush, what happened to her during the first Covid pandemic, and what exactly constitutes ‘authenticity’. Into The Waves features an impressive cast of collaborators, including cellist Bethany Joyce, violinist Avelyn Reynolds, guitarist Brooks Berg, drummers Adam Brzycki and Randy Cooke, flugelhorn player Henry Sheppard, and Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, whose guest guitar appearance further strengthens the connection between Wynne's solo work and her role as vocalist with Envy of None. Speaking to Rolling Stone recently, Lifeson said of Wynne: “I’ve never had that kind of inspiration working with another musician.” The album was completed with mixing and additional production from Justin Abel (Noelle Johnson, The Talbott Brothers) before being mastered by Alan Douches (Sufjan Stevens, Motörhead, LCD Soundsystem).   INTO THE WAVES IS OUT NOW ON CD AND DIGITAL SERVICES  THE DIGIPACK CD EDITION INCLUDES AN 8-PAGE PRINTED BOOKLET DOUBLE VINYL COMING ON 30th OCTOBER: GATEFOLD COMBO 2LP (PURPLE AND TRANSPARENT TURQUOISE VINYL), INCLUDES THE NEW ALBUM COUPLED WITH 2024’s DEBUT OUT OF THE DARK. ALBUM LAUNCH EVENT: an intimate live organic performance at Piano Smithfield, near the Barbican onWednesday 14th October, the show will offer the chance to experience songs from Into The Waves live, alongside selections from across Maiah’s catalogue, in the atmospheric surroundings of Piano Smithfield. Tickets via Burning Shed.

Bruce Soord is the founder and principal songwriter of The Pineapple Thief. His latest solo album is an incredibly unguarded and emotionally direct work, shaped and informed by the long, drawn out death of his Father and his Mother’s ongoing Alzheimer’s.  It is intense and beautiful, bare and unpredictable, aural grief in motion, amplifying the sudden surfacing of memory and the determination we all carry.   Gleb Kolyadin is one of the most important and fascinating pianists working across a number of areas, from ballet to progressive rock and many stops in between. Kscope enthusiasts will recognise him from his work both solo and alongside Mariana Semkina in the award-winning chamber-prog duo iamthemorning.   Bruce and host Billy Reeves discuss the generational trauma of aged parental cognitive decline, art-as-politics, AI versus AI slop, the decline of market towns, and his early days in his “funky-rock” student band under the arches in Leicester with his best friend and musical collaborator Jon Sykes.   Gleb and Bruce talk about Gleb’s personal and emotional involvement with the project: ie his reworking of the material into the Earbook second CD/album in its own right ‘Shipwrecks in the Harbour’, the hours he feels most inspired, and whether working to a deadline for musicians can help or hinder. And, now he lives in the UK, has he finally been to the chip shop?

Our guests on this episode are Daniel Tompkins (TesseracT, White Moth Black Butterfly) and Paul Ortiz (Chimp Spanner) who are together otherwise known as Prince of Failure.  You will hear how the pair met and why, after years of moving in the same circles, they decided that making music together would be a good idea! As part of the discussion with host Remfry Dedman about their self titled album, the conversation steers naturally towards neurodiversity and how a diagnosis can be seen as a negative thing, but we hear how they have learned to really lean into it and realise how it can positively impact a person's creativity and that recognising traits in each other made the process of creating the album such a great experience.  They also explain that having both come from very technical and complex music backgrounds, they are starting to explore the concept of simplicity, creating big impactful moments, but not overly complicated. You can hear snippets of songs from the album which is out now.     

We are spoiling you in this episode with two special guests, the first being Kavus Torabi of Gong ahead of their extensive tour of the UK and Europe.  He talks to Billy Reeves about their new album ‘Bright Spirit’  as well as covering important topics like snapping synapses, The Bash Street Kids, the illustrative art of 2000AD and pause to give each other a pat on the back... Then follows a conversation with Godsticks who are back after 18 months of hard work with an amazing new album (and tour) entitled ‘Void’. Darran, Gavin, Tom & Francis invited us to their south Wales HQ to explain “uncompromising”, give a terrific guide as to why the scene has exploded (as discussed in ep. 187 with Stef Broks of Textures), the influence of Duke Ellington’s Bulgarian arrangements!

Richard Barbieri, Synthesist famed for his work with Japan & Porcupine Tree, talks to us about the release of his new solo album ‘Hauntings’, his first since 2021. A series of Lovecraftian soundscapes, inspired by recurring dreams of fin de siècle London, of nostalgia of things yet to pass, and the collective fear of the future. Richard talks about the creative process behind the album, his new relationship with Porcupine Tree, how he was understood by Japan’s Mick Karn and David Sylvian, some of the new gear he’s recently toyed with and why 1890 was such a big year