After the incredible success of their concept album “Posthumous Silence” and celebrating their 10th anniversary Sylvan presents the entire concept album in a breathtaking setting worth their unique music Sylvan staged a huge live show on September 1, 2007 to record this stunning DVD as well as a double CD. With a string section and backup singers and a powerful light show, this sold out show brings all of Posthumous Silence to life as well as other Sylvan favorites.

The DVD´s title is “Posthumous Silence - The Show” and the DOUBLE LIVE CD is called “Leaving Backstage”. The DVD contains the whole concept-album “Posthumous Silence” as a live recording of the concert (approx. 80 minutes). In addition, the DVD contains about 100 minutes of bonus footage such as a live version of the song “Artificial Paradise”, two making-of movies, an audio commentary, interviews with the band and complete subtitles of all lyrics in English as well as in German.

The DOUBLE LIVE CD contains the whole “Posthumous Silence Show” and on top of this the second part of the concert which was kind of a “Best Of” setlist through 10 years of SYLVAN.

Sweden’s Darkwater is confirmed for their first US appearance to complete the lineup for the 2nd annual Bay Area Rock Festival. Their debut release “Calling to Earth to Witness” on Ulterium Records distributed in the US by Nightmare Records blends progressive metal with melodic flourishes and swirling keyboards that draw the listener to a musical headspace similar to that of Dream Theater and Symphony X.

The running order of the festival will be as follows- Both nights will start with doors at 6:30 and show at 7PM. The order will be as follows:

Friday June 27th-
Concerto Moon
Rocket Scientists with Lana Lane
Enchant
Jeff Scott Soto and Friends

Saturday June 28th
Darkwater
Sun Caged
Zero Hour
Liquid Tension Experiment

TWO FOR THE SHOW: 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION FROM KANSAS, EXPANDS 1978 CONCERT DOUBLE-ALBUM TO TWO CDs; 10 PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED LIVE CUTS FROM 1977-78 ON DISC TWO

“Carry On Wayward Son” on Guitar Hero II wins new generation of fans

Double-CD package in environmentally friendly, plastic-free soft pack, with 24-page full-color booklet arrives in stores July 1,2008, on Kirshner/Epic/ Double-CD package in environmentally friendly, plastic-free soft pack, with 24-pag

“Kansas possess a musicianship that rivals any of their peers with lyrics that go far beyond the ‘I love you’ tunes of Top 40 radio, often discussing emotions that all of us have felt and struggled with yet were too afraid to talk about. The band’s style of songwriting mixed classical, hard rock, progressive rock, and pop in a way that had not been done before
– Jeb Wright, from the liner notes to TWO FOR THE SHOW: 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION

THE FLOWER KINGS announce 2 new members of the TFK family.

New drummer/percussionist Erik Hammarström and vocalist,keyboardist,guitarist Ola Heden. Premiere with this fab 6 piece line up is LORELEY festival in Germany on July 19th.

The band is working on a number of sideprojects at the present including new releases from Karmakanic (yes finally) and Tomas Bodin (Cinematograph), and there are two yet unnamed project/groups from Dr Stolt & Dr Reingold and Erik Hammarstöm is part of the new Brightseye Brison CD release…. any day now. Flowerkings will reunite in a couple of weeks for a series of rehearsals for upcoming shows/festivals and later also for a new CD recording.

Upcoming shows:

SAT July 19th - Loreley outdoor Festival “Night Of The Prog”
(with Roger Hodgson, It Bites, Pain Of Salvation, Fish, Neal Morse, Isildurs Bane, Barcley James Harvest etc.)

SUN Aug 24 - Pittsburgh, PA - the Pepsi Roadhouse, “3 Rivers Festival”
(with California Guitar Trio, Spock’s Beard, Rocket Scientists, etc.)

TUE Aug 26 - New York City, NY - BB Kings - Lucilles Grille (237 W 42nd Street)

WED Aug 27 - Arlington, MA - Regent Theater

SAT Aug 30 - Chicago, IL - Martyrs (MARTYRS’ 3855 N. Lincoln Avenue Chicago, IL 773-404-9494)

SAT Sept - 6th - Another progfestival: Cascais - Portugal (it is near Estoril/Lisboa)

SAT Oct - 11th - Motstoy (prog & metal) Festival - Norway

EverEve - one of the most important representatives of the music genre roughly called CYGOROME (Cyber Goth Rock Metal). But before ultimately defining their style, the group experimented with a plethora of sounds, especially on their first three releases − “Seasons”, “Stormbirds” and “Regret”. Each of these albums showcased a thrilling combination of death, gothic, atmospheric and progressive metal, enforced with a huge dose of Pink Floyd overtones.

“Seasons”
At the time of its release the album was quite a surprise on the gothic scene, delivering a truly astounding mix of dark, ambient melodies with brutal vocals and guitar riffs. The band (at that time consisting of Tom Sedotschenko on vocals, Stephan Kiefer & Thorsten Weissenberger on guitars, Michael Zeissl on keys, Stefan Müller on bass and Marc Werner on drums) did a remarkable job giving each song enough character and structure to capture the true essence of a gothic album. The perfect collaboration of keys and guitars (not afraid to venture even towards death metal) easily formed such doom−anthems as “Autumn Leaves”, “A Winternight Depression” and “Untergehrn and Auferstehen” (sung entirely in German). While the musical side of “Seasons” was near flawless, it was Tom Sedotschenko who proved to be the true highlight of the entire album. His vocals, easily ranging from whispering and clean melodic singing to intense screams and deep growls, took EverEve’s debut to a whole new level of atmospheric and emotional music. “Seasons” are to this day considered one of the group’s best releases and a milestone in the entire gothic genre.

“Stormbirds”
The album was released in 1998 and proved to be a worthy successor to the amazing debut. It continued the musical voyage set on “Seasons” and took the band even further into experimenting with their sound, this time with the help of the Barmbecker Symphony Orchestra and vocalist York Eysel of Love Like Blood. The tracks on “Stormbirds” deliver a real variety of inspirations, ranging from energetic and melodic tunes like “The Downfall” to the sorrowful “Fields of Ashes” and electronic “As I Breathe the Dawn”. One of the highlights of the LP is the piano track “Spleen”, sung in French and based on the writings of 19th century poet and art critic Charles Baudelaire. “Stormbirds”, often compared to Moonspell’s classic release “Wolfheart” by the critics, is still hailed as a brilliant sequel to the debut and one of the group’s most valuable works.

“Regret”
The album released in September 1999, introduced a more straightforward and stripped down approach towards EverEve’s music. The mood on the album is very intense, often generating a disturbing and melancholic atmosphere. While some songs (like “Fall Into Oblivion”) still bear the same heaviness as the tunes on “Seasons” or “Stormbirds”, other introduce some totally new musical inspirations, such as “Passion and Demise”, stylistically comparable to Alice Cooper. The real surprise on the LP, however, are the two cover versions of “The House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals. “Regret” went into a slightly different way than the band’s previous releases, but eventually proved to be a very successful album as well, preparing the fans to the changes that occurred afterwards.

Metal Mind Productions will re-release “Seasons”, “Stormbirds” and “Regret” on 23rd June 2008 (Europe) and 5th August 2008 in USA (via MVD). Each title will be available in a new digipak edition, limited to numerated 2000 copies, digitally remastered using 24-Bit process on golden disc. Thanks to these exclusive reissues fans may once again experience the dark and fascinating world of EverEve.

From Matthew Parmenter

My new solo CD “Horror Express” was officially released on May 13. There are 10 tracks on the CD which runs just over 60 minutes in length. It took a good long time for me to complete the recording, but I am very pleased with the overall production and mood. I used a beautiful 1880 Steinway piano throughout, and this really enhanced the quality of the sounds. Other instruments include the usual lot, plus a nice bit of theremin, and new to me, a cello. Ryan Parmenter (of Eyestrings) created the cover art, which is really superb.

As the album title and cover art might suggest, there are some playful references to scary movies all over the place on the CD. I hope you will find this motif a way in to the emotional centers of the songs, rather than the whole point, full stop. You can learn more at the web site:

http://www.strungoutrecords.com/

Just around the corner in June comes NEARfest 2008 in Pennsylvania. If you have not heard already, Discipline. has joined forces to perform there after some years not playing out. This performance will feature the band members most of you will remember best: Jon Preston Bouda, Mathew Kennedy, Paul Dzendzel, and that mime. Performers at the 10th annual NEARfest include:

* Banco del Mutuo Soccorso (Italy)
* Liquid Tension Experiment (United States)
* Fish (Scotland)
* Peter Hammill (England)
* echolyn (United States)
* Synergy (United States)
* Discipline. (United States)
* Radio Massacre International (England)
* Mörglbl (France)
* Koenji Hyakkei (Japan)

I am told the tickets for the festival sold out in half an hour. To learn more, or to try and bribe one of the festival organizers for a scalped entry, visit the NEARfest web site:

http://www.nearfest.com/

We have been archiving lots of the old Discipline. recordings dating back to the 1980s. Many of these recordings pre-date David Krofchok on keys for the band (circa 1992), but do feature David Krofchok’s recordings of the band before we learned that he could play the keys (circa 1988). We plan to release some of these recordings with the Cyclops label out of England along with the now out-of-print live CD “Into the Dream” (1999). I cannot promise a release date as we have lots left to do in gathering up the old pieces. There were many shows recorded and there are many recordings to sift through. But this might be something worth looking for later in the year. (No promises yet.)

It has been a long and productive Winter and Spring for the Progressive/Gothic/Metal band, By Blood Alone. After their forced hiatus due to vocalist Cruella’s diagnosis and treatment of Breast Cancer, they are ready to hit the stage running and rocking.

By Blood Alone has used the time off to write and compose the beginnings of their next album. These songs show a sophistication and maturity in writing that was hinted at in their most recently released full length album, Seas of Blood. Which was released in October 2007.

During this time By Blood Alone has been heavily promoting their album and has received many favorable reviews, some coming from as far as the UK, The Netherlands, Poland, Greece, Denmark, and Brazil. One of the most notable is a review they received in Progression Magazine, considered by many to be the present-day bible of Progressive Rock. (Of the 350 cds submitted. only 150 were reviewed.) Progression awards 0 to 4 stars in four categories: Sound, Composition, Musicianship, and Performance, for a possible total of 16. By Blood Alone got a 12.5. Since many signed acts received similar scores, we feel we are defiantly on the right track.

In addition, By Blood Alone is now working with TwoSideMoon/SLW Promotions, who will handle their PR for the UK, (and elsewhere to a lesser extent). The Publicists, Nicky and Sonia, are experienced long-term music journalists and are great to work with. The band feels quite confident in their game plan to expand By Blood Alone’s sphere of influence.

A return show has been set for Saturday May 31st at By Blood Alone’s old haunt, Geno’s. The new songs that the band has been working very hard perfecting are going to rock. With names like Drive All Night, I Bleed, Night Terrors, Stalking and Misfit, they are going to amaze and shock all who listen! And By Blood Alone is also tickled pink to be playing with good friends and slayers Man-Witch. The band anticipates a great crowd to join them in a fun and full night of ROCK and WONDER!

THIRD ANNUAL URB ALT FESTIVAL SHINES IN SUN RA CELEBRATION ON FIRST DAY OF SUMMER
V. Jeffrey Smith, Tay Zonday, Melvin Gibbs, MuthaWit and eclectic artists perform 14 Hours of Alternative Music Over 3 Days at Harlem Stage Gatehouse and BAMcafe

Saturday June 21, Noon-7pm: Harlem Stage Gatehouse
Friday June 27, 8pm and Saturday June 28, 8pm: BAMcafe

“URB ALT Festival features artists that are exemplars of boundary crossing, synthesis and〓 unification.” The Village Voice

NEW YORK, NY (May 17, 2008) - The third annual URB ALT Festival brings the bleeding edge of multi-cultural music/film artists to New York City’s Harlem Stage Gatehouse and BAMcafe. On the first day of summer June 21st in conjunction with the city-wide Make Music NY, the three day URB ALT Festival launches from the Harlem Stage Gatehouse terrace with a 7 hour outdoor concert event. The festival, hosted by co-founder Shena Verrett, celebrates the legacy of Sun Ra as fused through the musical and visual creativity of internationally recognized and underground artists. Events are free with a $10 suggested donation for adults going towards registration for URB ALT gift raffles and voter registration initiatives through Rock the Vote. For more information contact Michelle at 917.328.0367 or girlsonmedia@hotmail.com

The opening day at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse features the avant-garde bass mastery of Melvin Gibbs(Rollins Band, Harriet Tubman); the soulful alternative hip hop/funk of Atlantan, Stacy Epps; the “Chocolate Rain” afforded musical ubiquity of Tay Zonday; the cosmic jazz vocal stylings of Los Angelino, Waberi Jordan; the soul laced protorock melodicism of Tenderhead; the electronica infused funk/rock of OMG; the funky blues rock of Devi; the folk/soul of honey voiced crooner Kendal; the Latin rock/punk experimentalism of Millsted; and the futuristic big band exploratory missions of the MuthaWit Orchestra(URB ALT Festival house band). Artists will be performing their original material as well as a composition from Sun Ra’s songbook.

URB ALT founder Boston Fielder, says “Sun Ra is a beacon for creators of all mediums who want to explore the connection between the spirit, entertainment and commerce. The Sun Ra Arkestra was/is a functioning politico-economic-social system that I was exposed to early in life as my cousin was a mainstay drummer for the group. It’s an honor to present some of Sun Ra’s compositions to our audience.”

June 27th and 28th finds the URB ALT Festival crossing the river into Brooklyn where the events dock at the popular BAMcafe. These two special nights of the URB ALT Festival close out the BAMcafe Live season by featuring the soul/rock gypsy sound of Brig Feltus with members of Pillow Theory; the polyphonic harp virtuosity of Brandee Younger(Ravi Coltrane); the LES reggae/rock/soul power of Faith; the rock/soul/pop songcraft mastery of V. Jeffrey Smith(Family Stand); the punk/pop/rock runway histrionics of Tenderhead; and a special collaboration between the MuthaWit Orchestra and two very special guests. Both nights will feature the computer generated projections of Italy based visual artist Roy Lagrone, The Matrix film series animation director Lyndon Barrois and “Harbinger” feature film director Tim Fielder.

Raffle tickets for Apple Computer products, a Daisy Rock Guitar, Airline gift certificates and more prizes included with the $10 donation. Various raffle winners will be announced and awarded during the course of each event.

Food and retail vendor space for June 21st outdoor event is available by contacting Michelle at 917-328-0367 or girlsonmedia@hotmail.com. Space is limited.

ABOUT URB ALT

URB ALT is Underground Railroad Broadcasting Alternatives, a music/film series and media company founded by Boston Fielder in 1998 to serve the creator and audience seeking uncut entertainment and artistic expression. URB ALT has offered transcendent visuals and revolutionary music by artists such as Funkadelic, Kyp Malone of TV On The Radio, Tenderhead, Arthur Jafa, Cody ChesnuTT, Res and Dragons of Zynth to enthusiastic attendees throughout the United States and Canada. URB ALT’s mission to cross pollinate musical/visual experiences aims to focus artist and audience alike on how creatively expansive and socially resonant popular culture can be.

URB ALT FESTIVAL 2008 is a joint production of BossTon Communications, GirlsOn… Productions and Odd Endeavors Productions in association with The Harlem Stage Partners Program(6/21) and BAMcafe Live(6/27 and 6/28). It is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

URB ALT Festival 2008 sponsors are Pepsi, Daisy Rock Guitars, BigHead Scientists, Junkmein Media, Rock the Vote, Fusicology, Harlem Stage, BAM, and Wyndham Hotels.

For more info and promo art: www.myspace.com/urbalt, www.myspace.com/muthawit www.urbalt.com, www.harlemstage.org, www.bam.org, www.myspace.com/muthawit. or urbalternative@gmail.com