Antimatter

The Fateful Symmetry MUTE 7/10

With 28 albums’ worth of songs to choose from, “hopefully there will be some surprises”.

Eleven years after his first ambitious homage to Mike Oldfield, Robert Reed is back with the long-awaited fourth instalment in his Sanctuary series. With a little help from Oldfield collaborators Les Penning, Tom Newman and drummer Simon Phillips, the Magenta and Cyan mastermind tells Prog about his mission to keep long-form music alive.

Thirty years ago, Marillion released their final album on EMI, their first not to reach the UK Top 10. Afraid Of Sunlight has since been hailed as one of the band’s greatest recordings, but tragedy lay at its heart, even though it kickstarted their career as one of the most successful independent groups. The band recall the challenging times that threatened their career and, at times, their sanity.

Celine Dion, a tree made of coat hangers, Crufts… Thirty years after the startling experiments of Tilt defined SCOTT WALKER ’ s latter-day career, his collaborators reveal all about the idiosyncratic working practices that took him from teen idol to avant-garde hero. “It was almost like a rejection of his past,” one eyewitness tells Rob Hughes. “Almost like anti-music.”

PROLIFIC SONGWRITER BOB Mould is a reluctant generational icon. Sure, he’s proud of his musical accomplishments and realizes he has been a major inspiration for a wide range of mainstream acts, includ