Anthony Phillips – Private Parts & Pieces XII: The Golden Hour (2024)

Review: Anthony Phillips, composer and founding member of Genesis, presents the latest installment in his ‘Private Parts and Pieces’ series with The Golden Hour – Private Parts & Pieces XII. Imagine yourself enveloped in a collection of acoustic guitar pieces that swing from delightfully peaceful and dreamy to pastoral melodies, and then crank it up with some upbeat strumming. Anthony Phillips isn’t just your average guitarist, though. This guy’s a multi-instrumental wizard who effortlessly transitions to the piano, delivering lush compositions deeply rooted in western classical vibes. Phillips doesn’t stop at just guitar and piano. He crafts these captivating soundscapes with synthesizers and layers of overdubbed instruments, conjuring up lovely creations. It’s the kind of intricate, mesmerizing instrumentals you’d expect from the best progressive rock bands, whether they’re nestled between epic suites or woven into the suites themselves. It’s pure musical magic. This volume is the first new release in the series since City of Dreams in 2012. The collection includes notable pieces such as the four-part “Wynchmore Hill Suite” and a vocal version of “Roads in Between.” Another highlight is the memorable and lovely guitar duo between Phillips and Madrid-based Argentine-Spanish guitarist Quique Berro García on classical guitar. Phillips describes The Golden Hour as “a traditional Private Parts & Pieces album of old, a collection of pieces of disparate background hopefully constituting a cohesive whole.” Indeed, this album offers a remarkable collection of evocative compositions. Musicians: Anthony Phillips on guitars, piano, synthesizers, vocals; Quique Berro García on classical guitar on “Sarabande Noir” and “Soliloquy for Sylvie”; James Collins on additional synthesizers on “High Flight” and “New World.” — bandcamp

Track List: 01. Wychmore Hill Suite I: Country Mile 02. Wychmore Hill Suite II: Ring Of Steel 03. Wychmore Hill Suite III: Peaceful Land 04. Wychmore Hill Suite IV: Jack The Lad 05. Twilight of a Diva 06. High Flight 07. Sarabande Noir 08. Kathryn Downes Trad 09. The Golden Hour 10. Hour Glass 11. Roads In Between (Vocal Version) 12. Benediction 13. Soliloquy for Sylvie 14. Rushlight 15. New World 16. Cirrus 17. Under The Southern Stars 18. Sea Drift 19. Night Spectre 20. Mean Streets 21. Sky Diving 22. Summer's Lease 23. His Final Bow

Media Report: Genre: acoustic, folk-rock, prog-rock Origin: UK
Format: FLAC Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec Bit rate mode: Variable Channel(s): 2 channels Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz Bit depth: 16 bits Compression mode: Lossless Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)

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