A big thank you to all the artists who provided news for us this month. The stories below were sent to NHM from the networks of progressive musicians on two leading music sites: MySpace and Soundclick.
Jazzjet (Peter Simmons) is a solo producer/musician based in Cornwall, England. He has a new CD available that expresses his love of jazz and funk. Add to this influences from electronica, hip hop, soul and world music and you end up with an idea of the spicy inspiring mix of music available. If you like artists such as Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, Miles Davis, St Germain, Sly Stone then you're going to like this music. 'Birth Of The Lowdown' is Jazzjet's first album and includes afrobeat influenced 'Afrique' to moody soundtrack 'Emma's Song', from electronic textures like 'Red Shift' to upbeat jazz dancers such as 'Groove Merchant'. You can listen to tracks at www.soundclick.com/jazzjet and buy the CD at Indie music specialist CD Baby (http://cdbaby.com/cd/jazzjet)
Michel Griffin (based in Archambal, France) is currently releasing a new song each and every week to Soundclick, accompanied - where available - by a video of the song in live performance. The songs and videos will be available every Thursday over the next eight weeks via. Check them out on Michel's SoundClick page by following the link:
Leigh Evin McCullough from Chicago, Illinois in the USA, needs your help before the 13th August (i.e. right now!) Her band is in a competition on www.going.com to play at the Elbo Room in Chicago, on August 18th. You can listen to their music at MySpace, or vote straightaway by clicking the link below:
They need as many votes as possible so act now to include them in the three winning bands - check your e-mail after voting to confirm your identity.
Russian composer/keyboard player Andrew Roussak (now based in Germany) has become a supported artist at leading US Internet Radio site Head Case Radio. You can hear samples of his music and obtain his latest 'No Trespassing' album at the following web-sites:
Andrew has agreed to give an e-mail interview for the December NHM newsletter so keep your eyes open for information about this talented keyboardist.
Mike Menche of New York based band Z Sheet, has written a musical novel called "Teletoile," which interweaves narrative and rock music. Read an episode then play a song. The 16 tracks are based on melodies by Telephone, the great French rock band (1977-1986) that sold millions of records in their time. Mike has written new English lyrics, not translations, for each song. They're performed by Z Sheet, a New York City garage rock project. Four sample tracks are available at www.myspace.com/zsheet. The album can be bought from iTunes (digital store) and CD Baby, the Indie musician CD store of choice http://cdbaby.com/cd/zsheet. Check it out!
Daniel from the Swedish band, The Grand Trick (Digital Heaven Label) writes that the band are busy working on their second album. Their recent MCD "She's On The Run" has now been released in digital form. Further copies of the printed version has, unfortunately, been delayed. For more details contact them directly through their MySpace site.
Now, some TOP SECRET news from Yogi of the German band RPWL. RPWL want us to announce that they are working on a new album that should be out early 2008. However, there will be a special release on the 9th September 2007. This is a limited edition containing 5 live songs and 4 studio songs. Each band member has contributed a solo song so you can here the four sides of RPWL. The limited edition including live songs has been released because so many fans have been asking for live versions played during 2005/2006. The studio tracks represent the different influences in the band: there will be a song from Kalle (guitar), Chris (bass), Manni (drums) and Yoghi (vocals, keyboards). Each song was composed as a separate solo project, but then recorded together by the band. For the first time, you can hear the way each band member writes, and the differences in their individual styles. For further details, and information on how to obtain the special release, you'll need to contact the band through their MySpace page.
Lastly, an update on NHM's own artists. Both Protos and Rory Ridley-Duff have surpassed the 100,000 plays mark at SoundClick and their MySpace networks are now growing rapidly. Look out for Protos's new album The Noble Pauper's Grave which will be released on 18th October 2007 through CD Baby (http://www.cdbaby.com) in the USA, Megarock (http://www.megarock.se) in Sweden, Musea (http://www.musearecords.com/) in France, and Marquee Inc. (www.marquee.co.jp) in Japan.
The new concept album contains 50 minutes of music in 13 tracks. Seven are instrumental rock (with two over the 10 minute mark). The other six tracks are short narratives with Steve telling the story of The Noble Pauper over Rory's ambient backing music. Former band members Iain Carnegie and Nigel Rippon make small contributions to two tracks on the album but the bulk of the writing has been undertake by Rory with periodic support from Steve. All tracks have been arranged by Rory and Steve at New Horizons Music in Yorkshire, England. You can preview two tracks at www.myspace.com/protosmusic.
We are particularly grateful to Marquee Inc. in Japan. In 1991, their magazine reviewed One Day a New Horizon and promoted Protos as 'the top progressive rock band since the 1970s'. Now leading importers/distributors of progressive rock, their support and sales are the main reason we have been able to plan and release six albums by Protos band members in the first year of trading. We hope to go from strength to strength, release more Protos titles and fulfil our goals of starting to publish and promote the work of other up and coming progressive rock artists (starting with Digital Chemistry in 2008). Thanks are also due to RadioIndy (www.radioindy.com) and Head Case Radio (www.headcaseradio.com) for their support and promotion of our artists' work.
Jazzjet (Peter Simmons) is a solo producer/musician based in Cornwall, England. He has a new CD available that expresses his love of jazz and funk. Add to this influences from electronica, hip hop, soul and world music and you end up with an idea of the spicy inspiring mix of music available. If you like artists such as Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, Miles Davis, St Germain, Sly Stone then you're going to like this music. 'Birth Of The Lowdown' is Jazzjet's first album and includes afrobeat influenced 'Afrique' to moody soundtrack 'Emma's Song', from electronic textures like 'Red Shift' to upbeat jazz dancers such as 'Groove Merchant'. You can listen to tracks at 
Michel Griffin (based in Archambal, France) is currently releasing a new song each and every week to Soundclick, accompanied - where available - by a video of the song in live performance. The songs and videos will be available every Thursday over the next eight weeks via. Check them out on Michel's SoundClick page by following the link: 
Jeff, from US band Nascent (Boston, Massachusetts) wrote to say that the band's debut album will be released in mid-September (availability through 
Mike Menche of New York based band Z Sheet, has written a musical novel called "Teletoile," which interweaves narrative and rock music. Read an episode then play a song. The 16 tracks are based on melodies by Telephone, the great French rock band (1977-1986) that sold millions of records in their time. Mike has written new English lyrics, not translations, for each song. They're performed by Z Sheet, a New York City garage rock project. Four sample tracks are available at 
Daniel from the Swedish band, The Grand Trick (Digital Heaven Label) writes that the band are busy working on their second album. Their recent MCD "She's On The Run" has now been released in digital form. Further copies of the printed version has, unfortunately, been delayed. For more details contact them directly through their 
The new concept album contains 50 minutes of music in 13 tracks. Seven are instrumental rock (with two over the 10 minute mark). The other six tracks are short narratives with Steve telling the story of The Noble Pauper over Rory's ambient backing music. Former band members Iain Carnegie and Nigel Rippon make small contributions to two tracks on the album but the bulk of the writing has been undertake by Rory with periodic support from Steve. All tracks have been arranged by Rory and Steve at New Horizons Music in Yorkshire, England. You can preview two tracks at 