Andy Tillison Diskdrive - Vocals, Keyboards etc
Sam Baine - Keyboards
Alex King - Drums
Dan Watts - Electric Guitar
Jonathan Barratt - Bass Guitar
Afterlifecycle
The Time Capsule
No More Travelling Chess
Unbranded
More Exotic Ways To Die
The Corner Of My Room
Sampler 4
Sampler 5
“If music is going to be as creative as it was then.... It starts NOW”
This is the sixth release by the UK alternative/ progressive outfit Parallel or 90 Degrees.
More Exotic Ways To Die was recorded in a remote farmhouse in the North Yorkshire Dales instead of in a studio in order to capture the band “playing live” as much as possible. The album is loosely “conceptual”... but is song orientated, the lyrical theme being based on the story of a character coming to terms with middle age.
More Exotic Ways To Die is easily Po90’s most immediate and energetic offering to date. It is extremely contemporary, fits in well with newer acts like Vulgar Unicorn, Porcupine Tree and Radiohead yet is still rooted in the darker side of progressive rock music in the manner perhaps of Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator. Like their fellow countrymen Porcupine Tree, Po90 see themselves as a band from 2002, not 1975... despite having immense respect and undoubted influence from that extremely creative era.
This album is the first to feature co-written material rather than just Andy Tillison Diskdrive’s pieces. In particular, Dan Watts who makes his CD debut here has emerged as a new string to Po90’s bow. Like drummer Alex King, Dan’s background was never “Prog Rock” - neither of them were born at the time.
But Po90 do themselves have a past. The very large multimedia section on this album is more than a couple of pictures... Included is a full hour plus compilation of Po90’s Cyclops work (with printable CD cover) a COMPLETE album recorded in 1989, various other early tracks, an 8 minute video and a complete live performance of a classic concept album.
This ambitious project is surely unique at the moment and is another example of Po90’s forward thinking attitude (like the original release of the compilation album over the internet).