Review: Cosmograf - The Orphan Epoch
The sort of Bandcamp release we risk losing if we’re not careful …
Before we get to The Orphan Epoch, let's briefly think about how streaming affects artists.
If you follow Robin on social media, you’ll be aware of his strong opinions about the failure of streaming platforms to pay musicians properly for their work. While his albums do appear on Spotify, Apple Music and the rest eventually, he’s now following a growing policy of keeping his new material away from streaming platforms for a couple of months (or more) after they are first released.
I usually link to Spotify and Apple Music streams. When selecting an album to review, I sometimes pass when the music can only be found on Bandcamp. Yet it is important to raise awareness of music being released away from the mass market if the marketing-led approach of the major labels is to be countered. So, to listen to this Cosmograf album, you’ll need to follow the link to Bandcamp. You can listen and then need to buy the files or order the CD/vinyl if you want to listen again.
Apart from the injustices of the low royalty fees paid for streams – Spotify get most of the flak, but few of the streaming services value what they see as ‘content’ anything like enough – Robin is fond of quoting emails and comments he gets from ‘fans’, complaining about having to pay for music and expressing their upset that any given release or touring schedule isn’t designed to suit their specific needs. Over the years I’ve had many social media ‘debates’ with those who believe their previous purchase of an artist’s albums means they are entitled to make demands. I tell them artists of all stripes are free to create what they like or not create anything, and you’re free to buy or not buy anything.
There are benefits to streaming. New music can be heard across the globe. No more struggles to get played on the radio or records into shops. Think about the ‘DIY’ ethos that fuelled punk in the 1970s. How hard it was to get records pressed and distributed, all the barriers that existed before people were ‘allowed’ to put out a record, or to have their writing published for that matter. The internet changed everything – well, it did if just getting your art published is enough. Payment is a different matter. (A strategically placed ‘subscribe’ button now follows in case your credit card is still handy after buying the Cosmograf album or something.) The issue remains – millions of people have access to your work, and how many can find it? Thanks to streaming and playlists and all the people on Substack and elsewhere writing about music they can. That’s great, so long as some of the internet digits also form a payment transfer.
Against the odds, plenty of new music continues to be made, but we cannot assume that will always be true.
Robin Armstrong, as well as making 17 previous Cosmograf albums (some of which now are streamers), has played live keyboards for Big Big Train. When not creating music, he is a skilled watchmaker, although I’m not sure which activity he would describe as his side hustle. There’s a significant overlap. Both music and horology mark the passage of time via mathematics and the precise engineering of instruments. How quickly does time spent with The Orphan Epoch pass?
Very quickly indeed. A quick point of reference is Roger Waters, because Armstrong’s vocals can sound like Waters, and he achieves a similar level of angry melancholy in his songs. Pink Floyd’s The Final Cut and Waters solo albums are a decent reference point. Add to the mix guitar solos which are from the David Gilmour school of musical expression; throw in plenty of light and shade (the loud sections go up to 11 in places here), and we have … a Pink Floyd tribute album?
Well, no, we do not. Robin Armstrong is a fine songwriter. If Cosmograf are rooted in a specific prog tradition, it matters not. Music grows by standing on the shoulders of giants. I don’t want to overdo the Floyd connection because there’s another influence. Listen to ‘You Didn’t See the Thief’.
Cosmograf, ‘You Didn’t See the Thief’
Here we have loud, prog metal guitar and plenty of dynamic range. Quiet sections and crystal clear, detailed production. Purposeful, menacing lyrics. Deep bass and, in a couple of sections, falsetto vocals. A performance that would be impactful – even more so – live. ‘Thief’ stands on the shoulders of Radiohead. In case you miss the reference, what does the cover of The Orphan Epoch reference? Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief. (Spotify link).
Less like Radiohead and more like Floyd’s The Wall if it was a metal album is ‘Division Warning’
Cosmograf, ‘Division Warning’
This wrong-foots the listener initially, because it opens with solo piano that is a distant cousin of Tony Banks’ playing for Genesis on Selling England By the Pound. (Spotify) As the track builds, we are no longer in the land of Genesis, though, because when the drums (Kyle Fenton) enter, the track gets much heavier. A processed vocal plays off a guitar phrase before the vocal becomes heavier over early-70s metal guitar. The sections loop before a guitar solo closes the track in metal Floyd style.
This is not entirely a prog metal celebration. Try ‘We Are the Young’ for another element of Armstrong’s songwriting.
This has a nostalgic feel harking back – and at the same time, forward – to the sort of emotions I find in, say, Ian Hunter’s songwriting. Questioning what we were taught at school. Armstrong has said this is not a concept album, but it does have a theme: perception is our reality. In this confused (to put it mildly) world, we need to disconnect from our programming and find our own way to live. The negativity that surrounds us could be a spur to find a better way.
There are two other tracks of the seven included here I want to mention. The brilliant Peter Jones guests on ‘Seraphim Reels’, bringing sax into the mix.
The interplay between the sax and Armstrong’s lead guitar is beautiful. The song ‘Empty Box’ offers a different tone for the album, being quieter and more reflective, which is entirely appropriate for a record that invites us to reflect on where we are now, how we got here, and where we’re going.
This is a brilliant album. Robin Armstrong is representative of the kind of musician we risk losing if we don’t reward people for their creativity and commitment.
The Orphan Epoch is available as a high-quality audio file from Bandcamp, or in vinyl, CD digipak and digital formats from the Gravity Dream Music website at www.gravitydream.co.uk/shop.
The Phil Collins series resumes with Both Sides. Before that, my LP>Play list #052 will drop. Thank you if you completed my reader/listener survey. It would appear there’s no desire for anything to change, so steady as she goes (I’ll include more about your responses to the survey in the listening guide for #052.) Subscribe now, if you haven’t already, to keep up with the new stuff (and some from the vaults).