{"title":"The Utopia Strong","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Utopia Strong is a British prog-electronica trio that combines elements of progressive rock and electronic music to create a unique and captivating sound. With their innovative approach to music, they have gained a loyal following and critical acclaim. Their dynamic performances and experimental compositions make them stand out in the music industry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFormed by three talented musicians, The Utopia Strong brings together their diverse backgrounds and influences to create an immersive musical experience. Their fusion of genres creates a sonic landscape that takes listeners on a journey through time and space.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith their thought-provoking lyrics and intricate instrumentals, The Utopia Strong pushes the boundaries of what is possible in music. Their passion for innovation shines through in every note, making them a must-listen for fans of progressive rock and electronic music alike.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-bbc-sessions-3","title":"The BBC Sessions","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe history of BBC Maida Vale Sessions is familiar to The Utopia Strong. As musicians, and lifelong music fans, the legacy - the importance - of such recordings is not lost on them. Space and place influence creativity, as is the case here, and the sleeve is a loving homage to those classic BBC releases, affectionately  nodding to Strange Fruit Peel Sessions from days of yore. These pieces, originally recorded live at Maida Vale for a Marc Riley session on BBC 6 Music in September 2022, capture The Utopia Strong stretching themselves and continuing to develop their aural explorations. The five-track album opens with the analogue arpeggios of ‘Minature Citadels’, a title perfectly summing up the imagery provoked by the music; evolving, jagged patterns of skylines and castellations, turrets and towers. The closing outro of squarks and drones could be twice as long and not outstay its welcome.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe nagging refrain running through ‘Lamp Of Glory’ is Mike York on the pipes, which he handmakes himself. The overall effect is a sublime, warped concoction of balearic energy and non-Western modes. ‘Disaster 2’ (a piece initially recorded on their second studio album, 2022’s International Treasure) begins with a beautiful synth drone that maintains its position, overpowering the modular patterns pulsating behind it, augmented by yet more glorious, lamenting pipes. The last two tracks both exceed ten minutes and allow the band to extend out further. Release comes as the drums kick in after six minutes of ‘The Tower Is Locked’, emulating the live sets The Utopia Strong have become famed for.The final track, ‘Weather All’, was also honed across several live performances. Having been booked for Andrew Weatherall’s Conveanza festival pre-lockdown, the band finally performed there in September 2022, following his passing. While performing this piece, the heavens opened and the entire festival, band and audience, were drenched. “It felt absolutely biblical”, says the band. Steve Davis has a rich history with the Beeb, but on this occasion he is wrangling his ever-expanding array of analogue synths, dilating his musical imagination. The heritage of the location and overall experience was not lost on the band.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rocket Recordings","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50389741044043,"sku":"2179394","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50389740781899,"sku":"2179393","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/The_Utopia_Strong_-_BBC_Sessions_Front_Sleeve_VINYL_e05b028c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726370140"},{"product_id":"the-utopia-strong","title":"The Utopia Strong","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe combined forces of Steve Davis, Kavus Torabi (Gong\/ Cardiacs\/ Knifeworld\/ Guapo) and Michael J. York (Coil \/ Teleplasmiste \/ Guapo) have arrived at no less than a modular driven kosmische colossus of transcendent power enough to drive all talk of green baize firmly into the blue yonder.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith Davis’ modular geometry and ambient structures weaving with Torabi’s keen and skewed sense of melody and York’s various gifts for pipes, drones and fevered abstract – the result is a beguiling tapestry as likely to remind listeners of the countercultural benchmarks of Terry Riley, Cluster and Fripp \/ Eno as the latervortex-voyages of Emeralds and Seefeel. “The overall sound was pretty accidental” reckons Kavus. “I certainly didn’t expect the music to sound so ecstatic and positive, Without wanting to puncture the mystery, there really felt like an element of magic at play in making this album. For the most part it was incredibly effortless” It was never any secret that Davis - even at the peak of his household name status in the 1980s - was as happy putting a needle on a vinyl record as anything else involving a cue. What’s more - his music obsession took on new bounds after his retirement from sport in 2016, with his DJ partnership with Torabi taking him to festivals and clubs for many a head-spinning rampage, in which the wide-eyed assembled would be as likely to hear Autechre as Black Sabbath.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“In twenty years of making records it’s certainly been the easiest and most enjoyable to make” reflects Kavus. “Now, this may have been partly due to us having no preconceptions or expectations but it wasn’t just that. There was absolutely no conflict, and we spent a lot of time together working on it - in my experience that’s a total f**king miracle” “The personal journey I’ve been on since January 2nd 2018 with Kavus and Mike has been surreal” says Steve. “Probably more so than even the path that unfolded for me in snooker. That was pretty far out but this seems otherworldly!” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - Dark Matter Transparent Blue Vinyl with Holographic Sleeve.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - Limited Fireball Orange Vinyl with Holographic Sleeve.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rocket Recordings","offers":[{"title":"Yellow | LP","offer_id":50453150171467,"sku":"1067193","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5fc2ff1e-1a97-4934-8a94-00562782cd8f_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727168912"},{"product_id":"international-treasure","title":"International Treasure","description":"\u003cp\u003eCall it synchronicity, call it happenstance, call it no more than three friends getting together to give their speakers a workout. Yet The Utopia Strong’s formidable conflagration of psychedelic radiance and beatific harmony has evolved way beyond all or any expectations since the band’s inception.. ‘International Treasure’ chronicles the collaborative collision of Steve Davis, Kavus Torabi and Mike York heading into unchartered psychic territory, seemingly with nothing but their instincts as co-ordinates.What’s resulted is a step beyond anything either band or audience might have expected - a deeply rewarding voyage into inner space which moves into darker and still more evocative sound-worlds whilst remaining fundamentally off the map. Influences know no bounds in this context, and the listener would be forgiven for locating the atmospheres and soundscapes of this album on some sonic promontory above and between the potent abstractions of Tim Hecker, the improvisatory excursions of The Necks, and the gothic allure of Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore. \u003ci\u003eInternational Treasure\u003c\/i\u003e is the next chapter in a story which only grows more rewarding with every stop along the way - one in which three heads travel together deeper into their own musical journeys, and the resulting alchemical power transmutes its origins into gold. As no less a sage than Andrew Weatherall proclaimed, The Utopia Strong are “gnostic sonics in a nutshell”.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rocket Recordings","offers":[{"title":"Yellow | LP","offer_id":50458998866251,"sku":"1148005","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50459003027787,"sku":"1148004","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50459001061707,"sku":"1148003","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/77522006-d65b-49be-80d5-9b502140bf72_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727216201"},{"product_id":"gatekeeper-jumbled-whloe","title":"Gatekeeper \/ Jumbled Whloe","description":"\u003cp\u003eLatest limited 7\" from Golden Lion Sounds. The Utopia Strong comprise of: Kavus Torabi, Michael J York and the legendary Steve Davis. DBH is a local composer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Golden Lion Sounds","offers":[{"title":"Pink 7\"","offer_id":50484455440715,"sku":"2024788","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/GLS014_Sleeve_UTST.jpg_b9623d42_thumbnail_4096.webp?v=1727591267"},{"product_id":"doperider","title":"Doperider","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe life of a psychonaut can take one to many plateaus of reality. Opinions vary as regards which of these are either desirable or optimal. All things considered though, it’s fair to say that once the average cerebral wanderer finds themselves a stoned skeleton on a motorbike, it’s a sign that they’re going places. Such were the movements of The Utopia Strong, in making their third and arguably trippiest full length album for Rocket Recordings. As the band explain: “When recording we tend to have books, bits of art and interesting things lying around the place. (Kavus) had recently bought the Paul Kirchner compendium, Awaiting The Collapse.” Paul’s character ‘Dope Rider’ (the skeleton in question) drives around the desert, getting into all manner of high jinx and spouting cosmic philosophy, highlighting the absurdities of life, death and the American mythos. “When we had created that particular track, one of our most beautiful and outré, it seemed to name itself.” Serendipity has always played a strong role in The Utopia Strong, with the improvisatory approach of Steve Davis, Kavus Torabiand Mike York - as well as the innate chemistry between the trio allowing them to evolve their approach to facilitate the most adventurous exploratory missions possible. In this realm, the band’s formidable history is transcended and usurped by their combined psychic intensity. \u003cem\u003eDoperider\u003c\/em\u003e does indeed take the band down a variety of auditory pathways previously unexplored, and further into the realms of more surrealistic visions akin to the systems-built bliss of Caterina Barbieri, the unforgiving noisescapes of Hiro Kone or the alien soundtracks of latter-day Laurie Spiegel. Essentially however, the mission of The Utopia Strong remains intact - to offer a transformative pathway to wonders anew. As Steve notes: “Hopefully we’ve done justice to the comic book character Dope Rider and that he’d have loved riding along on his Harley Davison on another quest, with the wind blowing through his rib cage, listening to this album. if the audience choose the psychonaut road, then we are delighted to have been of service”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rocket Recordings","offers":[{"title":"LP - Blue","offer_id":53253448335691,"sku":"R4913-5954","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":53253448368459,"sku":"R4913-1642","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - In Delirium Clear","offer_id":56065779695947,"sku":"R4913-5059","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/TheUtopiaStrong-Doperider_Launch420AlbumSleeve.jpg?v=1756208142"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_e4bbf7bf_thumbnail_4096_7321036c-9da3-46c7-9f08-76f795d26472.jpg?v=1726370112","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/the-utopia-strong.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}