*.* (Star Period Star) "Daylight Spending Time"

Country: USA
Genre(s): Progressive Rock
Format: CD, vinyl, digital
Release date: April 10, 2018
Tracklist: 
1. Daylight Spending Time (6:25)
2. 629 (3:42)
3. Dust Storm (3:11)
4. Current Wars (7:11)
5. The Pragmatist (5:51)
6. Bully Pulpit (1:35)
7. When Where Exceeds What (3:57)
8. Lyrics 8. Pulley Bull Pit (3:20)
9. Wine And Telescopes (7:35)

Total Time 42:47

Line-up: 
Pat Hamilton – Guitars, keyboards, air synth, melodica, percussion
Patrick Hussey – Drums
Greg Stark – Bass
Dan Sweigert – Vocals, guitars, keyboards, spring drum, toy horn, bell
   With
Bob Drake (Thinking Plague, 5uu's) – Vocals (5)
Mike Hagedorn (Cheer-Accident) – Trombones (5, 6)
Ron Jagielnik - Guitars (7)

Description/Reviews: 

This is music that often defies a comprehensive description. Yes, it falls in the Prog genre by virtue of the fact that it’s always shifting in time, tempo, musical dynamics and arrangements, even while it pushes the genre envelope when it comes to the actual music being made. This isn’t your sweet and lovely symphonic prog by any stretch of the imagination, rather the music of *.* has more in common with Alt-Prog and Avant-Prog.

Read the full review by Jerry Lucky

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Proggnosis

Star Period Star "Can’t See The Forest"

Country: USA
Sub Genre: Progressive Rock
Release date: November 24, 2013
Tracklist: 

1. Survivorman - 04:18
2. Snares - 04:20
3. Looking For You - 08:56
4. Synesthesia - 03:40
5. I'm Into Miracles - 09:11
6. ( .. ) - 03:46
7. A Means to an End - 07:00
8. ) .. ( - 03:22

Line-up: 
Dan Sweigert - guitars, bass, keyboards, bamboo flute, percussion and vocals
Joe Colone - bass
Pat Hamilton - keyboards, guitar and backing vocals
Dan VanSchindel - drums and backing vocals
   With
Ron Jagielnik - autoharp and treatments
Mike Sary (French TV) - fretless bass

Description/Reviews: 

The set opens with Survivorman, a high energy and somewhat whimsical progressive rocker, with both organ and classic prog keyboards, and some fairly monstrous drumming. And ya gotta love lyrics like, “It took the whole day to boil the putrid water with a microscope.” Snares conjured up thoughts of the Residents collaborating with Magma for a heavy rockin’ Zheul-fest. Looking For You is one of the more overtly prog rock oriented songs, but it also has a bit of that avant-punk energy that I enjoyed so much on Jet Propulsion Mystery Summer, and there’s a swingin’ organ-led segment that’s good fun as well. I like the off-kilter rocking and quirkily accessible Synesthesia, which has a cool eerie alien synth line in the middle. I’m Into Miracles starts off as a pleasantly melodic acoustic led song, but near the 6 minute mark it shifts gears and rocks hard in prog-punk land, with some killer flashy screaming guitar and we’re treated to some disorienting rhythmic gymnastics. The title of the next song is a symbol… ( .. ) and is an instrumental that sounds like a tribute to Roger Trigaux’s Present. A Means To An End starts off as an accessible melodic rocker, but nothing sits still for long with these guys as they take off on an inspired prog gone acid-rock infused instrumental jam. And the album closes with an untitled bit of sparse experimental noodling.

Read the full review by Jerry Kranitz at aural-innovations.com

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

Links:
Web page
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Proggnosis