Tesseract - Origin

     It's day three of Unplugged week, and today I've got a song for you from an acoustic EP by one of my favourite modern bands. Give you three guess who...


     Those of you keeping track at home will no doubt have it on your scorecard that the British prog-djentlemen in Tesseract are now onto singer number four, who also happens to be singer number one. But if your memory is as good as your note-taking, you should also remember that in between debut LP One and sophomore effort Altered State the band put out an EP of acoustic re-imaginings of some material from One with singer number two, Elliot Coleman. Confused? Don't be. All that matters right now as far as you're concerned is that tonight's acoustic interpretation of "Origin" comes from the Perspective EP, and that it's pretty sweet. Everything else is just details.

     Incidentally, show of hands, who thinks another acoustified Tesseract EP would be a pretty swell idea, this time featuring stuff from Altered State? I thought you might. Get to work guys!

(For the sake of comparison, and the other Dan fanboys out there [Danboys?], why not also have a listen to an acoustic version of "Origin" the band did with Dan before Elliot even came along?)

Album of the Week: Tesseract - Altered State

     The weather's been a little proggy around here lately, so I'm going to keep it going with this week's pick for Album of the Week. Chances are good you know these guys already, and reasonable that you like them too, but I dig them so much that I try to convert people whenever I can. Your album this week, therefore, is Tesseract's latest, Altered State.

     I honestly have a hard time telling you which Tesseract record you should check out first. Both their debut album One  and their sophomore effort Altered State are masterpieces, and among my favourite records of the last five years. One has the benefit of featuring the band's first singer Dan Tompkins, currently lending his pipes to another favourite of mine, Skyharbor.

     But being a progressive band means Tesseract's sound is in a different place now than it used to be, so I think it would be best to get you into their latest album first, so you can get a handle on where Tesseract is at now. Whether you then go back to their back catalogue (LP One and EP Perspective) or look forward to their next effort is up to you. Either way, Altered State is beautifully crafted piece of modern prog that deserves to be experience as a single, complete piece of music, so

Song of the Day: Tesseract - Eden

     One of my current favourite bands changed the cover photo on their Facebook today. I don't know whether it means new single or new album or what, but Tesseract's cover photo now reads "Altered State". Regardless of what this might mean for us Tesseract fans, at the very least it means an excuse to show you a badass band.

Song of the Day: Tesseract - Nocturne

     I've written about today's band before (they are, after all, What You Should Be Listening To), and they've even had a song of the day before, but after a summer of relative quiet from them, things are once again happening and so they deserve another look in case you don't know them yet. Based on that description, I could be talking about Sylosis, but today's song actually happens to be the new tune from another of my absolute favourites, Tesseract.

What You Should Be Listening To - Tesseract

    Today I’m back with another installment of What You Should Be Listening To, with a band that is one of my favourites right now. They’re funky, they’re heavy, they’re really just all around awesome. They’re Tesseract, and you should be listening to them.