iamthemorning – Live at St Matthias – review – chamber prog melancholia

iamthemorning – Live at St Matthias – review
Dead Victorian Girl Records

Well, this just looks lovely. But is it forty quid lovely? That’s what you need to ask yourselves.

Granted, you’re getting a Blu-ray disk with a concert film plus 3 audio CDs with live albums from both Gleb Kolyadin and Marjana Semkina, the members of UK based, Russian, chamber prog duo, iamthemorning, all recorded on the same day, in a slipcase, with lots of photos.

Twas originally a Kickstarter thing but is now out in the wild. The concert film is just delightful, if you crave soul scraping, depressing, chamber prog songs about dead people. And who doesn’t? The full band performance of the material, in a stunning setting is a feast for the eyes and the ears. Beautifully designed and produced. Also here as an audio CD.

On the fourth disc, singer Marjana Semkina performs a band set which is fabulous; the music from her solo albums being a real treat. I suspect it’s mainly from her “Sirin” release, but that would involve some kind of research. And I’m not having that. Stepping back, and the third disc sees Gleb Kolyadin providing a set of solo piano music. Some pre-planned, some improvised. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice, and probably clever. Will I listen to it again? Eh.

The overall package design is splendid but if I have one critique, it’s the gapping on the audio discs. After each entertaining intersong chat from Marjana, the jump to the next song feels clumsy. It’s the second time I’ve noticed this on a recent live CD. Have I just not noticed this before? None of this nonsense back in the vinyl days when one live track bled into the next. Young ‘uns today. Shockers, the lot of them. Oh, and in-between song chat is not a track! Nineteen tracks, my arse.

Back to the original question. Is it forty quid lovely? Fans who’ve been starved of iamthemorning since their last Kscope release in 2019 will clutch this to their wan bosoms, all a-flutter with the vapours. That’s me, that is. To the casual prog fan, I’d say have a listen to the studio stuff first.

It is available to buy on the internet.