"In other news, I recently received a copy of Barry Cleveland's Hologramatron, new on Moonjune Records. I listened to it five times yesterday, and serial listening is rare for me. While it is not overtly avant, I think it is a great release." (AMN Picks of the Week 3/18/10) —Mike Borellas, Avant Music News

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"Honestly, this year I have not heard a better album." —Sal Pichireddu (blog).

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"Tell the truth: When was the last time you listened to an unknown Prog album and all the way through from beginning to end you felt a spirit of constant new discovery, increasing enthusiasm, and a nearly childlike joy? They have become quite rare, those lucky moments from my pre-digital days, when I still spent long days roaming the record stores studying unknown album covers, listening to little samples of this or that album before—and not without some beating of the heart—dragging home a new piece of booty and happily submitting it to detailed investigation. Today I've already heard everything before I buy it, have already seen the video, heard the demos on the website or the album x times by streaming it on last.fm, myspace.com or wherever else.

"Truly, the prog sector has surprised me but little in recent months (I know that I am not innocent since I poke around the web beforehand), and perhaps also because there cannot, by definition, be much new in prog. But before I oppress you with the old man's sermon about how much better things used to be, I would rather like to come to the topic.

"Barry Cleveland is a guitarist, whom I heard for the first time more than ten years ago on Lou Maxwell Taylor's memorable album Cheshire Tree Suite (1999). His 2003 solo album, Volcano, I remembered vaguely but pleasantly as instrumental music with clear ethno impact, uniting fusion and 'new age' influences (if I may in good conscience use the poor term 'new age' by which I normally mean nothing good). But nothing that I had already heard could have prepared me for the newly published album Hologramatron, because it is completely different and it has really bowled me over, so much so that yesterday I had to remain sitting in the car long after I arrived at my destination and long after the complete album had finished playing.

"Powerful progressive rock, sometimes with aggressive female singing and furious, very critical lyrics about the USA (and the world) at the beginning of the 21st Century (the greatly crafted opening track 'Lake of Fire' begins with the lines: 'Jesus has returned // as a militant conservative // no more 'Mr. Nice Guy' // or saintly superlatives // Jesus won't be turning the other cheek.' or the second number 'Money Speaks': 'Money speaks // everyone listens // screw the little man // with public relations // The press is free // to ask no questions.') and inescapable audible musical references (and in one case even a quotation, i.e., in 'Suicide Train,' repeatedly the guitar riff from 'Larks Tongues in Aspic, Part II') to the dark-aggressive-intellectual music, in the nature of mid-1970s Peter Hammill, Peter Gabriel (especially the Gabriel of those dark albums III and IV), Red and Discipline-era King Crimson, with singing out of the same playbook (although Amy X Neuburg's singing is absolutely not akin to Hammill or Gabriel but rather Carla Kihlstedt or Carla Bozulich). The album does not want for its own ideas and personality, for instance, the sweetly sad ballad, the duet 'Stars of Sayulita' ('Even the stars // can't last forever // flicker and fade into night') with its hovering E-Guitar, the powerful ethno-fusion number 'You'll Just Have To See It To Believe' (with bass-god Michael Manring decidedly shaping the whole album's overall sound with his unmistakeable Groove); the collage-like number 'Warning,' which sounds as if it was inspired by Crimson's 'Industry,' or—and this truly an astonishment—the two cover versions of old 1960s numbers, 'What Have They Done To The Rain' (an old pacifist Sixties-Pop-Sound number which was a hit by the Searchers, later covered by Joan Baez, Marianne Faithfull and others), and 'Telstar,' an unbelievably successful instrumental piece by the Tornados). Cleveland and his band succeed in preserving the naive charm of the 1960s, without, however, really reproducing the sounds of the originals.

"Hologramatron persuades by means of Barry Cleveland's variant-rich guitar playing, naturally by means of Michael Manring's bass and no less by the excellent drumming of Celso Alberti, a Brazilian drummer whose name is unknown in Germany, but who has worked together with some of the great names in the rock and jazz business (Steve Winwood, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim, Herbie Mann). The aggressive, furious vocals of singer Amy X Neuburg (a name one should note in any case!) bring about the essentially menacing, resigned and almost misanthropist character of the album excellently. Not Ethno, not fusion, by no means a new age album, but an artistic rock album in the best sense of that term, with multilayered influences, which despite its demands is un-cramped and clearly audible (only without a whisper of triviality suited to the masses): Exciting from start to finish, but with nothing for harmony-needy souls: A furious settling of scores with the condition of the Western world." —Sal Pichireddu, Babyblaue-Seiten

Translated from the German by Max Taylor. Read the entire review here.

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"This Hologramatron is art rock with passionate intensity, like a rude new beast with Robert Fripp's body and the roaring head of Phil Ochs slouching towards Bethlehem to be born. This album screams and cries in the lonely suburbs of Babylon for a more tactile social network. This album yells "Theater!" in a crowded fire ... If I had stumbled across this album in the record store, bought it for the cover or some such, took it home and listened, I'd be playing it to my friends to show off. This album is a treasure. When I lived in Venice, I used to to have albums I'd play for cool friends: I Advance Masked by Robert Fripp and Andy Summers, Sargasso Sea by John Abercrombie and Ralph Towner, Creative Marching Band Music by Anthony Braxton, Phil Ochs' Shootout at Carnegie Hall, and, of course, Beat and Discipline by King Crimson. Hologramatron has elements of all those albums seemlessly stitched into a tapestry of cool. I'll play this album soon for a friend. Right now, it's just headphones and me. This album makes me feel special just listening. This one has it all!" —Excerpted from Avant Garde Against The Machine by Billy Sheppard.

Read the entire review at Billy's Bunker.

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"I admit not knowing Barry Cleveland ,,, and I can't find the press release that came with this record (if there was one). That said, I WILL try to get to know his work better after listening to this surprising Hologramatron. The guitarist is accompanied by Robert Powell on pedal-steel, Michael Manring on bass, Celso Alberti on drums ... and singer Amy X Neuburg! Add to that a stunning cast of guests that include, among others, Harry Manx, Erdem Helvacioglu, and percussionist/improviser Gino Robair! The music offers a blend between jazz-rock and alt-rock. Nice textural work, good vocal arrangements, interesting melodies. I am not convinced about the inclusion of a retro-futuristic disco cover of 'Telstar' (The Tornados's hit, later covered by The Ventures). On the other hand, kudos for including three strong remixes, including a very ambient one by Forrest Fang." —Francois Couture, Les Services redactionnels Manche de pelle

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"Barry Cleveland. Hmmmm. I remember him from Larry Fast's old Audion label. Wasn't too impressed. Didn't he issue Mythos with the Emerald Web Goo Duo? He did. Kinda hinky, that, though not terribly bad. But wait a minute, Michael Manring's now playing bass with him? Whoa! That alone speaks volumes. And the disc's on MoonJune? Yeah, it is. Well, well, well, what have we here?

"Hologramatron is far and away Cleveland's best gig, galaxies removed from the old days, much more in line with what David Cross (King Crimson) and John Paul Jones (Led Zepellin) have been doing in their solo gigs. Manring's on every cut save one, Robert Powell (not Utopia's Roger Powell, different cat) lays in a pedal-steel that Peter Gabriel and Jackson Browne found such favor in, grabbing the guy on various releases, and who's this slinky hellcat Amy X Neuburg? More, every sessioneer on the disc has an authority and misty crackle that makes a large portion of the oft doom-laden disc warp and dance with threnodic wistfulness. Layers and layers of ominous energies float and coruscate, wilding lines flit and glow, the entire affair brings back the halcyon era of Vitamin L and Mary Jane, nights given to opium dreams and cloudtripping. Cut right away to 'You'll Just Have to See it to Believe,' dive into the swirling patterns and wormholes, and you'll find it hard not to replay the cut 10 times in a row.

"Then there's the insistent bloodthump of 'Lake of Fire' and Ms. Neuburg's snarling, sneering, scornful spitting of imprecations against the hell culture of this world, the predation of religions and politics. She encants an ode to cynicism and misanthropy that does this anarchist critic's cold stone heart more than a dollop of delight, Cleveland Fripping up right behind her to buzzline the atmosphere into another ring of Leviathan's lair. Further on, Artist General injects a chaotic Robert Calvert / Peter Hammill / Mick Farren vibe into the cauldron, abstracting essences into anti-corporate disrhythmia, walls falling, lasers slicing through matter and anti-matter.

"Then 'Telstar' rises—yep, the old 60s hit—and pastes a bit of Nash the Slash astride the juggernaut milieu, a hint of Henry Kaiser invading the veering, slurring, wobbling atmosphere. A good deal of what you'll think are keyboards on Hologramatron aren't. Like Fareed Haque & Garaj Mahal, Cleveland's been employing the new Moog Guitar, not to mention the exotic GuitarViol, and painting in attackless drones and washes. Carl Weingarten was particularly adept in this mode, and Barry's picked it up rather nicely as well. A lot of people are going to be very happy with this CD, but there's one small aside: a singer Cleveland ain't. You'll see what I mean in 'Suicide Train.'

"The promo lit says this is avant-rock. It ain't, else the taint of Laurie Anderson, God help us, would be hovering somewhere over the horizon. Hologramatron is prog, and it's a thick, viscous, sidereal, and even funky slice of it, something very much needed as the mode struggles in a senescence that has been threatening to silence one of the most intelligent modes of music this drear planet has ever seen." —Mark S. Tucker, Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange

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"Among the many lateral streams of the progressive catalog which is characteristic of Moonjune, one discovers a welcome surprise in Hologramatron, an energy-rich disc of high quality, intellectually scathing pieces sumptuously dressed in sonorous avant-rock.

"The main body of the work consists of eight signature pieces of guitarist-leader Barry Cleveland, coupled with two nostalgic quotations: the coherent cover of "What Have They Done to the Rain ," Malvina Reynolds' 1962 anti-nuclear piece, and "Telstar," Joe Meek�s brilliant iconic piece from the crazy-making Sixties.

"But the main course, so to speak, is in the original pieces, the nerve of a musical journey that sets out from afar, taking its moves from psychedelia bordered by the territories of prog, rock, ambient, and acid-folk ("Stars of Sayulita," with the beautiful rough voice of Harry Manx), in order to establish a personal, rigorous and coherent artistic journey; never, however, used as cliche but always functioning as the leader�s brilliant inspiration. Distinctive tracks from an instrumental perspective, the tasty timbral meal created by the cutting guitars joins together with Michael Manring�s powerful bass.

"Duly noted is "Warning," whose emotional power moves one as very rarely happens, calling to memory groups outside the ordinary like the excellent work of Tim Hodgkinson.

"The sound is peacefully "dirty" and compact, for a disc that glides fluidly from beginning to end, truly well made.

"P.S. Conveniently detached also in the graphics of the cover titles, at the end of the CD one additionally finds twenty scarce minutes of interesting bonus tracks, in the form of remixes and alternate mixes; to consider as a separated EP, to which one is advised to listen separately." �Alfonso Tregua, La Luna di Alfonso

Translated from the Italian by Max Taylor. Click Here to read the original review.

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"One might not readily think that combining the genres of 'protest music' and progressive rock would be a good fit. And perhaps in general they?re not: prog is more often than not about the music (rather than the lyrics), and the best protest music (Dylan, Phil Ochs et. al.) often concentrated on the words to the ultimate detriment of melody.

"Guitarist Barry Cleveland tries to have it both ways on Hologramatron, and he largely succeeds. Ominous arrangements that betray hints of everyone from Robert Fripp to Tool to (even) the Residents abound on the disc, but they're somehow presented in an accessible fashion. By no means radio-friendly (for whatever that would be worth in this era, anyway), Hologramatron is a treatise on narrow-minded politics, intolerance and the overarching influence of organized religion.

"Staking a position not far removed from Roger Waters' 'What God Wants,' many of the songs on Hologramatron feature the edgy vocals of Amy X Neuburg. Her approach combines a deftly-delivered torch-jazz style with a sung/spoken Lou Reed kind of delivery, and it?s quite effective. The band does their thing right behind her, and while there's a lot going on, the rubbery fretless bass and big-kit drumming are the most noticeable common elements.

"On the instrumental 'You'll Just Have to See it to Believe' Cleveland and his cohorts create a moody dreamscape. Subtle hints of Discipline-era King Crimson (specifically 'The Sheltering Sky') flavor the track. Cleveland plays the new Moog guitar.

"'Warning' is a fitting title for the clattering, haunted house number that features menacing spoken word and what the liner notes call 'chain link drums.'

"In a disc filled with memorable, effective original songs (nearly all composed solely by Cleveland), the two covers nonetheless deserve special mention. Malvina Reynolds' classic 1962 folk-protest anti-nukes song 'What Have They Done to the Rain' is reinvented here full of Spectorian grandeur. The song's sweeping arrangement makes a serious song feel almost celebratory.

"Joe Meek's 'Telstar' gets an almost dance-electronica treatment. Though the signature melodic line is delivered intact, the instrumental backing transforms the pre-British Invasion hit into a rave number. Amy X Neuburg turns in a vocal line that will evoke comparisons to the Star Trek theme. Which, come to think of it, may well have been influenced by the Joe Meek song to begin with.

"'Dateless Oblivion & Divine Repose' closes out the album proper with a soundscape built around Cleveland's playing of something called a GuitarViol, which the press kit describes as 'a hybrid bowed instrument tuned like a guitar.' Three remixes close out the album, and each reinvents the original enough to justify its inclusion on the disc. Taken as a whole, Hologramatron is an effective collection/synthesis of folk-protest song, rhythmic/textural explorations, soundscapes and inventive reinterpretations of classic songs from half a century ago." —Bill Kopp, Musoscribe

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"Veteran guitarist Barry Cleveland has been recording for more than twenty-five years and has just released his latest CD Hologramatron on Moonjune Records. This time around Cleveland has surrounded himself with some first class musicians like bass extraordinaire Michael Manring, Steve Winwood alumni Celso Alberti on drums and pedal-steel specialist Robert Powell who has played with the likes of Peter Gabriel and Jackson Browne. There are a total of thirteen musicians playing on this album and while all are important, a few really stand out. Cleveland's guitar work is exceptional and vital to these songs. His playing is imaginative and at times superb. Whether he is cranking out metal riffs, creating atmospheric layers of sound or finessing melodic leads, it is all top notch. On a few tracks he breaks out the Moog guitar, and like fellow musician Fareed Haque, he is able to get the most out of the instrument. You will be surprised that none of these songs have keyboards (except for sampled Mellotron on two tracks) as his playing is able to mimic electronic sounds and textures.

"To my ears Hologramatron is pure progressive rock with the occasional nod to pop, metal, funk and ambient. Some compositions have an aura of experimentalism that will keep the listener guessing as to what will happen next. Whether creating soundscapes of pure psychedelia or space-like atmospheres, Cleveland doesn't waste a note and nothing seems excessive or out of place.

"Hologramatron has been billed as a 'protest album' and with song titles like 'Money Speaks' and 'What Have They Done to the Rain' it is easy to see why. The album's first track 'Lake of Fire' is a perfect example as metal riffs and moody atmospherics are augmented with a jeering rant by vocalist Amy Neuburg covering everything from religion to politics. Neuburg sings with gusto, her raspy voice ideally suited for the task at hand. On 'Money Speaks' Cleveland and Manring get their funk out, creating guitar and bass grooves laid over a moody layer of sound inundated with dissonant sound effects. 'Stars of Sayulita' features pretty acoustic guitar and has a spacey feel with more Moog guitar and Manring's sinuous bass lines. The doom tinged 'Warning' has droning riffs and distorted guitar making this one of the heavier songs followed by the poppy sounding 'What Have They Done to the Rain,' one of the album's more accessible tracks but no less enjoyable.
The catchy 'Telstar' has a 60s/70s retro feel and is guaranteed to plant an earworm.

"Also included are three bonus tracks - two remixes and an alternate mix that fit in well with the rest of the album, taking the ambient and spacey textures a bit further yet.

"Barry Cleveland has come out with an excellent progressive rock CD with Hologramatron. Please do yourself a favour and check it out, I guarantee you will not be disappointed." 4 out of 5 — Jon Neudorf, Sea of Tranquility

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Click Here to read a Japanese review on Uguisu's Valley.

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"Guitarist and musical conceptualist Barry Cleveland asks more questions than he answers on Hologramatron. Take the first track 'Lake Of Fire,' does this answer the question that if Jesus came back today would he just be a yuppie banker with crucifix cufflinks? And while he was quaffing ten-dollar cups of cafe�L lotto would Stratusbucks be playing guitar lines that sound like the wavering notes of a Theremin to get him to buy more? 'Money Speaks' might be about the cult of corporate creed and the lack of global compassion or then it might not be. While the hipnotic instrumental 'You�fll Just Have To See It To Believe' should read 'You�fll Just Have To Hear It to...' The guitar cruises the cosmos but Michael Manring keeps things firmly in the nether regions with his sinewy bass.

"'Stars Of Sayulita' may start things out in between the steeples but it soon steps outside the saintly glow into the dark where fireflies of varying hertz dart after each other under the star laden night. The thick funk of 'Warning' puts the circle and slash line on top of an image of cool collected composure and Cleveland Fripps out in the most pleasing way. 'What Have They Done to the Rain' asks do show tunes have any place in electro therapy?

"The wordless 'Abandoned Mines' communicates its presence with a lock step army of insistent upper register notes that burn holes in a hand woven tapestry of burnished leather. The rustic meets the rambunctious and the ramifications remain unresolved. Buy your tickets now for 'Suicide Train,' stow your bags in the overhead compartments and buckle up. The ride starts slow and steady before plunging into a mad descent into the deepest crevice of your mind. 'Telstar' might easily provide the soundtrack for a game show where the winner gets to die and the loser gets to lose if the networks lived on a diet of Woodstock water or maybe it�fs just the perfect soundtrack for a bad episode of early Star Trek.

"Things close out with 'Dateless Oblivion & Devine Repose,' where there is more space between the notes than air between the ears. Then things start all over again with the bonus tracks or at least they did when I listened to it but with all the emotions that percolated through my synapses who can really be sure?" — Rob Hudson, Modmove

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"The name Barry Cleveland is well know to guitarists everywhere given his editor's role at Guitar Player magazine in addition to four previous recordings that focused on everything from ambient to world fusion styles. With this fifth release, Hologramatron Cleveland delves a little more deeply into music that is heavily influenced by progressive rock. Cleveland has surrounded himself with a stellar cast of players whose work has supported such diverse performers as Steve Winwood to Peter Gabriel: they include Robert Powell (pedal-steel guitar), Michael Manring (bass), Celso Alberti (drums) and Amy X Neuburg (vocals). Additional special guests contribute everything from vocals to violin to congas to teapot! This is a disc of music that at times delivers highly experimental textures and at other times deceptively simple moods.

"The music of Hologramatron gets underway with 'Lake of Fire' [4:25] featuring a brief moody Mellotron strings introduction and then moves into a jazzy flavoured bass and guitars foundation that rumbles ominously forward until ending abruptly. The next track 'Money Speaks' [4:40] gets underway with a funky Pink Floyd-ish rhythm and here again the guitars take a tone that is distinctly non-guitar-ish as Cleveland loves to play with our ears. He manages to coax some really unusual sounds out of his instrument and the others involved in the musical creation help out immensely giving each of these compositions a proggy, world-beat feel. On one hand it all sounds kind of spacey and other-worldly and yet at the same time warm, organic and very familiar. Track three �gYou�fll Just Have to See it to Believe it�h [5:20] really gets into a proggy vibe with rumbling bass and layers of spacey atmospherics. It's slower mid-tempo and pedal-steel guitar runs will again remind some of Pink Floyd but it's not a style of song they would be doing, this is all Cleveland and company. Lush and majestically haunting all of these pieces are filled with layer upon layer of musicality that at times is quite dense and yet never overbearing. The disc is also full of surprises, in amongst some rather biting social commentary Cleveland gives us his interpretations of a 60s-era Phil Spector-ish 'What Have They Done to the Rain' [4:55] and then just to top it off there's a version of the guitar classic 'Telstar' [3:56].

"I think Hologramatron will appeal to prog fans on a number of levels. There will be some who really get off on the musicianship, others will really like the unique sounds and in that regard there is much to recommend. Barry Cleveland has created what is perhaps his most proggy set of tunes that has much in common with artists like Peter Gabriel and Tony Levin, so if you are craving something a bit different this would be a really good place to start." — Jerry Lucky, The Progressive Rock Files

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Click Here to read a Hungarian review by Michael Cze�Lkus, HFP Portal.

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Click Here to read a French review by Michel Laroche, Studio Press Digital.

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Click Here to read a French review by Mr. Blue, Music Waves.

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"Barry Cleveland is a guitarist, singer, writer and producer who likes pushing the envelope. He's in his element on Hologramatron, a collection of 13 songs with provocative vocals. The core band is Barry with Robert Powell (g), Michael Manring (b), Celso Alberti (d) and Amy X Neuburg (vocals). The music is a blend of rock and jazz with strong beats. There are a few instrumentals notably 'Abandoned Mines.' Harry Manx sings 'Stars of Sayulita' and Artist General sings 'Warning.' Cleveland will appeal to the progressive rock set." — Oscar Groomes, O's Place Jazz Magazine