We are pleased (and somewhat relieved) to announce the release of Dave & Barbara's long-awaited new album 'Green and Blue' (nine tracks, 67 minutes). In a departure from style, Green and Blue contains only one cover version. This is the most varied Stewart/Gaskin album to date, combining heart-rending ballads, poppy toe-tappers, lengthy musical explorations and a heavy metal thrash, but the diverse material is united by the duo's trademark musicality. Green and Blue features long-time collaborators Andy Reynolds (guitar), Gavin Harrison (drums), Peter Blegvad (narration) and the amazing Amorphous Choir of Wales. The CD ships in a 4-page Digipak with a 12-page colour booklet containing the song lyrics and a short sleeve note by Dave.

Accompanying Green and Blue is the CDR 'Hour Moon', featuring five bonus tracks, two of which were originally intended for the album. Also included are a cover of a classic '60s instrumental and a version of 'Henry & James' which appeared on a Flexidisc in a 1980's issue of Keyboard magazine (USA). Thanks to all the people who wrote to us about this track! Hour Moon ships in an eco-friendly cardboard wallet with its own artwork and explanatory notes.

The two CDs will be released on March 27th 2009 and can be pre-ordered now from Stewart / Gaskin online store. A limited number will be signed by Dave & Barbara at no extra cost, so if you would like a signed copy of either please order now while stocks last.

Dave and Barbara would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all the people who sent supportive and encouraging messages about the album.

To celebrate the release of Green and Blue, Dave & Barbara are playing three concerts at Tsuki-miru Kimi-omou (lit. 'I look at the moon and think of you') club, Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan on March 20th, 21st and 22nd. They will be joined on these gigs by guitarist Andy Reynolds. (See www.moonromantic.com.)

Prog Rock Britannia is a comprehensive, feature-length documentary about progressive music and the generation of bands that made it - from the international success stories of Yes, Genesis, ELP, King Crimson and Jethro Tull, to the trials and tribulations of the lesser-known bands such as Caravan and Egg.

The film is structured in three parts, charting the birth, rise and decline of a movement famed for complex musical structures, weird time signatures, technical virtuosity and strange – quintessentially English – literary influences.

It looks at the psychedelic pop scene that gave birth to progressive rock in the late Sixties, the golden age of progressive music in the early Seventies – complete with drum solos and gatefold record sleeves – and the over-ambition, commercialisation and eventual fall from grace of this rarefied musical experiment at the hands of punk in 1977.

The documentary is a provocative, humorous but affectionate re-appraisal of a music that was the value system of an all-too-brief period in British popular music.

Contributors include Robert Wyatt, Mike Oldfield, Pete Sinfield, Rick Wakeman, Phil Collins, Arthur Brown, Carl Palmer and Ian Anderson.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/09_september/12/bbcfour.shtml

There is a clip on the BBC iPlayer halfway down the page. This may only work in the UK.

This weekend The Independent is giving away two 10-track CDs celebrating 30 years of Stiff Records, the original and (arguably) the best indie record label.

Volume 1 is free in The Independent on Saturday 26 January.

Volume 2 is free in The Independent on Sunday 27 January.

Dave & Barbara's big hit record It's My Party is one of the tracks on Volume 1. You can also get downloads of many of their songs through their website or here http://www.burningshed.com/store/davebarb/collection/206/ from now, as well as good old fashioned CDs.