The latest news from Festival Music includes not one, but two!, new releases about children. Thus the bad and corny headline that did NOT come from Festival Music. What are those new releases? Well, the oft spoken of here Margaret's Children from Manning, and also Also Eden will release Think Of The Children. (I guess, if you listen to them both on shuffle... Think Of Margaret's Children is what you'd get... although let be clear, the releases are related only in that their foster parent is Festival Music...

"We hope to release the new CD by Citizen Cain, now called Skies Darken, plus their long deleted back catalogue, in December 2011. We also plan to release another CD in the Twelfth Night 'definitive edition' series in January 2012. This will be a 2 CD release of Live At The Target, the excellent instrumental live album, originally released in 1981.

So, more about these "brothers from another mother" (or as I heard on Rachel Maddow the other night - sisters from another mister*): Signing to the Festival Music label in August 2011, Think Of The Children will be Also Eden's first release on the label, but the band's 4th release overall, following About Time, It's Kind Of You To Ask, and their EP Differences As Light.

Think... was released on October 31, and includes the tracks: Think Of The Children I (7:30) / Hiding In Plain Sight (4:35) / Oversight (6:40) / Cijfers (3:35) / The Greater Game (8:23) / Stealth (5:39) / Dream Without A Dream (5:37) / 1949 (9:32) / Think Of The Children II (7:59)

Now lets think of Margaret's Children shall we: This will be Guy Manning's 12th release, and continues the story started on Ansers Tree, released in 2006.

The band Manning has been in existence since 1999, formed around singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist Guy Manning. Guy was previously an associate of Parallel or 90 Degrees (PO90) and also a founder member of the internationally respected, The Tangent. Guy has an impressive record of having a new Manning album ready for release annually!! [That's no lie, usually in October, as I've noted often -ed.]

"Manning produce an eclectic mix of music which broadly falls within the 'progressive' genre, but in reality spans many different musical forms from beautiful ballads and folk-tinged songs through to awesome all-out rock workouts and true progressive epics – no two songs sound the same!." The band has experienced a surge of interest and support, with the 2007 album Songs From The Bilston House having been nominated for "Album of the Year" by the Classic Rock Society (CRS) and a series of storming headline gigs in support of the critically acclaimed album, Number Ten (released 2009).

Manning have also been very fortunate in having some terrific musicians making special guest appearances on the albums including Andy Tillison (The Tangent and PO90), Laura Fowles, Ian "Walter" Fairbairn (Lindisfarne/Jack the Lad and Hedgehog Pie), Angela Gordon (Mostly Autumn) and Martin Orford (IQ).

2010 was a milestone breakthrough year for this remarkable band with some amazing festival slots including the first venture over the Atlantic to appear at the RoSfest in Gettysburg, PA. USA in May. The eleventh Manning album Charlestown was released in Oct 2010 and was again nominated by both the CRS and the Italian ProgAwards for "Album of the Year".

Margaret's Children will be released on November 7 and tells the following tales: 1. The Year Of Wonders (Fleming Barras 1645 - ????) / 2. Revelation Road (Jorgen Barras 1834 - 1900) / 3. A Perfect Childhood (Amy Quartermaine 1862 - 1916): a) Before The War b) Abroad / c) Outbreak (instrumental) / d) Within The War / e) After The War / 4. A Night at the Savoy, 1933 (Harriet Horden 1912 - 1955) / 5. An Average Man (James Fairfax 1922 - 1945) / 6. Black Silk Sheets of Cairo (Amelia Fairfax 1926 - 2010) / 7. The Southern Waves (David Logan 1967 - 2022).

Think of your children when you pick these up. Shouldn't they have a copy of their own?

[Source: CD Facts: Festival Music; Stupid stuff: us/me/ed]