http://www.halfpastfour.com

In the past few years our debut album got a wide international acclaim. We've received over 60 reviews in over a dozen different languages. Reviews here are posted in order of their appearance on the interwebz - so please scroll down - there are more pages and more reviews in English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Norvegian, Polish, Swedish, Serbian, Italian, German etc etc.

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
Die Band besteht aus Kyree Vibrant (Gesang), Constantin Necrasov (Gitarren, Mandoline, Gesang), Dmitry Lesov (Bass, Akustikgitarre Gesang), Igor Kurtzman (Keyboards) und Ann Brody (Schlagzeug). 13 Stücke sind auf dem Album enthalten, die Laufzeiten zwischen 2:37 und 8:14 Minuten aufweisen. Aber lediglich vier Stücke schaffen es über die sechs Minuten-Grenze, so dass hier weniger Longtracks als kurze Songs im Vordergrund stehen.Neben Progressive-Elementen mixt das Quintett auch andere Musikzutaten in ihren Soundkosmos, so dass etwas Vertrautes und doch neues entsteht. So beginnt beispielsweise „Missing Sevenths“ mit typischen Yes-Gitarren. Doch die weibliche Stimme von Kyree hat eine Menge an Eigenheiten, die einen aus
Monday, April 11th, 2011
Wer genug hat, von klischeetriefendem Progressive Rock, der seine eigene Genrebezeichnung ständig ad absurdum führt, dem sei das kanadische Quintett HALF PAST FOUR wärmstens ans Herz gelegt. Es ist nicht so, dass „Rabbit In The Vestibule“ konsequent jedes Element progressiver Rockgeschichte ablehnt, im Gegenteil, HALF PAST FOUR mixen mit einer gehörigen Portion Humor Altbekanntes zusammen und würzen das Ganze schließlich mit einem Cocktail ganz eigener Gewürze, die das Debüt-Album dieser erstaunlichen Band zu einer wahren Abenteuerreise gedeihen lassen. HALF PAST FOUR bieten dem Hörer eine selten breite Palette an Einflüssen an, die in Perfektion in eine musikalische Einheit gegossen wurden.
Tuesday, March 29th, 2011
Dominated by the always smart and intriguing but never strident vocals of Kyree Vibrant, this Canadian based band who apart from Kyree all hail from the USSR are not classifiable in the classic sense and all the better for it in my opinion. The album has a playful spirit epitomised by the instrumental Salome, and only occasionally flags under the weight of its ambition.Highlights for me are Strangest Dream which has a great hook and could be a hit, Twelve Little Words puts me in mind of Steely Dan for some reason and has some nice guitar breaks. Southern Boogie is just
Monday, March 28th, 2011
For many, Canadian progressive rock is confined within the borders of “La Belle Province”. Quebec has given us and continues to give a slew of amazing bands, so much that it has created its own identity, kind of like the Basque Country in Spain. The English Canada hasn’t been so generous in the way of progressive rock. The jury is still out on whether Rush and Triumph are truly progressive rock bands, Saga and FM only released a handful of records and other than that, there isn’t much left, unless one wants to talk about Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Bruce
Monday, March 28th, 2011
Half Past Four est un groupe canadien, originaire de Toronto, proposant un univers musical très particulier, unique et original : de "l'Art-Rock". Sorti en 2008, "Rabbit in the vestibule" est l'illustration parfaite de leur musique issue de leur esprit créatif fertile. Un rock progressif rétro, exubérant, théâtral. Commençons par le début. Intrigante, la pochette représente l'image d'un couloir, au long duquel on trouve plusieurs portes sur les murs. Le plafond est recouvert d'eau et le sol de terre battue et de feuilles mortes. Tout au fond, on distingue la silhouette d'un petit garçon, se tenant droit devant l'extérieur qui semble
Friday, March 25th, 2011
16h30, c'est l'heure du goûter ! C'est aussi l'heure à laquelle ce groupe canadien a décidé un beau jour de cesser de chercher un nom. Après tout, on a vu plus absurde, un peu de dérision ne nuit pas. Rabbit in the Vestibule, le premier album de cette formation de Toronto, pose les bases d'un style personnel, mais qui demande encore à mûrir.La chanteuse Kyree Vibrant joue un rôle manifestement majeur dans cette formation, et si son engagement et sa théâtralité sont appréciables, les inflexions maniérées de sa voix peuvent lasser. Le chant n'est d'ailleurs pas le seul à souffrir
Saturday, March 05th, 2011
I'd bumped this CD ahead in the very long queue because of their (then) upcoming performance at ProgDay over the 2010 Labor Day Weekend and I'm glad for it as I'm really digging this CD. So much so, that the pre-fest review didn't happen.How to describe Half Past Four? If you merely say "prog rock band," or "avant-garde jazz prog" it only captures one or the other aspect to the group. While Half Past Four can be quirky, as in, at the extreme, "Dwayne;"* they can also be decidedly earnest, as in "Lullaby," for example. They are, in many ways,
Saturday, March 05th, 2011
This quirky quintet hails from the wilds of Canada, home of such prog-rock legends as Rush and Saga, but sounds nothing like either of those bands. Instead, vocalist Kyree Vibrant, guitarist Constantin Necresov, keyboardist Igor Kurtzman, bassist  Dmitry Lesov and drummer Ann Brody mine the perhaps somewhat more obscure but no less rewarding territory plumbed by the likes of Frank Zappa, Echolyn and Finneus Gauge.The aptly named Ms. Vibrant’s vocal range seems practically limitless, and she brings a variety of emotional colors to these songs, always finding just the right tone and attitude for each lyric, whether cool and jazzy,
Wednesday, March 02nd, 2011
Half Past Four est une nouvelle formation en provenance du Canada, dont les débuts remontent à 2005. On y trouve Constantin Necrasov aux guitares et au chant, Dmitry Lesov à la basse, guitare acoustique et chant, Igor Kurtzman aux claviers, et, seule femme au milieu de ce contingent masculin, Kyree Vibrant au chant principal. Il convient d’y ajouter plusieurs invités, à la batterie, aux choeurs ou pour quelques instruments ponctuels. Difficile de classer leur premier album, Rabbit In The Vestibule, tant son écoute surprend, dépayse, voire déroute. Il dégage en effet un parfum indubitablement rétro, à l’image de la photographie
Friday, December 03rd, 2010
Half Past Four are a Toronto based five-piece band who describe their music as art rock. They draw their influences from far and wide, citing King Crimson and Frank Zappa, Kraut Rock and Math Rock on their website. My over all feeling of this album is of a strong jazz or even Latin influence with choppy rhythms and complex guitar riffs overlaid with the vocal talents of Kyree Vibrant. There is everything here; great guitar and synth solos, driving rock, jazz drumming and even a horn section. There are thirteen tracks, the longest at just over eight minutes each with
Friday, November 26th, 2010
Toronto, Canada’s Half Past Four had me instantly intrigued with their 2008 debut platter "Rabbit In The Vestibule". The band is described as art/prog rock and that description sounds good to me.  Musically, there is a lot going on with "Rabbit In The Vestibule" that musicians and non-musicians alike will come to love. Half Past Four takes influence from such legendary acts as King Crimson, Jethro Tull and Frank Zappa and proceeds to add their own special twist. For me, the track that most stands out is the musically monumental 8-minute "Biel". Other highlights include: "Missing Sevenths", "Johnny", the instrumental
Monday, November 22nd, 2010
HALF PAST FOUR is a band from Ontario, Canada and they have released a high quality debut CD titled ‘Rabbit in the vestibule’. Musically quite experimental and combining Progressive Rock from the 1970s with early 1980s British Art/Gothic Rock, sorta mixing RUSH and SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES.After listening to the CD a couple of times it becomes clear that this band is very original, really doing something completely new and at a very high level musically speaking. It is not an easy album to listen to, but on the other hand very interesting to replay a few times before it
Monday, November 15th, 2010
C’est avec un peu de retard (les voies postales canadiennes sont impénétrables) que j’ai le plaisir de te dévoiler, Lecteur, ce premier opus autoproduit par un quartet d’artistes basés à Toronto, la Ville Reine, réunis depuis ’05 autour d’une certaine idée de la liberté musicale. Les 13 compositions de ce « lapin dans le couloir » créent, sur base de structures polyrythmiques, de mélodies atonales et d’arrangements plus ou moins expérimentaux, des chansons au total épouvantablement accessibles, pétries d’optimisme, à la candeur apparente, dévastées de franchise, à l’indéterminisme délicat, fleurant la spontanéité façonnée avec patience et persévérance. C’est du progressif léché, aux
Sunday, September 26th, 2010
On Saturday morning we arrived at Storybook Farm well before the first band was due on stage, enjoyed the scenery and the lovely fresh air (something that us urban dwellers do not get to enjoy that often), perused the vendors’ tables, and got acquainted with some of our fellow audience members. This year’s opening act, Canadian band Half Past Four, had received a lot of positive attention in the past few months, so their performance was eagerly awaited by most of the crowd – including myself and my husband. I was probably one of the first people to have listened
Friday, September 10th, 2010
Formé en 2005 au Canada, ce groupe qui se présente comme "Art-rock" a enregistré cet album en 2008 mais n'est réellement disponible que depuis quelques mois. C'est précédé d'un bon buzz sur le net qu'il atterrit dans mon lecteur accompagné d'un packging presse où l'on y retrouve de flatteuses descriptions de confrères, l'air de dire : "Tu vois tout le monde trouve ça bien".Mais je dois dire que la première écoute ne m'emballa pas, encore un groupe de plus me dis-je…Et comme il fallait bien que je fasse cette chronique je réécoutais le machin en étant sûr que je n'en
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HALF PAST FOUR: Rabbit in the Vestibule