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Craft in an Age of Disposable Culture —
Stick Men in Seattle, 2017

Cover art I suppose there are many contenders for the title of Hardest Working Band, but luckily that’s not a real contest, and certainly hard work alone is no gauge of worthiness. Since Stick Men got started as a development of Tony Levin’s Stick Man album ten years ago, the band has kept the new material coming, with studio and live releases getting into double digits (depending on how you count multiple versions of some of the live albums).  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2017-02-10)

Interconnectedness and Dynamic Grit —
The Mount Pressmore Interview

Cover art In Austin's current crop of progressive-leaning bands, Mount Pressmore stands a little closer to the melodic indie-rock side than some, but their music is subtle and complex in small ways, reflecting the vision of leader, keyboardist, vocalist, and chief composer Thomas Shaw. I conducted an email interview with him, touching on the band's history and future, and what's so special about the Rhodes electric piano.  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2016-11-26)

An Open-Minded Approach to Music —
The Aaron Clift Interview

Cover art Deep in the heart of Texas is a growing community of bands and musicians pushing the boundaries of music and rejuvenating progressive rock. Expose is in the forefront in elevating the visibility of these bands to our readership through reviews, sponsoring the now annual Voyager Fest, and band interviews. For this latest installment, I have had the pleasure of interviewing the mastermind behind the Aaron Clift Experiment, Aaron Clift himself in advance of the Holiday Charity Rocktacular on December 3, 2016. I would have preferred to sit down at one of Austin’s relaxed outdoor venues for this interview, but work forced me to conduct the interview via email.  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2016-11-22)

Not Wishing to Waffle —
The Syd Arthur Interview 2016

Cover art I first met and interviewed Syd Arthur back in 2014, while they were on tour with Sean Lennon’s GOASTT. I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with them again before their recent San Francisco show opening for English singer-songwriter phenom Jake Bugg to learn what had transpired over the last two years.  » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2016-10-18)

A Desire to Surprise —
The RareNoise Interview

Cover art If you've been reading reviews on our site very long, you've noticed that RareNoise Records has a consistent history of producing music that challenges boundaries and is all over the map, both geographically and stylistically. From noise-jazz to electronic dub to acoustic free jazz, you never know what you're going to get with RareNoise, but you can be assured it'll be good. Label CEO Giacomo Bruzzo was kind enough to answer some of our questions via email.  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2016-09-21)

On Music and Social Identity —
The Stop Motion Orchestra Interview

Cover art Stop Motion Orchestra is not a band to be pigeonholed. Pulling together aspects of a wide range of styles and blending them with a healthy sense of fun, their debut album was one of the highlights of 2014. In conjunction with their appearance at the 2016 Voyager Festival, I was able to ask composer Mohadev a few questions to shed light on the band and his numerous other projects.  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2016-09-08)

Walking the Edge of the Firepool —
The Herd of Instinct Interview

Cover art When their first album appeared in 2011, Herd of Instinct jumped to a position of prominence among American progressive rock bands. In conjunction with their appearance at the 2016 Voyager Festival in Austin, Texas, I was able to ask Mark Cook a few questions about the band and its music.  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2016-09-03)

Whisper Kobaïan in My Ear, Baby —
Magma in Seattle, 2016

Cover art Magma is a band with a long history in the real world, from its beginnings at the end of the 60s to 2016, still touring and recording. And Magma is a band which is about the fictional history of the planet Kobaia and its interactions with the people of Earth. The last few years have seen a welcome upsurge in the band’s activities, one result of which is that they are now, more than 40 years since their inception, playing concerts in cities they’ve never visited before.  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2016-04-02)

A Punk with Class —
The Morgan Fisher Interview

Cover art Morgan Fisher has a long and interesting musical career. He and I were both born in 1950, but 11 months apart. At the ripe old age of 18 his band The Love Affair scored a #1 UK hit “Everlasting Love” (though in typical fashion for the day, neither he nor his bandmates played on the single). He also began experimenting with electronic music between 1968 and 1972, as well as co-producing Allan Holdsworth’s debut album. Between 1973 and 1977, he was part of the Third Ear Band for a brief period, joined Mott the Hoople in the Bowie years, and guest appeared on many LPs. In the late 70s Morgan set up his own studio and record label where he released Slow Music and the two oddball Hybrid Kids albums. He played keyboards on Queen’s 1982 European tour and then moved to Japan in the mid 80s. Since then, he has continued to record ambient albums and music for art videos, movies, and television. He has also played with local Japanese bands and began his series of light paintings. This past September, he flew back to the UK to perform with Mick Ronson’s daughter Lisa at her record release party.  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2015-11-21)

Inside the Bands Don’t Run on Time —
Modern Sky Festival Seattle 2015

Cover art In China every year, big holiday music festivals are a staple of the entertainment industry, and Modern Sky is one of the primary producers of these festivals. Modern Sky is also a record label, but the festivals range far beyond the label’s own artists. Given the miniscule percentage of Chinese people who go to see live music in bars, the festivals are the primary way for bands to connect with fans. To Modern Sky’s credit, their events are eclectic affairs, featuring both well-known and obscure Chinese artists along with a wide variety of foreign acts. Genres represented range widely as well: heavy metal, punk, pop, singer-songwriters, post-rock, hip-hop, electronic, even quirky avant-garde.  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2015-10-16)
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Latest news

2018-07-31
Tomasz Stańko RIP – Tomasz Stańko, one of the greats of Eastern European jazz, has died at the age of 76. Stańko's career started in Krzysztof Komeda's quintet, where he contributed trumpet from 1963-1967, when he formed his own group. He worked extensively with Edward Vesala, Don Cherry, Zbigniew Seifert, Chico Freeman, Howard Johnson, Cecil Taylor, and many others. Many of his recordings have been released by ECM, an association that began in the mid-70s. » Read more

2018-07-09
Soft Machine Set to Release New Music – It's been 50 years since The Soft Machine changed the face of music with their first album. Their blend of psychedelic rock and jazz was unique, and while the band went through many changes before disbanding in 1981 — by which time there were no original members remaining — they remained an innovative force with a style all their own. » Read more

2018-07-01
7d Surfaces Happy Rhodes Back Catalog – We've covered singer Happy Rhodes before, both for her solo work and recently with The Security Project, but her 11 albums have been hard to track down. Until now. 7d features high-quality downloads of all her releases, and several of them are also available on CD. » Read more

2018-06-25
Fred Chalenor RIP – We have news of another sad passing in the world of creative music. Bassist Fred Chalenor, whose creativity featured on albums by Tone Dogs, Caveman Shoestore, and many more, died on June 23, 2018 after a long battle with Alzheimer's. Tributes have poured in from the many musicians and fans whose lives he touched. » Read more

2018-06-13
Jon Hiseman RIP – One of the great drummers of the rock era has died. Jon Hiseman was a veteran of such ground-breaking groups as Colosseum (I and II), Tempest, John Mayal's Bleusbreakers, and was a founding member of the innovative large band United Jazz + Rock Ensemble. » Read more

More news

Previously in Exposé...

Tim Hodgkinson - Pragma – This is a disc of difficult music since the listener must have the discipline to hear the "big picture" and not get caught in a scattering of perceived dissonant ideas. In the composer's own words:...  (1999) » Read more

House of Not - The Walkabout Parts 1 & 2 – The brainchild of Brian Erikson (vocals and lyrics), House of Not appears to be some sort of concept project, with Lou Roppoli and Ken O’Gorman providing guitars and a host of guests on other...  (2006) » Read more

Ezra - Songs from Pennsylvania – Ezra is a band happy to take their time with albums, this being only their third since they arrived on the scene in the early 90s. The wait was worth it, though, especially for fans of good melodic...  (2007) » Read more

Buyi - Buyi, Namejiu & Endless Wine – Sometimes I think that every tradition of folk music must at some point have its own Fairport Convention. Of course it’s an oversimplification, but in broad terms we can say that FC melded...  (2008) » Read more

Ars Nova - The Goddess of Darkness – I never thought "progressive rock" was a music of image, but Ars Nova have done a lot to change my mind about that. Anyway, what is it with the Japanese symphonic rock groups? Have you...  (1997) » Read more

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