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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

2018-10-17
Eurock Documentary Seeks Funding – We've been fans and fellow travelers with Archie Patterson and his Eurock project on the journey to discover great music. After many years of promoting and trying to spread the word,a new phase is beginning: a documentary film. Things like this don't just happen, and money does not magically appear to make it happen, so it's up to the fans to get it done. » Read more

2018-09-29
Marty Balin RIP – One of the architects of the 60s psychedelic sound of San Francisco has died at the age of 76. Marty Balin was a singer, songwriter, and guitarist who was one of the founders of Jefferson Airplane. After the split of the original Airplane, Balin went on to form the highly successful Jefferson Starship. » Read more

2018-09-25
Help the Psychic Equalizer Avoid Extinction – Last year we reviewed the debut album by Psychic Equalizer, a musical project of Hugo Selles. He's now working on the ambitious follow-up to that release, and is seeking funding from listeners around the world. » Read more

2018-09-05
Krautrock Documentary Seeks Funding – The next installment of the Progressive Warriors documentary series will focus on the vast body of music that falls under the banner of "krautrock." As most of our readers will know, previous films have tackled RIO and the Canterbury scene, as well as what we might call "mainstream" prog rock. » Read more

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

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Previously in Exposé...

Caveman Shoestore - Super Sale – Caveman Shoestore is back and ready to take on the modern indie rock and roll jungle. The basic trio structure is intact driven by Elaine Falco’s obtuse songwriting and lead vocal, Fred...  (2007) » Read more

Gandalf - To Our Children's Children – Please spare me the preachy environmental awareness lesson; few things annoy me more than socio-political cause lyrics on top of otherwise excellent music. Once upon a time Gandalf created beautiful...  (1995) » Read more

Halloween, Alaska - Halloween, Alaska – I try to maintain a certain openness about the various musical genres, feeling that quality is a factor only marginally related to style, so I’m happy to find something good where it’s...  (2005) » Read more

Project Creation - Floating World – Project Creation is the brain child of multi-instrumentalist and composer Hugo Flores, who has built a minor progressive rock masterpiece on par with the best of Queensrÿche, Fates Warning, and...  (2007) » Read more

Darryl Steurmer - Go – So there I was, driving across northern New Mexico and Arizona in a car with no air conditioning. Did I mention it was June? As I was sweltering, windblown by the hot desert air and traveling at 75...  (2008) » Read more

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