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Chasing the Exhilarating Foreboding —
The Jack o' the Clock Interview

Cover art For about ten years now, Jack o' the Clock has been turning heads and ears with their singular style of music, which takes in elements of classical music, folk, and rock, combining them with a heavy dose of "It's so crazy it just might work!" Leader Damon Waitkus has assembled an ensemble who demonstrate that formal musical education does not always kill creativity, blending bass guitar and drum kit with violin, bassoon, hammer dulcimer, and countless other instruments common and obscure.  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2017-05-09)

Accessible Complexity from Tiny Seeds —
The Human Ottoman Interview

Cover art As if we needed more proof that creative music can spring up outside the so-called cultural centers of the country, we have Human Ottoman, a trio from Portland, Oregon. Grouping together drum kit, vibraphone, and cello is unconventional enough, but they take it to another level by writing music that contains elements of jazz, rock, and electronics combined with reckless abandon and an adventurous spirit. To say they sound like no other band is not hyperbole, but simple statement of fact.  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2017-04-14)

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)
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Latest news

2019-06-05
Legendary Co-Founder of The 13th Floor Elevators Passes Away at Age 71 – Sadly, Roky Erickson passed away on May 31, 2019. Known as the father of psychedelic music and co-founder of the ground breaking 13th Floor Elevators, Roky had a profound influence on music from the 60s to today. Plagued by his own personal demons, Roky had a difficult life and is now free of these burdens. » Read more

2019-04-24
Help MoonJune Bring Great Music to Life – Like many music lovers around the world, we’ve been thrilled and amazed to hear the recordings that have been released by MoonJune from sessions at La Casa Murada in Spain. Such label stalwarts as Mark Wingfield, Markus Reuter, Asaf Sirkis, Tony Levin, Dusan Jevtovic, Vasil Hadzimanov, and many more have gathered in various combinations at the studio to produce some of the most creative music in recent years. Now, label head Leonardo Pavkovic is offering a compilation, La Casa Murada - MoonJune Sessions, Volume One, as a fundraiser for upcoming sessions. » Read more

2019-04-10
The Pineapple Thief to Tour North America – November and December of 2019 will see The Pineapple Thief bringing their music to Canada, Mexico, and the US, and famed drummer Gavin Harrison will be on board. The band has been touring extensively in Europe, but North America will be new territory for them. » Read more

2019-03-25
Scott Walker RIP – Noel Scott Engel, better known as Scott Walker, was one of the most intriguing and enigmatic musical figures in the second half of the 20th Century. His strange career started with The Walker Brothers, an American pop group that featured no one named Walker and no brothers. After moving to England in 1965, they had a series of hit singles. Scott's solo work started with Scott in 1967. Starting in the 80s, his work took an increasingly avant-garde turn. » Read more

2019-03-20
Freedom to Spend Unearths June Chikuma's Archives – Jun (June) Chikuma is well known for her video game and anime soundtracks, but she also released an album of experimental electronic music back in 1986 called Divertimento where she indulged the kind of spontaneity that wouldn't work in a soundtrack. RVNG Int'l label Freedom to Spend is bringing this overlooked item to broader attention with a deluxe reissue. » Read more

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Previously in Exposé...

Németh Gábor Project - Könnyü lépések (Easy Steps) – Németh is a Hungarian drummer and employs a large number of sidemen on this collection of ten tracks on the Periferic label. The music here is post-bop, or whatever one wishes to call music with a...  (2004) » Read more

Tomas Bodin - I Am – For his fourth solo effort, Flower Kings keyboard player Tomas Bodin takes a more autobiographical approach, using theatrically conceptual albums like Pink Floyd’s The Wall and Pain of...  (2006) » Read more

Jim Matheos - Away with Words – This is, to the best of my knowledge, the first solo outing for Matheos, who is the guitarist and chief songwriter for progressive metal act Fates Warning. The style of that band is completely...  (2000) » Read more

Bob Drake - Little Black Train – Little Black Train is a cleverly appropriate title for this collection of musical wizardry by guitarist / violinist / bassist Bob Drake. Known to most for his work with Thinking Plague and 5uu's,...  (1997) » Read more

Gerard - Pandora's Box – Seems like just last issue we reviewed Gerard's latest, The Pendulum, and already there's a new album out. The lineup on Pandora's Box remains the same, led by the positively amazing...  (1997) » Read more

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