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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)

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)
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Latest news

2019-02-21
You Can Be Part of an Ambient Electronic Project – The Gesture of History is a new electronic project put together by Sam Rosenthal of Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Steve Roach, and violist Sam Shadow. The music started as an instrumental track Rosenthal was working on for a Black Tape album, but took on a life of its own and demanded further enhancements. The majority of the funds raised will go to manufacturing costs for LP and CD editions, as well as other items as detailed on the Kickstarter page. » Read more

2019-01-31
Keyboardist Ingo Bischof R.I.P. – Keyboard player Ingo Bischof, best known as the longtime keyboard player of German band Kraan, passed away on January 29th, 2019. Bischof was born January 2, 1951 in Berlin-Kreuzberg and joined Kraan in 1975. » Read more

2019-01-11
Jazz Composer Mark Lomax, II Releases Epic 12CD Set – In addition to being a fine jazz drummer, Dr. Mark Lomax, II is a composer in residence at Ohio State University, where he has been very busy on the compositional front. The year 2019 is the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first ship bringing African slaves to North America, and in commemoration of this, Lomax has produced 400: An Afrikan Epic, a 12 volume set of CDs featuring a variety of different musical ensembles. » Read more

2019-01-02
Chicago-Based Surabhi Ensemble Tours the World in January – Surabhi Ensemble was formed more than a decade ago in Chicago with the aim of bringing together musicians from varying traditions to make music. Saraswathi Ranganathan, who plays veena, assembled a cast that includes Arabic oud, Spanish guitar, and percussion from Africa and India. This month, the group will be sharing their sounds with concert-goers in Southeast Asia, Europe, and Africa. » Read more

2018-12-23
Seaprog Festival Seeks Donations – Seaprog is a small festival in Seattle that highlights creative music from many genres with artists from around the world. It's also a US non-profit organization. They're seeking donations to help keep the ball rolling. Starting in 2013, the organization has been growing, and has featured such artists as Free Salamander Exhibit, Jack o' the Clock, Nik Turner, Cabezas de Cera, Miriodor, Thinking Plague, and many more. » Read more

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Previously in Exposé...

Grosskopf, Baltes, Heilhecker - Sunya Beat - The Jelenia Gora Sessions – Ricochet Dream sponsors an annual gathering of Tangerine Dream fans and bands. In 2004 the Ricochet Gathering occurred in Jelenia Gora, Poland and Sunya Beat's performance is captured on this CD....  (2008) » Read more

Rick Miller - Falling through Rainbows – Rick Miller is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist and composer who began his musical career in the 80s. Over the past five years Rick’s focus has been progressive rock and Falling through Rainbows is...  (2011) » Read more

Clepsydra - More Grains of Sand – Ever miss the sound of Marillion in their glory days? This Swiss five-piece regularly evokes the memory of Misplaced Childhood on this, their second album, and build upon that general sound using...  (1995) » Read more

Bacamarte - Depois do Fim – Let me just begin this by saying this album is unquestionably the best Brazilian symphonic progressive rock album. Keep also in mind that it hasn't had much competition until the last few years....  (1996) » Read more

Pineapple Thief - Variations on a Dream – Pineapple Thief hasn’t changed much since 137, and that’s a good thing. A quartet of guitar / keys / bass / drums, the songs are all written by Bruce Soord, who also sings and plays...  (2004) » Read more

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