Mexico in the mid-80s was a fertile breeding ground for all kinds of new and unusual progressive music; bands like Iconoclasta, Nazca, Banda Elastica, Nirgal Vallis, Decibel, Delirium, and others...
» Read moreThanks a lot — trying to sum up Alan Stivell's career in a paragraph is like summing up World War II in a book — there’s too much to say and where do you start? I have all...
» Read moreAlien Planetscapes proudly proclaim to be the oldest space rock band in America. An admirable distinction that at 17 years I certainly can't discount. The only argument I might present is that...
» Read moreWith a signature sound almost indescribable, Patrice Moullet is back with another Alpes release. Imagine a mad scientist living alone in the mountains, inventing, designing, and constructing his...
» Read moreThe most artistically inclined and prolific of all Genesis members past or present is (how ironic) also the least popular. Nevertheless Phillips has neither given up nor given in, as these two...
» Read moreAnd what great years they were. Never heard any Ashra? Buy this! Sorry, I am biased, this is great stuff. If you don't know, Ash Ra is Manuel Göttsching, a phenomenal guitar player and...
» Read moreA Gothic Opera? This is some trippy stuff, my friends. Autumn Tears is Erika and Ted; Erika sings, Ted plays keyboards. Being an opera of sorts, there is a story with several characters. Erika is a...
» Read moreHere's one of the latest of the Canterbury music resurrections. Brian Hopper, brother of former Soft Machine bassist Hugh, was a key member of the "original" Canterbury band, The...
» Read moreI've been reading about Cast for a while in Exposé, but the arrival of this disc marks the first time I've actually heard them. So going into it, I knew they were a...
» Read moreThis is one of those albums that nobody ever seems to know anything about. Presuming that to be the case with most of our readership, the best thing to do would be just to describe the music. From...
» Read moreTreading on the remnants of your Crimson past can be a vain attempt to recapture or rejuvenate interest in your modern endeavors. Happily I can relate David Cross' new solo work, Exiles...
» Read moreThese being two of the three albums to date by this Seattle-based duo. The band is Dara Rosenwasser, vocals / lyrics and Eric Cooley, bass / lyrics. Both albums have several additional musicians to...
» Read moreSpace rock devotees listen up! After their performance at the Strange Daze festival I was hot to pick up something by this band and this new album actually exceeds my expectations. There are...
» Read moreFrench TV is a real American anachronism: a complex unit (with their unique brand of improvisation) based in the heart of country music land: Louisville. Live they play their own refined style,...
» Read moreI hate to admit it, but this is one English import LP I just plain loved for the album cover alone, an amusing rock 'n roll version of the children's game Snakes and Ladders (e.g.—...
» Read moreIf Macan's name sounds familiar, perhaps it's because you've seen or read his book Rocking the Classics (Reviewed in Issue #12). Macan's three-piece band Hermetic Science...
» Read moreSometimes something comes along that totally defies categorization and comparison, like music from some other universe — or music from this universe turned inside out. Such is the music of...
» Read moreWith a line-up of flute, trumpet, cello, and rhythm section, this album delves unapologetically into free jazz and avant-garde experimentalism. Frenetic bebop energy mingles with mellow atonal...
» Read moreThis ten-piece ensemble from Hungary plays what could only be described as world-influenced psychedelic / space-rock, using keyboards, guitar, bass, flute, didgeridoo, drums, voices, and at least...
» Read moreWhat might Kraftwerk have become in the guise of a guitar-band instead of a synth band? The toe-tapping oddments of this first La Düsseldorf outing from 1976 just may give a clue....
» Read moreWasn't this Spanish group active back in the late 70s? It looks as if they may have broken up and subsequently reformed, because I haven't heard anything from them since their one LP...
» Read moreBefore the recombinant U Totem ever hit the streets, baton wielder James Grigsby fronted The Motor Totemist Guild (recently reconstituted as a twelve-piece ensemble featuring members of Non Credo,...
» Read moreOne of the better English Canadian progressives, this one has had a lot of attention amongst progressive collectors for its rarity and quality. I had heard that there were going to be bonus tracks...
» Read moreA new Peter Frohmader release is always a welcome event, but this is one which is rather special; it features live performances of his group Nekropolis, which recorded one live album, released...
» Read moreThe first minute of this album sums the entirety, as a voice, in a background of many voices, exclaims "My brain hurts!" And thus begins an album of immense proportions spread out over...
» Read moreIt's been a few years since this promising British neo-psych band put out their debut on Delerium (though I think they have a couple cassettes before that), and in the time away the band has...
» Read moreThis instrumental quartet first came to this writer's attention a few weeks before their appearance at ProgScape '94 — they were called Cloud Nine in those days, and their four song...
» Read moreHard to believe it's been 30 years since the Summer of Love, and also since the lone greatest single in the history of Procol Harum, "A Whiter Shade of Pale," but it's sadly true....
» Read moreProject Lo is essentially Bon Lozaga’s unit for more introspective work. While the material on Black Canvas is composed, it seems to be a lot more open to the creative impulses of...
» Read moreThis is a nugget from the past. Grippe is a Scandinavian electronic and electro-acoustic music composer whose work is under appreciated. Originally released on the visionary Shandar label from...
» Read moreMost people who are aware of Richard Thompson would probably not consider his music 'progressive,' and they would probably be right on most occasions. To be sure, he was a key player on...
» Read moreThere were three CDs floating around as imports of early Santana recordings entitled Persuasion, Latin Tropical, and Acapulco Sunrise which were roughly of the same...
» Read moreLast issue you read about Silver Apples being active and touring again, now there's a brand new record by the trio of Simeon (oscillators, keys, voice), Xian Hawkins (keyboards), and Michael...
» Read moreOne hears the term Rock in Opposition quite often in music today. Many current bands are labeled with an "RIO" style. The Italian group Stormy Six is the basis for this style termed...
» Read morePerhaps Strawbs is one of the most widely misunderstood bands that ever confused and confounded fans for not conforming to preconceived (and often wildly inaccurate) expectations. When Yes fans...
» Read moreThis is the kind of review that, were I reading it, would piss me off. Showing my age, my know-it-all smugness. Can you judge a band on work twenty years old? Surely the band must evolve, progress....
» Read moreAlways of interest, the Norwegian trio Tangle Edge has been around for quite a while now putting out great instrumental rock. Tarka is a worthy comeback from a band we haven't heard...
» Read moreThe Doors, you ask? Can one appreciate modern rock poets like Peter Hammill and the Fish-fronted Marillion without acknowledging the influence they received from the charismatic vocalist Jim...
» Read moreThis is the second album with Ann-Mari Edvardson on vocals. If you have been a fan for a while, In This Room may throw you a bit. If it does, get right back on. When you first hear...
» Read moreThe de facto brain behind Art Zoyd since 1975, Thierry has now gone AWOL from that French institution, and seems to have spared nary a moment in rushing headlong into a solo career. Still, this...
» Read moreI had almost left the Greek hero for dead following 1987's Direct, but five years hence Vangelis managed to rekindle the magic spark, and 1492 was the album to do it. A...
» Read moreFor all of you who are trying to one-up your friends by having the weirdest music in your collections, buy this and win big points. Though each track on this compilation wields a very different...
» Read moreA healthy variety of spaced-out entries makes the grade for inclusion on this intriguing package. Take the same basic style as Hawkwind (captured here by a lengthy one-chord wonder), but add two...
» Read moreOne of the best surprises in the latest batch from Cuneiform, and a major step forward from their debut album is this second release by French chamber-rock band Volapük. The instrumentation of...
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2021-02-14
SoundQuest Fest 2021 –
SoundQuest Fest, first experienced as a live festival in Tucson Arizona in 2010 was created by ambient music pioneer Steve Roach. This 2021 event will unite a worldwide gathering of artists and audience members together for a 3-day online event unique in the realm of ambient music. From March 26-28th a continuous flow of streamed performances, audio-video wonder worlds and deep immersion zones will burn bright on Roach’s YouTube channel. »
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2021-02-10
Chick Corea RIP –
The sad news has reached us that Chick Corea has Returned to Forever, so to speak. The innovative keyboardist and composer died on February 9 at the age of 79. With a career that spanned from the 60s until shortly before his death, Corea touched many listeners with the incredible variety of music he produced in his lifetime. »
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2021-01-18
Asia Minor Third Album on the Way –
On January 29, AMS records will be releasing the long-awaited third album by classic Turkish-French band Asia Minor. Released last year in Japan, this will be the widespread debut of Points of Libration. The album features original members Setrak Bakirel (vocals, guitar) and Eril Tekeli (flute, guitar). »
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2020-12-09
Harold Budd RIP –
Harold Budd, one of pre-eminent American composers of avant-garde and minimalism, has died of complications from the coronavirus. Budd came to prominence in the 70s, championed by Brian Eno on his Obscure Records label, with music that blended academic minimalism with electric jazz and electronic music. Much of Budd's best known work was done in collaboration with other artists, including Eno, Daniel Lanois, Robin Guthrie, Andy Partridge, John Foxx, Jah Wobble, and many others. »
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2020-11-20
25 Views of Worthing Finally Gets Released –
A while ago, we wrote about the discovery of a "long lost" Canterbury-style gem by a band called 25 Views of Worthing. And now we're pleased to find out that Wind Waker Records has released their music on an LP. »
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The Cheebacabra - Metamorphosis – An instrumental funk outfit from the U.S. west coast, The Cheebacabra is led by a drummer/keyboardist named Cheeba, who is joined by six other musicians on keys, guitar, sax, and percussion. The... (2004) » Read more
Gong - Continental Circus – Reissued late last year without much fanfare, this was recorded by an early version of Gong circa Camembert Electrique, and was the score to the film by Jerome Lapperrousaz by the same name, about a... (1996) » Read more
Spirits Burning & Bridget Wishart - Earth Born – Some may remember Wishart from her brief tenure as a member of Hawkwind in the early 90s (she was featured on the Space Bandits studio album, and the live Palace Springs and Live at Nottingham 1990... (2008) » Read more
Half Past Four - Rabbit in the Vestibule – This is Toronto quartet Half Past Four’s first full-length album that isn’t a movie score (2007’s The Mad). A variety of genres are melded here, including art, progressive, jazz, and... (2011) » Read more
Józef Skrzek East Wind - Tryptyk Petersburski – Skrzek is forever full of surprises, and this disc containing material hand-picked from three live performances with his East Wind quintet is certainly one of those. Most will probably know Skrzek as... (2008) » Read more