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Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

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Available online from Issue 27

Ancient Future - Planet Passion

Cover art The previous release by this SF Bay Area world-fusion unit led by guitarist Matthew Montfort was 1993’s Asian Fusion (reviewed in Exposé #2), so after such a long lapse we were caught off...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2003-08-01)

Annbjørg Lien - Aliens Alive

Cover art Annbjørg Lien’s career has taken her from traditional Norwegian solo fiddling to 2000’s Baba Yaga, with its progressive and world music influences. On this live release, she and her band...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

Bill Frisell - Bill Frisell with Dave Holland & Elvin Jones

Cover art Leave it to guitarist Bill Frisell to alternate jazz takes on American roots music with a turn together among two of the 70s' most venerated jazz sidemen who played with Miles Davis. Holland made...  » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Billy Currie - Push

Cover art Ex-Ultravox member Billy Currie’s fifth album is another tour de force of synthesizers and stringed instruments that captures a unique romantic niche. Currie has been refining his approach for over...  » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Blackmore's Night - Fires at Midnight

Cover art Guitar legend Richie Blackmore (yes, the guy from Deep Purple and Rainbow) has gone medieval. Under the name Blackmore’s Night, he and his fiancée Candice Night have released several albums of...  » Read more
(Posted by Jim Chokey 2003-08-01)

Bukkene Bruse - Den Fagraste Rosa (The Loveliest Rose)

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On NorthSide’s continuum of Nordic music, running from strict traditional to distinctly modern, Bukkene Bruse fall well down on the traditional end. The two fiddles of Annbjørg Lien...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

Chaos Code - The Tragedy of Leaps and Bounds

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I’m fairly convinced that in a blindfold test you could convince many listeners that this album was originally released in 1972. I’m reminded of the time when musicians all around the...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

Fish - Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors & Internal Exile

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Ex-Marillion lead vocalist Fish has spent much time floating from label to label after departing his old band for good. Voiceprint took the singer’s back catalog and has done a second...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Focus - Focus 8

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Leave it to Thijs Van Leer to recognize the timely need for Focus to return to active duty. Within the past three years he encountered a Focus tribute act in his Dutch homeland and was so impressed...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Frijid Pink - Hibernated

Cover art After forming around 1967 in the fertile garage/psych scene of Detroit, Frijid Pink gigged heavily and built up a regional following before stepping into a recording studio. Their first two singles...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

Gjallarhorn - Grimborg

Cover art Gjallarhorn’s last album, Sjofn (reviewed in #21), was one of my top CDs of 2000. The combination of thunderous drums, droning didgeridoo, and female vocals made for a unique sound that...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

Groove Unlimited 2002-2003 Releases

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The Netherlands’ Groove label, perhaps the premiere label for sequencer-heavy electronic music, has been on quite the roll lately, releasing and distributing a number of albums by newcomers...

 » Read more
(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2003-08-01)

Howard Riley & Keith Tippett - Interchange

Cover art A rare live duet performance from December 1993 was captured on tape between two of the foremost jazz pianists and improvisers in the world. Riley and Tippett had collaborated twice before, taking...  » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Illegal Teenage Bikini - I Am Not Job

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Patrick Ogle (also of Goth outfit Thanatos — not the death-metal Thanatos), leader and chief performer on this project, claims to have come across the three words of its name in an internet...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

Jackhammer Trio - Sonarchy and Synergy

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Seattle’s answer to the NY Downtown jazz scene is part fusion and jamming entourage, but also a tight trio too. Rik Wright is the guitarist in these ten work-outs, and his style reminds me of...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Kaolin - 2001

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This Swiss five-piece has been around in one form or another for over eight years, but this five track 28 minute CD is their first release. Why it’s titled 2001 is a mystery, perhaps...

 » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2003-08-01)

King Crimson - Level Five

Cover art Initially a limited edition live CD, Level Five joins the set of other interim releases prior to The Power to Believe. The process for airing new King Crimson material again is to...  » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Mari Boine - Eight Seasons & Remixed

Cover art NorthSide’s releases of Wimme’s CDs have provided the most visible presence of Sami music in North America, but Mari Boine has been recording longer, and is fairly well known in the world music...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

Matthew Shipp, Spring Heel Jack & Others - Equilibrium, VisionFest, Good and Evil Sessions

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Back in the late 80s, the style called acid jazz emerged, blending jazz with hip-hop elements, essentially bringing a modern groove to jazz, analogous to the incorporation of funk, soul, and rock...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

Missus Beastly - Missus Beastly

Cover art Missus Beastly arose in Germany’s late 60s psychedelic, revolutionary underground scene which also produced the better-known Xhol and Embryo. As the extensive liner notes for this reissue of their...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

Nekropolis - Anubis Dance

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Egypt has fascinated rock musicians to varying degrees over the years: Agitation Free, Nik Turner, Anubian Lights, Amenophis, Pink Floyd, Cosmic Jokers, Dissidenten, Gong, and Hawkwind to name a...

 » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2003-08-01)

Out of Focus - Rat Roads

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This is my first encounter with this classic German group, so knowing that the tracks are outtakes from their 1972 sessions for the album Four Letter Monday Afternoon didn’t tell me...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

Ozone Player - E

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Ozone Player is an electronic project created by Otso Pakarinen, but a real oddball one that doesn’t fit into any of the schools of electronic music. It’s not heavily sequenced,...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

Pak & RonRuins - 100% Human Hair & Big Shoes

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Ron Anderson is a musician, composer and improviser who has been involved in numerous projects over the years, including Rat At Rat R, The Molecules, Vacuum Tree Head, Guapo, Metal Eater and many...

 » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2003-08-01)

Peter Hammill - Clutch

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You can count on the words to be insightful, sometimes bitter, and never trivial. The music always seems to serve the words, not the other way round. With many songwriters, you find lyrics that...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

Rick Wakeman & The English Rock Ensemble - Live in Buenos Aires

Cover art One of Rick Wakeman’s several visits to South America gets the DVD treatment with this unique packaging of DVD and separate CD. Damian Wilson is Rick’s newest singer and his lead vocal captures...  » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Rik Wright - Isomorphism

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Rik Wright is one third of Seattle’s Jackhammer Trio, and in this solo outing he is joined by various players in a decidedly jazzy context. Cohorts along for the ride include saxophonist Dan...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Round House - Jin.Zo-Ni.N.Gen & Wings to Rest

Cover art The Japanese five-piece Round House apparently never recorded a proper album during their existence in the late 70s, though two releases were cobbled together out of live tracks, demos, and some...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

Satoko Fujii - Bell the Cat!

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Pianist Satoko Fujii has done more than pay her dues in her native homeland of Japan. In thirteen previous solo releases the performer has refined her combined style of free jazz interpolation as...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Satoko Fujii Quartet - Minerva

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Fujii’s main Japanese quartet is spotlighted in this recent release. In contrast with her previous trio work, this collection of five pieces is a blistering workout of like minded players who...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Spring Heel Jack - Amassed

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Coxon and Wales are at it again! The results of their first attempts to assimilate free jazz into techno on their last album only fueled the fire for further attempts to create valid collages...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Steve Howe - Skyline

Cover art This solo release finds the Yes guitarist in a rather mellow mood, favoring light latin sounds with only sparse percussion. Paul Sutin’s keyboards and percussion provide relatively basic...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

Suns of Arqa - Selected Catalog 1979-2000

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Suns of Arqa started in the late 70s, first gaining notice as the touring band for reggae star Prince Far-I. Bassist / multi-instrumentalist Michael Wadada has been a constant in the band which has...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis, Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Terri Lyne Carrington - Jazz Is a Spirit

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The talent of a prodigy does mature after a time, especially if surrounded by competent mentors in the entertainment industry. Terri Lyne Carrington came up from several very notable early...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Theo Travis & Mark Hewins - Guerrilla Music

Cover art Well-traveled woodwinds man Theo Travis and vanguard guitarist Mark Hewins join forces on a departure outside the main scope of the efforts on Guerrilla Music. The nine pieces contained...  » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Tony Scheuren - Gaining on You

Cover art Scheuren began his recording career back in the late 60s with the band Chamaeleon Church, and was later, along with Ted Myers, one of the principal songwriters in the final edition of Boston based...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2003-08-01)

Various Artists - Burning Shed Sampler Two

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Burning Shed is an independent U.K. label that tries its best to span many genres. The label’s second sampler puts an emphasis on chilling out as ambient is the forte with a few notable...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-08-01)

Värttinä - Iki

Cover art After three albums (Kokko, Vihma, and Ilmatar) that featured electronics heavily, including keyboards, samplers, and rhythm loops, Värttinä has elected to revisit a...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

Vedda Tribe - Vedda Tribe

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Vedda Tribe is an Italian three piece of guitar / keyboards / drums; no bass credit is given but that is a bass note I hear. They play in an aggressive manner that might recall classic King Crimson...

 » Read more
(Posted by Dane Carlson 2003-08-01)

Zinkl - Dance Music for Insects

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Electronic composer Anton Zinkl is now up to his sixth album, the first I’ve heard. If it’s any indication, I’ve been missing something pretty interesting. On his web site, Zinkl...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-08-01)

 

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