Exposé Online

Before There Was a Label —
Looking at the Beginnings of Progressive Rock

It's almost October 1994. That means it was almost 25 years ago that King Crimson's debut album In the Court of the Crimson King was released on both sides of the ocean, and the term "Progressive Rock" was born — at first a trend that grew out of the late 60s musical awareness that elevated the importance of the instrumentation and soloing while diminishing the importance of the singer, the lyrics, and the old song structure that had remained essentially unchanged since the early 50s.

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 1994-08-01)

Taking Your Mind off Nietzsche —
The Virgil Moorefield Interview

Composer Virgil Moorefield, drummer and one-time guitarist with Glenn Branca, has recently released his first CD with his nine-piece ensemble on Cuneiform, titled Distractions on the Way to the King's Party (see our review in Exposé #3). The ensemble has been gigging regularly in the New York area since their formation in 1992, playing venues such as The Kitchen, Roulette, and The Knitting Factory. Moorefield has also been involved with numerous other concurrent projects. Exposé caught up with Virgil while he was juggling various projects, and he was kind enough to spare a few moments out of his busy schedule with us.  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 1994-08-01)

5uu's - Hunger's Teeth

The twisted family tree of the American bands U Totem, Thinking Plague, 5uu's and Motor Totemist Guild is perhaps representative of the challenging, ever-changing music that these four groups...

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(Posted by Mike Borella 1994-08-01)

5uu's - Hunger's Teeth

Ever wonder what some of the classic progressive bands would sound like today had they maintained their edge and not grown lazy and comfortable and become caricatures of themselves? Enter the...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 1994-08-01)

5uu's - Hunger's Teeth

Here's a really unexpected surprise. The 5uu's used to be the epitome of overlyrical RIO mediocrity, a quirky semi-political group influenced by the Henry Cow / Art Bears sphere. While...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1994-08-01)

Annexus Quam - Beziehungen

German group Annexus Quam was one of the many experimental fusion groups that emerged from the early German "cosmic rock" scene. They quietly released two albums on Ohr (alongside giants like...  » Read more
(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1994-08-01)

Arkus - 1914

I'm not sure how many times I've had to listen to this to review. It seems like I forget about it after every time I listen to it. Arkus is a Dutch symphonic group and this album is from the early...  » Read more
(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1994-08-01)

Atila - Intención

Best known for the incredibly magnificent Reviure, one of the best progressive rock albums all around, Atila are a Spanish classical rock group that started small and went out with a bang....

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1994-08-01)

Atila - The Beginning of the End

Atila dates back to 1973, when guitarist Eduardo Alvarez Niebla formed the band as a trio with two of his friends, Paco Ortega (keys) and Juan Punet (drums). This, their first album – so rare...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 1994-08-01)

Attempt to Restore - Alpha Collection I

Most new German groups these days seem to have forgotten their musical ancestry from the high psychedelic days of the Ohr and Brain years. Practically all you see is bands like Chandelier, Bel Air,...  » Read more
(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1994-08-01)

Barrock - L'Alchimista

Barrock are a new Italian sextet who decided to release and distribute their debut L'Alchimista in Japan. The music is influenced by many Italian 70s bands like Banco del Mutuo...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1994-08-01)

Bernard Xolotl with Daniel Kobialka - Procession

Bernard Xolotl is a French synthesist who has worked with Clearlight's Cyrille Verdeaux, which could give some indication of his stylistic direction. Daniel Kobialka is a well known violinist...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1994-08-01)

Cargo - Cargo

Cargo was a Dutch band that released this apparently now highly sought after album in 1972. Their 4 piece lineup featured dual guitars along with bass and drums. Sounding quite similar to countrymen...  » Read more
(Posted by Rob Walker 1994-08-01)

Cartoon - Sortie

The end of the 70s and first years of the 80s were a defining time in the history of progressive rock. The dinosaurs that had dominated throughout the first half of the 70s were rapidly becoming a...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 1994-08-01)

Church of Hawkwind - Church of Hawkwind

[this was written about the 1994 reissue on Griffin Records - ed.]

The 1982 incarnation of Hawkwind that wrote Church of Hawkwind comprised Dave "Baron von" Brock, Harvey...

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(Posted by Anatole Gordon 1994-08-01)

Clearlight - Visions

Fourteen years after releasing the album, Cyrille Verdeaux delivers a fine remake of Visions. On first listen it is evident that Verdeaux closely involved himself with this reissue. He...

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(Posted by Anatole Gordon 1994-08-01)

Dixie Dregs - Full Circle

After a less-than-spectacular live release a few years back, the Dregs are back with an all new studio release, their first in well over ten years. So what's new with these well known purveyors...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 1994-08-01)

Electric Orange - Electric Orange

Although this is a new release, Dirk Jan Muller and company (aka Electric Orange) have faithfully turned the clock back almost 25 years, trapped in time around 1970. Indeed, this album evokes the...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 1994-08-01)

Ensemble Nimbus - Key Figures

Amazing when a new label takes off so well. Ad Perpetuam Memoriam has given the world both the powerful Kultivator and the hilarious Myrbein, both relatively unknown Swedish groups of high quality....

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1994-08-01)

Etna - Etna

Out of the undiscerning mass factory of Mellowland every once in a while comes an album well worth waiting for. From 1975, Etna's sole album is a gem for jazz rock/fusion fanatics. What's really...  » Read more
(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1994-08-01)