Exposé Online » Issue 40

Date : Winter 2012
Summary : Rebirth
Items found : 118

Il Tempio delle Clessidre —
Witnessing a Resurgence of Progressive Rock in Asia

Saturday October 8, 2011 was the day Il Tempio delle Clessidre performed for a large Korean audience at the Sowol Art Hall in Seoul, brought to Korea through the efforts of Si-Wan, Seong, Korean DJ and record producer working with his friend Pino Pintabona at Black Widow Records. I was given the rare and wonderful experience of meeting the band, chatting with them, having lunch, sitting through sound checks and run-throughs, interviewing, and ultimately experiencing the true glory of the concert.  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2013-04-01)

10 Ft. Ganja Plant - 10 Deadly Shots Vol. II

By the band name alone you should have a very good guess about the music contained on this disc. 10 Deadly Shots Vol. II is the second release in 10 Ft. Ganja Plant's on-going...  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2013-04-01)

Ache - De Homine Urbano & Green Man

Ache was a Danish four-piece progressive rock outfit that released four albums during the 1970s, of which these are the first two. Their debut De Homine Urbano ("About Urban Man"), an...

 » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. - Son of a Bitches Brew

Has anybody ever said, "If you've heard one Acid Mothers Temple album, you've heard them all"? My guess would be that it's been said more than once by more than one person....

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Acqua Fragile - Acqua Fragile & Mass Media Stars

Acqua Fragile is best known as the band that featured singer Bernardo Lanzetti prior to his joining PFM in time for their Chocolate Kings album. But in fact from their very beginnings,...

 » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Airbag - All Rights Removed

Airbag is a young Norwegian quintet whose 2009 debut, Identity, received positive reviews and helped garner concert appearances with Riverside and Marillion. The six songs on All...

 » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

Alabastro Euforico - Alabastro Euforico

The kingpin here is bassist Arlo Bigazzi, who has a number of releases to his credit over the years. Here he has assembled a number of musicians he has worked with in the past: woodwind player...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Alex's Hand - Madame Psychosis

Alex's Hand is a Seattle-based band that's very hard to pin down stylistically. I've seen them live several times, and each show was significantly different from the others. They've been working...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Apocalypse - The 25th Anniversary Box Set

Fans of this popular Brazilian band will surely revel in this package: one CD (Magic Spells) captures the band live in 2005, there’s a second CD of new music (2012 Light Years...

 » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

Björk - Biophilia

Sometimes it feels strange to be reviewing an artist like Björk, who is well known enough worldwide to attract attention from the mainstream press and even paparazzi (swan dress, anyone?)....

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Blixt - Blixt

As it says on the cover, Blixt is Raoul Björkenheim, Bill Laswell, and Morgan Ågren. And in case you weren't aware of it, they are all monsters on their instruments. But technique...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Cabezas de Cera - Hermandad

The new duo configuration is hinted at on the cover of the new CDC disc, but after the slipcase comes off and the five wooden puzzle pieces disassembled, the tray insert spells it out: after the...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Carl Weingarten - Panamorphia

Weingarten's last solo release Escapesilence, was a good ten years ago, but many of the fundamental building blocks created on that release and its predecessors Blue Faith and...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Cheer-Accident - No Ifs, Ands or Dogs

This is one of those reviews that won't write itself. Not that reviews ever really write themselves, but some albums I listen to and know what I want to say. Not this time. First off, I love...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Chui Wan - Bai Ye (White Night)

Seems like most of the bands coming out of China these days fall into one of two camps: they're either noisy art-punk or post-rock. There are also straight-edge punk bands, metal bands, and others,...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Claudia Quintet + 1 - What Is the Beautiful?

NYC-based Claudia Quintet have wasted no time following up on their critically acclaimed 2010 release, Royal Toast. This time out drummer John Hollenbeck and crew pay tribute to American...

 » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

Clouds on Strings - Pomology

"Welcome to Pomology, a musical cornucopia. Come with me on a fruitful adventure through rhythm and harmony, over the hills and through the fertile valleys of your brain. Press next to...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Corima - Quetzalcoatl

For years I've been ripping bands for being being stylistic copycats of better known classic progressive acts: so many trying to sound like Genesis, Starcastle's shameless imitation of Yes, others...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Crisálida - Solar

On this, their third full-length release, Chilean five-piece Crisálida further refines their style, alternating between crunchy, prog-metal influenced moments and more wide-ranging progressive moves...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Cucamonga - Alter Huevo

Alter Huevo kicks off with a goofy carnival polka arranged for marimba, accordion, and electric piano. Not much later, some odd vocal noises make an appearance, and then the band jumps into a...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Curved Air - Live Atmosphere

This set is documentation of the latest Curved Air reunion tour from 2010-2011, featuring singer Sonja Kristina, original drummer Florian Pilkington-Miksa, violinist Paul Sax who played with Sonja's...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

D'accorD - Helike

Hot on the heels of their acclaimed 2009 debut, this album finds Norwegian outfit D'AccorD taking their retro-prog formula one step further. How better to prove that you've spent hours listening to...  » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

Dan Pound - Medusazoa

Dan Pound is a California based ambient electronic and new age composer. He has been featured on Hearts of Space and Stars End among other shows. Medusazoa is a collection of seven blissful...  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2013-04-01)

Dewa Budjana - Dawai in Paradise

Given my low tolerance for what is generally called "smooth jazz," this album at time proves frustrating. There are times when the silky pad of keyboard backing and fluid hummable melodies on guitar...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Discipline - Live Days

Fronted by Matthew Parmenter, arguably the most dynamic front man ever to grace an American prog outfit, Discipline built a following during the 90s prog revival largely through word of mouth and...

 » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

Druckfarben - Druckfarben

A five-piece from Toronto, Druckfarben uses the standard four-piece (gbkd) instrumental format with a dedicated lead singer. A couple other members also provide vocals, and guitarist Ed Bernard...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Duck Fight Goose - Sports & History Single

Shanghai's Duck Fight Goose seem to have become one of the darlings of Chinese rock outside of China — they've been getting press in the US and have played SXSW. Their debut EP (  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Dün - Eros

This lost French classic from '81 has much to recommend. A six-piece from Nantes in western France, they featured keyboards, guitars, bass, drums, tuned percussion and flute, and their sound combined...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Earthling Society - Stations of the Ghost

Earthling Society is a UK psychedelic/space rock band that has been around for the past eight years. They are also one of the bands appearing regularly on Fruits de Mer singles and compilations. ...  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2013-04-01)

Eider Stellaire - I

1981 was the year that Magma released their Retrospective albums, two live LPs (one a double-set) recorded at L'Olympia in Paris, recapping some of the band's best work to date, collecting...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Electric Asturias - Fractals

Asturias began in the late 1980's as essentially the solo project of bassist Yoh Ohyama, who played nearly all the instruments on the first three albums Circle in the Forest, Brilliant...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Embryo - Surfin'

Embryo is one of the seminal German bands from the 60s that have continued to record and perform. Surfin', released in 1975, was their seventh album. Their earlier albums featured...

 » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2013-04-01)

Eter-K - Watching the Universe

Fasten your seat belts. Hailing from Peru, Eter-K is a trio of guitar, bass and drums, loops, grooves and effects, their stock in trade being a heady contemporary take on classic psychedelic rock,...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

FM - City of Fear

Canadian trio FM's fourth album finds the lineup of Cameron Hawkins (synth, bass, vocals), Ben Mink (violin, mandolin, vocals) and Martin Deller (drums) unchanged from the previous album, but this...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

FM - Direct to Disc

The re-releases of this Canadian trio's albums are long overdue. Seems like some label reissued the debut Black Noise back in the early 90s, but never finished the job. Esoteric has...

 » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

FM - Surveillance

For their third album, with violinist Ben Mink now fully integrated into the band, the Canadian trio left the sidelong instrumental suites explored on their second Direct to Disc, and went...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

For Missus Beastly - Dr. Aftershave and the Mixed Pickles

This is Missus Beastly's third studio album, privately released, although at the time the band was still under contract to their former label and producer Dieter Dierks; in order to get around the...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Forgas Band Phenomena - Acte V

Composer, drummer, and bandleader Patrick Forgas has been performing progressive jazz and jazzrock for well over 35 years. There have been various lineups with the band over the last 15 years. The...  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2013-04-01)

Fotheringay - Essen 1970

Although they were together only about a year, Fotheringay is generally seen as an interim step for singer Sandy Denny between her tenure (first time around) with Fairport Convention, with whom she...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Funin - Unsound

Genres are for old fogeys. Who's to say music can't be electronic, folky, psychedelic, and progressive all at once? Certainly not Norway's Funin. This is one of the most wide-ranging releases I've...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Godsticks - The Envisage Conundrum

This Welsh trio has come a long way since their debut EP five years ago, this now being their second full length release. Darran Charles is the singer, guitarist, keyboardist, and primary songwriter,...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Govea - Raíces

Raíces is the follow-up to Govea's 2009 debut Danza Urbana. Somewhere in between there was a DVD (titled Danza Urbana also) that featured most of the material on the debut, plus...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Gutbucket - Flock

Gutbucket has been around for about 12 years and Flock is their sixth release of indie, math rock, and jazz music. The four members Ty Citerman (electric guitar), Eric Rockwin (electric...  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2013-04-01)

Gutbucket - Flock

I saw Gutbucket play much of this material live before I heard the CD. The band is pretty impressive live, with all the music's crazy twists and turns executed with seamless skill and great energy....  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Henderson / Oken - Dream Theory in the IE

Mike Henderson (guitars, keyboards, effects and loops) and Chuck Oken (synthesized guitars and drums, keyboards, effects, sampling and loops) are one half of Djam Karet. But what is the IE? The vast...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Herd of Instinct - Herd of Instinct

Herd of Instinct is a new instrumental Texas based trio featuring multi-instrumentalist Mark Cook (mainly Warr guitar and keyboards) and drummer Jason Spradlin – both ex-members of 99 Names...

 » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Hidria Spacefolk - Astronautica

For their fifth studio disc, this Finnish six-piece presents five long tracks that represent more of an extension and refinement of their own brand of groove laden space rock, evolving from the...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Hillmen - The Whiskey Mountain Sessions

Hillmen is an improvisational four-piece featuring drummer Peter Hillman, the Topanga contingent of Djam Karet – Gayle Ellett on organ and electric piano and guitarist Mike Murray, plus track...

 » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Ian Anderson - Thick as a Brick 2

One might ask why a monumental progressive rock classic like Thick as a Brick needs a sequel at all, and if the sequel does any justice to the original. After 40 years, the answer to the...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Indrek Patte - Celebration

Patte is an Estonian composer, multi-instrumentalist and singer, and a veteran of several bands – the only one of which this writer is familiar with is Ruja. Here he delivers eight superbly arranged...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Jaggery - Private Violence

There's no overestimating the impact Kate Bush has had on music, especially for many female musicians who found in her a model for how to be successful (musically if not commercially) and...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Janel and Anthony - Where Is Home

Knowing that Janel and Anthony play cello and guitar doesn't tell you much about what to expect on this album. While those two instruments are prominent on every track, the variety of sounds heard...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Japonize Elephants - Mélodie Fantastique

Perhaps this is one of the most eclectic bands around, nothing quite like their mix of styles and influences. Although it's been ten years since their last album 40 Years of Our Family, I...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Jim Matus & Doug Raneri - While Sleeping, Watch

Many will know Jim Matus from his main band Mawwal, a highly impressive world-fusion ensemble that features four regular players and numerous guests. Here he plays his Laoutar exclusively (an...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Johnny Unicorn - Sweet Edith & Thinking Hard

Currently based in Seattle, by way of SoCal, Johnny Unicorn produces a twisted and offbeat take on progressive art-pop, which is at once intelligent and ambitious, full of brilliant writing, arranging...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Julie Slick - Terroir

Bassist Julie Slick's second solo album comes after extensive performing with Adrian Belew in his Power Trio on the Two of a Perfect Trio tour, and many of her bandmates from that experience show up...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Kharmina Buranna - Seres Humanos

This is the second full length release by this Peruvian sextet, featuring drums, bass, acoustic and electric guitars, flute, keyboards and vocals. There are four mid-length instrumental tracks, plus...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Kotebel - Concerto for Piano and Electric Ensemble

Opening this latest offering from Carlos Plaza's Kotebel is the 43-minute, four part title suite, which is ostensibly a piece of serious symphonic music arranged for piano (played by Adriana Nathalie...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Lars Hollmer - Med Mjölad Hand (Skisser) / With Floury Hand (Sketches)

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly four years since this talented musician, composer and arranger suddenly left this world shortly after the release of the gorgeous album Andetag....  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Level ∏ - Dunkelstunde

In the dark days of January 2012, Uwe Cremer (aka Level ∏) released his third full-length solo album Dunkelstunde, seven magical tales to while away your quiet and sleepy winter...  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2013-04-01)

Luiz Perez - En el Ombligo de la Luna

One of the earliest examples of "Prehispanic Fusion," a style combining the pre-colonial music of Mexico with modern electronics and progressive rock, channeling the spirit of ancient cultures. The...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Luz de Riada - Cuentos y Fábulas

Cuentos y Fábulas is the debut album by Luz de Riada, a new collective from Mexico City featuring woodwind player Ramses Luna (Cabezas de Cera) and Hugo Santos (Saena) on Stick and...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Magma - Félicité Thösz

Since Magma reformed in the late 1990s, the band has been releasing mostly live albums and DVDs of their classic material, and two extended pieces of music (Köhntarkösz Anteria...

 » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Mars Hollow - World in Front of Me

Not content to rest on the laurels of their well-received 2010 debut, LA-based quartet Mars Hollow have returned quickly with their sophomore effort. This one has also rapidly garnered praise from...  » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

Mawwal - High Hills in the Creaving Road

It seems like just yesterday that I was reviewing Mawwal's 2011 release Sight Up and wondering what they could do to top that excellent disc, but they have. As evolution goes, the distance...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Mawwal - Sight Up

Mawwal, on their third release, continue the refinement of their fusion of traditional world elements with the power of the rock idiom on these eight new studio tracks. Band leader Jim Matus (laouto,...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Modified Toy Orchestra - Plastic Planet

This six-piece plays no conventional instruments of any kind, unless you count the Kawasaki Tiger guitar, Golden Touch book strips, Lego Bear Head, Texas Instruments' Speak & Spell, Hula Barbie,...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Moksha - Here to Go

A surprisingly superb second release from this Las Vegas based quintet (g,b,d,k,voc), finding a musical home somewhere between rock, funk and jazz, with some solid bluesy and progressive elements in...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Niklas Barker - El Último Fin de Semana

Most will know Barker as a founding member and longtime guitarist of Anekdoten. On El Último Fin de Semana (Our last Weekend), he was...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Noa - Noa

The original release of this album from 1980 was not known to me until Soleil Zeuhl's reissue landed in front of me, but it's definitely not from lack of quality. This could be regarded as a lost...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Northcore - Desatero

Northcore is the London based duo of Carl Gibbons and Jana Tillotson. Their music combines floating ambient electronics along with what would be more typically called sequenced electronica (think...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Omnia Opera - Nothing Is Ordinary

It’s been a long time – fifteen years I reckon, since the band's second CD release Red Shift, which itself was a full four years after their first, following two cassette releases going...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

One Shot - Live in Tokyo

At this point all our readers should be aware of One Shot, with several studio albums to their credit, an outstanding live album Vendredi 13 from around ten years ago, a DVD, and a North...

 » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Operation ID - Legs

After seeing Operation ID on a bill with Moraine and Wah Wah Exit Wound in Seattle, I knew this band was something special, with a quirky and intelligent take on indie rock, too poppish for "math" but...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Outopsya - Fake

Evan Mazzucchi (bass, cello, art) and Luca Vianini (guitars, vocals, synths, drums) are Outopsya, or OUT Of PSYchical Activity, an avant-garde progressive techno-noise post-rock collective. Across the...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Panzerpappa - Astromalist

It's good to see Panzerpappa back in action again, this being their first album in around six or seven years, now signed to the Rune Grammofon label. Even in their humble beginnings with self-released...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Pendragon - Passion

Passion marks the conclusion of a trilogy of records that started with 2005's Believe, followed by 2008's Pure. Each was part of Pendragon's "five year plan" to present a...  » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

Pixel - Reminder

This new Norwegian jazz quartet features drums, double bass, trumpet, tenor and soprano sax, and vocals. Bandleader Ellen Andrea Wang is the lead voice and double bass, and also responsible for all...

 » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Pravda - The Clarity of Chaos

This Pravda (not to be confused with other bands by the same name) hails from Idaho, in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. The trio features keyboards, drums, and a guitarist doubling on bass, with all...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Resistencia Chaco - Una Puerta Roja en Algún Lugar de la República Checa

Images of a red door, a burned out building, a knife, cockroaches, and somewhere in the Czech Republic. It's not my Spanish language comprehension shortcomings that will prevent me from elaborating...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Richard Pinhas - L'Ethique

Even for those of us who were listening to music in 1982, when this was first released, it's hard to really recreate the experience of hearing something in that time. Unfortunately, I...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Rush - Clockwork Angels

For most of Rush's fans the music on the Canadian trio's 19th studio album won't come as a complete surprise. The songs "Caravan" and "BU2B" were released a couple...

 » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

Salim Ghazi Saeedi - Human Encounter & Iconophobic

When you think of Iran, all kinds of thoughts and images related to current events may be conjured up, but not progressive music. Apparently there is a small musical community there, as evidenced by...  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2013-04-01)

São Paolo Underground - Trés Cabeças Loucuras

Here's another Cuneiform release that defies description. Is it jazz? Folk? Electronica? The correct answer is all of the above. If Soft Machine had come from Brazil and were just starting today, I...  » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

Scherzoo - 02

Barely a year after their important debut release, Scherzoo – led by drummer François Thollot, is back with an impressive second helping of instrumental tracks. The band has the same membership, a...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Schober's Cabinet - It Is in the Wrong Envelope

If this wasn't recorded in 1967, it sure sounds like it was. Lo-fi and hi-psychedelic, the vintage guitar sounds, Farfisa organ, and experimental drug-laced wanderings of the closing track "Tables"...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

ScienceNV - Last Album before the End of Time

ScienceNV (say "science envy," nothing to do with NV, Nevada...) is a San Francisco Bay Area band, of which the four members all work in scientific or mathematical endeavors whenever they...

 » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Sebastian Hardie - Blueprint

Who woulda thunk, that 35 years after Four Moments and Windchase, Sebastian Hardie's two classic albums from the 70s, the four original members could get back...

 » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Serge Bringolf - Strave

Magma has been known to lean into jazzy territory from time to time, and the Canterbury bands (Soft Machine, Matching Mole) did so even more strongly. Bringolf brings elements of both zeuhl and...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Serge Bringolf / Strave - Vision

While there was only a year between Bringolf's first double LP Strave, and its follow up, the single LP Vision, the lineup changes were extensive – in fact only singer Mano Kuhn, a...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Seven That Spells - The Death and Resurrection of Krautrock: AUM

Hailing from Croatia, Seven That Spells redefines krautrock by extending its simple riffs and motorik drumming into dark stoner and doom-laden corridors. Make no mistake; this is loud and aggressive...  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2013-04-01)

Snapline - Future Eyes & Phenomena

Going strictly on listening to these two CDs, which share many track titles, you might guess that Phenomena is a collection of demos for Future Eyes. The Phenomena tracks...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Spock's Beard - The X Tour - Live

This set marks the end of an era for Spock's Beard. The tour in support of the 2010 album X was the last to include founding member, drummer, and singer Nick D'Virgilio. As with...

 » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

St Vincent - Strange Mercy

In some ways Annie Clark's third album under the pseudonym St. Vincent is a close sibling to previous efforts (2007's Marry Me and 2009's Actor). Most notably, Clark still wraps...  » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

Steve Hackett - Beyond the Shrouded Horizon

Maybe he had their honeymoon on his brain, but Steve Hackett's first studio offering following his second marriage plays out like a musical travelog, reinforced by the exotic imagery on the...

 » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning

Steven Wilson's sophomore solo effort includes 12 tracks across two disks (assuming you didn't spring for one of the umpteen other editions or formats available) and the consensus opinion is that he...  » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

Stick Men - Open

After 2011's Absalom, this is the second release by the Markus Reuter version of Stick Men, and it's a very different beast than that album. Rather than tightly composed, intimately rehearsed...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion

I was surprised at the disappointment expressed in some corners about this disk. Many seem to have expected a collaboration between Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) and Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth) to yield...  » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

Sunbirds - Sunbirds

Sunbirds was a short lived group of international jazz musicians based in Munich in the early 1970s, together long enough to record two albums, of which this is the first. Most of the members had...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Syzygy - A Glorious Disturbance

Nobody can accuse Syzygy of glutting the market with too much product; this lavish three-disc live package is only the band's fourth release in twenty years, but for anyone not yet familiar with this...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Taylor's Universe - Kind of Red

With each subsequent 'Universe' release, guitarist Robin Taylor's vision reaches a new level of refinement, and the latest, Kind of Red, is yet another step along that enlightening path. The...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

The Goblin Market - Beneath Far Gondal's Foreign Sky

The Goblin Market is an occasional project of Jeff Kelly and Laura Weller, both of whom are probably better known as members of The Green Pajamas. Their other collaborators are Emily, Charlotte,...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

The Green Pajamas - Death by Misadventure

Think about Odessey and Oracle, S.F. Sorrow, and Pet Sounds. All classics of a particular era, and all sharing a similar aesthetic that combined psychedelic rock with a...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

The Machine - Calmer Than You Are

The third and latest release by this Dutch trio combines dark passages of moody introspection with hard edged heavy stoner rock, mixing in some tasty classic psychedelic elements along that path. The...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

The Pretty Things - Honey, I Need / I Can Never Say

The Pretty Things have been around for over 50 years and are arguably the best R'n'B band the UK ever produced. One of the founding fathers, guitarist Dick Taylor, was originally with the Rolling...  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2013-04-01)

Tohpati Ethnomission - Selamatkan Bumi (Save the Planet)

This album has so much going for it I'm not sure where to begin. When you start it up, you hear a brief bit of bass, an interesting ambient wash of indistinct notes, and some echoing flute. Then the...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Tony Levin, David Torn, Alan White - Levin Torn White

Tony Levin and David Torn are no strangers to improvisational instrumental music, but the name that caught everyone's attention in this outing is drummer Alan White. It's been many moons since Alan...  » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

Trois Expatriates - Conspiracy Weary

I suppose that given who these trois expatriates are (though I'm not sure they count as actual expatriates in any legal sense), it should come as no surprise that the music is totally nuts....  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2013-04-01)

Unit Wail - Pangaea Proxima

A new vision of darkness with some Zeuhlish touches, Unit Wail is a French five-piece playing the compositions of keyboardist Vincent Sicot Vantalon, twelve pieces in all, but also noteworthy is the...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Various Artists - A Sepiachord Passport

There is a sub-genre of speculative fiction called Steampunk (see Wikipedia) and a corresponding musical sub-genre. For many...

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(Posted by Henry Schneider 2013-04-01)

Various Artists - Prog Exhibition – 40 Anni di Musica Immaginifica

How can a box set that took me nearly a week to work my way through (it was a wonderful week indeed!) be condensed into a review of less than 5000 words? This writer will attempt to do the...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Various Artists - Psychedelic Underground 16

The Garden of Delights label has a long history of issuing compilations pulled from their vast library of mostly obscure, German prog and psych bands from the 70s. Entry 16 moves the series forward in...  » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2013-04-01)

Various Artists - Sorrow's Children - The Songs of S.F. Sorrow

In 1968, The Pretty Things recorded and released the first rock opera, six months ahead of Tommy. The basic story is about a man driven into a dark mental seclusion where he suffers from...  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2013-04-01)

Vital Information - Live! One Great Night

Smith, who was the drummer for Journey during their rise to fame in the 1977-84 period exited that band at the height of their fame to concentrate on his Vital Information project which had started a...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Voltaire - Spooky Songs for Creepy Kids

Aurelio Voltaire Hernández aka Voltaire is a popular dark cabaret Cuban-American musician. He is also an experienced animator, comic artist, and a professor at the School of Visual Arts...  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2013-04-01)

Yggdrasil - Yggdrasil

When discussing the rarest of rare titles in the archives of German rock history, this six-piece band from Munich has to be at the top of the scarcity list. Only 10 metal acetate copies of exist of...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Yūgen - Mirrors

With three outstanding studio albums behind them, last years' RIO festival seemed like an excellent opportunity to capture the band in a live setting. The material here, drawn mostly from the band's...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Zoppo Trump - Zoppo Trump

In the annals of German progressive rock, there are bands that are known by many, some that are known by a few, and some that unfairly never got their chance. Zoppo Trump is one such band. Their mix...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)