Another Norwegian band that has escaped my attention until now is Airbag, though they have been around since 2004. Now Karisma Records is reissuing remastered versions of their second and third...
» Read more[Regarding All Rights Removed:]
Airbag is a young Norwegian quintet whose 2009 debut, Identity, received positive reviews and helped garner concert appearances...
» Read morePerhaps you’ve read some of the recent reviews we’ve posted of guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader and composer Matt Smith of the 6 String Ranch in Austin, Texas. He’s...
» Read moreMark “Moogy” Klingman had a long association with Todd Rundgren, and was one of the founding members of Utopia, appearing on the band’s first studio album and Another...
» Read moreAlthough 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 moreAnother one of the bright spots on the shaky Germanofon roster, Orange Peel were a one-shot that put out a great album in 1970 and then disappeared. The music is typical of early German groups more...
» 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 moreI’m not going to call this a new release, nor is it a reissue either. It’s been out there for seven years already, languishing without any real distribution, the only difference between...
» Read moreI’ve been debating with myself about how I would review this collection of music, individual reviews or one combined review. Jack Dupon’s music is difficult to describe, so instead of...
» Read more[Regarding Démon Hardi]
An up-and-coming four-piece from the Auvergne region of France, there is nobody named Jack in the band – kind of like that other band...
» Read moreFollowing on Karisma’s release of King for a Day in 2015, the label has gone to Magic Pie’s back catalog and re-released the first three albums. In 2005 they put out...
» Read moreWith the sad passings of Canterbury icons Elton Dean and Hugh Hopper, the reformulated quartet continues to carry on convincingly in the vein of the great icon of British Jazz. Now led by the...
» Read moreStraight ahead jazz with a flair for the avant – that’s Friday the 13th, the latest from The Microscopic Septet. This is the band’s tribute to Thelonious Monk, featuring...
» Read moreDave Brock has been the one steady member of Hawkwind for nearly 30 years (the band's first album was released in 1971). In a band that has witnessed over 30 personnel changes over that time,...
» Read moreWith the lawsuit over the Wishbone Ash band name finalized in Andy Powell's favor, in 2014 "Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash" became "Martin Turner Ex-Wishbone Ash." Late...
» Read moreAs far as Embryo albums go, Bad Heads and Bad Cats is one of the cornerstones of their career in the early to mid-70s, a turning point where the band was celebrating its new-found freedom...
» Read moreHere we have domestic releases of the consummate Krautrock band’s early albums. Though not as quotable to neo-Kraut hipsters as Can, Faust, Kraftwerk and Neu! — Ash Ra Tempel were...
» Read moreHere we have domestic releases of the consummate Krautrock band’s early albums. Though not as quotable to neo-Kraut hipsters as Can, Faust, Kraftwerk and Neu! — Ash Ra Tempel were...
» Read moreHere we have domestic releases of the consummate Krautrock band’s early albums. Though not as quotable to neo-Kraut hipsters as Can, Faust, Kraftwerk and Neu! — Ash Ra Tempel were...
» Read moreOf all the 60s / 70s classic groups out there, maybe the one I'm most fatigued by is Pink Floyd. A year or two ago I had a chance to listen to the Dark Side of the Moon box that had...
» Read moreThe story of this band begins in May 1976 when bassist and guitarist Michael Lippert and drummer Claus Lange, together with keyboard player Gerd Schmelzer and guitarist Reinhard Olschanski, all...
» Read moreAs 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 moreIn all the music I've heard from Kevin Kastning (both with and without his frequent collaborator Sándor Szabó), one thing that has not been present is any kind of percussion....
» Read moreFor their fifth album, Triptych, guitarists Kevin Kastning (USA) and Sándor Szabó (Hungary) are joined by Hungarian percussionist Balázs Major. As one might expect...
» Read moreMaybe 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 moreHerd 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 moreIn their promotional photos, the members of Rainbow Danger Club pose in costumes reminiscent of characters from Jules Verne stories, and I've heard they do the same when performing live. Which...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Second Tier
The first Can I heard when I was in high school was Future Days. At the time, finding any of the earlier albums wasn't particularly easy,...
» Read moreThe 40th Anniversary version of Tago Mago (an album I wrote about in my second tier) came out in 2011 as a 2CD limited edition and disappeared soon thereafter, unfortunately in this time...
» Read moreA few days after I got New Album, I mentioned to a friend that I was really enjoying the new Boris CD. He gave me a funny look and said, "I didn't figure you for the...
» Read moreA few days after I got New Album, I mentioned to a friend that I was really enjoying the new Boris CD. He gave me a funny look and said, "I didn't figure you for the...
» Read moreA few days after I got New Album, I mentioned to a friend that I was really enjoying the new Boris CD. He gave me a funny look and said, "I didn't figure you for the...
» Read moreThis 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 moreEight years since their last studio release, Floyd have come forward with another fine collection of songs, with no real surprises — their timeless style intact — this could just as...
» Read moreThe final two albums by this seminal British band, always seeming to straddle the line between many styles, have finally been brought to CD. Unlike the early albums, which were solidly committed to...
» Read moreThe final two albums by this seminal British band, always seeming to straddle the line between many styles, have finally been brought to CD. Unlike the early albums, which were solidly committed to...
» Read moreMichael Altenberger (aka Mike Oldhill) is a German progressive rock multi-instrumentalist. Eleven Explorers is his debut release and quite an ambitious project! It is a concept album...
» Read moreA new Thinking Plague album is always cause for celebration, especially when eight years elapse between them. But given the defiantly un-commercial and brutally difficult nature of the music...
» Read moreLed by composer/keyboardist Alfredo Tisocco, and fronted by vocalist Donella del Monaco, Opus Avantra – much like their name might imply, offers a music based in avant-garde classicism mixed...
» Read moreGösta Berlings Saga occupies a no-band's-land in between the realms of progressive rock, post-rock, math-rock, and RIO, with elements of all but not fitting completely in any of those...
» Read moreThe East Bay area (Oakland and surrounding) has produced some interesting musical hybrids of late. A lot of that no doubt has to do with Fred Frith’s involvement with the esteemed Mills...
» Read moreMusic that pleases the head and music that pleases the heart can be very different things. (Speaking symbolically, of course — aside from the physical experience of loud sounds thumping the...
» Read moreWho 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 moreNYC-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 moreThis is the tenth album by bassist Mike Sary and company, which this time (for the most part) includes ex-Boud Deun / current Prester John guitarist Shawn Persinger, drummer Jeff Gard, Adam Huffer...
» Read moreOne of the most alluring aspects of Italian progressive rock from 1972-1977 is the wide array of tonal coloring, particularly due to experimentation with analog synthesizers. This was a completely...
» Read moreThe first thing to say is that I really love King Crimson in all its incarnations. But it is not unconditional, unquestioning love; I do love some of the incarnations more than others. My main...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Second Tier
This title's the first of three Ash Ra Tempel classics. It's a bit difficult to tell where Ash Ra Tempel and Manuel Göttsching begin and...
» Read moreBest 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....
» Read moreAt 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 moreAfter close to twenty years on the scene, this Italian band continues to evolve and surprise, providing something new and unique with each new release. Le Roi du Monde (King of the...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Second Tier
The final album of the Ohr years would show the solidification of the classic Froese-Franke-Baumann trio and would perhaps show the influence of the...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Top Tier #25
I first heard this one fairly early in the CD age after having explored Tangerine Dream through what was probably Underwater Sunlight around...
» Read moreReptet fits squarely into that stream of jazz bands that contains the Lounge Lizards, Microscopic Septet, the Tiptons, and so on: crazy arrangements, skilled playing, influences drawn from both...
» Read moreThe long-awaited and much-anticipated DVD recording of their monumental performance in Seoul, South Korea on October 8, 2011 is finally available. This two DVD set presents their entire live...
» Read moreWhen I last checked in with Alpine Decline (reviewing their first two releases), this LA...
» Read moreMurple is one of the countless Italian one-shots who released one rare album and disappeared off of the face of the earth. Their style was typical of the era – a classical/symphonic rock in...
» Read moreSometimes 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 moreAfter MIA, Lito Vitale launched his solo career with Sobre Miedos, Creencias y Supersticiones, an ambitious album of powerful symphonic rock. Here, Lito plays just about everything: piano,...
» Read moreBelle Antique has gone all out on their most recent set of reissues — the backlog of the brilliant Argentine ensemble M.I.A. M.I.A. was multi-instrumentalist (mainly keys) Lito Vitale's...
» Read moreBelle Antique has gone all out on their most recent set of reissues — the backlog of the brilliant Argentine ensemble M.I.A. M.I.A. was multi-instrumentalist (mainly keys) Lito Vitale's...
» Read moreBelle Antique has gone all out on their most recent set of reissues — the backlog of the brilliant Argentine ensemble M.I.A. M.I.A. was multi-instrumentalist (mainly keys) Lito Vitale's...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Top Tier #6
This favorite almost came about by accident to some extent. Years before this was released, the DVD called Electric Miles - A Different Kind of...
» Read moreThis set was recorded live at the Gouveia Art Rock festival in Portugal (yes, it's spelled wrong on the CD cover), and it finds Amarok in fine form. They play some of the most memorable tunes...
» Read moreIn the frenzy to keep up with all the new releases that come out every month, it’s still worthwhile to keep an eye and ear out for things that slipped through the cracks and escaped notice...
» Read moreThis is the third (apparently) and best-known release by this obscure (outside Greece, anyway) Greek band. This album was made famous by guest-keyboardist Vangelis. And while it's true that...
» Read moreThinking back to when Yes released Drama in 1980, there was some debate about whether Yes without Jon Anderson was really Yes. That question aside, the album had some great tunes on it,...
» Read moreIf you take the gonzo-zeuhl of Ruins and graft it onto the kind of fiery fusion played by early Mahavishnu Orchestra, you get...
» Read moreThat's Voice as in "finding your voice," not indicating that there is vocal music on this CD. It's the Hiromi Uehara we know and love (at least I do) with a different...
» Read moreI think it was my colleague Mike McLatchey who once jokingly said that in Italy in the 70s, there were more prog bands than there were fans. As such there were plenty of fine bands who fell through...
» Read moreThis Projekt compilation is the follow up to their successful Dark Cabaret 1 released in 2005. This new collection consists of 12 decadent, alluring, twisted, demonic, and sometimes savage...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Second Tier
Released the month after their performance at Woodstock, Santana's follow up to their excellent debut made music history. Sporting an iconic Mati...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Second Tier
No matter how many times a young future guitarist will plug his or her axe into an amp and echo/delay pedal in years to come, this sixth album by Manuel...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Second Tier
I've checked off Zeit, Phaedra, and Rubycon so far and have two more this round. The first of these is the group's...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Second Tier
In many ways Join Inn could be seen as the first Ash Ra Tempel Mk II. It too had a side of intense psychedelic rock and a side bliss-out, all...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Second Tier
Crucis weren't the only brilliant Argentinian 70s group, but I'm not sure they were quite as young as some of the players in the collective...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Second Tier
I first heard PFM when I was 17 and a friend sold me a copy of The World Become the World for 50 cents. I liked it but wasn't really drawn...
» Read moreAnother one from the Trident label. In the early 70s The Trip produced three fairly unremarkable albums as a four-piece led by guitarist/singer Billy Gray. After the 1972 album Atlantide,...
» Read moreIt's been a number of years since the Tony Levin Band was active, though of course Mr. Levin himself has been busy, with a couple of solo albums and frequent work as bassist-for-hire. Stick Men is...
» Read moreAnyone hearing this disc for the very first time might well conclude that this is the weirdest album ever produced. On one level there is an Orwellian concept running through all the tracks, but...
» Read moreOne of the last incarnations of Nucleus from the late 70s featured Carr along with long-time cohort Brian Smith on reeds. Geoff Castle, Billy Kristian, and Roger Sellers rounded out this version of...
» Read moreIn the Present is a three-disk audio and video document (2 CD, 1 DVD) of Yes on stage in Lyon, France during their 2009 tour. In retrospect this was not Yes’ finest hour. Online sniping...
» Read moreGus Buzbee is a Houston-based singer songwriter who has worked as a engineer and musician over the past 40 years and has been voted best acoustic guitarist by the Houston Readers' Poll....
» Read moreHow 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...
» Read moreAcqua 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
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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Birch Book - Vol. II: Fortune & Folly – Birch Book is in reality singer/songwriter/guitarist Michael B'eirth (also known as B'ee), a rising star in the acid-folk and psych-folk scene. Fortune & Folly breaks down into two halves, the... (2008) » Read more
Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet - Tabligh – Wadada Leo Smith is known to many fans as the joint leader of the Yo Miles! projects that spawned a new audience for heavy groove inflected fusion. Tabligh is a cousin of that groove, but it’s... (2008) » Read more
Daniel J - Losing Time – Daniel J (Jakubovic) is the lead guitarist of gigging New York based metal quartet Against the Wall. The young fret-bender adopts a mode of self-reliance in the course of thirteen tracks of prog metal... (2006) » Read more
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Grand Opening and Closing – It sounds cheesy to admit but the cover art for this CD is what I thought most impressive about it. Independent releases are usually fraught with problems in presentation. But SGM come at you with a... (2001) » Read more
Mr. Bungle - California – No one could ever rightfully accuse Mr. Bungle of stylistic monotony. Their three albums have been about everywhere on the map, and a few places that aren’t on any maps. That said, California... (2000) » Read more