Exposé Online » Reviews of releases for 2014

ToPaRaMa - ToPaRaMa

The publicity for this release said it didn't sound like a "drummer's album," the implication presumably being that a drummer's album would be a bad thing. But for ToPaRaMa,...

Gato Libre - DuDu

The more one listens to this, the more interesting it gets. Gato Libre is an unusual four-piece ensemble led by Japanese trumpeter Natsuki Tamura; they’ve been a going concern for about ten...

Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York - Shiki

The work of composer and pianist Satoko Fujii comes in many forms, and this is a large ensemble that she maintains for recording projects in New York. The opening title, clocking in at some 36+...

Erik Wøllo - Timelines

Like a soft brush to massage your brain, Erik Wøllo’s music doesn’t quite fit squarely into a lot of different pigeonholes (ambient, electronic, etc.), but it does find reference...

July - The Second of July

The British band that released a super rare self-titled album in 1968 and subsequently disappeared should, by now, be known to all connoisseurs of classic period British psychedelic music. At the...

Burnt Belief - Etymology

With their second collaborative release, Colin Edwin and Jon Durant have taken their previous album's title as a band name. I haven't heard Burnt Belief (the album), so I can't...

It's a Beautiful Day - Live at the Fillmore West

I remember around the time CDs first hit the market back in the 80s, I went out and bought a top-of-the-line Carver receiver, and figuring that I should modernize and be an early adopter to the new...

Alan Davey's Psychedelic Warlords - Captain Lockheed & Mountain Grill Live

Fans of classic Hawkwind have had plenty to celebrate in recent years. In addition to new music from various people associated with the band, Alan Davey in particular has been revisiting the...

Alan Davey's Psychedelic Warlords - Captain Lockheed & Mountain Grill Live

Fans of classic Hawkwind have had plenty to celebrate in recent years. In addition to new music from various people associated with the band, Alan Davey in particular has been revisiting the...

Led Bib - The People in Your Neighbourhood

I've been hearing about Led Bib for a while now, but somehow actually hearing them didn't occur until this new recording arrived. This is one case where the hype is justified. This English...

Cary Heuchert - Blue Rain

Heuchert is a western Canadian (Vancouver, BC) based singer-songwriter and multi-instumentalist, originally from Saskatoon in Canada’s midwest. Blue Rain, his second full length...

Various Artists - Postcards from the Deep

This new set of singles from FdM has got to be one of the most unusual packaging concepts ever released. Those of us who have been collecting and listening to music since the 60s/70s will remember...

Mostly Autumn - Dressed in Voices

Mostly Autumn has been around since the 90s and released a zillion albums during that time, many of which are documents of live shows in their native England, but this is the first time this writer...

Moraine - Groundswell

Far from just another Moraine album, this Seattle based five-piece is evolving by leaps and bounds with each new release, and Groundswell offers ample evidence of this growth. The band...

Dewa Budjana - Surya Namaskar

Indonesian guitarist Dewa Budjana has adopted a much more loose and improvisational style on his seventh solo endeavor (and his third for Moonjune), much of which was recorded in Los Angeles in...

Grok - The Anthology 1964-2014

Grok was (and still is) a Baltimore based band that never got signed during their original run in the early 70s, but nonetheless made numerous demo recordings which are all remixed and included...

Causa Sui - Live at Freak Valley

This Danish instrumental stoner-rock powerhouse has finally released their first official live album, and given that their eight previous studio releases (or three releases and two box sets, as it...

Causa Sui - Pewt'r Sessions 3

While it’s not clear if this is a third part of the Pewt’r Sessions 1 & 2 originally released in 2012, or newer recordings from this year, one thing is absolutely clear:...

Clearlight - Impressionist Symphony

This is the latest cornerstone in Cyrille Verdeaux’ ongoing Clearlight project. Those familiar with the original Clearlight Symphony, the more recent Infinite Symphony, and...

PoiL - Brossaklitt

Madness comes in many forms, and this, the third release by this French avant-garde trio, gives the listener a full dose and takes no prisoners. Sometimes I want to just cover my ears and run from...

Gut und Irmler - 500m

Gudrun Gut is a German electronic musician who began her career in the late 70s. Along the way she was an early member of Einstürzende Neubauten. Harsh industrial rhythms and beats have been...

Air Canda - Air Canda

I just recently discovered this Russian band, and it has turned out to be one of those “Where have you been all my life” things. Given that this 2014 release is their only album to...

Kalutaliksuak - Death of the Alpinist

This Russian band’s name gives a clue about their musical interests. It is named, so they say, after a goddess from the mythology of Arctic peoples, a “malicious but dull-witted”...

Jack Dupon - Démon Hardi, Bascule à Vif, Tête de Chien & Les Ronfleurs Dorment

I’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...

Djam Karet - Regenerator 3017

Djam Karet’s latest (their 17th album) is meant to be something of a celebration of the band’s 30th anniversary together, featuring all the original band members – that means...

Jü Meets Møster - Jü Meets Møster

To be honest, before this CD arrived, I'd never heard of Kjetil Møster or Jü, but the intersection of noisy guitars and outside sax playing is something that interests me greatly,...

Indigo Mist - That the Days Go by and Never Come Again

For some years now, jazz and electronics have interfaced in various ways, from the dance-oriented Blue Note remixes to the experimentation of Spring Heel Jack. I suppose you could trace the origin...

Levin Brothers - Levin Brothers

While brothers Pete and Tony Levin have both had enormously successful careers – Pete as keyboard player working with jazz greats like Gil Evans, Jaco Pastorius, Lenny White, John Scofield,...

Pavlov's Dog - The Pekin Tapes

In 1973, nearly two years before the release of their major label debut Pampered Menial, Pavlov’s Dog from St. Louis, by that time already grown from their beginnings as a quartet of...

Sonar - Static Motion

It seems like only a few weeks ago I was reviewing Sonar’s previous album A Flaw of Nature, and...

Mats / Morgan - [schack tati]

One recurring trope of martial arts movies is the transcendent master who has skills beyond those of normal mortals, capabilities that defy gravity and reason. Leaping buildings, executing...

Matushka - Mestopolozenie

I am reaching the end of the Russian releases and Mestopolozhenie by Matushka from 2014 is one of the best. Think of a Russian Carlton Melton or Wooden Shijps and you will have some idea...

Various Artists - The Grand Astoria / Montenegro

Here we have an interesting split release by Russia’s The Grand Astoria and Argentina’s Montenegro. Each band contributed one long track — The Grand Astoria’s is “The...

Various Artists - Addicted Blues

Addicted Blues is a three-way split of metal / stoner rock / sludge doom by Ukranian band Torf, Russian band Thy Grave, and Finlanders Sixpackgods. Just the band names and the album...

Brom (БРОМ) - Belmo (Бельмо)

Бром (Brom) is the Russian trio of sax, bass, and drums with six Bandcamp releases to their credit, the most recent just released in October 2018. This review covers their third release,...

Syndone - Odysséas

I haven’t heard Syndone’s previous releases, but I’ve got to say they nailed it on this one. “It” being a modern take on some classic Italian symphonic prog sounds...

Det Skandaløse Orkester - No Er det Skandale Igjen! & Tenk Om Noen Ser Deg

So here’s a question for you. If you didn’t understand any English, how much would you enjoy Frank Zappa’s music? (I’ll allow that for some listeners, it’s the words...

Robbie Gennet - Gleams

With Gleams, Robbie Gennet has produced a set of very appealing sophisticated songs that draw on a long history of good music. I am reminded of such classics as Goodbye Yellow Brick...

Spectrum Orchestrum - Suburbs

Spectrum Orchestrum is a five-piece organic jazz-rock ensemble from Lille, France, that began their journey in 2007, Suburbs being their first full length CD release – although four...

Dekonstruktor - Eating the Universe & Fuck Life We Go Further

Russian progressive doom metal band Dekonstruktor was formed in 2014 out of the band Moon Mistress. Their first cassettes, Eating the Universe and Fuck Life We Go Further, have...

Xavi Reija - Resolution

At the core of this trio is composer and drummer Xavi Reija, just shredding his kit with brutal complex polyrhythms, leaving the listener breathless in its wake. In close range are the heavy funk...

Jambinai - Différance

Like many people around the world, I first heard of Jambinai when they played at the Seoul Winter Olympics closing ceremony in February of 2018. I was so intrigued by the combination of Korean...

Tineke Postma / Greg Osby - Sonic Halo

Tineke Postma is an up-and-coming star in the world of jazz sax players, specializing in soprano and alto; Greg Osby, by comparison, is an elder statesman, though he's only in his 50s. Osby has...

Virus - Revelation & Thoughts

Virus began as one of the most powerful proponents of German psychedelic rock in the early 70s, formed after some changes in their previous band Man’s World (departure of their bassist and...

Temnee - Astrodiving EP & Dialectics

Temnee is a hard rock / stoner / psych / instrumental band from Tver, Russia that started in 2013. In May 2014 they released their EP Astrodiving on Bandcamp. On Astrodiving,...

Thumbscrew - Thumbscrew

No, Thumbscrew isn't a gloomy death metal band intent on torturing listeners with the musical equivalent of their namesake. It's an avant-jazz trio consisting of Mary Halvorson (guitar),...

The Mercury Tree - Countenance

Charting a course somewhere in the waters between math rock, progressive rock, indie rock, and metal is The Mercury Tree. The sound has elements in common with such diverse bands as Cheer-Accident,...

Raoul Björkenheim - Ecstasy

Ecstasy finds Raoul Björkenheim in a quartet setting with drums, upright bass, and saxophone along with his guitar. The band has been playing together since 2010, and they've...

Node - Node 2

The electronic music world has expanded the sequencer style of mid-70s Tangerine Dream to almost epic proportions — in fact it's very difficult to keep up on everything that comes out...

Autumn Electric - Flowers for Ambrosia

I was quite pleased when I discovered Autumn Electric's previous CD, but I knew their live performances were already including some excellent new material. Flowers for Ambrosia more...

Amoeba Split - Dance of the Goodbyes

The tentacles of Canterbury reach far and wide, but Spain is not all that far, really. This is a reissue of the Spanish quintet’s debut album from 2010, which went out of print within months...

Quimper - Two Magpies

Despite Quimper’s multiple web sites and social media, there is a dearth of information about this London-based band. All that I can determine is that Quimper is the duo of Jodie Lowther and...

Deluge Grander - Heliotians

I last encountered Deluge Grander on their 2009 album The Form of the Good, and missed Heliotians when it came out. That may be because it was released in a limited edition of LPs...

General Mojo's Key Project - General Mojo's Key Project

This Seattle-based five-piece covers a lot of ground, musically speaking, and forever keeps the listener guessing as to what will come next. In general terms (no pun intended) GMKP wanders the...

John Coltrane - Offering - Live at Temple University

As I write, I'm somewhere in the middle of "Leo" on the second disc. It's a fascinating recording overall, possibly due in part to the proceedings being in Coltrane's...

Camera - Remember I Was Carbon Dioxide

Remember I Was Carbon Dioxide is undoubtedly one of the best 2014 releases. It is a solid and consistent release from the opening beat to the dying notes. Each of the twelve instrumentals...

TOC - Haircut

This trio, based in France, is named from taking the first letter of the surname of each of the participants: Fender Rhodes player Jeremie Ternoy, drummer Peter Orins, and guitarist Ivann Cruz. Add...

Circum Grand Orchestra - 12

In 2014, with the heyday of big bands in jazz many decades behind us, it's great to hear musicians forging ahead in this venerable tradition, and not just emulating past styles. We've...

Bjørn Riis - Lullabies in a Car Crash

Bjørn Riis, lead guitarist and main songwriter for Norwegian prog band Airbag has just released his debut solo album Lullabies in a Car Crash. This is a very personal musical...

Accordo dei Contrari - AdC

This Italian quartet had their work cut out for them this time. Topping their previous (2011) release Kublai would not be an easy task, but here just three years later they have managed to...

Fang Chia - Where Would You That We Gather?

Fang Chia's second release is a definite step up from their debut. Once again, it's a DIY affair, but the quality of the recording is good — we are in the age of affordable Digital...

Dirk Serries - The Origin Reversal

Belgian ambient artist Dirk Serries conceived this album in partnership with Projekt Records, which carried his work from the 80s and 90s when he was operating under the moniker vidnaObmana. All...

The Microscopic Septet - Manhattan Moonrise

For all our obsession with music as art, we sometimes forget that it is, at the most basic level, entertainment. Sure, life without music would suck, but you wouldn't actually die without it....

Kevin Kastning / Mark Wingfield - In Stories

Guitarists Kevin Kastning and Mark Wingfield are no strangers to collaboration, In Stories being their fourth since 2011’s I Walked into the Silver Darkness. Their music is...

The Dead Lovers - Supernormal Superstar

I don’t eat a lot of candy bars, but if I did, there would be times I’d want one with nuts and other times one without nuts. And with music I’m sometimes in the mood for something...

Dirk Serries - Origin Reversal

Belgian composer and ambient musician Dirk Serries has a very long musical career starting at age 16 in 1984. For 23 years he created music under the pseudonym Vidna Obmana, Serbian for optical...

Steve Roach - The Delicate Forever

Where are we? Some subterranean grotto? An alien garden? In the hands of ambient artist Steve Roach it’s all up to the listener’s imagination. Roach – with umpteen releases under...

Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks Volume 11: Century II Convention Hall, Wichita, KA 11/17/72

Easily the best show in the Dave's Picks series so far and a pick from the winter tour which hasn't been nearly as well documented on official releases or the trading circuit as the rest of...

Peter Frohmader - Orakel / Tiefe

Released originally as a cassette on Dark Star International in 1986, before ending up on Auricle, this 1983-recorded album is something of a lost classic. I've always thought this was at least...

Gnu Quartet - Karma

Has the fad of symphonic versions of prog classics passed yet? I hope so. I suppose it's a no-brainer to take music that had big bombastic sounds and a heavy leaning toward pre-20th Century...

Soft Hearted Scientists - The Slow Cyclone

Welsh pop-psych rockers Soft Hearted Scientists return this September with their sixth album The Slow Cyclone. Their approach to this new release is very interesting. Clocking in...

Hugh Hopper - Volumes 1 - 4

These are the first four volumes of material compiled for a career spanning ten-disc series celebrating the work of the late Hugh Hopper, best known as the bassist of Soft Machine during the...

Hugh Hopper - Volumes 1 - 4

These are the first four volumes of material compiled for a career spanning ten-disc series celebrating the work of the late Hugh Hopper, best known as the bassist of Soft Machine during the...

Hugh Hopper - Volumes 1 - 4

These are the first four volumes of material compiled for a career spanning ten-disc series celebrating the work of the late Hugh Hopper, best known as the bassist of Soft Machine during the...

Hugh Hopper - Volumes 1 - 4

These are the first four volumes of material compiled for a career spanning ten-disc series celebrating the work of the late Hugh Hopper, best known as the bassist of Soft Machine during the...

Chicago - Live in Japan

It wasn't very long ago that the original CD release of this album was worth a little bit of money, but thankfully Rhino went ahead and got it out affordably. I was originally introduced to...

The Brainiac 5 - Exploding Universe & Space Is the Place

Listening to Brainiac 5 makes me think of Spock’s IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations) philosophy, which goes to show I’m a science fiction geek as much as a music geek....

Carl Weingarten - Life under Stars

With an unparalleled freshness in style, slide guitarist Carl Weingarten offers up another collection of brilliant instrumental ensemble work. Call this pure Americana, informed by equal parts of...

Braindance - Master of Disguise

This is a most elaborate package, with rows of mysterious embossed gold characters on a jet black background on the six panel CD package, with pockets inside for the two booklets – one is a...

Ancient Future - Yearning for the Wind

World fusion ensemble Ancient Future, led by guitarist Matthew Montfort, has been a going concern since the late 70s, although nobody could accuse them of flooding the market with product. From...

Erik Wøllo - Tundra

For electronic musicians, mixing indigenous and folk sources into their work is nothing new. At its worst it can act as a crutch to prop up or cover over uninspired compositions. That’s not...

Glasgow Coma Scale - Apophenia

Glasgow Coma Scale is a band from Frankfurt, Germany formed in 2011 by brothers Piotr and Marek Kowalski. Both are classically trained musicians, Piotr (guitars and synths) and Marek (bass). They...

La 1919 - False Memory Syndrome

La 1919 from Milan has been around since the mid-80s, originally the duo of Piero Chianura (bass and synths) and Luciano Margorani (electric guitar and synths). In the mid-90s they began...

Nuova Idea - Live Anthology

Nuova Idea is an Italian progressive rock band from the 70s who released three albums between 1971 and 1973. They were a keyboard-oriented rock band that played some very aggressive music. Then the...

Markus Reuter - 6 Reflections

Maybe we can blame it on Robert Fripp. He started doing solo performances with the use of a tape recorder back in the 70s, dubbing it Frippertronics and spawning a whole new type of music. Maybe he...

Richard Pinhas / Oren Ambarchi - Tikkun

If an album cover ever fit the music perfectly, this is it. The sound of these two adventurous masters weaving dense interleaving ambient sonic fabrics, at once abrasive and beautiful, morphing...

Richard Pinhas / Yoshida Tatsuya - Welcome... in the Void

When one considers the scope of electronic music, the archetype is generally a passive sound, often floating or sequenced, with smooth edges and colorful melodies; but over yonder in the dark...

Jack o' the Clock - Night Loops

What a difference a year makes. After three excellent albums of mostly acoustic eclectic folk laced with strange pop influences, jugband, classical, chamber, and avant-garde experimentation, Jack...

Markus Reuter - Todmorden 513 & Todmorden 513 Concerto

Music 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...

Quartet Base - Le Diapason

What starts out as the three-part “That Too Much Hurts Me” offers a muscular jazz-rock workout with pounding bass and drums, snarly guitars and squonking saxes with trumpet soloing over...

Montage - Montage

This is the opening salvo by this promising five-piece (g/k/b/d and dedicated vocalist) from Helsinki. Tasty guitar bits are often alternated with full-on hard rock and progressive elements...

Alio Die / Sylvi Alli - Amidst the Circling Spires

Alio Die is the artistic nom-de-plume of Italian ambient dronescape composer Stefano Musso, releasing over two dozen releases either on his own or in collaboration with others since the early 90s....

Holy Palms - Baba & Tribute to Snake Charmers Music

Many of the Western artists who have been inspired by the music of India and the Middle East have gone the acoustic (or near-acoustic) route, others have infused those sounds into space rock,...

Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax II & Future Sequence Live

I'm combining two albums here as the live CD / Blu Ray / DVD differs very little from the studio version in terms of notes — it may be slightly more intense, but everything I can say...

The Allman Brothers Band - The 1971 Fillmore East Recordings

Allman Brothers Live at Fillmore East fell in my second tier. It's one of the most reissued albums out there, and for good reason, it's so good it's easy to wear out copies....

Wang Wen - Eight Horses

By now it seems kind of pointless to argue that there is no such genre as “post-rock.” There are way too many bands around the world with too many similarities to not be a thing. Maybe...

Wadada Leo Smith - The Great Lakes Suites

Wadada Leo Smith has been on a roll lately, producing prominent works, mainly sprawling thematic compositions like Ten Freedom Summers, and The Great Lakes Suites is a formidable...

Stop Motion Orchestra - Instant Everything!

In 2013 there was a viral YouTube video of an elderly lady playing drums in a Wisconsin music store. She was dubbed Grandma Drummer. Austin’s Stop Motion Orchestra used this video as...

Gong - I See You

The two geriatric pothead pixies Daevid Allen (age 76) and Gilli Smyth (81) are still going strong even though Daevid had some recent health issues. As it has been five years since the last Gong...

Various Artists - Songs from the Black Meadow

The Yorkshire moors have long been a land of mystery and imagination. The Black Meadow sits atop these moors where strange things have happened over the years. Professor Roger Mullins of the...

Spoke of Shadows - Spoke of Shadows

A collaborative project led by two Texas musicians, drummer Bill Bachman and Warr guitarist Mark Cook, its genesis following the completion of the latest Herd of Instinct album

Jon Batiste / Chad Smith / Bill Laswell - The Process

The Process gives us bassist/producer extraordinaire Bill Laswell, keyboardist Jon Batistie of The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and drummer Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers in an update...

Arti e Mestieri - Tilt & Giro di Valzer per Domani

Much ink has been spilled about the drumming of Furio Chirico and for good reason: the guy is phenomenal. He is all over the place using all available musical space yet is never bombastic or...

Curved Air - North Star

Who would have thought that a band that’s been around since 1970, gone through numerous personnel changes (with every album), breakups, reconfigurations and reunions, would come back with an...

The Slambovian Circus of Dreams - A Box of Everything

From out of Sleepy Hollow, New York comes the strangely named and genre defying band The Slambovian Circus of Dreams aka Gandalf Murphy and The Slambovian Circus of Dreams aka The Grand...

Billy Sherwood - Divided by One

I assume Billy Sherwood doesn’t believe in vacations. When he’s not producing albums for other musicians (or William Shatner!), masterminding tribute projects, or doing his part with...

Grego Applegate Edwards - Travels in Tyme

If you’ve never heard of Grego Applegate Edwards before, don’t feel too bad, he isn’t exactly a household name, and if he continues to make excellent experimental music like...

Marco Minnemann - EEPS

Most of us are aware of German drummer (by way of Lake Elsinore, CA) Marco Minnemann for his collaborations and work on other peoples’ releases: The Aristocrats, Illegal Aliens, Mike...

Red Hill - Red Hill

Free jazz has been around for decades, and has taken so many forms as to defy analysis, which is of course completely appropriate given the music's nature. If there is a definition of free...

Alex's Hand - Alex's Hand Presents: The Roaches

You read a lot these days about the rise of American "foodie culture" — Americans are getting much more diverse in their eating habits, and restaurants all over the place are...

Pervy Perkin - Ink

If you want to make a statement of ambition, there's probably no better way than to make your debut release a double CD concept album. In spite of the silly band name, these guys mean business....

Greg Segal - A Play of Light and Shadow, The Old Familiar Place & Tales of Today

With his own studio and plenty of time on hand to play and experiment, all kinds of things can be committed to tape (or whatever medium), some fully arranged, some more like embryonic fragmentary...

Greg Segal - A Play of Light and Shadow, The Old Familiar Place & Tales of Today

With his own studio and plenty of time on hand to play and experiment, all kinds of things can be committed to tape (or whatever medium), some fully arranged, some more like embryonic fragmentary...

Greg Segal - A Play of Light and Shadow, The Old Familiar Place & Tales of Today

With his own studio and plenty of time on hand to play and experiment, all kinds of things can be committed to tape (or whatever medium), some fully arranged, some more like embryonic fragmentary...

Phillip Wilkerson & Chris Russell - Vague Traces

Wilkerson and Russell are both new to the Spotted Peccary roster of artists, though both have numerous previous releases to their credit; if Vague Traces is typical of their work, this...

Csillagköd - Silent World

Csillagköd is the Hungarian word for Nebula, and is also the pseudonym of Transylvanian soundscape artist Olivér Dombi on this, his first full-length album (that follows three EP length...

Green Isac - Passengers

As I’ve dropped in on the work of this Norwegian duo through the years, trying to follow their trajectory through a delicate balance of electronica, ethnic percussion and folk, and their...

Darshan Ambient - Songs from the Deep Field

The title refers to one of the better known images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, revealing in a tiny sliver of the sky around 1500 galaxies at various stages of stellar evolution, and...

Zero Ohms - Process of Being

A master of floating atmospherics, Zero Ohms is the alias of wind player and composer Richard Roberts. He has a long list of releases going back to the mid-90s, including several recent...

Rudy Adrian - Atmospheres

Perfect title if there ever was one, and atmospheres are something synthesist Rudy Adrian is a master of, on this title and so many that have come before it. This is in fact his first release since...

Shane Morris & Mystified - Evolution

As the conclusion of the three-part “inspired evolution” soundscape series (the first two being Epoch and Emergence, from 2012 and 2013 respectively),...

DeeperNET - Impossible Landscape

DeeperNET is the nom de plum of Oregon-based musician Andrew Miles. For his sophomore outing he mines the same heavily layered electronic sounds that infused his 2013 debut, One. Fans of...

Matushka - II

From a distance of thousands of miles away from Russia, it seems that there’s a burgeoning psychedelic rock scene there. I don’t know how real that impression is – after all,...

Perfect Beings - Perfect Beings

As far as band names go, this is a hard one to live up to, even if we all had the same idea of perfection. That said, this Southern California five-piece packs an impressive punch on their first...

Alpine Decline - Go Big Shadow City

This is Alpine Decline’s fifth outing – I’ve covered their previous reverb-drenched dark psychedelic releases in previous reviews, and Go Big Shadow City doesn’t...

Magma - Rïah Sahïltaahk

In its original version, “Rïah Sahïltaahk” was the sidelong cut that opened Magma’s second long player 1001° Centigrades way back in 1971. Magma’s...

Latte e Miele - Passio Secundum Mattheum: The Complete Work

Latte e Miele were an Italian symphonic progressive band that released three or four albums, depending upon on how you count them, in the 70s. Passio secundum Mattheum (1972),...

Il Tempio delle Clessidre - Live in Seoul

The 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...

Jaggery - For the Record - Live

Boston's Jaggery have developed a sound that is wholly unique, and it's only partly due to their unusual instrumentation: piano (usually acoustic), bass (often acoustic), drums, viola, and...

The Ed Palermo Big Band - Oh No! Not Jazz!!

On three previous releases, and on half of this one, we hear bandleader Palermo and his big band (eighteen players plus guests this time) covering the music of the late great Frank Zappa. This time...

Icarus Peel vs Mordecai Smyth - Barnburner

Barnburner is the new split release by two of the UK’s neo-psych proponents. There are six songs on this disc, three from each artist (Side A Icarus Peel and Side B Mordecai Smyth),...

Claudio Rocchi - Viaggio, Volo Magico No.1 & La Norma del Cielo

In many ways, Claudio Rocchi can be best described as the Italian Donovan – in music, lyrics and even artwork. His career that began with Stormy Six on L'Idee di Oggi per la Musica di...

Claudio Rocchi - Viaggio, Volo Magico No.1 & La Norma del Cielo

In many ways, Claudio Rocchi can be best described as the Italian Donovan – in music, lyrics and even artwork. His career that began with Stormy Six on L'Idee di Oggi per la Musica di...

Claudio Rocchi - Viaggio, Volo Magico No.1 & La Norma del Cielo

In many ways, Claudio Rocchi can be best described as the Italian Donovan – in music, lyrics and even artwork. His career that began with Stormy Six on L'Idee di Oggi per la Musica di...

Tong Young (Miserable Faith) - May Love Be without Worries

More than a decade on from their founding, Miserable Faith presents an album completely void of any Nu Metal style, but the result is far from mellow or sleepy. May Love Be without Worries...

Matt Nelson - Lower Bottoms

Many of us are familiar with the kind of avant-garde music that can be created by a solo guitarist. Players from Fred Frith and Derek Bailey to Bill Horist and beyond have shown just what's...

Yes - Heaven and Earth

Yes’s first album of the post-Jon Anderson era, 2010’s Fly from Here, was a strong effort even if large chunks were based on leftovers from the early 80s. Singer Benoit David...

Yes - Heaven and Earth

Yes’s first album with Jon Davison can be viewed as both a happy blessing and a saddled curse. The band’s second set of recordings with their fourth lead singer on paper reads like a...

Carsick Cars - 3 & Yoko Single

A change in personnel for Carsick Cars has not resulted in a change of style — singer/guitarist Zhang Shouwang remains the driving force of the band. 3 is perhaps more refined than...

Carsick Cars - 3 & Yoko Single

A change in personnel for Carsick Cars has not resulted in a change of style — singer/guitarist Zhang Shouwang remains the driving force of the band. 3 is perhaps more refined than...

7 for 4 - Splash

The world has no shortage of technically difficult instrumental music, and the genre of jazz-rock fusion supplies a significant portion of it. Difficulty on its own is neither a positive nor a...

Brainiac 5 - When Silence Was Sound

Listening to these recordings, which date from the late 70s, is kind of a strange experience now. That was a time when stripped-down punk rock was in the ascendant and complex progressive rock was...

Bing and Ruth - Tomorrow Was the Golden Age

Beauty can be a dangerous thing. Especially when it comes to music. The line between beautiful and sappy is a thin one, but it's fuzzy in that it's located in different places for different...

Assagai - Zimbabwe

In the early 70s with the international success of Osibisa, there was plenty of record company interest in signing other expat African bands, and Assagai was the beneficiary of Vertigo’s...

Revolutionary Snake Ensemble - Live Snakes

Saxophonist Ken Field’s Revolutionary Snake Ensemble is basically a seven to fourteen-piece portable jazz party, a big band sound with a huge nod to dixieland and numerous other styles, as...

Various Artists - A Momentary Lapse of Vinyl

Since its inception, Fruits der Mer has been releasing an annual exclusive members only release. To qualify as a member, all that you have to do is purchase all FdM releases for the year directly...

Eccentric Orbit - Creation of the Humanoids

Eccentric Orbit’s second album finds the band with a revised lineup and a solid bump upwards in sophistication. They’re still a keyboard-heavy entity focused on vintage instrument...

Eccentric Orbit - Attack of the Martians

Eccentric Orbit announce their intentions right out of the gate. Their debut album begins with some big Mellotron chords, then a theme on organ leads into a section where Mellotron chords are...

Pierrot Lunaire - Gudrun

Of the avant-progressive scene in Italy – i.e. Opus Avantra, Alfredo Tisocco, Franco Battiato and many others – Pierrot Lunaire's second has to rate as one of the very best....

Ashley Reaks - Compassion Fatigue (1-8)

The motivations or plans an artist has when setting about recording an album are not always clear to the listener, and to some extent, not even important — it's the end result that is...

Roedelius - Tape Archive 1973-1978

I would be honored if someone were to commemorate my 80th birthday in the same fashion as Bureau B has done this year for Krautrock legend Hans-Joachim Roedelius! Just like his electronic musician...

After Argument - Furs of Time

Yang Haisong, the lead singer of P.K.14, is emerging as an influential figure in China's independent rock scene. Aside from his main band, he's been producing other artists in his own...

Erik Wøllo - Tundra

Erik Wøllo is no stranger to those familiar with electronic music. He has been composing and performing music for films, theater, ballets, and exhibitions since the late 90s. This past July...

We the People / American Zoo - Visions of Time - Complete Recordings

Meet four teenagers from the mid-60s whose perseverance paid off, though all in due time. When the group We the People released their debut single “Feelings of My Emptiness” b/w...

Univers Zéro - Phosphorescent Dreams

It’s been a full four years since the band’s last release Clivages in early 2010, and a lot of evolution can occur within four years; in this case it seems like a well needed...

Eccentric Orbit - Attack of the Martians

Roland Bühlmann - Aineo

Electric Asturias - Elementals

Gothik Serpent - Interloper

Simon McKechnie - Newton's Alchemy

Performart - The Art of Falling In and Out the Circle of Time

Panther Attack - Sung amongst Shadows

Dave Bainbridge - Celestial Fire

Kalle Vilpuu - Silver Lining

Blues Pills - Blues Pills

Indrek Patte - Thank and Share

Automat - Automat

Sava Marinković - Evocation

Fractal Mirror - Garden of Ghosts

The Mark Lomax Trio - Isis and Osiris

Rik Wright's Fundamental Forces - Red

Ariel Kalma - An Evolutionary Music (Original Recordings: 1972 – 1979)

Richard Leo Johnson - Celeste

Nathan Parker Smith - Not Dark Yet

Tom Moto - Allob Allen

Inner Drive - Oasis

Lydia Lunch / Cypress Grove - A Fistful of Desert Blues

Fabio Zuffanti & ZBand - Il Mondo Che Era Mio - Live in Studio 2014

Mike Segretto - The Who FAQ

Kant Freud Kafka - No Tengas Miedo

Syzygy - Cosmos & Chaos - 20th Anniversary Edition

The Instigations - Tales of the Unexplained

The Sevens Collective - A Too Much Divided Heart

Anthony Pirog - Palo Colorado Dream

Rob Mazurek & Black Cube SP - Return the Tides: Ascension Suite and Holy Ghost

Wooden Arms - Tide

Saul Freeman - Wait : Speak

Massimo Discepoli - Parallax

Legendary Pink Dots - 10⁹ Volume 1

Brimstone - Mannsverk

Nick Piunti - 13 in My Head

Hans-Joachim Roedelius - Kollektion 02

Annot Rhül - Leviathan

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
(In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming)
– H.P. Lovecraft from The Call of Cthulhu  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2015-01-23)

Osada Vida - The After-Effect

Molé Trio - RGB

The Cellar and Point - Ambit

Rhys Marsh - Sentiment

Posto Blocco 19 - Motivi di Sempre

FM - NEARfest 2006

Dan Pound - Life Giving

Kong - Stern

Malcolm Smith - We Were Here

Faust - jUSt (Just Us)

The Glacial Drift - Hekatombre

Gentle Giant - Live at the Bicentennial

Ask any group of Gentle Giant fans which album is the best and you'll get a variety of answers, but I'd bet that 90% or more of them land on something from Octopus (1972) to...

Transit Method - Celebrate Mutations

Celebrate Mutations is the second release by Austin-based Transit Method. Originally hailing from Belle Mead, New Jersey, they released their debut disc in 2011. They moved to Austin in...

Spirits Burning & Bridget Wishart - Make Believe It Real

Stefan Orins Trio - Liv

Balduin - All in a Dream

Clockwork Orchestra - A Fish for a Heart

Drifting in Silence - Desire

Rhys Marsh - Sentiment

Kenso - Uchinaru Koe Ni Kaiki Seyo

For anyone who’s never heard anything by this Japanese (mostly) instrumental five-piece led by guitarist Yoshihisa Shimizu, it can be said that they carefully walk the line between symphonic prog...

Tarwater - Adrift

Deutsche Wertarbeit - Deutsche Wertarbeit

Jonathan Badger - Verse

Graham Day and the Forefathers - Good Things

Mark Fry - South Wind, Clear Sky

Bobby Beausoleil - Lucifer Rising Suite - Original Soundtrack and Sessions Anthology

Subtitled Original Soundtrack and Sessions Anthology, this four disc set contains everything that was recorded for the Kenneth Anger film, whether used in that film or not. The...

Maston - Opal Collection

Steve Roach - Jorge Reyes - The Ancestor Circle

The Chemistry Set - Elapsed Memories

Love - Black Beauty

Love, with Arthur Lee at the helm, were the undisputed kings of psychedelic rock in Los Angeles in 1966 when they were originally signed by Elektra along with the Doors. Their first album was...

Rotem Sivan Trio - For Emotional Use Only

Living Stilts - Shipwreck

Prescott - One Did

Conqueror - Stems

Ideal Bread - Beating the Teens: Songs of Steve Lacy

MoeTar - Entropy of the Century

Tom Chang - Tongue & Groove

Bogdanov Kill Kill - Bogdanovium

Blituri - Blituri

Blituri - Blituri

Monkey Puzzle Trio - The Pattern Familiar

Spontaneous Rex - Come at the King

Martin Kratochvíl / Jazz Q - Temné Slunce

Lunatic Soul - Walking on a Flashlight Beam

Masal - Viens des Quatre Vents

Ego - Sistema

Margin - Psychedelic Teatime

Margin - Psychedelic Teatime

Stop Motion Orchestra - Instant Everything!

Superfjord / Earthling Society - Coltrane

Various Artists - 7 and 7 Is

In the late 60s there was a lot of experimenting (drugs and music) happening on the West Coast (Los Angeles and San Francisco), as well as a little place on the third coast called Texas. Many of...

Happy Family - Minimal Gods

Kalle Kalima & K-18 - Buñuel de Jour

Thomas Newman & Rick Cox - 35 Whirlpools Below Sound

Grasscut - Catholic Architecture

Natsuki Tamura / Alexander Frangenheim - Nax

Pingvinorkestern - Push

Nomads of Hope - Breaking the Circles for a While

Jim Pembroke - If the Rain Comes

Marbin - The Third Set

Michael Jon Fink - From a Folio

Kaukasus - I

Regal Worm - Neither Use nor Ornament

Backhand - Through the Turbulence

The eleven minute multi-part instrumental opening cut “Introspektion” by this Venezuelan five-piece featuring Canadian singer Phil Naro (of Druckfarben) is like a calling card that features a...

Fred Hersch Trio - Floating

The Youth - I'll Call Your Bluff / You've Done Me Wrong

Modest Midget - Crysis

This Amsterdam-based band led by Israeli expat Lonny Ziblat has been completely rebuilt following their disintegration after the tour that followed the first album The Great Prophecy of a Small...

Iron Butterfly - Live at the Galaxy 1967, In Sweden 1971 & In Copenhagen 1971

Before one considers these three recently released live archives on Cleopatra’s Purple Pyramid imprint, it would be worth a moment to examine the other live Iron Butterfly releases that have come...

Iron Butterfly - Live at the Galaxy 1967, In Sweden 1971 & In Copenhagen 1971

Before one considers these three recently released live archives on Cleopatra’s Purple Pyramid imprint, it would be worth a moment to examine the other live Iron Butterfly releases that have come...

Iron Butterfly - Live at the Galaxy 1967, In Sweden 1971 & In Copenhagen 1971

Before one considers these three recently released live archives on Cleopatra’s Purple Pyramid imprint, it would be worth a moment to examine the other live Iron Butterfly releases that have come...

Twin Forks - Twin Forks

Nick Nicely - Space of a Second

Mater Thallium - Abandoned by the Sun

Robert Reed - Sanctuary

Papernut Cambridge - There's No Underground

Sendelica - Live at Crabstock Wales 2014

Jef Gilson / Malagasy - Gilson et Malagasy

Active throughout the 60s, 70s and beyond, Gilson made waves as a jazz pianist, composer, and big-band leader with a knack for recognizing and breaking new emerging talent; to this end he can be...

Battery Face - What's What Stuff

Can Can Heads - Butter Life

Sky Picnic - Her Dawn Wardrobe

Ziguri (Kölsch / Schickert / Erdenreich) - Ziguri (Kölsch / Schickert / Erdenreich)

Mark & the Clouds - Blue Skies Opening

FEM - Forza Elettro Motorice - Sulla Bolla di Sapone

Simones - Magic Ship

Helio Parallax - 1

Craig Padilla - Sonar

Astralasia - Wind on Water

Larry Kucharz - Smphncs

The Luck of Eden Hall - Greatest Hits, Vol. 1

Kermit - Litoral

The Galileo 7 - False Memory Lane

Abel Ganz - Abel Ganz

Hard to believe it’s been over 25 years since this Scottish band’s debut The Dangers of Strangers, and while drummer Denis Smith is still behind the kit and contributing vocals, key...

Vibravoid - Minddrugs (Deluxe)

Flor de Loto - Nuevo Mesias

Secret Tales - L'Antico Regno

Nodo Gordiano - Nous

Robert Wiene (dir.) / Thierry Zaboitzeff (music) - The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is one of the most influential films of the German Expressionist movement and it is also considered to be one of the greatest horror movies of the silent movie...

Colour Haze - Ewige Blumenkraft

Ian Anderson - Homo Erraticus

Magma - Zühn Wöhl Ünsai – Live 1974

IQ - The Road of Bones

Steve Roach - The Delicate Forever

Jack Bruce - Silver Rails

Johnny Unicorn - Angels in the Oort Cloud

Way José - Stay in the Light

Tor-Peders - Brev fran Ederstorp

La Piramide di Sangue - Sette

Tohpati - Tribal Dance

InterStatic - Arise

Retsam Suriv - Danger

Grandpa Egg - Praying Mantis

Proud Peasant - Flight

Proud Peasant is an Austin-based progressive rock band led by multi-instrumentalist Xander Rapstine (guitars, mandolin, ukulele, Melodica, glockenspiel, percussion). Their debut release is...

Sleepyard - Black Sails

Victor Peraino's Kingdom Come - Journey in Time

Arthur Brown has had a very long and varied musical career starting back in the 60s. In the early 70s he formed the band Kingdom Come to continue his theatrical histrionics and craziness. Kingdom...

Spoke of Shadows - Spoke of Shadows

Ut Gret - Ancestors' Tale

Wrupk Urei - Kõik Saab Korda

Octopus Syng - Reverberating Garden Number 7

Octopus Syng is an obscure Finnish band formed in 1999 that is now gaining international exposure through the efforts of Fruits de Mer (appearing on the Keep off the Grass compilation in...

Tír na nÓg - I Have Known Love

Syd Arthur - Sound Mirror

Dan Pound - Eros Thanatos

Loren Nerell & Mark Seelig - Tree of Life

Huis - Despite Guardian Angels

Djam Karet - Regenerator 3017

Nomadic Orchestra of the World: Nuove Tribù Zulu & Gypsies of Rajasthan - Banjara!

Osanna - Tempo

Tempo is a double DVD housed in a beautiful book with lots of photos from Italian theatrical proggers Osanna. Disc One is a concert recorded in Naples at the Trianon Theater on October 24,...

Trimtab - New Model

Strange Turn - Pink Litmus Paper Shirt

Byron Metcalf & Mark Seelig - Intention

Atomic Ape - Swarm

Necromonkey - Necroplex & A Glimpse of Possible Endings

Bora Yoon - Sunken Cathedral

Crystal Jacqueline and the Honey Pot - Crystal Jacqueline and the Honey Pot

Maurizio Abate - A Way to Nowhere

Druckfarben - Second Sound

Lambert and Nuttycombe - Eternal Rivers: Demos 1969-71

Panic Room - Incarnate

Factor Burzaco - Factor Burzaco 3

Shotgun - Dallasian Rock

Schnauser - As Long as He Lies Perfectly Still

Bronco Bullfrog - Time Waits for Norman

Schizo Fun Addict - Theme from Suspiria

This long-time FdM band is back with another slab of vinyl. This time around they cover two songs from cult 60s films. Side one is probably my favorite Goblin track, “Suspiria.” Schizo Fun...

Us & Them - By the Time It Gets Dark

Polska Radio One - Cosmos Inside

Urban Sax - Inside

Aalto - Ikaro

Simon Mayor - The Art of Mandolin

Steve Roach / Kelly David - The Long Night