Exposé Online » Reviews of releases for 2018

Oak - False Memory Archive

According to their biographical sketch, Oak started as a folk duo, and that background still provides a backdrop for the elaborate constructions of the current band on their second album. Behind...

Laughing Stock - The Island

It was not that long ago that I reviewed Laughing Stock’s second album Sunrise. Now Apollon...

Mabel Kwan - Georg Friedrich Haas: Trois Hommages

Pianist Mabel Kwan is a performer of classical, improvised, and experimental music. She is fascinated by sound, contradictions, and our perceptions of what is familiar or strange. And a natural...

Splinter Reeds - Hypothetical Islands

Splinter Reeds is the woodwind ensemble of Kyle Bruckmann (oboe), Bill Kalinkos (clarinet), David Wegehaupt (saxophone), Jeff Anderle (bass clarinet), and Dana Jessen (bassoon). Hypothetical...

Julie Keough - Every Other Color

Every Other Color is the long awaited follow-up to Keough’s debut album Blue, released in 2001 when she was just a teenager. Her amazing singing is what really makes this...

Deep Energy Orchestra - Playing with Fire

Listening to Playing with Fire, I was reminded of the great band Mawwal. This is a very similar kind of world fusion that exists on the same high plane of musicianship. The group was...

Mrs. Fun - Truth

When this CD arrived in my mail, I’d never heard of Mrs. Fun, so I started my research and discovered that this Chicago band started in Wisconsin back in the 80s and has been a going concern...

Satoko Fujii - Solo

So 2018 is the year that Satoko Fujii turns 60 years old (although not until October 9th) and to celebrate, she will be releasing one album every month of the year, which will include releases by...

Kaze - Atody Man

This is disc #2 in Satoko Fujii’s CD-of-the-month releases commemorating the year of her 60th birthday, so this one is to be released on February 23rd, which is a couple weeks from the date...

Satoko Fujii Orchestra Berlin - Ninety-Nine Years

By now, if you have kept up with our reviews of Ms.Fujii’s recent output, you will know that she turns sixty years old this year, and for the occasion she’s going all out, releasing a...

Kira Kira - Bright Force

So I wonder what Satoko Fujii is going to do after releasing twelve albums in twelve months... (This is the fourth installment of her 60th birthday marathon.) Maybe take a vacation, but the various...

This Is It! - 1538

This Is It! What is? 1538 is the melting point of iron (in degrees celsius), but 1538 is also the title of the first album by this new Satoko Fujii trio configuration featuring her...

Satoko Fujii Orchestra Tokyo - Kikoeru: Tribute to Masaya Kimura

For the finale of Satoko Fujii’s kanreki or 60th birthday celebration, release number twelve of twelve, is a tribute to tenor saxophonist Masaya Kimura, who sadly passed away in 2017. He...

Amu - Weave

Some music is better seen than heard. Music that is designed to work with dance is especially likely to have this quality. This installment of Satoko Fujii’s album-a-month project features...

Tusmørke - Vardøger og Utburder, Vol. 1 & Leker for Barn, Ritualer for Voksne

If you’ve been paying attention to the progressive rock coming out of Norway, likely you’ve noticed that Tusmørke is a busy group of musicians. But even their steady stream of...

Snack Family - Bunny

Listening to Snack Family’s debut full-length, I was immediately reminded of the band Morphine. Snack Family features a lineup of guitar, sax, and drums, with both the guitar and the sax...

Art of Flying - Escort Mission

The duo known as Art of Flying, Anne Speroni (vocals, bass, piano) and David Costanza (guitar, keyboards, vocals, trumpet, harmonium), has been recording music together in Taos, New Mexico since...

Miguel Zenón - Yo Soy la Tradición

I’ve heard a couple of Miguel Zenón’s previous albums, but while they were good efforts, neither prepared me for this wonderful recording. Zenón is a saxophonist and...

Grex - Electric Ghost Parade

Music that slips between the cracks of conventional genres is my specialty, and Grex is an Oakland, California band that certainly fits that bill. Karl Evangelista and Rei Scampavia are the core of...

Sonic Elements - Yesterday and Today - A 50th Anniversary Tribute to Yes

It seems that paying tribute to Yes is in fashion lately. We've got the

Laura Meade - Remedium

Exposé readers might be familiar with singer Laura Meade from her work with the band IZZ. Remedium finds her presenting herself as a solo artist, and the result is an...

Soft Machine - Hidden Details

From Soft Machine to Soft Ware to Soft Works to Soft Machine Legacy, and now finally back to the band’s original name Soft Machine, the one constant with this band is personnel changes. In...

Choirs of Aether - The Music of Sun Ra (Live at No Town)

When it comes to evolutionary cosmic free jazz with no boundaries, it’s hard to beat Sun Ra. Few have made as much of an impact or left behind a massive recorded legacy as his, from the early...

Voices from the Fuselage - Odyssey: The Founder of Dreams

Whatever else you might say about Voices from the Fuselage, you have to admit there’s something distinctive about their sound. Musically, they are very much along the lines of some of the...

Ovrfwrd - Blurring the Lines... a Democracy Manifest

Since their first album in 2013, Ovrfwrd has been honing their craft, taking their time and producing quality music. With their third studio album, they’ve arrived at a sophisticated...

Jack o' the Clock - Repetitions of the Old City - II

Picking up where they left off with last year’s superb Repetitions of the Old...

Ovrfwrd - Blurring the Lines... a Democracy Manifest

Instrumental prog group Ovrfwrd released their fourth album — third studio album — Blurring the Lines in the summer of 2018, but I did not receive a copy to review until a few...

Various Artists - Music of the Piano Mill 2017, 2018 and 2019

Harrigans Lane Collective in Willsons Downfall, Australia, is the home of the Piano Mill, a center for explorative interdisciplinary projects in rural Australia with a focus on architecture, music,...

Robert J Zimmer? - Robert J Zimmer?

Robert J. Zimmer? (with a question mark) is a curiously named band from Chicago which, even aside from punctuation, defies expectations on almost every level. The instrumentation is unconventional,...

Baba Yoga - L'Uomo Progressivo

Baba Yoga is an intentional misspelling of the 1973 movie Baba Yaga, based on the adventures of Guido Crepax's comic book character Valentina. This new Italian prog band is the...

Aton Five - Solarstalgia

Over the last twelve months we have reviewed many different releases from Russia, some excellent, some good, and some not so good. Aton Five’s new release, Solarstalgia, falls into...

Kevin Kastning / Sándor Szabó - Ethereal I

With their arsenal of exotic guitars, Kastning and Szabó masterfully create a mysterious world of sweeping textures, emotional shadows, colorful points of light and shimmering angular...

Aerostation - Aerostation

Aerostation is an Italian power trio without guitars that plays a mix of crossover prog, electronic music, hard rock, and fine pop that alternates between powerful and energetic music with more...

John Greaves - Life Size

With Life Size, John Greaves gives us a set of songs that are pretty far removed from the avant-garde tendencies of some of his past work, though they’re hardly mainstream or without...

Ben Craven - The Single Edits

Many years ago, Craven was a member of several bands, none of which went anywhere, and none of which provided a satisfying outlet for his own music, which was inspired by the glory days of...

The Magic Door - The Magic Door

In Rome there is a door called the Alchemical Portal, the only alchemical monument in Italy. This magic door was built by the Marquis Massimiliano Palombra in his home, the Villa Palombra, the...

FEM Prog Band - Mutazione

In the ranks of Italian progressive rock bands, “Forza Elettromotorice” seems like a fine name, and it’s totally in keeping with the genre’s history to refer to them as FEM....

Don Byron / Aruán Ortiz - Random Dances and (A)Tonalities

Don Byron has been on my radar for quite a few years now, since I picked up his Romance with the Unseen nearly 20 years ago (mainly from seeing the names of Jack DeJohnette and Bill...

Romain Collin - Tiny Lights...

Romain Collin’s Tiny Lights… is a release that is very hard to summarize. Some parts are beautifully orchestrated chamber works with piano and strings: others veer into...

Sliding Words - (Fonetic)

Since the initial development of the style called trip-hop back in the 90s, a significant portion of the bands have featured a female vocalist and one or two male instrumentalists: Portishead,...

Bunnies - Transportation to Mind Transformation and Devoted to the Process of Action

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve listened to this album, and I still have trouble getting a hold on what it’s about. To be clear, I regard this as a good thing — music...

Hazards of Swimming Naked - Take Great Joy

Just to recap, I am not a listener who is fond of pigeon-holing music into genres, which seem to be essentially arbitrary and subjective. The category called post-rock is no different, with the...

Focus - Focus 11

Focus is a band with a very long history, and with Focus 11 they give us a new album of studio material, following on from

The Devil's Trade - What Happened to the Little Blind Crow

Dávid Makó is a Hungarian singer who has worked in a couple of metal bands I’ve never heard — Stereochrist and HAW — but The Devil’s Trade is his entirely solo...

41 Point 9 - Mr Astute Trousers

There was a day when I would have called much of 41 Point 9’s music “radio friendly,” but I’m not sure what that means anymore. While a couple of the tracks stretch beyond...

Dewa Budjana - Mahandini

Over the course of Budjana’s recent solo output, It seems he has been straddling the fence between powerful electric jazz fusion and progressive rock, with a healthy dose of his Indonesian...

Arturo Ruiz del Pozo - Composiciones Nativas

At the end of the 70s in Peru, a new musical concept was starting to come together that combined the instrumental traditions of ancient cultures in new ways, incorporating electronics, tape...

Various Artists - Saz Power

The burning question here is, what is a saz? The saz or bağlama is a member of the family of plucked string, long-necked lutes used in Ottoman classical music, Turkish folk music, Iranian music,...

Various Artists - Saz Power

I don’t remember anymore when I first discovered the wonders of Turkish psychedelic rock, but it’s stuck with me for a long time. Starting back in the 60s, European and American rockers...

Myriad3 - Vera

Toronto’s Myriad3 is one of a new generation of piano trios bringing traditions of jazz into a modern age. Unlike Naima or Chat Noir, they don’t venture into added keyboards or...

David Cross / Andrew Booker - Ends Meeting

This album may have a 2018 date on it, but it was recorded back in 2006. The David Cross Band had been touring with Peter Banks’s Harmony in Diversity, which featured Andrew Booker on drums....

Massimo Discepoli - The Right Place on the Wrong Map

Following on the lovely Parallax (2014), Italian drummer and multi-instrumentalist Massimo...

Steve Future - 7 Cities

Bror Stefan Pettersson (a.k.a. Steve Future) has been working professionally in his native Sweden for 35 years now; his album First Take was released in 1994, but he was involved in other...

Tim Morse - III

When this CD arrived in the mail, I had no idea what to expect. I checked out my colleague’s review...

Moon Men - Uncomfortable Space Probe & 3

Moon Men is an unconventional musical collective, though it’s a stretch to call them a band, maybe a recording project would be a more accurate term. Uncomfortable Space Probe is...

Eldanka - Rusty Treasures

Eldanka’s second album in nine years might really surprise you if you have never heard of the band before, their instrumental music being an off-kilter cocktail of early-60s West Coast surf...

Spirit - It Shall Be - The Ode & Epic Recordings 1968-1972

Subtitled The Ode & Epic Recordings 1968-1972, this five disc set in a clamshell box pretty much covers the formative years of one of the finest and most eclectic bands of the late 60s...

Miserable Noise Club - Dust Coated Departure, Frost Confinement & Singles

Welcome to our first review ever of the musical collective miserable.noise.club, said to be based in Charlotte, North Carolina, but also claiming members in Amman, Jordan and Guangzhou, China....

Troot - Constance and the Waiting

Back in the fall of 2017, there were rumblings in the Seattle experimental music community about something special going on at Bear Creek Studios. Many of the local stalwarts were up there with a...

Monobody - Raytracing

There’s no shortage of instrumental bands offering up rock music with odd meters and tricky arrangements, but Chicago’s Monobody has their own twist on the style. With the use of both...

Hattler - Velocity

Though most will know Hellmut Hattler as a founding member and bassist of Kraan, many are not aware of his works outside of that band, which probably began in 1977 with his solo album...

The Thin Cherries - On Moose Island

I had somewhat mixed feelings about The Thin Cherries’ debut album a couple of years ago....

Plenty - It Could Be Home

Many of our readers will be familiar with Tim Bowness from his work with No-Man and Samuel Smiles, and possibly releases under his own name as well, but Plenty is a project that might have faded...

Galasphere 347 - Galasphere 347

Take a look at who’s involved in this project, and you’ll see familiar names (if you’re a person who pays attention in the world of progressive rock): from Henry Fool we get...

Oho - Gazebo

Oho has been making great music since the early 70s, seemingly swerving and dodging any typical styles and genres as they avoided the classification game, instead going for whatever direction their...

Brunod / Li Calzi / Savoldelli - Nostalgia Progressiva

What might one expect from these three Italian jazz musicians covering (mostly) progressive rock from the late 60s and early 70s? It’s certainly not what might be considered retro in any way,...

Aton Five - Solarstalgia

If you’ve been reading reviews on our site for a while, you might have come to the conclusion that Russian bands all play space rock. OK, maybe not all of them, but a significant portion....

Resolution Alley - Resolution Alley

This four song EP is the debut release from Resolution Alley, a project of Baltimore based composer, bassist and multi-instrumentalist Jason Wilson, who sang on the first CD by Dark Aether Project,...

Kanaan - Windborne

Kanaan is a Norwegian trio that blends elements of rock, psychedelic, fusion, and raw unbridled groove-power. Almost unbelievably, Windborne is the band's debut release — I say...

Pavallion - Stratospheria

This German band has a style that shares many similarities with a lot of post-rock, with long tracks that build slowly to dramatic climaxes. But they are also prominently a vocal band, unlike the...

Jesse Matas - Tamarock

The debut solo album by Canadian singer-songwriter Jesse Matas is an open heart collection of folk songs, half-spoken poems set to music, along with some gritty guitar workouts and one short but...

Various Artists - The 16th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival Live

Starting back in 2015 with the 13th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival, Fruits de Mer Records has been presenting an annual festival of musicians and bands who have been, currently are, or soon will...

Anguish - Anguish

Writing for Exposé, I’m pretty used to albums that are difficult to describe. We come across a lot of music that stretches boundaries, combines elements of different genres,...

The Red Masque - Fathomless

A few years ago, when Mythalogue came out, I noted how The Red Masque had been getting progressively (sorry) better with each album. I’m happy to report that the trend has continued...

Daniel Barbiero / Ken Moore / Dave Vosh - Transparent Points on Four Axes

My previous encounters with Daniel Barbiero’s music have been his collaborations with Christiano Bocci, which are highly abstract soundscapes built up from many sources, usually involving...

Kiss Kiss King Kong - B/B

For their second album, this Bergen band has chosen the awkward title B/B, but we shouldn’t let that deter us from enjoying their version of 70s rock brought into the modern world....

Piniol - Bran Coucou

The band called Piniol is composed of Poil and Ni mashed together, with all seven members forming something a little like what King Crimson had in the “double trio” lineup. Two...

Pepa Päivinen & Good Romans - Felix Culpa

Felix Culpa is the third release by reedman Pepa Päivinen and the duo Good Romans, which consists of Ilari Filander (guitar) and Jussi Miettola (drums). The album features 12 tracks...

Greg Segal with Friends - Visible

The 16 mailboxes on the cover offer an important clue; there are 16 different artists featured and the foreword “instrumentation: guests, as listed; GS: remainder.” So, this is volume 2...

Forgas Band Phenomena - L’Oreille Électrique

It’s been quite a few years since we last heard from Forgas Band Phenomena, but little has changed in quality, sensibility, or even personnel. The only changes in musicians for...

Karcius - The Fold

The first track on The Fold starts so quietly that you might suspect some kind of malfunction. Unless you’ve got the volume really cranked, it’s not until nearly a minute into...

Love Machine - Times to Come

This Düsseldorf band clearly has their sights set on a hit single — in 1972. But that seems unlikely, so they’ll have to settle for being a contemporary band that sounds like...

Jukka Iisakkila - Clocks and Clouds

While Jukka Iisakkila (pronounced Eye-Sa-Keela) is probably best known in his native Finland as an orchestra conductor and a producer of other artists, including the pop band Goldfrapp and...

David Lawrence Atkins - Spitting on a Fish

I’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...

I Ya Toyah - Code Blue

Listening to the debut album by I Ya Toyah, I was first struck by how catchy the tunes are. Her music is often described as “electronic / industrial,” which leads me to expect something...

Crocodile - His Name Is Stan and He's a Bad Motherf**ker

His Name Is Stan and He's a Bad Motherf**ker is the debut album of a new progressive rock band from Austin, Crocodile. Band leader, composer, and guitarist Kevin Sims has created a...

Monolithes - Limites

This French band involves a somewhat unusual instrumentation, featuring electric guitar, double bass, and drums along with a vibraphone. Their music occupies a fuzzy zone somewhere between jazz and...

Ísa - Ska Te Å Bynne

ísa is a young Norwegian band of former students from a jazz course at The Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. In April 2017 they released their debut album Våren, om lenge....

Paola Tagliaferro - Fabulae

Paola Tagliaferro is an Italian singer who began recording in the late 70s with a couple of singles. She went on hiatus for more than twenty years, devoting her attention to art. Now she is back...

Jaan Wessman - None for the Money, Two for the Show

It always seemed to me that the band Jellyfish never got the attention it deserved. Superbly clever and catchy rock songs with touches of psychedelia — ah, really my thing! Finnish...

Bill Hart Band - Live at Red Clay Theatre

Bill Hart is a Canadian-born guitarist now based in Georgia with a five releases before this, which was recorded live at the Red Clay Theatre in Duluth, Georgia on June 2, 2017. All of the tracks...

Eraldo Bernocchi - Like a Fire That Consumes All before It

This collection of music was written for a film about artist Cy Twombly, and is titled after the painting which adorns its cover. Much of what we hear is floating ambient washes of sound, echoing...

Laktating Yak - Origin of the Yak

In the foothills of the Himalayas, on the Chinese side, tea with yak milk is a regional beverage, so when I was there, I gave it a try. I didn’t find it much to my liking, though I have...

Mythic Sunship - Another Shape of Psychedelic Music

One thing I’ve learned over the last ten years or so is that El Paraiso is a label that can be trusted for quality music, to the point where now if I find out an artist is on that label,...

The Windmill - Tribus

Tribus is the first album I’ve heard by this Norwegian band, though they’ve been together since 2001 and have two previous releases to their credit. For the most part, they...

Phillip Johnston - The Adventures of Prince Achmed

Providing soundtracks to vintage silent films has become a very trendy thing for contemporary musicians, with bands like We Stood Like Kings devoting their entire efforts to it, and others such as...

Tangled Thoughts of Leaving - No Tether

From the far reaches of Western Australia comes this instrumental band with a distinctive take on heavy post-rock. The sound is dominated by a combination of guitars and keyboards in roughly equal...

Elfin Bow & Gary Lloyd - Who Knows Where the Time Goes?

The third of Fruits de Mer's end of year releases is an exquisite and emotive single by FdM newcomer Elfin Bow. Elfin Bow is singer songwriter Elizabeth Kearny. For this FdM single (standard...

Touch - We Feel Fine

When Andy Bracken and Keith Jones formed Fruits de Mer Records over 10 year ago, their goal was to reissue 7-inch singles from the glory days of psych. They have finally reached this goal with this...

Strat Andriotis - Night Manager

Actively recording since the mid-90s with five releases to his credit, Greek born composer and guitarist extraordinaire Strat Andriotis migrated with his family to Canada when he was a teenager,...

Vanderson Featuring Lambert - Sequenced Thoughts

Polish synthesist Vanderson returns with a new album, Sequenced Thoughts, this time joined by Spheric Music’s Lambert Ringlange. The album consists of four tracks in the 16 - 20...

Pink Fairies - Resident Reptiles

The band Pink Fairies may not be especially well known for their music, occupying a spot in history due to their connections to other bands with higher profiles: Hawkwind, Motörhead, The...

Jordsjø - Jord

It is widely acknowledged that something special was going on in rock music in Italy from about 1971 to 1976, with quite a few innovative bands recording albums that have come to be regarded as...

Atlas : Empire - The Stratosphere beneath Our Feet

Atlas : Empire is an alternative band from Glasgow that formed in 2011. They released their first EP To the Astronaut… in 2012, a second EP Somnus in 2013, and their third...

Spriggan Mist - Live at Quiet Whistle Test

What, you may ask, is a spriggan? Well, a spriggan is a mischievous and thievish mythological creature from Cornish faerie lore. And Spriggan Mist is the British progressive folk rock band of Baz...

Minx / Zimmerman - Minx / Zimmerman

Guerssen has been reissuing a number of obscure albums of music by artists I have never heard of or music that does not necessarily interest me. Case in point is the reissue of the Dutch minimal...

Action & Tension & Space - Skåredalen Funhouse

Action & Tension & Space is a band which to a certain extent has a name that describes its style. This instrumental music has elements of surf (Action), post rock (Tension), and space rock...

Blackberries - Disturbia

Sometimes it seems like we’re in the midst of a psychedelic renaissance, a resurgence of a style pioneered over half a century ago. Excellent music from that era is being reissued,...

Kenyon Bunton - All Planes Must Land & This Guy's Disguised This Sky

Kenyon Bunton is a musician with roots back to bands in the 90s, ultimately unsuccessful, but mainly in the Cardiacs and London avant noise scene. Disillusioned with the music scene, Kenyon...

Ljungblut - Villa Carlotta 5959

Ljungblut is a band operating in the realm of atmospheric rock with elements of progressive rock mixed in, much like their compatriots Rhys Marsh or Bjørn Riis. That is to say they have a...

The Gardening Club - The Riddle

Martin Springett’s 1983 album called The Gardening Club is a pretty obscure item. I do not personally know anyone who’s heard it, though it was reissued in 2017 by Gonzo...

Renata Zeiguer - Old Ghost

Renata Zeiguer is a singer and songwriter with a wispy voice and a great talent for writing lyrics. That puts her into a category with quite a number of other artists, but she sets herself apart...

Chord - Chord II

Nick Didkovsky and Tom Marsan strike again, this time with 44 minutes of brutal guitar chaos (call it free metal) instead of the 32 minutes we got the the first time around, which I suppose makes...

Aria Primitiva - Work in Progress

Since leaving Art Zoyd at the end of the 90s, bassist and cellist Thierry Zaboitzeff as been busy with his own solo work, as well as writing scores for theater and dance, many of which have been...

London Underground - Four

London Underground is an Italian progressive rock band consisting of multi-instrumentalist Gianluca Gerlini (Hammond organ, piano, clavinet, Mellotron, Elka, Moog, and Logan), Alessandro Gimignani...

Il Segno del Comando - L'Incanto dello Zero

The new album L'Incanto dello Zero by Italian prog rockers Il Segno del Comando is wonderful! The album kicks off with a fantastic gothic church organ instrumental “Il Senza...

Luciano Onetti - Sonno Profondo / Francesca

Well that was something totally unexpected. Basing my preconceptions of the album by its artwork — I know, a stupid mistake — I was expecting to hear a horror soundtrack similar to...

Jodi - Pop Espontáneo

In 2016 Guerssen reissued Jodi’s first album, Pops de Vanguardia, and since then Joern Wenger unearthed a set of unreleased recordings in his basement that had been sitting there for...

An Danzza - The Claws of Dawn

In approaching this lovely new album, I revisited the review I wrote for its predecessor, Whispers...

Quimper - Elapsed Songs 2018

Hot on the heels of their last release Perdide, Quimper squeaked out Elapsed Songs 2018 the last week of the year. I find interesting the endless supply of ideas that Jodie and...

The Spacious Mind - The Drifter

From all the reviews lately, you might think that Russia is the home of space rock these days. But here’s a new release from Sweden’s The Spacious Mind to remind us that trippy...

Black Tape for a Blue Girl - To Touch the Milky Way

Having followed this excellent band since 1996’s Remnants of a Deeper Purity, one can always count on a mesmerizing, somewhat dark instrumental attack, guided by shadows and strange...

Flibbertigibbet - Whistling Jigs to the Moon

Back in 1974, after Irish folk rock group Mellow Candle broke up, members Alison O’Donnell and David Williams moved to South Africa. There they met fellow expats Barrie Glenn and Jo Dudding...

Spirits Burning & Michael Moorcock - An Alien Heat

As usual for Spirits Burning albums, An Alien Heat features a large cast of musicians organized by Don Falcone. We’ve got Buck Dharma, Richie Castellano, Joe Bouchard, and Albert...

Nick Nicely - All along the Watchtower

It has been three years since nick nicely last appeared on a Fruits de Mer release. So this past December was a treat when FdM released a new single as part of their year-end batch of vinyl....

The Chemistry Set - Firefly

Fruits de Mer Records released a new single by The Chemistry Set as one of their year end releases. Side one is the four minute “Firefly,” a strong trippy psych song that takes you on a...

The Embrooks - We Who Are

Founded in 1996, The Embrooks is an aggressive freakbeat band from England. They’ve released a couple of singles and, after a ten year hiatus, they are back with a full length album, We...

Vak - Budo

With a lean basic instrumental lineup of drums, bass and keys, fronted by female vocals, Budo is Vak’s second full length CD release – the first CD Aedividea from 2015...

Citizen K - III

It amazes me how an artist can adopt another's style so comprehensively and completely, and yet never actually steal any compositional ideas, but for Swedish singer and songwriter Klas Qvist,...

Mauricio Sotelo - Envés - Cordófonos & Loops

Mauricio Sotelo is one half of Cabezas de Cera, the ‘stringed instrument’ half, as opposed to the ‘percussionist’ half Francisco Sotelo. Cabezas de Cera have a new live...

GGRIL - Façons

They call themselves a kind of 'postconstructuralist village band'; having turned some heads at the Victoriaville festival in Quebec, they have apparently left some heads spinning, a large...

Dave Liebman / Tatsuya Nakatani / Adam Rudolph - The Unknowable

This album brings together three creative musicians into a configuration that might at first seem strange: jazz woodwind explorer Dave Liebman, who has been part of expanding the genre in the post...

Bobby Previte - Rhapsody

As a composer, Bobby Previte has never shied away from ambition, and he appears to have never encountered a genre boundary he didn’t want to erase. In 2016, he gave us

Residuos Mentales - Introspection

The Athens duo of Stratos Morianos (keyboards, programming, percussion) and Alexandros Mantos (guitar, bass, flute) make their recording debut with Introspection, an instrumental concept...

Zan Zone - It's Only Natural

Zan Zone is a Brooklyn NY based seven-piece led by guitarist Zan Burnham. The band has three previous releases; the most recent was Shorts from 2013, but It’s Only Natural...

Michael Byron - Fabric for String Noise

Byron is a contemporary composer who to date has released about half a dozen albums on Cold Blue Music as well as a few more on other labels, and like many or most Cold Blue releases, the composer...

Bubu - El Eco del Sol

Over the years since its release, and especially once CD reissues became available, Bubu’s Anabelas has come to be regarded as a classic of South American progressive rock. The...

Pree Tone - Kiddy

Continuing my exploration of relatively unknown Ukrainian and Russian bands, I have now reached the excellent band from Kiev, Pree Tone. Forming in 2014, they have six releases under their belt,...

Mist of Flying Elbow - Substitute Songs of Heights, Vol. II

This is one that arrived out of the blue. I’d never heard of Mist of Flying Elbow before this CD came in the mail, and even after listening a dozen times or so to these eight tracks,...

Mist of Flying Elbow - Substitute Songs of Heights, Vol. II

There is nothing wrong with your CD player. I hadn't heard of this band in a long while, it seems that on Substitute Songs of Heights, Vol. II they are as over-the-top eclectic as the...

Un Ensemble & Jean-Luc Guionnet - Points sans Surface

Sometimes promos come to me that are pretty far out there, so far in fact that regardless of how many times I listen to them, I’ll probably never catch the wavelength, and Points sans...

Motherfathers & Ь! - Doggy

Motherfathers & b! is the Moscow trio of Dmitriy Syrtsov on drums, Dmitriy Peitsch on guitar, and Maxim Elizarov on electronics. This 24 minute album is basically one long improvised jam where...

Soom - Djebars

For the life of me, I cannot fathom who would be a fan of sludge rock, especially this Soom release, Джєбарс (Djebars) from April 2018. The only redeeming feature is the opening track...

Zhaoze - Birds Contending

Transnadežnost' - Monomyth

Released in September 2018, Monomyth is Russian band Transnadežnost’s debut release. Consisting of Aleksandr Yershov (guitar), Alesya Izlesa (guitar and glockenspiel), Nikolay...

Saluki - Amazing Games

Colin Edwin & Lorenzo Feliciati - Twinscapes V.02 - A Modern Approach to the Dancefloor

Michael Jon Fink - Celesta

Twelve solo pieces for celesta are presented here, short instrumental pieces in the two to three minute range wih one exception; they are introspective and mysterious, covering a wide range of...

Maat Lander - Seasons of Space - Book #2

Digging a little deeper into these recent Russian releases, their musical community appears fluid, with musicians coming together in different combinations, groups, and styles. For instance,...

The Re-Stoned - Ram's Head

I am discovering that there is quite an active Russian music scene as I continue to discover new bands. The most recent is the psychedelic / stoner rock / doom metal band The Re-Stoned and their...

Electric Mud - The Deconstruction of Light

Electric Mud is Hagen Bertschneider (ideas, sound concepts, and bass) and Lennart Hüper (rhythm guitar). An what really struck me about their new album The Deconstruction of Light is...

Ifsounds - An Gorta Mór

Ifsounds is the Italian prog band consisting of Fabio de Libertis (bass guitar), Runal (lead vocals), Dario Lastella (guitars, keyboards, synths, and vocals), Lino Mesina (drums, percussion, and...

Paul Sears - Angels & Demons That Play

Moonpedro and the Gold Fish - The Beatles "White Album" Revisited

Marchesi Scamorza - Gemini

For their third release, Italian neo-proggers Marchesi Scamorza tell a story of a man struggling with his many personalities, Gemini. The man’s schizophrenia is a whirling...

Syndone - Mysoginia

ScienceNV - The Quest for Prester John Volumes One & Two

ScienceNV - The Quest for Prester John Volumes One & Two

Neil Haverstick - Hopelessly Microtonal

Saint Luminus - Tales from El Capistan

William Rustrum AKA Saint Luminus released a new mini-album in October 2018, a followup to his 2017 single. The album title refers to an echo / reverb guitar pedal that he used on this album. ...

Quimper - Perdide

Quimper returns with a new album with a science fiction theme, Perdide, and ten new songs written mostly during the Summer of 2018. Perdide is another fine slab of understated...

Vespero - Hollow Moon

Russian psych / space rockers Vespero are back with a new album, Hollow Moon. With its artwork, album and song titles, and music Hollow Moon is much like a Jules Verne story. The...

Jack Ellister - Telegraph Hill

Jack Ellister has been appearing on a variety of Fruits de Mer releases since 2012. Now for the first time he has released a full length album on another label, You Are The Cosmos. As a change of...

Michel Banabila - VoizNoiz - Urban Soundscapes

In 1999 Dutch avant garde / experimental composer Michel Banabila released VoizNoiz, a collection of short experiments with looped samples and electronics. Now Steamin’ Soundworks...

Sun Dial - Science Fiction

Well that was an hour of my life squandered that I will never get back. I’ve come to expect much better from Sulatron. Sun Dial is basically the solo efforts of one Gary Ramon from the UK....

UFO över Lappland - UFO över Lappland

Originally released on cassette in 2016, Sulatron Records just reissued this excellent slice of revival Krautrock jamming on both vinyl and CD. Hailing from Umeå, Lappland, high up in the...

Sherpa - Tigris & Euphrates

The Tigris - Euphrates river system consists of two roughly parallel rivers flowing through Iraq, and known as one of the cradles of civilization. Eden is supposed to have been located in this area...

Swifan Eolh & The Mudra Choir - The Key

This Norwegian band with a strange name has a very interesting take on progressive rock. When “Wounded Dreamers” starts there are distinct hints of mid-70s Yes, especially in the guitar...

Be Bop Deluxe - Sunburst Finish

To my mind, Be Bop Deluxe has always occupied a unique position in the ranks of 70s progressive rock bands. Unlike most of their contemporaries, they didn’t arrive at their progressive sound...

Yurt - IV - The Obstacle Is Everything

I first encountered this Irish band on their third release, and the follow-up continues in the same vein,...

Cash Pony - Roughhousing

Cash Pony is a San Francisco Bay Area quartet (Oakland, to be precise) with previous releases going back to 2012. However, this is the first one I’ve had an opportinity to listen to. They...

Moto Toscana - Moto Toscana

With this German band, the only instruments involved are bass guitar and drums, so you know not to expect complex harmonies or much in the way of counterpoint. Michi’s bass always features...

Chronotope Project - Lotus Rising

Chronotope Project represents the solo work of one Jeffrey Ericson Allen, a 30-year veteran of the practice of Zen, with the eight tracks on Lotus Rising representing an aspirant's...

Sanna Ruohoniemi - Start from Nothing

When it comes down to basics, the human voice can be considered as simply one of the instruments available in music, though it obviously occupies a special place, requiring nothing outside of the...

Ángel Ontalva & Vespero - Carta Marina

October Equus’s guitarist Angel Ontalva and Russian spacerockers Vespero have joined forces to record and release an interesting album of seven instrumentals, Carta Marina, that...

Nick Piunti - Temporary High

The trifecta of Exposé writers Jon Davis, Peter Thelen, and now myself have all had the pleasure of reviewing different Nick Piunti releases, even though Nick’s music is not...

Jentsch Group No Net - Topics in American History

While the title may remind the potential listener of a dry junior college history textbook, the seven powerful instrumental tracks herein are full of warmth, brilliance and energy, and certainly...

Fernando Perdomo - Zebra Crossing

Fernando Perdomo managed to release two albums of original material in 2018 in addition to working with a variety of other artists on the Sonic Elements

Bow Thayer - A Better Version of the Truth

So here we have the latest release by Bow Thayer – singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist (banjo, guitar, bojotar, synth, keys, and percussion) – along with his bandmates Jeff...

Max Corbacho - Horizon Matrix

About a month ago I reviewed Max Corbacho’s other release from 2018 titled Nocturnes II; it, like this, is a dreamy soundworld filled with beautiful sonic textures flowing gracefully...

Frédéric l'Épée - Sketches for Images

Most will know L’Épée from the various bands he has led, starting with Shylock in the 70s (and reforming in 2012), then Philharmonie in the 90s, then Yang in the 00s, each band...

Mouth - Floating

This Cologne band pays unabashed tribute to the music of the 70s without sounding completely derivative. They do this by mixing together a variety of period influences into a basic style that they...

Yagull - Yuna

Yagull's music has always been mysterious and beautiful, but with this latest album, Yuna, the two principals, Sasha Markovic (guitar and mandolin) and Kana Kamitsubo (piano) have...

Alwanzatar - Fangarmer Gjennom Tid og Rom

Kristoffer Momrak is back with his second Alwanzatar release, Fangarmer Gjennom Tid og Rom. He continues to develop his intriguing version of tribal space rock infused with elements of...

Dom Mariani and the Majestic Kelp - Hi Seas

Sugarbush Records has a winner on their hands with this new album, Hi-Seas by Dom Mariani & The Majestic Kelp. Australian Dom is quite the accomplished guitarist and involved with a...

The Grip Weeds - House of Vibes

The Grip Weeds are an American power pop band from Highland Park, New Jersey founded in 1988. Their first album, House of Vibes, originally released in 1994, has now been reissued on vinyl...

Steve Roach - Mercurius

The opening chords of “Liminal,” subtitled “At the Threshold of the In-Between,” is indeed like the process of moving from consciousness into slumber and onward to dreams,...

Soft Machine - Hidden Details

Hardcore fans can argue all they want about whether this is really Soft Machine or not, but it’s kind of a moot point. The Softs went through so many changes in their original run...

Kurt Reifler - Year Of

Way back in 2008 I wrote about Kurt Reifler’s self-titled album, and here he is back with an EP of...

Various Artists - Wyrd Kalendar

In 2016 Mega Dodo released a compilation of dark folk/folk horror tunes curated by Chris Lambert,

Vasil Hadžimanov Band - Lines in Sand

Serbian keyboard maestro Vasil Hadžimanov is back with his crack band of jazz-rock players for Lines in Sand. These 12 cuts cover a lot of ground stylistically, from funky electric jazz...

Schizo Fun Addict - El Shoegaze Bossa Nova

In 2017 Schizo Fun Addict provided free copies of their 2013 LP The Sun Yard...

Jim McCarty - Walking in the Wild Land

Over the course of 55 years Jim McCarty has done just about everything, from his days drumming for the nascent Yardbirds, through all their successes and changes (a band which he still leads...

Quarkspace - All These Suns

The long hiatus has come to an end; Quarkspace is back recording again. Frankly, oh me of little faith, I wasn’t sure they would ever be back. It’s been at least fifteen years since...

Kevin Kastning - 30/36

This is Kevin Kastning solo. Alone, sparse, wandering, introspective and meditative, playing either his 30-string contra-alto guitar, or his 36-string double contraguitar. This marks his fifth...

Ecovillage - Sacred World

I had never heard of this Swedish duo of Peter Wikström and Emil Holmström before they were brought to my attention by Gayle Ellett (of Djam Karet and Fernwood), who has been involved...

Rafał Sarnecki - Climbing Trees

I covered some of Rafał Sarnecki’s work as a sideman and arranger recently in the context of vocalist Annie Chen’s great

Nathan Hall & the Sinister Locals - Tunguska Tydfil

The Soft Hearted Scientists’ Nathan Hall has released a new album with his group The Sinister Locals. Announced back in May 2018 for a vinyl release, this album has been plagued with so many...

Beats & Pieces Big Band - Ten

The Ten of the album title refers to the number of years since the founding of Beats & Pieces Big Band by Ben Cotrell. In that time, they’ve only released two albums, but...

Tone Masseve - Amp l'Étude

The mere existence of this album is something of an unlikely occurrence. Tone Masseve was something of a prodigy on guitar, working as a session musician while still in his teens, and in the 90s...

Max Corbacho - Nocturnes II

This is the second of three (I presume) of Max Corbacho’s Nocturnes series; the first (which I confess I have not heard) was issued in 2017. The style, as might be suggested by the...

Ancient Veil - Rings of Earthly... Live

On both May 12 and November 11, 2017, Italian progressive band Ancient Veil performed live at the Teatro della Tosse in Genoa, Italy. The band has its origins in Italian progressive band Eris...

All Traps on Earth - A Drop of Light

The opening track on A Drop of Light (which incidentally is titled “All Traps on Earth”) is a nearly 19-minute seemingly never-ending progression of ideas that accompanies the...

Lucas Lee - Lowered Expectations

Although it may seem odd, the theme of this album is about the attitude of setting lowered expectations in a world where we often engage in edless speculation about who is the best, the MVP, the...

Le Mur - Exorta

Four years on from their previous album, German rockers Le Mur return with their third album Exorta. As their second album

Unicorn - Laughing up Your Sleeve

Never quite receiving the fanfare or attention they deserved, Unicorn was a British four-piece band that worked their magic throughout the 70s, beginning in 1971 with their debut album, Uphill...

Gentleman Surfer - Hard Pass

Somehow I missed Gentleman Surfer’s 2016 album, Reanimate Ore, after really liking the two previous releases, but here I’m back on board with Hard Pass. These Northern...

Rich Halley 3 - The Literature

A jazz trio that consists of bass, drums, and a melodic instrument like sax or trumpet can be a really wonderful thing. The absence of a piano or guitar filling in chords gives the other players...

Amgala Temple - Invisible Airships

Next up in the parade of bands featuring Norwegian musicians best known for work in other bands is Amgala Temple, which was formed by Lars Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist), Amund Maarud (The Grand), and...

Trappist Afterland & Moongazing Hare - Songs for Nathan

Songs for Nathan is the long distance friendship / split release by Australia’s Trappist Afterland and Denmark’s Moongazing Hare. The album title refers to

Eiko Ishibashi - The Dream My Bones Dream

Eiko Ishibashi is the kind of artist who completely defies both categorization and prediction. She’s recorded music in such a variety of styles and genres that you never know what to expect...

Opposite Day - Divide by Nothing

Austin’s math-rock band Opposite Day released their latest album Divide by Nothing on September 20, 2018. Guitarist Sam Arnold, bassist Greg Yancey, and drummer Eoghan McCloskey...

Crystal Jacqueline / The Honey Pot - We Fill in Forms and Mow the Lawns

Let's start with the cover art. This beautiful painting looks like a hybrid of surreal artist Gervasio Gallardo, Betty Swanick (Selling England by the Pound), and Paul Whitehead...

Interkosmos - Hypnotizer

Interkosmos is an intergalactic band consisting of Sergio Ceballos (guitar and FX), Pablo Carneval (drums), and Dave Schmidt (AKA Sula Bassana, bass, FX, and loops). They released their debut...

Laraaji / Arji Oceananda / Dallas Acid - Arrive without Leaving

In another time in an alternate universe, I will be trapped in a loop where I review this album every night for eternity, and find something subtle, some new feeling, a different perspective each...

Martin Barre - Roads Less Travelled

Given his long tenure in Jethro Tull, Martin Barre’s distinctive style of guitar playing has to be one of the iconic elements of progressive rock, and it is testament in part to his skillful...

Barış Manço - Baris Mancho (AKA Nick the Chopper)

In 1976 Turkish rock singer Barış Manço wanted to make one last attempt to gain a world-wide audience for his music with Nick the Chopper before he changed careers to a TV...

Various Artists - The Three Seasons

One of Fruits der Mer’s most ambitious projects to date was released on October 8, 2018, the three LP set The Three Seasons, celebrating the spring, summer, and autumn of love. The...

Kris Gietkowski - Symmetric Communication

Last year Fruits de Mer released Kris Gietkowski’s interpretation of the first Egg...

Monjoie - And in Thy Heart Inurn Me

“And in thy heart inurn me” — and so closes John Keats’ poem “You Say You Love.” This last phrase is also the title of Italian band Monjoie’s...

Twenty Four Hours - Close - Lamb - White - Walls

Close - Lamb - White - Walls is the sixth album by Italian prog band Twenty Four Hours. This is not a concept album, but instead a collection of songs inspired by the bands who released...

Rita Braga - Bird on the Moon

Rita Braga is a singer-songwriter born in Lisbon in 1985, now residing in London. Bird on the Moon is her second release and it is one quirky album. Over the course of 28 minutes and 14...

Sonar with David Torn - Live at Moods

How better to spend New Year's Day than listening to the latest live album by Swiss math-rock-jazz giants Sonar? This is actually the band’s second live album (the first was Live at...

Maciej Garbowski / Ivann Cruz / Peter Orins - Lines of Flux

A bit of background: Following a series of dates in Poland, Peter Orins (drums) and Ivann Cruz (guitar) joined up with Polish double bassist Maciej Garbowski at the Institute of Music Performance...

Green Seagull - First Snow of Winter

Just in time for holidays this year’s Snowflakes Christmas Single by Green Seagull was released on December 7. The single features two songs: “First Snow of Winter” and the...

Various Artists - A Life in Yes - The Chris Squire Tribute

It wouldn’t be hard to make the case that Chris Squire was one of the most influential bass players in the history of rock. Even outside progressive rock, anywhere someone is using a picking...

Annie Chen Octet - Secret Treetop

Jazz as an art form may have been born in the US, but over the century or so (no need to be more precise) of its existence, it has reached all over the world, and people from different backgrounds...

Sonar with David Torn - Vortex

A musical world filled with complex mathematical rhythms, odd angles and planes, sharp corners and geometric surfaces, these Swiss practitioners have created their own place in multi-dimensional...

Paolo Baltaro - Live Pillheads

Is there room in the world of music for a live album that’s not really progressive rock or retro classic rock, but consists of good tunes well played? Guitarist Paolo Baltaro is known to me...

Slap Guru - Diagrams of Pagan Life

When I reviewed Slap Guru’s debut album in August 2018 I was not impressed. So I approached their second album, Diagrams of Pagan Life, with caution, and they have now won me over...

Cuong Vu 4tet - Change in the Air

Trumpeter Cuong Vu’s last outing with his 4tet was the excellent Ballet, which was devoted to the music of Michael Gibbs. With Change in the Air, compositional duties are...

Robert Schroeder - Spaceland

You hear footsteps coming down the hall, a squeaky door opens and closes and suddenly you are in Schroeder’s world. The German synthesizer pioneer, originally discovered by Klaus Schulze in...

Satoko Fujii / Yuko Yamaoka - Diary 2005-2015: Yuko Yamaoka Plays the Music of Satoko Fujii

I’ve often wondered what is the maximum number of tracks that a sincle CD can accommodate. I remember that Dr. Nerve’s Beta 14 OK had around 16 regular tracks followed by 44...

Dustman Dilemma - On Second Thought

I hadn’t heard anything about this band before receiving this promo out of the blue (and by the title, this is obviously their second release); in some ways that’s good, no expectations...

Far Corner - Risk

Hard to believe, but Far Corner is back after an almost ten year absence, and their new music is more powerful than ever, 13 compact tracks of angular and difficult twists and dark, dangerous...

Frédéric Gerchambeau / Bertrand Loreau - Catvaratempo

Frédéric Gerchambeau is perhaps the lesser known of these two collaborators, with only a couple releases to his credit, and two more collabrations with Zreen Toyz (aka Jean Luc...

WintherStormer - D.E.S.H.

WintherStormer is a Norwegian trio playing improvised sequencer-based electronic music in the Berlin School style, though they have taken the sound a couple steps further with the addition of some...

Electric Mud - The Deconstruction of Light

The first four nodes of heavy distorted bass that pump out of your speaker to introduce the first track, “Deadend Mind,” let you know immediately that Electric Mud means business, and...

Curious Grace & Black Rabbit - World on Fire

In the rock era, there have been a lot of bands to combine Irish folk music and rock, going back to Horslips and working forward through many others, including punk-inflected groups like The Pogues...

Axess - Seashore

Axess is the electronic musical project of one Axel Stupplich, active since his First Light album was released in 2002, and with about ten albums since, some released with fellow...

The Guess Who - The Future IS What It Used to Be

There are very few bands active today with a history as long as The Guess Who, which started as Allan and the Silvertones in 1958 under the leadership of Chad Allan (vocals, guitar) with Randy...

The Neal Morse Band - The Similitude of a Dream: Live in Tilburg 2017

My vision of Ultimate Torment looks like this: I’m locked in a room with a giant screen that can’t be turned off and receives only two channels — professional wrestling and Neal...

Christian Kjellvander - Wild Hxmans

Swedish singer-songwriter Christian Kjellvander was part of the Swedish alternative country band Loosegoats until they disbanded in 2001. Since then he has pursued his solo career, releasing his...

Trama - Oscure Movenze

After a 20 year hiatus Italian prog band Trama returns with their second album, Oscura Movenze. I find it intriguing that in today’s world that an active band can remain obscure....

Octopus Syng - Victorian Wonders

Two years since their last full length release Hollow Ghost / Rochelle Salt, Octopus Syng have graced us with their latest take on dreamy psych pop, Victorian Wonders. These...

Una Stagione all'Inferno - Il Mostro di Firenze

To set the stage, let’s start with a translation of the band's name and album title. This new Italian band Una Stagione all’Inferno or A Season in Hell released their debut album...

Devin Gray - Dirigo Rataplan II

At the heart of Dirigo Rataplan is drummer and composer Devin Gray. Six years after their first eponymous release the group is back together for a second take. Gray provides interesting and flowing...

Hollowscene - Hollowscene

Coriolanus is one of Shakespeare’s tragedies, based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Coriolanus was successful against various uprisings...

Alchem - Viaggio al Centro della Terra

I have been anticipating listening to this new album by Italian band Alchem, fully expecting classic spooky and gothic Italian progressive music based on the witch queen, ravens, and cheetah on the...

Chord - Chord

Somewhere beyond the three minute pop-song, where the steady beat and catchy melody devolve into a world of purely textural sounds, this is where the soundworld of Chord begins. The four pieces on...

Moon - Extinction

Moon’s third album presents me with what may be the reviewer’s worst dilemma. I really like it, but I’m having trouble articulating why. To my mind, why is the...

Goad - Landor

Italian prog rocker Maurillo Rossi (AKA Goad) returned this year with a double album. The first disc is all new material and the second disc is a live recording from 1995 of his 1994 album...

OH. - Metallia

Back in 2015 I wrote about the debut of one-woman prog-metal artist OH. Olivia Hadjiioannou seems to have the uncanny ability to touch any musical instrument and immediately produce impressive...

Downpilot - This Is the Sound

Downpilot is Paul Hiraga’s solo effort, with This Is the Sound being his sixth release, though this is my first encounter. The album’s ten songs are edgy yet dreamy takes on...

Kraan - The Trio Years

Kraan has been going strong since their debut in 1972 around the core of bassist Hellmut Hattler and brothers Peter Wolbrandt (guitar) and Jan Fride (drums), and although their studio work has had...

Hyvmine - Fight or Flight

I am by no stretch of the imagination or definition a metal head. I went through a brief phase as a teenager where Black Sabbath was one of my favorite bands, but it had passed by the time the...

Vacuum Tree Head - Aasraa

Aasraa is by far the more mysterious of the two recent Vacuum Tree Head EP releases, though I wouldn’t say it’s any better or worse than its partner release

Vacuum Tree Head - Botofogos in Shadow Position

And suddenly, after about five or six years of silence, there are two new Vacuum Tree Head EPs. I think the last one I heard was Hypothetical Quandaries (n) from around 2012. I think there...

Crystal Jacqueline - Live

In June 2017 Crystal Jacqueline and her band performed at the Sonic Rock Solstice Festival in Worcestershire, England where someone slyly bootlegged their performance, producing a homemade CD and...

The Sheen - The Sheen & Trash Hazard

The Sheen is a relatively new band from the small city of Bellingham, Washington, and in their short existence they’ve already been through two distinct phases. The personnel for their...

The Sheen - The Sheen & Trash Hazard

The Sheen is a relatively new band from the small city of Bellingham, Washington, and in their short existence they’ve already been through two distinct phases. The personnel for their...

Phillip Johnston and the Coolerators - Diggin' Bones

If Johnston’s name sounds a little familiar to some, it may be because he is a founder, leader, composer, and saxophonist of one of his other (many) bands, the New York based Microscopic...

Alister Spence / Satoko Fujii - Intelsat

I’ve lost count now, but this is apparently the ninth (of twelve) releases that Satoko Fujii is releasing for her 60th birthday celebration / marathon. This is an improvisational duo with...

Yves Lambert Trio - Tentation

Man, I needed this. After a spell of listening to pretty heavy music, Yves Lambert’s acoustic folk really hits the spot. Some might remember him as a founding member of La Bottine Souriante,...

Alchemy Sound Project - Adventures in Time and Space

A couple of years ago, this ensemble put out the excellent Further Explorations...

Orions Belte - Mint

This Oslo band creates mostly instrumental music in the vein of such 70s sounds as European movie soundtracks and library music, with a gauzy, atmospheric sound that would fit in a David Lynch...

June Bug - A Thousand Days

Bands (and the PR people who work for and with them) are free to describe themselves however they see fit, and in the case of June Bug “alternative folk music” seems to be a phrase...

Gryphon - ReInvention

Way back in the mid-70s while I was waiting for my DD-214, I was scouring the cutout bin at my favorite record shop in Northside Berkeley and found an album with an interesting front cover, a...

Dividenthal and Aumgn - 3-Methylmorphine Melt & Strawberry Ergotamine

My musical journey changed after chasing down a live Alio Die CD to a UK label known as Txt. Txt was run at the time by Autumn of Communion’s Lee Norris, who also released the music of many...

Dividenthal and Aumgn - 3-Methylmorphine Melt & Strawberry Ergotamine

My musical journey changed after chasing down a live Alio Die CD to a UK label known as Txt. Txt was run at the time by Autumn of Communion’s Lee Norris, who also released the music of many...

Kevin Kastning / Sándor Szabó / Balász Major - Ethereal II

This time out, Kastning (30-string contra-alto guitar, 36-string double contra guitar, and piano) approaches the improvised sounding compositional work as a trio, along with Sándor...

Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra - Down a Rabbit Hole

There’s no telling what will come your way when you write about music, and Ayn Inserto was a new name for me, but she has been composing and conducting orchestrated big band music for around...

Jamie Saft - Solo a Genova

One thing you can count on from Jamie Saft is that each new recording has a good chance of sounding unlike what you’ve heard him do before. I’ve heard him in a variety of settings, from...

The Jamie Saft Quartet - Blue Dream

This quartet, like his trio with Steve Swallow and Bobby Previte, represents the more traditional jazzy side of Jamie Saft’s work. As in the trio, Saft limits himself to piano, and his...

Tom Dyer and the True Olympians - 12 New Recordings

When a catchy garage rock song is grooving along, and you notice that the lyrics are talking about Antonio Gramsci, you know this is no ordinary rock ‘n’ roll band. That’s...

Haruomi Hosono - Light in the Attic Reissues

When Yellow Magic Orchestra’s first album came out in 1978, listeners around the world were treated (many for the first time) to creative music from Japan, something that wasn’t just...

Haruomi Hosono - Light in the Attic Reissues

When Yellow Magic Orchestra’s first album came out in 1978, listeners around the world were treated (many for the first time) to creative music from Japan, something that wasn’t just...

Haruomi Hosono - Light in the Attic Reissues

When Yellow Magic Orchestra’s first album came out in 1978, listeners around the world were treated (many for the first time) to creative music from Japan, something that wasn’t just...

Haruomi Hosono - Light in the Attic Reissues

When Yellow Magic Orchestra’s first album came out in 1978, listeners around the world were treated (many for the first time) to creative music from Japan, something that wasn’t just...

Haruomi Hosono - Light in the Attic Reissues

When Yellow Magic Orchestra’s first album came out in 1978, listeners around the world were treated (many for the first time) to creative music from Japan, something that wasn’t just...

Armonite - And the Stars Above

For their 2018 outing, the duo of Paolo Fosso (keyboards, compositions, arrangements) and Jacopo Bigi (acoustic and electric violin, viola, ukulele) present a set of pieces produced with movie...

The Green Pajamas - Phantom Lake: Northern Gothic 3

Are we to the point in the history of modern music where everyone who would be inclined to like The Green Pajamas has already heard them and fallen in love? Just in case there are some stragglers,...

Xavi Reija - The Sound of the Earth

Drummer Xavi Reija has had a partnership with guitarist Dušan Jevtovič for some time now, going back to Reija’s 2006 album Dream Land that I’m aware of. They did the...

David Cross - Crossing the Tracks

As I understand the story behind this new release by veteran violinist David Cross, Cleopatra label head Jürgen Engler presented the musician with 12 tracks of music, giving him the...

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...

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...

Alec K. Redfearn and the Eyesores - The Opposite

It’s been around six years since Sister Death, the last album by...

Jeff Berlin - Joe Frazier - Round 3

“Joe Frazier” was one of the highlights of the somewhat overlooked third Bruford album, Gradually Going Tornado — which is a fine album, and would be a standout in any...

Madhavi Devi - The Truth of Being

The six tracks on The Truth of Being are explorative ambient inward journeys of discovery, meditations that search for inner peace and find it via bountiful musical visions that at once...

Carl Weingarten - Living in the Distant Present (2018 Remaster)

From 1980 through 1984, the St. Louis Missouri based guitarist’s recorded output was mostly through collaborations with various other local musicians: Gale Ormiston, Walter Whitney, David...

Spectrum Orchestrum - It's About Time

French five-piece Spectrum Orchestrum started back in 2007, and has been pretty much flying under the radar all this time. We were introduced to them with their last release

Magma - Londres 17 Mars 1974

Any time Magma archival releases come out, yours truly is somewhere near the front of the line to make the purchase. I’ve heard enough bootlegs through the years, especially from this period,...

Judy Dyble - Earth Is Sleeping

There is no mistaking the unique and hauntinly beautiful voice of Judy Dyble, who, since her days as singer and founding member of Fairport Convention, in the pre-Crimson assemblage of Giles, Giles...

Space Streakings - First Love Remastered, 7-Toku & Shakuhachi Surprise

The band called Space Streakings didn’t last very long, with three years or so between their beginnings and splitting up, but the two albums they released, plus a collaboration with the...

Mark Wingfield - Tales of the Dreaming City

Tales of the Dreaming City finds guitarist Mark Wingfield back in the driver’s seat, leading a band that takes Yaron Stavi (bass) and Asaf Sirkis (drums) from

Steve Roach - Slow Heat (20th Anniversary Remastered Legacy Edition)

I’m happy to say that I have most of the Steve Roach back catalog, and have listened to all of those many times over the years, sometimes even leaving them play in an endless loops for days...

J. Peter Schwalm - How We Fall

J. Peter Schwalm is back with another set of intriguing electronic music. The Beauty of...

Sons of Alpha Centauri - Continuum

This instrumental band brings together sounds from several decades to make an appealing style. There are some heavy riffs that would, depending on their surroundings, work in anything from 80s...

The Man from RavCon - Another World

Mike Brown has been releasing music as “The Man from RavCon” for nearly ten years, but this album is the first I’ve heard. Judging by the covers of his previous albums, he seems...

Satoko Fujii / Joe Fonda - Mizu

Sometimes with Satoko Fujii, less is definitely more. Back in 2016, Fujii and bassist Fonda’s first recording together, simply titled Duet, was an exceptional collection of masterful...

Carl Weingarten - This Is Where I Found You

Some artists have a uniquely identifiable sound, just the combination of composition, playing style, choice of arrangements, and overall production. So even though Carl Weingarten works in a...

Pymlico - Meeting Point & Nightscape

This Oslo band plays instrumental music inspired by various forms of classic music, especially 70s soundtrack music, funk, and early jazz fusion. Somehow, they also end up having some features in...

Steve Roach - Electron Birth

In most circumstances, a CD with only two tracks would be considered a ‘single,’ but when the total time of the two tracks approaches the 70-minute mark, and consists of two essentially...

Chris Russell - Echo

It’s often said that dreams only last for a few minutes, but they sometimes seem like hours when they are recalled, often connecting with previous dreams in a restless continuum that wanders...

Darrell Katz & The Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra - Rats Live on No Evil Star

Darrell Katz has been around for a number of years (the earliest recording on his site is Flux, from 1992, credited to the Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra), in fact he was the founder of...

Disen Gage - Nature

Nature is one of several new Russian releases that dropped into my mailbox in June. Disen Gage is an experimental musique concrète project that is surprisingly accessible....

Kong Klang - Kong Klang

A melodic rock song featuring both slide guitar and harpsichord… Who would do such a thing? Norwegian songwriter Lasse Myrvold and his cohorts in Kong Klang would. And it works. This kind of...

Detieti - V Obshchikh Chertyakh & Frogressive Punk

Jacques-Yves Cousteau is probably the last person I would have expected to see on the cover art for a prog rock release, let alone one from a Russian band. But there he is smiling at you on...

No Fast Food - Settings for Three

When last we met drummer Phil Haynes, he gave us Sanctuary, a set of pieces for solo drum kit....

Luminous Newts - Songs from a Local Universe

This Berkeley, California group of musical amphibians is based around the eclectic songwriting partnership of Eric Kampman (keyboards and vocals) and Thea Kelley (vocals, who also sings in Jack...

Greg Segal - 33

Why 33? It’s not a 33 1/3 LP (at least yet). This is, in fact Segal’s 33rd solo album, which also happens to be a really interesting nine-part workout of dreamlike sequences of...

Pressor - Weird Things

Harsh electronics, distorted guitar, power chords, and heavy metal sludge ooze out of your speakers for four stoner rock and doom laden tracks: “Heavy State,” “Weird...

Regal Worm - Pig Views

The third part of the Regal Worm trilogy, Pig Views, hit the streets on July 13, 2018. For this installment Jarrod Gosling used a more song-based format and delivers nine songs, with two...

Klangwelt - The Incident

Gerald Arend (AKA Klangwelt) is not a prolific musician. He released his previous (third) album, XOIO, in...

Klaus Schulze - Silhouettes

Klaus Schulze turned 71 on August 4, 2018 and he is still releasing new music, though he has slowed down over the years. His discography is so massive, it is a challenge to comprehend,...

Sendelica - Cromlech Chronicles III

It seems like it was only yesterday that I reviewed Cromlech Chronicles II and now Fruits...

Steve Roach - Return to the Dreamtime

During the process of revisiting, remastering, and reimmersing himself for the 30th anniversary edition of his classic album Dreamtime Return, Roach was inspired to expand upon parts of...

Fuchsia - Fuchsia (Deluxe Edition)

Back in 2013, after Fruits de Mer released the Me and My Kites 7-inch with Tony Durant, I went on a search for Fuchsia’s albums. Even the CD reissues were difficult to find, but find them I...

Wreckless Eric - Construction Time and Demolition

Eric Goulden (AKA Wreckless Eric) has been part of the underground music scene since 1977 when he was barely out of his teens. His new album, Construction Time and Demolition, is the...

Banabila / Saka - 1993

At Peter Gabriel’s UK Womad Festival in 1992 Michel Banabila and Yaşar Saka performed together as an “East Meets West” performance. They then went on to record and release two...

Onségen Ensemble - Duel

These enigmatic Finns return to the fold after two years with their second full length album, Duel. Onségen Ensemble have matured their sound, moving away from stoner rock to a more...

Real Ax Band - Just Vibrations - Live at the Quartier Latin Berlin

Real Ax Band might have been something of a minor footnote in German jazz rock history, their original recorded output was limited to an album and a few songs on anthologies, but they were a much...

Mahobin - Live at Big Apple in Kobe

This is another project featuring pianist Satoko Fujii along with her trumpeter husband Natsuki Tamura, this time under the name Mahobin (a Japanese word meaning Magic Bottle), along with two other...

A Prouder Grief - A Golden Boat

I should know better than to judge a book by its cover, but sometimes the album art grabs my attention and sets my expectations for the music. So with the medieval cover art of A Golden...

Satoko Fujii / Joe Fonda / Gianni Mimmo - Triad

Triad came about as Fujii (piano) and Fonda (double bass & flute) were planning a European tour following their 2016 Duet album, and were in touch with Long Song label owner...

Cuasares - Afro-Progresivo

Like a comet streaking through the heavens, the vintage sounds of Cuasares (the enigmatic studio project by pianist / arranger / visionary Waldo Belloso) splashes a wild esoteric mixture of...

Kevin Kastning / Balász Major - Kismaros

If I had to review this collaboration between Hungarian percussionist Balász Major and American guitarist Kevin Kastning in a single word, it would be “sparse.” Sparse in a good...

Regal Worm - Pig Views

Surely every progressive rock fan in the world has been paying attention to Regal Worm by now. If they aren’t, it’s time to start. Pig Views continues the amazing run of Jarrod...

Pyramid - Pyramid

Guerssen continues to reissue albums by the legendary Toby Robinson. The latest is Pyramid with its single 33-minute track, “Dawn Defender.” Recorded between 1975 and 1976,...

Dog Drive Mantis - How Did We Get Here?

From the wilds of Ontario — Mississauga, to be precise — comes this genre-defying band. With elements of math rock, post rock, jazz, and “other” among the references, they...

Kraków - Minus

Just as the band Asia was not from Asia, Kraków is not Polish, but from Bergen, Norway. Approaching Minus from the perspective of a progressive rock fan, it’s a bit like...

Traffic - First Exit

On September 12, 1967, three months before releasing their first LP, Mr. Fantasy, Traffic performed live on Radiohuset in Stockholm, Sweden to a large crowd. This radio broadcast was...

Jodie Lowther & A.R.C. Soundtracks - The Blow Volume 4

Jodie Lowther is back this past June with another new release, this time a split cassette with A.R.C. Soundtracks on Front & Follow. Our Exposé readership should be familiar...

Guru Guru - Rotate!

My history with Guru Guru is somewhat unfortunate. Back in the late 70s, their album Globetrotter showed up as a bargain item in the Jem import catalog, and I’d heard they were one...

The Chocolate Watch Band - Judgement Day / Secret Rendezvous

This California band is best known for their song “Let’s Talk about Girls,” a track from their 1967 debut album that also appeared on the first Nuggets compilation. Their...

Harvey Mandel - Live at Broadway Studios, San Francisco 2001

Rock Beat Records is digging up some great shows to release from the vaults of time, like the Paul Butterfield Live in New York 1970 show that I

Koenjihyakkei - Dhorimvishka

Anyone who’s heard any of Koenjihyakkei’s previous work will know to expect a high-energy adaptation of Magma’s classic zeuhl sound, featuring complex rhythms, singing in an...

Alan Simon - Big Bang

So what is this? Alan Simon is a French composer with a varied career originally centered around Celtic flavored folk-rock music, but since around 1999, starting with Excalibur – The...

Grateful Dead - Anthem of the Sun - 50th Anniversary Edition

A most important reissue in that it contains both the original 1968 mix of Anthem of the Sun, the Grateful Dead’s most psychedelic and experimental album, as well as the 1971 remix,...

Mouvements - Mouvements

In 1972 Swiss avant-garde guitarist Christian Oestreicher gathered some friends from the jazz-rock scene, among them Jean-François Boillat, Blaise Català, and Jerry Chardonnens, in a...

Temple - Temple

Guerssen has reissued another one of the legendary Toby Robinson’s one-off projects recorded after hours at Dieter Dierks’ studio near Köln, Germany. Toby’s favorite activity...

Mark McDowell and Friends - Dark Weave

Mark McDowell is a UK musician who has been intermittently releasing music since 2001. We in fact reviewed his

Corde Oblique - Back through the Liquid Mirror

Corde Oblique, the band directed by guitarist composer Riccardo Prencipe, has released seven full length albums since 2005, though their latest Back through the Liquid Mirror is my first...

All India Radio - Space

Australian band All India Radio is back again with a new album, Space. 45 years ago, veteran British artist David A. Hardy was commissioned by Pink Floyd to paint the cover art for their...

Escupemetralla - The Beautiful Pork Revealing the Unknown to a Pair of Espardenyes

Spanish industrial noisemeisters are back with another short release, the strangely titled The Beautiful Pork Revealing the Unknown to a Pair of Espardenyes. The information on their...

Sintesi del Viaggio di Es - Il Sole alle Spalle

Il Sole alle Spalle by the new Italian band Sintesi del Viaggio di Es is the last of the batch of Lizard Record releases I received this spring. Sintesi del Viaggio di Es is Nicola...

Basta! - Elemento Antropico

Basta! is another Italian band on the Lizard Records label, and their new album Elemento Antropico is a set of eleven instrumentals. I was expecting heavy percussion or a drum line from...

Aurora Lunare - Translunaggio

For their new album released this past spring, Aurora Lunare covered nine different prog rock songs as a tribute. The album opens with a cover of Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of...

Il Sentiero di Taus - Macrocosmosi

Here is another relatively new Italian progressive band, Il Sentiero di Taus, who have just released their second album, Macrocosmosi. Il Sentiero di Taus, Italian for the Path of Taus, is...

Aperus - Lie Symmetry

One might be forgiven for not knowing about Aperus, which is the musical project of New Mexico based composer and photographer Brian McWilliams (and do check out the outstanding photography on his...

I Am K - Humans

It seems that this band released a few individual tracks back in 2015 under the name Kelvin — “Lights Are Low,” “Give It All,” and “Strobelights” —...

Hanterhir - The Saving of Cadan

I’m a fan of artistic ambition when it comes to music, though of course there’s always a risk that ambition exceeds the ability to deliver on the plan. Hanterhir is a band new to me,...

Brain Wizard - Most Hella Dopest

Brain Wizard is basically a one-man band consisting of Kurt Elzner, who is assisted here and there by bassist Zach Lansdowne. Elzner has a long history in music — I remember him from a...

Ted & Majella - Better Together

This is a little different than the most of the psychedelic, experimental, and progressive rock that we typically cover, but nonetheless enjoyable and certainly well arranged and produced. Most...

Icarus Peel’s Acid Reign - The Window on the Side of Your Head

Icarus Peel steps out in front with his power trio Acid Reign to release some brilliant extended guitar-driven acid rock, a departure from what we have grown used to with The Honey Pot and Crystal...

Flav Martin / Jerry Marotta - Soul Redemption

I fell in love with Jerry Marotta’s drumming on Peter Gabriel’s second solo album. His use of toms as part of the patterns was distinctive, and not something I’d heard before. He...

The End - Svårmod och Vemod Är Värdesinnen

One of the qualities I enjoy most in music is surprise. While there is a potential comfort in music that does what you expect it to, I value the disorientation that comes when creative artists let...

Mezz Gacano and Self-Standing Ovation Boskàuz Ensemble - Kinderheim

If you are into weird music, then this new Italian album called Kinderheim is for you. Italian musician Davide Mezzatesta (AKA Mezz Gacano) and his RIO band the Self Standing Ovation...

Runaway Totem - La Traccia

For some reason, several of the last few albums in my review queue have been odd avant-garde releases. La Traccia by Runaway Totem is no exception. La Traccia is my first exposure...

Roz Vitalis - The Hidden Man of the Heart

I am slowly discovering new Russian bands and music, at least new to me, and I am impressed with what I am hearing. The latest is Roz Vitalis, a band from St. Petersburg that has been around since...

Upper Regions - Observing Humans

James Roditis (AKA Upper Regions) is a Canadian producer and electronic musician who just released a collection of tracks written over the past 25 years. Observing Humans is one long...

Camino al Desván - Libreto Cat / Cas / En

In the 80s, Barcelona musicians Maria Dolores García (Lole) and Jordi Cabayol released a series of cassettes as Camino al Desván, Spanish for Road to the Attic. The music on these...

Dwiki Dharmawan - Rumah Batu

The moody eclecticism and ethnic richness that permeates all of Dharmawan’s latest release surprised even me, and I had marveled at those qualities in his previous release, Pasar...

Sweeney Straddles the Sun - Ducks at the Moon

Jason Sweeney AKA Sweeney Straddles the Suns’ first album, Erect, was released in 2010. Sweeney’s second album, Tarantula, seven years later in 2017 and now his third...

Dialeto - Live with David Cross

The title pretty much says it all, with Brazilian trio Dialeto expanding to a quartet with King Crimson violinist David Cross for this show on July 22nd, 2017, the second concert to promote their...

Dušan Jevtović - Live at Home

Dušan Jevtović is a masterful guitarist, and this live set was recorded in December 2016 in Jevtović’s home town of Kragujevac in Serbia, at the Dečije Pojorište with the...

Emmerhoff & the Melancholy Babies - Circle Six

Circle Six is my first encounter with this Bergen band that’s been around since the mid-90s and recording since 1999. It is their sixth album, so I headed to Youtube to check out...

Node - Node Live

It’s been more than 40 years since Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, and a few others introduced us to the world of expansive sequenced electronic music that has come to be called the Berlin...

Ovrfwrd - Occupations of Uninhabited Space

Last August the Minneapolis prog instrumental quartet Ovrfwrd recorded an in-studio live performance that they intend to release as a DVD/Blu-ray disc this coming Fall. As a teaser and their third...

WorldService Project - Serve

WorldService Project’s follow-up to the outstanding For King and Country is called Serve, and it serves (ahem!) up another set of great tunes. No real changes are in...

Escupemetralla - Cosmozumbido

Escupemetralla is a purposefully obscure Spanish band. They go out their way not to reveal any meaningful information. If you search for them on the Internet, all you can find is this...

Sirkus - The Noise of Time

Three years ago German band Sirkus released their debut album Dream Factory. And this past April saw the release of their second album The Noise of Time. Sirkus is a group of...

GEPH - Apophenia

Emmett Chapman invented his Stick back in the mid-70s, and for the majority of the time since then, it’s been somewhat of a rarity in music outside a small community of enthusiasts. But the...

Curha - I

Curha is a name used by Curtis Hasselbring for his excursions into electronic music, and if you’re familiar with his other work, it might come as quite a surprise — a pleasant one, I...

Son Los Grillos - Garden of Clouds

SonLosGrillos, the Spanish duo of Marta Rodríguez (vocals) and Mauricio Mora (guitars, bass, mandolin, zither, banjo, lap steel guitar, keyboards, and percussion), is a new band to me, with...

Wishbone Ash - Twin Barrels Burning & Raw to the Bone

The first half of the 80s were troubled times for Wishbone Ash; the band that had created classics like Pilgrimage, the mighty Argus, and There’s the Rub only a few...

Wishbone Ash - Twin Barrels Burning & Raw to the Bone

The first half of the 80s were troubled times for Wishbone Ash; the band that had created classics like Pilgrimage, the mighty Argus, and There’s the Rub only a few...

Malady - Toinen Toista

Lately there has been a lot of new and interesting music coming out of Finland. The latest for me is the Helsinki band Malady. Toinen Toista is their second album of five songs, with the...

Peter Banks - The Self-Contained Trilogy & Be Well, Be Safe, Be Lucky... The Anthology

A founding member of Yes, guitarist Peter Banks was unceremoniously dismissed after two albums and replaced by Steve Howe. Banks’ creative muse was still on the rise, however, and soon there...

Peter Banks - The Self-Contained Trilogy & Be Well, Be Safe, Be Lucky... The Anthology

A founding member of Yes, guitarist Peter Banks was unceremoniously dismissed after two albums and replaced by Steve Howe. Banks’ creative muse was still on the rise, however, and soon there...

The Aaron Clift Experiment - If All Goes Wrong

The third time is the charm, especially for Aaron Clift and his cohorts. I delayed gratification for three months to listen to their new album If All Goes Wrong as I worked through my...

Milkilo - Atlas

Milkilo is a French duo of bass and drums, but they don’t sound much like the more famous Ruins. Their music is at time manic and pounding, but not as crazily technical as Yoshida’s...

Bruce Forman - Junkyard Duo

This album is the kind of thing where it’s more or less pointless to pay attention to individual tracks. There are 29 of them, mostly one minute or less in length, so it’s best to ject...

Various Artists - Goldfish

Hardly seems possible, but Fruits de Mer Records has reached the ripe old age of 10. And to celebrate this milestone, they released a triple LP in a gatefold sleeve that features selections from...

Permanent Clear Light - Maurice n'est pas la

Psychedelic Finns Permanent Clear Light are back on Fruits de Mer with a three track 7-inch slab of vinyl Maurice n’est pas la. FdM normally releases singles with at least one cover...

Shatner's Bassoon - Disco Erosion

You can sometimes tell everything you need to know from a band’s name. Any group that would call itself Shatner’s Bassoon is obviously a grimly serious death metal act obsessed with...

Fernando Perdomo - Out to Sea

Fernando Perdomo is guitarist and bassist for the Dave Kerzner band, and Out to Sea is an appropriate title for his debut album, given that he has been a regular on the “Cruise to...

Tusmørke - Fjernsyn i Farver

This Oslo band has been pumping out the music lately, this being their third release in the last year or so. And (barring the diversion into children’s music with Bydyra) with...

Azalia Snail - Neon Resistance

Over the last couple of decades, Azalia Snail has earned the title “Queen of Lo-Fi,” but with Neon Resistance, that designation seems less appropriate. The “Lo-Fi”...

Bob Katsionis - Prognosis & Synopsis

Babis “Bob” Katsionis plays guitar and keyboards in such bands as Firewind, Revolution Renaissance, Outloud, and Serious Black, but I’m not knowledgeable on the Greek metal scene,...

Not a Good Sign - Icebound

On their third album, Icebound, Not a Good Sign delivers a new level of complexity and ambitiousness in their work — the nine songs here easily representing their best effort to...

Church of Hed - Sandstoned

You never know what kind of surprise you’re going to get with a new Church of Hed release, but it’s always going to be something different than the previous one – that’s the...

Noah Preminger - Genuinity

This quartet outing finds three-fourths of the group from Preminger’s Meditations on...

Thumbscrew - Ours & Theirs

These are two concurrent new releases by Thumbscrew, the trio of double-bassist Michael Formanek, guitarist Mary Halvorson, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara; Ours is a collection of original...

Thumbscrew - Ours & Theirs

These are two concurrent new releases by Thumbscrew, the trio of double-bassist Michael Formanek, guitarist Mary Halvorson, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara; Ours is a collection of original...

Darryl Way - Vivaldi's Four Seasons in Rock

It’s been almost fifty years since Curved Air hit the music scene with their first album Airconditioning, and closing the first side of that album was the seven and a half minute...

Ring van Möbius - Past the Evening Sun

If you’ve got an itch that is scratched by Il Balletto di Bronzo and Van der Graaf Generator, Ring van Möbius is here to help. Not that they’ve copied the Balletto or VdGG sounds...

Sirkus - The Noise of Time

Sometimes you just don’t know why, you can’t put your finger on the reason, but a sound carries some kind of magic that can’t easily be explained. Case in point: Sirkus is a...

Kristo Rodzevski - The Rabbit and the Fallen Sycamore

The Rabbit and the Fallen Sycamore is an album that takes many listens to reveal itself, and even after maybe a dozen times through, I’m still not really sure what to make of it....

Bättre Lyss - Till Den Sträng Som Brast Än Att Aldrig Spänna En Båge

On February 22 the Guerssen sub-label Sommor released the first reissue of a rare Swedish album that was privately released in 1975, Till Den Sträng Som Brast Än Att Aldrig...

The Shadow Lizzards - The Shadow Lizzards

Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Atomic Rooster — classic heavy rock bands known for featuring the sound of an overdriven Hammond organ. The Shadow Lizzards start off their debut album with...

AeTopus - Totem Totum

American electronic musician Bryan Jewell Hughes now has six albums out under the moniker AeTopus (Totum Totum is his latest), and with each release he manages to up his game without...

Steve Roach - Molecules of Motion

With such a perfect and descriptive title for the music at hand, Roach’s Molecules of Motion features four long tracks of flowing emotional energy, at once sharing both his Berlin...

Sverre Knut Johansen with David Helpling - The Vast Expanse

The album at hand is Sverre Knut Johansen’s third release on Spotted Peccary music. This time his theme is the universe, presented in an electronic symphonic style much like his previous two,...

Colin Carter - One

Like the recently reviewed album by David Cross and David Jackson, this is a new recording by...

David Cross & David Jackson - Another Day

Expectations can be dangerous. For example, this collaboration between a former King Crimson violinist and a former Van der Graaf Generator saxophonist is bound to generate high expectations in a...

NLTM - Nick Littlemore / Thierry Müller - Days in Vermilion Sands

NLTM is the collaboration between Nicholas Littlemore (Teenager, Pnau, Empire of the Sun, musical director of Le Cirque du Soleil, and other endeavors) and Thierry Müller (Ilitch, Ruth, Crash,...

Erik Wøllo - Threshold Point

Across Wøllo’s nearly two dozen albums going back to the early 80s, and even more when one counts all the collaborations, the Norwegian guitarist's explorative sounds have evolved...

Ümit! - The Testament of Ümit!

This, the second full length release for this German band from Düsseldorf, comes amid a number of similarly titled EP vinyl releases. The group is led by guitarist and singer Jochen Oberlack,...

Steve Tibbetts - Life Of

Nobody can ever accuse Tibbetts of flooding the market with product. His pace is slow and deliberately so, and of late, now that he’s an established artist, taking about eight years between...

Cheer-Accident - Fades

There was a gap of several years between No Ifs Ands or Dogs (2011) and Putting off Death (2017), but Thymme Jones and company seem to be on a roll — here it’s not...

Marbin - Israeli Jazz

Having last heard Marbin on their Aggressive Hippies album a few years ago, their latest, Israeli Jazz, is certainly what one would expect from this Chicago-based quartet: a...

Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog - YRU Still Here?

Guitarist Marc Ribot has a recorded history that is so diverse as to be of little use in predicting what a new album might sound like. His group Ceramic Dog consists of Ches Smith (drums,...

The Senior Service - King Cobra

UK instrumental group The Senior Service released their second album King Cobra on April 27, 2018. Fans of their 2016 debut album The Girl in the Glass Case will be pleased with...

Miguel de Armas - What's to Come

Cuban pianist Miguel de Armas makes his album debut under his own name with What’s to Come, a collection of ten varied tunes that presents his nimble keyboard work with a backing of...

Tempest - Thirty Little Turns

Given my love of Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, and Boiled in Lead, it would seem like Tempest should be part of my musical life when it comes to folk-rock. But there’s so much music in...

Numina - The Chroma Plateau

When one puts The Chroma Plateau in the player, the sounds won’t immediately jump out and grab you by the jugular, but instead slowly envelop the listener in a wash of colorful fog...

Vibravoid - Vibrations from the Cosmic Void & Live at Rheinkraut 2018

It is always a pleasure to listen to a new release from the fertile mind of the prolific Christian Koch, AKA Vibravoid. Over the past 30 years he has released more than 100 LPs, singles, EPs, etc.,...

Vibravoid - Vibrations from the Cosmic Void & Live at Rheinkraut 2018

It is always a pleasure to listen to a new release from the fertile mind of the prolific Christian Koch, AKA Vibravoid. Over the past 30 years he has released more than 100 LPs, singles, EPs, etc.,...

Sleep in Heads - On the Air

There are a lot of metal bands out there who have the mistaken impression that they are “progressive” when their music is so conventional (for its style) that the word becomes a parody...

Elephants on Tape - Lightweights

One manifestation of the impact of modern technology in music is the kind of meticulous production used on most pop recordings, where you’ll find such things as kick drum sounds that are...

Fungus Hill - Cosmic Construction on Proxima B

Fungus Hill is a relatively new band from Umeå in Northern Sweden. They began playing together in 2015, recording an EP, two singles, and a music video. Then in 2017 they released their first...

Vibravoid - Vibrations from the Cosmic Void & Live at Rheinkraut 2018

Seems like I was just writing a review of their previous studio effort Mushroom Mantras a few weeks ago — it was in fact February of this year — but the point is that Vibravoid...

Vibravoid - Vibrations from the Cosmic Void & Live at Rheinkraut 2018

Seems like I was just writing a review of their previous studio effort Mushroom Mantras a few weeks ago — it was in fact February of this year — but the point is that Vibravoid...

Cloud - Plays with Fire

Tyler Taormina (aka Cloud) released his debut album, Comfort Songs, in 2013. On March 9, 2018 he returned with his new album Plays with Fire. Plays with Fire is a set of...

L'Albero del Veleno - Tale of a Dark Fate

L’Albero del Veleno, Italian for The Poison Tree, released their second album in 2017 on Black Widow Records. This is an interesting gothic instrumental suite in two acts based on Greek...

Cream - Nineteen Sixty-Seven

Vogon Records has unearthed and released some lost broadcasts by Cream during their halcyon days between 1966 and 1967. What we have is a live recording made for Swedish radio plus some unreleased...

Flutatious - Festival

Flutatious is a UK band that blends different elements from Celtic, psychedelic fok, progressive rock, and techno dance music. They are Michelle Devonshire (flute), Bill Forwell (bass), Stella...

Jeff Greinke - Before Sunrise

He’s been actively recording music since the early 80s, with well over two dozen releases to his credit, yet probably not as prolific as some others in the floating ambient subgenre, but his...

Yuka & Chronoship - Ship

With their fourth album, this Japanese band continues the growth that has progressed through all of their work. All of their strengths are on display, and everything is nudged up a notch in...

The Brotherhood - Stavia

The Brotherhood was a one-and-done band from Ohio that recorded and privately released their only album, Stavia, in 1972 (200 copies). Stavia is one of those elusive albums that...

Apostolis Anthimos - Parallel Worlds

One of the founding members of Polish progressive legends SBB, as well as Czeslaw Niemen’s band going back a few years before that, this Polish-born guitarist of Greek parents is one of the...

The Nazgûl - The Nazgûl

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 50 years, you are probably aware that the Nazgûl are the Dark Riders from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy....

Richard Wileman - Veil

Most of us know him as the primary force behind Karda Estra, and before that, Lives and Times, which together account for around a couple dozen albums, but this is the first full length solo album...

Kevin Kastning - 17/66

Kastning has released nearly thirty albums on the Greydisc label since around 2000 (both solo and collaborations with folks like Sandor Szabo, Carl Clements, Michael Manring, Balasz Major, Mark...

Star Sponge Vision - Crowley and Me

Aleister Crowley was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He gained widespread notoriety during his lifetime (1875 - 1947), being a recreational drug...

Us & Them - From the Corner of My Eye & On Shipless Ocean

Our favorite Swedish gothic psych / acid folk duo has two new releases on Mega Dodo Records this April and June: a 7-inch single, From the Corner of My Eye, and their second full-length...

Us & Them - From the Corner of My Eye & On Shipless Ocean

Our favorite Swedish gothic psych / acid folk duo has two new releases on Mega Dodo Records this April and June: a 7-inch single, From the Corner of My Eye, and their second full-length...

Shob - Karma Obscur

You may have not heard of French bassist Shob before, but the spting 2018 release of his second album Karma Obscur should help pave the way for further recognition. He has previously...

Danny Fox Trio - The Great Nostalgist

In listening to pianist Danny Fox’s album, it occurs to me that while “nostalgia” indicates a fondness or longing for the past, built within the concept is the realization that...

Quimper - A Soft Day

This February Quimper released another EP of their unique electronica, A Soft Day, a set of four instrumentals spanning roughly ten minutes, each one exploring different territories and...

Hillmen - The Whiskey Mountain Sessions Vol. II

It’s been about seven years since the first Hillmen release, which was The Whiskey Mountain Sessions, Vol.I. I guess one might suspect that the musicians involved just treat this as...

Alfa 9 - My Sweet Movida

My Sweet Movida is the third album by the UK band Alfa 9. Consisting of Phil Mason (guitar and vocals), Ali Heath (guitar and vocals), and John Bradbury (drums), Alfa 9 presents a...

Colin Edwin / Robert Jürjendal - Another World

Ex-Porcupine Tree bassist extraordinaire Colin Edwin has been involved in a wide variety of musical ventures. His latest is a collaboration with Estonian guitarist Robert Jürjendal,...

TOC - Will Never Play These Songs Again

The title is a true statement, because TOC (keyboardist Jérémie Ternoy, drummer Peter Orins, and guitarist Ivann Cruz) is a conduit for free improvisation between the three members,...

Dominique Vantomme - Vegir

Dominique Vantomme is a new name to me — he has done some work with European pop singers, and has a band called Root that I’ve never heard. But here he is on a session recorded with...

Howlin' Sun - Howlin' Sun

For anyone who’s grown up on rock music, no matter how sophisticated taste may grow, it’s likely there’s a fondness that survives for a heavy guitar riff based on the blues. The...

Kristoffer Bolander - What Never Was Will Always Be

German label Tapete Records / Bureau B releases a variety of music, but mostly electronic, so I did not know what to expect from this new release by Swedish singer-songwriter Kristoffer Bolander....

Dobbeltgjenger - Limbohead

There are definitely multiple ways to approach Limbohead. If you’re coming at it from an indie-rock perspective, it’s a super-tight example of clever melodic rock akin to...

Petunia-Liebling MacPumpkin - I Left My Heart in Uncanny Valley

The Soft Bodies Bleed Out compilation was my first encounter with the enigmatic and intriguingly named Petunia-Liebling MacPumpkin. Just the artist’s name is more than enough to...

Traffic - Where the Poppies Grow - Historic Radio Sessions 1967

For those of you who do not know Traffic's history, the band was formed in 1967 by Steve Winwood after leaving the Spencer Davis Group, along with Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood, and Dave Mason. The...

Mildlife - Phase

Mildlife, for all intents and purposes, is a dance club band. Their new album Phase is a set of seven mostly instrumental dance groove tunes. They made a judgement error in sending this...

Beautify Junkyards - The Invisible World of Beautify Junkyards

For their third album, Lisbon’s Beautify Junyards takes you into their secret garden of delicate acid folk songs, The Invisible World of Beautify Junkyards. Led by João Branco...

Green Seagull - Scarlet Fever

Do you know how sometimes you hear a song lyric and because of the way it is sung your mind makes strange connections to other words that sort of make sense? Consider this lyric from the fourth...

The Dead Centuries - Race against Time

The Dead Centuries is an instrumental prog metal band from Ottawa. Canada consisting of Adam Tremblett (guitars, bass, and programming) and Bryant McNamara (drums) and when they play live, Jacob...

Dustin Behm - The Beyond

Metal guitar shredder Dustin Behm has been honing his skills since the age of 13 as lead guitarist for Portland’s instrumental progressive metal band Increate. When Portland was snowed in a...

Mist of Flying Elbow - Substitute Songs of Heights, Vol. II

This has got to be one of the saddest and most outré releases since cavemen made music by banging two rocks together. How many of you enjoy listening to the Singing Dogs’...

The Monochrome Set - Maisieworld

As a companion to their recent boxed set of early material, Tapete has just released a brand new Monochrome Set album, Maisieworld. Over three decades later The Monochrome Set continues to...

The Monochrome Set - 1979-1985 - Complete Recordings

The Monochrome Set is a band that I had heard the name of but never encountered their music. I believe that I first read about them through Archie Patterson’s early efforts with Paradox Music...

Gong Expresso - Decadence

Expectations can be dangerous things. When I first heard Gazeuse!, it was instantly one of my favorite albums. Sure I knew it wasn’t really Gong, since that name first...

Peter Garland - Moon Viewing Music (Inscrutable Stillness Studies #1)

We reviewed Garland’s Cold Blue release String Quartets (2009) and his contribution...

John Luther Adams - Everything That Rises

Adams is an American classical composer, born in Mississippi, who studied music at Cal Arts in the 70s, and who spent over 35 years of his adult life living in Alaska, during which time he...

Martin Gordon - Thanks for All the Fish

Martin Gordon has had a long musical career dating back to Sparks and Radio Stars in the 70s and starting his solo career in 2003. Now 15 years later he has developed into what sounds like a bitter...

Slivovitz - Liver

If you thought that Slivovitz’ two previous albums Bani Ahead (2011) and All You Can Eat (2016) couldn’t be topped, well, think again. LiveR showcases this...

Forrest Fang - Scenes from a Ghost Train

The thing I notice most about Forrest Fang’s music is that his sounds create a world of their own, seemingly existing within an infinite space of possible sounds, all of which are distinctly...

Forrest Fang - Scenes from a Ghost Train

From the blackboard jungle to the waning crescent and beyond, visionary composer Forrest Fang has been honing and perfecting his craft since the early 80s, and if I’m not mistaken Scenes...

The Pretty Things - The Same Sun

Fruits de Mer continues to release The Pretty Things on vinyl — label owner Keith Jones is a big fan of the band. For this first 7-inch of the new year we have four songs, two from The Pretty...

Sendelica - Cromlech Chronicles II

If you have been following our coverage of Sendelica over the years, you will no doubt be familiar with their space rock / krautrock / psychedelic output. Their latest release on Fruits de Mer is a...

Jaguwar - Ringthing

Jaguwar is the Berlin trio of Lemmy Fischer, Oyèmi Noize, and Chris Krenkel, who play energetic shimmering shoe-gazer updated New Wave. So far they’ve released two EPs and played live...