Exposé Online

The Chris Hinze Combination - Sister Slick

Most of what I've been writing about has found its way to the CD format, but for the most part the early 70s jazz rock albums by Dutch flautist Chris Hinze have remained un-reissued, and...

Isproject - Archinauts

The Archinauts is the debut album by the Italian neo-progressive rock band Isproject (Ivan Santovito vocals and keyboards and Ilenia Salvemini vocals). Produced by Fabio Zuffanti, the band...

Steeleye Span - Dodgy Bastards

Writing about Offa Rex’s wonderful new album sparked a renewal of interest in one of my all-time...

Offa Rex - The Queen of Hearts

It was sometime back in the mid 70s that I discovered English folk rock, though the specifics are lost to the mists of time. It was likely a

Adam Rudolph - Morphic Resonances

With Morphic Resonances, percussionist Adam Rudolph presents a collection of music composed for various small ensembles, none of which fits in with what might be thought of as his primary...

Wingfield / Reuter / Sirkis - Lighthouse

Like a series of dark and menacing dreams, this colllection of improvisations by guitarist Mark Wingfield, touch guitarist Markus Reuter, and drummer Araf Sirkis takes the listener into a world of...

North Star - Tempest

Although North Star has released several albums showcasing their musicianship, their music was nevertheless plagued by dreadful vocals. I found it unbearable to listen to any North Star release...

Steve Hillage - Germany-77

I'd guess if someone invented the time machine and had checked off all the more humanitarian things that might be accomplished with it then perhaps the remaining changed time stream would mean...

Premier of New Echo Us Video

From the press release:

To Wake a Dream in Moving Water takes from Echo Us' past and spins it into a whole new direction, one closer to traditional acoustic Celtic music than ever before.

To Wake a Dream in Moving Water was composed and recorded during the first few months of 2017. Although Celtic influenced and comprised of a number of re-workings of Irish folk tunes and Breton aires, the album is still in large part new and original Echo Us music that fits right in the Echo Us ‘canon’. “Wake” is a natural progression from “A Priori Memoriae”, which was released to critical acclaim in Europe in 2014.

To Wake a Dream in Moving Water is Echo Us’ ‘Celtic’ album that was planned for a long time but never executed because of the work on the trilogy that came before it. The album title is a typical ‘Echo Us’ play on words which one can find their own meaning.

“It is also both evocative of the Oregon rain, which I am told is not too unlike the rain in Ireland.”(Matthews)

To Wake a Dream in Moving Water is also a comment on conception- which was unintentional when the lyric was written. Matthews surprised himself a few months after writing it, realizing that the song was actually about the nitty gritty, biological workings of what happens when a child is conceived. The folk song it derives from musically describes a courting ritual, one that even today we can all relate to in our own way.

“Come With Me Over the Mountain" in acapella was the musical inspiration for the song, and came into my consciousness after the lyrics were written a few months prior. “ (Matthews)

As with all Echo Us recordings, a number of seeming coincidences resulted in connections being drawn where prior there were none. Another experience of similar capacity was found in oboe samples from A Priori Memoriae that echoed the traditional “May Morning Dew’, also reworked for guitar on the new album.

The Thin Cherries - The Thin Cherries

The Thin Cherries is a Chicago band with something of a split personality. The core of the group consists of two songwriters: Mark Lofgren, who is also involved with