Exposé Online » Issue 19

Date : May 2000
Pages : 88
Summary : On The Future of Music Distribution, Absolute Zero + Trap, Hypnos Label, Garden of Delights Label, NeBeLNeST, Maximum Indifference, Babylon, Robert Rich, Guy LeBlanc (Nathan Mahl), Discus, Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Richard Barbieri
Items found : 80

Adam Lane - Hollywood Wedding

Adam Lane is an improvising artist local to San Francisco who happens to use the upright four string as his medium to create with. On his 1999 Cadence release, Hollywood Wedding, the...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Adrian Belew - Coming Attractions

Adrian Belew has been very busy in the imposed break from King Crimson. With multiple projects in various stages, it makes sense to market a sampler to highlight each of his works. Obviously,...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Ágens - Égi-földi - Of Heaven and Earth

Here is a project in a genre (solo vocal; or music largely voice-oriented) that is usually fraught with problems, whether they be such that the results are too serious (Meredith Monk); harsh on the...

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(Posted by Mike Ezzo 2000-05-01)

Agitation Free - At the Cliffs of River Rhine

This CD will be pure bliss for Agitation Free fans, a show from WDR radio in Germany that presents the band at a serious peak. Recorded after their Second, album, this show contains...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2000-05-01)

Agitation Free - The Other Sides of Agitation Free

This has so little to do with the early Agitation Free sound, that I put it in its separate review. Why Garden of Delights would market such slick jazz rock under the Agitation Free name is pretty...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2000-05-01)

Area - La Mela di Odessa

First off: to the best of my knowledge, this is a bootleg recording, of dubious legal origin, and the sound quality is marginal at best. If that scares you away, no need to read on further. Area...  » Read more
(Posted by Steve Robey 2000-05-01)

Arktis - Arktis, Arktis Tapes & On the Rocks

Arktis have a style like a mix of Cream, Black Sabbath, Steamhammer, and German bands like late Frumpy or Atlantis. Unlike some of the sub-par bands on Garden of Delights, Arktis make up for a...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2000-05-01)

Bill Frisell - Gone, Just Like a Train

Guitar, bass, and drum albums can highlight standard blues based endeavors, fusion-driven workouts, or some aural creature which defies easy categorization. Bill Frisell’s trio album on...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Bob Drake - Medallion Animal Carpet

The mysterious contributor to 5uu’s and Thinking Plague has secreted another solo album and I’m overjoyed for the new aural ooze! After all, that’s what Drake’s blend of...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Bondage Fruit - IV

After a mildly disappointing third album, Bondage Fruit is back in top form. Over the top, in fact. Much of this is insanely complex music that one might swear is all improvised, at least until the...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2000-05-01)

Book of Hours - Art to the Blind

This Swedish band starts off their first album with a nice slice of instrumental rock: two guitars, bass, and drums slipping easily between phrases of three and four beats. It is well arranged,...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2000-05-01)

Brainville - The Children's Crusade

This combination of musicians has been playing together off and on for several years now. From Daevid Allen’s and Hugh Hopper’s two duet albums with Kramer to Pip Pyle’s work with...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Can - Box

Can's legacy in the progressive rock/experimental field is nothing short of legendary. What has been lacking is any real tangible support for the myth in the form of easy access for present day...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Cheryl Gunn - The Sun at Midnight

Liner notes which throw phrases around like “an immensely personal journey towards self-discovery” and “this powerful message of personal redemption” are all warning signs:...

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(Posted by Paul Hightower 2000-05-01)

Chrome - Chrome Flashback / Chrome Live / The Best Of

When I first heard Chrome back in the early 80s, my initial reaction was “Ouch!” All I heard was a wall of distortion and mangled vocals – their brand of art-punk was too much punk and too...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2000-05-01)

Cipher - No Ordinary Man

Ambient music, like any other genre, has many sounds, from purely electronic soundscapes, to cut-and-paste pointillism, to environmental collage. Cipher presents a jazzy take on the quiet side of...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2000-05-01)

Coyote Oldman - House Made of Dawn

This duo of flautists, Michael Graham Allen and Barry Stramp, creates a music far beyond that of the acoustic instrument. Processed through a myriad of effects, the tones of the flute create music...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2000-05-01)

David Bagsby - Transphoria

From Tulsa Oklahoma, Bagsby has been around for a few years doing his thing; he had a fairly interesting release with keyboardist Kurt Rongey as Xen a few years back. On this latest release Bagsby...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2000-05-01)

Dün - Eros

Zeuhl alert! One of the best, yet little known zeuhl gems has re-surfaced thanks to the specialty label Soleil Atreides, the same folks who recently gave us Archaia. Dün is rather more in the...

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(Posted by Dean Suzuki 2000-05-01)

Dystopia - The Second Dawn

Most of the time, when I listen to music, I don’t actively think about the intentions of the musicians. I just listen and judge the sounds on their own terms. Only later do I sometimes wonder...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2000-05-01)

Eclat - En Concert - Marseille Tokyo

Recorded in both France and Japan, En Concert is a snapshot of the band on two nights in the summer of 1998. Much of Eclat’s music could be categorized as jazz-fusion, but they...

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(Posted by Mike Grimes 2000-05-01)

Epidaurus - Earthly Paradise & Endangered

Earthy Paradise is a short five-song album originally released in 1977 that should fulfill any analog purist with its dual-keys-driven, Mellotron-and-organ-heavy sound. In some ways it is...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2000-05-01)

Fifty Foot Hose - Sing Like Scaffold

Fifty Foot Hose occupy that most rare of places, avant garde psychedelia, a mix very few bands have even attempted, let alone pulled off. The fact that they first honed their craft with their debut...

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(Posted by Steve Robey 2000-05-01)

Forgas Band Phenomena - Extra-Lucide

French drummer/composer Patrick Forgas supplied us with the missing link between Canterbury and zeuhl with his outstanding 1997 release, Roue Libre. Forgas Band Phenomena returns two years...

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(Posted by David Ashcraft 2000-05-01)

Foxtrot Zulu - Frozen in Time

Foxtrot Zulu is a Rhode Island group who should be finding a quick path onto the roots radio wave still prevalent across the US. One of the things that sets the seven piece apart from other roots...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Fred Thelonious Baker - Missing Link

For those of you wondering who in the world is Fred Baker with the familiar middle name, please allow me to provide background on the educated virtuoso. He’s a Birmingham College of Music...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

French TV - The Violence of Amateurs

Any new French TV album is always a load of fun and great playing, but with this one (what is this now, the sixth? They used to number them...), the band seems to have taken a big step forward,...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2000-05-01)

Garmarna - Vedergällningen (Vengeance)

Garmarna’s newest release starts out with a grab for the listener’s throat. “Gamen (Vulture)” begins with a flanged rhythmic pattern on two fiddles which builds up to a powerful crash as the...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2000-05-01)

Garrett List - The New York Takes

You may be aware of Carbon 7 for their new Present release (No. 6), Cro-Magnon, and a few others. But with Garrett List we and they step into a different dimension altogether. The New...

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(Posted by Mike Ezzo 2000-05-01)

Group Therapy - Atlantis

No this isn’t the California band Atlantis. This is a Japanese band called Group Therapy with an album titled Atlantis. This is a seven-piece all-instrumental band: two guitarists, a...

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(Posted by Mike Grimes 2000-05-01)

Harmonia 76 - Tracks and Traces

1976 was a transitional year where Brian Eno changed his context for working with electronics to an ambient perspective. This was due in part to his meeting with synthesizer duo Cluster (Moebius...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Ice - Opus 1

This CD is by one of the more pedestrian rock groups that seem strangely prevalent on the Garden of Delights label. While Ice doesn’t have the overt amateur tendencies that many of the...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2000-05-01)

Iva Bittová - Iva Bittová & Classic

I’m still pinching myself to prove it is no dream: an American label actually has released a CD collection of recordings by Miss Bittová, the Moravian violinist / vocalist...

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(Posted by Mike Ezzo 2000-05-01)

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - Welcome Home

Youthful energy explodes out of this release by these seven twenty-something Oklahomans. Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey’s Welcome Home is a jazzy blend of free but focused improvisational...

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(Posted by Jerry Baiden 2000-05-01)

JBK (Jansen Barbieri Karn) - _Ism

_ism is the latest project by this trio formerly from the bands Japan and Raintree Crow. This is the group’s third distinct album and first real collaboration in their six years on...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

John Wetton & Richard Palmer-James - Monkey Business 1972-1997

When was the first time you heard “Exiles” or “The Great Deceiver” and were taken aback about the lyrics? It’s a pretty strange role to find yourself by trying to fill...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Kenso - In the West & Esoptron

From 1993 to 1996, Japanese instrumental quintet Kenso released four live albums in a row with no new studio material, followed a long break of three years with nothing. Had they broken up? Last...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2000-05-01)

Kepa Junkera - Bilbao 00:00 h

The first I ever heard of Kepa Junkera was at the first WOMAD USA festival. He was an unknown quantity that my wife and I checked out and became enraptured with. He plays the traditional Basque...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2000-05-01)

Kilgore Trout - KGT

Kilgore Trout has been kicking around the Northwest for some years now, after relocating here from the Northeast. This migration to Seattle might be typical for a rock band, especially a really loud...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2000-05-01)

King Crimson - The ProjeKcts

Despite casual impressions, recording and releasing the foundations for a new King Crimson re-birth is a big undertaking. Considering that there has been no specific time plan, Fripp has had plenty...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Krakatoa - Plan Ahead

I had heard virtually nothing about this new, up-and-coming quartet, and still know little about them apart from their names (Ted Casterline, Valerie Opelski, Glendon Jones, and Jay Horvath), so I...

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(Posted by Mike Ohman 2000-05-01)

Loop Guru - The Fountains of Paradise

Loop Guru got started in England in 1992 as a collaboration between Salman Gita (Sam Dodson) and Jamuud (Dave Muddyman) to experiment with tape loops, samples, and world beat rhythms. Over the...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2000-05-01)

Magnum - Progressive Classics

This English "pomp-rock" (as those silly British metal mags used to call it) band has been around for donkey's years. Wide spread fame always seemed to elude them however, but given...

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(Posted by Mike Ezzo 2000-05-01)

Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Lost Trident Sessions

Out of the vaults come recordings for an aborted third album by the original line-up of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Time to celebrate! This was the band who set out to chisel a trail across...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Michael Hoppé, Martin Tillmann, Tim Wheater - Afterglow

Afterglow is the combined musical energies of cellist Martin Tillman, flautist Tim Wheater, and keys player Michael Hoppé. For the most part, the music is a spacious and somber...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2000-05-01)

Michael Mantler / Edward Gorey - The Hapless Child and Other Inscrutable Stories

It's a rare project that extracts elements of the written word and transfers them eloquently to an audio performance. Composer/trumpet player Michael Mantler's first major success with this...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Michael Ray and the Cosmic Krewe - Funk If I Know

The Cosmic Krewe’s music is an almost perfect hybrid of trumpeter/keyboardist/vocalist Michael Ray’s two most significant former gigs. Here, as on the band’s 1994 debut,...

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(Posted by Rob Walker 2000-05-01)

Mike Keneally - Nonkertompf

Mike Keneally’s mastery to create an amusing stream of conscious should be undisputed upon hearing this disc. The man jumps from hot guitar lick to jazz groove to shrill weirdness and movie...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Miles Davis - Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis

Jazz-fusion of the early 70s used to get such a bad rap for self-indulgence and excess, almost as bad as the progressive rock camp. With the help of producer / bassist Bill Laswell, progenitors of...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Mr. Bungle - California

No one could ever rightfully accuse Mr. Bungle of stylistic monotony. Their three albums have been about everywhere on the map, and a few places that aren’t on any maps. That said,...

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(Posted by Mike Grimes 2000-05-01)

No-Man - Speak

No-Man began back in 1987 as a collaboration between Steve Wilson (pre-Porcupine Tree) and vocalist Tim Bowness. Over the years since then, the band has released a number of albums and EPs, mostly in...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2000-05-01)

One Shot - One Shot

Emmanuel Borghi (keys) and Philippe Bussonnet (bass) are both members of the current Magma lineup. Here they are joined by James Mac Gaw (guitars) and Daniel Jeand’heur (drums) on a romp...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2000-05-01)

Orient Squeezers - Sadhu

Orient Squeezers, aside from being an especially nonsensical phrase, is a solo project of Håkan Almkvist, the driving force behind Ensemble Nimbus. The disc displays quite an obsession with...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2000-05-01)

Oysterband - Here I Stand

Oysterband (originally The Oyster Band) has been making music in their own unique and developing style for more than a decade. I would hesitate to call them a post-punk equivalent of Fairport...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2000-05-01)

Paranoise - Private Power

The “Ancient Ecstatic Brotherhood of Paranoise” has come up with an original and compelling fusion of musical styles. Starting out with samples of Middle-Eastern and other exotic...

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(Posted by David Ashcraft 2000-05-01)

Pere Ubu - Dub Housing

I recall when I first heard this LP, I was honestly paralyzed by the discordant synthesizer which underpinned a Velvet Underground groove on the first track. There was vocalist David Thomas and his...  » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Pere Ubu - New Picnic Time

The third album in the Pere Ubu canon is one where the group appears to be in a more playful mode rather than on their acclaimed sophomore album, Dub Housing (1978). They had matured a bit...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Phil Manzanera / 801 - Live at Manchester University

801, lead by guitarist Phil Manzanera, deserve a pretty lofty place in the Prog hall of fame. The band was a veritable supergroup, fronted by Phil and Brian Eno, blending quirky pop songs with...

 » Read more
(Posted by Dane Carlson 2000-05-01)

Philharmonie - Le Dernier Mot - The Last Word

Philharmonie has been around since the late 80s, this being the band’s fifth and sadly, final album. The booklet notes make no bones about it – this is the end; a conscious decision by...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2000-05-01)

Richard Johnson and Jud Martindale - Creatures of Habit

For those interested with tracking down the roots of master acoustic fret bender, Richard Leo Johnson, look no further! Uncovered from the independent release catacombs is a 1993 gem from Johnson and...  » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Richard Thompson - Mock Tudor

Richard Thompson’s latest album for Capitol Records (his longest stay on any major label) follows a three-tiered study of songs: The first five on the disk follow a “Metroland”...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Rick Wakeman - The Masters

Between 1982 and 1995 Wakeman released a staggering 35 recordings! None of these are known to more than a few people (I have only seen about four of them myself), so the convenience of this...  » Read more
(Posted by Mike Ezzo 2000-05-01)

Roy Harper - The Unknown Soldier

Typically Roy Harper doesn't fall into a progressive rock vein, preferring to create an English version of Bob Dylan's never ending hippie dream. But in 1980 he amassed several friends...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Ruphus - Ranshart

Regarding Ranshart:

The Norwegian group Ruphus suffered a drastic lineup shift after their 1973 debut, New Born Day, which resulted in the loss of, among others,...

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(Posted by Mike Ohman 2000-05-01)

Smokstik - Bugs

Smokstik is the Massachusetts based duo of John Kiehne (Chapman Stick, vocals) and Hillary Koogler (drums, vocals). Although it sounds like a pretty lean arrangement on paper, these two get a very...

 » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2000-05-01)

Soft Machine - Noisette

Steve Feigenbaum (founder of Cuneiform Records) continues to expand the breadth of the Soft Machine legacy by finding gold in long forgotten tapes. His latest audio treasure spotlights a brief...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Sorten Muld - Mark II

Sorten Muld exist in the same milieu as Hedningarna, Garmarna, and Afro Celt Sound System, bringing modern sounds and techniques to traditional music, in this case that of Denmark. They are masters...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2000-05-01)

Sugarwood - Catch a Breeze and Fly & Love, Loss & Carparks

Sugarwood have been kicking around parts of the UK for a few years now, and seem to have gathered a following (if internet activity is any indication). They fit in more or less with the current...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2000-05-01)

Swans - Cop/Young God, Greed/Holy Money

For those of you unfamiliar with this ensemble on this reissue two disc set, Swans is an artsy cult band who blazed a trail of punishing punk metal which is fairly popular in certain circles. The...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Syrius - Rock Koncertek A Magyar Radio Archivumabol

As best I can tell (my Hungarian is a little rusty) this release is an archive recording from 1975 that was originally a Hungarian radio broadcast. The band has a "big band" line-up,...

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(Posted by Mike Grimes 2000-05-01)

Tempest - The 10th Anniversary Compilation

When I think of hard working bands, Tempest immediately comes to mind. You can find this band at Celtic festivals, Highland Games, and clubs across America. Tempest performs traditional and...

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(Posted by Dane Carlson 2000-05-01)

The Big Wu - Tracking Buffalo Through the Bathtub

The Big Wu is a Midwest quintet who focuses on the amusing swing jazz groove vibes of Zappa or the Grateful Dead. This is the kind of group who can channel a happy vibe and break off into a heavy...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2000-05-01)

Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, a True Star

For those of you — the uninitiated — Todd Rundgren holds a unique place in the annals of progressive rock. In the early seventies, the man had left the power pop innovators The Nazz and strove to...  » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Tomorrow - 50 Minute Technicolour Dream

Tomorrow is currently a hot psychedelic commodity on the market: many of the band's English UK singles fetch top dollar on the English collector's circuit. Adding to the frenzy is former...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Tone Bearer - Millennium

Tone Bearer is a San Jose six-piece cut squarely from the Marillion and Pendragon mold of neo-prog. The lineup is your standard 5-piece with an additional percussionist and the vocalist doubling on...  » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2000-05-01)

Trama - Prodromi di Finzioni Sovrapposte

Trama is an out-of-the-ordinary blend. They capture some of the essence of 70s Italian symphonic bands, and at the same time have a definite 80s AOR element to their sound. The lush keyboard and...

 » Read more
(Posted by Mike Grimes 2000-05-01)

U.K. - Concert Classics Volume 4

I was pleasantly surprised to find a copy of this live series disc at a local SF Bay area shop in the bin with the regular monthly releases. Considering that Volume 4 had supposedly been...  » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Various Artists - Ambiances Magnétiques Volume 2: Hourra pour la Bastringue

French Canadian label, Ambiances Magnétiques released a second sampler of their diverse artist's work in 1997. The disc focuses on various combinations of personnel ranging from solo and...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Various Artists - Medium Label Sampler

Medium Productions is a low profile label from the UK which represents the work of three former members of Japan. The trio is alternately creative within varying contexts and combinations of...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Various Artists - Vae Victis I & II

So here are two samplers chock full of French hard rock and heavy metal. Why should you care? Well, I guess cuz it comes from Musea’s hard rock offshoot label, Brennus. But then again, a...

 » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2000-05-01)