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Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

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Available online from Issue 25

Arlo Bigazzi / Claudio Chianura / Lance Henson - Drop 6: The Wolf & The Moon

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The three artists listed above are only the tip of the iceberg; collaborators on this project include Richard Barbieri (Porcupine Tree), Roger Eno, No-Man, Hector Zazou, and many more. The reason...

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(Posted by Sean McFee 2002-09-01)

Black Tape for a Blue Girl - The Scavenger Bride

Cover art I really wanted to like this one. I’d read about Black Tape, and they sounded interesting: female vocals fronting ethereal, classical-inflected music with a kind of Gothic mood, but not the heavy...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Bob Drake - The Skull Mailbox

Cover art Bob Drake may be a genius, but it is fair to say that, as far as the results of his craft go, he is more than a bit scatterbrained. The Skull Mailbox is chock full of ideas, often more than...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Coral Caves - Voice from a Distance

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Musea’s next entrant into the world of New Age music is this release by Japanese keyboard player Toshiyuki Fujita. This one slots squarely into the space between Yanni, Kitaro, and Rick...

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(Posted by Paul Hightower 2002-09-01)

Dom F. Scab - Analogical Confessions

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Dom F. Scab is Spain’s answer for Tangerine Dream fans who wish they still sounded like they did in 1985 or 1986, right when they transitioned from Johannes Schmoelling to Paul Haslinger. His...

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(Posted by Phil Derby 2002-09-01)

Faust - BBC Sessions+

Cover art The “BBC” part of Sessions + is a twenty minute piece named simply for its date of broadcast: “BBC 1.3.73.” The first section of this track (“The Lurcher”) is a bass and drum...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Frágil - Sorpresa del Tiempo

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While they are relatively unknown in most of the world, Frágil must be quite popular in their homeland of Peru. Case in point: this live reunion CD from a concert in 1999, recorded with a...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Garlic - L'Enigma della Trottola

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Italian three-piece Garlic recorded this album live in the studio over three days with no overdubs. The songs are all instrumental guitar, bass, and drums with interesting electronic processing...

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(Posted by Mike Grimes 2002-09-01)

Hemisphere - Attachment X

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Hemisphere serves up another slab of dark shadowy theatrical ambience. Labeled “A Psychedelic Deep Ambient Soundtrack,” it is, I believe, all seeing light of day on CD for the first...

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(Posted by Phil Derby 2002-09-01)

Henry Cow - Western Culture

Cover art By the time they got to 1978 and the recording of Western Culture, Henry Cow were in the process of breaking apart. Fortunately for us, they saw the project through to its completion, for it...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Here and Now - Give and Take

Cover art Here and Now are very heavily patterned in the mold of Radio Gnome era Gong, complete with silly vocals, but luckily they also borrow from Gong’s best features, with some great guitar solos...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Hereward Kaye - Golden Mile

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Singer/songwriter Hereward Kaye is something of a mystery even in his homeland, the UK. The artist has crafted thirteen pieces somewhat reminiscent of Elton John's renaissance era with a style...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2002-09-01)

Honey Barbara - I-10 & W. Ave.

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Singer/songwriter Ross Marlow’s conventional set of pieces with cohort James Sidlo (DreamLand) is called Honey Barbara. Together with drummer Lisa Kuehl and various guest artists, this trio...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2002-09-01)

Imagin'Aria - La Tempesta

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La Tempesta opens with a bit of an attitude, with an in-your-face rocker that almost manages to betray their distant past as a metal band while not really being a metal song. Forming in...

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(Posted by Mac Beaulieu 2002-09-01)

IZZ - I Move

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Progressive rock fans seem to be split into two distinct camps when it comes to this kind of prog. IZZ operate in the same general area as Spock’s Beard – a rather poppish modern take...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Jewlia Eisenberg - Trilectic

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It’s probably stating the obvious to say that fans of Charming Hostess and (to some degree) Sleepytime Gorilla Museum are likely to enjoy this release as well. Eisenberg is one of the...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

John Martyn - Sweet Certain Surprise & Live at the Bottom Line

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What is remarkable in this last set of two live rarities from guitarist and vocalist John Martyn is that the two performances continue to show an expanding range within different periods of the...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2002-09-01)

Kelly David - Broken Voyage

Cover art Mixed and enhanced by Steve Roach, mastered by Roger King, with graphic design by Sam Rosenthal, it is a sheer wonder that this doesn’t come across as a Roach clone, weighed down by comparison and...  » Read more
(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2002-09-01)

Kryptästhesie - No Age

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I’m not going to get into any generalizations about whether Italian bands can be any good at psychedelia – certainly examples can be found at all levels of quality. This release from...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

La Maschera di Cera - La Maschera di Cera

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When this CD first started spinning in my player I thought there had been some mistake. I was expecting to hear La Maschera di Cera, the new project by Finisterre’s Fabio Zuffanti; this,...

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(Posted by Jim Chokey 2002-09-01)

Matthew D. Guarnere - M.D.G.

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Guarnere is a singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist operating in areas between classic and progressive rock. Playing most of the instruments himself, he brings in other players on bass, lead...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2002-09-01)

Michelle Young - Marked for Madness

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Michelle Young’s sophomore effort, Marked for Madness, evinces several subtle changes from 1996’s

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(Posted by Jim Chokey 2002-09-01)

Murray Head - Greatest Hits

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Summarizing Head's career of singles and one off recordings is actually a great career retrospective opportunity. Opening the track is Head's sensitive piece, "Say It Ain't So,...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2002-09-01)

Murray Head - Restless

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Murray Head is one of those few mid-60s singer/songwriters who seems at home on the silver screen as much as in a recording studio. In a career that has spanned almost four decades, it's clear...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2002-09-01)

Murray Head - Sooner or Later

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1987 was another year of soul searching for the artist as he linked with ex-Gong guitarist Steve Hillage to produce a series of electronic pop songs with an electronic slant. "Lana...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2002-09-01)

N.H.U. - N.H.U.

Cover art It's not every day you discover a band from the 70s that you've never heard before, at least not for me. So NHU, sometimes known as Grupo NHU, is a particularly happy find. This album, first recorded...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Nodo Gordiano - Nodo Gordiano

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Quotes on the back cover from Banco, PFM, Arti & Mestieri, Balletto di Bronzo, and John Wetton may seem gratuitous at first, but there’s a reason for it: Nodo Gordiano is a hot new band...

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(Posted by Mac Beaulieu 2002-09-01)

Pentagram - Sub-Basement

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Dis’ some heavy stuff, man. Pentagram is basically the duo of Joe Hasselvander (all instruments) and Bobby Liebling (all vocals), churning out a heavy, fuzzed-out,...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2002-09-01)

Peter Blegvad - Downtime Etc.

Cover art After Peter Blegvad’s first two solo albums (The Naked Shakespeare in 1983 and Knights Like This from 1985) failed to make much money for his record label, the former Slapp Happy...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Physical Rocket - Rising Is My Trend

Cover art OK, so Physical Rocket isn’t really a progressive band at all, but they’re a lot of fun, and they don’t really sound much like the mainstream rock we hear these days. They’re a hard rock band...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Psychedelic Breakfast - II (Deuce)

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With Phish on a hiatus, and Dave Matthews and Widespread Panic pursuing more commercial directions, who will be the next hot group for “jam-band” fans? It might just be this young band...

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(Posted by David Ashcraft 2002-09-01)

Random Hold - The View from Here

Cover art For those of you who missed their brief history, Random Hold was a band that featured David Rhodes (longtime Peter Gabriel band mate) on guitar, Bill MacCormick (Quiet Sun, Matching Mole, and so on)...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Renaissance - Novella & A Song for All Seasons

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The history of Renaissance is much too convoluted to go into in a review, but it’s safe to say that these two albums were the end of the “classic” period of the...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Robert Andrews - An Amnesty for Bonny Things on Sunny Days

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Britain’s Robert Andrews plays guitar and bass for Land of Yrx and Aerie, bands with whom he’s released over a dozen albums. An Amnesty for Bonny Things on Sunny Days is his...

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(Posted by Jim Chokey 2002-09-01)

Ron Boots - Liquid Structures in Solid Form

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Ron Boots has firmly established himself as a force in electronic music. His latest release is, as always, accessible top-notch electronic music. The title track gradually unfolds over the...

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(Posted by Phil Derby 2002-09-01)

Ron E. Carter - Play Hendrix

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Covering the Jimi Hendrix catalogue requires skill as well as thought about which arrangements to interpret and which ones not to disturb. Stevie Ray Vaughn’s cover of “Voodoo Chile -...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2002-09-01)

SS Puft Quartet with Dave Rempis - Live at Earthshaking Music

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Four Athens natives + one collectively channel their improvisational demons with this two disc set on the independent Solponticello label. Saxophonist Dave Rempis (on loan from Vandermark 5) runs...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2002-09-01)

Stealing the Fire - Hot Ice and Wondrous Strange Snow

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Not really a sequel, but certainly a long time coming. Anyone recall the Earthstone album Seed? At the time it was receiving some good reviews, actually people were raving about it; I know...

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(Posted by Dane Carlson 2002-09-01)

Stephen Phillips - Cycles 4

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There is ambient, and then there is ambient. This is true ambient, for fans of completely tuneless, minimalist drones and occasional other sounds electronic. For example, after a couple of minutes,...

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(Posted by Phil Derby 2002-09-01)

Steve Jansen / Claudio Chianura - Kinoapparatom

Cover art Writing about music is often difficult, trying to find words to describe what is essentially a non-verbal experience. When the music tends toward the ambient realm, this problem is intensified. Former...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Stinkhorn - Altered Takes

Cover art In anticipation of their appearance at the Progman festival in Seattle this summer, Stinkhorn have put together this little teaser of a CD. It contains early versions of two of the highlights of their...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Storm at Sunrise - The Suffering

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Storm at Sunrise’s debut was a faithful, if slightly amusing, Southern-bred retread of the classic 70s rock sound of Deep Purple, ZZ Top, and Kansas. But even with Black Oak Arkansas veteran...

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(Posted by Paul Hightower 2002-09-01)

T-Bass UK - The Fabulous Neutrinos

Cover art This disc opens in very upbeat, rocking fashion, as electronic music meets rock anthem. “Know Fear,” despite the name, is a bright, lighthearted affair, a dead ringer for the stronger melodic...  » Read more
(Posted by Phil Derby 2002-09-01)

The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - New Tricks

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Comedy troupes recording albums for the rock and roll audience stem from such acts as the Firesign Theater and England's Monty Python (with Eric Idle and John Cleese). Voiceprint has been keen...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2002-09-01)

The Muffins - Bandwidth

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The Muffins were one of those seminal East Coast US groups who started life entrenched in one style (Canterbury / ReR influenced rock jazz) before migrating into a variant style (experimental free...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2002-09-01)

The Muffins - Bandwidth

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Many bands from the 70s and 80s that reform do so for strictly financial reasons. They might hit the concert circuit to cash in, and the results can range from pleasantly nostalgic to downright...

 » Read more
(Posted by David Ashcraft 2002-09-01)

The Muffins - Bandwidth

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The Muffins are back! Really?! Yes, after 17 years of dead silence, they are back from the grave. I’m curious what changes will have taken place. Only few bands are capable of recreating that...

 » Read more
(Posted by Roel Steverink 2002-09-01)

The Residents - Demons Dance Alone

Cover art The last studio album from the Residents was Wormwood, back in 1998. In my review of that album (in #17) I remarked that parts of it were relatively accessible, at least from a Residents...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Tone Ghost Ether - Condor Sail Curve, The White Space & Hydrogen 2 Oxygen

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Tone Ghost Ether is an improvisational ensemble collaboration between Kit Watkins, John Tlusty, and Brad Allen. Their music is all performed in real time with no overdubs, capturing the magic of...

 » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2002-09-01)

Tony Levin - Pieces of the Sun

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Tony Levin’s newest release is a true band effort, the direct result of touring after his previous CD, Waters of Eden (

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Tungsten 74 - Await Further Instructions

Cover art As it turns out, I’ve lately come across a number of CDs that feature a lot of guitar feedback. Luckily, there’s a fair amount of variety in the bunch. Tungsten 74’s take on feedback is an...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Various Artists - Collection 1: Opening

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This disc does what all great compilations do, it makes you hunger for more from each artist presented. A globally diverse cross-section of talent is assembled, beginning with one of my current...

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(Posted by Phil Derby 2002-09-01)

Various Artists - Floralia Vol.3

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This is quite a mixed bag of generally psychedelic bands from all around the world. It starts off with Cosmic Gardeners doing a nice sitar-accented tune and borderline irritating vocals. A track by...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Various Artists - Innerhythmic Sound System

Cover art I had heard about half of the tracks on this compilation before I got it, so I knew what to expect. Innerhythmic is dedicated to a kind of world/jazz/electronic fusion that I generally enjoy, and I...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Various Artists - Jazzprint Sampler 2001

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The UK’s Voiceprint label has done well to carve a niche as a purveyor of lost archival recordings both from Canterbury artists (Soft Machine) and 80s alternative bands (the Alarm, All About...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2002-09-01)

Various Artists - Manikin Records: First Decade 1992-2002

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Though some of the source material dates back as far as 1976, this is a very forward-looking release, much of it recorded new in 2002. There are very beat-oriented energetic affairs, like the very...

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(Posted by Phil Derby 2002-09-01)

Various Artists - Periferic 2000 Folk-World-Ethno from Hungary

Cover art Concurrent with Periferic’s second space/prog rock compilation comes another collection of Hungarian folk/ethnic music. Whereas last time they featured many groups with a slightly modern bent, whose...  » Read more
(Posted by Mike Ezzo 2002-09-01)

Various Artists - Periferic 2002 Space and Art Rock from Hungary

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There is a wonderful variety of material on this, the second of such compilations that Periferic has released spotlighting the prog world in Hungary. The CD gets off to a promising start with a...

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(Posted by Mike Ezzo 2002-09-01)

Various Artists - Progressive DisDURPance Vol.3

Cover art Here’s a compilation from the folks behind the German prog-rock fan-site DURP that serves as promotion for both the bands as well as the website....  » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2002-09-01)

Vulgar Unicorn & Schloss Adler - Jet Set Radio & Music for Survival Horror

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A band named “Vulgar Unicorn”? Sounds like it must be some sort of fantasy-driven throwback to the days when songs about wizards could actually crack the Top 100. But not so. I...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Wendy Carlos - Switched-On Bach & The Well-Tempered Synthesizer

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Given the limitations of the synthesizers available in 1968, the choice of Bach as a focus for Wendy Carlos’s pioneering recordings makes perfect sense: the instruments could play only one...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Zappatistas - Absolutely Live

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What has been rumored to be the greatest Zappa tribute band has come to CD in the form of the Zappatistas: a group led by guitarist John Etheridge and keyboardist Steve Lodder. The group was formed...

 » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2002-09-01)

 

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