Issue 30

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Available online from Issue 30

Azigza - Kriya

Combining influences from around the world can be a dangerous enterprise for musicians. There will always be some who call foul at the “appropriation” of sounds from other cultures, preferring... » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2004-09-01)

Big Brother & the Holding Company - Live in San Francisco, 1966

Live in San Francisco 1966 is an early recording by the band, from July 28th, only about six weeks after Janis joined the band. The fourteen songs presented here are loaded with energy, great... » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2004-09-01)

Can Atilla - Omni

Here we have the new album by Can Atilla from Turkey. But before I go on with the music, I have to mention the again amazing cover made by Pablo Magne. Most albums which this great artist has done,... » Read more
(Posted by Roel Steverink 2004-09-01)

Centrozoon - The Scent of Crash and Burn

Centrozoon represents the combined talents of singer Tim Bowness together with the German duo of Markus Reuter and Bernhard Wösteinrich. The trio does a fine job navigating around...

» Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2004-09-01)

Cursive - The Ugly Organ

Last year many in the prog community embraced The Mars Volta and their infusion of prog ideas (and excesses) into alternative/indie American rock. Cursive is another band making the same kinds of... » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2004-09-01)

Daimonji - Improg

We really shouldn’t be surprised at the number of different projects involving keyboardist Hoppy Kamiyama and drummer Tatsuya Yoshida. After all, back in the 60s, nobody thought it was odd that... » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2004-09-01)

Dave Sinclair - Full Circle & Into the Sun

Dave Sinclair has long been known as the main keyboardist in Caravan. During recording for the group's The Unauthorized Breakfast Item CD, a rift between Sinclair and longtime bandleader Pye... » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2004-09-01)

David Bedford - The Odyssey

Bedford reached a new high with The Odyssey from 1976. It's based upon the Odyssey which Odysseus undertook in the eponymous book from Homer. When you look at the back of the CD, among...

» Read more
(Posted by Roel Steverink 2004-09-01)

David Bedford - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

I never had the pleasure to hear this album when it was still only available on LP. The transfer to CD is fine, the noise is not disturbing this time. The subject of the album is the famous poem from... » Read more
(Posted by Roel Steverink 2004-09-01)

Deborah Martin / Cheryl Gallagher - Tibet

In 1999, composers Martin and Gallagher took a trip to the “land above the clouds” — so inspired they were by the experience that they composed an entire album which attempts to...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2004-09-01)

Eccentric Orbit - Attack of the Martians

Eccentric Orbit was founded by bassist Bill Noland, and includes Mark Cella (Pye Fyte) on drums and Madeleine Noland and Derek Roebuck on keyboards. The keyboard sounds veer heavily towards the 70s,... » Read more
(Posted by Sean McFee 2004-09-01)

Frigg - Frigg

Not to be confused with the German Frigg, a jazz quartet led by guitarist Bert Wrede, this Finnish seven-piece is an acoustic fiddle orgy. Five members play fiddle at least part-time, bringing to mind... » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2004-09-01)

Gentle Giant - Artistically Cryme, The Missing Face & Playing the Cleveland

Gentle Giant’s headlining and support tours are further documented in three more marginal bootleg renditions from Voiceprint in the UK. Artistically Cryme is the first release, and a...

» Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2004-09-01)

Heart - Little Queen, Dog & Butterfly, Bebe le Strange

Out of the Pacific Northwest, the two rockin' sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson and their band hit American radios in early '76 with "Crazy on You" and "Magic Man," two hits with a sound that combined an... » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2004-09-01)

Iconoclasta - Live in France

Is it amazing that the Mexican band Iconoclasta is still around? Yes, but on the other hand with the passion founder member Riccardo Moreno shows to keep the torch of prog rock in Mexico burning, it's... » Read more
(Posted by Roel Steverink 2004-09-01)

Jeff Beck - Jeff

It’s hard to believe that Jeff Beck is pushing sixty. After successful recent endeavors incorporating techno, sampling, and tribal rhythms into his grab bag mix of backing tracks, the guitar slinger... » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2004-09-01)

Joe Jackson Band - Afterlife

This is not Joe Jackson’s first live album. There was Live 1980/86 and Summer in the City (2000) and (for the really dedicated fans) Joe Jackson Live (aka Two...

» Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2004-09-01)

Kampec Dolores + Grencsó István - Koncert!

After seeing the name Kampec Dolores around for several years, I finally get to hear them. While I’m still unfamiliar with their studio work, I’m happy to report that they put on an...

» Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2004-09-01)

Kansas - Kansas & Song for America

The first two Kansas albums contain some of the group's best material and show a band on the way up in their formative years. Commercial success for the band would not arrive until two albums...

» Read more
(Posted by Mike Grimes 2004-09-01)

Larry Coryell / Badi Assad / John Abercrombie - Three Guitars

Larry Coryell and John Abercrombie have long been at the forefront of international jazz guitar, utilizing both acoustic and electric formats. Badi Assad is a Brazilian ace performer who had not... » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2004-09-01)

Lesli Dalaba / Fred Frith / Eric Glick Rieman / Carla Kihlstedt - Dalaba Frith Glick Rieman Kihlsted

Another super group of improvisers meet at the crossroads with this collection of seven dialogs. Fred Frith is well known to our readers as a proprietor of real time inspirational chaos while Lesli...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2004-09-01)

Magma - Rock Duo »Magma«

As the story goes, this German duo was unaware of a French band with the same name, and they certainly bear no stylistic resemblance to their more widely known and prolific namesake. Drummer Siegfried... » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2004-09-01)

Mani Neumeier + Friends - Terra Amphibia: Deep in the Jungle

Terra Amphibia is the project which occupies Mani Neumeier during time away from Guru Guru. World music and East Asian culture appropriation are Mani’s hobbies, which find him jamming and flirting... » Read more
(Posted by Mike Ezzo 2004-09-01)

Mar de Robles - Mar de Robles (MdR)

This Chilean four- or five-piece (depending on where you look in the booklet) was a pleasant surprise. A rhythm section of fretless bass and subtle drum kit, along with congas and other assorted...

» Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2004-09-01)

Matraz - Gritaré

I’m a big fan of many female vocalists, with Tori Amos, Björk, Kate Bush, Jane Siberry, and others high on my all-time favorite artist list. It’s always been a disappointment to me...

» Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2004-09-01)

Nautilus - In Search of Castaways

The Prudence label based in Germany is well known for their output of nice, romantic music. This new release by a young band called Nautilus (Martin Ludwig: Keys, synthesizer and sequencer; Werner... » Read more
(Posted by Roel Steverink 2004-09-01)