Fujii’s main Japanese quartet is spotlighted in this recent release. In contrast with her previous trio work, this collection of five pieces is a blistering workout of like minded players who...
» Read moreOther West Coast bands like the Doors, Love, and Jefferson Airplane may have grabbed center stage in the history of the psychedelic era, but there were many others, and some of them rivaled the...
» Read moreWhen the freewheeling chaos and confusion suddenly takes form and finds order, one has to wonder whether this live set recorded at the Victoriaville festival between two of Japan’s premier...
» Read moreDave Kerman is making a concerted stab to become the Christian Vander of the Cuneiform banner of groups. Not only is he doubling up between his percussion responsibilities with Present and Thinking...
» Read moreDo you ever wish you could indulge in some honest, healthy, head-banging and rocking out but just can¹t bring yourself to put on any Led Zeppelin or AC/DC? Well your time has come, RIO-freaks....
» Read moreOne of the most prolific and highly-sought drummers in avant-prog, Dave Kerman, has returned with an album from his own project 5uu’s. Abandonship features the most stripped-down...
» Read moreThis is one of those albums that nobody ever seems to know anything about. Presuming that to be the case with most of our readership, the best thing to do would be just to describe the music. From...
» Read moreYou have to hand it to Mike Sary and Co., every French TV seems an improvement on the last, a feat impressive considering the strength of 1999's The Violence of Amateurs. Album number...
» Read moreAt long last, a legitimate live release of Pink Floyd’s The Wall is available! The band played this magnum opus in full a mere 29 times, in only four cities. Even bootlegs of it are...
» Read moreIn some respects, Djam Karet can be viewed as a band with a split personality. Sometimes they are a tightly rehearsed unit performing composed music; sometimes they are purveyors of ambient...
» Read moreCosmic Egg is one of the recent CD labels of Audion magazine’s Alan and Steve Freeman, acting sort of as a offshoot to their Auricle cassette line that they have run since the 80s. The...
» Read moreLeave it to Thijs Van Leer to recognize the timely need for Focus to return to active duty. Within the past three years he encountered a Focus tribute act in his Dutch homeland and was so impressed...
» Read morePianist Satoko Fujii has done more than pay her dues in her native homeland of Japan. In thirteen previous solo releases the performer has refined her combined style of free jazz interpolation as...
» Read moreRik Wright is one third of Seattle’s Jackhammer Trio, and in this solo outing he is joined by various players in a decidedly jazzy context. Cohorts along for the ride include saxophonist Dan...
» Read moreIn the late 60s, guitarist John McLaughlin burst onto the jazz scene, playing with Miles Davis and Tony Williams at the very beginnings of jazz-rock fusion. When he formed his own group, Mahavishnu...
» Read moreI confess a weakness in reviewing XTC. I've liked all of their previous records. You might say I'm prejudiced, and it's no surprise I like the new release. But after all, it is a very...
» Read moreWhen Andy Summers, guitar wizard with the Police, and Robert Fripp, guitar wizard with King Crimson, get together, you have to expect magic. Their first collaboration, I Advance Masked,...
» Read moreAfter having released the last real Ruins album in early 1998 (the incredible Vrresto featuring a new bassist and even more craziness), this young French label issues another true...
» Read moreBurning Shed is an independent U.K. label that tries its best to span many genres. The label’s second sampler puts an emphasis on chilling out as ambient is the forte with a few notable...
» Read moreThis year marks the 20th anniversary of Saga. Pleasure and the Pain marks their 12th studio album, and in many ways is an apt title. This release marks a return to the 4-5 minute rock song...
» Read moreWhen 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,...
» Read moreSo if there is one quality that ties my various tastes in music together it would be the cosmic quality. It's a hard quality to define, but it's basically a brother/sisterhood of all...
» Read moreProgressive 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...
» Read moreOkay, so no one is going to accuse Spock’s Beard of laziness. This latest effort, apparently their last with the line-up that has lasted since their second album, presents nearly two hours of...
» Read moreA slice of the past, but certainly one that shouldn’t be overlooked. Pearls Before Swine was essentially the vehicle of guitarist / composer / poet / singer Tom Rapp, which over the course of...
» Read moreA slice of the past, but certainly one that shouldn’t be overlooked. Pearls Before Swine was essentially the vehicle of guitarist / composer / poet / singer Tom Rapp, which over the course of...
» Read moreThe late Keith Emerson needs no introduction to readers of Exposé; his tenure with The Nice, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Emerson Lake & Powell, 3, and well over a dozen solo...
» Read moreThe 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 moreThe 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 moreMany 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 moreExit Kanon is the solo project of one the Famlende Forsøk / The Smell of Incense family member, ChrispH. ChrispH has been working on and off on this music since 1985, only playing excerpts...
» Read moreThis band will forever be remembered as Janis Joplin’s backing band, though their relationship with the singer only lasted two years and two albums. After Joplin’s departure, they...
» Read moreThis band will forever be remembered as Janis Joplin’s backing band, though their relationship with the singer only lasted two years and two albums. After Joplin’s departure, they...
» Read moreFamlende Forsøk, a Norwegian band (Lumpy Davy, Chrisph, and Brt) with roots in the industrial music scene, has been recording since 1981. But of late, due to a number of side projects, their...
» Read moreTheir extended version of "Eleanor Rigby" sounds uncannily like "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" with a splash of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone." Preferring jam over...
» Read moreThis excellent Swiss band has been kicking around since the early 90s (not to be confused with another Yolk from NYC – we reviewed one of NYC Yolk’s live shows back in issue #11) but...
» Read moreTony Levin’s newest release is a true band effort, the direct result of touring after his previous CD, Waters of Eden (
So imagine the Fripp / Bruford / Wetton lineup of King Crimson getting getting into a big argument, getting really drunk (I know – it never would have happened, but imagine it) and cranking...
» Read morePatrick Ogle (also of Goth outfit Thanatos — not the death-metal Thanatos), leader and chief performer on this project, claims to have come across the three words of its name in an internet...
» Read moreThe world’s premier symphonic group is reborn. With the release of this album, Robert John Godfrey opens up the third chapter in the now over twenty-year history of one of England’s...
» Read moreWith his untimely passing in 2017 there’s been renewed interest in all facets of English musician John Wetton’s career, including his work as a solo artist. From his first solo album...
» Read moreTransitional periods can be very interesting in music. The Hook falls in the transition between 60s garage-psych and 70s hard rock. Reliable information has it that this album dates from 1968 in...
» Read moreOne of the best parts of picking up modern reissues of obscurities from the 60s is that so many of them have interesting liner notes detailing the near-misses and might-have-beens of that distant...
» Read moreKansas was pretty widely exposed back in the 70s, and while they were basically similar to other bands of the era, there was a hint of the progressive sound that appealed to many fans of more...
» Read moreThe label has chosen to list this disc under “Various Artists” but that’s an inaccuracy. All the tracks are in fact by the same band: a rhythm section of Liam Genocky and Steve...
» Read moreI don’t think I would get much argument if I claimed that the Soft Boys were, in their original incarnation (1976-1981) the prime exponents of psychedelic punk music. The sheer lack of...
» Read moreThis album is quite an oddity, coming as it does from a little-known (so far) band on an independent label, for it features a big name producer (Steve Albini) and a big name artist on the cover...
» Read moreThe talent of a prodigy does mature after a time, especially if surrounded by competent mentors in the entertainment industry. Terri Lyne Carrington came up from several very notable early...
» Read moreWhile 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...
» Read moreI guess I can’t blame whoever invented the term “math rock”. After all, if you called it what it really is – prog rock, or more accurately, art rock – only people who...
» Read moreIf Agitation Free shows up the sunny side, this practically EP-length release from the...
» Read moreNektar occupies a somewhat awkward place in the history of progressive rock. They don't fit in with the symphonic style of Yes or Genesis, and they're not as elaborate as King Crimson or...
» Read moreOn NorthSide’s continuum of Nordic music, running from strict traditional to distinctly modern, Bukkene Bruse fall well down on the traditional end. The two fiddles of Annbjørg Lien...
» Read moreTone 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 moreTone 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 moreTone 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 moreKnown for their release of difficult electroacoustic music, Isostasie may be empreintes DIGITALes’ most accessible CD to date. The CD opens with Barrett’s "Three Fictions...
» Read moreProduced by John Cale, Caged / Uncaged was created as the 'soundtrack' for the exhibition "Il Suono Rapido delle Cose" in Venice in 1993, and is – as the subtitle...
» Read moreEx-Marillion lead vocalist Fish has spent much time floating from label to label after departing his old band for good. Voiceprint took the singer’s back catalog and has done a second...
» Read moreEx-Marillion lead vocalist Fish has spent much time floating from label to label after departing his old band for good. Voiceprint took the singer’s back catalog and has done a second...
» Read moreMurat Ses, a Turkish synthesist, has completed his exploration trilogy with Culduz, his first CD release. I was impressed when Murat released Binfen (part two) several years ago....
» Read moreIt’s only been in the last couple years that I’ve started hearing any of the progressive music originating in South America, and while I’m reluctant to make broad generalizations,...
» Read moreFormed by ex-Trip drummer Furio Chirico, Arti e Mestieri was one of Italy's best jazz-rock / fusion bands (certainly equal to Perigeo and Area), and they launched their career with two classic...
» Read moreIt's been too long since I've heard anything by Art Zoyd. They have continued down their unique path begun on L'Enfer, taking them in recent years to the macabre soundtracks of...
» Read moreEnglish trio Brandywine Bridge released its LP, An English Meadow, in 1978. The album, just reissued by Kissing Spell, contained twelve original songs penned in the style of traditional...
» Read moreEarly 70s Germany provided the environment for a massive number of inventive and experimental albums, but the closest of these to what was going on in the San Francisco bay area had to be Agitation...
» Read moreThis instrumental San Francisco based outfit started out life in 2000 as a guitar / bass / drums / keyboards quartet, adopting a somewhat psychedelic groove-based jamming style mixed with elements...
» Read moreAvant garde music is tricky to pull off, no matter whether it’s in the genre of jazz, rock, or whatever. There can be a fine balance between unfettered artistic expression and...
» Read moreI’m fairly convinced that in a blindfold test you could convince many listeners that this album was originally released in 1972. I’m reminded of the time when musicians all around the...
» Read moreArjen Lucassen is nothing if not prolific. His main project, Ayreon, has released six albums in the last seven years, including the two-disc concept album Universal Migrator in 2000, and...
» Read moreThere 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...
» Read moreThough 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...
» Read moreThis 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...
» Read moreAgitation Free was a most unique German band in the early seventies, in that their sound was heavily influenced by Turkish and Arabic themes, although never more so than on this, their first, from...
» Read moreCoxon and Wales are at it again! The results of their first attempts to assimilate free jazz into techno on their last album only fueled the fire for further attempts to create valid collages...
» Read moreDom 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...
» Read moreThere 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,...
» Read moreOlyam is a young French musician working in the realm of New-Age/Pop, akin to other one-name practitioners (Kitaro, Vangelis, Yanni, etc.) though his influences also include Mike Oldfield. His 5th...
» Read moreI don’t think anyone would argue against the idea that the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s peak was long past by the time John McLaughlin put this version of the band together. McLaughlin...
» Read moreThe travels of guitarist David O'List (from the Nice to Roxy Music) eventually found somewhat of a home in Jet, a splinter group from the remains of John's Children. O'List fit in well...
» Read moreHemisphere 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...
» Read moreBondage Fruit were formed in 1989, and have finally released their first CD. Leader Natsuki Kido is also a member of P.O.N. (and other groups unknown outside Japan). Like other bandleaders he...
» Read moreHaving first heard about this band in the fading weeks of 1994 via a bootleg tape of one of their live shows, I was, needless to say, duly impressed, and spent most of '95 looking for a copy of...
» Read moreThese Japanese explorers find themselves in a rather minimalistic mood for their fifth release, presenting two long tracks of fairly sparse music. The title track is nearly thirty minutes of a very...
» Read moreDivided Sky is a Philadelphia based four piece progressive act that relies on heavy riffs that don’t quite fit into technical metal categorization. Phased guitar effects on...
» Read moreRon 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...
» Read moreAudra is the stylishly gothic venture of brothers Bret and Bart Helm who originally hailed from Chicago. Going to the Theatre is the trio’s second CD after three West Coast tours and...
» Read moreBlack metal often joins the wallop of heavy, dense rock and roll with occult overtones that stretch back to 70s Black Sabbath. Because of this very tenet the genre is often maligned and...
» Read moreThe Netherlands’ Groove label, perhaps the premiere label for sequencer-heavy electronic music, has been on quite the roll lately, releasing and distributing a number of albums by newcomers...
» Read moreThe Netherlands’ Groove label, perhaps the premiere label for sequencer-heavy electronic music, has been on quite the roll lately, releasing and distributing a number of albums by newcomers...
» Read moreThe Netherlands’ Groove label, perhaps the premiere label for sequencer-heavy electronic music, has been on quite the roll lately, releasing and distributing a number of albums by newcomers...
» Read moreThe Netherlands’ Groove label, perhaps the premiere label for sequencer-heavy electronic music, has been on quite the roll lately, releasing and distributing a number of albums by newcomers...
» Read moreThis collection is billed as a collection of the Residents’ more “accessible” tracks. I think it’s safe to say this is not an attempt to grab mainstream mass appeal, for...
» Read moreAt its core, Cherno is the duo of Shin Sugawara (sax, wind synth) and Junichi Kishimoto (guitar, guitar synths, drum programming), sometimes joined by other players, track and disc depending...
» Read moreElectronic composer Anton Zinkl is now up to his sixth album, the first I’ve heard. If it’s any indication, I’ve been missing something pretty interesting. On his web site, Zinkl...
» Read moreWith In Absentia, Steven Wilson and company add a few new tricks to their musical bag, the first being really heavy riffing. Not that a heavy riff is anything new to this band, but these...
» Read moreSometimes the meeting of great talents can produce great results, and other times mostly disappointment ensues. This collaboration between drum-meister Terry Bozzio and uber-bassist Billy Sheehan...
» Read moreOzone Player is an electronic project created by Otso Pakarinen, but a real oddball one that doesn’t fit into any of the schools of electronic music. It’s not heavily sequenced,...
» Read moreThis is my first encounter with this classic German group, so knowing that the tracks are outtakes from their 1972 sessions for the album Four Letter Monday Afternoon didn’t tell me...
» Read moreIn #4 I reviewed the new reformation album by this obscure 70s group. This album was their debut in the mid-70s and is not surprisingly quite a bit different from Mappamondo. This album is...
» Read moreYou can count on the words to be insightful, sometimes bitter, and never trivial. The music always seems to serve the words, not the other way round. With many songwriters, you find lyrics that...
» Read moreIt may seem odd that this turns up in our New Releases section – it is definitely not new; fact is that it’s been out there for four years already but hardly anyone (if anyone at all)...
» Read moreFrom listening to the music, you would guess that the leader of the band is the guitarist. Not that there are screaming guitar solos all over the place, but guitar does play a significant role at...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Top Tier #4
If you track BOC back to their early days you can see their strong SF Bay Area roots, but by this point in their career all of the influences from those...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Top Tier #13
So this will probably be the least liked of all the titles I've been posting, but there's a small wedge of my musical listening that has to...
» Read moreFor anyone not yet familiar with the name of Pekka Pohjola, he is a Finnish composer, bandleader, and bassist among bassists primarily, but also fluent on piano, synthesizer, and trumpet as well....
» Read moreAfter hearing the name Motorpsycho for a few years, I was pretty curious to actually hear the band. I did not expect an album of such variety, that combines intensity and subtlety and a wide range...
» Read moreEdward Ka-Spel records and releases two basic types of solo music, songs and experimental music (collages, found sounds, and electronics). O’er a Shalabast’r Tyde Strolt Ay is an...
» Read more
2021-01-18
Asia Minor Third Album on the Way –
On January 29, AMS records will be releasing the long-awaited third album by classic Turkish-French band Asia Minor. Released last year in Japan, this will be the widespread debut of Points of Libration. The album features original members Setrak Bakirel (vocals, guitar) and Eril Tekeli (flute, guitar). »
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2020-12-09
Harold Budd RIP –
Harold Budd, one of pre-eminent American composers of avant-garde and minimalism, has died of complications from the coronavirus. Budd came to prominence in the 70s, championed by Brian Eno on his Obscure Records label, with music that blended academic minimalism with electric jazz and electronic music. Much of Budd's best known work was done in collaboration with other artists, including Eno, Daniel Lanois, Robin Guthrie, Andy Partridge, John Foxx, Jah Wobble, and many others. »
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2020-11-20
25 Views of Worthing Finally Gets Released –
A while ago, we wrote about the discovery of a "long lost" Canterbury-style gem by a band called 25 Views of Worthing. And now we're pleased to find out that Wind Waker Records has released their music on an LP. »
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2020-10-14
Audion Is Back in Business –
Our esteemed colleague Alan Freeman has restarted Audion Magazine after a seven year hiatus. The new incarnation is available online on their Bandcamp site. Audion's history goes back to 1984, and included 58 issues up to 2013. Issue #59 is available now, and #60 is in the works. »
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2020-10-06
Romantic Warriors IV – Krautrock (Part 2) Is in the Works –
Zeitgeist Media, the people who have brought us the great series of documentary films chronicling the history of progressive rock, are working on the second installment of their examination of German music. Krautrock 2 will focus on artists from Münich such as Guru Guru, Amon Düül II, Xhol Caravan, Kraan, Witthüser & Westrupp, and Popol Vuh. »
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Spaced Out - Live in 2000 – Anyone familiar with this hotshot Canadian fusion quartet (and shouldn’t all Exposé readers be?) knows that they are above all a musicians’ band – one of those outfits that... (2006) » Read more
Dwight Ashley - Ataxia – Ataxia offers a defining example of the way in which musical forms, and especially the way we tend to want to categorize music, continues to exhibit restlessness and the need for change. That Mr.... (2007) » Read more
Bone Daddy - What You Wanted – This Idaho band has been working the jam band circuit for a few years now, and this is their fourth full-length album. They play a moderately rootsy brand of rock, comparable to Big Head Todd and the... (2007) » Read more
Volaré - Volaré – Volare are a five piece from Athens, Georgia, featuring multi-keyboards, acoustic and electric guitars, bass+sax, cello+ocarina, and drums. Prior to their performance at Louisville's Eclectic... (1997) » Read more
The Trey Gunn Band - The Joy of Molybdenum – For those fortunate enough to see the Trey Gunn Band live in January 1998, most of these tracks by this power trio will be familiar. Initial sessions for the album were just prior to the same time... (2000) » Read more