Exposé Online » Reviews of releases for 2007

As Lonely as Dave Bowman - Pod

The genesis of this floating ambient side-project by Sam Rosenthal, founder of Black Tape for a Blue Girl, is an interesting one. It began with Rosenthal’s four year old son playing with a...

Cabezas de Cera - Hecho en México

Hiromi's Sonicbloom - Time Control

Bubu - Anabelas

In the early 90s there was this (I think) Florida-based label called Music Hall which was issuing rarities from 70s Argentina and would have been considered one of the earliest reissue labels if...

Magic Pie - Motions of Desire, Circus of Life & The Suffering Joy

Following on Karisma’s release of King for a Day in 2015, the label has gone to Magic Pie’s back catalog and re-released the first three albums. In 2005 they put out...

Unitopia - More Than a Dream

More Than a Dream is probably the best of the recent Unicorn Digital releases, and that is saying a lot! Unitopia hails from Down Under and they independently released More Than a...

The Mahavishnu Project - Return to the Emerald Beyond

Gregg Bendian and Company are back with another take on classic Mahavishnu material. While previous efforts have dealt entirely with that band’s first incarnation, due to (as they say)...

Steve MacLean - Bridges

The double set covers two decades of work from composer, guitarist, and programmer Steve MacLean. The pieces run a gamut from completely computer-based programmed compositions to a five-piece band,...

Richard Leo Johnson and Gregg Bendian - Who Knew Charlie Shoe?

Guitarist Richard Leo Johnson has again created a mythical context for the material on this latest disc, a story about a young boy who was transfixed by an old guitar-playing hobo at a church...

David Prescott - Four Million Years

In the 80s, the Auricle cassette label put out four titles by American synthesist David Prescott. In an era where Berlin-school (Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze) music is plentiful, widespread, and...

Martin Turner - Life Begins & New Live Dates - The Complete Set

With the lawsuit over the Wishbone Ash band name finalized in Andy Powell's favor, in 2014 "Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash" became "Martin Turner Ex-Wishbone Ash." Late...

Big Big Train - The Difference Machine

Over the years, UK proggers Big Big Train have been migrating their sound from the Genesis-ish fare served up on early records like 1994's Goodbye to the Age of Steam to a more modern...

Steve Thorne - Part Two: Emotional Creatures

Two years after his debut CD Emotional Creatures – Part One, Steve Thorne has released his second CD Emotional Creatures – Part Two. In some sense it is a continuation...

SBB - The Rock

Last time we caught up with SBB (New Century, from 2006), mainstays Józef Skrzek (keyboards, bass, vocals) and Apostolis Anthimos (guitar) had world famous drummer Paul Wertico (Pat...

Gäa - Auf der Bahn zum Uranus

Here is the debut album Auf der Bahn Zum Uranus (On The Way To Uranus) by the Saarland based five-piece band Gäa (Gaia in English), named after the Greek earth goddess. This is one of...

Spaced Out - Live at the Crescendo Festival

Typically, the first thing that comes to mind when one hears the name Spaced Out is the superhuman bass playing of Antoine Fafard. Make no mistake, band mates Mark Tremblay (guitar) and Martin...

Blackfield - NYC - Blackfield Live in New York City

This is probably the way all concerts should be released: as a double disk with an audio-only version as well as a DVD concert video. One or the other will likely pop up on a torrent site or...

Van der Graaf Generator - Real Time

Impossible reunions by not-so-spring chickens are now becoming fashionable. This is due in part to both Cream and Van der Graaf Generator taking the live stage the same week for surprisingly...

Elton Dean & the Wrong Object - The Unbelievable Truth

It’s still hard to believe that Brit jazz giant Elton Dean is no longer with us. Considering how alive his performance from fall 2005 is with Belgian band the Wrong Object, it was clearly a...

The Wrong Object - Platform One & Stories from the Shed

Platform One from last year is properly credited to The Wrong Object featuring Annie Whitehead and Harry Beckett, British jazz trombonist and trumpeter respectively, continuing this...

Bill Mumy - The Landlord or the Guest, Speechless & Carnival Sky

If his name sounds a little familiar, it may be because many will remember him from his appearance on numerous television shows going all the way back to Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone...

José Luis Fernández Ledesma & Saena - Híbridos & Saena

Every new release by José Luis Fernández Ledesma seems to be like none before it, and his latest solo disc, Híbridos, is no exception. Primarily a solo venture, with...

Sándor Szabó / Kevin Kastning - Resonance & Parallel Crossings

These are two collections of duos featuring New England based Kevin Kastning and Hungarian born guitarist Sándor Szabó, the latter with a number of previous releases to his credit....

Trees - On the Shore

The Trees was a British folk rock band formed in 1969 that sputtered out in 1972, barely leaving a footnote in musical history. Their two albums The Garden of Jane Delawney and On the...

Various Artists - A Dark Noël

Christmas is my least favorite holiday of the entire year, a month-long season of unbridled commercialism and indulgent spending, nearly completely stripped of its original meaning as the birthday...

LSD March - Nikutai no tubomi

“Psychedelic rock group.” Those words can describe a lot of different bands: Strawberry Alarm Clock, Hawkwind, Amon Düül, Pink Floyd, Gong, Iron Butterfly, Ozric Tentacles....

Genesis - 1976-1982

Even though this box set covers the post-Gabriel years from 1976’s A Trick of the Tail through 1981’s Abacab, it was actually the first released. As with the other...

Signs of One - Innerlands

Signs of One is yet another industrious band trying to make a name for themselves in a crowded and competitive prog market. Innerlands is their second album, and with it they’ve...

Józef Skrzek East Wind - Tryptyk Petersburski

Skrzek is forever full of surprises, and this disc containing material hand-picked from three live performances with his East Wind quintet is certainly one of those. Most will probably know Skrzek...

Murat Ses - Umami

Umami is Turkish musician Murat Ses’ seventh solo album. Umami is a Japanese word meaning savory, which this new release is, not too sweet, not too sour, tangy but just...

Rotor - 3

Rotor is a power trio (drums, bass, and electric guitar) from Berlin who play aggressive hard-hitting instrumental music that is a mixture of Starless era King Crimson and stoner rock....

Qwaarn - Aberrations

Qwaarn is an extremely odd name for a band, and they provide no further explanation in the package. I think that Qwaarn is supposed to be an alien; and I guess it is his picture on the CD cover....

Pre-Med - The Truth About Us

Pre-Med is a space rock band that formed in 2004 by Danny Faulkner and Hawkwind’s bassist Alan Davey. The Truth About Us is their second release and it features the talents of Eamon...

Øresund Space Collective - Black Tomato

The Øresund Space Collective (ØSC), Sweden’s answer to Acid Mothers Temple, offers up a succulent three course culinary feast of improvised space rock on their third studio...

Marble Sheep - Message from Oarfish

Marble Sheep is a Japanese psychedelic rock band playing wild, ecstatic, hypnotic, psychedelic, and noisy rock who were formed in 1987 by ex-White Heaven guitarist Ken Matsutani, the owner of the...

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...

Ilitch - Lena's Life and Other Stories

This is the second disc of all new material in Ilitch’s recent batch of activity beginning with Hors Temps in 2004 (last years’ Rainy House was mixed with older...

Riverside - Rapid Eye Movement

Riverside's new one consolidates their position at the forefront of Polish prog bands and convincingly encapsulates what makes this quartet so effective, with few of the hamstrings that can...

Riverside - Second Life Syndrome

Second Life Syndrome is Polish band Riverside’s second full-length album. It follows on the heels of their 2003 debut album Out of Myself and the subsequent 2005 EP

Fra Fra Sound - Dya So

It’s a big world, and many people are free to move around it, so something like a “Dutch Afro-Caribbean” jazz band shouldn’t be too unexpected, I suppose. And given this...

Robert Wyatt - Comicopera

Robert Wyatt must truly be the most playful world artist on the planet. His tireless efforts making strong musical statements in pop and jazz format stand up and apart from any other British or US...

Nexus - Buenos Aires Free Experience 2

Nexus are a very strong rock quartet with standard guitar / keyboards / bass / drums instrumentation. The idea of the Buenos Aires Free Experience series is to place musicians in an...

Spirit - Salvation... The Spirit of '74

One of the heretofore undocumented periods in Spirit's career began shortly after Epic's rejection of Potatoland in '73. Randy California left the group (for the second time)...

Quicksilver - Six String Voodoo, 07 Live & The Hermit

Gary Duncan was the ‘other’ guitarist in the original Quicksilver Messenger Service. Today, with Freiberg off doing other things with Jefferson Starship most of the time, Greg Elmore...

Acid Mothers Temple +/- Guru Guru - Crystal Rainbow Pyramid & Psychedelicnavigator

Here we have a brand spanking new full length album from Acid Mothers Temple featuring their recent addition of female vocalist Kitagawa Hao. AMT front man Kawabata Makoto claims, half-jokingly,...

Acid Mothers Temple +/- Guru Guru - Crystal Rainbow Pyramid & Psychedelicnavigator

Here we have a brand spanking new full length album from Acid Mothers Temple featuring their recent addition of female vocalist Kitagawa Hao. AMT front man Kawabata Makoto claims, half-jokingly,...

Flower Kings - The Sum of No Evil

Best I can figure, this is around the twelfth album by Sweden's Flower Kings, and across all those years they have pretty much maintained a course of prog-rock purity that stays the straight...

Turn to Fall - For the Fairest

Turn to Fall is a Seattle-based band that falls into the same general category of contemporary alternative prog that houses The Mars Volta (though less frenetic), Coheed and Cambria (less emo and...

Alio Die & Zeit - Raag Drone Theory

I find the collaboration of Alio Die and Zeit to be one of ambient music's most fruitful, and Raag Drone Theory could be their finest combined effort. From a lineage perspective, this...

Onségen Ensemble - HottoïzzoH

They call it a Mini-CD, not because it’s smaller than a normal size CD, but because there is only about 15 minutes of music on it. But it’s among the coolest 15 minutes of 2007 releases...

Biota - Half a True Day

Colorado Art colony Biota continues to make strides in their first new collaboration in over six years. Since their last recording, the European folk elements have been put in the background in...

Asia Featuring John Payne - Scandinavia (AKA Extended Versions)

Among the finite number of prog fans who are Asia fans there is a subset that enjoys the lineup with singer/bassist John Payne (i.e., the non-original Asia that’s been on tour recently). This...

Jesca Hoop - Kismet & Hunting My Dress

I missed this extraordinary songwriter's debut back in 2007, but when I heard her second effort I immediately sought it out. Kismet is a stunning entry into what might be called the...

Alex Carpani - Waterline

Coming a couple of years after the originally announced release date of July 2005 is Alex Carpani’s “progressive rock” album. I put that in quotes because Swiss-born Carpani,...

Area - Gioia e Rivoluzione

Plenty of words have already been written on this outstanding Italian jazz-rock band in the pages of Exposé‚ so anyone wanting the historical background or a detailed synopsis...

Quidam - Quidam

I love almost any album that starts with heavy organ... almost. To be a bit more objective, this self-titled album by the symphonic Polish band Quidam is like a lot of other bands: less derivative...

Bert Jansch - Fresh as a Sweet Sunday Morning

Drawing a British folk icon out of semi-imposed retirement can seem like an impossible task. But contrary to many fans’ expectations, Bert Jansch not only demonstrated the delicate finger...

Manning - Songs from the Bilston House

Guy Manning’s latest collection of nine semi-autobiographical songs finds the English singer-songwriter consolidating his position among the current crop of Brit prog as this...

Buyi - Buyi, Namejiu & Endless Wine

Sometimes I think that every tradition of folk music must at some point have its own Fairport Convention. Of course it’s an oversimplification, but in broad terms we can say that FC melded...

Simon Mayor and the Mandolinquents - Dance of the Comedians

The Mandolinquents are an acoustic, mandolin based (how did you guess?) quartet that’s been playing together off and on for a dozen years or more, and this – documenting one of their...

Darryl Steurmer - Go

So there I was, driving across northern New Mexico and Arizona in a car with no air conditioning. Did I mention it was June? As I was sweltering, windblown by the hot desert air and traveling at 75...

The Gourishankar - 2nd Hands

In 2002, Russian guitarist Nomy Agranson and keyboardist Doran Usher formed The Gourishankar, a Russian neo-prog band that now also includes vocalist Vlad MJ Whiener and drummer Cat Heady. 2nd...

Knight Area - Under a New Sign

Considering this Holland export’s inauspicious debut at NEARfest, I was a bit reluctant to investigate the group’s latest recording – I was underwhelmed with what I perceived as...

Hamadryad - Live in France 2006

The Crescendo festival from 2006 featured several of today’s best prog bands, including Quebec’s Hamadryad. This album captures Jean François Désilets (bass, vocals),...

Cronico - Delirium Room

Cronico is a promising new entry in the classic symphonic proggy-prog field from Mexico City. A five piece featuring bass, drums, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, and a female vocalist,...

Jérôme Langlois - Live au FMPM 2006 + Themes

Here we have a brand new full ensemble live recording and a piano solo reissue from 1984 together in the same package, on separate discs no less. Langlois was a multi-instrumentalist (mainly sax...

Oblivion Sun - Oblivion Sun

About fifteen seconds into the opening cut (or maybe even sooner), the astute listener will be reminded of the great Happy the Man, and for good reason – two of that band’s main...

Thork - Nula Jedan

Hmmm… programmed drums transmitting from another planet, ghostly atmospherics, trance-y scraps of electronica, crunchy guitars… do I detect the hand of Porcupine Tree? Germany has...

Satellite - Into the Night

Satellite are a Polish band who try to fuse modern rock and production methods with prog of the not so distant past. The songwriting has powerful dynamics and moments of clarity in the melodic...

Dave Fulton / Giles Reaves - The Range

Opening with an unadulterated nod to the analog synth sound, The Range lets loose with some overtly modulated white noise, trailing into trilling piano and finally settling into a pleasant...

Tor Lundvall - The Seasons Unfold Sampler

Lundvall seems stubbornly drawn to subject matter already covered. His 2006 Empty City drew context and settings from a topic covered by composers as disparate as Aaron Copland and Henry...

Netherworld - Mørketid

For some there seems an inseparable bond between sound and place. For the avant and drone practitioner this tie is usually realized through field recordings and subsequent signal re-coding –...

Volcano the Bear - Amidst the Noise and Twigs

In #34, I likened Volcano the Bear’s previous outing, Classic Erasmus...

Soriah - Ofrendas de Luz a los Muertos

Sometimes music is a journey. Sometimes it’s maybe even more a journey than it is music, as is the case with Soriah’s work. He (I think that’s the appropriate pronoun) is credited...

Salle Gaveau - Alloy

A new French band, right? Not exactly, although this Japanese quintet of guitar, piano, violin, accordion and contrabass could give many a European folk-jazz-RIO band a surprisingly good challenge...

Setna - Cycle I

It’s good to see some new releases on SZ again, after what seems like a long hiatus. Setna is a French six-piece of drums, bass, soprano sax, two keyboards (Rhodes and Mini-Moog), and female...

Erik Baron / d-z Akørd - De Futura (Hiroshima)

We’ve covered bassist Erik Baron’s releases in these pages before, and all have been exceptional, but there’s never been one quite like this. Here he has assembled an army of...

Hopper Picard Franklin Hayward - Numero d'vol

Hugh Hopper hardly ever misses an opportunity for a group improvisation. Given his time spent with sax player Simon Picard doing Soft Machine tributes and keeping tabs on keyboardist Steve Franklin...

Delta Saxophone Quartet - Dedicated to You... But You Weren't Listening

The subtle influences of the Soft Machine’s legacy are inherent in many European acts from Bill Bruford’s Earthworks to Theo Travis’s working ensembles. The Delta Saxophone...

Killick - Bull****

Musically speaking, it’s a big world out there, and there are lots of different instruments that have been developed over the centuries to fill it. But that doesn’t mean there’s...

Avi Belleli - Strawberry Cream and Gunpowder

Avi Belleli has been on the Israeli fringe working with the likes of Tractor’s Revenge as well as doing stage and soundtrack work for quite some time. Longtime friend and collaborator Udi...

Healing Force - Music of Albert Ayler

Guitarist Henry Kaiser is heavily steeped in the allure of classic jazz. As proven by his Yo Miles! joint projects with Wadada Leo Smith, Kaiser has been on a mission to find the essence of the...

Mushroom with Eddie Gale - Joint Happening

After our feature interview with drummer Pat Thomas in issue #32, all readers should be at least be aware of Bay Area psychedelic jazz-rock improv ensemble Mushroom; trumpeter Eddie Gale is...

Nels Cline / Andrea Parkins / Tom Rainey - Downpour

There was no lack of insight at the 2006 Victoriaville festival where Wilco guitarist Nels Cline met with co-improvisers Andrea Parkins and drummer Tom Rainey for an explosive, heated exchange. The...

Bernie Worrell - Stranger: Bernie Worrell on Earth

Keyboardist Bernie Worrell is no stranger to making friends while making music. Since his initial ground breaking work as keyboardist and synthesizer innovator for Parliament / Funkadelic, the...

Xcross - Kadath - The Dream Quest

This ambitious concept album by Maryland duo Xcross is based on H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath,” eleven purely instrumental tracks following a brief spoken...

Psicotropia - Grog

A few years back this young Spanish trio left its mark on the audience in Mexicali, proving themselves to be competent purveyors of free-wheeling high-energy jamming and tightly composed math-rock....

Steve Peters - Occasional Music

My only encounter with Peters’ work to date has been his EP length disc From Shelter, released on Cold Blue a few years back, which had a fairly unified concept and approach, fitting...

Pendragon - Past and Presence

It’s funny that Pendragon, who represented the “new wave” of prog rock not that long ago, have now been around long enough to be having commemorative reunion and anniversary...

Minoke? - Sangaky

This is the follow up to this Japanese quartet’s impressive 2003 debut, Taneshina. The jazz approach seen on the debut is carried forward here, though this time even more non-jazz...

Deborah Martin / J. Arif Verner - Anno Domini

Both Martin and Verner have been regulars in the pages of Exposé over the years with their respective releases, but Anno Domini marks their first collaboration. Anyone...

Magenta - The Singles

Magenta has always had a healthy output of singles alongside their three studio albums. Rather than keep re-releasing singles, Rob Reed (the group’s keyboard player, composer and producer)...

Lo-Fi Chorus - Something in the Air

Lo-Fi Chorus is an indie band from Dallas, TX obviously influenced by Elvis Costello. Something in the Air is their second release and one they hope will bring their music to a wider...

Mar de Robles - Indígena

This second album from Mar de Robles is both a continuation and a departure from the first. It’s an example of a band honing its craft and moving on and up. The five piece features vocals /...

Gong Global Family - Live in Brazil 20 November 2007

November 20th, 2007 is the date, one of three shows in Brazil that year. Daevid Allen and Josh Pollock (University of Errors) are joined by a number of Brazilian musicians (members of the Invisible...

Fairport Convention - Liege and Lief

A couple of weeks ago I realized I needed to reevaluate the early Fairport Convention albums — every so often I try to do this with major groups and artists that I don't seem to rate so...

Alonso Arreloa / LabA - Música Horizontal

One of the big surprises of Baja 2008, Alonso Arreola and his band/project LabA tore up the opening slot at the theater on the first night with his funky 8-string bass maneuverings and avant-garde...

Space Ritual - Otherworld

Space Ritual is a new band formed from the remnants of Hawkwind. Consisting of Nik Turner (sax, flute, and vocals), Dave Anderson (bass, electric guitars, acoustic guitar, and vocals), Terry Ollis...

Klaus Schulze - Revisited Reissues, Part 2 (Plus)

The four latest Klaus Schulze reissues include one from the 70s and three from the new millennium, bringing the total to 34 and closing out the first 21 Schulze albums. As Virtual Outback...

Klaus Schulze - Revisited Reissues, Part 2 (Plus)

The four latest Klaus Schulze reissues include one from the 70s and three from the new millennium, bringing the total to 34 and closing out the first 21 Schulze albums. As Virtual Outback...

Klaus Schulze - Revisited Records Reissues, Part 1

Revisited Records continues its reissue of the Klaus Schulze back catalog with another 12 CDs. I haven’t quite figured out their rationale, but they are releasing 12 a year covering the...

Klaus Schulze - Revisited Records Reissues, Part 1

Revisited Records continues its reissue of the Klaus Schulze back catalog with another 12 CDs. I haven’t quite figured out their rationale, but they are releasing 12 a year covering the...

Klaus Schulze - Revisited Records Reissues, Part 1

Revisited Records continues its reissue of the Klaus Schulze back catalog with another 12 CDs. I haven’t quite figured out their rationale, but they are releasing 12 a year covering the...

Klaus Schulze - Revisited Records Reissues, Part 1

Revisited Records continues its reissue of the Klaus Schulze back catalog with another 12 CDs. I haven’t quite figured out their rationale, but they are releasing 12 a year covering the...

Klaus Schulze - Timewind

Next in the Revisited reissue series after Blackdance is Timewind, Klaus’ fifth release, the one he considers his breakout album and the one that brought him worldwide...

Klaus Schulze - Moondawn

Moondawn was Klaus’ first electronic masterpiece. This was the first recording using Klaus’ big “Moog.” Beautiful scintillating abstract electronic sounds open the...

Alison Faith Levy & Mushroom - Yesterday I Saw You Kissing Tiny Flowers

For this limited edition release on the British 4Zero label, San Francisco Bay Area improv-trippers Mushroom have joined forces with the soulful and seductive voice of singer Alison Faith Levy....

Ezoo - Ezoo

Last time I checked there are not many Mexican bands with an American Stick player and singer who’s also a woman, but that’s what we have here with Ezoo. Besides Linda Cushma, Ezoo...

Electric Kompany - Electric Kompany

There are plenty of new bands to check out these days, though there haven’t been many notable American bands in a while. These guys change all that. Electric Kompany hails from New York and...

Claudio Cordero - Enlace

One of the best young guitarists anywhere in the Americas, Claudio Cordero delivers the goods on this fantastic first solo effort. The CD is all instrumental, and features exceptional playing from...

Carsick Cars & Snapline - Two Debut Albums

These two closely related bands represent Beijing's current underground rock scene quite nicely. Both are trios, and they share two musicians: Li Weisi (bass) and Li Qing (drums in Carsick...

Carsick Cars & Snapline - Two Debut Albums

These two closely related bands represent Beijing's current underground rock scene quite nicely. Both are trios, and they share two musicians: Li Weisi (bass) and Li Qing (drums in Carsick...

Five Fifteen - Alcohol

Has it really been eight years since Six Dimensions of the Electric Camembert? That was the last full album by this Finnish hard rock band this writer heard, more or less corresponding to...

Ritual - The Hemulic Voluntary Band

Is this some long lost Gentle Giant album that I’m hearing? Just insert Patrik Lundström into Derek Shulman’s shoes and you get an idea of the sound bursting from the title track...

David Helpling & Jon Jenkins - Treasure

Both Helpling and Jenkins each have numerous masterful releases to their credit, so in collaboration one could expect only the best, and that’s exactly what they have delivered. The cover...

Mani Neumeier - Sketches

When you hear the name Mani Neumeier you think of his body of work with Guru Guru and his zaniness in concert. In addition, when you hear that he has released his first solo album,...

Cathedral & Rum - Surreal Typewriter

Chris Hartford and his cohorts have returned for their third outing, and in a nutshell if you like what was done before you’ll probably enjoy this as well. C&R albums have always been...

Dino Brassea - Del Cielo y la Tierra

Dino Brassea is known to many through his long relationship with Mexican prog rockers Cast. His voice and flute playing have been one of Cast’s trademark ingredients until recently when he...

Alec K Redfearn and the Eyesores - The Blind Spot

This album can’t be called dull — it’s intriguing, unpredictable, quirky, sometimes disturbing, and masterful. It starts with industrial sounds reminiscent of walking up stairs,...

Dice - Dice, Four Riders of the Apocalypse & Live Dice

During their short career, which spans the late seventies, Swedish band Dice (never to be confused with the Swiss neo-proggers Deyss) released only one self-titled album, an excellent testament to...

Fromage - Ophelia

Four years after their debut, and with an almost complete change in the lineup (only the singer / flautist and drummer from the first album remained), Fromage released their second album...

Seven That Spells - The Men from Dystopia

Who is the King of the Endless Riff? This Croatian band makes a credible case for their royal status on this release. The five tracks here, named simply with Roman numerals, flow without much...

Amarok - Sol de Medianoche

Over numerous releases now, Amarok has essentially created their own musical world, somewhere between the Mediterranean-Arabic folk music axis, the medieval sounds that might have been associated...

Puppet Show - The Tale of Woe

Puppet Show’s long awaited second studio album has finally made it out the door. Squashing any blatant anticipation, the quintet jumps right to it on the opening cut, “Seasons,”...

Rush - Snakes and Arrows

When a short audio sample of "Far Cry" was posted on Rush's web site it led to excited and hopeful premonitions of a return to the kind of prog rock the Canadian trio had pioneered on...

Dalton - Riflessioni: Idea d'Infinito

Dalton were another beat group turned "progressive" in 1972, and yet another one with an adventurous bent on a well-worn style. Dalton were very similar to bands like early Metamorfosi, I...

Steven Freeman and Alan Freeman - The Crack in the Cosmic Egg

Brothers Alan and Steve Freeman have been long time fans of Krautrock etc. as well as record shop owners specializing in this and similar music, and publishers of Audion magazine. This...

K Leimer - The Useless Lesson

At first listen, it might seem like The Useless Lesson takes two paths, one of melodic avant-garde chamber explorations, and another of more spacious ambient territory, interleaved...

Klotet - En Rak Höger

En Rak Höger is the debut release by a progressive rock quartet from Uppsala, Sweden formed in 2004. The CD opens with cheesy sounds and rhythm, but soon evolves into a progressive...

Steve Roach - Fever Dreams III

For the third in this series, Roach has served up a double dose. Like much of Roach’s material, the Fever Dreams series embraces soundworlds of a floating ambient nature, but with a...

St Vincent - Marry Me

If there are any terms in music more meaningless (or perhaps just misused) than “progressive,” they must certainly be “indie” and “alternative.” And come to...

Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet

Not known for uplifting and cheerful music, Porcupine Tree has delivered another dose of downer prog rock. The theme of Fear of a Blank Planet is adolescent angst and the large number of...

Porcupine Tree - Nil Recurring

This mini album consists of four songs (totaling about 30 minutes) that were written and recorded during the Fear of a Blank Planet album session but were held off for a variety of...

Claudio Rocchi - A Fuoco

Although Rocchi is probably better known for his earlier material on other labels, his offering on Cramps from 1977 A Fuoco (originally Cramps CRSCD 023) is a good showcase for his own...

Bella Band -

Smokin' hot fusion is the specialty delivered by this instrumental five-piece of keys, winds, guitar, bass, and drums from Firenze. Comparable to some other Italian jazz-rock bands like Perigeo...

Roberto Ciotti - Super Gasoline Blues

Even further from what might be called the typical Artis/Cramps experimental/ progressive sound, here we have Roberto Ciotti, a blues guitarist/singer in a three-piece g/b/d format. His album...

Genco Puro & Co. - Area di Servizio

1972 was the year that Genco Puro released their one and only album, the fairly rare and fairly commercial album Area di Servizio (reissued as Artis ARCD 040 in 1992) originally on the...

Lucio Fabbri - Amarena

Fabbri is probably best known for his tenure as violinist with PFM in their post-Passpartù period, and with Claudio Rocchi, and also for some of the work he's done with Demetrio...

High Wheel - 1910 & Remember the Colours

High Wheel is a relatively new German outfit with two albums solidly in the neo-progressive vein. While both are private releases, the band would fit very comfortably on the SI label as the music...

High Wheel - 1910 & Remember the Colours

High Wheel is a relatively new German outfit with two albums solidly in the neo-progressive vein. While both are private releases, the band would fit very comfortably on the SI label as the music...

Steve Hillage - Fish Rising

McLatchey's Second Tier

There's a lot of historical information missing if you chart the evolution of Gong from You into Shamal and Steve Hillage's...

Robert Fripp - At the End of Time: Churchscapes Live in England & Estonia, 2006

There is a great volume of music that we can work to comprehend, and there is a more elusive body within the body of music that it is best to apprehend. The first, of course, is a conscious...

Waldteufel - Sanguis

Waldteufel is the German duo of Markus Wolff (primarily vocals, drums, and percussion) and Tyrsson Sinclair (other instruments, vocals, etc.) and this is their fourth full-length release. Their...

Steve Hackett - Tribute

During the last decade many British rock musicians either went classic or strengthened their classical roots: examples range from Jon Lord to Roger Waters, from Mike Oldfield to Sting. Steve...

Planet X - Quantum

Is there anyone out there who does not know what to expect from a Planet X album? Insanely complex instrumental music that melds metal, prog, and fusion, played with precision that would put to...

Kaipa - Angling Feelings

What is Roine Stolt doing? First he leaves The Tangent and now he's flown the coop from Kaipa, a band he helped form in 1975. I can only guess he's focusing his efforts on getting Flower...

Dave Cousins - Secret Paths & The Boy in the Sailor Suit

Cousins' latest two solo releases have the masterful Strawbs leader and songwriter in two very different settings, yet his muse is entirely comfortable in both. Throughout these two discs, his...

Chris Squire - Swiss Choir

Chris Squire's second solo album since 1975's classic Fish out of Water is actually the third Christmas album from a Yes alumnus... In tow is ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett who...

Ahleuchatistas - Even in the Midst

Maybe I'm just imagining it, but I swear this time out Ahleuchatistas are sounding more accessible than ever. Still crazy as hell, but maybe a little less abrasive. Or maybe I'm getting...

Aegis Integer - Sand Timer

This California trio seems to have sprung fully formed from the brow of some musical god. The music is undeniably "progressive" in a number of ways, but rarely reminds me more than very...

Metamorfosi - ...E Fu il Sesto Giorno & Inferno

Metamorfosi were more or less a keyboard oriented trio with the addition of a lead vocalist. Their debut album was a very 60s psych/beat album with progressive touches – an overblown concept...

Golden Death Music - Ephemera Blues

Hmm, Golden Death Music. Not your usual Black Death Music, or any other color, but Golden. There is a certain glow to the sound, and while it’s not exactly morbid, it’s certainly not...

Six Gun Lullaby - Six Gun Lullaby

I’m the last person who would insist on bands adhering to standard instrumentation, but when I listen to this one, I hear a sound that’s tinny and kind of wimpy – and wimpy is the...

Might Could - Wood Knot

As a follow-up to their previous disc All Intertwined from a couple years ago, Wood Knot shows a definite growth and maturation for this excellent Maryland based instrumental...

Gargantua & Cashmere - Kotegarda & Cash Romantic Music Machine

These two surprising releases come to us by way of Poland, both prominently featuring violinist, vocalist and songwriter Tylda Ciołkosz, who is also a member of the more keyboard oriented group...

Edward Artemiev - Crime and Punishment

Opera comes with all sorts of preconceptions: large women breaking glass with their voices, too much vibrato, bombastic music. Edward Artemiev's opera Crime and Punishment (based on...

Various Artists - Psychedelic Underground 11 - 15

Beginning with its first year of operations, Garden of Delights has released a yearly limited edition Psychedelic Underground sampler containing the best track from each of their 9...

Klaus Schulze - Timewind

McLatchey's Top Tier #23

This album had a massive impact on my teenage brain; it was often the soundtrack of many... voyages. "Bayreuth Return" is still one of those pieces that...

Canartic - Bouncing Radar Beams off the Moon

Anoushka Shankar / Karsh Kale - Breathing under Water

Klaus Schulze - Moondawn

McLatchey's Top Tier #24

Picture Music and Timewind have been on my (top) favorites list for decades at this point, but for some weird reason it took a little...

Outer Limits - Stromatolite

Expo '70 - Black Ohms

Jason Smith - Tipping Point

Jinetes Negros - Omniem

Omniem is the third release by the Argentinean band Jinetes Negros or Black Riders in English. This is an odd release. Interspersed between excellent progressive music, there are cheesy...

Obscura - Le Città Invisibili

Le Città Invisibili is the debut release by Obscura, an Italian neo-prog band consisting of vocals, guitar, flute, bass, keyboards, and percussion. The title comes from the 1972 novel by...

Metaphor - The Sparrow

George & Caplin - He Really Got through to Advertising

Graham Collier - Hoarded Dreams

Jim Cole and Spectral Voices - Innertones

Basement 3 - Under

Amon Düül II - Carnival in Babylon, Wolf City & Vive la Trance

Revisited Records is busy reissuing classic Krautrock albums by Klaus Schulze, Kraan, Guru Guru, Holger Czukay, and Amon Düül II. These latest discs are Amon Düül II’s fourth, fifth, and...

Amon Düül II - Carnival in Babylon, Wolf City & Vive la Trance

Revisited Records is busy reissuing classic Krautrock albums by Klaus Schulze, Kraan, Guru Guru, Holger Czukay, and Amon Düül II. These latest discs are Amon Düül II’s fourth, fifth, and...

Amon Düül II - Carnival in Babylon, Wolf City & Vive la Trance

Revisited Records is busy reissuing classic Krautrock albums by Klaus Schulze, Kraan, Guru Guru, Holger Czukay, and Amon Düül II. These latest discs are Amon Düül II’s fourth, fifth, and...

Causa Sui - Free Ride

Lindsey Boullt - Composition

Baku Llama - Eris

Phideaux - Doomsday Afternoon

Alpha Wave Movement - The Regions Between: Unreleased Tracks 2001-2006

Claudia Quintet - For

Starcastle - Song of Times

Cédric Vuille - #804 Center Street

David Torn - Presenz

Upsilon Acrux - Galapagos Momentum

David Sylvian - When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima

Finch - Beyond Expression & Galleons of Passion

The second and third albums from Dutch band Finch have recently been digitally remastered and reissued on CD, closely following the reissue of their debut album Glory of the Inner Force....

Kollektiv - Kollektiv

Kollektiv, an obscure Krautrock band, released their self-titled album in 1973. Three months later they recorded an hour-long session for SWF radio in Baden-Baden. Long Hair released this session...

Rufus Zuphall - Outside the Gates of Eden

Rufus Zuphall is a German band from Aachen that first hit the stage in 1969. They released three albums in the early 70s and then disintegrated. Because of reissuing their albums on CD, there was...

Mikhail Chekhalin - Poruganie Patsiphika, Paradigm Transition & Untimely

Mikhail Chekalin is a Russian keyboard artist and a composer who has an impressive body of work dating back to the early 80s. He has been called the Russian Klaus Schulze, but these three new...

Mikhail Chekhalin - Poruganie Patsiphika, Paradigm Transition & Untimely

Mikhail Chekalin is a Russian keyboard artist and a composer who has an impressive body of work dating back to the early 80s. He has been called the Russian Klaus Schulze, but these three new...

Mikhail Chekhalin - Poruganie Patsiphika, Paradigm Transition & Untimely

Mikhail Chekalin is a Russian keyboard artist and a composer who has an impressive body of work dating back to the early 80s. He has been called the Russian Klaus Schulze, but these three new...

Motis - L'homme-loup & Live Crescendo

Motis is a talented French group who create what might be called medieval progressive rock. They are deeply influenced by the literature and myths of the Knights of the Round Table, the...

Motis - L'homme-loup & Live Crescendo

Motis is a talented French group who create what might be called medieval progressive rock. They are deeply influenced by the literature and myths of the Knights of the Round Table, the...

Baby Grandmothers - Baby Grandmothers

Baby Grandmothers were a legendary underground Swedish psych trio from the late 60s who performed extensively throughout Scandinavia but only released a single in Finland. The band consisted of...

Eroc - Eroc 4

Revisited Records has now released the fourth Eroc solo album, recorded in 1982. For those of you who don’t know, Eroc is the pseudonym of Joachim Heinz Ehrig who was Grobschnitt’s drummer...

Zweistein - Trip – Flip Out – Meditation

Edward Ka-Spel - Melancholics Anonymous

Melancholics Anonymous is a collection of EKS pieces from rare vinyl releases plus one previously unreleased track. Even with reissuing these songs to a wider audience, this CD is a...

Ulkomaalaiset - 1 & 2

How do you celebrate Easter in rural Finland, especially when you are a foreigner? All the shops are closed and the locals are home spending time with their families. It so happened that three...

Mao Dou + Lu Chen - A Hippo Wildly Grinds Its Teeth Bankside

Faust / NWW - Disconnected

2007 has seen some interesting musical pairings of young and old. First there was Acid Mothers Temple and Mani Neumeier (Guru Guru) and now we have Faust and Steven Stapleton (Nurse with Wound)...

Barock Project - Misteriosevoci

The Barock Project is the name of a relatively new Italian progressive rock band led by keyboard virtuoso Luca Zabbini. Their desire is to promote baroque music in a progressive rock context with a...

Circa - Circa: 2007

Cold Fairyland & Lin Di - Ten Days in Magic Land, Bride in Legend, 2005 Live & Seeds on the Ground

One of the first musical things I discovered after moving to Beijing was this band from Shanghai. Their Chinese name (Lengku Xianjing) is taken from the Chinese title of a book by Japanese writer...

33 Dao - Xunzhao Guowang

Shawn Phillips - Living Contribution: Both Sides & DVD

Shawn Phillips is a Texan guitarist with an incredible three-octave vocal range. But Shawn is not your typical Texas musician. He went to England in the mid-60s: he played sitar on Donovan’s...

Drifting in Silence - Fallto

Steve Jansen - Slope (Remaster)

Aquaplan - Old Waves, New Seas

Paolo Angeli - Plays Frith & Björk - Tessuti

Alpha Wave Movement - The Mystic and the Machine

Ange - Zenith An II

Fit & Limo - Astralis

Fit & Limo have been producing some of the finest psychedelic folk music ala the Incredible String Band since the early 80s. Astralis, subtitled New Studies on Strange Folk,...

Karfagen - The Space between Us

Karfagen (means Carthage) is a Ukrainian band that plays an odd mixture of New Age, cabaret, jazz fusion, and TV variety show instrumental music. The Space between Us is their second...

Edward Ka-Spel - Dream Logik Part One

EKS has a new solo album and it is probably more out there than Melancholics Anonymous. It is always a treat to hear a new EKS release. Sometimes the new music is like visiting with an old...

Klaus Schulze - Kontinuum

With great anticipation I waited for the release of Klaus Schulze’s 45th solo album Kontinuum and I was not disappointed. Klaus has been reissuing lots of music lately, but it is two...

Radio Massacre International - Rain Falls in Grey

Sun Ra - Disco 3000 - Complete Milan Concert 1978

Tricantropus - Recuerdos del Futura

Mind Furniture - Hoop of Flame

Mani Neumeier & Peter Hollinger - Meet the the Demons of Bali

Jake Playmo - My Favorite Toys

Bill Bruford / Michiel Borstlap - In Two Minds

Radio Massacre International - Rain Falls in Grey

Steve Roach - Immersion: Three

Donovan - The Donovan Concert: Live in L.A.

Mark Ceccotti - Still at Large

Jean Pascal Boffo - La Boîte à Musique

John Lees' Barclay James Harvest - Legacy Live at the Shelpherd's Bush Empire 2006

Bevel - Phoenician Terrane

Beardfish - Sleeping in Traffic: Part One

The Smell of Incense - Of Ullages and Dottles

Mörglbl - Grötesk

Ian Anderson - Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull

Bubu - Anabelas

Strange Days - 9 Parts to the Wind

Moby Grape - Moby Grape, Wow, & Grape Jam

One of the very best of the late 60s San Francisco bands (if not the best), Moby Grape's recordings as well as the band's name itself has long been tied up in endless cycles of litigation thanks to...

Moby Grape - Moby Grape, Wow, & Grape Jam

One of the very best of the late 60s San Francisco bands (if not the best), Moby Grape's recordings as well as the band's name itself has long been tied up in endless cycles of litigation thanks to...

Moby Grape - Moby Grape, Wow, & Grape Jam

One of the very best of the late 60s San Francisco bands (if not the best), Moby Grape's recordings as well as the band's name itself has long been tied up in endless cycles of litigation thanks to...

Hot Tuna - Double Dose

Odin - SWF Session 1973 & Live at the Maxim

Along with the reissue of this quartet's amazing self-titled debut album from '73 (which originally appeared on the Vertigo label), Long Hair has released these two collections of archival...

Odin - SWF Session 1973 & Live at the Maxim

Along with the reissue of this quartet's amazing self-titled debut album from '73 (which originally appeared on the Vertigo label), Long Hair has released these two collections of archival...

Bob Lind - Elusive Butterfly - The Complete 1966 Jack Nitzsche Sessions

Randy California - The Euro-American Years 1979-1983

It merits discussion as to what, in the early 80s context, constituted the difference between a Spirit album and a Randy California album. Because nearly every Spirit composition in those days was...

At War with Self - Acts of God

Neo - Broadcast

Frogg Café - The Safenzee Diaries

Quodia - The Arrow

Michael Fahres - The Tubes

Magicfolk - Magicfolk

Naoki Ishida - Fazing Redust

Mirror Snake - Mirror Snake

Zaboitzeff & Crew - Missa Furiosa & Voyage au Centre de la Terre

The Tear Garden - The Secret Experiment

Alquimia - Forever

John Curtis - Short Songs about Affordable Food

The Mother Hips - Kiss the Crystal Flake

Kurt Reifler - Kurt Reifler

Contrarian - Minor Complexities

Josiah - No Time

D'arcana - Premonitions

Runaway Totem - Esameron

Court - Frost of Watermelon

Rapoon - Time Frost

Big Brother & the Holding Co - Hold Me - Live in Germany

Tom Baker Quartet - Look What I Found & Save

Tom Heasley & Toss Panos - Passages

Dr. L. Subramaniam / Karsten Vogel - Meetings

Ana Fort - A Long Story

Stick Man - Mysterious Female

The Strato Ensemble - Drawn Straws

Michel Sajrawy - Yathrib

Born Again Floozies - 7 Deadly Sinners

Fromuz - Audio Diplomacy