Exposé Online » Reviews of releases for 2008

Spirits Burning - Alien Injection

Strap yourself in, pull down your mask, we’re headed for the psychedelic reaches of outer space. The crew, assembled specifically for this journey by Captain Falcone, should be a familiar one...

Ragnarök - Path

If you are old enough, you might remember that Ragnarök was part of the Swedish Prog Rock movement in the mid 70s. Their self-titled album released in 1975 was typical 70s art-rock. The band...

Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO - Interstellar Guru and Zero

I find it extremely challenging to keep up with this prolific band with their myriad lineups and bazillions of releases. This time around, the band is Tsuyama Atsushi (monster bass, tortoiseshell...

Boiled in Lead - Silver

Boiled in Lead is an American institution, experts at an Anglo-Irish institution: traditional and electric folk music. Hailing from Minnesota, this quintet has been messing with this revered...

Cast - Originallis

For their latest, Mexican proggers Cast have delivered a super-sized collection of 16 songs spread across two CDs – a Flower Kings-like effort, with similar strengths and weaknesses. For some...

Trey Gunn - Music for Pictures

Film music typically runs the gamut from the insane, unlikely or impenetrable. For Warr Guitar enthusiast Trey Gunn the trick is whether or not an idea holds up without the explicit benefit of...

Fromuz - Overlook

Uzbekistan’s forceful entry onto the progressive metal scene, Fromuz is back again expanding the variety of their assault with a set of five exceptional new recordings that bridge a world of...

Bryan Beller - Thanks in Advance

Bassist Bryan Beller’s long awaited second release is nothing short of an ensemble tour de force. On the surface one could easily mistake the nine recordings as a crack shot guitarist’s...

Fish - 13th Star

Nearly Scotland’s answer to Rumplestiltskin singer, composer Fish is nothing if he is not consistent with his muse. Together with Steve Vantsis, the big man continues to search out the...

Dark Sanctuary - Thoughts: 9 Years In The Sanctuary

From the name of the band, you would probably guess they have Gothic tendencies, and you’d be right. But rather than the heavy, depressive kind of Goth you often hear, this French band has a...

Autumn's Grey Solace - Ablaze

This may be a Projekt release featuring a female singer and guy playing all the instruments, but if you’re expecting another Dead Can Dance clone think again. Ablaze is a collection...

Oho - Bricolage

Baltimore based Oho doesn’t put out a lot of product, but when they do, they do it right. Their latest offering is a combo CD+DVD covering material recorded over a 24-year period, although...

Seven That Spells - Cosmoerotic Dialogue with Lucifer

Is it a dialogue or one-way harangue? That's what you might ask emerging from this full-bore psychedelic freak-out of ferocious proto-metal fighting to stay alive (or conscious) against some...

La Düsseldorf - La Düsseldorf

What might Kraftwerk have become in the guise of a guitar-band instead of a synth band? The toe-tapping oddments of this first La Düsseldorf outing from 1976 just may give a clue....

Hermetic Science - These Fragments I Have Shored against My Ruins

It’s been close to forever since Hermetic Science’s last album of new material. In fact, one listen to this new disc might offer some partial clues as to why it took seven years....

Unitopia - The Garden

It is quite ambitious for a group to issue a double CD of new material as their second release. Many groups are challenged to fill one disc with decent music, let alone two. In addition, much of...

Interkosmos - Hypnotizer

Interkosmos is an intergalactic band consisting of Sergio Ceballos (guitar and FX), Pablo Carneval (drums), and Dave Schmidt (AKA Sula Bassana, bass, FX, and loops). They released their debut...

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic - Dawn of the Cycads

Since I think Birdsongs of the Mesozoic are a great band, and I think cycads are really interesting plants, I won’t be pedantic and point out that cycads actually appeared in the Early...

Karcius - Episodes

Each new release by this French-Canadian instrumental four-piece is more impressive than the one that came before. They’ve mastered that tightly composed everchanging conceptual proggy sound...

Channel Light Vessel - Excellent Spirits

Believe it or not, Channel Light Vessel is a superstar ambient group. Personnel breakdown includes Dream Academy alumni Kate St. John, Bill Nelson, Laraaji (Ambient 3: Day of Radiance),...

Pancake - Out of the Ashes

Perhaps the band is better known for their opening salvo, Roxy Elephant, in 1975, which featured a far more guitar dominated progressive style. The follow-up, Out of the Ashes, is...

Quella Vecchia Locanda - Quella Vecchia Locanda

If early PFM showed a surprising amount of musical integration, the first album by Quella Vecchia Locanda showed a bit more of a split personality, one that worked really well for them. Take the...

Spaced Out - Evolution

After numerous releases sticking pretty close to a singular style, this appropriately titled latest studio release by the band shows them trying out some new directions, while still maintaining...

Trank Zappa Grappa in Varese? - More Light

TZGIV is a band led by Swiss saxophonist Markus Strauss; the band’s name stands for “Trank Zappa Grappa in Varese?” so one might take a wild guess at who one of their chief...

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...

Osanna - L'Uomo

Osanna is probably best known for their progressive rock masterpiece Palepoli, an album I wrote about in an earlier tier; however, the band doesn't get nearly the credit they deserve...

Strawbs - The Broken Hearted Bride

Over the last ten years or so, Strawbs have toured and recorded in various configurations, from a three-piece acoustic trio to a fully amplified five-piece electric band. The Broken Hearted...

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....

Ulysses - The Gift of Tears

Ulysses is a Dutch metal-prog band and The Gift of Tears is their second album. Apparently, The Gift of Tears is a concept album, as Ulysses wanted to share their views and...

Cathedral - The Bridge

Thirty years ago, the US progressive band Cathedral released their first album, Stained Glass Stories. That was it until Tom Doncourt (keyboards) attended a King Crimson concert in 2003...

Christian Décamps - Psychédelice

So... what to make of this? One of the most famous lead singers in the history of European prog has recorded a solo album... of instrumental music (well, almost – there’s one track with...

The Black Noodle Project - Eleanore

Sometimes I put the CD in the car stereo without looking at the titles, and that’s what I did with Eleonore. I like to keep my eyes on the traffic. As the disc played I found a lot...

The Tunnel Singer - Beyond Stillness & Dreams without Words

The Tunnel Singer is Lee Ellen Shoemaker, San Francisco based vocalizer with a long string of releases to her credit, most employing nothing but her voice and lots and lots of reverb, either...

Makoto Kawabata / Shinsuke Michishita - Sex, Voyage, and Echo Chamber

Billed as the first collaboration between Kawabata Makoto of Acid Mothers Temple and Michishita Shinsuke of LSD March, it’s no surprise this release sounds like two electric guitarists...

David Parsons - Earthlight & Jyoti

Parsons is a New Zealand based composer with fifteen or so releases to his credit going all the way back to the early 80s; his work tends to draw its inspiration from his extensive travels...

Coral Caves - Mitopoiesi

Coral Caves is an Italian band that proves good solid progressive rock doesn’t have to be overly complex to be good. I hear elements of early Genesis, mid-70s Pink Floyd, Camel, and of course...

Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet - Tabligh

Wadada Leo Smith is known to many fans as the joint leader of the Yo Miles! projects that spawned a new audience for heavy groove inflected fusion. Tabligh is a cousin of that...

RPWL - The RPWL Experience

RPWL is a German band and even though The RPWL Experience is their fifth studio album, they are new to me. My first impression from hearing the opening song “Silenced” is that...

Panic Room - Visionary Position

Panic Room is a new Welsh group featuring members from Karnataka, Mostly Autumn, and Fish’s band: Paul Davies (guitars), Jonathan Edwards (keys), Anne-Marie Helder (vocals), Gavin John...

Banda Elástica - Aquí, Allá y Acullá

It’s always good to hear something new, or even old as it may be, from this long running Mexican band who got their start in the early 80s, and were last heard from on their 2003 release...

Guru Guru - Hinten

When I started getting into music it was around the dawn of the CD age, so I never really ended up with a lot of LPs, and although I ended up with some nice rarities, I don't have too many....

Exuviae - Echoes in the Emptiness

It wasn't but a few months ago that I had finally gotten around to playing Exuviae's third release. Somewhere after the turn of the 00s it seems the market took a pretty sharp dive on...

Embryo - Rocksession

Rocksession was one of two albums Christian Burchard sold to Brain Records after their previous label rejected them, and it came out about a year and a half after it was recorded. It's...

D.F.A. - 4th

It may have been close to ten years since DFA’s last studio album, but this band has certainly not lost their edge; in fact, if anything the intensity and passion in this new set makes up for...

D.F.A. - 4th

As previously mentioned, the great DFA's career was cut short due to tragedy; musically speaking the band's last effort was as amazing as its first. I've mentioned elsewhere on a number...

Hey Marseilles - To Travels and Trunks

Seattle may be most famous for its noisy rock, but there seems to be a crop of bands with expanded instrumentation and more melodic intentions. Case in point: Hey Marseilles. Their brand of...

Half Past Four - Rabbit in the Vestibule

This is Toronto quartet Half Past Four’s first full-length album that isn’t a movie score (2007’s The Mad). A variety of genres are melded here, including art,...

Overhead - And We're Not Here After All

Overhead is a Finnish band consisting of Alex Keskitalo on vocals and flute, Jaakko Kettunen on guitar, Janne Pylkkönen on bass, Tarmo Simonen on keyboards, and Ville Sjöblom on drums....

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...

Bill Cutler - Crossing the Line

Bill Cutler arrived in San Francisco in 1970, spent the following decades producing other people’s records, and on his first album channels all those influences and experiences. His guitar...

Richard Pinhas and Merzbow - Keio Line

Having redefined the scale of sonic monumentalism with the 2006 two-disc set Metatron, Keio...

Cage - Secret Passage

There’s nothing new about a progressive rock band sounding a bit like classic Genesis, and unless you have a categorical dislike of bands that sound a bit like classic Genesis, Cage has a lot...

Bittertown - Scenes from the Box

Dutch bassist Tom Janssen is the driving force behind this album, though his debut solo outing, Are You Surprised, dates back to 2004. For this concept album he’s enlisted aid from...

Yūgen - Uova Fatali: Yugen Plays Leddi

Yūgen is an Italian based chamber rock ensemble (nine members + numerous guests for this recording) led by guitarist Francesco Zago. Another member of the group is multi-instrumentalist  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2010-07-01)

Guru Guru - UFO

McLatchey's Top Tier #12

If you want to see the impact that live Hendrix and Cream had on the young German musicians of the time, you could check out the

Richard Barbieri - Stranger Inside

Richard Barbieri’s second solo album is an altogether different beast than 2006’s insightful textural melee Things Buried. Again pairing with veteran band mate from Japan (the...

No-Man - Schoolyard Ghosts

Few may know that Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson first achieved success (at least in the UK) with No-Man, his partnership with singer / songwriter / musician Tim Bowness that dates back to...

Dead Can Dance - Spiritchaser

A group I've only had the chance to hear on one previous occasion (their Spleen and Ideal album), Dead Can Dance didn't take me by storm then. But I have always awaited a chance to...

Craig Padilla - Below the Mountain

Practitioners of electronic or space music can often times be seen as little more than technicians with the knowledge and ability to produce interesting sounds from arcane and complex synthesizers...

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...

Make a Rising - Infinite Ellipse and Head with Open Fontanel

This is one very strange band. And that’s strange in a good way – interesting, unusual, even unique in some respects – something completely new, not more of the same; and after...

Circa - Live

Billy Sherwood’s plan to get some kind of Yes-related project into play resulted in this DVD from one of the band’s first performances. On board are Yes stalwarts keyboardist Tony Kaye...

Little King - Legacy of Fools

Originally from El Paso, Texas (and at one time based in Seattle), Little King is a power trio formed around singer / songwriter / guitarist Ryan Rosoff. This is the band’s fourth album since...

Pallas - Moment to Moment

Many bands who were part of the 80s neo-prog movement are facing the reality that even though their popularity is holding steady and it’s easier than ever to record albums and perform live,...

Magenta - Metamorphosis

Magenta have all the right things going for them: talented musicians, good label support, a loyal fan base, and an intelligent approach to surviving as a prog band. They’ve carved out a niche...

Willowglass - Book of Hours

Perhaps I’m just overly influenced by the artwork in the booklet, but it truly does seem like this music conjures up imagery of scenic rural England in times long gone by – green grass,...

Caamora - She

Clive Nolan (Arena, Shadowlands, Pendragon, etc.) rarely does anything on a small scale, and elements of theatricality and drama have appeared in much of his past work so it seems only natural that...

Caamora - She

Clive Nolan (Arena, Shadowlands, Pendragon, etc.) rarely does anything on a small scale, and elements of theatricality and drama have appeared in much of his past work so it seems only natural that...

Chandeen - Teenage Poetry

The Projekt label has been searching beyond US shores for new groups to host on their label, one example being Chandeen from Germany. This trio was formed around keyboard player / programmer Harald...

Mirabilis - Sub Rosa

Mirabilis is a project that pairs singers and musicians Dru Allen and Summer Bowman. Each is involved with other projects, This Ascension for Allen and The Machine in the Garden for Bowman, though...

Steve Peters - The Webster Cycles

One usually thinks of the trombone in its more typical context as an essential part of a jazz ensemble, filling in the melodic low end parts between blazing trumpets, saxophones, and such. On its...

Humi (Hugh Hopper / Yumi Hara Cawkwell) - Dune

Humi is the duo of Hugh Hopper (electric bass, electronics, loops) and Yumi Hara Cawkwell (voice, piano, keyboards, percussion) working in an ambient improvisational avant-garde jazz space. The...

Wayne Horvitz - A Walk in the Dark & Once Dance Alone

One of Seattle’s finest composers, Wayne Horvitz, has crafted a new ensemble album for his main quartet. Horvitz’ signature technique translates into imploring melodic constructs within...

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - Lil' Tae Rides Again

Brian Haas and Reed Mathis are back on board with their first new studio recording in two years. This time out the duo has chosen to emphasize the improvisational aspect of collective live jams....

Zed - You Are Here

Not to be confused with Bernard Szajner’s dark and ominous band Zed from the late 70s, this Colorado based jazz-rock quartet has a positive outlook and a bright, colorful collection of styles...

Mircan with Limbo - Numinosum

Mircan Kaia belongs to the Mingrelian people, a South Caucasian minority living in northeastern Turkey, in a region bordering Georgia. She is fiercely linked to her roots, but she is not a folk...

Brunnen - Swoon

<crickets> — that’s either the typical response to the question “Any Brunnen fans in the audience?” or an accurate description of the third track on this CD. Brunnen...

Fotheringay - 2

In late 1970 Fotheringay entered the studio to record their second album. They laid down the basic tracks and scratch vocals and then took time off for the holidays, fully intending to resume work...

Darryl Way's Wolf - Canis Lupus, Saturation Point & Night Music

The 70s continue to be a repository of stimulating music that new and old labels don’t stop digging out. Well, this is not all gold that glitters, but several forgotten works resurface,...

Darryl Way's Wolf - Canis Lupus, Saturation Point & Night Music

The 70s continue to be a repository of stimulating music that new and old labels don’t stop digging out. Well, this is not all gold that glitters, but several forgotten works resurface,...

Darryl Way's Wolf - Canis Lupus, Saturation Point & Night Music

The 70s continue to be a repository of stimulating music that new and old labels don’t stop digging out. Well, this is not all gold that glitters, but several forgotten works resurface,...

Reptet - Chicken or Beef? & At the Cabin

Reptet fits squarely into that stream of jazz bands that contains the Lounge Lizards, Microscopic Septet, the Tiptons, and so on: crazy arrangements, skilled playing, influences drawn from both...

David Cross Band - Alive in the Underworld

Ex-Crimson violinist David Cross has been pretty consistently refining his post-Crimson ideas for the past ten years or so. It’s no quantum leap to expect him to take his message literally to...

Aviva Omnibus - Nutcracker in Fury

Picture, if you will, channeling the essence of Metallica, Keith Emerson, and Ralph Lundsten to play Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker with demonic abandon and you might have some glimmer of...

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...

Lüüp - Distress Signal Code

I did not know what to expect from this release. The cover is a photo of a Chaplinesque clown balancing on a stack of chairs. But the music is anything but comical. What we have is a collection of...

Odin's Court - Deathanity (R3)

When this CD arrived in my mailbox, I had never heard of the band. They’re a Maryland group described as “progressive metal,” so I set my expectations accordingly (which means...

Steve Walsh - Shadowman

After 30-some-odd years in the music business (if they’re lucky enough to last that long), most artists have fallen into a comfort zone and their new albums no longer offer any surprises. For...

Klaus Schulze / Lisa Gerrard - Farscape & Rheingold

Klaus Schulze has wanted to work with Lisa Gerrard since he first heard her sing with Dead Can Dance, but an opportunity to collaborate did not occur until the Fall of 2007. This is an intriguing...

Klaus Schulze / Lisa Gerrard - Farscape & Rheingold

Klaus Schulze has wanted to work with Lisa Gerrard since he first heard her sing with Dead Can Dance, but an opportunity to collaborate did not occur until the Fall of 2007. This is an intriguing...

Dead Can Dance - Toward the Within

Toward the Within is a live disk that documents DCD's 1993 tour, ostensibly in support of their latest studio release, Into the Labyrinth. However, Brendan Perry and Lisa...

Dead Can Dance - First Five Reissued

Since 1984, Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard have created seven albums that stand the test of time: Dead Can Dance (1984), Spleen and Ideal (1985), Within the Realm of a Dying...

Dead Can Dance - First Five Reissued

Since 1984, Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard have created seven albums that stand the test of time: Dead Can Dance (1984), Spleen and Ideal (1985), Within the Realm of a Dying...

Dead Can Dance - First Five Reissued

Since 1984, Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard have created seven albums that stand the test of time: Dead Can Dance (1984), Spleen and Ideal (1985), Within the Realm of a Dying...

Dead Can Dance - First Five Reissued

Since 1984, Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard have created seven albums that stand the test of time: Dead Can Dance (1984), Spleen and Ideal (1985), Within the Realm of a Dying...

Dead Can Dance - First Five Reissued

Since 1984, Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard have created seven albums that stand the test of time: Dead Can Dance (1984), Spleen and Ideal (1985), Within the Realm of a Dying...

Alfredo Tisocco - Kátharsis, Ritagli d'Anima & Ballet Collection

Alfredo Tisocco's solo career apart from Opus Avantra, began in 1975 with the release of...

Alfredo Tisocco - Kátharsis, Ritagli d'Anima & Ballet Collection

Alfredo Tisocco's solo career apart from Opus Avantra, began in 1975 with the release of...

Alfredo Tisocco - Kátharsis, Ritagli d'Anima & Ballet Collection

Alfredo Tisocco's solo career apart from Opus Avantra, began in 1975 with the release of...

Kenso - Kenso's Guide to Making Progressive Rock Music

Well, in all my years or reviewing things, this is really a first. The 2DVD set is part performances, part music theory lectures, part insights, and part interviews; this is basically the members...

Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece

McLatchey's Second Tier

Van Morrison sank way into my consciousness well before I became a fan, largely because his songs are used so often in movie soundtracks to such a...

Luciano Basso - Voci

Languishing in obscurity for a decade and a half, Vinyl Magic did well to reissue this near-classic by keyboardist Luciano Basso. With a six-piece lineup also featuring violin, drums, electric...

Spirits Burning & Bridget Wishart - Earth Born

Some may remember Wishart from her brief tenure as a member of Hawkwind in the early 90s (she was featured on the Space Bandits studio album, and the live Palace Springs and...

Pentagram - Sub-Basement

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,...

Asia - Phoenix

When Asia’s debut hit turntables in 1982 it quickly became clear that this was not the next coming of progressive rock many had hoped for. The names were familiar: John Wetton, Geoff Downes,...

Miserable Faith - The Music Won't Be Stopped

My introduction to this band came in 2008. I was living in Beijing, and rode my bicycle to a part of town I wasn’t too familiar with. I came across a music store and went in. I skipped past...

Emily Bezar - Exchange

With Exchange, California singer/songwriter/keyboardist Emily Bezar has produced her definitive (so far) musical statement. The elements that have contributed to her past releases...

Dave Cousins - Moving Pictures

This is a heartwarming set from Strawbs main man Dave Cousins’ only solo tour of the USA, recorded at The Kent Stage, Kent, Ohio on March 15th 2008. There were other dates, but apparently...

Sebkha-Chott - De la persistence & Niglah

Sebkha-Chott is a band of wild and crazy young French musicians playing music that is so bizarre and unclassifiable that I do not know where to begin. I reviewed their second release...

Mawwal - This Is All There Is, There Is No Other Place

The first Mawwal release was one of the highlights of 2007, and here they’ve done it again for 2008, and not by simply remaking the first album. While many of the things that made Black...

Eric Glick Rieman / Lesli Dalaba / Stuart Dempster - Lung Tree

Although its presence on Recommended tells you something, all three of these musicians are likely little-known outside improvising circles. Rieman is the main force behind Lung Tree, as...

Itoiz - Ezekiel

By the time of their second album, Ezekiel, the lineup of this Basque band had grown from five members to seven, now including saxes, mandolin, electric piano, and even violin when...

Itziar - Itziar

Itziar is both a person and a band: singer Itziar Egileor and her backing group. Though the band made only one album, Itziar remain one of the best-known Basque folk-progressives. Part of...

Hands - Strangelet

The Texas band Hands has been around in some form or another since the mid-70s, during which time they’ve only managed to produce a handful of albums, all of which are of consistently high...

Fripp & Eno - No Pussyfooting & Evening Star

Enough has been said about No Pussyfooting, a record of singular stature and importance to the gradual adoption of the avant-garde by popular artists, that if its creative success and...

Fripp & Eno - No Pussyfooting & Evening Star

Enough has been said about No Pussyfooting, a record of singular stature and importance to the gradual adoption of the avant-garde by popular artists, that if its creative success and...

Marsupilami - Marsupilami

McLatchey's Second Tier

If there was ever an early British 70s progressive rock album that managed to languish in obscurity while a lot of lesser albums would end up with...

Embryo - Steig Aus

McLatchey's Second Tier

I'm not sure how many bands in any genre had as strong a run as Germans Embryo did from their debut to somewhere deep in the 70s. This was a group...

Larry Kucharz - Blue Drawings and Text

Kucharz' latest work is split between seven softer flowing ambient pieces composed or reworked in 2007, most somewhat reminiscent of the work on some of his earlier 'Electrochoral' and...

Born Again Floozies - Street Music

This Indiana based quintet led by singer, guitarist and songwriter Joey Welch caught this writer's ear a few years ago with their debut EP Novelties, Addenda and Ephemera, five songs...

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...

Robert Rich & Fayrus - Zerkalo

Even before ambient – an often systems-obsessed form – became acknowledged as the music to ignore, drones had already and long allowed the listener to suspend or focus...

Robert Rich & Ian Boddy - React

Space is the place for this live set – marking the 30th anniversary of Chuck van Zyl’s Star’s End. Synthesized voices overlap lap steel guitar phrases that sometimes...

Alio Die & Martina Galvagni - Eleusian Lullaby

Largely pelagic, the three pieces that comprise Eleusian Lullaby are suffused with slowly moving timbral shifts occurring inside an amoebic suspension of sources that now and then yield up...

Flyin' Ryan Brothers - Totality

Here’s a tasty slice of instrumental progressive guitar rock, borne of the idea that lyrics and voices are unnecessary – and in fact only get in the way of the delivery of a strong...

Tony Harn - Loops

Ever since his 1998 debut, From the Inside, English guitarist Tony Harn has demonstrated a keen knack for creating densely layered instrumentals revolving around his harmonically nuanced...

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...

Nathan Mahl - Exodus

Motorpsycho - Little Lucid Moments

Lunatic Soul - Lunatic Soul

Mahogany Frog - Do5

The Instigations - Soundtracks for Alternate Realities

Osada Vida - The Body Parts Party

Tatsuya Yoshida with Igor Krutogolov & Assif Tsahar - Live in the Head

The Oliver Wakeman Band - Coming to Town: Live in Katowice

The Who - At Kilburn 1977

Stone Breath - Knotwork

Knotwork is collection of unreleased Stone Breath songs and rarities. Most of the songs presented on this disc are from the later years of the band and Knotwork is intended to...

Stone Breath - Lanterna Lucis Viriditatis

Stone Breath’s third album, recorded in 2000, has been reissued with a second CD of rare and unreleased tracks. On Lanterna Lucis Viriditatis Stone Breath continued their exploration of...

Plastic Crimewave Sound - Plastic Crimewave Sound

Grails - Take Refuge in Clean Living

Chas Smith - Nakadai

Language of Light / Crow Tongue - The Tower / Wind Chant

This split 7” dark gray marbleized vinyl 33 1/3 rpm record brings together two disparate, and yet similar bands. Language of Light is the love child of Frank Suchomel of Inalonelyplace and R....

The Long Dead Sevens - The White Waltz & Other Stories

Opram - Live

Opram is a young French band that plays a blend of heavy metal and progressive rock. After releasing their first disc in 2005 the band decided to issue a performance recorded November 25, 2006 in...

Orenda - A Tale of a Tortured Soul

Orenda is a French progressive metal band that began in 1998 and their debut release has been ten years in the making. A Tale of a Tortured Soul is a concept album in three acts, and the...

Exit - Exit

Exit was an obscure Swiss band dating back to 1972. In 1975 they recorded and privately issued their only album of 350 copies that rapidly became a collector’s item. Exit continued to perform for...

Red Star Revolt - Red Star Revolt

Red Star Revolt is a power rock trio (Aaron Nava: vocals, bass, keyboards; Clutch: guitar, keyboards; and Dino Cuneo: drums, percussion) based in Denver, Colorado who came together in 2007. This...

Henry Cow - The Road: Volumes 1-5

Even after 40 years it’s difficult to use the past tense when it comes to the work of Henry Cow. Its importance grows and influence continues to be felt. And while it’s absurd to add that “it...

Henry Cow - The Road: Volumes 1-5

Even after 40 years it’s difficult to use the past tense when it comes to the work of Henry Cow. Its importance grows and influence continues to be felt. And while it’s absurd to add that “it...

Daniel Lentz - Point Conception

Earthling Society - Beauty and the Beast

Khan - Space Shanty

McLatchey's Top Tier #15

In some ways a bit of a predecessor to the Steve Hillage Gong albums (and especially Hillage's Fish Rising), this six song one-shot is one of the...

Kit Watkins - The Gathering & Music for the End

Fans of Happy the Man, beware. These three live CDs are more in the realm of ambient space music than progressive rock. Taken together, they document the musical happenings on the night of March...

Kit Watkins - The Gathering & Music for the End

Fans of Happy the Man, beware. These three live CDs are more in the realm of ambient space music than progressive rock. Taken together, they document the musical happenings on the night of March...

Kit Watkins - The Gathering & Music for the End

Fans of Happy the Man, beware. These three live CDs are more in the realm of ambient space music than progressive rock. Taken together, they document the musical happenings on the night of March...

Greg Allen - Klaus Schulze – Electronic Music Legend

This new book about Klaus Schulze is a comprehensive discussion of the man and his music from an avid fan’s perspective. I am not sure who Greg Allen is, but he has compiled the information...

Stone Breath - A Silver Thread to Weave the Seasons

Picture if you will that it is harvest time in the heart of Appalachia. Leaves are blowing, acorns are falling, pumpkins are ripening, and all manner of woodland critters are scurrying about. That...

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...

Ariel Kalma - Le temps des moissons

Subtitled “Electronica Ragas of the 70s” Le Temps des moissons was Ariel Kalma’s first solo recording. Ariel had spent a lot of time in India learning the basics of modal music and...

The Neil Campbell Collective - Particle Theory

Neil Campbell is a talented composer, virtuoso classical guitarist, and multi-instrumentalist (acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, synths, glockenspiel, and harmonic vocals). Particle...

Bass Communion - Pacific Codex

Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree has his hands in any number of diverse musical projects. One of them, Bass Communion, is his ambient drone explorations with Theo Travis. Bass Communion has been...

Aqua - Aqua

Aqua were a German band who had some success in the 80s as a mainstream hard rock band. What is little known is that they began as a progressive rock band, but unfortunately never released any...

California Guitar Trio - Echoes

Caamora - Journey's End... An Acoustic Anthology

Believe - Yesterday Is a Friend & Hope to See Another Day Live

Believe are a new Polish group founded by ex-Collage guitarist Marek Gil. At first glance the band is similar to Collage except for one big difference: the presence of Japanese violinist Satomi....

Believe - Yesterday Is a Friend & Hope to See Another Day Live

Believe are a new Polish group founded by ex-Collage guitarist Marek Gil. At first glance the band is similar to Collage except for one big difference: the presence of Japanese violinist Satomi....

Höstsonaten - Winterthrough

Colour Haze - Burg Herzberg Festival 18.Juli 2008

Edward Ka-Spel - Dream Logik Parts One - Three

Chris Macbeth of Beta-lactam does it again with two lavish solo releases from Edward Ka-Spel. Dream Logik Part Two comes housed in a in a deluxe ten panel book bound case with ten...

Edward Ka-Spel - Dream Logik Parts One - Three

Chris Macbeth of Beta-lactam does it again with two lavish solo releases from Edward Ka-Spel. Dream Logik Part Two comes housed in a in a deluxe ten panel book bound case with ten...

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...

Colour Haze - All

Colour Haze is a German band that is new to me, though they have been recording since 1995. You can pretty much trust any Elektrohasch release to be great, and All, Colour Haze’s seventh...

Legendary Pink Dots - Plutonium Blonde

Coinciding with the Dots’ October/November 2008 US tour was the release of Plutonium Blonde, which might well be their best in many years. Plutonium Blonde combines many of the...

The Silverman - Blank for Your Own Message

Beardfish - Sleeping In Traffic: Part Two

Birds and Buildings - Bantam to Behemoth

Attrition - All Mine Enemys Whispers: The Story of Mary Ann Cotton

Art Cinema - Art Cinema

Amygdala - Complex Combat

Akai Ikuo - Language without Words

Aidan Baker - Book of Nods

Il Bacio della Medusa - Il Bacio della Medusa & Giovane Amante

Il Bacio della Medusa - Il Bacio della Medusa & Giovane Amante

Alma - Sobre Fantasías

Soma Planet - Bholenath

Musea does it again! They have found another exciting and superb band worthy of your attention. Soma Planet (Andreu P. Méndez on guitar, keyboards, Theremin, and effects; Marc Prat on bass; Furmi...

Divine Baze Orchestra - Once We Were Born

The Divine Baze Orchestra is a new Swedish heavy progressive rock band with a 70s retro sound. Oliver Eek (guitars, backing vocals) and Christian Eklöf (drums, percussion) formed the band in 2003....

King Crimson - Level Five

Kingfisher Sky - Hallway of Dreams

Fernwood - Almeria

Arashk - Ustuqus-al-Uss

Yeti Rain - Nest of Storms

Van der Graaf Generator - Trisector

Jannick Top - Infernal Machina

Secret Oyster - Live in the USA 2007

Steve Roach - Arc of Passion

Nurse with Wound - Images / Zero Mix / Requital for Lady Day

Gregg Bendian - Research (Tiny Useful Secrets)

Ozric Tentacles - Sunrise Festival

Richie Havens - Nobody Left to Crown

Round House - Jin.Zo-Ni.N.Gen & Wings to Rest

Coven - Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls

Rieg - Return & The Absynth Ritual

Back in the late 70s/early 80s, the heyday of experimental music, there was an obscure Norwegian composer Rieg who released three excellent industrial powerhouse electronic cassettes:...

Seven That Spells - Black Om Rising

XII Alfonso - Under

Martin Archer - In Stereo Gravity

The Black Angels - Directions to See a Ghost

Hualun - Silver Daydream

Farpoint - Cold Star, Quiet Star

Travis & Fripp - Thread

Robin Taylor - Isle of Black

Strawbs - Lay down with the Strawbs

Steve Roach - Landmass & A Deeper Silence

Steve Roach - Landmass & A Deeper Silence

Steve Howe - The Haunted Melody

Blackmore's Night - Secret Voyage

Ancient Vision - Lost at Sea

I'll hazard a guess that there aren't a lot of prog bands in Kansas City, Missouri, so that alone sets Ancient Vision in rarefied company. Their previous albums date from 1990 and 1995, so it's...