Exposé Online » Reviews of releases for 2010

One Shot - One Shot

Emmanuel Borghi (keys) and Philippe Bussonnet (bass) are both members of the current Magma lineup. Here they are joined by James Mac Gaw (guitars) and Daniel Jeand’heur (drums) on a romp...

Yūgen - Iridule

This is the third Yūgen release, and the band continues to grow by leaps and bounds. This time out the composing duties went to guitarist Francesco Zago, who seems to be influenced by a...

London Underground - Space Edition

About a year ago I reviewed London Underground’s fourth album Four that was released on...

Osamu Kitajima - Benzaiten, Osamu, Masterless Samurai, & Dragon King

After spending much of the 60s in the successful Japanese rock band The Launchers, Kitajima moved to to the UK and worked with a number of British bands, and released a very obscure self-titled...

Osamu Kitajima - Benzaiten, Osamu, Masterless Samurai, & Dragon King

After spending much of the 60s in the successful Japanese rock band The Launchers, Kitajima moved to to the UK and worked with a number of British bands, and released a very obscure self-titled...

Osamu Kitajima - Benzaiten, Osamu, Masterless Samurai, & Dragon King

After spending much of the 60s in the successful Japanese rock band The Launchers, Kitajima moved to to the UK and worked with a number of British bands, and released a very obscure self-titled...

Osamu Kitajima - Benzaiten, Osamu, Masterless Samurai, & Dragon King

After spending much of the 60s in the successful Japanese rock band The Launchers, Kitajima moved to to the UK and worked with a number of British bands, and released a very obscure self-titled...

Barry Cleveland - Hologramatron

Barry Cleveland considers his new album a departure from past efforts. I’d agree, only insofar as many of the songs feature vocals. But for those who recall Cleveland’s lauded 2004...

Hanggai - He Who Travels Far

Since their 2008 debut CD, this band from Inner Mongolia (currently resident in Beijing) has become a world music festival favorite, playing WOMAD, among others. That release blended the earthy...

Iron Kim Style - Iron Kim Style

It starts out with a loose groove and wah-wah trumpet, so the first impression is of electric Miles Davis, though with more guitar and no keyboards. Later, as more diverse elements show up, that...

Dennis Rea - Views from Chicheng Precipice

Classical Chinese poetry, like Japanese haiku, even in English translation, can be very evocative, carefully choosing certain details to trigger the mind to fill in an entire scene. For the most...

The Pineapple Thief - Someone Here Is Missing

The Pineapple Thief have always had an affinity for indie rock that’s put them at the forefront of the new generation of British prog bands. They push the envelope even further here, with a...

Mike Keneally - Boil That Dust Speck

Having made his solo debut in 1992 with the fantastic Hat, Mike Keneally returns with his second album of bizarre and unique musical entertainment. A member of Frank Zappa's '88...

Mike Keneally - Boil That Dust Speck

In a genre dominated by long tracks, fantastical lyrical content and a far too serious posture, it's nice to see someone go against the grain. Keneally has put together an album that has 30...

Mike Keneally - Boil That Dust Speck

Mike Keneally's first album (entitled hat, released in 1992) was an eclectic mix of humor, musicianship, and rock-n-roll. This former Zappa stunt guitarist can shred with the best of...

Frequency Drift - Personal Effects (Part Two)

Frequency Drift is primarily the effort of German keyboardist Andreas Hack, though he’s joined by a large group of supporting players that includes three female vocalists, three guitar...

Dungen - Skit i Alt

Dungen is a four-piece band of guitar, bass and drums together with composer Gustav Ejstes, a keyboard player who also plays flute and guitar. He sings in a nice nasal tenor style much like...

Causa Sui - Summer Sessions

Causa Sui is a Danish powerhouse of spacy, extended psychedelic stoner-rock jams. With two releases to their credit – their previous Free Ride from 2007 received a glowing review in...

Oho - Okinawa

The first minute of this album sums the entirety, as a voice, in a background of many voices, exclaims "My brain hurts!" And thus begins an album of immense proportions spread out over...

Green Pajamas - Book of Hours

With a bit of effort, I can take myself back mentally to when Book of Hours came out. I was quite familiar with the Green Pajamas by that time, with their single "Kim the...

Djam Karet - The Heavy Soul Sessions

Over the last four or five years, Djam Karet has gone through some evolutionary changes. Gayle Ellett has switched from guitars to primarily analog keyboards, and a fifth member Mike Murray has...

Mike Henderson - White Arrow Project

Mike Henderson was one of the founding members of Djam Karet, and White Arrow Project represents his interest in acoustic guitar based song oriented craft with lyrics. He has assembled a...

Various Artists - Romantic Warriors: A Progressive Music Saga

In the 70s, when prog rock was living its heyday, the term progressive rock was used to define two different genres. One was the RIO/Canterbury one, including Henry Cow, Univers Zero, and...

Stickman - Fretless

Et Cetera - Et Cetera

Why does it seem all the best Canadian bands hail from Quebec? Maneige, Sloche, Harmonium, and Pollen all seem to have very sophisticated influences, such as Gentle Giant and any number of Italian...

Algernon - Ghost Surveillance

Lately I've been listening to a lot of music that is labeled "post-rock," and like many genre labels, there is a point at which it becomes meaningless. World's End Girlfriend,...

Echo Us - Tomorrow Will Tell the Story

Here's one I really go back and forth on. Sometimes the over-the-top production gets on my nerves, exhibiting a kind of end-state for the maximalist recording style that started in the 70s,...

SBB - Blue Trance

The legendary SBB is back once again with Blue Trance, same lineup as last time (multi-instrumentalist Józef Skrzek, guitarist Apostolis Anthimos, and drummer Gabor Nemeth), this...

Embryo - Surfin'

Embryo is one of the seminal German bands from the 60s that have continued to record and perform. Surfin', released in 1975, was their seventh album. Their earlier albums featured...

Alrune Rod - Alrune Rod

This is the first of about seven albums by this Danish five-piece. Their sound at this early juncture is a mix of nimble heavy organ progressive rock and trippy spacy, sometimes plodding,...

Lovespirals - Future Past

This is the fourth album by Southern California based Lovespirals, a moody, dreamy pop duo featuring vocalist Anji Bee and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Lum, who carried the essence of the concept...

Už Jsme Doma - Jeskyne (Caves)

Rhythm dominates Caves: polyrhythms, driving rhythms, natural rhythms. The music on Caves is a blend of influences and styles combined to create Už Jsme Doma’s unique...

Doubt - Never Pet a Burning Dog

Keyboardist Alex Maguire's new trio, flavored with the occasional Canterbury tinge, is a testament to the durability of that jazz-rock essence on European musicians. Maguire's insane fuzzy...

Out of Focus - Out of Focus

Out of Focus was a really apt name for this German band, their sound always seemed just a little off, whether it was the vocals or what often sounded like a slightly flat saxophone at work. Yet...

Amoeba Split - Dance of the Goodbyes

The tentacles of Canterbury reach far and wide, but Spain is not all that far, really. This is a reissue of the Spanish quintet’s debut album from 2010, which went out of print within months...

Sándor Szabó / Kevin Kastning - Returning

For readers who have memorized every review this magazine has published, I won't have to remind you that we've covered the two previous releases by this duo of unusual guitarists. For the...

Mastermind - Insomnia

In 2005, five years after their previous, Angels of the Apocalypse, a Mastermind single called “Broken” appeared, featuring three new songs, an extended mix of the title cut,...

Larry Kucharz - Pastels

Lights out. Put your headphones on for this one! Expansive sheets of subtle melodic color and points of sparkling light and empty darkness drift and float in and out of a three-dimensional...

Marc Wagnon - Earth Is a Cruel Master

Swiss born vibraphonist / percussionist Marc Wagnon is probably best known as a member of Tunnels during their five-album run, or perhaps as a member of Doctor Nerve before that, but all through...

Rainbow Danger Club - The New Atlantis & Where Maps End

In their promotional photos, the members of Rainbow Danger Club pose in costumes reminiscent of characters from Jules Verne stories, and I've heard they do the same when performing live. Which...

Discipline - Live Days

Fronted by Matthew Parmenter, arguably the most dynamic front man ever to grace an American prog outfit, Discipline built a following during the 90s prog revival largely through word of mouth and...

Julie Slick - Julie Slick

Being from a famous music family has definitely helped bassist Julie Slick get a leg up on the competition. A graduate of the Paul Green School of Rock, Slick and her just slightly older brother...

Proyecto Wef - En Concierto - Creación Espontánea

Each song is named “Creación Espontánea” followed by the appropriate Roman numeral, which gives the songs a kind of implied importance. They do deserve your attention,...

Rational Diet - On Phenomena and Existences

This is the fourth time out for this seven-piece chamber-rock ensemble from Belarus, their third in three years for AltrOck, a great label that seems to be able to do no wrong. Featuring drums,...

The Soft Machine - Volume Two

McLatchey's Second Tier

One thing's for sure, no one ever sung the alphabet with the kind of humor and musical brilliance as Robert Wyatt did on the band's second...

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...

Henry Gwiazda - Claudia and Paul

This audio-visual work is constructed from hyper-realistic depictions of populated and empty urban landscapes. Repeated stills with captions and numerals or replays of simple events seem like a...

Wyatt / Atzmon / Stephen - ...For the Ghosts Within

Canterbury icon Robert Wyatt steps out of his comfort zone with acclaimed sax man Gilad Atzmon in an unusual collection of light orchestral covers of standards (and a few re-arranged Wyatt...

Roman Stolyar - Missa Apocryph

This release in no way fits the standard mold of Electroshock music (though they’ve been breaking that mode a lot lately, so maybe we should stop remarking on it!), being essentially a...

Mandibulbe - Praxis

This French instrumental quartet brings a lot of influences to the table, although refined and presented in a fresh and progressive way. The band’s main composer is guitarist Guillaume Fenoy,...

Lunatic Soul - Lunatic Soul II

Nowhere on the cover does it actually say it, but this is indeed the second Lunatic Soul, a follow-up to the first, which was released a couple years ago. In essence, it is the solo project of...

Goldbug - The Seven Dreams

Seven bopping tunes of a highly improvisational nature are gathered together on this recording by the sterling quartet of Theo Travis on saxophones and flute; Tim Motzer on guitar, keyboards,...

Lemurya - Soma

I’ve been listening to a lot of Japanese and Chinese rock music lately, so my ears are atuned to the sounds of those languages. Imagine my surprise to hear both of them on this French...

Twelfth Night - Smiling at Grief & Art and Illusion - The Definitive Editions

Those interested in discovering the roots of neo-prog owe it to themselves to explore the music of Twelfth Night, and I can’t think of a better place to start than here. Smiling at Grief...

Percy Jones / Scott McGill / Ritchie DeCarlo - Percy Jones / Scott McGill / Ritchie DeCarlo

Fasten your seat belts prior to starting the opening track “Menagerie Animato” – it clocks in at only a little under five minutes, but it’ll leave you out of breath and in...

Haiku Funeral - Assassination in the Hashish Cathedral & If God Is a Drug

At hand we have the second and third releases by Haiku Funeral. The nine tracks of Assassination in the Hashish Cathedral explore dark grotesque soundworlds, laced with disturbing gothic...

Phaedra - Ptah

Hmmm. This is one case where I really wish the promo had come with an info-sheet, but instead this writer is left guessing as to what much of this album, sung entirely in Italian, is all about. On...

The Gak Omek - Nonrenormalizability

The Gak Omek is the project of one Robert Burger, and this is album number three. Mostly we hear guitars, guitar synths, synth-drums, keyboards, clarinet, some wild electronic sounds, and lots of...

Anderson / Wakeman - The Living Tree

Yes's Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman have enjoyed success both within and without the group. Considering that both are on the outs with their previous band, it makes sense that the two would...

Tinyfish - The Big Red Spark

It seems like everything British prog rockers Tinyfish have done up to now has been a prelude to The Big Red Spark. It helps that there’s a solid continuity between this and the...

Fibonacci Sequence - We Three Kings & Numerology

This Milwaukee-based band’s name may have you expecting some sort of robotic math rock, though there’s little in the way of Frippian interlocking guitar patterns here. Instead these two...

Felonious Bosch - Toy Box

An interesting new release by this Minneapolis / St. Paul based sextet, one that skirts a lot of musical genres (elements of pop, folk, rock, blues, jazz and experimental are all fused into their...

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...

Benoît Delbecq Trio - The Sixth Jump

Piano trios can be a gnarly musical beast. In the case of pianist Delbecq, trio pieces transpire in real time, with a quiet classy reserve that gently tugs the listener through subtle changes....

J.C. Combs - Safe Passage

After a long period of what seems like relative inactivity, Electroshock released at least a dozen new titles in 2010. Safe Passage is among the most interesting of those, but also one of...

Richard Pinhas - Metal / Crystal

If it's true – at least in creative work – that quantity yields quality, the recent releases by Richard Pinhas are proving that maxim possesses a limited applicability. Built as a...

Carta - An Index of Birds

Carta hail from the S.F. Bay Area and currently consist of Kyle Monday (guitar), Sacha Galvagna (bass, keyboards), Ray Welter (guitar, keyboards), Gabriel Coan (drums, electronics), Jason Perez...

Christopher Froh / Christopher Burns - Triptych

So if a tryptich is an art work that has three parts, for example three panels in a hinged painting that opens up, how come this musical tryptich has five tracks? The answer is that two of them are...

Brown vs Brown - Odds and Unevens

Rock vs. jazz; punk vs. art; complex compositions vs. raw improvisation. Brown vs. Brown encompasses all of this and much more, turning in seven long tracks of blistering raw energy for their...

Blld - Materia Prima

This 20-minute EP is very tasty indeed. A meeting of Ric Byer (also known as 05Ric) and Markus Reuter would be expected to be a summit meeting of two original and remarkable players, but this...

Alexander Berne - Composed and Performed by Alexander Berne

This lavish set presents composer / sound-designer / musician Alexander Berne in a variety of settings, mostly on his own, but with other contributors at times. Taking them in the order listed on...

Nik Bärtsch's Ronin - Llyria

The instrumentation for this highly regarded jazz quintet is soprano and alto saxophone and bass clarinet, piano, bass, drums, and percussion. Pianist Bärtsch is the adept leader and...

Ranjit Barot - Bada Boom

Drummer Ranjit Barot has certainly surrounded himself with world-class international talent, much of which also records for the Abstract Logix label. Since participating with John McLaughlin on...

Jan Bang - ...And Poppies from Kandahar

Sonic sculptor Jan Bang brings his formidable sampling skills to bear on this internationally star-studded disk. His large palette of extracted sounds varies dramatically from solo vocals to...

Pikapika TeArt - Moonberry

Nine extraordinary musicians from Krasnoyarsk, one of the largest cities in south-central Siberia, make up this new entry in the chamber-meets-rock-meets-folk genre. Among the players are bassist...

Prester John - Desire for a Straight Line

Prester John this time is Shawn Persinger on acoustic guitar and David Miller on mandolin, weaving beautiful intertwining rhythms and melodies, with some amazing lead fretwork from both players as...

Psicotropia - Psicotropia 3

We’ve followed this trio from their first album, and each release has been a significant step forward. No exception here, they’ve further elucidated their overall concept and integrated...

Incandescent Sky - Four Faradays in a Cage

This band is now up to their fourth full-length release of improvised music, and it’s an amazingly coherent effort, not at all random-sounding or chaotic. Their focus has always been more on...

Chuck van Zyl - MemorySpace

Van Zyl is probably best known for his Philadelphia based Stars End radio program, which he has hosted for over 30 years now, and his long running concert series The Gathering, which has...

Jade Warrior - Now

Jade Warrior is one of those musical enigmas that has been nearly impossible to pigeonhole. Founder members Jon Field and vocalist Glyn Havard resurrected the band in 2007 meeting up after a long...

Various Artists - Conversations: Keyboard and Chamber Music by John Bilotta and David Gaines

The subtitle of this recording is “Keyboard and Chamber Music by John Bilotta and David Gaines” – Bilotta and Gaines are not the performers here, that is handled by a varied cast...

Joie Tet - All Structures Unstable

It starts with an aggressive riff on the bari sax run doubled an octave lower with a harmonizer; a bit later you get a distorted melody played on an instrument you can't quite identify from the...

Tasavallan Presidentti - Tasavallan Presidentti, Lambertland & Milky Way Moses

The first eponymous album Finnish band Tasavallan Presidentti recorded was a cross between folk, blues, and jazz-rock with pop influences. A really diverse album with an immaculate rendition of the...

Tasavallan Presidentti - Tasavallan Presidentti, Lambertland & Milky Way Moses

The first eponymous album Finnish band Tasavallan Presidentti recorded was a cross between folk, blues, and jazz-rock with pop influences. A really diverse album with an immaculate rendition of the...

Alex Carpani - The Sanctuary

Some may recall composer / keyboardist Carpani’s Waterline album from a few years back, or his outdoor performance with guitarist Tony Spada at the 2008 (and sadly final) Baja Prog...

Vacuum Tree Head - Thirteen!

Once one of the most prolific outfits around (when the band was based in San Jose, California, they put out no less than 10 CDs between ’93 and ’99), their output has slowed down...

Hypnos 69 - Legacy

It’s been a a few years since we reviewed this Belgian band’s previous effort, The Eclectic Measure, but this latest release Legacy (also available as a double-LP) is...

Bryan Ferry - Olympia

Bryan Ferry has noticeably become very particular when releasing new material under his own name. Reportedly this album was going to be a Roxy Music recording at one point, seriously re-worked and...

Faust - C'est Com... Com... Compliqué & Is Last

Beginning in the lush, disco-free Eurozone of the 70s, beneficiaries of finally reliable synthesizers, a well-defined tradition of art music tape experimentation, post modern euphemisms, and a...

Carla Kihlstedt / Matthias Bossi / Shahzad Ismaily - Causing a Tiger

Here we have three principals of various Bay Area art-music assemblages of recent vintage creating something new and radically different from their usual endeavors. Most readers will know violinist...

Kraan - Diamonds

Kraan, now down to a trio of Hellmut Hattler, Jan Fride, and Peter Wolbrandt (bass, drums, and guitars/vocals respectively), seems to have found new freedom and energy in the three-piece format, as...

Khatsaturjan - Disconcerto Grosso

Named after the famous Soviet composer (spelling may vary), this Finnish progressive quartet exudes classical ambition carried by formidable chops that many prog bands can only dream about....

Gary Husband - Dirty & Beautiful Volume 1

The idea of Jan Hammer and Allan Holdsworth playing together on a single recording (likely a fantasy of fusion fans everywhere) has come to pass on this new album from Gary Husband. Husband’s...

Awenson - Wizard

Wizard is the second album by Awenson (aside from self-produced CDR releases), whose first was released under the name Awen, and whose real name is Joël Bernard. These two long...

Edward Artemiev - Invitation to Reminiscences

At first you may think you’re listening to Vangelis, but synthesizer pioneer Edward Artiemiev’s music comes from a different place and sensibility: a subtle Russianness underlies much...

Abarax - Blue Room

Abarax were a band whose original purpose was to fill the void left by Pink Floyd’s absence. Their 2006 debut, Crying of the Whales (now out of print), did reveal a taste for languid...

Abacus - Destiny

With a self-important air and a melodic core harking back to 70s progressive kitsch (think voice and piano themes in certain Styx, Foreigner or Toto songs), Abacus’ sixth studio album...

The Tunnel Singer - Undercurrents

The theme of this latest offering – the ninth from Lee Ellen Shoemaker, aka The Tunnel Singer – is various deep water undercurrents, with appropriately named titles like “Cedros...

Trey Gunn / Marco Minnemann - Modulator

From the outset this recording sounds like a modern update of Eddie Jobson’s UK on steroids, with a scoop of 21st century Crimson on top. It was arrived at in a fascinating way. Master...

Believe - World Is Round

Believe are one of the fastest working bands in the progland, this being their fourth album in five years. Founder Mirek Gil (ex-Collage) seems to feel that success will come from building an...

Radio Massacre International - Time and Motion

I’m no RMI expert, but of the things I’ve heard, there’s some nifty Tangerine Dream style electronic music, some tripped-out space rock, and some atmospheric improvisation. Those...

Mushroom - Naked, Stoned, & Stabbed

The opening cut, a gentle duo for flute and acoustic guitar, is the first signal that this might be a little different than previous Mushroom releases. In fact, what a listener will notice is that...

Aviva - Peer Gynt in Favour

It’s a shock to hear music you've known all your life bent in new directions for new purposes. I still remember envisioning how my four-year-old self would have wept at The...

Aun - VII

Aun is the Montreal duo of Martin Dumais (guitar, synths, violin, bass, and programming) and Julie Leblanc (synths, guitar, and percussion) who create powerful droning noise soundscapes, much the...

Steve Hackett - Out of the Tunnel's Mouth (Deluxe Edition)

Back in the day I was a huge Genesis and Steve Hackett fan, but I lost interest in Steve with his 1980 release Defector. Fast forward 30 years and it looks like either I have been missing...

Noetics - Delayed Back

Delayed Back is a set of eleven electronica / dub / jazz / trance instrumentals by Noetics from Germany. Noetics is Ole Ohlendorf (keyboards and synths), Christian Schmidt (percussion),...

Reebosound - This Is Reebosound

Reebosound is the brainchild of mulit-instrumentalist Sven “Missu” Missullis from Hannover, Germany. This is Reebsound is his second solo release. Performing live at shows and...

Gary DiBenedetto - Twin Towers

Gary DiBenedetto is an electro-acoustic composer from New York and Twin Towers is his effort to present a compilation of radical and controversial sonic collages designed to imply...

Yney - Micro Macro

Russian electronic musicians tend to be a bit different from German, British, and American artists. Yney is Russian for "hoarfrost," but their music is far from being cold, crystalline,...

Cybiont - Angels & Demons

There is a paucity of information about Cybiont other than he is a New Zealander performer, composer, and producer. Angels & Demons, not to be confused with Dan Brown’s Vatican...

Radio Massacre International - Time and Motion

This trio of Brits has been performing their epic electronic improvisations since the mid 90s. They have performed at numerous electronic music festivals across Europe and the US. In 2004 they...

Garaj Mahal - More Mr Nice Guy & Discovery

Garaj Mahal takes some of the classic elements of 70s fusion and makes them work in today’s musical climate. While the music is sometimes on the funky side of rhythm, the jazz feel always...

Cathedral & Rum - American Gothic

The follow up to Cathedral & Rum’s 2000 debut finds Chris Hartford and friends on familiar ground. The dreamy, country and western tinged alternative pop sound is intact, all wrapped...

My Sleeping Karma - Tri

This German instrumental outfit, described by its label as stoner rock or psychedelic groove rock, comes at you with a nuanced assault of guitar, bass and drums, drenched with moody reverb and...

Ideal Bread - Transmit: Vol. 2 of the Music of Steve Lacy

Fans of Steve Lacy will adore this – a reverential treatment of seven Lacy compositions from various periods in his career, interpreted by players who have a high level of skill playing in...

David Helpling & Jon Jenkins - The Crossing

Around three years ago, Helpling and Jenkins’ initial collaboration Treasure (reviewed in # 35) initiated the journey that continues here – not just a protraction or sequel,...

Aranis - Roqueforte

This is the third album by Aranis, a Flemish chamber quintet that’s been around a few years. I don’t recall many details about the band’s second album from 2007, but I do remember...

All Over Everywhere - Inner Firmaments Decay

I really wanted to like this one. It’s keyboard-heavy symphonic rock with female vocals, with some good ideas in both composition and arrangement. But after listening to it in a number of...

Rotor - 4

This is blistering high energy, mostly instrumental hard rock by a German trio with three previous releases to their credit – we reviewed their third album a couple issues back. The...

Harley Gaber - I Saw My Mother Ascending Mount Fuji

Gaber’s 65-minute piece for “multi-track violin, processed alto flute and tape” is, to get metaphorical (which is about the only way to really describe music), an abstract...

Fern Knight - Castings

Drawing seemingly equal parts from dark-age folk, psychedelic mysticism, and post-rock, this latest release by Fern Knight embraces some of the more straightforward folk sound of their 2008...

Conqueror - Madame Zelle

Not much accompanied this promo – just a disc in an envelope. No booklet, tray card, or information. Normally my attitude is that if a label doesn’t care enough to send artwork or any...

Marc Barreca - Subterrane

You know you’ve entered the modern era when the sole musician on a CD is credited with “acoustic and synthesized sources” — which in this case apparently involves a lot of...

Baraka - Inner Resonance

Baraka was a 1992 non-narrative film similar in scope to Koyaanisqatsi, and if this Japanese trio did indeed name itself after that film, the widescreen range of instrumental...

Yeti Rain - III

Yeti Rain has evolved from a duo (Roger Ebner on sax and wind synth and William Kopecky on bass) into a trio with the addition of drummer Craig Walkner, who introduces himself about two and a half...

Master Musicians of Bukkake - Totem Two

MMOB is a Seattle-based musician collective with members from Earth, Asva, Burning Witch, The Diminished Men, and special guests from Secret Chiefs 3 and the thriving Istanbul music scene. They...

John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension - To the One

Has there ever been such a strong John McLaughlin studio album? This slightly revised quartet has come off some high mountaintops (specifically the guitarist’s last two albums, Industrial...

Dou Wei & Buyiyang - Zaochun de Yusan (Early Spring Umbrella) & Ru Qiu (Entering Autumn)

Chinese multi-instrumentalist / singer / composer Dou Wei first came to public notice as a member of Heibao (Black Panther), one of the country’s earliest prominent rock bands, back in the...

Dou Wei & Buyiyang - Zaochun de Yusan (Early Spring Umbrella) & Ru Qiu (Entering Autumn)

Chinese multi-instrumentalist / singer / composer Dou Wei first came to public notice as a member of Heibao (Black Panther), one of the country’s earliest prominent rock bands, back in the...

3 Leg Torso - Animals & Cannibals

Cartoon soundtracks and movie music come to life on Animals and Cannibals, the fourth 3 Leg Torso album (their first in seven years). Considering that this elite ensemble hides under cover...

Il Tempio delle Clessidre - Il Tempio delle Clessidre

If you yearn for 70s Italian prog, rejoice as this genre is alive and well with the next generation of bands. The best is Il Tempio delle Clessidre (Temple of the Hourglass) whose name is a...

Schicke Führs Fröhling (SFF) - The Collected Works of Schicke Führs Fröhling

During their brief yet productive career from 1976 to 1978, the trio of Ede Schicke (drums), Gerd Führs (keys), and Heinz Fröhling (guitar, Mellotron) produced three outstanding albums on...

Schicke Führs Fröhling (SFF) - The Collected Works of Schicke Führs Fröhling

During their brief yet productive career from 1976 to 1978, the trio of Ede Schicke (drums), Gerd Führs (keys), and Heinz Fröhling (guitar, Mellotron) produced three outstanding albums on...

Schicke Führs Fröhling (SFF) - The Collected Works of Schicke Führs Fröhling

During their brief yet productive career from 1976 to 1978, the trio of Ede Schicke (drums), Gerd Führs (keys), and Heinz Fröhling (guitar, Mellotron) produced three outstanding albums on...

Versus X - Versus X (Remastered)

Some may have checked out Apogee's The Border of Awareness that we reviewed in the Musea overview a few issues back, which is essentially the solo project of Versus X bassist /...

Shingetsu / Serenade - Shingetsu, Night Collector & Akai Me No Kagami

Shingetsu was one of the classic Japanese symphonic bands, and their self titled Shingetsu album from 1979 is highly regarded, and often compared to classic period Genesis, if only for the...

Bi Kyo Ran - Live Vol. 2 - 3 (Who Ma & Ran)

After a three-year period (spent mostly making demos and being discovered by King Records), Suma appeared with a new band behind him. King coaxed him into the studio, and the albums Bi Kyo...

Bi Kyo Ran - Live Vol. 2 - 3 (Who Ma & Ran)

After a three-year period (spent mostly making demos and being discovered by King Records), Suma appeared with a new band behind him. King coaxed him into the studio, and the albums Bi Kyo...

Madoromi - Live Vol. 4

The highly respected group Bi Kyo Ran was formed in 1974 by guitarist Kunio Suma. It was said that Bi Kyo Ran's early material resembled King Crimson, despite the fact that Suma had yet to hear...

Machiavel - Mechanical Moonbeams

This is at least the third CD reissue of this third album by the Belgian band Machiavel: a near-bootleg issue transferred from scratchy vinyl was released in the late 80s, then last year it was...

Cathedral - Stained Glass Stories

McLatchey's Second Tier

Some of your favorites don't have to be perfect. This sole album by the US band features a vocalist in over his head and a weak production far away...

Rush - Beyond the Lighted Stage

Beyond the Lighted Stage is directors Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen's look under the hood at the venerable Canadian trio, with the bulk of the content based on personal interviews with...

Church of Hawkwind - Church of Hawkwind

[this was written about the 1994 reissue on Griffin Records - ed.]

The 1982 incarnation of Hawkwind that wrote Church of Hawkwind comprised Dave "Baron von" Brock, Harvey...

Hualun - Asian River

For their second release, this Wuhan post-rock crew has stepped up a few notches from their debut, Silver Daydream (

Bing and Ruth - City Lake (Expanded Edition)

I first encountered this ensemble with their 2014 release Tomorrow Was the Golden Age, and now RVNG has re-released their previous effort, City Lake, originally from 2010. The...

Satin Whale - Desert Places & Lost Mankind

For the latter part of their career, Satin Whale were a commercially oriented rock group who's music fell way outside of much of the more progressive German rock of the era. However, their...

Various Artists - A Sepiachord Passport

There is a sub-genre of speculative fiction called Steampunk (see Wikipedia) and a corresponding musical sub-genre. For many...

The Third and the Mortal - Nightswan & Painting on Glass

Not long ago, you may recall, this Norwegian band gave us their debut releases: the mini-CD Sorrow and its full-length companion Tears Laid In Earth. These were promising but...

The Third and the Mortal - Nightswan & Painting on Glass

Somewhere between Hawkwind at half speed and Ozric Tentacles at quarter impulse lies The 3rd and ghe Mortal – floating out into space at a pace that'll make you swear you're moving in...

The Third and the Mortal - Nightswan & Painting on Glass

Scandinavian symphonic rock groups are discernibly gaining their own sound now. Following in the footsteps of groups like Anekdoten, Landberk, and especially White Willow (who could be their...

The Third and the Mortal - Tears Laid in Earth

This new Norwegian band are already eliciting comparisons to White Willow, but that is actually a somewhat superficial comparison used for lack of a better one. The Third and the Mortal bridge the...

Hatfield and the North - John Peel Session (12th January 1973)

McLatchey's Second Tier

The great Hatfield and the North only released two albums in their lifetime and then an odds-and-ends album a few years later, so unless you're a...

Robert Rich - Ylang

It seems that every new project that Robert Rich immerses himself in — be it solo or collaborative — adds another level of enlightenment to whatever comes after it, carried forward to...

Alan Jenkins & The Thurston Lava Tube - Free Surf #1 & #2

The idea of “experimental surf music” might seem odd, even contradictory, at first thought, but a little consideration should revise that assessment. A lot of the famous surf tunes of...

Univers Zéro - Clivages

The word "darkness" is often prominently mentioned in descriptions of the music of Univers Zéro, and there are certainly aspects of this newest release that fit that mold. However,...

Goblin - Roller

Secta Sònica - Fred Pedralbes / Astroferia

[This review refers to a 1994 reissue on PDI. -ed.]

Imagine a completely instrumental Allman Brothers, or perhaps more accurately the fusion of the Allman spin-off band Sea Level,...

Secta Sònica - Fred Pedralbes / Astroferia

[This review refers to a 1994 reissue on PDI. -ed.]

Imagine a completely instrumental Allman Brothers, or perhaps more accurately the fusion of the Allman spin-off band Sea Level,...

Pekka Pohjola - Five Reissues

For 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....

Labirinto di Specchi - Hanblecheya

Total Normal - Total Normal

Three Shanghai Bands

These three bands hail from Shanghai, a city known for avant-garde music, and they certainly fit that categorization; they share members, several of whom have also worked in other prominent...

Modest Midget - The Great Prophecy of a Small Man

Stick Men - Soup & Absalom

It's been a number of years since the Tony Levin Band was active, though of course Mr. Levin himself has been busy, with a couple of solo albums and frequent work as bassist-for-hire. Stick Men is...

Alpine Decline - Alpine Decline & Visualizations

There are a lot of bands in the world, millions probably, and each one is unique in some way or other. But Alpine Decline is more unique than most. I know "more unique" is not semantically correct...

Alpine Decline - Alpine Decline & Visualizations

There are a lot of bands in the world, millions probably, and each one is unique in some way or other. But Alpine Decline is more unique than most. I know "more unique" is not semantically correct...

Makaras Pen - Makaras Pen

Robert Schroeder - Cream & Esthétique

Catafalchi del Cyber - Benediktus Und Vobis Quoque Catafalcus Est Tu

Salim Ghazi Saeedi - Human Encounter & Iconophobic

Jason Robinson - The Two Faces of Janus

Legendary Pink Dots - Seconds Late for the Brighton Line

Picchio dal Pozzo - A_Live

Johnny Unicorn - Sweet Edith & Thinking Hard

Trimtab - The House, the Car, and the Map

Tim Motzer + Markus Reuter - Descending

Todd Clouser - Todd Clouser's A Love Electric

Todd Clouser's main idiom is what you might call soul-jazz — jazz with a very high groove quotient and a clear relation to the blues. It's a style that dates back to the late 50s and has been...

Lebowski - Cinematic

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:...

Frogg Café - Bateless Edge

Clogs - The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton

Else Teicher - Whored

Forever Twelve - Taking Forever

Steve Roach - Live at Grace Cathedral

Cédric Vuille - Faire

Blue Cranes - Observatories

Guru Guru - Wiesbaden 1973

Radio Noisz Ensemble - Odiszée-Parck

Randy California - Kapt. Kopter and the (Fabulous) Twirly Birds

Introvisión - 08:36:59

World's End Girlfriend - Seven Idiots

Steve Roach - Sigh of Ages

Paolo Angeli - Tibi

Impulse Ensemble - Initiation

Ukab Maerd - The Waiting Room

Godsticks - Spiral Vendetta

ScienceNV - Pacific Circumstances

This is the second release by this San Francisco based quartet, their odd name coming from the fact that all four members are trained and working scientists, although that most certainly doesn't...

Sugar Skulls - The Little Death

Rudy Adrian - Distant Stars

K Leimer - Degraded Certainties

Rick Wakeman - Past, Present and Future

Various Artists - Psychedelic Underground 16

Snapline - Future Eyes & Phenomena

Tohpati Ethnomission - Selamatkan Bumi (Save the Planet)

Steve Tibbetts - Natural Causes

Tokyo Jihen - Sports

Lonely China Day - This Easily Assimilative People

Solstice - Spirit

Voltaire - Spooky Songs for Creepy Kids

The Pretty Things - Honey, I Need / I Can Never Say