Exposé Online » Reviews of releases for 2015

Lars Boutrup's Music for Keyboards - Small as a Ball

When you call your project “Music for Keyboards” you’re telling the world what you’re about. No need for anyone to expect blazing guitar solos. Such a name is also likely to...

Alan J. Bound - Deep Space: Retrospective 2005 to 2014

Guitarist Alan J. Bound could never be accused of glutting the market with product, in fact since his debut cassette in 1997, he has only released three further albums, the last two being...

Nik Turner - Space Fusion Odyssey

With Space Fusion Odyssey, Nik Turner shows us a different side of his musical interest. Let’s look back to the heady early days of jazz fusion, when many jazz artists adopted...

Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord - Jeremiah

Yow! Here’s a scorcher that came out of nowhere! Figuratively speaking of course — guitarist and leader Jon Lundbom lives in Austin, Texas, and the other members of the septet hail from...

Curved Air - Live at Under the Bridge - The 45th Anniversary Concert

Seems like only yesterday that I was listening to an FM station in Los Angeles when they played a song called “Vivaldi with Cannons” by a band called Curved Air Conditioning (or so I...

El Tubo Elástico - El Tubo Elástico

On their first recording, this Spanish quartet certainly sounds like a band that’s been playing and recording together for a long time. Perhaps they have been and just remained underground...

Yagull - Kai

Yagull released an album a few years back called Films that sounded nothing like this one, more of a chamber-rock driven event, so I won’t dwell on it here; this is like a whole new...

Dewa Budjana - Hasta Karma

This is guitarist Budjana’s fourth Moonjune label release, each one more impressive than its predecessor. This release follows Moonjune’s standard M.O.: bring the Indonesian guitarist...

Luis David Aguilar - Hombres de Viento / Venas de la Tierra (1978​-​1982)

This limited CD reissue of the film music of composer Luis David Aguilar is part of the Buh Records "Sounds Essentials Collection," a rescue project of several essential works of Peruvian...

Mollmaskin - Heartbreak in ((Stereo))

Mollmaskin is the solo project of Anders Bjermeland, leader of the psychedelic adventurers Flashback Caruso. Anders plays drums, piano, guitar, saxophone, flute, organ, Rhodes, bass, clarinet,...

Miguel Flores - Primitivo & Lorca: The Lost Tapes (1989​-​1991)

From the late 70s to the mid-80s there was a group of Peruvian composers and musicians who attempted to fuse modern experimental and avant-garde compositional techniques while at the same time...

Manongo Mujica & Douglas Tarnawiecki - Paisajes Sonoros

The recording at hand is #4 in the Buh Records Essential Sounds collection, an ongoing rescue project of several fundamental works of Peruvian avantgarde music. Subtitled ‘Pieces for tape,...

The Aristocrats - Tres Caballeros

In the spirit of highly energized virtuosic instrumental rock started long ago by The Ventures, taken to the next level by bands like Dixie Dregs and Steve Morse Band, and carried on to this day by...

Lucifer's Friend - Awakening

Lucifer’s Friend was a collaboration that teamed English singer John Lawton (later of Uriah Heep) with a talented German quartet whose eponymous 1970 debut positioned the group on par with...

Alco Frisbass - Alco Frisbass

The mesmerizing opening track “La Suspension Ethéréene” contains many textural keyboard hallmarks reminiscent of the classic mid-70s zeuhl sound, yet there are no voices,...

Oho - Where Words Do Not Reach

Have to hand it to Baltimore’s Oho, they are definitely one of the most eccentric bands in the annals of prog rock – take any two of their albums and they don’t even sound like...

Suld - City Rider & Memory of Nomadism

It might just be my particular circle of music fans, but I’ve noticed a lot of interest in the last few years about Central Asian traditional music fused with rock. This blend isn’t new...

Elephant9 with Reine Fiske - Silver Mountain

The Norwegian trio Elephant9 has been around for about ten years now, nominally working in the jazz-rock sphere with a number of previous releases on the Rune Grammofon label. The original trio...

Hats off Gentlemen It's Adequate - When the Kill Code Fails

Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate (HOGIA), what a mouthful and what an oddball band name! HOGIA is led by Malcolm Galloway, singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist, part-time...

Hats off Gentlemen It's Adequate - When the Kill Code Fails

Hats off Gentlemen It’s Adequate, in addition to having an unusual (and awkward) name, have an unusual modus operandi – which some listeners might also find awkward. When...

Steve Roach - This Place to Be & Invisible (2019 Editions)

This Place to Be is the reissue of one of Roach’s finest long form pieces (that means a single 74 minute track) from 2016 that went out of print quickly after its original release,...

The Of - Escape Goat

When last we tuned in to The Of, they were regaling us with the epic battle of seagull vs crab (or something like that), illustrated by extended Zappa-esque guitar solos. The band’s second...

Fur for Fairies - Fur for Fairies

Looking back to the early days of Patti Smith’s career, her collaboration as a performing poet with multi-instrumentalist Lenny Kaye can be seen as a template for a way to combine words with...

Tom Dyer's New Pagan Gods - History of Northwest Rock Vol. 1 1959-1968

When it comes to garage/psych revivals, there’s more to investigate than just Fruits de Mer and Mega Dodo, which we’ve covered so much of. Up in Seattle, there’s Green Monkey...

Schnellertollermeier - X

Schnellertollermeir definitely goes in the category of music that requires a certain mood or situation to be appealing. In this case for example, a situation like getting ready for bed would not be...

Spin Marvel - Infolding

I've started to write this review several times. I'll sit down, start the tunes, and try to put thoughts in order to describe it. But invariably I get so wrapped up in the sound that the...

Tim Burness - Whose Dream Are You Living?

I was not sure what to expect from Whose Dream Are You Living? when I saw the minimal cover with a white background and a clip art question mark. I was afraid that this was going to be an...

As Lonely as Dave Bowman - Monolith

Dave Bowman, as some of us may remember, was the protagonist in the 1968 science fiction feature film 2001: A Space Odyssey (and numerous lesser known follow on books and films). As Lonely...

Djam Karet - Swamp of Dreams

It had to happen sooner or later. Since their earliest days, Djam Karet has always been on the front lines, contributing otherwise unreleased works to various compilations around the world, and now...

Amarok - Hayat Yolunda (Path of Life)

It’s been around eight years since we’ve heard anything really new from Amarok, one of Spain’s finest progressive bands going all the way back to the early 90s. The last release...

Le Rex - Wild Man

There’s one trend in music around the world that I’m really enjoying these days: the proliferation of groups with unconventional instrumentation, specifically combinations lacking...

Cuts - Cuts of Guilt, Cuts Deeper

When you operate in a genre that can fairly be called Free Noise, you know you’re not going to be topping any sales charts (except possibly a chart that includes only Free Noise artists)....

Metallic Taste of Blood - Doctoring the Dead

Well, if they’re going to use the term “math-rock” on their website, I can use it too, at least for comparison. First, I’d say Metallic Taste of Blood doesn’t sound...

Cabezas de Cera - Música en Escala de Grises

CdC has never been a band to shortchange their listeners on packaging – I’m sure many will remember their first CD, which came packaged with a wooden jigsaw puzzle. Here we have a...

Mandala - Midnight Twilight

Regardless of how you feel about Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree, the influence of their recordings (starting roughly with Signify, or certainly by the time of In Absentia) has...

Soft Machine - Switzerland 1974

When Bundles came out in 1975, many fans were no doubt surprised to find a guitar in the mix, the first time since Kevin Ayers left the band when a guitar had figured in Soft...

Forrest Fang - Letters to the Farthest Star

Despite the title, this is a very earthbound collection. Hearts of Space devotees may already be acquainted with Berkeley-based musician Forrest Fang’s East-meets-West instrumental...

Rich Halley 4 - Eleven

Once you get outside the confines of mainstream jazz (and I won’t get into the argument about whether much of it really qualifies as jazz at all), there’s a rich variety of creative...

Sonar - Black Light

One might marvel at the precise mathematical rhythms driven by drummer Manuel Pasquinelli and the band’s three guitarists (Stephan Thelen, guitar and primary composer, Bernhard Wagner,...

Malicorne - En Public

En Public:

Malicorne began to evolve their sound considerably after moving to the Ballon Noir label, starting with L'Extraordinaire Tour de France d'Adélard...

Malicorne - L'Extraordinaire Tour de France d'Adélard Rousseau, En Public & Le Bestiare

France's rich folk culture, much of it from the Breton (Brittany) province, has provided listeners with a seemingly unknown but vast treasure trove of incredible progressive Celtic music. This...

Malicorne - L'Extraordinaire Tour de France d'Adélard Rousseau, En Public & Le Bestiare

France's rich folk culture, much of it from the Breton (Brittany) province, has provided listeners with a seemingly unknown but vast treasure trove of incredible progressive Celtic music. This...

Lifesigns - Live in London - Under the Bridge

I’m not sure if it was rediscovering IQ and Marillion, or discovering Big Big Train, or perhaps a whole combination of things, but my interests, in part, have gravitated towards modern...

Mother Witch and Dead Water Ghosts - Ruins of Faith

The words Mother Witch & Dead Water Ghosts and Ruins of Faith just by themselves conjure images not far from what you will experience listening to the five tracks by these Russian doom...

Kiss Kiss King Kong - Too High to Say Hello

With a title like Too High to Say Hello, what do you expect? Some kind of stoner simplicity? Trippy psychedelic weirdness? In the case of Kiss Kiss King Kong, it’s neither, though...

Detieti - V Obshchikh Chertyakh & Frogressive Punk

Jacques-Yves Cousteau is probably the last person I would have expected to see on the cover art for a prog rock release, let alone one from a Russian band. But there he is smiling at you on...

Dekonstruktor - Eating the Universe & Fuck Life We Go Further

Russian progressive doom metal band Dekonstruktor was formed in 2014 out of the band Moon Mistress. Their first cassettes, Eating the Universe and Fuck Life We Go Further, have...

Ni - Les Insurgés de Romilly

Given all the buzz about the recent release of PinioL’s album, it seems worth stepping back to check out the past work of the “Ni” half of that band — we’ve

OH. - Synemotion

With the world’s population over seven billion, it’s a reasonable assumption that there must be a few million bands around the planet. Judging by what appears in my inbox, approximately...

Luminous Newts - Luminous Newts

Here we have a rich helping of excellent songcraft from SF Bay Area quintet Luminous Newts, at the core of which are songwriting partners Eric Kampman (keyboards, vocals) and Thea Kelley (vocals),...

Harnessing the Universe - Harnessing the Universe

Harnessing the Universe is a band of five musicians from the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. 2015 saw the release of the band’s self-titled debut album, which is now available on iTunes in...

Various Artists - Weasels Re-Ripped

Even with his tragically young death, Frank Zappa had a career that spanned many phases, from the early experiments with avant-garde doo-wop to computerized music. Lately I’ve been enjoying...

Ovrfwrd - Fantasy Absent Reason

Fantasy Absent Reason is the second release by this prog rock instrumental band from Minneapolis. The four bandmates continue down the path they blazed with 2014’s Beyond the...

Falter Bramnk - Vagal

Sound can be found everywhere, but the key to the magic is finding just the right sound that is at once interesting and enjoyable, and merging it seamlessly with others, creating from it what might...

Slobber Pup - Pole Axe

Not so long ago, we encountered Jamie Saft (keyboards) and Joe Morris (guitar) in The Spanish Donkey; for...

Ümit! - The Spirit of Ümit!

After three EPs of gloomy, heavy rock with vocals (which I confess to have never having heard, going only on second hand reports), Ümit! has shown a completely different, more relaxed and...

Embryo - Live

When Embryo founder and bandleader Christian Burchard left this world in mid-January of 2018 at age 71, the sad news gave temporary pause to all my other listening activities and I was suddenly...

Richard Pinhas - Chronolyse

By this point in time in early 2016, saying that Richard Pinhas is an artist of many facets is a pretty obvious observation. Just glance through the reviews listed on his artist page, and...

Richard Pinhas - Chronolyse

I doubt there will be a day when I feel like I've completely absorbed all of the Heldon and Pinhas titles on my shelves — there are really so many good and interesting titles crossing a...

Sunbirds - Zagara

Sunbirds was a short-lived (relatively speaking) jazz-rock outfit from Munich led by drummer Klaus Weiss and featuring a cast of great jazz musicians from many different countries. They left only...

Marbin - Aggressive Hippies

Marbin’s fifth time out captures a live-in-the studio take on an instrumental hybrid of rockin’ jazz rife with great grooves, unforgettable melodies, and tasty rhythms, plus some real...

Exponent - Upside Down

Another great German band that recorded some demos way back in 1974 in hopes of finding a record deal, but that never came to be, and didn’t end up on anyone’s turntable until Korusuro...

Tom Caufield - Things I Heard While in the Womb

Caufield calls himself a contemplative guitarist, and for an idea as to what that means exactly, consider any of the three tracks on this disc, which is his sixth release (he has released three...

Raoul Björkenheim / Ecstasy - Out of the Blue

Over the last few years, I’ve grown increasingly disillusioned with most of what passes for jazz these days. Given the monumental achievements of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman,...

Trappist Afterland - Afterlander

Sugarbush Records is reissuing the back catalog of Trappist Afterland on limited runs of 180 gram vinyl, the first being 2015’s Afterlander. My first exposure to the band was their...

Missus Beastly - Space Guerilla

The eleven minute title track that opens the album is as clear an example how tight Missus Beastly had become over the years. A mindblowing jazz-rock instrumental that powers through numerous...

The New Trocaderos - Thrills & Chills

In the closing sentence of my review of their six-song EP Frenzy in the Hips, I said...

Various Artists - Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales

With the third installment of their Romantic Warriors documentaries, filmmakers José Zegarra Holder and Adele Schmidt delve into the rich, somewhat confusing, and vaguely defined...

Beautify Junkyards - The Beast Shouted Love

On September 14, 2015 Lisbon’s Beautify Junkyards released their second full-length album The Beast Shouted Love. Beautify Junkyards has previously appeared on Fruits de Mer’s...

Dreadnaught - Have a Drink & Gettin' Tight with Dreadnaught

Rather than push out another full-length album to follow up 2007’s High Heat & Chin Music, American prog rock trio Dreadnaught have opted to keep fans occupied with a pair of EPs...

Autumn Electric - Star Being Earth Child

Back in December of 2014, I saw Autumn Electric play a show where they debuted some new material. They said they were working on a concept album about an alien who comes to Earth. Well, here it is,...

The Pretty Things - The Same Sun

Fruits de Mer continues to release The Pretty Things on vinyl — label owner Keith Jones is a big fan of the band. For this first 7-inch of the new year we have four songs, two from The Pretty...

She Owl - Animal Eye & Drifters

After the lovely debut She Owl album in 2013, I lost track of this Italian duo until the announcement of the new Drifters EP, and I took the opportunity to check out what I’d missed,...

Manna / Mirage - Blue Dogs

Blue Dogs is essentially a Dave Newhouse band project borne out of some of his own compositions originally intended for a Muffins album, but not so well embraced by other band members,...

Spirits Burning - Starhawk

On this latest offering by Spirits Burning there are nearly fifty musicians, vocalists, and writers involved in the proceedings, most only on a track or a few but that’s still a lot of talent...

Karda Estra - Strange Relations

This time out Karda Estra main man Richard Wileman (guitars, basses, keyboards and more) with the six-part title suite has done a full on collaboration with drummer Paul Sears (The Muffins, and...

Various Artists - EurNoVision

Compilations are a great way for getting exposed to new bands and a wider variety of music. EurNoVision is a compilation presenting 20 tracks by 20 underground bands from 20 different...

Uriah Heep - Totally Driven

My history with Uriah Heep goes back to Demons and Wizards. Memory is hazy, but I might very well have bought the LP on a whim based on the

Various Artists - A Séance at Syd’s

On July 11, 2015 Mega Dodo released a limited edition (100 copies) package containing two CDs filled with music by many of the bands debuted by Fruits de Mer over the years and a 288 page hard...

Various Artists - Side Effects

Well, the happy little elves at Fruits de Mer have done it again, and vinyl enthusiasts worldwide are salivating in anticipation. Do you remember those juicy LPs from the 70s with side-long tracks?...

Sweet Madness - Made in Spokane 1978-1981, Volume 2

In my review of Made in Spokane I mentioned the unlikeliness of its mere...

Stick Men+ - Midori

Stick Men has been a very busy band of late, somehow managing to tour extensively in spite of the other work all three band members do outside the trio. Keeping track of all the different projects...

Goblin - Four of a Kind

Goblin needs no introduction to anyone familiar with Italian progressive music. The band has been around since the 70s, the undisputed masters of dark progressive horror music, bifurcating into...

Nick Nicely - London South

The final single coming from nick’s 2014 Space of a Second album is London South. nick is known for his heavily processed lo-fi approach to neo-psychedlia. His new single...

Michael Gibbs & The NDR Bigband - Play a Bill Frisell Setlist

As it turns out, the association between guitarist Bill Frisell and arranger Michael Gibbs goes back many years, to when Frisell entered the Berklee College of Music in 1975 during Gibbs’...

Lunar Cape - Just Lunatics

Lunar Cape is a Moscow-based instrumental progressive rock group that formed in 2011 and released their debut album Just Lunatics in 2015 on Bandcamp. They play a variety of acoustic...

Vanderson - Vandisphere

Polish electronic composer Maciej Wierzchowski (aka Vanderson) has something like 31 releases to his name on his Bandcamp page, quite prolific for a 39 year old musician. He released...

Byron Metcalf / Steve Roach / Rob Thomas - Monuments of Ecstasy

Here’s another of those virtual collaborations, although this time it’s a trio of electro-acoustic wizards. Steve Roach – a synth and soundscape pioneer – is probably well...

Gorguts - Obscura

Obscura was Canadian death metal outfit Gorguts' third album, following several years later on two albums that were children of the Floridian style — Morbid Angel, Obituary,...

Steve Roach - Skeleton Keys

I know you’re probably saying to yourself – another ambient Steve Roach album? No. Roach hasn’t recorded an album anything like Skeleton Keys in several decades, based...

Steve Roach - The Skeleton Collection

A couple years back we reviewed a disc of sequenced modular synth music by Steve Roach titled...

Schneider Kacirek - Shadows Documents

Schneider Kacirek is the German electronic duo of Stefan Schneider (no relation to this author) and Sven Kacirek who, on Shadows Document, meld African rhythms and dark electronica. A...

Opposite Day - Space Taste Race Part 2

The diversity of Austin’s progressive rock scene continues to amaze me. No two of these bands sound similar. Opposite Day have been around for quite some time and on September 11, 2015 they...

Amon Ra - We Never Said Good-bye

This Munich-based group first burst on the scene around 2000, garnering praise for their debut Precarious Balance and securing opening slots for Saga and Jethro Tull. Then while working on...

Deborah Martin - Eye of the Wizard

Inspired by the realms of wizardry and alchemy, Martin’s latest release on Spotted Peccary uncovers a mysterious meeting ground between acoustic music, floating ambient, symphonic sounds and...

Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe & Ariel Kalma - FRKWYS12: We Know Each Other Somehow

After first becoming acquainted with Ariel Kalma’s work through the Evolutionary Music collection, which contained odds and ends recorded over a period of several years, it’s...

John Wetton - Live via Satellite

With his untimely passing in 2017 there’s been renewed interest in all facets of English musician John Wetton’s career, including his work as a solo artist. From his first solo album...

Mark Wingfield - Proof of Light

I first became aware of guitarist Mark Wingfield through I Walked into the Silver Darkness, a collaboration with acoustic guitar innovator Kevin Kastning, where Wingfield’s tasteful...

Gilligan Smiles - Karmasouptruck

Back in the 60s, when psychedelic rock first came on the scene in England and the US, it wasn’t long before bands all around the world joined in, though it’s only now, with the...

Ovrfwrd - Fantasy Absent Reason

Minneapolis-based quartet Ovrfwrd clearly decided to stay the course for the follow-up to their 2014 debut, Beyond the Visible Light. These five instrumentals (clocking in at a comfortable...

The Brainiac 5 - Exploding Universe & Space Is the Place

Listening to Brainiac 5 makes me think of Spock’s IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations) philosophy, which goes to show I’m a science fiction geek as much as a music geek....

Spirit - At Ebbetts Field 1974

Among the hardest working and most undeservedly underappreciated bands ever, the three-piece Spirit that forged onward following the demise of the original five-piece following the Ode / Epic years...

Human Ottoman - Farang

This Oregon trio first came to my attention when they landed on the bill of the Seaprog festival. Their instrumentation is as unusual as their name: cello with effects, drums, and vibraphone with...

Phaedra - Blackwinged Night

On the strength of its darkness and pensive feelings alone, this one would be a winner; there are a lot of artists in that kind of space, but few quite like Phaedra, a Norwegian trio plus guests...

Fenix Tales - The Abyss Eye

Fenix Tales is an Italian gothic metal band from Florence, Italy who’ve been around since 2008. They released an EP Confutatis Maledictus in 2014 and their first album The Abyss...

Sea Level - Live in Chicago 1977

While the Allman Brothers Band was taking a long break following Wipe The Windows… in 1976, three members of that band (keyboardist Chuck Leavell, drummer Jaimoe, and bassist Lamar...

Various Artists - Kollektion 04: Bureau B Compiled by Richard Fearless

Richard Fearless, the founder of British electronic band Death in Vegas, has been influenced by a wide range of genres including electronica and Krautrock. So he was a natural choice to curate...

Sam Coulson - Electric Classical

The YouTube guitar star who was drafted to replace Steve Howe in Asia has his own album, totally solo, electric guitars only (mostly Stratocasters, with some multi-tracking, of course) covering a...

Voices from the Fuselage - Odyssey: The Destroyer of Worlds

Voices from the Fuselage (VFTF) is a five-piece progressive rock band from the UK formed in 2010 by vocalist Ashe O’Hara, guitarists Mitch Ramsay and Josh Galloway, bassist Dale Gorham, and...

Twice Bitten - Late Cut

Twice Bitten started life in late 1982 at Nottingham University, the duo of Rog Patterson and Greg Smith, both philosophy students, guitarists, and singers, and although the wordsmith of the duo...

Dave Webb - Dalet

A world of amazing music can be made with only a single electric guitar, aided with a chain of loopers and effects pedals and amps, and Dalet proves that, both on this nine track...

Dystopia - The Second Dawn

Most of the time, when I listen to music, I don’t actively think about the intentions of the musicians. I just listen and judge the sounds on their own terms. Only later do I sometimes wonder...

Stratosphere - Aftermath

Stratosphere (a.k.a. Ronald Mariën) has been evolving his musical craft since the early 90s, starting in a more industrial / experimental area and then gradually moving towards more shimmering...

Chas Smith - Twilight of the Dreamboats

Even though we are considering only a single piece of music that clocks in at just under 25 minutes, Twilight of the Dreamboats achieves an almost limitless development of floating ambient...

Gustaf Fjelstrom - Intention

Many will remember ‘Gus’ from his days as the bassist of San Francisco Bay Area instrumental trio Maximum Indifference, where they took the sound palette of classic Hemispheres...

AeTopus - When

Washington-based musician Brian Tewell Hughes is back with a full-length follow up to his 2012 EP, Angels and Machines. The good news is that the promise of that earlier offering has been...

Wang Wen - Eight Horses

By now it seems kind of pointless to argue that there is no such genre as “post-rock.” There are way too many bands around the world with too many similarities to not be a thing. Maybe...

After Argument - This Is Not Your Game

After Argument may not be the easiest Chinese band to get into for listeners who don’t understand the language. The music does rely heavily on the vocals, even to the point of some of them...

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew 40th Anniversary

[Note: The following review covers specifically the Tanglewood Live 1970 CD, which is CD3 of the 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition of Bitches...

O.R.k. - Inflamed Rides

We are now to the point in the history of progressive rock where we might need to add another sub-genre. For decades, we’ve had symphonic rock, progressive metal, neo-progressive, RIO, zeuhl,...

Erth - b

It’s taken quite a few listens through b to get a handle on what Erth is all about. For the record, I regard that as a good thing. At times, they lean towards space rock, with bubbly...

Filulas Juz - Astralopithecus

At barely two minutes in length, the opener “Mariner” sets the tone for the whole album at hand. This is an impressive instrumental jazz-rock unit featuring drums (Adriano Morales is an...

Magma - Slag Tanz

Finally we get some more new music from one of the finest bands from any planet anywhere in the known universe, this time released on the Jazz Village label instead of their usual Seventh Records...

Standing Ovation - Gravity Beats Nuclear

Gravity Beats Nuclear starts out much like Standing Ovation’s previous album, with a short, delicate instrumental piece followed by a melodic progressive metal song. At its base, the...

Sanguine Hum - Now We Have Light

In the years since its genesis (ahem!) in the 80s, the term “neo-prog” has taken on a meaning that’s pretty highly codified, with a style adapting some of the qualities of...

Greg Lake - Greg Lake / Manoeuvers

By the dawn of the 80s, after ELP had run its course and called it a day, singer, guitarist and bassist Greg Lake, now a man without a band, was searching for a new direction. As a general rule,...

Ashby - Fragmental

This German band got its start in 2011, and like the majority of recent progressive bands, there’s more than a little metal in their sound, courtesy of Jan Göpelt’s guitar. Joel...

Wired Minds - Saudade

This Chicago band has a somewhat different take on psychedelic rock than many of the band’s we’ve covered here. Rather than (or in addition to) being inspired by 60s bands,...

The Keith Emerson Trio - The Keith Emerson Trio

Fans of the late, great Keith Emerson are familiar with his jazzy piano explorations on songs like “Take a Pebble” or “Hang on to a Dream.” But here is evidence of his...

Various Artists - Fashion: Songs Written by David Bowie

This year’s Fruits de Mer Club’s member freebie is a set of David Bowie cover songs. Conceived and recorded months prior to Bowie’s untimely death this past January,...

Streetwalkers - I'm Walking: Complete Streetwalkers 1974-77

Out of the ashes of the Brit prog band Family arose the Streetwalkers. Ditching the quirky subtlety of Family, vocalist Roger Chapman and guitarist Charlie Whitney aimed for mainstream rock with a...

Minimum Vital - Pavanes

Every new release by these guys has some big surprises, yet it’s instantly identifiable as Minimum Vital – they are a band with a unique sound regardless of how large (the big six-piece...

Henry Kaiser & Ray Russell - The Celestial Squid

The first collaboration between these two sonic innovators brings us a spirited brain twisting guitar freakout of the highest order with a full-on jazz-rock ensemble in attendance. Henry Kaiser is...

Phil Haynes - Sanctuary

Haynes is a drummer and composer, primarily known as a sideman, featured on dozens and dozens of jazz releases over the years, and in addition is the leader of No Fast Food, a saxophone trio with...

Orymus - Miracles

This one came out last year and seems to have slipped by without getting much attention, which is a shame because it’s a really solid release. This Swiss band has a sound based heavily on...

Zhaoze - Intoxicatingly Lost

With Intoxicatingly Lost, Trail Records gives Guangzhou’s Zhaoze their most prominent international release to date. This collection contains four tracks from 2015’s...

Downes Braide Association - Suburban Ghosts

Everything old is new again, and this time the wayback machine is set to the early 80s sound of The Buggles, courtesy of former Buggle Geoff Downes and English musician / producer Chris Braide....

Andrija Pejović - Chameleon

The guitar is the dominant instrument in modern music, so there’s no use complaining about “another guitarist’s album.” There are so many outstanding guitarists around the...

La Fabbrica dell'Assoluto - 1984: L'Ultimo Uomo d'Europa

1984: L'Ultimo Uomo d’Europa is an Orwellian rock opera composed and performed by the new Italian progressive band La Fabbrica dell’Assoluto. Quite an undertaking for the...

Greg Lake & Geoff Downes - Ride the Tiger

Fans of Asia may recall a period when Greg Lake replaced John Wetton on bass and vocals for a 1983 Japanese tour. His tenure was short, though it did allow Lake and keyboard player Geoff Downes to...

Landskap - II

The British band Landskap released their first two albums on Bandcamp in January and November 2014 respectively, both as free downloads. In 2015 Black Widow Records reissued the second album...

Leontine - The Tide

If I wrote reviews for a website with a narrow stylistic focus, I probably would have given up long ago. But the fact that I end up listening to everything from classic progressive rock reissues to...

Billy Sherwood - Collection

Compilations are often a good way to sample a musician or band’s work and decide if further investigation is worthwhile. That’s the case with this release from versatile progressive...

Julius Paolo Lazzeri - Gothic Power

Julius Paolo Lazzeri is the fiery virtuoso organist with the Italian neo-progressive band Three Monks. Gothic Power is his latest solo effort, and what an apt name for this album. The...

Il Ballo delle Castagne - Soundtrack for an Unreleased Herzog Movie

Il Ballo delle Castagne is an Italian band formed in 2007 by two musicians from different musical backgrounds: Vinz Aquarian (lyrics and vocals) and Marco Garegnani (keyboards, guitar, sitar, and...

Juha Kujanpää Ensemble - Kultasiipi - Goldwing

Juha Kujanpää’s debut album was one of the gems of 2013, a refreshing jewel of lovely arrangements and catchy melodies combining folk, jazz, rock, and classical styles seamlessly....

Stephen Duros - Aeaea

Duros is best known as a flamenco guitarist, though he has clearly developed his own take on the style, incorporating elements of blues, gypsy, jazz, Arab music, and pop, and on this concept album...

Gong - Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy

On October 30, 2015, Charly Records reissued Gong’s three Radio Gnome LPs (Flying Teapot, Angels Egg, and You) as both a 3-LP box set and a 4-CD hardback book. Each...

Riccardo Sinigaglia - Watertube / Ringspiel

Originally released in 1985 as a cassette on the ADN Tapes label, this was Sinigaglia’s first solo release after having been a member of the experimental world music trio Futuro Antico. The...

Rendezvous Point - Solar Storm

In many ways, Dream Theater can be seen as the prototypical progressive metal band. While they didn’t invent the genre single-handedly, they largely defined the template that persists to this...

Goad - The Silent Moonchild

Goad is an Italian progressive band with a long history dating back to the late 70s. The Rossi brothers, Gianni and Maurilio, formed the band in Florence and did not release their first album until...

Elisa Montaldo - Fistful of Planets, Part 1

Italian keyboardist and mastermind behind Il Tempio delle Clessidre, Elisa Montaldo has released her first solo album, Fistful of Planets - Part 1. If you are expecting more of the vintage...

Ochion Jewell Quartet - Volk

Saxophonist Ochion Jewell’s newest quartet recording is a fascinating, wide-ranging affair that encompasses source material as diverse as folk music from Finland, Ireland, Ukraine, and...

We Stood Like Kings - USSR 1926

This is my first encounter with Belgian band We Stood Like Kings. Apparently their first release, Berlin 1927, was intended to accompany the 1927 silent film Berlin: Die Sinfonie der...

Halma - Granular

The genre that’s come to be called post-rock has a pronounced fondness of tempos in the slow to medium range, even to the point where a style has cropped up called “slow-core.” In...

Jono el Grande - Melody of a Muddled Mason

The Norwegian guitarist, keyboardist, composer, bandleader, and conductor (not necessarily in that order) Jono el Grande released his first album in 1999, and Melody of a Muddled Mason is...

Green Isac Orchestra - Green Isac Orchestra

Those who have followed Green Isac from ther very beginnings – the Strings & Pottery album from 1991 – have witnessed plenty of growth and evolution over the last 25 years,...

Deborah Martin - Under the Moon

An album based on the twilight-to-dawn theme, Deborah Martin’s Under the Moon shines with an impressionistic delicacy supported by a lush backdrop of multi-synths, textural electric...

Chronotope Project - Dawn Treader

Somewhere along the road between floating ambient electronic sounds and deep mystical audio imagery one can find rich spaces of solitude imbued with shimmering sonic beauty, where meta-stillness...

Howard Givens & Craig Padilla - Life Flows Water

The dreamlike whirl of Tibetan bowls, occasionally punctuated by bells in the beginning of the first cut “Opening to a New Perspective” sets the stage for all that follows in this...

Numina + Zero Ohms - Broken Stars through Brilliant Clouds

At hand, a floating soundtrack to mysterious dreams, a journey through deep space, or a walk on a pillow of clouds down the endless spiral of consciousness along the translucent fence. Will I ever...

Paul Ellis - Moth in Flames

Pulsing colors and floating daydreams. Ellis’ compositions reach out in new directions, informed by both Berlin electronics and drifting minimalist ambient realms, bringing both together in a...

Chui Wan - Chui Wan

This Beijing band’s debut was a reverb-drenched psychedelic space journey, moody and – for a Chinese band – uncharacteristically trippy. At times, their sophomore album sounds...

Perfect Beings - Perfect Beings II

With their first album, the Southern California band Perfect Beings set a very high bar for themselves, with a sophisticated take on modern progressive rock superbly informed by the genre’s...

Greg Segal - Beauty Sleep

In the 80s, Greg Segal was a guitarist in the legendary Paper Bag, recording a number of cassettes and vinyl releases for the underground SST label, some of the best known being Ticket to...

Alfahanne - Blod Eld Alfa

This Swedish band is related to the black metal scene, but they bring in a lot of elements from other styles as well. If they’ didn’t, Exposé probably wouldn’t be...

Micha Schellhaas - Double Take

There’s a long tradition of non-American guitarists making a pilgrimage of sorts to the United States to get in touch with some of the roots of their instrument. German guitarist Micha...

Koko - Koko

Lest we forget that there is a virtually endless number of ways to push the boundaries of rock, this fairly recently formed Viennese band comes along to try something I, at least, haven’t...

Subterranean Masquerade - The Great Bazaar

If pressed for a stylistic label for Subterranean Masquerade, progressive metal is a good starting point, but like many Swedish and Norwegian bands with that background, there’s a lot more...

Palindrum - Palindrum

Sao Paulo based quartet Palindrum formed in 2010 around musical director Dyonisio Moreno, who composes and arranges their music, but doesn’t actually perform in the group. Their unusual sound...

Pixel - Golden Years

If you think you had this Norwegian quartet all figured out based on their two earlier Cuneiform releases Reminder (2012) and We Are All Small Pixels (2014), better think again....

Circuline - Return

For newcomers to reading Exposé, it’s worth noting that for much of the first ten years of our existence, our reviewers devoted a lot of ink to writing negative things about...

Masahiro Shimba / Bill Laswell - Dubopera

This is far from the first time that Classical opera music has been adapted for modern ears, but it is not simply Pagliacci with a disco beat. Producer Bill Laswell has teamed up with...

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew

McLatchey's Top Tier #5

This one's on a lot of peoples' lists for good reasons. First time I heard it I didn't even like it, but most great albums are growers,...

Thieves' Kitchen - The Clockwork Universe

As a Thieves’ Kitchen newbie, listening to The Clockwork Universe starts out as a game of Spot-the-Influence: a bit of Yes here, Renaissance there, Änglagård now, Genesis...

All These Fallen Trees - This Is Where We Are

Sometimes you just have to throw analysis out the window and say, “I enjoy listening to it.” This Spanish band plays what might be called “mainstream post-rock,” by which I...

Astolfo sulla Luna - Ψ²

The noise part of the stylistic description (the band is labelled "math-noise rock") is pretty obvious from the first moments of Ψ², with overdriven bass and guitar...

SimakDialog - Live at Orion

Since I first heard this Indonesian band a number of years ago, they’ve been one of those groups that it seems I should like, but just never quite connected in the right way. I always admired...

Thinking Plague - In This Life

Here in the West Wing of Exposé Headquarters (AKA my house), Thinking Plague occupies a place of honor as the preeminent American avant-prog band, their reputation tainted only...

Thee Jezebels - Black Book

Assaulting your ears from the south east coast of England is The Jezebels, a new all-girl rock n roll trio. Decked out in leather jackets, these three “biker chicks,” fueled by garage,...

Steve Roach - Alive in the Vortex & Vortex Immersion Zone

These two releases came out late in 2015 pretty much concurrently on Roach’s own Timeroom Editions label, and although the titles seem similar, the origins of the two are very different....

Steve Roach - Alive in the Vortex & Vortex Immersion Zone

These two releases came out late in 2015 pretty much concurrently on Roach’s own Timeroom Editions label, and although the titles seem similar, the origins of the two are very different....

Lee Michaels - The Complete A&M Album Collection

What could be more intense than a great singer and songwriter powered instrumentally only by the mighty Hammond organ and drums? For a major chunk of his recorded career and most of his live dates,...

Serpentyne - Myths and Muses

I really like this album and it may be my favorite 2015 release to date. Serpentyne is a breath of fresh air that leaves a smile on your face. Serpentyne is an energetic band that has combined...

The Spanish Donkey - Raoul

Raoul and his donkey walk along a dusty road under the searing Spanish sun. Raoul thinks he’s the boss — after all, he’s the human, and the donkey is, well, just a donkey. But...

Rhys Marsh - The Black Sun Shining

Over the course of seven warm summer days last July, Rhys wrote and recorded the seven songs on his new release The Black Sun Shining. Though the seven tracks are all songs, they are...

Taylor's Universe - Across the Universe: An Introduction to Taylor's Universe

Robin Taylor has quite the body of work. Each new album builds on his previous work and adds new elements. And that brings us to the new Taylor’s Universe album, Across the Universe....

Flor de Loto - Medusa - En Vivo en Buenos Aires

Recorded live at Sala Alcatraz in Buenos Aires in November 2014, this documents the Peruvian septet's live show, drawing material from their second album Madre Tierra going forward to...

Julian Julien - Terre II

With Terre II, French composer Julian Julien operates in similar territory to Juha Kujanpää,...

Crystal Jacqueline - Winter Deep

This past fall saw the release of Crystal Jacqueline’s first CD single from her 2015 solo album Rainflower. There are three songs on this CDEP: “Winter Deep” from...

Taylor's Universe - Across the Universe: An Introduction to Taylor's Universe

Interesting concept here. Across The Universe is billed as “An introduction to Taylor’s Universe,” and I would agree that for a band with fourteen full length releases to...

Endless Tapes - Brilliant Waves

Endless Tapes is a collaboration between Porcupine Tree’s bassist Colin Edwin and drummer / multi-instrumentalist Alessandro "Petrol" Pedretti. Two years ago Colin and Petrol sat...

Dirk Serries - Disorientation Flow

The artist formerly known as vidnaObmana has returned to his floating ambient style on this follow-up to his 2014 release The Origin Reversal. Serries has created a reflective and...

Rik Wright's Fundamental Forces - Green

With the third of their “RGB” series (after Blue and

Leo Abrahams - Daylight

Much of the music that appears on the pop charts these days should probably be credited to the producer(s) rather than the singer whose picture is on the cover. The sounds heard are assembled on...

Leo Abrahams - Daylight

I did not know what to expect from this new album by producer and guitarist Leo Abrahams. Over the years he has worked with artists such as Brian Eno, Pulp, Roxy Music, and Anthony and the...

Church of Hed - The Autumn Shrine

The fourth Church of Hed release is this 22 minute three-track EP that kicks off with the amazing three-part title track which seems to channel Phaedra era Tangerine Dream with a side...

Gurguburek - Old Postcards

There seems to be a burgeoning international boom in improvisational music augmented by electronics, either live processing or after the fact. It ranges from the noisy like

Sonny Sharrock - Ask the Ages

Sonny Sharrock’s 1991 album Ask the Ages: 1) Is one of the greatest jazz guitar albums of all time; 2) Is one of the best jazz albums of the 90s; 3) Is a compelling balance between...

Andy Powell with Colin Harper - Eyes Wide Open

Skipping to the end, collaborator Colin Harper says in his closing notes that the intention was to produce a book that would not only be of interest to hardcore Wishbone Ash fans, a group which may...

Sultans of String with Anwar Kurshid - Subcontinental Drift

One of the most fertile of possible futures in music involves fusions of well known popular western forms (jazz, rock, folk, etc.) and the music of various cultures around the world – with...

Gentle Giant - Octopus (Expanded Edition)

With Octopus, Gentle Giant truly came into their own as a progressive powerhouse with a style all their own. Three Friends was great, but once its successor came out, it was clear...

Martin Turner - Written in the Stars

Since around 2005 the original Wishbone Ash bassist and lead singer, along with his band (occasionally involving other original members) have been touring, and along the way released several CDs as...

Michael Padilla - Atmospheres (Ambient Works Vol. 1)

Front man for the US neo-psych band The Soft Bombs, Michael Padilla, stretches his musical muscles by recording a full album of ambient music. This music is so out of character for Fruits de Mer...

Ossicles - Music for Wastelands

When a band produces a debut album as good as Ossicles did with Mantelpiece, there’s a very real possibility that a second album will slip in quality, the dreaded (and...

Akiko's Cosmo Space - Julähsica to This Wonderful Day

Those who know Akiko Takahashi only from her role as drummer in various incarnations of the Japanese instrumental keyboard-heavy trio Ars Nova may be in for a big surprise on this, the first...

Ovrfwrd - Fantasy Absent Reason

Progressive rock is my musical comfort food. When done right, it takes me back to some of the first music I heard that really captivated me. And just like the dishes that may be your comfort food,...

Jack Ellister - Tune up Your Ministers and Start Transmission from Pool Holes to Class O Hypergiants

Friends of the Fish is a Fruits de Mer side label for FdM artists to release their own music. In the present case Jack Ellister, an FdM artist who has appeared on several FdM releases over the past...

Jack Ellister - Tune up Your Ministers and Start Transmission from Pool Holes to Class O Hypergiants

From the cover art and title, you’d probably guess Tune up Your Ministers and Start Transmission from Pool Holes to Class O Hypergiants is a psychedelic album – it is on Fruits...

Ex Norwegian / Permanent Clear Light - Friends of the Fish (America Meets Finland)

To close out the year, Keith Jones decided to release a limited edition of 50 lathe cut copies of a 7-inch single. The A-side contains a cover of String Driven Thing’s “It’s a...

Vincent Priceless - Black Light Revival

With a name like Vincent Priceless, you know not to expect something too serious. But what you actually should expect is a harder question. Black Light Revival could indicate a...

Slivovitz - All You Can Eat

Slivovitz on their fourth album presents a mega-buffet of brilliant compositions, memorable melodies, and refined complex arrangements. The Italian based seven-piece offers an all-instrumental...

Daniel Barbiero / Cristiano Bocci - Nostos

For this collaborative outing, Cristiano Bocci, who is a bass player, left the bass playing almost entirely to Daniel Barbiero. Bocci provides all manner of electronic processing to the sounds that...

Barton Rage / Bill Laswell - Realm I

Polish-born musician Barton Rage launches his proposed series of collaborative recordings with this digital release on M.O.D. Technologies. This meeting of the generations (Rage was born in the...

Vinnie Moore - Aerial Visions

Guitarist Vinnie Moore has a string of solo albums going back to the 80s, when he emerged as one of that decade’s crop of super-dextrous players, along with Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Eric...

Andrew Endres Collective - Desolation

On the jazz axis that runs from totally traditional, standard material on one end (let’s call it post-bop for convenience) to more modern sounds (think of the kind of jazz on Cuneiform) on...

Premature Burial - The Conjuring

Reading our recent interview with Morgan Fisher, I was struck by his remarks about...

Brian Woodbury & His Popular Music Group - Pay Attention

It’s one thing to have that exceptional ability to fuse humor and witty lyrics to great music – Zappa, 10cc, Ray Stevens, Weird Al (though rightly, Yankovic’s material would more...

Adam Rudolph / Go: Organic Guitar Orchestra - Turning towards the Light

When it comes to Adam Rudolph’s music, I really need to stop having any expectations. His recent Hu Vibrational release featured a battery of percussionists playing music more spacey than...

Panther & C. - L'Epoca di un Altro

There is not a whole lot of information available on the Internet about this band from Genoa, Italy. Their Facebook page does not provide much information. I do not believe that this is their debut...

Errata Corrige - Siegfried, il Drago e Altre Storie (2015 Version)

In 1976, an obscure band from Turin, Italy privately released a very rare LP, Siegfried, il drago e altre storie. The band broke up in 1975 before the release and member Marco Cimino went...

Bob Albanese - Time Remembered

In relation to the broad streams of jazz, pianist Bob Albnaese fits into a fairly traditional post-bop style, the territory occupied by Bill Evans or Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock when...

Animation - Machine Language

Storytelling and music have been combined for so long that it’s impossible to say who first had the idea to tell a story with music. Maybe that was the original purpose of music – who...

Arabs in Aspic - Victims of Your Father's Agony

Norwegian band Arabs in Aspic released their sixth album this past spring, an effort taking almost two years. Victim of Your Father’s Agony presents more 70s-influenced hard prog...

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...

Spettri - 2973: La Nemica dei Ricordi

In the heyday of Italian prog rock there was an obscure band from Florence, Spettri, who released a one-off album in 1972. Their

Delirium - L'Era della Menzogna

Today’s Italian prog rock scene consists of young bands as well as a rejuvenation of bands from the 70s. Delirium is an example of the latter, forming in 1970 and releasing their first LP in...

Hieroglyphic Being & J.I.T.U. Ahn-Sahm-Buhl - We Are Not the First

I’ve been listening to a fair amount of Sun Ra’s music lately, and can’t help making a connection with this release from Hieroglyphic Being and J.I.T.U. Ahn-sahm-buhl. Just as Ra...

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...

Church of Hed - Electric Sepulcher

Paul Williams is the drummer, synthesist, and producer of Quarkspace, but with that band now seemingly in hiatus (their next regular album was supposed to be released in 2010, but never was,...

Ángel Ontalva - Tierra Quemada

Like a compelling collection of eight instrumental introspective dream sequences, the latest offering from October Equus guitarist Ángel Ontalva has an absolute cinematic quality that offers...

Petrina - Roses of the Day

After the outstanding avant-pop of Petrina in 2013, Debora Petrina takes her music in a different...

Mike Oldfield - The Space Move: The Original Soundtrack

Some movie soundtracks work as free-standing music apart from the visuals, but there are others that are so integrated with their movies that taking them out of that context doesn’t provide a...

Bon - Traces of Chaos

The soulful and bluesy “Gypsy King” from Bon Lozaga’s latest release manages to capture the essence of Band of Gypsies era Hendrix and fuse it the technical mastery of...

Crystal Jacqueline - Rainflower

Each new release from Crystal Jacqueline shows an artist who continues to grow and mature. And it has been a joy to witness this through her various Fruits de Mer and Mega Dodo albums. This May saw...

Pink Octopus - Metamorphosis (Phase 1: Obtaining Instrumentalism)

Jonathan Louis Huffman is back with his second Pink Octopus production, this time a purely instrumental affair. He is aided in his efforts by a kick-butt rhythm section consisting of drummer Ian...

Blackmore's Night - All Our Yesterdays

Anyone not familiar with this band certainly should be; there’s a lot here to appreciate on many levels. This is a six-piece band led by singer / woodwind player Candice Night and guitarist /...

Level Pi - This Burning Part of Me

The latest Level π (aka Uwe Cremer) release is somewhat of a departure from Uwe’s previous work. Uwe has gone back to his roots and drawn inspiration from the likes of Bauhaus, Sisters of...

Randy Brecker - RandyPop!

It’s pretty much impossible to comprehend the number of albums that trumpeter Randy Brecker has appeared on. Discogs.com lists...

Merry Go Round - Merry Go Round

The core members of the Italian band Merry Go Round trace their roots back to the 80s to the Storks and Standarte. In 2012 they added a second guitarist and a female vocalist to form Merry Go Round...

Open Space Quartet - Suite N. 2 for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio - Claude Bolling

The Open Space Quartet is a free improvisational band with Carlo Bordini (drums) and Pino Sallusti (contrabass) from the reformed Cherry Five accompanied by Cinzia Gizzi (piano) and Iolanda Zignani...

The Kettering Vampires - Perform Nico & the Velvet Underground

Everybody knows the story of the Velvet Underground, one of the quintessential examples of a band that got minimal attention in its own time, but achieved legendary status after breaking up. Many...

Cherry Five - Il Pozzo dei Giganti

In 1976, a mysterious group released an Italian prog album. Cherry Five, then part of the well-known Goblin, had recorded the songs in 1974 and that release rapidly achieved cult status. Now 40...

Lloyd Cole - 1D

You may be familiar with pop rocker Lloyd Cole from his singer songwriter days with his band The Commotions in the late 80s. Absolutely none of that will prepare you for his new album of analog...

IWKC - Evil Bear Boris

IWKC is an acronym for I Will Kill Chita, a joke resulting from past tensions between the Samarin brothers Nikita (drums and percussion) and Nikolai (keyboards and bass). They formed IWKC in 2008...

Jack Mazzenga - Acoustic a la Mode

Frets are for wimps. Guitar? Banjo? Mandolin? We don’t need no stinkin’ frets! Guitarist Jack Mazzenga returns with Acoustic a la Mode, which treads somewhat different...

Vederkast - Northern Gothic

It’s probably unfair to call Vederkast a progressive metal band, as their music resembles some of the heavier Scandinavian progressive bands (say, Anekdoten or Qoph) more than they do...

Brinsley Schwarz - Live Favourites

Brinsley Schwarz were a Brit pub band from the early 70s, named after lead guitarist Brinsley Schwarz, but mostly known for their bassist Nick Lowe, who went on to considerable success as a solo...

The Chewers - Dead Dads

If you’re familiar with The Residents, I could probably say The Chewers are along the same lines, and you’ll know both what to expect and whether you’re likely to enjoy their...

Anderson Ponty Band - Better Late Than Never

Conceptually, the combination of Jon Anderson and Jean-Luc Ponty provides a kind of satisfaction for those of us who listened to both progressive rock and jazz fusion in the 70s. Certainly Yes and...

Dwiki Dharmawan - So Far So Close

Moonjune is never short on surprises when it comes to introducing outstanding jazz-rock acts from Indonesia, and keyboardist and composer Dwiki Dharmawan is just the latest of many, with So Far...

Anderson Ponty Band - Better Late Than Never

Jon Anderson and Jean Luc Ponty had crossed paths over the years and finally decided to collaborate in 2014, culminating with a concert in Aspen, Colorado that was filmed and recorded (a la...

ZX+ - Don't Drink the Water

Stephen Evans, AKA ZX+, is another new musician who I first encountered via FdM. He had a crazed cover of Syd Barrett’s "Jugband Blues" on last year's compilation A...

David Udell - Orchids

Some may remember David Udell from the St. Louis 80s art-rock band Wax Theatricks (changing their name from Earwacks before that), or from his time with the avant-pop group Delay Tactics with...

The Aaron Clift Experiment - Outer Light, Inner Darkness

Well, apparently, there’s still more life in the old beast we call Progressive Rock. Aaron Clift and his cohorts have a take on music that has no hints of Neo-Prog, doesn’t really sound...

Hands - Caviar Bobsled

Once a band has worked together long enough, a number of different things can happen, one of which is that their material and playing style tend to follow similar patterns one album to the next,...

The Aaron Clift Experiment - Outer Light, Inner Darkness

The latest album from Austin’s little secret, The Aaron Clift Experiment, has hit the streets and what a gem it is! Aaron is an intelligent, literate, and consummate composer. Outer...

Cary Grace - Tygerland

My first encounter with Cary Grace was her cover of Pink Floyd’s “Cirrus Minor” on FdM’s 2014 compilation

Burnside & Hooker - All the Way to the Devil

Up on the banner of the Exposé website, it may say “Exploring the boundaries of rock,” but that’s obviously an oversimplification of our mission. We explore all...

Ou - Scrambled!

I happen to live in the same part of Seattle as Amy Denio, so we bump into each other from time to time. Not long ago, we happened to see each other at the local record store, where a mutual...

Landmarq - Roadskill - Live in the Netherlands

Roadskill captures British neo-prog veterans Landmarq on stage in the Netherlands promoting 2012’s Entertaining Angels. This is a band that has flown under a lot of...

Us & Them - Summer Green and Autumn Brown

After a string of EPs and compilation appearances on Fruits de Mer, Swedish duo Us and Them release a full album’s worth of original tunes, Summer Green and Autumn Brown. Both the LP...

Praxis - Sound Virus

Sacrifist (1993) and Metatron (1994) stand as a pinnacle (or nadir, in some opinions) of the cross-fertilization between brutal heavy rock and the avant-garde. And while other...

Intelligent Music Project III - Touching the Divine

I’m always saying “Quality is independent of genre,” and I believe it’s true that quality can be found in any style of music. Dr. Milen Vrabevski is a Bulgarian composer and...

Ossicles - Mantelpiece

To a certain extent, Ossicles could be considered another example of my new genre (see the previous O.R.k....

Paul Hayworth - Phantom Nomad

This spring Paul Hayworth released the fourth chapter, Phantom Nomad, of the musical quadrilogy he began in 2013 with Ultra Violet, Terrania, and Export. Paul is...

Brett Cimbalik + Brad Fritcher - Sunrider

Over the years since jazz and electronics first crossed paths (thank you, Miles Davis, wherever you are), artists have come up with a wide variety of ways to do that combination, from using...

Stereo Total - Yéyé Existentialiste

Stereo Total, for those of us who do not know, is the Berlin-based French-German duo of Françoise Cactus and Brezel Göring. They have a string of albums dating back to 1995 and their...

Gentleman Surfer - Gold Man

The laws of supply and demand tell us that as the supply of something increases, its value tends to go down unless the demand also increases. I suppose the demand per person of music would be...

Dennis Rea - Live at the Forbidden City

Dennis Rea is a Seattle area guitarist who’s worked with Jeff Greinke, Bill Rieflin and may be known to some through his participation with groups Land and Stackpole. Long before he made his...

Zubatto Syndicate - Zubatto Syndicate 2

Looking at the second Zubatto Syndicate release, two facts are apparent. First, the sci-fi imagery from the first album carries through with the great cover art and titles like “BBots,”...

Qluster - Tasten

Hans-Joachim Roedelius has been a constant member of the different formations of Cluster, beginning with Conrad Schnitzler and Dieter Moebius as Kluster, then with Moebius, and for a brief...

Left Lane Cruiser - Dirty Spliff Blues

Here is a new release of music that we do not normally cover, blues rock. For over ten years the duo of Freddy J IV, AKA Joe Evans (vocals and slide guitar) and Pete Dio (drums) have been churning...

Various Artists - Ode to Marco Veronesi

Marco Veronesi was one of the founders of the Italian underground ADN label, who passed away in 2013 after a lengthy illness. This compilation (a limited edition of 300 copies) features various...

Vibravoid - Stepping Stone

Germany’s highly prolific and popular psychedelic rockers Vibravoid are back with another slab of FdM vinyl. This time around they cover three different 60s songs: “(I’m Not Your)...

Rob Mazurek / Exploding Star Orchestra - Galactic Parables: Volume 1

With Galactic Parables: Volume 1, Rob Mazurek shows that he truly has earned a place in the ranks of the masters of large ensemble, high concept art jazz, that realm inhabited by George...

Tír na nÓg - The Dark Dance

Encouraged by the success of their first new recordings on FdM last year, Tír na nÓg launched their first album since 1973 on May 24, 2015. For those of you who were not able to...

Tír na nÓg - Ricochet

Last year, through the efforts of FdM, Tír na nÓg returned to recorded music after 40 years with their single I Have Known Love. On September 7, 2015 Tír na nÓg...

Stellar Om Source - Nite-Glo

One of the constants of synthesizer technology is that new instruments come out faster than musicians can learn to utilize all the capabilities of the previous generation. With so many players...

Volvox - Volvox

One of the things I like about how Volvox arranges their music is the way they don’t clutter up the frequencies with multiple parts. Many bands, especially ones who lean towards harder rock,...

Three Thirteen - Depletion Region

“Reflection of Day” is the first track on this CD, and when I first heard it, I was reminded of something Anthony Phillips might have come up with as a mellow interlude for a late-70s...

Three Thirteen - Depletion Region

Three Thirteen is the pseudonym of multi-instrumentalist Mark Harrell, not to be confused with California’s heavy metal band with the same name. Their respective musics are worlds apart. Mark...

Magic Bus - Seven Wonders

Magic Bus is a new band to the list of FdM artists. They fill the void left by Caravan in the mid 70s. They have two albums and another single under their belt already. This new single includes...

Kyrbgrinder - Chronicles of a Dark Machine

Kyrbgrinder is the solo project of Threshold drummer Johanne James. This is the third release in eight years, and with each outing James refines and evolves his vision for melodic, modern metal....

Nick Nicely - 49 Cigars

It was with some trepidation that I approached this new FdM single given my negative reaction to Nick Nicely’s 2014 album Space of a Second. Always wanting to give the benefit of the...

Yuka & Chronoship - The 3rd Planetary Chronicles

When I first saw the name “Yuka and Chronoship,” it made sense: Yuka Funakoshi is the leader of a progressive rock band, and “Chronoship” has a science-fictional ring to it...

Conrad Schnitzler / Pyrolator - Con-Struct

Over the course of his 30 years, Conrad Schnitzler amassed a vast archive of sounds that he used in various combinations for his live performances. After he passed away in 2011, Bureau B came up...

Conrad Schnitzler - Kollektion 05: Compiled by Thomas Fehlmann

Conrad Schnitzler, who passed away in 2011, was an extremely prolific and pioneering composer, concept artist, and one of the most important representatives of Germany’s electronic music...

The Optic Nerve - Penelope Tuesday / Here to Stay

The Optic Nerve were a little known band spawned from the 80s New York garage scene who eschewed the synthesized music surrounding them. They were enamoured with the jangling guitar motifs of The...

Zappa Early Renaissance Orchestra (ZERO) - Money? What Money?

If you ever listened to a Frank Zappa record and thought, “What this needs is more kazoo and ukulele,” then not only are you a very strange person, but you are in luck, because the...

The Grus - Nest

As the other Exposé writers have expressed, one of the joys of this job is being exposed to a wider range of music and artists than you normally encounter through the regular...

Ligro - Dictionary 3

Sometimes bands have what it takes to keep things interesting when growing compositions out of improvisation, and sometimes they just don’t. Surely this Indonesian trio offers the creative...

Ligro - Dictionary 3

Ligro is back – huzzah! These three tremendously talented Indonesian musicians are almost single-handedly affirming instrumental jazz-rock as an indispensible art form. Sure, there are some...

Datura 4 - Demon Blues

Here is a new band from Down Under, Datura 4, who play a mixture of psych, prog, and blues rock reminiscent of the 70s. The band is Dom Mariani (vocals, guitar), Greg Hitchcock (guitar), Warren...

Papernut Cambridge - Nutlets 1967-80

The 2015 follow-up to last year’s There's No Underground is Nutlets 1967 – 80. Unlike the previous release of original tunes, this time around they chose to cover...

Savant - Artificial Dance

Artificial Dance gives us the entire original Savant LP plus seven additional tracks from singles and so on. This welcome reissue brings to mind a number of thoughts. First is the fact...

Steve Roach - Etheric Imprints

The floating ghostly smoke image that adorns the cover fits the music perfectly, drifting freely in space, never tethered to any notion of rhythm or structure, yet moving and melodic. Here...

Grasscut - Everyone Was a Bird

Grasscut (Andrew Phillips and Marcus O’Dair) released their third album on May 18, 2015. The album title, Everyone Was a Bird is comes from the Siegfried Sassoon poem Everyone...

Milford Graves / Bill Laswell - Space / Time Redemption

In this meeting of the avant-garde generations, one of the pioneers for free percussion, Milford Graves, joins up with a bassist who has nearly every genre imaginable on his resume – free...

Ashley Reaks - Before Koresh

For the follow-up to last year’s Compassion Fatigue (1-8), Ashley Reaks has...

Quill - Brush with the Moon

Hailing from the midlands of England, this Quill (a popular band name!) dates back to the 70s. They’ve maintained a steady existence as a popular live act and in all that time have avoided...

ZenLand - ZenLand

ZenLand is the new group of Michael Zentner (electric violin), Tim Young (guitars), Doug Lunn (bass), Dean De Benedictis (keyboards), and Vonette Yanaginuma (harp). Their impeccable musical...

Various Artists - Considerably Further Beyond the Sea

Says it right there on the cover: “The Avant-Garde Surf Music Compilation.” “Avant-garde surf music?” you ask. Why yes. Upon a little consideration, maybe it’s not...

Michael Byron - In the Village of Hope

Here we have a case where the composer composes and the performer (someone else besides the composer) executes the composition, although it’s clear that (unlike typical classical music) in...

Blurred Vision - Organized Insanity

Canadian trio Blurred Vision have attracted attention via an endorsement from Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Listening to these 11 songs it’s easy to understand why, since many of the...

Lamp of the Universe - The Inner Light of Revelation

New Zealander Craig Williamson has been performing and recording as Lamp of the Universe since 1999. The Inner Light of Revelation, available on CD, LP, and download, may be his eleventh...

Dan Pound - Change of Weather

Dan Pound is a virtuoso electronic composer and musician, crafting visual and emotive musical canvases with his palette of synthesizers and other equipment. Each Dan Pound release I have reviewed...

John Wetton and the Les Paul Trio - New York Minute

On October 14, 2013, John Wetton appeared at the Iridium club in New York City to perform at a benefit for prostate and testicular cancer research. Because the audience weren’t all familiar...

Slemlurk - Eremitens Magiska Äfventyr

The debut from this Swedish band is quite a mixed bag stylistically, though happily when it comes to quality there’s a consistent high level. The opening track is a great workout of riffs and...

Magic Pie - King for a Day

This Norwegian band has an engaging sound that incorporates quite a range of elements, from sophisticated pop-rock along the lines of 10cc or early Ambrosia to complex modern prog like Echolyn with...

Consider the Source - World War Trio - Parts II + III

Prior to receiving this completely out of the blue, I had never heard of this band before. I guess one can’t be on top of everything going on in the music world, but I was surprised to see...

Marco Minnemann - Celebration

Marco Minnemann first appeared on my radar when he was chosen as the drummer for Eddie Jobson’s reformed UK project, then as part of the Levin Minnemann Rudess collaboration, as well as his...

The Pretty Things - The Sweet Pretty Things (Are Now in Bed, of Course...)

Who would have thought that after 52 years The Pretty Things would still be going strong? The Rolling Stones is the only other band that comes to mind that continues to rock. In The Pretty Things...

John Wetton - The Studio Recordings Anthology, Volume 1

The release of this compilation of John Wetton’s solo studio work is likely due to his prior compilations, King’s Road (1990) and Anthology (2001), being out of print....

Breznev Fun Club - Il Misantropo Felice

Breznev Fun Club straddles that line where a large ensemble becomes a small orchestra. The group is led by guitarist, composer and orchestrator Rocco Lomonaco, along with eighteen other musicians...

Camouflage - Greyscale

As Prog Rock faded away in the late 70s/early 80s, New Wave and Synth-Pop starting filling the gap, especially with the availability of affordable synthesizers. One such group, who were a bit late...

Hiperson - No Need for Another History

Having somewhat fallen out of touch with the Chinese rock scene lately, I was unaware of Chengdu’s Hiperson until I came across their new album at the merch table when I caught...

Deborah Martin - Under the Moon

Many listeners have a love/hate relationship with the New Age genre, but if you’re a fan then this one is probably already in your collection. If not, it should be. Under the Moon...

Van der Graaf Generator - After the Flood - At the BBC 1968-1977

After the Flood collects two discs worth of BBC recordings by one of progressive rock’s most iconoclastic bands, from their very beginnings (well, before the release of their first...

Godsticks - Emergence

On their third full-length release, Godsticks – still masters of fine songcraft – has definitely turned on the heavy switch, much more so than any of their previous outings. Primary...

Guapo - Obscure Knowledge

One can always count on Guapo to deliver full-on at highest intensity, yet still embrace the subtleties and finest textural qualities that make their sound at once mesmerizing and profoundly...

Mandala - Midnight Twilight

Multi-instrumentalist Rhys Marsh is quite an active musician. He has popped up quite a bit on various albums over the past 12 months. This time he is joined by Francis Booth on bass and Will...

Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra - Symphony 5

Peter Gordon is an American composer with a very broad idea of what a “symphony” can (or should) encompass. It certainly doesn't fit the idea of “serious” music,...

Will Z. - New Start

Part of the joy of reviewing is the exposure to new music and unknown artists. In this case we have an artist known as Will Z. There is very little information available about who Will Z. actually...

Dr Cosmo's Tape Lab - Beyond the Silver Sea

Beyond the Silver Sea is the remarkable new inspired sci-fi concept LP by Glascow band Dr. Cosmo’s Tape Lab. Dr. Cosmo’s Tape Lab is the mash-up of two psych-pop masters: Joe...

Alio Die & Lorenzo Montanà - Holographic Codex

Alio Die is the name of the soundscape / droning project of Italian composer and musician Stefano Musso, covered often in the pages of Exposé, and now as well on our site, with well...

Ozric Tentacles - Techicians of the Sacred

Enjoyable as they are, the challenge in reviewing any new Ozric Tentacles album is finding something to say that distinguishes the new album from the 29-or-so before it. The band had humble...

Erik Wøllo - Blue Radiance

Since I last encountered him around the time of Emotional Landscapes (2003), Norwegian musician and composer Erik Wøllo has continued to expand his mastery of ambient soundscapes...

Yes - Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two

Yes has always been a bit behind the curve when it comes to exploiting their trove of live recordings, but with this set they are catching up. Big time. It started with the archival digging that...

The David Rhodes Band - The David Rhodes Band

For many years, David Rhodes had been promising a solo album, stepping out from his gig as Peter Gabriel’s guitarist, and in 2010 he came out with Bittersweet, which I haven't...

Black Rainbows - Hawkdope

The Italian trio Black Rainbows sound like the love child spawned from 70s hard rock and 90s stoner groove. There are hints of Ozzie, Black Sabbath, Rotor, Hawkwind, and spin off space rock bands...

Moth Effect - Crocodilians

Moth Effect is a one-man band with no other identifying information. He does not sing, he is not flashy, but he does compose and play trance-inducing instrumentals reminiscent of 70s Kosmiche Musik...

The Belltowers - Here to Stay / Lovin' You

The Belltowers hail from Florida and have been making music since 2006. This new single is their second release and it features two delectable slices of West Coast psych/folk rock, most notably The...

Akku Quintet - Molecules

The first couple minutes of the opening cut “Phase Transitions,” with its beautiful spacy piano foundation and soft sax blowing over the top might take the listener back to the tranquil...

The Beatpack - Where the Water Runs Deep

The Beatpack date back to late 80s/early 90s tearing up audiences with their distinctive brand of primal rock and roll. Back in the day they released an EP, a 45 single, and an LP for Screaming...

Hypercolor - Hypercolor

Remember punk-jazz? You know, Material, James Blood Ulmer, that kind of thing? Hypercolor operate in the same general sound space as that, with a free ranging sonic assault featuring wild electric...

The Baron Four - Walking Out / Can't Find My Way

André Fernandes Perim - Dágua

André Perim is a Brazilian keyboardist and composer whose goal is to combine progressive keyboard playing with Brazilian percussion — at least that’s how he was first presented to me. In many...

Taylor's Universe - From Scratch

Robin Taylor is quite a prolific Danish guitarist, recording and performing both as a solo artist and also leader of Taylor’s Universe since the mid 80s. Each new release contains new...

Ole Lukkøye - Dyatly

The Ar-kaics - Always the Same / Let Me In

Esko Järvelä Epic Male Band - Rye Groove

Michael Gibbs & The NDR Bigband - In My View

Devin Gray - Relative Resonance

Ciccada - The Finest of Miracles

Mick Abrahams - Revived!

Hu Vibrational - The Epic Botanical Beat Suite

Daniel Bennett Group - The Mystery at Clown Castle

Lorenzo Feliciati - Koi

Anekdoten - Until All the Ghosts Are Gone

Crown Larks - Blood Dancer

Upwell - In through the Outro

FM - Transformation

Steve Hackett - Wolflight

Anticipation has been higher than normal for a new Steve Hackett album following his recent, triumphant Genesis Revisited touring. I wondered how being immersed in those genre-defining...

Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.

More Experience - Piosenki z Szuflady Czyli Jest Tak Jak Jest

Kaze - Uminari

Not a Good Sign - From a Distance

Cranium Pie - Mechanisms Pt.2

Lunden Reign - American Stranger

The New Trocaderos - Frenzy in the Hips

Nick Piunti - Beyond the Static

Tania Chen, Danielle DeGruttola, Henry Kaiser, Soo-Yeon Lyuh, William Winant - Megasonic Chapel

The Galileo 7 - One Lie at a Time / The God of Gaps

M-Opus - 1975 Triptych

The Seventh Ring of Saturn - Ormythology

Mugstar & Damo Suzuki - Start from Zero

The Pretty Things - Bouquets from a Cloudy Sky

Free Nelson Mandoomjazz - Awakening of a Capital

Mike Osborne - Dawn

Daniel Lentz - In the Sea of Ionia

I Salici - Sowing Light

Taylor's Universe - From Scratch

Steam Theory - Asunder

The Kandinsky Effect - Somnambulist

Forrest Fang - Letters to the Farthest Star

Fernwood - Arcadia

Palmbomen II - Palmbomen II

John Luther Adams - The Wind in High Places

Byron Metcalf / Steve Roach / Rob Thomas - Monuments of Ecstasy

Tesla Manaf - Tesla Manaf

At hand is Indonesian guitarist and composer Tesla Manaf’s first international release, which reissues his 2014 album A Man’s Relationship with His Fragile Area, followed by his next...

Air Craft - So Near, So Far

After the death of progressive rock at the end of the 70s, some of the survivors kept their band names and turned to more commercial endeavors, or else they were driven deep underground where...