| Wrapped somewhere in the Porcupine Tree / Pink Floyd school or space prog lies Siddhartha blending instrumentation into some of the most delicious jams you have ever heard. Siddhartha blend Gilmour'esque electric guitar over symphonic landscape with some incredible bass and percussive moments. This album if full of major mood swings from very serene and tranquil moments to the all out blitzkrieg jam sessions. Vocals are convincingly sung in english and in fact carry a certain "spaceyness" to them which fits the music quite well. Instrumentation is deep with some great warm sounds for your speakers. Siddhartha is full of surprises and each songs carries its own colors and characteristics always sounding highly original. This is an essential recording and will absolutely remain a classic in this household...
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| When Progressive rock is this convincing you must take note ….Italy's Standarte play dark mellotron driven imaginative music with a high degree of musicianship. Imagine a band where 2 of the three members are credited with playing the mellotron and you are already half way there for me…..Curses & Invocations Standarte's 2nd release combines layered symphonic keyboards with great voices (sung convincingly in english) fitted with some pretty tasty bass & drum interplay throughout. This album is full of luscious dark atmospheres and dark macabre imaging without getting too gothic or ugly for my liking. Of the most intriguing aspects of this album for me is the absence of guitar which although at first I was a little doubtful is in fact not missed at all …a true testimonial to the depth of their music. Overall a well crafted album which is full of originality and offers some great dark mellotron laden music for you too dream off to another world with.
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| Building nicely off of their earlier work, "Dots & Loops" in my estimation would rank as one of the finer 90's ambient/electronic accomplishments. Clearly Stereolab have moved further away from their pattented one-chord drone mesh of their early days and have moved towards the more avant-garde-easy listening vein. "Dots and Loops" combines loads of wonderful spacey analog keyboards with spirited horn and string arrangements giving a heavy 60's psychy feel to this album. Without a question Hypnotic repetition is still Stereolab's main mode, but "Dots and Loops" fleshes out its rhythms with a range of infectious hybridizations. Immediately recognizable was the tune "Ticker-tape of the Unconscious" with its heavy bass rhythms which was utilized heavily during Volkswagon's advertising campaign for the beetle bug back a wee while ago. "Dots & Loops" is a cocktail of artsy, cosmic bleeps and blips with a little jazz and a French ye-ye garnish. Overall this album delivers some pretty hippy trancey vibes with enough panache and inventiveness to satisfy this music lover. Oh yes how could I forget to mention the lovely voice of Laetitia Sadier....absolute Ultra Lounge music academy of avant space-pop.
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| Sven Grunberg will most certainly not be the most recognizable name in progressive rock, but one listen to his work and you will be mesmorized. Grunberg's music is essentially progressive space explorations sounding highly landscaped and almost soundtrack'ish. As a multi instrumentalist, Grunberg's music and style closely resembles that of both Vangelis and Schulze. Songs are quite symphonic and rich in electronic textures and sonic landscapes. Instrumentation is varied throughout with some wonderful world music elements tossed in for good measure. Percussion and voices are added only to enhance the dramatic elements of the music. The music of Grunberg has been hidden to the world for far too long and thanks to Boheme Records it has been finally unleashed for all to enjoy. A great space trip and a wonderful electronic ambient album. | |||
| Classic Yugo-prog rock featuring stand out keyboard and guitar interplay. Bijelo dugme were responsible for a number a solid prog albums in the early 70's with "Sanjo sam nocas da te nemam" (Last night I dreamed that I Don't have You any more) capturing many of these magical musical moments. Instrumentally Bijelo dugme combine symphonic keyboards with acoustic and electric guitar giving me a sound similar to a mix of lets say early Fleetwood Mac , PFM and Procol Harum. Bijelo dugme's lead singer is a bit rougher around the edges but adds a great rustic quality to the music which comes across gutteral and full of emotion. Once again I find Bijelo dugme's music in a similar vein to the 70's Ital-prog sound. Songs are quite memorable with some great melodies and musical moments. Although many of their songs are pure symphonic prog they also dabble in the blues-prog category with some stellar results. Considering the age of these recordings I find the sound quite full and nicely transfered digitally onto CD format and offer some great speaker seperation. | |||
| Recorded live in '98 in Naples and Rome featuring many of the classics from PFM's past. This well recorded 2 CD set is a real beauty with some simply stunning musical moments. Line up includes Franco Mussida (guitars and vocals), Flavio Premoli (Organ, piano, oberheim, korg, mini moog), Patrick Djivas (Bass) and Franz Di Cioccio (Drums). The 4 lads are joined also on stage by a few other musicians who help make this album "beyond bitchin" with emphasis in particular on Phil Drummy (Sax, flute, bassoon, tinwhistles) and Stefano Tavernese (electric violin). This essential 2 CD set explores some of my personal fav PFM tracks including Out Of The Roundabout, Dove...Quando, Dolcissima Maria, Suonare suonare, 4 holes in the ground and Impressioni di Settembre. Overall this 2 Cd set offers some wonderful sound reproduction and excellent mic'ing which sounds great over the ol speakers. Musically these guys still have what it takes with some great musical excursions and instrument interplay. Overall a magical little live album with some real character and full of energy.
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| Every now and then an album comes by which carries a real magnetism for my ears...like Melodramatic.. This album carries goiter-throbbing deep mellotron runs surrounded by some excellent guitar, bass and drum instrumentation. Songs are well written with loads of great character hovering around some wonderful space like atmospheres. Musically these guys move all around the map and cover lots of ground delivering a highly original sound which is solidly progressive. I hear elements of Anglagard, Porcupine Tree, Radiohead and even the mighty Pink Floyd. This is one of those album that the more you listen to the more you fall in love with. This CD has not left my player since I have had it in my grubby little fingers. By the way the album was produced and mixed by Anglagard's Mattias Olsson.
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| Bela Fleck and the Flecktones have been orbiting the jazz/prog/rock planet for a while now and this time have once again expanded our musical universe even further. Banjo wizard Fleck has embarked on a five-album mission for Columbia Records and Sony Classical, and the first resultant Flecktones set "OUTBOUND" offers a fusion quartet accompanied by a varied and versatile set of friends as it explores a new section of its creative cosmos. "Outbound" adds to the familiar Flecktones palette with the judicious use of guest vocalists Shawn Colvin, Yes' Jon Anderson, as well as a pair of singers less familiar to American ears: Tuvan throat singer Ondar and Indian classical vocalist Rita Sahai. Fleck also has added Andy Narell on steel pans, bassist Edgar Meyer, guitarist Adrian Belew , keyboardist John Medeski, oboist Paul McCandless, bassoonist Paul Hanson, and Sandip Burman on tablas. The result is a wild and unpredictable voyage through the eclectic imagination of Fleck. Clearly the Flecktones show no sign of being any less daring or surprising than ever. Outbound is a whirlwind excursion through the collective talents of some of the most amazing musicians in this galaxy. | |||
| Long lost classic progressive rock gem from the 70's Yugoslavia scene blending strong elements of 70's Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd with a high degree of originality. Drugi nacin features Halil Mekic (guitars, vocals) and Ismet Kurtovic (flute, guitar and vocals) who later would form Yugo's "Grupa Nepocin". Overall Drugi nacin play a wonderful mix of classic melodic prog with some simply irrestible instrumental breakouts offering some great guitar solos, great rhythm bass and drum interplay and some stellar keyboard work I must say!. Standout track for me is "Na mom dlanu" which is just dripping with dual harmonic e-guitar solos and brilliant instrumental passages (ie. flute and space sounds). A wonderful little recording which will appeal to all fans of progressive rock for sure and is one of my personal favs from Yugo. | |||
| For those who love heavy deep prog rock with loads of great guitar runs and heavy keyboard laden atmospheres will need to get their hands on this little collectible excerpt from England's historic prog rock bands of the early 70's. To my knowledge Fuzzy Duck only released this 1 album and a few singles which the fine folks at Repetroire have compiled as bonus tracks on this CD re-release. Hard to peg this one down but I might suggest is a cross somewhere between early Traffic/Deep Purple with perhaps Grobschnitt. Instrumental break out jams are simply to kill for with long winding organ and some pretty heavy guitar accents. Vocals are well done sounding quite 70's rock'ish British which I personally love. Songs are well crafted offering some solid toe tapping grooves throughout.
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| Experimental acid avant-garde jazz prog rock with some simply mind curdling psychedelic influences. For those who love to get trapped in the spaceous realms of some pretty trippy space prog will absolutely drool over Catapilla's Changes. Led by the saxes of Robert Calvert and the psychy yet elegantly powerful vox of Anna Meek, this album just refuses to quite with multi layered instrumentation and some of the most thought provoking tunes your ears can take. Graham Wilson's electric guitar solos are heavingly and soaring while e- bass ,electric piano and drums complete the rhythm section throughout. This is another essential album you must hunt down and add to your collection....even my cat love it!
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| For those who are trapped up in the definition of progressive rock may oppose to by inclusion of Pat Metheny's "Bright Size Life" as a personal addition into this genre but I have always loved this album and found the free form 6 and electric 12 string guitar performance quite progressive. Obviously with heavy roots in free form jazz, Metheny along with Jaco Pastorius (basss) and Bob Moses (Drums) gets into some lovely but relaxed musical jazz madness. With a nice and relaxed wall of jazz percussion and fretless bass interplay, Metheny gets his chance to shine as he plays some wonderful fret expressions (I guess here is where I get the cross over into progressive rock). "Missouri Uncompromised" is perhaps my pick from this album sounding a bit like Steve Howe at times with a bit more of an acoustic fusion jazz expression inherent. | |||
| Instrumental progressive rock fusion from Estonia with truely authentic sound ranging from Jazz (aka UZEB) to classic rock (aka Deep Purple) to classic prog (King Crimson). Esentially Poletus (Burning) was their first album released back in 1981 with Sonum representing their EP , released in 1983. Instrumentally songs are aggressive but quite comprehensible with great instrumental interplay and diverse time changes. Immediately recognizable is their twin guitarists Riho Sibul (Ex-In Spe)& Ain Vapts, and the magical flute of Peeter Malkov who brings a certain balanced dimension to this music. Keyboards are contributed throughout by a number of different members who all compliment the album with solid performances throughout. For those who like their prog jazzy and full of fusion elements will most certainly dig Kaseke's music. Music Boheme can be reached at Music Boheme Homepage | |||
| Finland is known for giving birth to some fantastic progressive rock acts including Wigwam, Pekka Pohjola and Tasavallan Presidenti and oh yes… Finnforest . Although mostly forgotten this little known band may represent the very best to have ever come out of Norway IMHO. The Laser's Edge has carefully re-stored and has put their 2 earliest albums on 1 cd for all of us now to enjoy -Finnforest (1975) and their masterpiece Lahto Matkalle (1976). The self-titled debut features a slightly harder prog rock flare featuring some tremendously lively guitar/keyboard/drums interplay of Pekka Tegelman, Jukka Rissanen, and Jussi Tegelman. Hard to really peg down but I guess you could draw parallels to the music of Finch, Camel and perhaps even Caravan. In contrast Lahto Matkalle delivers a different character harnessing more of a jazz-prog composition with the band more in a classic quartet formation. A wonderful string section is used on the side long title composition creating a sublime fusion of classical, progressive, and jazz. Toss in some of the heaviest fuzz-bass this side of Magma and you have a mature, unique recording that is amongst my favs. A Wonderfully complex recording which you need to own… | |||
| Ananda Shankar 's musical legacy is best remembered by his uncanny ability to fuze the musical ideals of traditional Indian music with Western pop. After being heavily influenced by his jam sessions with the late Jimi Hendrix, Shankar focused his energy on creating and preserving a unique mix of world music. Walking On, a collaboration with Asian DJ Sam Zaman, a.k.a. the State of Bengal was released nearly a year after his untimely death. This album finds the sitar virtuoso melding his own influences with modern music just as seamlessly as he did through covers of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Light My Fire" on 1970's Ananda Shankar which is also one of my most beloved albums. Shankar puts forth a decidedly '60s vibe throughout while interestingly incorporating elements of drum-and-bass, hip-hop, and a whole lot of funky drumming. A wicked live rendition of "Streets of Calcutta," a track from Shankar's first album, punctuates the end of the album with new character. Hate to say it but another essential treasure for your growing music collection kiddies | |||
| Every now and then an album comes by which really freaks me out …..and this is certainly the case with Pesniary's Gusliar (The Gusli Player). Pesniary may be best known for their work in the popular music genre of the former Soviet republic of Belarus . Composed as a concept album focused around Russian poet Yanka Kupala and his work "Barrow". Pesniary are a vocal instrumental ensemble who make a wide use of various instrumentation to create contrasting dramatic and colorful elements. I love the heavy mix instruments (ie. Violin, woodwinds, flute, brass, piano and percuission) with some dazzling vocal harmonies and voices. Although most symphonic, Gusliar also contains some operatic prog rock which when combined with the classic elements creates a very rich and full album full of surprises. A deeply emotional album with some highly original and creative moments. | |||
| Without a question the music of Steve Hackett has been a personal love of mine for many years now and although much less "Progressive" than other works still carries some wonderful instrumentation and Hacket'esque moments. Feedback '86 is a long lost album recorded back in '86 during the GTR era which never saw the light of day. Feddback carries some real nifty content like the tune Cassandra which features Ian Mosely and Pete Trewavas (Marillion), Prizefighters - a slower version than played live druing the GTR tour (written by Steve Howe and Steve Hackett) which is sung by Bonnie Tyler. Throughout lead vocals are handled by Chris Thompson (Manfred Mann) and of course Mr Hackett. Brian May (Queen) also stops by for an electric duo with Steve in a strange little tune called Slot Machine. Overall this a quirky album with some marvellous instrumentation granted more in the straight forward rock vein, but I really like it....
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| Magestically rich instrumental symphonic prog with some simply killer violin performances. Instrumentally Quaterna Requiem sound much more 70's than 90's to be honest with a very warm analog delivery. Velha Gravura is a very dramatic yet wonderfully intense piece of music which carries a highly classical vein throughout. Much of the song writing is actually quite romantic and at times reminds me of some of Italy's more 70's symphonic masters. Songs have been carefully crafted and offer some simply amazing and highly delicate progressive passages. Instrumentation consists of guitars (much acoustic) , drums and percussion, piano, synths, violin and bass guitars. This is an essential recording which I recommend everyone who reads this get their hands on a copy | |||
| For those who really want to be freaked out should sample a few minutes of Le Orme's first and un-characteristically psychy album which sounds just perfect to this music lover. Ad Gloriam is a colorful album blending that whimsically paisley West Coast psych element including great vocal harmonies, backwards guitar loops , freakbeat allusions and some exquisite orchestral arrangements. For those like me who adore much of Le Orme's output may be quite surprised as to just how different they do sound here. Aldo Tagliapietra still handles the lead vocals and flute while Michi Del Rossi as always adds his strong tympanic talents and Toni Pagliuca performs on his organ and electric piano. Although quite a diversion from their classic prog sounds, Ad Gloriam is a simply masterful piece of psychedelia and must be owned by all lovers of music. Definitely wear some flowers in your hair when travelling to Italy…. . | |||
| Diabolus' debut album is a classic early english sounding progressive rock album with some highly imaginative instrumentation. Diabolus' music is rich with flute and guitar interplay and at times actually reminds me a bit of early Jethro Tull. Typical of many of the English 70's prog acts the vocals are quite well done with some nice harmonies and vocal injections throughout. Philip Howard also contributes his tenor sax and piano skills along with his flute. Songs are quite accessible and yet carry a slight psychedelic feel to them. A great album through and through! | |||
| Grupa Smak were responsible for a number of excellent contributions to the whole Yugo-prog rock scene with many of their best moments captured here. Originating from Kragujevac, Serbia, Smak were a 5 piece classic prog rock act who blend all the right elements for this music lover...Melodic keyboards (hammond & Mellotron) with great guitar playing and bass/drum rhythm section. Vocals are well done and sung in native tongue and often carry the main theme of the song throughout. Smak were able to write driving yet melodic prog with some very memorable songs. Included here is Smak's signature progressive masterpiece "Put Od Balona" which ticks in at 19:00 mins and represents their most complete song in my opinion drawing allusion to Steve Hackett (Genesis). | |||
| Well I guess you can say "they did it again". For those who are "Beard heads" will drool over "V" with their 27 minute opus extravagenza track "The Great Nothing"...a highlight for this prog lover. I continue to be amazed at Morse's ability to write such compelling and different music time after time. "V" delivers that pattented Beard rapid time signature and mood altering music with great lustre and sophistication. They even revisit their song "Thoughts" with another wonderful Gentle Giant'ish allusion and have been clever in naming it Thoughts 2! Clearly one of my personal big loves has been their fine use of instrumentation which continues with "V" featuring loads of fine analog keyboard work and mellotron. Overall this is just a great album dripping with that musical prowness that can only be Spock's Beard. Go Get This Album! | |||
