| Steve Tibbetts is the thinking-man's guitar player whose music spans a host of influences and genres ( folk, jazz, rock, ethnic, modern classical). Once again Tibbetts takes the listener into his world of sound where he collides experimental guitar with tabla, kalimba, pianolin, cello, steel drum and other percussion instruments, and of course his existential tape collection of nature sounds. The album actually opens with my personal favorite tune he has ever recorded with a tabla-driven folksy cover of Led Zeppelin's "Black Mountain Slide" (Not in Mr. Page's style, but 100% Tibbetts!) . The rest of the album is a deep exploration into the mysterious musical exploration of Tibbetts and percussionist Marc Anderson. Their impressionistic sounds are highly Eastern influenced with a large degree of Tabla used throughout and is truly full of rich tone colors and inventive rhythms. Another simply brilliant moment on the album is the 11 Min tune "3 Letters," in which Tibbetts integrates sounds of chanting monks, Tibetan horns and cymbals with children's voices. Juxtaposed over this is added cello, acoustic guitar, guitar synth, kalimba, tabla and assorted percussion . Truly a wonderful explorative little album busting out with creativity and originality. | |||
| The early recordings of John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra remain amongst my favourites in the world of prog fusion. Apocalypse featured the re-formed Mahav's line up with Jean Luc Ponty (violin) and Michel Walden (Percussionist) and the added orchestral genius of George Martin. Apocalypse was a very different album from the early days of pure frenzied fusion and really takes classical and fusion a pulls them together in a leaner style. In 1974 the idea of meshing classical and contemporary sounds were very much in style and lots of progressive rock bands played in this arena. Make no mistake my friends, Apocalypse is pure genius and the progressive mix of orchestral jazz/prog/fusion will definitely keep you up at night. Songs build with full orchestral support into some pretty monumental musical moments. Of course there is still a whole lot of Mahav instrumentation which will keep you amazed. McLaughlin's guitar with Ponty's Violin strokes and Walden's drumming ….what else could you ask for. Definitely an essential recording from my perspective and one that does something very different from the rest. A true progressive set…..Brilliant | |||
| 13 Piece ensemble who create an emotive picturesque landscape with deep stringed tones (cello and violin) and a vast array of guitar accents. Collectively SFTF takes the listener into their own relaxed world of symphonic sorrow . The musical connection here to "Godspeed" is quite strong with several members represented (Aidan, Beckie and Sophie) and other members from Fly Pan Am, Exhaust and Sackville. Musically these guys get it ….I love their controlled instrumental work which works effectively as they build up to those deep dark interludes. As you would expect although there is no singing on the album , STFT do draw on a wall of sound bytes to help create their musical atmospheres . A brilliant album requiring all of you listening attention, but I do warn you that this apocalyptic album will put you deep into a trance with little ability to come out until it is over… | |||
| Back in 1997, Gary Burton the master of the vibraphone & marimba re-united with Chick Corea to release another album full of collaborative musical genius. Written solely as a series of duets for piano and vibraphone, "Native Sense" transforms the white spaces into brilliant foliage of color and tones. This album works on many levels but at its core is really a musical study in shape and texture. Sonically speaking, "Native Sense" features the juxtaposition of a brilliantly tuned piano (Yamaha CFIII-S Concert Grand Piano) against the mallet induced brightness of Musser vibraphone and marimba. The end result is really something to hear and the clarity , musician position and tone of this recording are unbelievable. I guess this music might be found filed under Jazz but really defies all categorization and is so unique and exploratory that I deem this progressive music. They also add duets of two Bela Bartok numbers and an arousing version of Thelonius Monk's "Four In One". | |||
| I remember hearing Mogwai for the first time in my local record store and immediately leaving the store with a copy of their CD in my hand (of course I bought it !). Since that album I have followed their career fairly closely , picking up all their subsequent releases. Although all of their music is quite wonderful, it is their 3rd album "Come on die young" which really has had a huge impression on me. For those who don't really know the music of Mogwai are in for a real surprise with their generally relaxed and spaced out musical instrumental trippiness. This Glaswegian quintet strategically layers guitars, keyboards and drums (with occasional flute and samples) into dense, beautiful squalls before cautiously allowing the mass to recede to near nothingness. The best way to really sample their music is with the lights dimmed and the headphones dawned. Mogwai play a lot with white noise and use space as much as they do the canvass. Mogwai….you have my ears ! | |||
| "Born Into Trouble.." is Silver Mt Zion's second release, this time expanding out to a 6 piece ensemble and in the process has recorded one absolutely stunning album. Basically the core of the band are members from Canada's Godspeed You Black Emperor with Efrim Menuck at the helm. On this album Mt Zion added in cello, a second violin & a second guitar. In many ways the music of Silver Mt Zion touches that of Godspeed's with picturesque landscapes and carefully etched out themes. Songs generally meander and work in very haunting circles with deep emotional strings and bass passages. Their music is not rushed and really works like a huge cinematic soundtrack with big deep tones and angular musical reflections. Even though the guts of the album is rooted in its dark mournful state of a failing world, one will recognize its beauty with highly evocative and chilling themes. This is an album for your mind and perfect for those chilled out session that your body so desperately needs. | |||
| Immediately after recording "Bright Size Life" , Metheny re-examined the whole dimension of music hooking up with Lyle Mays (Piano), Eberhard Weber (bass) and Don Gottlieb (drums). This was actually the first album Mays and Metheny recorded together and would set up a musical friendship for the next 25+ years. Metheny plays a very moody guitar throughout "Watercolors" and does so with both a 12-string guitar, and 15-string Harpguitar. Coupled with support from Mays and the others, this is the album that really starts to bring all the elements of Metheny's music together. The distinctive Metheny twang is here, a colorful mix of biting solo runs linked with solid underlying melody and his unique vibe of jazz guitar. Some have referred to this album "jazz chamber music", while others have even stated it predates the new age genre….I guess I hear distinctive progressive - Jazz leanings!. Musically this album runs through like a movie score with its creative core of exploratory landscaped Jazz. | |||
| New Trolls were a prolific band started in the beat generation of the late 60's and really came alive in the 70's with a number of grand progressive albums….Concerto Grosso was one of them. It was one of the first bands to attempt the fusion of classical and rock music and tuned out to be a huge success selling more than 800,000 copies worldwide and influencing other bands like Deep Purple, Osanna with 'Milano Calibro 9', and Rovescio Della Medaglia, with 'Contaminazione'. Concerto Grosso is a rich blend of orchestral tones with Ital-prog flushed throughout. The music is rich and full of excitement with some incredibly gorgeous themes throughout. Another excellent 70's Italian progressive album to discover. | |||
| Tragically reduced length monster 3rd album from Scotland's Mogwai , blending subtle instrumentation with a high degree of experimentation. A wildly strange album from a band who usually pride themselves in creating longer and slower paced tracks to chill out to. On "Rock Action", Mogwai open with perhaps their most profound statement yet with "Sine Wave"which begins with a slow, pulsing keyboard motif and distorted drums marking time. Gradually, the volume rises as more and more instruments join until the song reaches seismic proportions before fading down again. After this "Godspeed-like" intro, the album slips back into classic Mogwai style with "breathe- taking" spanning musical moods and themes. On "Rock Action" we also find more vocalizations which really suits the music well and may be the fact that "Mercery Rev" producer David Fridmann also did this album. Overall a great album…but just too darn short...oh well I guess you can not have everything | |||
| Lol Crème and Kevin Godley managed to produce some highly interesting pop prog during the 70's with "Sheet Music" standing out as arguably their defining moment on album. In many ways I would categorize this in the same light as the Split Enz masterpiece "Mental Notes" with it's zany lyrics and pungent time and key signature changes. Musically these guys are solid with lots of wild studio gadgetry and clever instrumentation. Overall an excellent album with a lot of creative juices. | |||
| Not sure where Finn Miller has been all my life, but with a voice like this I am in love again. Fans of Kate Bush/ Stevie Nicks will definitely love Miller's voice who carries that same enduring and fragile quality. I must tell you that this album really grabbed me by surprise as it works so well on so many different levels. This British trio convincingly mesh pop, prog and psyche genres creating some highly absorbing music for your mind. Basically Shay's music is at the core bass, drum and guitar music which never gets too loud or "psychedelically-anguished" sounding and really remains of the same mood level throughout with the smooth vocals and harmonies of Finn Miller. I heartily recommend this album to all lovers of good music. | |||
| I Really knew nothing about this album until I traded it from one of my fellow music pals. Basically this is heavily spaced out electronic Music which will likely appeal to fans of cosmic rock like perhaps Melting Euphoria or Cosmic Jokers. The band is really the art of Gilbert Artmann who is credited with Drums, Percussion, Vibraphone, Synthesizers & Keyboards, Xavier Balleret (Guitars) ex of "Hydravion", and Yves Lanes (Synthesizer). Essentially this album is comprised of 2 tracks…The first one "Spiral Malax" is a tune which starts off being driven by Sequencer, Hammond Organ, guitar arpeggios and taped, treated percussion and drums and slowly unfolds and progresses into a serious Guitar driven interlude with Balleret wailing over his own multi-tracked Rhythm Guitar. The second track "Synthetic Seasons" opens with Hammond, Glissando Guitar, Synthesizer and one of Artmann's best known drum patterns. Rhythm guitar shows up to reinforce the drums resembling an obvious Pinhas-like dynamics which then is overtaken by Piano and Vibraphone, all blended into a polyrhythmic/polyharmonic brew, which then progresses to a trio section of Glissando Guitar, Piano, and Clarinet, with slide whistle and synthesizer. Get ready to be spaced out my friends.. | |||
| Now I am sure simply having any album reviewed on my website with the start of "DJ" simply will send shivers down everyone's spine, but please let me explain (I think I found an abnormality doctor!). One day one of my contemporary work associates told me about this genre busting album created from fragments of old LP's and smattered on 1 long playing album. I believe they actually call this "Art" scratching……..Of course I was very skeptical about such an effort and really thought it would be horrid , but I pressed on and put the CD into my player. What I found was a needle in the hay stack……An album full of funk, house, ambient, Jazz and rock pieces which actually takes a large number of musical forms and combines them into something that really grooves….something clever! The album is actually dark and quite mezmerizing with some wild psychedelic and funk moments. If you listen carefully you will hear segments of Mike Oldfield and yes even Tangerine Dream. Likely this album will not be for everyone and please note I do recognize this fact, but I really like this album and enjoy what it is……always experimenting and looking for those hidden gems kids ! | |||
| So how could you not but simply love an album which sub titles their album "The Psychological Perspective Of …" ? Unfortunately this album went dark for about 5 years and was out of print and unavailable and I had to settle for a "B" grade taped copy….that is until now. "In Search Of A New Dream" has been carefully re-mastered offering best sound possible and is a huge improvement over previous releases. Musically, Tangle Edge are a duo of Ronald Nygard (electric and acoustic guitars, slide, e-bow , moog, bells, tom tom) and Hasse Horrigmoe (Bass guitar, Acoustic 12 string guitar, moog, string ensemble, cymbals, penny whistle, 6 string bass guitar). This is pure instrumental haze with a sound registering somewhere between Ozric Tentacles and This Spacious Mind. Basically this album is full of great guitar/bass driven space rock with world and Eastern music influences. An excellent album with some very psychy guitar parts. | |||
| Sometimes you run into an album and you only wish it had been recorded with more tender loving care than it had been. This is most certainly the case with Akasha so be warned that this recording will not fill every ounce of your speaker's "Mise - En- Scene" . However what is lacks on the dynamic recording front, it makes up on the creativity and musical front. Akasha's 1st and only album is full of heavy mellotron and dark foreboding progressive rock. Lyrics are sung in English but they are not central to this album and actually get a bit in the way of the most luscious instrumentation you will ever hear. Basically Akasha blend guitar, bass , drum and dramatic keyboards with symphonic theatrics and rich mellotron dripping melodies. An great little album | |||
| Triumvirat released a number of excellent albums over their rein with Pompeii being regarded as one of the classics by this music lover. This was to be on Pompeii a re-shaped band with new members and a new fresh sound both which they achieved. Biggest change from their early lineup is the addition of English lead vocalist Barry Palmer who has a purely magical voice. This was a mega project for lead member Jurgen Fritz who not only plays his vast array of keyboards (Steinway grand, Hammond C3, Organ, Moog, Polyphonic synths, Arp string ensemble, fender rhodes, clavinet) but also added some heavy choir and string arrangements. In fact the orchestral parts were recorded by Conny Plank as was on the album as well. A fantastic album for sure | |||
| Something wonderful has really happened here kids……….This album totally has blown me away.....Imagine taking the category-defying, tone poet guitarist Steve Tibbetts, and combing him with Scandinavian (Norwegian) hardanger fiddler Knut Hamre. Together they have captured one of the most intriguing little albums full of unique tonal impressions and meditative themes. The album is titled Å (Hannibal 1438;53:46) which continues Tibbetts' exploration into cross-cultural musical rendezvous combining the beguiling drone of the fiddle with the quiet tranquil frets which Tibbetts complements nicely. I should mention that the recording is also very well mic'd and does offer some great sound dynamics for your speakers ..I actually think this was recorded in some old church in Norway. Along with Hamre, Tibbetts has added long-time percussionist collaborator Marc Anderson and bassist Anthony Cox to the mix, but the real point of focus is on Hamre's haunting hardanger fiddling. The instrument's unique sound, underscored by the droning timbral swirl of sympathetic strings, speaks in a dialect all its own. | |||
| Locomotiv were one of Hungary's most prolific bands throughout the 70's with their first release "Ringasd El Ma Gad" contributing solidly into the golden 70 's progressive era. Essentially Locomotiv combined heavy organ (Presser Gabor) with solid drums (Lux Jozef) and lots of solid electric guitar (Barta Tamas) and bass interplay (Frenreisz Karoly) . Vocals are excellent and although sung in native Hungarian does suit the music. Hard to exactly peg Locomotiv down as their music offers so many unique twists and turns and is anything but consistent across the album…..pressed I would likely say somewhere between Deep Purple and Gentle Giant. Although their music combines so many elements, it was seems to come back to its core of classic prog rock/AOR. A truly wonderful album mixed with lots of color and some heavy musical passion. | |||
| Improvisations From a Void is a 30 Mins Prog-Psych rock suite which unfolds a short but tantalizing vision into the mind of a new multi talented / multi - instrumentalist named Jeffrey Sanders. This music on this introductory CD is a real teaser as it is quite sweet and intriguing offering a wide spectrum of influences and emotions. At the heart of this music rests Sanders desire for "psychedelic soulful grooving" which wanders throughout this album. Highlight for me was the track "Invite The Drum" which blends rock, funk and psychedelia in 1 warped but awesome song. For a 1st outing, this is a fine little recording …even my cat Snooker loves it ! You can get a copy by sending an e-mail to Jeffrey at mountainmirrors@yahoo.com | |||
| Every now and an album or artist comes by that just simply blows you away and this was most certainly the case with Svante Henryson. Enkidu is an instrumental concept album based around a fable of two heroes who ultimately find their nemesis. But of course the real genius is not in the story but in the storyteller Svante Henryson. Henryson's powerful and yet magestic stroke of the cello will certainly inspire those who listen. His tones reached on this album are truly awesome and the recording also is absolutely stunning. Svante is credited with the Cello, Celtar and Double Bass, Jonas Sjoblom (drums/percussion) and a host of other fine musicians who contribute, violin, viola, cello, flugelhorn, french horn, trombone and tuba. In many ways this plays out like a movie soundtrack with a highly themeatic state. Musically this is classical yet very modern in approach. The cello on the album is so pure and honest that the hairs on your arms will stand up…this is really an amazing album and really needs to be your collection. | |||
| I had read and heard that Liona Boyd had done some interesting musical things outside of the normal classical motif that she had become an icon within, but was unsure of what to acquire. Recently my good friend and Canadian progressive rock recording artist Steve Cochrane brought "Dancing On The Edge" to my attention . This classically oriented prog- pop album takes the guitar playing aka Steve Howe and places it delicately in a pseudo - New Age theatre of musical ideas. "Dancing On The Edge" also features some superb compositional and guitar work by Richard Fortin. For the most part this album is a collection of classical and electric guitar ragas. Along the way we also hear 2 vocal tracks which nicely adds some character to a very natural sounding album. Overall musically this is a very powerful album full of positive light and a high degree of musicianship. Classical guitar lovers will really need to get into this album….now if we could only get Boyd to join Marillion ! | |||
