• Music

    Frames – In Via

    September 6, 2021 - By 

    Frames aren’t quite a new name for me, but it seems I missed this post-rock gem.  I was amused to read that a lot of post-rock fans don’t see much good in this album because it doesn’t fit their pre-conceived notions of what music in the genre should sound like, I suppose.  For me, I like that it goes nowhere in particular, a bit like a drive down a highway on a Sunday afternoon with no particular point you’re traveling to.  Musically, this is a solid album, not as metal as other post-rock bands (which for my taste is a…

  • Music

    Align In Time – On A Spiral

    August 31, 2021 - By 

    This release came out in 2020, and Align In Time’s John Boles sent this to me during a time I was flooded by a wave of emails that I’m still, after all this time, going through. Align In Time are an American post-rock band out of Providence, Rhode Island.  The band’s sound reminds me of impressive post-rock bands like Caspian, We Lost The Sea and other instrumental rock bands.  Surprisingly, I can hear a touch of Fugazi in here as well, at least in some of the guitar playing.  It’s mellow, sumptuously recorded and a generally fine listen.

  • Music

    Wilfried Hanrath – The Sweet Scent of Dreams

    August 26, 2021 - By 

    This album has to be one of the more intriguing releases I’ve heard this month.  Wilfried Hanrath is a composer based in Wuppertal, Germany (home, if I remember correctly, to free jazz legend Peter Brötzmann as well), and grew up surrounded by some of the most radical music imaginable: Krautrock, jazz fusion, early German electronic music and perhaps a large dose of progressive and psychedelic rock.  The album showcases his influences in a stunning way, though I understand this album is more a reinterpretation of the works of others rather than a purely original album.  He crafts each song as…

  • Music

    KAUAN – Ice Fleet

    August 18, 2021 - By 

    KAUAN hail from Estonia and bring something extra to both progressive rock and post-rock.  Long, drone-laden, repetitive music that holds one’s interest throughout.  Perhaps the best way to describe this is like a very much slowed-down My Bloody Valentine with a symphonic progressive tinge to it.  Unique.  I quite like this.

  • Music

    Controlled Bleeding – Songs From The Drain

    August 16, 2021 - By 

    Controlled Bleeding were one of the few bands who could glide from genre to genre easily.  They were comfortable working with EBM, harsh noise and experimental music, and would even appeal to some elements in the goth-rock crowd, but this particular album stood out as their magnum opus for me.  Paul Lemos, the one constant member of the band, sculpted beautifully minimalistic guitar playing which sounded almost like avant-progressive rock, while the late Joe Papa (of eternal memory) would let his vocals soar, especially on the track Red Stigmata.  My favorite album by a criminally underrated band. For a more…

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    JuffBass – Farewell Flight

    August 9, 2021 - By 

    A friend of our blog, Zoltan from JuffBass, has released a rather fine bass-dominated instrumental progressive rock album worth your attention.  It’s a mellow release, rather atmospheric, and would definitely appeal to those of you who like the more chilled-out end of the post-rock spectrum.  Quite nice!

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    Alexei Aigui & Ensemble 4’33” – Palimpsest

    July 29, 2021 - By 

    A debt of thanks is owed to Alexei Aigui, a friend of this blog as well as one of Russia’s finest composers and violinists.  He and his troupe, Ensemble 4’33” bring a sweeping cinematic album which will appeal to those who enjoy composers like Steve Reich, Michael Nyman, and also more interesting aspects of progressive rock (think bands like the Penguin Café Orchestra or even a far lighter Samla Mammas Manna, played with joy). I’ve spent a good deal of time these last few days listening to more heavy music, so Palimpsest is something of an indulgence for me.  It’s…

  • Music - Music Articles

    [The Spirit Of Progressive Rock] CD Review – Be Bop Deluxe – Life In The Air Age (Box Set)

    July 26, 2021 - By 

    While doing a bit of research pertaining to my new position at a school in China, I took a bit of time to read a great review over at The Spirit Of Progressive Rock on a box set I’ll have to purchase before I leave the States. Be-Bop Deluxe were one of the premier art-rock bands of the 1970s, and its frontman, Bill Nelson, is still making music.  This box is massive, spanning at 16 discs (15 audio, 1 DVD)!  Why am I fascinated with this record?  TSOPR explains: This legendary live album was released in July 1977 and here’s…

  • Music

    Harald Grosskopf & Ramón Amezcua – Quetzalkrautl

    July 20, 2021 - By 

    ¡Demasiado kosmiche…!  Two absolute legends in electronic music grace these pages with a combination whose name cracks me up, but whose music entinces.  Ramón Amezcua is best known under his nom de plume Bostich and is known as the godfather of the Nortec scene which combines hard electronic music with Norteño music and banda into a radically different form of the sort of electronica produced either Stateside or in Europe.  Harald Grosskopf played drums for progressive rock bands like Wallenstein, Ashra and appeared on quite a few albums by Klaus Schulze, as well as releasing Synthesist, which is today considered…