Steamhammer formed in 1968 in the British town of Worthing. The band was made up of several blues and folk band veterans who were interested in playing something new. The band was pulled onto the road almost directly after their inception by blues legend Freddie King, who needed a backing band for his European tour. By spring of the next year, they signed a contract with CBS Records and released an eponymous debut. They mixed their own material with several standards, but failed to find an audience in the over-saturated blues-rock scene. The band did become quite the live sensation, despite a lineup shift that saw original members Michael Rushton and Martin Quittenton leave the band. Their second album was another stab at the same formula, with slightly different results due to new saxophonist Steve Jollife's incredible technical skill…
Moon Safari is a Swedish progressive rock group formed in Skellefteå, Sweden, in 2003. The band focuses on vocal arrangements in the style of Gene Puerling and they willingly surrender to the spirit of 60s rock, pop and progressive rock music, previously invoked by the Beatles, the Beach Boys and Yes.
Future Legends (1973). Originally released in October 1973 on Pye's Dawn label, Future Legends was the debut release by these Northern Irish Progressive Rock masters. A wonderful exercise in Symphonic and Melodic rock, the album was highly acclaimed upon release launching the band on a live career that saw them share the bill with such luminaries as Genesis (with whom they were often compared). Future Legends is now remastered from the original tapes and includes the track 'On a Clear Day' which only featured on the first 100 copies of the album…
In the early seventies, the British-American group Carmen broke new ground in rock music, combining the British flair for progressive rock with traditional Spanish folk themes into a very fresh, energetic and powerful new mix. The sound is centered around guitar, keyboards are used subtly but to good effect. On the whole, they are a rather hard band to describe… Some vague comparisons could be made to Jethro Tull, Mezquita (some of the Spanish themes), and Triana (the flamenco/prog combination).
Walking Timebombs is one of a handful of projects to emerge from the home studio of Houston techno-clatter auteur Scott Ayers in the ‘90s. It's sound is a somewhat soothing departure from Ayers' work with industrial noise purveyors the Pain Teens and leaden guitar-rock trio Truth Decay.
Ostensibly Ayers' "solo" debut, 1997's "The Walking Timebombs" largely replaces the numbingly off-putting grind of those two acts with an organic mix of new-school trip-hop and old-school industrial.
Static Migration (1998). Experimental guitarist and producer Scott Ayers, a.k.a. Walking Time Bombs, teams up with Neurosis on this album…
Ef was formed in 2003 and made a strong debut in the post rock scene with their debut album "Give Me Beauty… Or Give Me Death!" (2006). Their first embrace - filled with emotions, explosions and energy that got highly appreciated by media and fans worldwide. This might be the album that put Swedish post rock music on the map and features the track "Hello Scotland" that was played on television, featured on compilations and later on was remixed by some of the worlds greatest artists like Isan (UK-Morr music), Stafrænn Hákon (IS-Resonant) and Uzi & Ari (US)…
Taurus is the name used by the talented Chilean multi-instrumentalist Claudio Momberg who after a successful career in bands as Seti, Caamora and Subterra released four excellent albums edited by Mylodon Records. Like Mike Oldfield and Vangelis before him, Claudio plays all the instruments, but to make it even more impressive, also produced all the albums. It was not a surprise to discover that his music was fluid and elegant with a unique style product of his dexterity with all the instruments. Recommended for fans of orchestral and instrumental Prog.
Audience was a London-based group that recorded their first album in 69 and had their eponymous debut pulled from the stores a few months after its release, which makes the album a major collectible (CD versions were also hard to come by until a recent reissue). They got signed by Tony Stratton-Smith of the Charisma label (Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator, The Nice and a few others) but although not a purely progressive group, they bore a lot of characteristics of the masters. Among which , a profound (and somewhat derangesome) singer whose voice reminds you a bit of Peter Hammill, a great wind players able to switch to from flutes to saxes and oboe and a bassist…
The Smell of Incense are a Norwegian prog/psych band with roots in the mid eighties and a long, sordid history that includes connections to such hardcore and obscure Scandinavian D.I.Y. acts as The New Incredible Headcleaners, Famlende Forsøk, Ym:Stammen, and Døve Munker. Smell have existed as a fluid and sporadic lineup for years, issuing just three studio albums along a handful of singles and collaborations in since 1986. The band's debut album 'All Mimsy Were the Borogoves' consisted mostly of a number of little-known as well as irreverent covers, while their later releases focused more on original material blending pop, folk, trip-hop and heavy psych for a unique sound reflecting both the psychedelic traditional and experimentation present in much of modern Scandinavian progressive music…
Formed in 1972, this ethnic/kraut jazz quintet (Jochen Leuschner, Reinhard Karwatky, Gerd Bock-Ehrmann, Deiter Kramer, and Ludwig Braun) released their self titled album the same year in a relative discretion. This album made an exploration in long / space rock improvisations relied on jazz grooves and weird electro -acoustic sounds. The "ethnic", mystical elements are obvious notably due to the acoustic percussions rhythm sections. Compositions are mainly instrumental and improvised, brightly showing the technical capacities of the musicians. After several departures the band will be organised under a trio form, recording in 1973 the seminal "Time Machine". This album features astonishing manifestations of freaky fusion jazz exercises mixed with weird experimentations and mysticism. This album was recorded at Dieter Dierk's mythical studio…