The Chick Corea Elektric Band (1986). Nine years after the breakup of the final version of Return to Forever, Chick Corea ended a long period of freelance projects by forming his Elektrik Band. This set, the group's initial release, finds Corea meeting up for the first time with the great bassist John Patitucci and drummer Dave Weckl; half of the selections also have either Carlos Rios or Scott Henderson on guitar. Due to the high musicianship, the personalities of the players, and Corea's colorful compositions, the Elektrik Band quickly became one of the top fusion groups of the late '80s…
Best known for his Magnetic North Orchestra, pianist and composer Jon Balke has a background that is rich with global influences and diverse musical stylings. Trained as a classical pianist in his youth, Balke was playing with Masqualero on Bande à Part (ECM, 1985) by the time he was eighteen. That recording, in the company of Arild Andersen, Nils Petter Molvaer, Tore Brunborg and Jon Christensen, set some enduring musical relationships in motion, with all but Andersen going on to play in Balke's Oslo 13 debut, Nonsentration (ECM, 1992).
It's official: in 2007, it's all come full circle. Prog rock has made its way into the indie scene. Battles' Mirrored, their debut full-length after three EPs, makes that plain. Messrs. John Stanier of Helmet and Tomahawk, guitarist/keyboardist Ian Williams of Don Caballero and Storm & Stress, guitarist David Konopka of Lynx, and avant solo musician Tyondai Braxton have constructed an album that combines the best of Van Der Graaf Generator, Magma, Krautrock, and math rock, while coming up with something that stands so far out on the fringe that it is in a league of its own. That so much of this music is created via the magic of software and combined with one- or two-note keyboard and guitar patterns makes it the Philip K. Dick equivalent of modern rock.
Grammy-nominated extreme power metal pioneers DragonForce will release their monumental new album and Napalm Records debut, Warp Speed Warriors, on March 15, 2024! The iconic unit is known for their masterful, unparalleled and lightning-fast signature guitar solos that influenced a whole genre. The band around virtuoso guitarists and founding members Herman Li and Sam Totman are highly inspired by a myriad of heavy metal styles, fantasy realms and video games.
Warp Speed Warriors, produced by Herman Li, Sam Totman and Damien Rainaud - and mixed and mastered by the latter - is a matchless, innovative listening experience that continues the band's legacy with songs that will, without a shadow of a doubt, become instant classics in and beyond the DragonForce canon.