Esoteric King

Gary Boyle - The Dancer (1977). Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce a new remastered edition of the first solo album by acclaimed guitarist Gary Boyle, founder of Jazz Rock group Isotope. Released in 1978, "The Dancer" was Boyle’s first solo album and followed the final Isotope album, “Deep End”. The recording sessions saw Boyle joined by such celebrated alumni as Robin Lumley, Rod Argent, Dave MacRae, Morris Pert and Simon Phillips. The resulting album is now regarded as a classic Jazz/Rock album…

This was a short lived, but essential band in the annals of what's called the Canterbury Sound, created by British progressive ensembles in the late sixties and early seventies. The band was formed when Robert Wyatt was ousted from Soft Machine, which he'd founded in the mid-sixties. "Matching Mole" was a wonderful debut that included tracks such as 'O Caroline', 'Signed Curtain' and 'Part of the Dance'. This edition has been newly remastered from the original master tapes and is expanded to include five previously unreleased studio session alternate takes, the single versions of 'O Caroline' and 'Signed Curtain', along with two BBC Radio One sessions from 1972…

Marsupilami were an English proto-prog outfit who relocated to the Netherlands. The complexity of their music is quite unusual for the times - we're talking 1970 here, when the big guns such as Yes, Genesis and Crimson were barely coming out of the woodwork. A mixture of blues, experimental jazz and hints of folk, their music is often dark and foreboding, favouring perilously complex structures. Try to imagine a mixture of King Crimson, Jethro Tull, the Strawbs and East of Eden. Their two albums feature weird/oblique melodies and harmonies, lots of heavy keyboards, electric guitar and flute (at times purposely off key), with the drummer pounding on his skins as if his life depended on it. This is very early prog and you particularly feel this in the organ work, which has a typical early 70's psych feel. Their second album, which features an additional member on flute and sax as well as the appearance of the Mellotron, is an ambitious concept album about the brutal culture of ancien Rome - quite a sordid affair, really, but well done.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to issue the first ever Official UK CD edition of the self titled album by Fields. When the first line-up of Rare Bird folded in early 1971, keyboard player Graham Field formed this outfit with bass player, vocalist and guitarist Alan Barry and King Crimson drummer Andy Mcculloch. Although the band failed to emulate the commercial success of Field’s previous group, the sole album they recorded was a magnificent example of British Progressive Rock. Much sought after for many years, this official Esoteric CD edition has been re-mastered from the original master tapes, features two bonus tracks and an essay by Sid Smith and interview with Graham Field.

Esoteric Antenna is delighted to announce the release of Beyond the Stars, the wonderful new studio album by John Hackett & Nick Fletcher.Beyond the Stars sees John and Nick on an epic journey through time and place, from wistful reminiscing about happier times to a vision of a dystopian future. The songs take you on a rollercoaster ride showcasing Nick Fletcher's incredible virtuosity on the guitar alongside John's trademark flute…

It's those classic songs and the stories behind them that make Greg Lake's Songs Of A Lifetime so special. While the former Emerson, Lake & Palmer, King Crimson and one-time Asia vocalist and bassist penned his autobiography Lucky Man, "songs would crop up that were in some way crucial or extremely important in the development of my career," giving Lake the idea to go out and perform these tunes - both his own and ones that influenced him…