This year marks a decade of Esoteric Recordings. Beginning by releasing solely progressive rock music, it’s safe to say the style of their releases has strayed from the original remit somewhat. Nevertheless, I’ll continue to chase their reissues, as what…
View More Unicorn – Too Many Crooks
My wife and I have quite opposite views on how one should go on holiday. I like to be up at 8AM, out the door by 9AM, and doing as much as the day allows when I’m in a new…
View More Tim Blake – Caldea Music II
One problem facing the new swathe of progressive rock bands is how to update the genre and carry it forward. Some bands don’t even attempt an update, and simply mimic the sounds of the ’70s, with varying degrees of success.…
View More The Magnetic South – Sea Level
For a few years now, Esoteric has been widening its furrows, letting in much more than what the average fan might consider “progressive rock”. I sometimes worry that they are straying too far from their original grounds, but the results…
View More Michael McGear – Woman
Ouch! Make sure you have your headphones turned down, as the blastoff at the beginning of Departure, the first track on Austrian artist Gandalf’s 1980 debut album Journey to an Imaginary Land, is somewhat deafening. But it’s an ideal starting…
View More Gandalf – Journey to an Imaginary Land / To Another Horizon / Magic Theatre
When searching for your next prog fix, you can never tell when you’ll uncover a true gem. You certainly can’t expect it to come from a tiny record shop in Bayswater priced at a measly £5. And yet here I…
View More Touch – Touch
Tim Blake is back! Or at least he was at the turn of the millennium. In fact, besides 1991’s Magick, Blake’s discography had been dormant ever since 1978’s Blake’s New Jerusalem. Nevertheless, it’s not uncommon to see older prog artists…
View More Tim Blake – The Tide of the Century
Think 1969, and you’ll be thinking of the genesis (pardon me) of many great prog acts, some might even say the progressive movement in general. Unfortunately, Little Free Rock was not to become one of these acts, due to poor…
View More Little Free Rock – Little Free Rock
Prog writer and Whitley Bay enthusiast Sid Smith recently divulged that his desert island Gong album was 1973’s Flying Teapot. Of course, he was wrong to write that, as the best Gong album, from a subjective and objective point view,…
View More Tim Blake – Crystal Machine / Blake’s New Jerusalem
Esoteric have a knack for finding the most obscure records that only bear a passing resemblance or connection to progressive rock. At first glance, The Road seems like an overblown religious folk concept album. And even though this still rings…
View More Quiet World – The Road