Music manifests in countless forms, each stirring emotion depending on the creator’s intent, the performance, and the listener’s interpretation. This is especially true of instrumental music, which, without the guidance of lyrics, invites the listener to shape their own narrative.…
View More Jo Quail – Notan
Esoteric’s series of Renaissance clamshell boxsets – which began with Running Hard, covering the years 1974-76 – continues with Opening Out, and contains the albums that followed: Novella, A Song for All Seasons and Azure d’Or. If Running Hard could…
View More Renaissance – Opening Out: The Albums 1977 – 1979 (3CD Boxset)
Hawkwind released their fourth album Hall of the Mountain Grill in September of 1974, following on from their successful previous release Doremi Fasol Latido. This album sees some changes in the Hawkwind world with the temporary departure of Robert Calvert…
View More Hawkwind – Hall Of The Mountain Grill (7CD/2Blu-ray Limited Edition)
One of my earliest memories from childhood is my father showing me a book of song lyrics. The songs would have comprised what would later come to be known as Americana – folksy, simple, emotional and often humorous songs that…
View More Various Artists – When Will They Ever Learn? A Story Of U.S. Folk Music: 1963-1969 (4CD Boxset)
Some music is timeless. Some music is resplendent and perfect. Some music is beautiful and unique. Music Inspired by The Snow Goose is all those things and more, and has remained the pinnacle of their career ever since 1975 when…
View More Camel – Music Inspired By The Snow Goose (2CD/Blu-ray Edition)
Another day, another Renaissance release. It seems as if Esoteric has gone slightly bonkers with their treatment of the symphonically inclined prog favourites, but it’s no surprise that this extremely talented group are the darlings of their collection. Instead of…
View More Renaissance – Running Hard: The Albums 1974-1976 (4CD Clamshell Box)
Well, Skin Alley was certainly a surprise to me. The band’s name, coupled with the rather striking monochrome artwork of a copper sticking his tongue out, certainly evokes the image of a punk band like the Sex Pistols. But when…
View More Skin Alley – Sun Music: The Complete Recordings 1969-1973 (Remastered 4CD Boxset)
Much like the Alan Parsons Project, I only ever bought Kevin Ayers’s first solo album, Joy of a Toy, back in the days when I was exploring a lot of new prog. As an addendum to the essay in my…
View More Kevin Ayers – Shooting At The Moon (Remastered Vinyl)
Daevid Allen was a geographical and musical nomad who wandered from British psychedelia to French avant-garde, Balearic acoustic balladry, New York punk, Oz performance poetry, San Francisco improv, Japanese extreme tripping and Brazilian space rock. He is best known as…
View More Weird Biscuit Teatime: Starring Daevid Allen – DJDDay
As the core of The Samurai of Prog and innumerable offshoots, Marco Bernard (bass) and Kimmo Pörsti (drums) are responsible for an incredible amount of music. Much of the music has been unavailable as the years pass, hence the Omnibus…
View More The Samurai Of Prog – Omnibus 4: The Bernard & Pörsti Sessions