Flash - In The Can (1972 England) 2010 Remaster SHM-CD [ProgRock] @320

This second FLASH`s album was recorded as a quartet. Keyboard player Tony Kaye, who never was an official member of the band and who was only a guest on their first album, didn`t participate in this album and went to form his own band called BADGER. So, this album has a lot of guitars and very few parts on which Peter Banks plays the ARP synthesizer.

I think that it is unfair to underrate Peter Banks as a guitarist, because in this album he also shows that he is a very good guitarist with his very own style. Bassist Ray Bennett, who also was the main composer of the songs in this album, also shows that he is a very good bassist, and there are some similarities between his sytle of playing the bass with the styles of John Entwistle and Chris Squire. Singer Colin Carter is also good, and there are some very good vocals arrangements done with Banks and Bennett. Drummer Michael Hough is a more "Rocker" drummer, but he also plays some interesting things.

"Lifetime" and "Monday Morning Eyes" are, IMO, the best songs in this album. I think that FLASH deserves more respect as a band, because this album, despite the lack of a keyboard player, shows them as a very good Progressive Rock band.


01. Lifetime (10:05)
02. Monday morning eyes (5:03)
03. Black and white (12:04)
04. Stop that banging (1:50)
05. There no more (11:35)


Peter Banks: acoustic electric & Spanish guitars, Hooter, ARP synth, backing vocals
Ray Bennett: bass, acoustic guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (2)
Colin Carter: vocals, percussion
Mike Hough: drums, percussion, cymbals, badinage

Flash - Flash (1972 England) 2010 Remaster SHM-CD [ProgRock] @320

This is an album clearly made in the shadow of that great progressive rock band Yes. However, unlike Starcastle and other such followers, Flash have a genuine excuse. The band was founded by Peter Banks and Tony Kaye, both of whom were unceremoniously ditched by Yes despite also being founder members of that esteemed group. While it's hard to dispute the fact that both Banks and Kaye were replaced by superior musicians (Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman respectively), neither deserved to be treated with such disrespect, and this album is an excellent riposte to their critics.
Flash preserves that sound of 60s Yes which somewhat ironically reached its zenith on 1971's The Yes Album. Small Beginnings in particular is an epic track which could have slipped quite comfortably onto that masterful album. It has all the hallmarks, with storming riffs (with some of Banks's best ever playing), an inventive rhythm section (bassist Ray Bennett and drummer Mike Hough), and even a nice organ solo from Kaye, while vocalist Colin Carter sounds very much like Yes frontman Jon Anderson.

01 - Small Beginnings
02 - Morning Haze
03 - Children Of The Universe
04 - Dreams Of Heaven
05 - The Time It Takes


Peter Banks: acoustic electric & Spanish guitars, Hooter, ARP synth, backing vocals
Ray Bennett: bass, acoustic guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (2)
Colin Carter: vocals, percussion
Mike Hough: drums, percussion, cymbals, badinage
Tony Kaye: organ, piano, ARP synth

Curved Air - Retrospective - The Anthology 1970-2009 (2CD) [ProgRock ] @320

Today they're known for giving Police drummer Stewart Copeland his start, but Curved Air emerged in the early 1970s as one of England's most distinctive prog-rock bands, led by singer Sonja Kristina, who was promoted as something of a sex symbol at the time. As heard on this career-spanning, two-disc set, their music combined classical and rock flavors, with Darryl Way's violin adding a signature sound, but there was also a bit of a Jefferson Airplane tinge to some of their work that helped set them apart from their peers.

CD1
01 - It Happened Today
02 - Screw
03 - Blind Man
04 - Hide And Seek
05 - Rob One
06 - Young Mother
07 - Back Street Luv
08 - Jumbo
09 - Puppets
10 - Piece Of Mind
11 - Whose Shoulder Are You Looking Over Anyway
12 - Melinda (More Or Less)
13 - Over And Above

CD2
14 - The Purple Speed Queen
15 - Elfin Boy
16 - Metamorphosis
17 - Easy
18 - The Dancer
19 - Dance Of Love
20 - Love Child
21 - Woman On A One Night Stand
22 - Desiree
23 - Broken Lady
24 - Marie Antoinette
25 - Vivaldi
26 - Lambent Spire
27 - Space In Between
28 - Beloved

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Gatto Marte - Gioco del Mago (Italy 2000) [AvantProg] @VBR~224

Gatto Marte are a Italian "progressive chamber quartet", who use violin, basson, piano & double bass. Their records are definitely comparable to folks like Julverne, ZNR, Jean-Philippe Goude's chamber works, etc., so if you are a fan of that style, you will want this.



01. Gioco del Mago
02. Tarantella del Gatto
03. Ladybird Dance
04. Petra
05. Il domatore di leoni
06. Fantasia e cadenza
07. Tone of innocence
08. Gun powder
09. A short story
10. Vorrei Partire
11. Tangata su nave che affonda
12. Fotogramma
13. Transeunte
14. Tango
15. Tarumba


Nino Cotone: Violin
Giuseppe Brancaccio: Bassoon
Maximilian Brooks: Piano, Vocals
Pietro Lusvardi: Contrabass
Guest Musician:
Beppe Ronzoni: Drums, Percussions

Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso - Da Qui Messere Si Domina La Valle (Italy 1991) [ProgRock] @320

This album is not a compilation! The band re-recorded the first 2 albums in studio with new instruments and new arrangements. Fantastic result!
CrimsonKing

Francesco Di Giacomo writes in CD booklet that he does not like remakes and BANCO decided to re-record their two first albums because fans asked them ''to do it today''. It seems the easiest way was to play both albums live and make a record, but the band did it in studio. I guess musicians had their reasons for this.

I'm not a big fan of remakes too, but I like new versions of both albums. There are lots of new colours in familiar tunes, first of all due to Vittorio Nocenzi's excellent keyboard work. Rodolfo Maltese is more than competent guitarist, and Francesco Di Giacomo is, as usual, in good vocal form. It became a common place in prog circles to consider him an opera-trained vocalist, but I've read somewhere that he is a self-taught singer. Don't know where the truth is, but anyway he is one of the greatest rock singers of all time. The low point for me is the absence of bass guitar player on the whole record and the use of programmed drums on many tracks. But great music is great music. I love original ''BMS'' and ''Darwin!'' albums to bits, but quite often listen to these new versions.

Highly recommended, but get 1972 originals first.

"Prog Archives"

CD 1 - ''B.M.S'' 1991 version
1. In volo (2:17)
2. R.I.P. (Requiescant in pace) (9:09)
3. Passaggio (4:06)
4. Metamorfosi (13:01)
5. Il Giardino del mago (19:09)
... Passo dopo passo ...
... Chi ride e chi geme ...
... Coi capelli sciolti al vento ...
Compenetrazione
6. Traccia (2:08)

Total time 49:52

CD 2 - ''Darwin'' 1991 version
1. L'evoluzione (16:46)
2. La conquista della posizione eretta (9:59)
3. Danza dei grandi rettili (4:15)
4. Cento mani e cento occhi (6:03)
5. 750.000 anni fa ... l'amore? (7:53)
6. Miserere alla storia (6:18)
7. Ed ora io domando tempo al tempo (3:23)

Total time 54:40

Francesco Di Giacomo: lead vocals
Vittorio Nocenzi: piano, Hammond organ, minimoog, synthesizers, keyboards, drum programming, synth bass, accordion, clarinet, recorder, vocals, backing vocals
Rodolfo Maltese: electric guitar, mandolin, sitar, backing vocals
Pierluigi Calderoni: drums, percussion

Guest musicians:
Piercarlo Penta: Hammond organ, keyboards, drum programming
Tiziano Ricci: Fabrizio Faderighi
Claudio Rego: backing vocals

Synesthesia (David Martone & Navid Nikbakht) - Synesthesia (Canada/England 2000) [Fusion] @256

"Synesthesia", the album, is an acoustic instrumental project combining the guitar artistry of Navid Nikbakht and David Martone to create a unique and individual recording. Nikbakht and Martone each bring their own individual set of influences to this group, which also includes producer/percussionist Christoph Bracher. Using elements of Latin, Asian, Jazz and Rock, "Synesthesia"'s self-titled album has already found many fans worldwide. Canadian born David Martone has been heavily influenced by Classical and Progressive Rock music and has two electric instrumental projects out "Shut Up 'N Listen" and "Zone". Iranian born Nikbakht defines his music as "world fusion". Concentrating on acoustic instruments, Navid's varied musical background is apparent in all that he does. Elements of Latin, Moorish, Jazz, Gypsy as well as his native Persian music can be heard through out this project. Nikbakht and Martone met in 1992 while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston and quickly found a common platform to launch their own unique version of world music. On this project they are joined by top musicians from India, Jamaica, Germany, UK and Iran.

01 - Inquisitive Heart
02 - Shatki
03 - Conference of the Birds Part II (for A.F.)
04 - Blue
05 - Intersense
06 - Prelude in C# minor
07 - Sultan Ghalbam
08 - Abadan
09 - Voluptuous Vulcan

Navid Nikbakht: Guitars
David Martone: Guitars
B.K.Chandrashekhar: Violin
Gary Crosby: Bass
Farnoosh Behzad: Keyboards
Hossain Farjami: Vocals
Christoph Bracher: Percussions

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Le Silo - 8.8 (Japan 2004) [AvantProg] @320

Le Silo, are a 3-piece band from Japan, that play a widely influenced blend of demanding prog rock, which mostly takes the form of RIO and avant-jazz, with punk-rock stylistics, which is not only captivating, but  well played. By no means is their sound entirely original, but the musicianship is of a high quality and they do indeed have some very excellent and surprising moments too. Their punk stylistics are evident and with Miyako's links to Yoshida Tatsuya, then it is obvious they are influenced by Ruins and Koenjihyakkei and most likely Boredoms and Happy Family as well. Non-Japanese bands they are likely influenced by, include Univers Zéro, Present, French TV, Samla Mammas Manna and Miriodor. Originally starting life as Miyako (presumably named after Miyako Kanazawa), a punk orientated band; they eventually changed their style and their name to Le Silo, (some of their tracks have French titles too), presumably in honour of the French and Belgian bands that most likely influenced them. The members of the band - Yoshiharu Izutsu (guitar and voice); Michiaki Suganuma (drums and voice) and Miyako Kanizawa (piano) - released their debut album "8.8" in 2004 on the Tutinoko label in Japan. Miyako is also a member of Koenjihyakkei (keyboards and voice) alongside Ruins and Daimonji drummer Tatsuya Yoshida, who also produced "8.8".

If you enjoy the Japanese avant-prog scene and bands such as Ruins and Koenjihyakkei, you'll enjoy Le Silo. If you enjoy bands such as Univers Zero, Present, Sammla Mannas Manna, Guapo, Ahvak and Absolute Zero, you'll also likely enjoy Le Silo. Also liking zeuhl will help you with your chances of liking them also. They are definitely recommended for those who want something different to the norm.

01. Le Soleil (3.54)
02. Enormous Trees With the Holy Spirits #1 (2:23)
03. Oiseaux (9:41)
04. The Doctor's Helicopter (3:12)
05. Le Silo (6:40)
06. Numazapa (1:43)
07. On a Magic Carpet Ride (4:08)
08. The Hard Metallic Pigeon (9:35)
09. Turkish... (5.27)
10. Enormous Trees With the Holy Spirits #2 (1:56)
11. Twisting Waist (5:42)
12. Pendule de la Vie (5:41)

Le Soleil


Miyako Kanazawa: piano / Voice
Yoshiharu Izutsu: Guitar/ Voice
Michiaki Suganuma: Drums / Voice
Guest:
Tatsuya Yoshida: Voice (5 & 11)

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Ballroomquartet - Surfing Sufi (Belgium 2004) [AvantProg] @320

Ballroomquartet is a unique Belgian band with an exceptional sound and unusual instrumentation. The eccentric combination of classical and traditional instruments with electronics and effects creates a dancy, original and filmic atmosphere. On stage, they're always in for musical experimentation. Energy, virtuosity and sensitivity are the key words. Their two full-albums, Surfing Sufi (2004) and Soundmanifest (2007), got some very good press reviews. End of November 2009 they will release their new full-album in a production of Blixa Bargeld from Einstürzende Neubauten. This band has an exceptional live reputation! You should check them out!

01 - Thera Mina

02 - (B)eat This!

03 - Doppelganger.flac

04 - The Return Of The Gyronef In Suburban London

05 - Lydic Train

06 - Escape From Perk

07 - A Night In Venice

08 - Lucinda

09 - Mighty Mouse

10 - Exit

11 - Jan Mijne Man (Ballroom remix)

12 - Surfing Sufi

Andries Boone: Mandoline, Violon

Rony Deprins: Accordéon

Jasper Hautekiet: Contrebasse, Guitare basse

David Vertongen: Drums, Percussion

With:

P. Van Sant: Spoken word

Tom Theuns: Sitar

Drika Boone: Violon

Paul Van Bruystegem: Guitare

Hanne Raport-Hautekiet: Backing vocals

Barbara Struys: Backing vocals

Katrien Verstreken: Backing vocals

Katrien Peeters: Violon

Aag Dereymaeker: Violon

Els Smedts: Viola

Lieve Van Look: Violoncelle

Inne Spelmans: Backing vocals

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Adrian Belew - e (USA 2009) [ProgRock] @320

It's been a while since we had another King Crimson album. During this time Adrian Belew has managed to release quite a few albums and this completely instrumental 2009-offering came right after the completion of the Side-series.

Unlike the previous albums e features a steady lineup of Adrian Belew on guitar, Julie Slick on bass while her brother Eric Slick handles the drums. According to Julie Slick's myspace website the band formed in March of 2006 when they took the stage at the Knitting Factory in New York City for a performance of Frank Zappa's City of Tiny Lites. After that performance the Adrian Belew Power Trio went on a long tour which they then followed by recording this album.

e or Planet e, as it was originally titled, is roughly divided into five different sections where each one, except for c, is split into one or more sub-sections. According to Adrian Belew the compositions can be listened to as individual pieces of music, but they do interact through the overall theme that binds them together. Musically this is as close as Belew has ever managed to capture the sound of the two latest King Crimson releases on his solo album. Although unlike the cold and mechanical-sounding King Crimson compositions this release actually manages to maintain the human element which most likely has to do with the excellent rhythmic section!

The whole album is packed with some of the most elaborate playing that I've heard from Belew and I'm quite surprised to be the only one reviewing this album since it has been out since July 2009! Granted that there are a few sections that make me think that Belew is just sliding around in different scales there are always other elements of the sound that capture my attention besides the guitar work.

Rune2000 - Prog Archives

01. a (0:30)
02. a2 (3:37)
03. a3 (3:07)
04. b (6:12)
05. b2 (3:36)
06. b3 (1:21)
07. c (6:19)
08. d (6:00)
09. d2 (2:50)
10. e (0:55)
11. e2 (7:57)

Adrian Belew: guitars
Julie Slick: bass
Eric Slick: drums

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Von Zamla - No Make Up! (Sweden 1983) [AvantProg] @320

Founded in 1981 by keyboardist Lars Hollmer and guitarist Eino Haapala this zany band was an off-shoot of Sweden's Samlas Mammas Manna whose brand of RIO made them popular in Sweden in the 1970's but kept them relatively obscure elsewhere.
Von Zamla released two studio albums in their short career; Zamlaranama (1981) and No Make Up (1983). Brimming with Nordic Folk Melodies,thanks toHollmer's amazing accordion work the albums feature much less improvisational work than their earlier Sammlas work. One of the defining qualities of the band is their sense of theatre,comic theatre to be precise and this shines through both their albums.
This band represents a fascinating link to some of today's more creative bands such as Birdsongs of the Mesozoic and Miriodor.

Perfect vinyl rip. Not released in CD.

01. Forge Etude (4:19)
02. Soon Series (7:36)
03. Für Munju/Indojazz (6:08)
04. Gilmit (4:37)
05. Hopeful (4:41)
06. Endango (3:52)
07. Piece of Antsong (2:45)
08. Voice Improvisation (3:52)
09. After SMRT (5:22)
10. Cancion De Bi-Mi-Mela (3:26)

Michel Berckmans: bassoon, oboe
Eino Haapala: guitar, vocals
Lars Hollmer: keyboards, accordion
Hans Louhelainen: keyboards, melodica
Wolfgang Salomon: bass, guitaron
Mårten Tiselius: drums
Additional musician:
Kalle Eriksson: trumpet (4), percussion

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DISCOGRAPHY:

Solo albums:
XII Sibiriska Cyklar (1981)
Vill Du Höra Mer (1982)
Från Natt Idag (1983)
Joggingcharleston Singel (1984)
Tonöga (1985)
Vendeltid (1987)
The Siberian Circus (compilation, 1992)
Vandelmässa (1993)
Andetag (1998)
Utsikter (2000)
Autokomp A(nd)more (2001)
SOLA: Lars Hollmer's Global Home Project (2002)
Viandra (2007)

With Samla Mammas Manna:
Samla Mammas Manna (1971)
Måltid (1973)
Klossa Knapitatet (1974)
Snorungarnas Symfoni (1975)
Kaka (1999)
Dear Mamma (2002)

With Zamla Mammaz Manna:
Schlagerns Mystik / För Äldre Nybegynnare (1978)
Familjesprickor (1980)

With von Zamla:
Zamlaranamma (1982)
No Make Up (1983)
1983 (1999, rec. live 1983)  

With Ramlösa Kvällar:
Ramlösa Kvällar (Nights Without Frames) (1977)

With Fem Söker En Skatt:
Fem Söker En Skatt (1995)

With Looping Home Orchestra:
Vendeltid (1987)
Door Floor Something Window (live, 1993)

With Accordion Tribe:
Accordion Tribe (live, 1998)
Sea of Reeds (2002)
Lunghorn Twist (2006)

With Fanfare Pourpour:
Karusell musik (2007)