"The Studio Albums 1979 - 1987 is a clamshell box set that gathers together all seven studio albums released by the legendary classical rock band Sky over a nine year period. Formed in 1979, Sky brought together the worlds of rock and classical music in a highly successful and inspiring way. Featuring the gifted talents of guitarist John Williams, percussionist Tristan Fry, legendary bass player Herbie Flowers, former Curved Air keyboard player Francis Monkman and guitarist Kevin Peek, Sky recorded their...

"Skyline from the Bielefeld area emerged out of the well-known band Virus; they had, however, hardly anything in common with their predecessor’s music. What they now played was jazz-rock with slight funky influences and English lyrics; altogether much smoother than the music by Virus. Their only LP, “Louise for one night”, was recorded in fall of 1975 and released as a private pressing in an edition of 500 copies in 1976.
Skyline took part in the Vlotho “Umsonst und draußen” (“Free and open air”)...

This is the very surprising 1997 regrouping (after their last recordings together - a single - almost 20 years before) of the original trio of Peter Blegvad, Anthony Moore and Dagmar Krause.

Great, clever lyrics combine with catchy, more-than...

The much wanted & anticipated reissue of Slapp Happy's extremely rare debut from 1972 by Peter Blegvad, Dagmar Krause & Anthony Moore, recorded at Wumme (Faust's studio) with backing by some of Faust (Gunther Wusthoff, Werner "Zappi" Diermaier and Jean-Herve Peron).
The band's charming naiveté was never as pronounced as here. And if hearing these formative recordings wasn't enough, you even get the non lp b-side (Jumping Jonah) of their single as well! Subtle, unlike anything else (especially...

“Slapp Happy meanwhile was planning its second record for Virgin. One night the trio showed up at the quartet's door and proposed that the two groups make the second Slapphappy LP together...Henry Cow jumped at the chance and Desperate Straights was the result. It's still a gem to my ears, and now at last it's possible to release it, properly re-mastered (by Bob Drake), its sound closer to the original tapes even than our earlier Nimbus vinyl pressing. Great songs, great arrangements, great performances...

"Fiercely uncompromising with equal allegiance to jazzy improvisation, funky backbeats and sonic experimentation, the audacious power trio Slaughterhouse 3 dwells in a place where fellow renegades like Garage a Trois, Bobby Previte & Charlie Hunter’s...

An excellent Brooklyn-based band of jazz musicians who take the instrumental folk music of the Balkans and Macedonia and give it their own twist. Recommended for ethnic music fans who aren't sticklers for 'tradition'! "Teknochek represents a new era...

I found out about this band when I was doing early prepatory work for our Upsilon Acrux album and saw them compared to this group. Sleeping People are an instrumental dual guitar, bass and drums band from San Diego and this is their second album...

Tracks 1-7 Live at Dingwalls, London 9/77; 8 live in rehearsal; 9-14 Live in Cincinnati & San Francisco 1980; 15 Live at Hammersmith Palais, Dec. 1981 (last ever show).

“Debuting with their 1977 tour with The Clash, The Slits were known for their uncompromising attitude and aggressive and confrontational music in a time when most bands were male. To this day they are cited as being hugely inspiring to many female artists. But their seminal Island Records 1979 debut album 'Cut', with its infamous..

DEREK DI PERRI harmonica
MARCELLO GIANNINI guitars
VINCENZO LAMAGNA bass
SALVATORE RAINONE drums
CIRO RICCARDI trumpet
PIETRO SANTANGELO tenor saxophone
RICCARDO VILLARI electric violin

"Recorded live in Milan, Italy, in May of 2016, "Liver" showcases the eccentric Italian maestros at their collective best -- playful, daring and just having fun! Some of their most potent material to date (primarily from their heralded 2011 release, "Bani Ahead" and 2016's delect

Excellent progressive/jazz-rock band from Montreal who recorded two extremely well regarded and hugely sought-after albums in the mid 1970s and who then basically dissapeared without a trace. To me, they combine elements of Canterbury jazz-rock with...

Alastair Milton: keys and sax
Calum Calderwood: electric-violin and vocals
Peter Fleming: bass and backing vocals
Steve McNamara: drums and percussion
with:
Alistair Homer: trumpet
Eilidh Harris: backing vocals
Nick Gaughan: synths and backing vocals
Randolph Edwards: backing vocals and sloth personifications

Somewhere between a sort of twisted folk/progrock blend and Cardiacs lies Sloth Metropolis!

“SLOTH METROPOLIS is a musical.

Third release by this interesting group who combine modern classical with rock and post-rock. Funnily enough, what at least some of this REALLY reminds me of is "We are the Rowboats" by Krakatoa! So definitely more 'rock' this time around...

"33 1/3 is Smegma's tribute to their twentieth-century avant-garde and out-jazz influences. The title is one part reference to the happy revival of passionate vinyl listening in the twenty-first century, and one part celebration of over thirty-three...

Walter Smith III – saxophone
Matthew Stevens - guitar
Kris Davis - piano
Dave Holland - bass
Terri Lyne Carrington - drums

Walter Smith III and Matthew Stevens are two musicians at the forefront of developments in jazz and improvised music, listing the likes of Terence Blanchard, Ambrose Akinmusire, Esperanza Spalding and Christian Scott as collaborators. The pair started working together in 2017, and four years later, they're back for the third iteration of their highly commend

"Recorded in Los Angeles over four months in 1970, this double album is one of the most personal and involving statements to have emerged from California's psychedelic underground. Backed by a fine band including Daryl Dragon (later to find fame as...

Shara Lunon - voice and vocal processing
Anna Webber - flute
Oscar Noriega - clarinets
James Brandon Lewis - tenor saxophone
Nate Wooley - trumpet
Jennifer Choi - violin
Kyle Armbrust - viola
Michael Nicolas - cello
Shahzad Ismaily - bass and keyboards
Ches Smith - electronics, programming, vibes, drums, tubular bells, glockenspiel, timpani, tam tam, metal percussion

“California-born, New York-based drummer, percussionist and composer Ches Smit

Tim Berne, alto sax / Tony Malaby, tenor sax / Mary Halvorson, guitar / Andrea Parkins, accordion, electronics / Ches Smith, drums.

Do I need to mention what a simply great band this is?

"Though drummer Ches Smith has a penchant for...

Solo improvisations, recorded on electric stereo guitar, recorded direct to DAT, sans any delays & in sequence as released. [FMR]

This unites drummer/electronic percussionist Joe (still playing a similar sounding electronic set as he used on Cruel But Fair) with Gary's wild/calm guitarwork

"If the mark of a great player is that you can recognise them from just one note, then look no further than Gary Smith. His electric stereo guitar sound is as distinctive as the sound of Miles, Getz or Hendrix, as individual as DNA. Using real-time electronics and pedals, Smith has the capacity to bend, shape and move notes in the air....

"Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith composes her swirling, colorful electronic songs on Buchla synthesizers, particularly the portable, user-friendly Music Easel. Her warm, vibrant music inevitably recalls the work of Buchla masters such as Suzanne Ciani and Laurie Spiegel, but it's playful and exuberant enough to land her opening gigs for Dan Deacon and Animal Collective. It's bubbly and tranquil enough to elicit comparisons to 21st century underground synthesizer artists such as Panabrite or Dolphins into the...

This is a fabulous modern electronic music album from a newcomer and a veteran. Spacey, shimmery, fun, optimistic! Highly recommended!

"The 13th entry in RVNG Intl.'s Frkwys series follows the template of most of its predecessors in that it pairs one music veteran with a relative newcomer. That said, seldom have two artists been better paired than Suzanne Ciani and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. The former is an electronic and new age music pioneer who has received renewed attention thanks to a series of..

“Ray Smith was really one of the best rockabilly performers of his day and there are some killer tunes on this CD. Not as well known as other Sun recording artists but Ray had a real rocking voice and these sides jump!!! Ray Smith deserves to be better known. No rockabilly collection is complete without his work.”