AltrOck / Fading

Bossa Nova - Acoustic Drum Kit
Col Legno - Vocals, Violin
Empress Play - Vocals, flute
General MIDI - Vocals, Rhodes, Guitars, etc
Dorothy Wave - Micron, Micropreset, Vocal backing
Private Dancer - Trumpet
Jon Bone - Trombone

Very good, theatrical art-rock from the UK. This is their 1st non self released album and it comes from the wonderful folks at AltrOck. VERY quirky and they may be an acquired taste for certain folks, but one well worth acquiring!

"Imagi

This is the second release by this Chilean instrumental progressive quartet of keyboards, guitar, bass and drums. Their first album was quite good although it passed by sort of un-noticed and it's nice that they are back on a higher-profile label...

Accordo Dei Contrari are a quartet of keyboards, guitar, bass and drums. They are an Italian jazz rock band with heavy progressive rock touches, and, if you have just tuned in, this is their third album.

The band has been together more than a...

A lot of folks have been waiting for this one and finally it is here! The band is a duo of two keyboardist/multi-instrumentalists:
Fabrice “Chfab” Chouette: keyboards, guitars voice, recorder, whisting, percussion
Patrick “Paskinel” Dufour...

Second excellent prog / symphonic release with some light avant touches and also some light Canterbury touches as well.

Fabrice "Chfab" Chouette / guitar, keyboards, synth
Patrick "Paskinel" Dufour / keyboards, synth, drums programming
Frédéric Chaput / electric & acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards, synth, percussion
With:
Jean-Luc Payssan / guitar (4)
Eric Rebeyrol / cornet (1,4)
Thierry Payssan / piano (1,3,4)

"Second episode for this French ensemble that ha

This is a chamber quartet of violin, cello, bass clarinet/clarinet and flute/piccolo (a pianist appears on one track) with transcriptions mostly by Giovanni Venosta (of Musci/Venosta) of music by 'classic' rock in opposition figures such as Thinking...

“The first album by this Israeli band is a journey full of colors and emotions, a music that is mix of great melodies incorporated with complex structures... with a brilliant result!
Male and female vocals with some interplay that reminds the great classics like Gentle Giant and Genesis but with a new modern approach. Easy and complex at the same time. A new way to hear progressive rock!”
Ray Livnat - vocals
Ayala Fossfeld - vocals
Erez Aviram – piano and keyboards...

Completely charming album that should appeal to folks who love the more acoustic-based 'avant/progressive-yet-tuneful' stylings of L'Ensemble Raye, Feliu i Joan-Albert, 3 Mice, etc. This has definite Italian as well as South American folk influences...

Completely charming album that should appeal to folks who love the more acoustic-based 'avant/progressive-yet-tuneful' stylings of L'Ensemble Raye, Feliu i Joan-Albert, 3 Mice, etc. This has definite Italian as well as South American folk influences...

"AltrOck is glad to announce the release of “The Executioner’s Lover”, the first album of the Scottish ensemble, The Blue Ship.

As they define themselves “The Blue Ship is a fluctuating and amorphous musical organism, born out of the blood...

“You have to love a happy accident.
And that’s how I discovered Italian progressive rock band La Bocca Della Verità and their 2023 album [Un]connected whilst believing I was clicking a link to another album on Bandcamp, and fell in love with the album almost instantly.
It seems fate is inexorable. [Un]connected is the RPI band’s sophomore album, arriving seven years after their 2016 debut release, Avenoth. Before that they spent many years sharpening their skills performing covers of classic...

The first release by La Bocca Della Verita, a Rock Progressivo Italiano sextet from Rome, whose name translates as ‘The Mouth Of Truth’, presents a 80 minute concept album “consisting of various movements and changing atmospheres; all the right ingredients for those who appreciate prog from the 70s to today.”
Jimmy Bax: Hammond, Mellotron, ARP Prosoloist, Digital Synth, Piano, Backing vocals
Massimo di Paola: Piano, Keyboards and Synths, Backing vocals
Fabrizio Marziani: lead voice, rhythm..

Excellent second album from this fine Italian avant-progressive ensemble with more than a touch of jazz in them as well. Well played, well paced and everything just fits. Highly recommended!...

"Camelias Garden are a very young band from Rome born around the singer and poly-instrumentalist Valerio Smordoni. Their music features lyrical atmospheres and particularly elegant vocal arrangements. The sound, between acoustic and vintage, reminds...

This is the second release by this 8 piece + guests band who get a very, very large sound that veers betweeen "The Grand Wazoo" type big band jazz/rock and a more chamber rock sound ala Five Storey Ensemble, Julverne, Aranis, etc. This gets a solid thumbs (and toes) up; highly recommended!!

"Strasbourg's eccentric and eclectic Zeuhl/avant garde/RIO "ensemble" (more like a small orchestra!) have produced a sequel to their 2011 "soundtrack" to an imaginary alien space invasion. The band has matured..

This is the second release by this 8 piece + guests band who get a very, very large sound that veers betweeen "The Grand Wazoo" type big band jazz/rock and a more chamber rock sound ala Five Storey Ensemble, Julverne, Aranis, etc. This gets a solid thumbs (and toes) up; highly recommended!!

"Strasbourg's eccentric and eclectic Zeuhl/avant garde/RIO "ensemble" (more like a small orchestra!) have produced a sequel to their 2011 "soundtrack" to an imaginary alien space invasion. The band has matured..

This one from the mighty AltrOck label presents something a bit different for them and something outside of their more usual 'avant-progressive' style. This is 11 shorter songs that are between 2' and 6' long and is by a quartet of...


The second release from this Greek band symphonic rock outfit with a strong progressive folk bent.

After their first one, A Child In The Mirror, the group has refined and expanded their sound with this.

The basic band consists of....

Founded in Genoa in 2007, CDZ released their very well regarded, self-titled first album in 2011 and returned a few years later with their second album.

Now, with this, their third, the band are certainly in the forefront of modern bands...

Founded in Genoa in 2007, CDZ released their very well regarded, self-titled first album in 2011 and returned a few years later with their second album.

Now, with this, their third, the band are certainly in the forefront of modern bands...

Founded in Genoa in 2007, CDZ released their very well regarded, self-titled first album in 2011 and return with this, their second release.

A sextet featuring two keyboards on piano, mellotron and all manner of analog synthesizers, electric...

This is the first release by Cucamonga, who are a Argentinian jazz/rock group. They throw in a lot of avant-progressive touches into their stew as well. Electric piano, sax, guitar, bass and drums. The big influences here that I hear are Hermeto Pascoal..

"La Dottrina degli Opposti is a creative project by the Genoese musician Andrea Lotti, composer and author of the pieces, as well as the founder of the La Coscienza di Zeno group.
The ensemble formed for the realization of the project sees the participation of more than thirty elements, including members from different progressive formations already established in the sector, such as La Conscienza di Zeno and the Tempio delle Clessidre, and the orchestra of the G.F. Ghedini from Cuneo.
Most of...

This is an album of constructed, somewhat electro-acoustic music, written by Francesco Zago of Yugen, and featuring work from other members of Yugen and other of his musical friends, but most noticeably and notably featuring entrancing vocals by the...

This is an album of constructed, somewhat electro-acoustic music, written by Francesco Zago of Yugen, and featuring work from other members of Yugen and other of his musical friends, but most noticeably and notably featuring entrancing vocals by the...

Third release - the 2nd on AltrOck - by this Argentinian band who consist of a core quintet of
Carolina Restuccia-vocals
Facundo Negri-drums, percussion
Pedro Chalkho-guitars
Carlos Quebrada Vazquez-bass
Daniel Hernandez-sound...

3.76 is the forth album by this Argentinian avant-garde rock band, featuring who contain a lot of contemporary classical music in their experimental, post RIO-rock, whatever sound.

"The 4th episode for Factor Burzaco, this marks a new step ahead in their avant-garde proposal, following on the path of bands such as Thinking Plague, Henry Cow and contemporary classical music. It's a sort of dreamlike journey in which adventurous music and emotions come together. Carolina Restuccia's vocal...

Factor Burzaco’s popularity grows day by day in the RIO/Avant-Prog world. Coming from South America, due to their sound and musical style they are also known as the “Argentinian Thinking Plague”. With this new album the group moves forward with their...

Vitaly Appow — bassoon, soprano sax, bass guitar
Olga Podgaiskaya — piano
Olga Polakova — flute
Anastasiya Mosse — violin
Ilona Ies’ — cello
Vyacheslav Plesko — doublebass
Nikolay Siamitka — percussion (track 4)
Aliona Sukliyan — oboe (track 5)
Vladimir Pashkevich — clarinet (track 7)
Andrey Verishka — marimba, vibraphone (tracks 1,2,6,7)
Ekaterina Maretskaya — piano (track 3)

This is the 2nd release by Five-Storey ensemble, who came out of the grou

Vitaly Appow — bassoon, soprano sax, bass guitar
Olga Podgaiskaya — piano
Olga Polakova — flute
Anastasiya Mosse — violin
Ilona Ies’ — cello
Vyacheslav Plesko — doublebass
Nikolay Siamitka — percussion (track 4)
Aliona Sukliyan — oboe (track 5)
Vladimir Pashkevich — clarinet (track 7)
Andrey Verishka — marimba, vibraphone (tracks 1,2,6,7)
Ekaterina Maretskaya — piano (track 3)

This is the 2nd release by Five-Storey ensemble, who came out of the grou

Rational Diet were a chamber rock/RIO-styled band from Belarus, who released 3 very well liked albums on the AltrOck label. They seem to have imploded somewhat nastily, with the result being two bands arising from the ashes: Five-Storey Ensemble and...

"Fading records is glad to announce the long-awaited. first full-length album by the Italian band FEM (Forza Elettro Motrice), “Sulla Bolla di Sapone”.
The band consists of
Massimo Sabbatini-vocals
Alberto Citterio-keyboards and piano....

This is the second release by this Canterbury-styled Italian band and is a step up from their quite good first. Recommended to fans of the lighter side of the Canterbury sound.

The personnel is:
Dario D’Alessandro- guitar (r), voice, bass on 4, 7, 10, 11, 12, synthesizers
Davide Di Giovanni- keyboards, bass on 8, 13, choirs, drums on 13
Daniele Di Giovanni- drums
Mauro Turdo- guitar (l)
Daniele Crisci- bass
guests
David Newhouse - saxophones, bass clarinet on 09

Dario D'Alessandro / guitar (R), voice, keyboards, bass (5)
Davide Di Giovanni / piano, organ, synth, acoustic guitar (9)
Daniele Di Giovanni / drums, percussions
Mauro Turdo / guitar (L)
Daniele Crisci / bass
With:
Dave Newhouse (The Muffins, Rascal Reporters) / saxophones, clarinets, flute (1,2,5,9,12)
Luciano Margorani (LA1919, NichelOdeon) / guitar (5,10)
Tommaso Leddi (Stormy Six) / mandolin (5), trombone (10)
Rocco Lomonaco (Breznev Fun Club) / winds...

The fifth album from this band well integrated into the AltrOck family and sound!

“Here is the empire of double meanings" is the fifth album by Homunculus Res, which closes a ten-year cycle. After the lucubrations around the human condition, through the metaphors of the natural elements, the Sicilian complex could only arrive at transcendence, always in an inexorably nihilistic perspective and with the usual humor that here becomes darker and in some cases even absent.
Any reference to the...

"Debut album for the Homunculus Res from Palermo, Italy for AltrOck. What characterizes the composition of this new band are the evident Canterburian roots, clearly related to the ironic style and to the typical references of the only Italian group...

"Humble Grumble is a surprising Belgian band who has built an original sound mixing skilfully and effectively a number of genre – rock, jazz, folk, prog. They follow the great tradition of Belgian alternative bands as X-Legged Sally, Fukkeduk, Think of...

Second release from this large Belgian band, who grew out of folk music origins into into something closer to avant/avant-progressive rock, but whose folk roots definitely show through strongly in a number of good ways here. The group consists of...

Bill Wolter — Guitar
Chris Lauf — Drum
s Stephen Wright — Bass
Melody Ferris — Vocals
Ivor Holloway — Tenor, alto and soprano Sax
Eli Wallace — Keyboards (tracks 1,2,4,5)
Theo Padouvans — Trumpet (tracks 1,2,4,5,6)
Andrew Vernon — Keyboards (tracks 3,6,7)
David Shaff — Trumpet (track 3,7)
Aheron Wheels Bolsta — Tabla (track 5)

"BIG WOW!!! It happens rarely that an album keeps me totally stunned to the bones! This music reminds me of so many cherished musi

A California group who I had not run into/heard of before, but who appear to have been a group since 2005. Their music is somewhere between jazz and rock, but not 'jazz/rock'. The personnel is
Melody Ferris: Vocals
Ivor Holloway: Tenor and Alto...

"Kurai is a Japanese word that corresponds to the adjective «dark», without «gothic» or other emotional references. In a certain sense, Kurai is the Yûgen’s «shadow», both because draws on some hints from it (directly from Labirinto d’acqua), and above...

Locanda were one of the greatest of the 'one and done' Italian progressive/symphonic rock bands of the 1970s. They released their one album, Forse Le Lucciole Non Si Amano Pui, in 1977 when the progressive scene there was all but dead. They are...

Unique, vocal-heavy, avant-progressive music; maybe the closest comparison I can give would be to Arrigo Barnabe.

"Loomings is a one of a kind musical universe of mingled voices and percussions, acoustic and electronic sounds. Their songs follow unpredictable paths: sometimes they emerge from complex compositional strategies, sometimes they’re just driven by the desire to walk through harmonies, vocal arabesques, instrumental unisons and phases. It is a music which belongs to the tradition of...

“Lunophone is a new musical project born from the collaboration between Dario D'Alessandro (Homunculus Res) and James Strain (Rascal Reporters). Six compositions from each member result in a total of 12 songs which were played and arranged from their respective locations in Italy and Ireland.
The result is an intriguing fusion of styles united by common tastes and feelings that lead the two musicians to craft a blend of progressive jazz-rock with influences from Canterbury/RIO and characterised by..

“After “Sisyphus” (2012) and “Macroscream” (2016), the band consolidates its style by giving birth to the third album recorded and mixed in Rome between May and September 2023.
The lineup has undergone numerous changes which have contributed to giving a more direct and less symphonic sound compared to previous works.
The mini-suites that characterized the first 2 albums give way to more synthetic songs, while retaining those distinctive elements in which Macroscream have always immersed their...

This is the second album by this sextet (plus many guests) from Rome. Their roots are clearly in classic, progressive rock with folky overtones (think Jethro Tull, early PFM, Gentle Giant, Gryphon), but they mix up a lot of influences and styles here.

"The band's self-produced debut album is a mature musical work that combines a strong Italian folk sensibility, courtesy of Saracino's violin arrangements, with a devotion to 1970s symphonic prog. [This] has the potential to establish MACROSCREAM...

In the 70s, there was a Milan-based musical co-operative called "L'Orchestra", that is probably best known for having released the Stormy Six catalog and the final Piccio dal Pozzo album, but they also released many other things, including the Italian editions of releases by Etron Fou, Henry Cow, Art Bears, etc and were closely aligned with the folks in the original RIO movement.

One of those 'other things' was a band called Mamma Non Piangere, who put out two albums towards the end of....

The greatly awaited and anticipated 2nd album by this great California sextet of dual guitars, dual woodwinds, bass and drums. There's also vocals and some keyboards. The group mixes contemporary sounds (i.e. the guitars are often 'crunchy') with stop...

Lorenzo Cellupica - piano, organ, keyboards and vocals
Nico Fabrizi - tenor sax, alto sax, soprano sax, percussions
Eros Capoccitti - electric bass, percussions
Davide Ruffo - drums and percussions

“We can breathe air of summer in the music of this band originally from Sora (FR); known on the music scene initially with the name of “Yellow cake”, jazz fusion band.
In 2017 they released the first and self-titled album with the current name and musicians. After 4 years, the....