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Starless and Bible Black
Starless and Bible Black is even more powerful and daring than its predecessor, Larks' Tongues in Aspic, with jarring tempo shifts, explosive guitar riffs, and soaring, elegant, and delicate violin and Mellotron parts scattered throughout its 41 minutes, often all in the same songs. The album was on the outer fringes of accessible progressive rock, with enough musical ideas explored to make Starless and Bible Black more than background for tripping the way Emerson, Lake & Palmer's albums were. T…
USA
USA was recorded towards the end of King Crimson's final US tour of the 70's in June 1974. It was issued as an epitaph for the band in Spring 1975 as a single album – at a time when doubles or even triple live albums were more considered the norm for live releases. The reputation of the 1972/1974 King Crimson line-up is now revered by critics and fans alike with the material very sought after.
In common with much of Crimson's output, it was not well received at the time by critics, thoug…
Western Culture
On vinyl, this is a reissue of the final Henry Cow record, originally released in 1979 after the group had officially disbanded. The LP features guest appearances by Irene Schweitzer and Anne-Marie Roeloffs. Following their split with Virgin, the group's history became complicated; bass player John Greaves left, and after a dispute in the recording studio, what was intended as the next Henry Cow album mutated into the Art Bears' much respected Hopes and Fears. In 1978 the members of the Cow agre…
In the Court of the Crimson King
**Recent repress, classic prog-rock masterpiece gets the reissue on 200 gram vinyl** The group's definitive album, and one of the most daring debut albums ever recorded by anybody. At the time, it blew all of the progressive/psychedelic competition (the Moody Blues, the Nice, etc.) out of the running, although it was almost too good for the band's own good -- it took King Crimson nearly four years to come up with a record as strong or concise. Ian McDonald's Mellotron is the dominant instrument,…
Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh
* 180 Gram Audiophile vinyl. Limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on Copper coloured vinyl * Magma is one of the most influential bands from France. Their music defies any of the standard and convenient classifications of rock, instead they operate in a realm of their own creation. Their third studio album Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh was originally released in 1973 and showcased in particular the range of singer Klaus Blasquiz and introduced the ground-moving work of bassist Jan…
Arbeit Macht Frei
* 500 copies, numbered edition. Remastered edition, Blue vinyl *Appearing as it did in 1973, Area's debut album must have sounded to the average Italian pop critics like the end of the world. Issued on the Cramps label, the album highlighted Area's early sound, which featured overt folk melodies, Canterbury Scene prog rock, acid psychedelia, and vanguard jazz all filtered through a particularly Italian sensibility. Those who came to love PFM later will not be able to handle the beautiful -- yet …
Futuro Antico
2021 small repress. For the first time on vinyl this obscure gem of the italian project Futuro Antico, released just on tape in 1980, this record contains the hypnotic session of Walter Maioli (Aktuala) and Riccardo Sinigaglia. Analog and warm sounds, a perfect mix of drone synth and ancient flutes (found in oriental countries) gives you the idea to fly on a spaceship towards some exotic sites. This records terribly remember the astonishing live Köln jam of Terry Riley and Don Cherry, the compar…
1979 Il Concerto - Omaggio A Demetrio Stratos
* High quality vinyl reissue with remastered sound. 40th Anniversary Edition. Red Vinyl *On June 13th, 1979 in Demetrio Stratos, one of the most creative artists in the whole Italian progressive and experimental music scene of the 70's, died of medullary aplasia at the age of 34. Born in Alexandria in 1945 from Greek parents (his real name was Demetrious Efstratios), he moved to Milan at the age of seventeen to study architecture. After the experience with the beat group I Ribelli, in 1972, he …
Non E' Poi Cosi' Lontano
* 45th Anniversary. 180g pressing, Coloured vinyl, numbered edition of 600 copies * A heavy-hitting, full-on jazz-rock progressive record from this Italian group – and probably their most underrated effort of the early years! Perigeo is in great form throughout, with a talent for time and chord changes that displays many years spent woodshedding solos from their biggest influences. Claudio Fasoli's reeds are nice and choppy, and work very well with Tony Sidney's strident guitar parts. Frando D'…
Saint Just
** Deluxe Edition. Released in a gatefold cover. Black Vinyl Numbered Limited Edition of 899 copies 1 page insert 2 OBI strips ** Here's one of those surreal, strange trips that just throws you off-kilter at first but soon enough becomes irresistible. Saint Just was an avant-folk group from Naples who fashioned this haunting interpretation of prog-folk with elements of centuries past classical, romantic and traditional folk influence. They don't sound like anyone precisely, but to give a general…
Ipotesi
* Deluxe Edition. Released in a gatefold cover. Black Vinyl Numbered Limited Edition of 899 copies 1 page insert 2 OBI strips * Another great italian avantgarde progressive rarity from 1972! Complex and excellent album, with classic moments, jazz-rock influences in the Canterbury vein, acoustic parts, sudden rhythm changes and complex arrangements, in a few words everything we love from vintage italian prog! "Part of the charm of the Italian progressive rock is undoubtedly due to its inner prese…
Gilgamesh
* Red Vinyl edition * Gilgamesh were a British jazz fusion band in the 1970s led by keyboardist Alan Gowen, part of the Canterbury scene. The original basis of Gilgamesh was Gowen and drummer Mike Travis, the two working together on a band project with guitarist Rick Morcombe. The original Gilgamesh line-up consisted of Gowen, Travis, Morcombe, Jeff Clyne and Alan Wakeman on saxophone.The band's line-up took a while to stabilise, with, for example, Richard Sinclair depping for Clyne on their deb…
Solution
* 50th Anniversary edition of 500 individually numbered copies on orange marbled vinyl * Solution is the Solution's impressive self-titled debut album, which was recorded over just three consecutive days in 1971. Blending psychedelic and prog with jazz, Solution created a unique sound.
Some of the tracks, such as “Koan” and “Circus Circumstances” (the latter of which was based on a composition by French composer Jacques Ibert), see the band playing frantically as an ensemble, while the shorter a…
Live in Montreux
* Green Vinyl Edition * Founded in the Italy centre town of Ancona, Agorà curiously debuted with a live album instead of a studio one: they played an almost-instrumental typical jazz-rock, and they were invited to play at the famous Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland (a place that is most remembered for the fire that inspired Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water"). That's where "Live in Montreux" was recorded, a four-track LP, one of which has been cut in two parts on the two sides of the album.…
Anabelas (LP + CD)
** Strictly limited pressing of 500 + exclusive Bonus CD ** It is not with sheer joy, but with overwhelming jouissance that we undertook the demanding task to reissue on vinyl the behemoth that is called Anabelas. Heralded in its contemporary 70s music press in Argentina as a phenomenal release, and venerably revered globally for many years to come by progrock aficionados as a best-kept secret, this polymorphously succulent and lusciously multi-faceted concept album retains the awe of the vertig…
Carnage
Un Drame Musical Instantané were founded in 1976, featuring Jean-Jacques Birgé, Bernard Vitet and Francis Gorgé. Their aim was to promote collective musical creation, co-signing their albums, which they consider as artworks in themselves, or their live shows which they tried to renew every time they played. Their sound was created with many influences: They borrowed their sources from rock (synthesizer player Birgé and guitarist Gorgé, both authors of the album, Défense de); jazz (trumpeter Vite…
Odyssée
A relatively obscure band from the underground French progrock scene from the 70's, founded by sound designer Alain Coupel and guitar player Jack Mlynski. Half King Crimson's complexity, half Gong's fantasy, the quartet was best known for writing songs that were deeply occult and strange. Vocals are sparse, enigmatic and ghostly. The album’s real centerpiece is “Artcane I”, a
lengthy track encapsulating everything great about Artcane: patient
crescendos of cosmic atmospherics, hypnotic keybo…
Event '76
Wonderfully varied Free Improv, with a nice balance of different elements to keep it interesting (and not overly self-indulgent). One of those elements is Demetrio Stratos' voice, which is put to good use as a wild instrument (complete with duck quacking). It's rare for a band, that features Steve Lacy and Paul Lytton, to pull off free improv so completely convincingly when it is not within their normal milieu, but this performance is a testament to their musicianship and their listening skills.…
Arkham
Arkham are an early 70's prog band that featured keyboard player Jean-Luc Manderlier who would later join Magma, drummer Daniel Denis who would also move on to Magma as well as Univers Zero, and drummer Patrick Cogneaux. Arkham aren't nearly as dark as those bands, their jazzy overtones placing them a little closer to Soft Machine. The three musicians, who show some maturity, are obviously pouring their hearts out through out the album, which exudes an intensity that can't be ignored.
To Keep From Crying
* Royal Blue Vinyl edition * To Keep from Crying is the second album by progressive folk band Comus, released in 1974. It featured a notably different lineup from their other releases, with the violin/viola and woodwind spots replaced by keyboards and a conventional drum kit. The album's content has also been noted as sounding more mainstream than their earlier work, which centred more in conventional progressive rock and folk