I Recommend...

I have not recommendation, only a question...

PassTheTree wrote: I`d like to recommend the debut album from norwegian band Gargamel: Watch for the umbles.     All who love Anekdoten, Anglagard and Wobbler should check this out. They have a great 70s sound, but I find them more original than say Wobbler. And it´s got that great scandinavian touch to it

I recommend:



Skaldowie - Krywań, Krywań


The above album is considered the peak of the band's career. It's "the black pearl" of Polish prog. The title suite (almost 18 minutes long) is a unique blend of Polish highlander folk music and the band's classical inspirations (even citations from classical compositions appear a couple of times). The rest of the songs are good also (though much shorter). Great hamond playing!

I've added Skaldowie to the site recently.
    

Edited by Tuzvihar - September 08 2006 at 19:13

Hi,
I'd like to recommend a band I've been listening to for a few weeks. I, ahem, downloaded one of their albums from usenet under the banner of (indie/Prog) although, I'd throw avante garde in there as well as a bit of alt country.

BLOW UP HOLLYWOOD

They're a NY based outfit, lead by singer/guitarist Steve Messini and a group of other musicians playing stuff ranging from the conventional to the downright weird.

They have four albums:
Blow Up Hollywood - their debut album which sounds like a cross between Counting Crows and Moby but with enough strange chord changes and diverse directions that it is conceivable that you wouldn't categorise them as anything really. It's also an album about death.
Fake - probably the most accessible album, although it too seems to deal with death and loss, which might label this band as a bit bleak, but that isn't the case and there are some uplifting and unusual tracks on this album ranging from a wicked slide guitar in Oceans to the gentle strings of Being There.
Stars End - named after the Chuck Van Zyl radio show is a 50 minute ambient jam, very reminiscent of Yes in places and perfect for putting on when you just want to chill out.
The Diaries of Private Henry Hill - has just landed on my doorstep and I know little about this. Initial fears are that BUH could well be leaning slightly towards the Christian Right are not dispelled with this album. The tracks I've sampled on the BUH website (a great place to sample some of their stuff) indicate either a very honest biographical story of a deceased soldier or it might suggest the band are going the way of Barclay James Harvest. However, I listen first before making too many snap judgements.

Can I also recommend:
Comet - Chandelier Musings - very indie psyche rock by a couple of the members of the Secret Machines (who also spend more time on repeat play than off it). It has more proggy marks in it than TSM.
Serena Maneesh - Norwegian navel gazing indie progsters that sound a bit like Krautrock meets Baggy with a splash of prog thrown in.
Surface of Eceaon - I got this on a whim, reminds me of the 1970s mixed with the most progressive of ambient musicians of the 1990s. The kind of thing to sit and listen to while indulging in something smokily illegal... probably.

I'm glad I found this place. It's good to be here.

I strongly recommend Analog Missionary. They are currently not listed in the Archives but you can check them out through their web page and My Space pages. Some of their songs such as Harpoon are definitely prog others are prog related. They use wide range of instruments which makes their music interesting.

Dream Machine!!  WOW--amazing!!  Ex-Ozrics band members (Metro, Jon, etc) with an even more world-fusionish feel than OT.  They totally ROCK!!  I was lucky enough to do a gig with them last week in London and it was incredible!!

 

I just remembered I wanted to recommend another band...

They are Helmet Of Gnats:

http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_BAND.asp?band_id=2386

A HELMET OF GNATS biography

Members:
Chris Fox- Guitar- Berklee College of music. Played briefly with Eddie Jobson (Zappa,UK,Yes)
Mathew Bocchino -Keyboards- Attended Berklee Collegel of music
Mark Conose-Drums-Berklee College of Music and Miami Univeristy
Wayne Zito-Bass-Berklee College of Music

As you can see the members of this band have a great pedigree in music. They bring their assorted talents to the group known as A Helmet of Gnats. As that name suggests music high in energy but balanced in virtuosity. A blend of Jazz with a dash of classical elements underlined by some very good in your face rock.

In 1980 guitarist Chris Fox and keyboardist Mathew Bocchino decided to form a band while in high school. This band was to play the music of such progressive giants as UK, Frank Zappa and Kansas. They called themselves Left Testicle and only played three concerts (small wonder with that name). By 1982 this band had morphed into more of a fusion cover band called “By-Product” doing covers by Return to Forever, Bruford and The Dixie Dregs. Their live shows left everyone wanting more.

The band changed their name to Helmet of Gnats in late 1982. After several line up changes at bass and drums AHoG played mostly Dixie Dregs covers. More Personnel changes left the band without a bass player. They recorded some demos using a Roland midi sequencer for the bass lines but by 1988 they had disbanded.

Chris and Matt reformed in 1990 a more mainstream band with a female vocalist. They called themselves "Doctor Curious" named after the singers gynecologist. After a short time Chris and Matt decided they wanted a return to the instrumental adventurous music they loved. They fired the signer and took back the name Helmet of Gnats. They released a self titled album in 1996 with Nicki Defala on bass and Nicki Vitiello on drums. By 2000 the band had replaced the Nicki's with Wayne Zito on bass and Mark Conese on drums. In 2004 they released their second CD A Helmet Of Gnats II. They tour with this line up to this day.

Fans of fusion such as Return to Forever and Dixie Dregs will enjoy this band. Recommended highly!
Brian's review:http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=68089More links:http://www.artsforge.com/musicsc/gnats.html

I RECOMMENDED ALL PROG ROCK OF THE WORLD

Marillion's Brave Live 2002

Just finished watching it. Absolutely spellbinding.

E

I recommend The Aurora Project, they have one album: Unspoken Words. It's a very good album and live are they very good too!!!  I don't know why they aren't at Progarchives?