Volcano the Bear

Taken from the last.fm page:

Volcano the Bear was formed in May 1995, in leicester, england, by Daniel Padden, Laurence Coleman, Nick Mott and Aaron Moore. These four musicians encountered frustrations with the limitations of traditional musical endeavors and sought an outlet that could defy convention. Volcano the Bear quickly became the platform for their total artistic freedom and personal expression, where they could explore collective ideas and interests in a new and inventive manner.

The music that came forth from this collective ideology was a beautiful cross-section of the English underground of years past (Robert Wyatt, This Heat, Nurse With Wound) alongside the rhythms of Can, the trickery of Faust and a The Residents-like surrealist bent. Volcano the Bear adapt these lofty inspirations into a sound that is distinctly their own creation, one that blurs the lines between songs, composition, noise and improvisation.

Volcano the Bear's own Volucan imprint was home to their first recordings, released in limited cassette and CD-R formats. Glowing reviews in magazines like The Wire and Audion quickly expanded the group's fan base, and soon Volcano the Bear released the mini-LP Yak Folks Y'are on the pickled egg label. Devout fans included United Dairies/Nurse With Wound mastermind Steven Stapleton, who made Volcano the Bear the first non-NWW release on his label in nearly a decade. Their first US release was The One Burned Ma, on the misra label

Following a wildly successful U.S. tour with labelmates Bablicon, Volcano the Bear were back at work, recording another album for United Dairies. This release, titled Five Hundred Boy Piano, preceded a slew of Volcano the Bear releases, including reissues of Volfur, Volve and Volseptor on the Beta-Lactum Ring label. Also issued was the 10 inch record, Guess, a super-limited "art album" titled The Mountain Among UsVolnono and Xvol, all courtesy of Beta-Lactum Ring. 

Their methods are extremely avant-garde, and truly progress away from the norm. Musically, it is unique and complex, and crosses some subtle and scarce rock elements with folk, minimalism, and something wholly unique. Reading this biography shows they took influences from a score of revered prog bands.

Country: United Kingdom

Prog genre: Avant-prog

Official Website: The official site seems to be down...Here's an alternative http://www.myspace.com/volcanothebear

A selected discography:

Yak Folks Y'Are EP (Pickled Egg 1999)
The Inhazer Decline CD (United Dairies 2000)
The One Burned Ma CD (Misra 2000)
Five Hundred Boy Piano CD (United Dairies 2001)
Guess The Birds EP (Beta-Lactam Ring 2002)
The Idea Of Wood CD/LP (Textile 2003)
All The Paint I Can Breathe EP (Beta-Lactam Ring 2004)
The Mountains Among Us LP (Beta-Lactam Ring 2004)
Shake Your Crow/Tunnels & Wheels 7" (Gold Soundz 2004)
Catonapotato CD (Broken Face/Digitalis 2005)
Classic Erasmus Fusion CD/LP (Beta-Lactam Ring 2006)
Egg And Two Books CD (Vivo 2006)
Birth Of Streissand 7" (No-Fi 2006)
Volfurten LP (Volucan 2006)
Massive Furniture Invasion 8" (Alt Vinyl 2006)
Amidst The Noise And Twigs CD (Beta-Lactam Ring 2007)
11 Years Of Yes - 1 track cd (Twisted Knister 2007)

Volcano The Bear have some of the above items for sale, though some are very scarce and some are completely unavailable. Email us at [email protected]

Classic Erasmus Fusion is absolutely amazing. 

Bites. These chaps 'ave been on my 'to check out' list for some time, but petty meanderings else where have put a stopper on following through. So I'm happy you brought 'em up. With any luck I might catch them while I'm over in Europe this year. Churned through their myspace tracks, great stuff, at times reminding me of what's happening up in ol' Finland's free folk scene.