“It seems common now for 'older' bands to re-record their hits, either to allow them to be licensed out and released without having to obtain expensive licenses from the original record label the songs were recorded under.
These re-recordings of old Focus tunes by the current lineup is both energetic and entertaining, whether it's the frantic guitar/flute riffing of the classic Hocus Pocus, the cod-medieval organ riffing of Focus 1 or the slightly funky Sylvia.
The main bone contention is the...

Co-led by the great guitarist Jan Akkerman and keyboardist Thijs Van Leer, Focus are the best known Dutch progressive rock band, thanks to their 'novelty hit' Hocus Pocus. Novelty or not, it was a great song with unbelievable hot solos, and was one of...

Co-led by the great guitarist Jan Akkerman and keyboardist Thijs Van Leer, Focus are the best known Dutch progressive rock band. Ship Of Memories is a collection of outtakes, mostly recorded between Focus III and Hamburger Concerto. While the outtake n...

Originally released in 2012, this was the first new studio album by the reformed Dutch progressive rock band Focus in 6 years. It features two members from the band's glory days, Hammond organist/flutist/vocalist Thijs van Leer and drummer Pierre van der Linden as well as bassist Bobby Jacobs and guitarist Menno Gootjes.
Ever since their return in the the early 00s, the band has been winning over old and new fans, because (a) they are still really great and (b) they still really sound like Focus!...

"The London-based quintet Fofoulah (meaning "it's there" in Wolof) was formed in 2011 and features Tom Challenger (Red Snapper) on saxophone and keyboards, Phil Stevenson (Iness Mezel) on guitar, Johnny Brierley (Outhouse Ruhabi) on bass, Dave Smith (Robert Plant's Sensational Shape Shifters) on drums and Sabar drums, and Kaw Secka (Irok) on Sabar drums and tama. With the rhythms of the Sabar drums -- a traditional form of Wolof drumming from Gambia and Senegal -- at its heart, Fofoulah's music has...

The world's greatest Chilean Krautrock band. The world's only Chilean Krautrock band, but, seriously, these guys are quite great!
It was also an inspiredly great idea for them to team up with Jason Pierce of Spacemen 3 on this!

"It should come as no surprise to fans of the Chilean trio Follakzoid that upon meeting the legendary Jason Pierce a.k.a. J. Spaceman (Spacemen 3, Spiritualized), they discovered they were kindred spirits. Follakzoid and Spaceman's projects share a restless drive to...

This is the fifth release by this quite popular Norwegian folk-rock band, which originally was released in 1980 and this limited edition release marks its first appearance on CD.
This is supposedly their last great release (I never heard what came after, so I can’t attest to that), but I can attest to the fact that this is a very good one. Some little 80s style production touches show up here, but I actually think that they give this a little bit of a distinctive air and I quite enjoy them (and...

Joe Fonda (bass), Michael Jefry Stevens (piano), Herb Robertson (trumpet), Harvey Sorgen (drums) with Napoleon Maddox (voice).

"Dubbed "one of the great and often underappreciated jazz groups of the modern era" by the All Music Guide, and...

For this 1998 release, Brigitte Fontaine teams up with an unlikely cast of collaborators from across the '90s' avant-pop spectrum, enlisting Sonic Youth, jazz legend Archie Shepp, the singer simply known as M, French rock groups Noir Désir and les...

Previously unknown and undocumented German outfit performing an early style of jazz + rock ala Colosseum and, especially Chicago Transit Authority. Like early CTA, they had a horn section and a very good guitarist and this is very good, early, horn...

“Steeped is the second album release from Forebrace, the welcome follow-up to Bad Folds. For those who delighted in that album, the good news is that the quartet's line-up remains unchanged, and the balance between composed and improvised music is as before, with composed pieces credited to Forebrace's leader and clarinetist, Alex Ward, alternating with improvisations credited to the whole group. The big difference between Steeped and its predecessor is that this album was recorded live in concert...

Forever Einstein use guitar, electric bass, & a wonderfully idiosyncratic drummer to unique ends, performing well thought out & playful instrumental rock music that is highlighted by a great sense of dynamics & sensitivity from all. Their immediately...

They truly deserve the title of power trio. Essentially a rock album, but with some very diverse influences...full of power and complexity-Wonderous Stories. Forever Einstein are an instrumental guitar/bass/drums progressive rock outfit whose roots inc...

.“...there's always a logical and organic flow, despite knotty and sometimes orchestral transitions.... Its combination of singable themes and rock rhythms will appeal to...all fans of improvisation within a richly composed context.” – All About Jazz

“Jazz-fusion, yes, but with a degree of compositional content and integrity often absent in the genre.” – Progression...

Excellent electronic music that is more than a little bit informed by 70s system music. A winner!

Forma's fourth album continues with the expanded sound of their Kranky debut, 2016's Physicalist, blending acoustic instrumentation with their standard analog synthesizers and sequencers. It's much more concise than that album, however, sticking to the single LP time frame of their first two releases. As ever, the trio maintain a balance between live improvisation and programmed elements, blurring...

Michael Formanek: Double Bass
Kris Davis: Piano
Tony Malaby: Tenor and Soprano Saxophones
Ches Smith: Drums and Vibes

“With his extensive artistic biography, Michael Formanek is one of the most outstanding figures in American jazz, as a composer, as a bassist in ensembles, and as a soloist. The fact that the bassist has been an integral part of the creative music scene for several decades speaks for his creativity and versatility. Now Michael Formanek presents the long-awaited second

Michael Formanek Double Bass
Tony Malaby Tenor and Soprano Saxophones
Kris Davis Piano
Ches Smith Drums, Vibraphone, Haitian Tanbou

“One marker of bassist Michael Formanek's creativity and versatility is the range of distinguished musicians of several generations he's worked with. While still a teenager in the 1970s he toured with drummer Tony Williams and saxophonist Joe Henderson. Starting in the '80s he played long stints with Stan Getz, Fred Hersch and Freddie Hubbard...

Peter Formanek - Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet

Michael Formanek - Double Bass

I happily saw the tour mentioned below in 11/19 and can attest to its vitality!

“Michael and Peter Formanek started making music and improvising together before Peter started school. Regular visits to their home from friends and colleagues like Tim Berne, Jim Black, Marty Ehrlich and many others only served to normalize this as being an essential part of human interaction. During much of their time living.

Final of four albums (1973) by this early Italian band who started as a psych/beat/progressive outfit and ended up as a somewhat 'progressive rock with pop tendencies'. "(Guitarist) Alberto Radius was a leading light on the seventies progressive scene ...

Jammy, elaborate, guitar-led excursions that connect the dots between the Grateful Dead at their most exploratory and Krautrock / Motorik.

“One of Chris Forsyth's many gifts as a guitarist is his ability to create a sonic sprawl that always makes quantitative sense. Whether engaging American and Anglo-Saxon roots styles, psychedelia, or kosmiche projection, his sense of space and attention to melody are enviable. Since forming the Solar Motel Band, his explorations have revolved around...

“Before his prolific activity in the field of music therapy, Agostino Nirodh Fortini also embarked on his own path in electronic music. In the early 80s, he was a close collaborator of Walter Maioli and Fred Gales, at the time of the pioneering label Sound Reporters. Suoni Immaginari, released only on cassette privately in 1988, contains a wide range of keyboards and lots of ethnic field recordings assembled with an absolutely modern praxis ahead of its time.
Nirodh imagines his planetary odysseys..

"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....

Ben Bennett: percussion
Michael Foster: saxophones
Jacob Wick: trumpet

"Foster, Wick and Bennett each subvert the traditional expectations of their instruments in favor of a timbrally rich palette of unconventional sounds. The interplay on these improvisations is sympathetic; they communicate fluently in their own collective language."

Michael Foster: tenor & soprano saxophones, compositions
Jared Radichel: double bass
Joey Sullivan: drums & percussion

"The Ghost was formed as both a tribute to my disparate influences in free jazz, harsh noise, and the gay underground community, and as a middle finger to the suffocating heteronormative establishment of improvised music. "Vanished Pleasures" stands as a new direction for this project, utilizing overt compositional frameworks to convey the anxieties of aging, sexual..