“While ensembles like the Kronos and Brodsky quartets have filtered into the rock world by way of guest appearances or loosely adapting rock music, Univers Zero have been single-handedly bridging the two disparate worlds by integrating a frontline rhythm section into their dark scores. And what a powerhouse pulse machine it is..."-Focus

This is UZ's 2nd release since reforming in the late 1990's. and leader/composer/drummer/keyboardist Daniel Denis builds upon the rich legacy of Univers Zero's...

Over 30 years ago, after 3 years of work and rehearsals, a group of seven unknown Belgian musicians gathered in a small basement studio to record their first album, which they released themselves in a tiny edition of 500 copies. The album was untitled...

John Dikeman saxophones / Jon Rune Strøm double bass / Tollef Østvang drums / Joe McPhee pocket trumpet, alto saxophone.

"John Dikeman, Jon Rune Strøm and Tollef Østvang choose as the name of their trio the title of an Albert Ayler’s...

“L'UNIVERSO is a collective of musicians that revolves around the bass player Adriano Barbiero. We are in the Venetian hinterland, which boasts a thriving musical scene in the 90s (Spirofera, Estasia, Nema Niko, Miraspinosa, Antinomia, Bondage, Ledel, etc.) from which L'Universo drew, now musically projected into a cosmic-ritual timeless dimension.
"Atema Ndanaxeo" is proghedelic alchemy in a single suite with the attitude and spirit of cosmic kraut-rock ("at the gates of the cosmos that is up there..

"A lynchpin of the Oakland rock/improv scene and now based in Brooklyn, Ava Mendoza has been taking Downtown NY by storm, performing with many of the best musicians around and leading her own dynamite bands. Her cutting edge guitar playing is front and center here in nine hard-edged and steely blues-tinged rock instrumentals. With a twisted sensibility and plenty of shredding, psychedelic effects and surprises, the music features Tim Dahl (Child Abuse, Lydia Lunch Retrovirus, Pulverize the Sound) on bass...

"Two years only after “Il paese del tramonto”, Unreal City return with a new work, “Frammenti notturni”. If the two previous albums (the debut album “La crudeltà di aprile” was released in 2013) contributed to spread the band’s name all around the international progressive scene, thanks to concerts played in Europe and overseas at the Canadian Terra Incognita festival, this third chapter is destined to consolidate their status as one of the of the most important names in the Italian prog-rock panorama...

Acoustic free improvisation of the first order, from a new trio comprising distinguished representatives of three generations of European musicians: Martin Kchen-baritone & soprano saxophones, objects (Sweden) / Tony Wren-double bass (UK) / Raymond S...

Harald Skorepa – piano, organ, synth, flute, guitar
Uwe Bekemeier – guitar
Benno Löser – bass (1)
Michael Heine – drums (1)
Klaus Kluge – guitar (2,3,4,8)
Günter Lietz – bass (2,3,4,8)
Wolfgang Brock – drums (2,3,4,8)

“Upperseption – the name being a partly nonsensical coinage – were founded in Altenhundem, situated in the Sauerland in North Rhine-Westpalia, in 1970. They played progressive rock music, influenced by The Nice.
The band didn’t release anything back

As I hope most of you have noticed, I have a strong belief and interest in the new, young(er) bands who are playing now what would have been called progressive rock if they had been doing it 35-40 years ago, but now they sit in a sort of a odd, uncomfortable place between math-rock, art-punk, technical-rock and god knows what other hyphenated names you care to use. In any event and in my opinion, this is one of the most intense, indescribably brilliant albums we've ever released. It's stupidly

"...a feast of heavy, odd-time riffing" – Washington City Paper

"...a stunning example of both virtuosity and clever composition...amazing, and amazingly consistent...." – All Music Guide

"Seldom is music so challenging also so easy to listen to." – Prefix

"...there’s something revitalizing about hearing a band like Upsilon Acrux hitting their stride...." – Dusted...

“Often compared to the late Kaoru Abe, Masayoshi Urabe's solo performances begin and end with silence. Out of the silence the harmonica slowly emerges, erupting into stabs of harmonica and gutteral cries which then give way to punctuated bursts of alto eventually retreating back into the equilibrium of silence.”

For the first time in 20 years, Gilbert Artman's extraordinary and unique Urban Sax ensemble have released a new work.

Hand-numbered in a gatefold sleeve, the CD and vinyl are identical, while the DVD is different material, featuring a live....

Jean-Paul Estiévenart - trumpet
Ben Van Gelder - alto sax
Bert Cools - guitar & electronics
Jozef Dumoulin - Fender Rhodes & electronics
Bram De Looze - piano
Reinier Baas - guitar
Antoine Pierre - drums
Félix Zurstrassen - electric bass
Frédéric Malempré - percussion

This is written in inspiration by and using the instrumentation and style of “Bitches Brew” and man, often it really does run that voodoo DOWN!

“Suspended is Urbex's third...

"After reaching an international level of success with Demons and Wizards, Uriah Heep continued to build their fan base by knocking out another album of prog-like metal before the year's end. The end result, The Magician's Birthday, is not as...

Great third release from a wonderful trio from from Cincinnati, OH, who play a sort of modern progressive rock with a lot of modern / electronica / hipster touches.
The unique lineup is
Kristin Agee-vibes + synths
Joel Griggs-guitar + synths
Jeff Mellott-drums
The sound is interesting, fun, rockin' and unique. The only groups I can think of that has some similarities is Algernon and, to a lesser degree, Tortoise, but they mostly sound like Us, Today.
They're also great live..

The Use of Ashes, formerly known as Mekanik Kommando, released this on their own label as a vinyl-only release in 1988 and this marks its first release on CD. The band is : Simon Van Vleit-percussion, electronics, mellotron, violin, tapes, sounds, Jac...

This CD combines the 1st two 12" releases by Ut. Ut were a NYC based art-core / no-wave trio, who recorded all of their early releases at Cold Storage and who had a working partnership with Tim Hodgkinson for a while (he produced a couple of albums by them, and I believe he is a guest on one of these two).

"Ut is a radical rock group founded by Nina Canal, Jacqui Ham and Sally Young in NYC in Dec 1978. Originating in the downtown No Wave scene and inheritors of the collision between rock, free...

"A treasure trove of previously unreleased West Coast guitar psychedelia, 1966-1975. This is the incredible story of Uther Pendragon, a lost psychedelic band from San Francisco whose music has remained buried until now.

Formed in the Bay Area in 1966 as a teen garage group called Blue Fever, Uther Pendragon lasted from 1966 until 1978. During that time, the band went through different names and phases, as their music evolved from garage to psychedelia to hard rock, but the core of the band....

“Call it synchronicity, call it happenstance, call it no more than three friends getting together to give their speakers a workout. Yet The Utopia Strong’s formidable conflagration of psychedelic radiance and beatific harmony has evolved way beyond all or any expectations since the band’s inception.. ‘International Treasure’ chronicles the collaborative collision of Steve Davis, Kavus Torabi and Mike York heading into unchartered psychic territory, seemingly with nothing but their instincts as...

Tom-Inge Andersen – bass
Tor Dahl – guitar
Lars Fredriksen – vocals
Atle Bystrøm Olsen – guitar
Tor Øyvind Folegg – keyboards
Geir Wetle Holtan
with
Kjersti Thunem – flute
Ronny Bystrøm Olsen – harmonica

Originally released in 1989 only in Norway as the first release of the vinyl-only Colours label, this marks this very obscure but quite good ‘one and done’ Norwegian band’s first ever reissue and its first ever issue on CD....

"A fascinating variety of influences are at work in UJD's music, but prior to any explication and dissection, it's important to note that this group effing rawks!!! The CD has punch, drama, virtuosity, hooks–all the things that make for a dynamic...

"Originally released in 1993, the reissued third album by this ambitious Czech band is probably their strongest, most consistent release. Sporting comical-absurdist lyrics like their countrymen the Plastic People, Pere Ubu is also a great influence to UZD, but even more so the Alfred Jarry play than the David Thomas band of the same name. Jerky stop-start rhythms dominate here with rousing, sweeping cadences and hysterical (in more ways than one) singing as songs go through one jarring movement after the...