Back catalogue: Progressive Rock

Review: People are not over-egging it when they try and tell you that Polish composer Andrzej Korzynski was an exploratory artist. Words like 'mind-bending', 'cosmic', and 'immersive' are often used in the same sentence as any reference to his name, let alone musical output, which remains some of the most sought after among fans of what can only really be described as staunchly experimental psyche.

For many, The Devil Tapes is the holy grail of Korzynski. Made to score Andrzej ?u?awsk's film, The Devil, by this point the pair had already worked together on the movie soundtrack to Possession, and cracked the collaborative process. Having been asked to make music that was "totally unique, like something from another planet", the composer took his initial taped experiments and pulled the vari-speed down, then layered hallucinatory effects over the top, resulting in something that's beyond a mere accompaniment, and very much integral to the film itself.

Review: Nature documentary series The Living Planet very much captured the imagination of Raoul Bjorkenheim back in 1986. It featured erupting volcanoes and plumes of molten lava and some of that drama and energy is captured in this fine jazz album which now gets a new extended reissue. Bjorkenheim studied at the Helsinki Conservatory for a year and the Berklee College of Music in Boston for three years and worked with composer and drummer Edward 'Eetu' Vesala. For this album, he played with reed virtuosos Jorma Tapio and Tapani Rinne, bassist Sampo Lassila and drummers Michel Lambert and Heikki 'Lefty' Lehto. It is a hot and raw record that contains an album's worth of previously unheard material.

Review: Keith Moon is said to have been a big fan of the Karakorum band. Prison Bitterness is an album that captures their magic on the one and only surviving demo tape of their work from 1969. They were huge on the live circuit and were tipped to hit the big time but it never quite happened. They were too underground for the label that would have made that happen and every time you listen to their music it suggests a band who loved to smoke weed. Still, dark and introverted grooves and complex patterns define their sound, so you can certainly see the appeal.

Review: Kartell's debut album Everything Is Here melds French electronic accessibility with r&b and disco grooves while also drawing on prog rock's esoteric elements and introspective psychedelia. Nostalgic yet forward-looking, it expands on his EPs with dream pop aesthetics and the futuristic allure of the 60s and 70s. Space rock's nebulous textures and ethereal sounds permeate throughout as tracks are anchored by minor-key grooves. The dense, cinematic production weaves a vivid tapestry, integrating live bass, drums, and guitars amid hazy effects and synths to leave you lost in sound.

Review: Originally released in 2009 and celebrating its 15th anniversary with this half-speed remaster on lush red marbled vinyl, Night Is The New Day serves as a genre-bending meander through progressive Scandinavian metallic sonics whilst pulling on elements of gloomy doom rock and synth-laden coldwave. Often spoken in the same breath and with equal credence paid to the likes of Opeth, Ulver and Porcupine Tree, the album is a work of sublime, depressive beauty with ever-shifting pieces like the bombastic-turned-mercurial 'Forsaker' offset by the post-folk vulnerability of 'Idle Blood', leading many to consider the eighth full-length in the Katatonia catalogue to be the finest summation of their expansive vision. The work would also notably be the last to feature the Norrman brothers handling rhythm guitar and bass duties.

Review: London might be seen as one of the hottest places for new, urban jazz sounds, but this album Second Light from Kepler Is Free shows that Greece also has its own vibrant scene. Their debut album was a quickly sold out success and now the jazz rock ensemble is back with more expansive work that traverses the 60s, 70s, soul jazz, hip hop and experimental in all new ways. The band was founded in 2018 and though all members are relatively young, they show their maturity here with more widescreen and entrancing sounds that come in collaboration with LEX, one of Greece's best-known rappers.

Review: King Crimson of the 1970s sounded very different from the band that made this Discipline album with a newly formed line-up of Robert Fripp, Bill Bruford, Adrian Belew and Tony Levin seven years after the band first broke up. It is now 40 years young so gets the requisite reissue treatment and has also been remastered for the occasion. It comes on a mighty hefty 200g vinyl so can be played extra loud, just as it should. The record mixes up electronica, funk, pure pop, modern avant-garde and much more and was a chart success in many different countries around the world.

Review: In August 1982, King Crimson - or at least the band's revised 1980s line-up - headed to Frejus on France's Cote D'Azure to film a performance that would later be released as a VHS video. For one reason or another, the band decided against releasing a soundtrack album. Sheltering Skies fills that gap, in the process delivering the first live album by the legendary progressive rock combo's later line-up. The whole performance is present, with the band working through off-kilter psychedelic workouts ('Thela Hun Ginjeet'), percussion-rich workouts influenced by African musical culture ('Indiscipline', with its extended drum solos), US West Coast rock-influenced efforts ('Heartbeat') and fan favourites ('TheSheltering Sky', which appears twice - as performed on the night and one captured on tape from a gig the night before).

Review: Originally released on CD as part of King Crimson's 40th-anniversary series, the Steven Wilson & Robert Fripp remixes of the 1980s trilogy albums-'Discipline', 'Beat', and 'Three Of A Perfect Pair'-are finally making their long-awaited debut on vinyl. Following a seven-year hiatus, King Crimson reemerged as a new quartet: Robert Fripp, Bill Bruford, Adrian Belew, and Tony Levin, marking a surprising and celebrated era for fans both old and new. Departing stylistically from their 1970s sound, the band fused rock with electronica, funk, pop, avant-garde, and various textures, as exemplified by the chart success of 'Discipline' (1981) and enduring favourites like 'Matte Kudasai'. This album remains a pivotal release of the early 1980s and one of King Crimson's most beloved and commercially successful works.

Review: Originally released in 1994, the fifth full-length from progressive metal-tinged Christian hard rockers King's X is often considered to be their definitive work. Following the breakout success of its Atlantic Records distributed 1992 self-titled predecessor, which already marked a notable heavier turn, this new direction would be fully embraced with the help of producer Brendan O'Brien (having been impressed by his recent work with the likes of Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and The Black Crowes). Dogman ultimately ended their, at the time, exclusive recording collaboration with rock production veteran Sam Taylor, who had overseen every prior album to date, allowing for a new lease of sonic life, whilst the most profound and resonant aspect of the material came from vocalist/bassist/primary songwriter Doug Pinnick's crisis of faith. Pondering his uncertainty with religious beliefs he had held dear his entire life, this newfound vulnerability and admittance of spiritual void hit home with not only their devout (no pun intended) fanbase but with unfamiliar newcomers lured in by the frenetic heaviness before relating to the potential agnostic viewpoints within.

Review: Izumi Kobayashi's fourth ambient solo album, Ik I, was produced by German visionary Holger Hiller and is now getting a long-awaited reissue. Originally released in a rare Netherlands-only pressing after Kobayashi's move to the UK in 1989, this album captures her unique blend of ambient soundscapes with Hiller's innovative production techniques. It's a real hidden gem of atmospheric music and intriguing Eastern Melody, dainty string patterns and exotic percussive sounds that celebrate Kobayashi's groundbreaking work and are sure to connect with a whole new generation of fans.

Review: The ominous clangs and thuds grow louder and louder, louder and louder, atmosphere of increasing tension turning into borderline panic as timbre's brooding menace threatens to erupt into snarling aggression. Suffice to say, like a good chunk of Diabel, 'Wedding Dance Macabre' is disinterested in niceties and would likely run anyone through who is looking for background music. The fact this is one of Andrzej Korzy?ski's scores for one of Andrzej ?u?awski's movies only makes that feat more phenomenal, given the role soundtracks often play in cinema.

Of course, it's not all so foreboding and intimidating. Tracks like 'Through the Door - Theodor' are in fact downright playful, tune comprising high pitched 'boing' noises, like springs recoiling in harmony, while 'Your Father Is Dead Young Lord' is a masterclass in emotionally captivating piano. Nevertheless, the point remains - these were never meant to accompany a visual piece, but instead play leading parts in the narrative of Diabel.