St Hildegard of Bingen, Roman Catholic saint and Doctor of the Church, is given a wonderful treatment by Swedish folk band Garmara.
Prog Rock
[Video] Köyhät Ritarit – Kallon vienti honkaan (Hanging the skull on a pine tree)
I didn’t expect to find this charming bit of Finnish folk in my inbox today, but here is Köyhät Ritarit with some soothing new music.
[Video] Pekka Pohjola – Vapour Trails
Pekka Pohjola first gained fame as bassist for the legendary Finnish prog rock band Wigwam, and then did some work recording for Mike Oldfield. His solo work brought together his love of jazz and fusion in a prog rock setting.
[Video] Peter Hammill – (This Side Of) The Looking Glass
While fronting one of the greatest of all progressive rock bands in Van Der Graaf Generator, Peter Hammill was releasing critically acclaimed solo albums. Here’s a piece from the album The Love Songs.
As a side note, many thanks to Virgil Pink, who shares a tremendous amount of wonderful videos. He should be on your Youtube subscription list immediately.
[Magazine] ProgressoR
I love scouring the Internet precisely because I run into treasures like these.
Uzbekistan is not the first name one would think of when discussing progressive rock. The Central Asian republic is far away from any of the traditional power centers like the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy or the United States. It is several time zones away from Moscow and St Petersburg, where Russia’s small prog-rock scene is at its strongest.
Yet chaps from Uzbekistan (and a chap from Norway, apparently!), working out of London, do yeoman’s work in covering progressive rock releases for the website ProgressoR. These folks are passionate about the genre, indeed. Consider this a go-to site for those who love prog and its sub-genres.
[Video] Pageant – Vexation ページェント ヴェクサシオン ＜1987 New Version＞
Symphonic progressive rock from Japan. I’m constantly amazed at how well the Japanese language fits in a Western musical structure. Fine stuff from Pageant.
[Video] Colosseum – The Valentyne Suite
During a good part of the 1990s, I had the pleasure of working at one of the best record stores in America (I mean that literally – maybe two or three were greater, and that’s it). Aron’s Records was, for me, a finishing school for musical knowledge, a place where I was able to really broaden my taste in music (I have old friends Dana Madore and Ted Plank to thank for most of that, though so many contributed mightily to hipping me to new music).
Dana, in particular, as well as my clients, were fans of Colosseum and solo projects which sprang from its loins. ‘The Valentyne Suite’ is a particularly meaty piece of Hammond-based prog.
[Video] Soft Machine – ‘Switzerland 1974’ Official Trailer
Thanks so much to the Steve Feigenbaum’s legendary Cuneiform Records, who posted this on their Youtube account. This is Soft Machine during their prime.
Press Releases
As time is freeing up, I am considering posting press releases on worthy projects. If there are any interesting bands or labels who wish to put up press releases for me to post, do let me know. Please send a sample of the music and a press-release I can easily format into the blog.
Fixing Some Bugs
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been doing what I can to correct some errors, and it looks like the site is finally taking better shape. A wiki has been added where I will add links and other data to musicians, artists and others who interest me.
If you have interest in being listed there, or know anyone who does, just let me know via the contact page.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 