2024 Prog Journal Vol. 1 - Complete

*Honduras Libregrupo - La Unica Posicion es la Oposicion. 2008 Azione Artigianale (CD). One of those albums that makes me want to stop writing about music, as it's difficult to capture what they're doing. But what they're doing I like. A mix of prog, psych, Krautrock, experimental, and jazz rock. It sounds unpleasant on paper but the album is an enjoyable listen. I need to explore more from these guys. (May)

*MCH Band - Karnevale. 1999 Black Point (CD). There's just something unique about Czech art rock. It's progressive rock, but not in the typical Yes/Genesis way. King Crimson and VDGG seem to be the bellwethers, but even those are distant references. I've gone on about my personal experiences with the MCH Band, so I'm already biased to their greatness. I struggle to define what this sounds like, but I do enjoy it. (May)

MKII - Burning Daylight. 1994 SI (CD). An unusual release from SI, moving away for their standard neo prog template. This is glossy atmospheric instrumental music with bluesy guitar solos. A fine album, though not distinctive enough to keep. (May)

Golem - Orion Awakes. 1996 Psi-Fi (CD). Promise not to go on about what a fake this is. This is one of the more obvious pieces of evidence that it's not from the 70s and features a pastiche of different sounds from different eras. Whatever - blank the backstory out - and you have a decent retro Krautrock album. It's infuriating they didn't tell the truth. The music continues to suffer because of the lie. I went on about it, didn't I? (May)

*Tempano - Atabal Yemal. 1998 Musea (1979) (CD). Excellent symphonic prog from Venezuela, typical of the late 70's European scene, but still not yet rooted in South America. Instrumentation is a bit primitive as to be expected, but the spirit is alive. The CD adds three tracks newly recorded in 1998, but were intended to be on the debut. These naturally sound better (still primarily analog), and the music is well composed. Even a bit of Univers Zero can be heard, the opposite of their sunny disposition. This is one of those albums where you're better off having the CD than the LP. (Feb)

Holy River Family Band - Earthquake Country. 2001 Wild Places (CD). Following on from Welcome to the Riverhouse, Holy River Family Band continue on their trek down the songwriting path. On Earthquake Country you will here more of a folk-rock sound with more diversified instrumentation. Much in the same way that The Spacious Mind's Sailing the Seagoat was a musical departure for that  band (who share members with the Holy River Family Band). (Jan)

* - Keeping for the collection

Holy River Family Band - Welcome to Riverhouse. 1997 Sweden

Welcome to the Riverhouse is the second album from Sweden's Holy River Family Band. They took the ambitious step of releasing a double CD that is chock full of space rock and psychedelic music, offering up an exhausting 108 minutes. Despite the length, I found Welcome to the Riverhouse more digestible than the debut, which was only a mere hour long. There are more actual songs here rather than the - at times - insufferable long psychedelic jams the debut brought forth.

What's most disconcerting about Welcome to the Riverhouse, is that there are no obvious sublime moments to be found here. That one track that makes you drop everything you are doing and focus intently on the stereo. There's plenty of great to go around, but not exceptional. It seems a bit more thought should have gone into the pacing, and of course some obvious editing would have helped. The vocals are also not an asset, often times you'll find yourself hoping they will end quickly. Overall, the album still falls into the "excellent" category, but on the low side. The good news is there are no clunkers here, so this is a good album to hit play, and let it reveal itself in the background. Without question if you're looking for a place to start with the Holy River Family Band, this is the CD to go with, though I'm just as fond of the debut rating wise.

Ownership: CD: 1997 The Wild Places (USA). Purchased new online upon release. If you want the full album, you'll need to get the double CD. There is a truncated version on LP, but I cannot imagine the allure beyond owning it in that format. How times have changed. In 1998, new albums being pressed on LP were rare - only a bare few labels still engaged in that practice. The Wild Places/Gates of Dawn owner Michael Piper was a major LP collector, so he would press albums on LP where he could. But there wasn't much demand honestly (including me - still the case for new albums!). Today it would be the opposite. One would expect a 5 LP set with different colors for each vinyl. And then a simple slip case CD would be included, and that would be truncated! Crazy world.

8/19/12 (new entry); 5/24/19

Holy River Family Band - Haida Deities. 1996 Sweden

Haida Deities is an excellent debut album by Holy River Family Band, a group born from The Spacious Mind, and shortly thereafter also bred Kundalini. The album starts off, perhaps predictably, more peaceful and tranquil before launching its first full force acid guitar fronted jam on 'Eztetl'. The 29 minute closing track is like eating only the frosting on the cake - especially if you're a psychedelic instrumental freak. There's quite a bit to take on at once, and watch out for the sugar rush if not careful. Guitars, organs, synthesizers, hand percussion, and a slew of exotic stringed and percussive instruments are on display. If you love the 1990s Swedish psychedelic sound, itself spawned from the early 70's works by Flasket Brinner, International Harvester, and Algarnas Tradgard, then Haida Deities is a no-brainer purchase.

Ownership: CD: 1996 The Wild Places (USA)

8/19/12 (new entry)