Pole Review by Gary Hill Wow, as strange as this CD is, I love it! A collaboration between Markus Reuter and King Crimson’s Pat Mastellotto, this thing conveys a dark sort of progressive rock that is very much focused on textures.
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Totem Review by Gary Hill This is the first disc that was released by Tuner – a collaboration of Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson) and Markus Reuter (Centrozoon).
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Stick Men is a unique power trio. Founded by legendary and still cutting edge bassist / Chapman Stick artist, Tony Levin, Stick Men continues to expand the horizons of modern progressive music. With the departure of fellow Stick artist Michael Bernier, Austrian touch guitar master, Markus Reuter, has joined King Crimson band-mates Levin and drummer Pat Mastelotto for one of the most impressive forays into modern music. Absalom represents the first recorded portion of a planned longer CD release from Stick Men.
My impression of Absalom is that with the first listen, you’ll likely immediately be drawn into the expansive diversity of styles, sounds, and textures spread through this highly enjoyable and musically advanced EP. I have been listening to this collection for several weeks, and I can only say that the songs are growing even more on me. Each listen gives the opportunity to hear a different relationship of sounds I hadn’t noticed on the prior listen. This is very, very good music of our era. I highly recommend this album.
Moody and ambient music creates the format for these sedate soundscapes. There aren’t huge variants here, and everything moves very slowly, but it never feels redundant or samey either.
This new five-CD collection is pretty amazing. I've said before, and will repeat it here, that this new version of King Crimson might well be the best lineup they've had, particularly in terms of live shows.
This instrumental set is intriguing and powerful. It's got plenty of King Crimson-like sound built into it, but there are also hints of space music, fusion, jam band stuff and more here.
Robert Fripp's collaborations in the late 1980s and early 1990s with David Sylvian, in retrospect, clearly laid the groundwork for King Crimson's album Thrak.
This new set from the ever-changing group of musicians recording under the name "The Prog Collective" does feel a little darker than some of the rest of their music.
Stick Men - Deep Review by G. W. Hill I really like Stick Men. Sometimes their music can be hard to describe, though. More...
Various Artists - Drum Nation Vol. 2 Review by Gary Hill The concept is simple but unique: put together a number of tracks from various artists showcasing influential and potent drummers. This was the concept for Magna Carta's first drum nation CD, and they continue it here - why mess up a good thing?
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California Guitar Trio - Echoes Review by Gary Hill California Guitar Trio are certainly well known for creating unique progressive rock instrumental pieces.
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Various Artists - Encores, Legends and Paradoxes Review by Gary Hill With a cast of players that reads like a prog "who`s who", this ELP tribute takes the classics and makes them fresh and new again. The result is an incredibly listenable piece of music that really entertains.
King Crimson - Eyes Wide Open DVD Review by Bill Knispel Following two plus years as a “double trio,” and nearly two years of fractionalization through a series of ProjeKCts, King Crimson returned to active duty in 2000 as a streamlined quartet with the album TheConstruKCtion of Light. A second album in this newer “double duo” format titled The Power to Believe, followed in 2003.
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Peter Primamore - Grancia Review by Gary Hill This is an intriguing CD. It does a nice job of straddling the fence between jazz and progressive rock.
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King Crimson - Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With Review by Bill Knispel Happy With What you Have to be Happy With was the second consecutive EP release from King Crimson, and presented a look at additional material that would, along with the instrumentals presented on the Level Five EP, form the majority of the band’s (at the time) forthcoming studio album The Power To Believe.
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This mostly instrumental album is released on Djam Karet’s new label. In fact, Gayle Ellett from Djam Karet guests on the disc, along with quite a few more notable names.
King Crimson - In the Court of King Crimson written by Sid Smith Review by Steve Alspach Few bands in progressive rock have a more colorful past than King Crimson. As Sid Smith says in the preface, the history of King Crimson is the "triumph of spirit over adversity. And sometimes the triumph of adversity."
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It would be really hard to slap a label on this album, other than just lumping it in as progressive rock. Much of it is freeform, largely instrumental, weirdness.
This instrumental album features experimental music that has a lot in common with modern King Crimson. The group includes two touch guitar players, a keyboardist and a drummer.
King Crimson - Level Five Review by Bill Knispel Following the “research and development” phase that was the ProjeKCts, King Crimson resumed its most recent return to recording and performance. Having jettisoned Bill Bruford (who returned to primarily jazz playing via Earthworks) and Tony Levin (who returned to live work with long time collaborator Peter Gabriel), Crimson recorded and released the more electronic album The ConstruKCtion of Light in 2000.
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I had never seen the mighty King Crimson play live before - not surprising, as I was only ten years old when the band last played my home town in 1974!
The excellent “Two of a Perfect Trio” tour was a well-publicized and equally well received series of concerts featuring the bands of King Crimson legends Tony Levin and Adrian Belew.
It seems that there is quite a bit of live material being released from this version of King Crimson. That's a great thing because this line-up might be the best ever.
I have to say that for my money, the modern incarnation of King Crimson really is probably the best. The reason I say that is that there are distinct periods of the band throughout their history.
King Crimson - Neal and Jack and Me DVD Review by Bill Knispel King Crimson’s ‘return to the throne’ in the 1980’s must have been viewed with a degree of skepticism. The band made a name for themselves in the 1970’s with their dark blend of symphonic grandeur and intense heaviness, mixed with an improvisational spirit that would drive them to push every song and performance into parts unknown.
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PAKT is an amazing group of musicians. The band is made up of Percy Jones (bass and samples), Alex Skolnick (guitars), Kenny Grohowski (drums) and Tim Motzer (guitars and electronics).
Markus Reuter in combinations with various musicians has created quite a catalog of intriguing instrumental progressive rock. This new collection with Tim Motzer and Kenny Grohowski is no exception.
Willie Oteri - Spiral Out Review by Bruce Stringer Produced, recorded and mixed by Ronan Chris Murphy, "Spiral Out" is an extension of the improvisational outings that made acts like John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra and Tony Williams Lifetime, King Crimson and even Frank Zappa the uniquely memorable experience that made musical history.
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You know you are in for a treat when the lineup of the group is Markus Reuter, Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn. You can also figure that the music will be along the lines of King Crimson and Stick Men.
King Crimson - The Construkction of Light Review by Gary Hill King Crimson has always been an enigmatic group. The band has basically had three previous incarnations; '60's/'70's, '80's and the '90's versions.
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King Crimson - The Power To Believe Review by Gary Hill Since its formation in the late 1960's King Crimson has never been content to stay in one musical place. They were one of the pioneers of progressive rock, and under the guidance of band leader Robert Fripp they have gone through many changes, both in terms of musical style and lineup. I
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While this is released under Xavi Reija's name, the full lineup here is full of exceptional musicians. Reija handles the drums while Tony Levin delivers bass, standup bass and Stick.
This is classical music, but not in the traditional sense. It’s more like the freeform classical that emerged in the early part of the 20th Century. Yet, it’s also ambient and space music. Is it rock? No, definitely not. It is, however, progressive music.
King Crimson - VROOOM Review by Bill Knispel 10 years following the dissolution of King Crimson following a trilogy of world and gamelan influenced albums, the band quietly rejoined forces in a small studio in Woodstock New York to create a new band and a new sound. Expanding beyond the quartet that created those 1980’s albums, the core group (Robert Fripp. Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Bill Bruford) was joined by new members Pat Mastelotto (drums, formerly of Mister Mister) and Trey Gunn (Stick) to create what founding member Robert Fripp called a “double trio.”
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Tom Griesgraber - Whisper in the Thunder Review by Gary Hill Featuring guest appearances by Jerry Marotta, Pat Mastelotto and the California Guitar Trio, and with the fact that Griesgraber's instrument is the Chapman Stick, one might expect this disc to sound like Tony Levin's solo material.
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