Scott McGill - The Hand Farm

Comments:
If you are looking for a guitar-intensive album that manages to avoid all of the cliches of that genre, The Hand Farm might just be for you. Best of all, the drummer and bassists are free to play around the complex guitar lines rather than just pump out easy, and boring, rhythms. Thus, this album feels more like a band effort rather than solo. Scott McGill seems to have a strong Allan Holdsworth influence, with fluid jazzy guitar lines played at incredible speeds, and unusual chordings. Once in a while, the music gets even more aggressive with complex power-chord driven rhythms. I must also mention that there are no keyboards at all(this is strictly guitar, bass, and drums territory).

Metaphor - Starfooted

Comments:
Metaphor are a 5-piece band(from San Jose, California) who began their career as a Genesis cover-band. As time went on, though, the band slowly added original compositions into their cover-list, and the idea of releasing a CD of original material was born. Starfooted is colorful, haunting, grandiose, and playful in a manner that most listeners will be reminded of early Genesis. Tracks like "Ladder From The Sky", and "Chaos With A Crown Of Gold" are prog gems. Themes are introduced, developed, and resolved the way 70s bands use to do it. And along the way listeners are treated to melodic, and rhythmic surprises. Malcolm Smith's guitar playing really struck me as impressive. His style might recall Voyage Of The Acolyte-era Steve Hackett. But his prog-guitar palette includes everything from the famous Hackett weeping-sound, to slightly aggressive Steve Howe-like riffing. Once in a while, I'm also reminded a bit of Gentle Giant's Gary Green. Vocalist John Mabry offers nice vocals in a style similar to Peter Gabriel, and Peter Hammill. Yet at times he sounds similar to some of the neo-prog singers. I have to mention that many tracks, towards the end of the CD, feature long vocal sections which might bother those of you who prefer instrumental prog, or who don't really like the neo-prog vocal style. However, the music supporting the vocals remains reasonably complex and interesting. Overall, fans of early-Genesis, Steve Hackett's early solo albums, and neo-prog will enjoy Metaphor. Starfooted remains one of the top prog CDs released in 2000.

Webpage:
Metaphor

Thomas Metcalf - One

Click on the album cover to hear a RealAudio sample.

Comments:
One, which was released in 1990, is the work of avant-garde electronic composer Thomas Metcalf. Fans of progressive electronica, and soundtrack music, will find plenty to like with this album. The compositions combine classical electronic tones, with complex passages that are similar to Zappa's wilder moments, and sections that seem influenced by musique-concrete(quick split-second stabs of sound). To quote John Diliberto, of CD Review, who hit the nail right on the head , "If the Art of Noise had the dynamic sense of Stravinsky, the group would sound like Metcalf". The compositions are packed with tons of complex ideas where the theory never becomes more interesting than the music itself. And many of you vintage keyboard collectors will love to hear a real Mellotron used in an avant-garde style, rather than symphonic. For more sound samples, reviews, and CD info please visit the website below.

Compositions: 10/10
Vocals(none): N/A
Recording Quality: 9.5/10


Webpage:
Thomas Metcalf

Mirthrandir - For You The Old Women

Comments:
Mirthrandir were an excellent 70's symphonic-prog band. They seem to have been influenced by Yes, and Gabriel-era Genesis. However, their sound is much more modern(you would never guess that this was recorded during the mid 70's). Best of all, the compositions have some of the most passionate playing ever recorded. In fact, these guys would rehearse up to 4 weeks to get 1-minute of music perfect! This is high-quality prog that will interest fans of bands like Cathedral, Babylon, and Yezda Urfa.

Compositions: 10/10
Vocals(in English): 7.5/10
Recording Quality: 9/10

Motor Totemist Guild - City Of Mirrors

Comments:
I've been looking forward to this CD ever since I saw the Motor Totemist Guild play these compositions live at Harbor College back in 1998. The music they played that night was like nothing that I had heard before. They took Rock-in-opposition to a new level by mixing it with traditional swing, free jazz, and occasional Cuban rhythms(sometimes in the same composition!). The music is impossible to describe, but I'll give it a shot. First of all, if you are into complexity you will love this disc. Try to imagine 12 musicians, each taking turns in groups of 3-4, play through a score where time-signatures, tempos, and rhythms change almost every other measure. Each section is filled with layers upon layers of countermelodies. The countermelodies are usually played in different scales, and sometimes even different time-signatures. Yet somehow everything sounds strangely beautiful in an eccentric sort of way. It's almost like listening to the musical version of the "The Voynich Manuscript". This is one of the best albums released in 1999. If you're a fan of Frank Zappa's The Adventures Of Greggery Peccary, U Totem, 5uu's, and/or Univers Zero you will love this album.

Webpage:
Rotary Totem Records

The Muffins - <185>

Comments:
This album smokes! The CD has two different versions of <185>, one version is full of overdubs and electronic effects(added by Fred Frith) and the other version is much rawer. Since this is my first album by The Muffins I really don't mind the produced version of <185> which starts the CD. But, many long time fans were surprised when they first heard the fancier version of The Muffins when <185> was originally released. So, the band decided to release a rawer version of the album which was similar to their live sound(and the sound on their older albums). Anyway, the music is absolutely incredible. The sax/bass/drum playing is really aggressive, quirky, and fast on ideas. At times I'm reminded of a progressive ska band because of the horn section, and at other times they sound more avant-garde. Overall, this will probably impress those who don't really like RIO.

Compositions: 9.5/10
Vocals(in English): 8/10
Recording Quality: 9/10

Muvovum - Xox-alekwrt

Comments:
Where did these guys come from, and why hasn't the prog rock/RIO community mentioned them more often? Muvovum are a 3-piece avant-rock instrumental band from New Orleans, Louisiana. Started in 1997 as an improvisational experimental group, the band quickly moved on to playing mostly complex, written, material while keeping some of their older improvisational style . So what do they sound like? Well, my closest description of Muvovum would probably mention that if you took Legend/Western Culture-era Henry Cow, gave them 4 cups of Kava Kava tea each to drink, and got them started on Rhodes piano, lo-fi synth(ala Moog Satellite and Theremin), guitar, bass, and drums then that sound would probably come close to the sounds on this CD. The atmosphere on most of the tracks is menacing like Univers Zero, yet dissonantly relaxed like some of Edgar Varese's gentler works, and features an advanced Schoenberg-like(atonal) melodic/rhythmic sound that keep your ears constantly expecting the unexpected. Another influence that I should quickly mention is John Cage's "random theory" for composition, although what might sound random in Muvovum's music is most likely composed. I quickly noticed that most of the themes on the tracks are based on one guy starting a melodic line, while the others either finish the idea or expand on it. This approach quickly brought up Picchio Dal Pozzo's Abiamo Tutti I Suoi Problemi to mind. Themes are then rarely repeated the same way twice, and go through a series of variations. Fans of RIO will definitely dig this stuff and follow what's going on, while some casual music fans might fail to catch that the music is highly composed. I would say that 80% of the compositions feature complexity that rivals Henry Cow's Legend, while the remaining 20% consists of drones or abtract improvisation. At their most intense, Muvovum sound like a group of laid-back 60s jazz-musicians playing 20th Century avant-classical, but even their calmer moments feature a fair amount of detail. Overall, these guys are one of the top modern RIO bands that I've heard. The maturity level in each composition here forces me to scratch my head, and wonder why these guys haven't been mentioned more within the experimental music underground. Sure, New Orleans isn't known for progressive experimental rock, but with the internet Muvovum can now easily get mentioned along with the 5uu's, U Totem, Motor Totemist Guild, and Sleeptytime Gorilla Museum.

Xox-Alekwrt can be purchased at Wayside Music, waysidemusic.com.

Website:
Muvovum