Back to David Diggs with Out on a Limb from 1976

Information is here. Note Diggs is playing drums, guitars, and keys on this release. Actually when he ditched the big band, the arrangements got better, more in the fusiony direction which makes sense given how hugely popular it became in the mid-70s (big sigh)... 

The string arrangements which appear here and there are not synthesized, but an actual string section arranged by Diggs himself, and it's nice to hear those too. 

Music consists of instrumental smooth fusion throughout, some lovely hooks and melodies usually played by his George Benson-style electric guitar, note some songs are repeated from earlier and from his later albums-- which is OK, as those tend to be the better compositions.  One that only appears here, though, is the Seventh Seal:

Instant Joy is such a lovely and marvelous composition, albeit simple.

David Diggs' Supercook! 1974

More big band in general than most of the other stuff he did and previously posted here and before, with a definitely (unpleasant, at least for us?) more jazzy feel and even scarier: some outright 12-bar blues stuff. Nonetheless, it's important to hear, and to add to the rest we have from him.

It closes out with a nice Reiteration:

 

But thanks again for requesting this--marvelous stuff and so much to explore. More coming soon!

Michael Blount 1970 to 1972: Patchwork, Souvenirs

 

This obscure British SSW put out 3 albums in the early part of the decade of the seventies.

The music is quite professionally played with the usual (George Martin-like) arrangements one expects from these albums but relatively simple in melody and craft, a bit like the earliest James Taylor or Jim Croce with some bluegrass, countryish stuff.  As might be expected the second album is a little bit better formed and more mature, with the first marred a little in my opinion by some really atrociously silly lyrics, I guess we can blame Paul McCartney's tendency for nonsense music hall compositions for that (eg. Maxwell's Silver Hammer). Although even on the second album there's a track called "My Mom Ma"...

Blue River No. 2 from the first album:

Susannah in the morning:

Canadian band Mashmakhan by request

 

The music is just what you'd expect, lush arrangements for Beatles-derived influences and psychedelic pop ditties, four-part harmony vocals, horn rock, etc.  Songwriting relatively simple, eg Gladwyn from the first one from 1970:

Another track with some interesting chord movements, Nature's Love Song:

Social Tension from Japan in 2 (1989 to 1990)

Discogs:

Japanese symphonic progressive rock trio Social Tension is the Japanese answer to early Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

This is both true and not true of course, they are a little more dynamic, complex, and fusionary than ELP with the big difference being little to no guitarwork.  Very similar to the preceding Kennedy.

From the brilliant concept album Macbethia, Inner Vision:

In my opinion the second album is distinctly inferior in compositional strength apart from the 'sidelong' suite with the title track. The Childrens Song is completely throwaway in its simplicity, and you could argue the same about the Waltz that follows. Note the opener, Evil Intention, which sticks to only a handful of chords:

I have flac for the combined released 'It Reminds me of Macbethia' which includes the first album plus the tracks worth hearing from the 2nd, and an mp3 of the whole second one for those who insist on hearing it all.

Kennedy from Japan

It's possible even probably some of you already quite familiar with this band from Japan that made a couple of instrumental hard fusion albums back in the day-- 1986 and 1987 that is. What a shame the zeitgeist moved away from creative progressive music back to dance and pop. Actually it moved away before these guys even released their album, but one would expect Japan was later to make the switch.

I think the second album which is ST is actually superior, from the first with the wonderful title Twinkling NASA, Explorer 1958:

From the second album another wonderful title, Kremlin Dream, [today, Kremlin nightmare surely] ironically, this came out a year after the fall of the wall of course:

There is an homage to Mahavishnu as well there should be, with Birds of Fire, on that release too.

I was surprised but I shouldn't've been they put out another album more recently in 2015 called Triangle Motion, with music exactly along the same lines, no difference, not even less inventive! However, they do recycle some of the tracks from both of their earlier works. A notable new one is called Speed King-- nothing to do with the superb heavy metal Deep Purple song I used to listen to way out loud in my car on the freeway in my younger, testosteronal days:

Album closes out with the track called "Twilight of NASA" a very very fitting name indeed given the soon to be destruction of the International Space Station, and the coming soon galactic dominance of the X-king with his innumerable satellites watching us, spying on us, laughing at us, snickering and memeing...

I include again flacs for all 3 with limited time only date stamps.

Myke Jackson / Mychael 's Neon Dreams (1979), by request

 

This little known and unfortunately obscure American rocker was first in the harder band Felt from Huntsville, Alabama, who put out one LP in 1971, then went out on his own with the masterpiece ssw work Alone in 1975.  Strongly recommend everyone hear that one. Subsequently he put out Neon Dreams, which is more commercial-friendly but at the same time, nice and electric and therefore quite interesting. The strength of the songwriting is slightly reduced but I think it's worth hearing for sure. And the guitar playing is just lovely to hear, his solos, as I presume it's him playing both lead and rhythm, are wonderfully adept and interesting.

The title track:

The instrumental Breathless, from the Life Sonata, which is a wholly instr. composition in 3 parts, not progressive rather just normal hard rock with some nice singing electric guitar soloing: