Hug's Neon Dream, from 1975, by request

 

The only album from this band named after Mike Hugg who wrote two phenomenal SSW albums just prior to this. I've loved those 2 (Somewhere from 1972, and Stress and Strain from 1973) deeply forever for their warmth and passion and the inventive songwriting he brought to the table. Note that he also played with Manfred Mann for a brief period.

On this record there is more energy and funk and less of the delicacy, electric guitars being front and centre (John Knightsbridge being the highly competent guitarist), but it's still quite strong in terms of composition (all by Mike). Title track (not necessarily the best one this time):

It closes out with the part-of-the-times 10 minute long opus, Star Traveler-- like I always say, we were promised back then, when I was a child, a beautiful future with space travel in our lifetimes... hardly could have known we wouldn't even make it back to the moon in more than 52 years... and, I might add, humans probably will never step foot on it again the way things are turning out.

Another great Japanese guitarist, Katsutoshi Morizono (from Guitar Workshop) 1978 to 1981

 

Turns out we encountered him before with Guitar Workshops. Particularly with the latter I should have been more diligent with pursuing all the fusionary artists to their original discographies. I thought I posted Prism, the Japanese fusion band, but it seems I didn't.

From discogs:

Japanese jazz guitarist.

Born February 18th, 1954.

In Groups: Bird's Eye View, Kazumi Watanabe With Friends, Prism (9), 四人囃子, 森園勝敏スーパーグループ, Tetsu & The Good Times Roll Band

In the late 70s he made some really nice fusion stuff which is similar to the previously posted guitarist Akiyama. From the first album with the delightful French surreal lithograph drawing of a someone smoking a pipe and paddling unicycle-style through the water, there is a cover version of the inimitable and so memorable composition by James Vincent called Space Traveller (posted here).  Here's Dark Side of the Fish:

Shockingly from the 1980 album Escape, the hard hitting instrumental Bathyscaphe:

Nicu Alifantis from 1979, 1984

From discogs:

Romanian musician, actor and poet of Greek-Macedonian origin, born 31st May 1954 in Brăila.

Founded Fundația Nicu Alifantis in 1999.

Sites: alifantis.ro 

This is lovely ssw stuff with some nice prog touches, mostly in the acoustic guitar folky vein as basis.

The second track gives you an idea:

The next album from 1984 of course lost the progressive touches but is still quite firmly rooted in the 70s ssw tradition, thankfully. Sonet, from that one:

[US] Chameleon - Rising, from1973 to 1978 [limited time only with flacs]

 

A wonderful rerelease of material from the 1970s in the hard prog vein, like Magik Dayze, ultimately not quite as good (but then how many are as good as them?), still hugely enjoyable.  These guys hailed from Houston, Texas. Of course the only release from them. I love that they have enormous energy on these mostly vocal tracks, but also they have lots of keyboards and hammond all over the place giving it that classic early 70s hard prog sound. There are times, here and there, where they might be caught copying such classic American bands as Kansas and there are even touches of Cathedral 'Stained Glass Stories' in there. More likely it's Yes-influence that I'm hearing.

Mirkwood Forest:

And I love the tritonal riff on the guitars on Saturate:

Crossing's Air Balloon from Germany, 1983

 

Contemporary jazz instrumental tracks with loads of improvising by this one-off German group that included Florian Poser on vibes and marimbas, whose stuff was posted earlier of course here recently, and in other places remotely. The title track as sample:

US Castle Canyon in 2 (Gods of 1973, Criteria Obsession) flacs limited time only

First album was a masterpiece no matter how you want to present it. When I first heard this I thought for sure this is the best recently released true progressive music, with the synths, dissonances, etc. you could ever hope for, but then it turns out the music actually did come, as the title suggests, from the 70s. So a little less impressive in that sense, but still shocking it wasn't heard back in that era when the music could've been better appreciated.  Like others though they came back in recent times to put out an album that is just as good, kudos to them, called Criteria Obsession. Of course it's a little bit simpler, but you couldn't not expect that.

From 1973, Canoeing on the River Styx:

By far the best track off the more recent release is one called Disaster with its classical grand piano intro (similar to the US band Cathexis I extensively reported on back here) that segues so marvelously and classic-proggishly into a fusionary synthesized madness and every time I hear those smashing dissonances I just want to cry with absolute joy:

 

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: