Listening to my music, drinking, meeting up with all my lovely friends, The Furnace , Genealogy, History, Aviation, Philosophy, Literature, Poetry, Final Fantasy III/VI , as well as FF VII and FF IX and playing Diablo II.
I also enjoy playing two great AD&D world based games: Neverwinter Nights and Planescape: Torment , which are set in the extraordinary worlds of Forgotten Realms and Planescape, respectively.
I also enjoy playing SNES RPGs, here's a list of my favourites:
Lufia series: Lufia & The Fortress of Doom and Lufia II - Rise of the Sinistrals
Final Fantasy Series: Final Fantasy II/IV , Final Fantasy V & Final Fantasy III/VI
Seiken Densetsu series: Secret of Mana (aka Seiken Densetsu 2) and Seiken Densetsu 3
Soul Blazer series: Soul Blazer , Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma or A link to all three games
Plus individual games: Bahamut Lagoon (or another link ), Chrono Trigger , EarthBound (aka Mother 2), Tales of Phantasia , Rudra no Hihou (aka Treasure of the Rudras), Romancing SaGa 3 , 7th Saga and Zelda - A Link to the Past
Music:
Opeth - The Drapery Falls (live)
Alamaailman Vasarat - Jää, Hyvä Mieli (from the 2003 album Käärmelautakunta)
Anekdoten - From Within (live rehearsal)
Koenjihyakkei - Rattims Friezz (from the album Angherr Shisspa). Adapted to fit the film "Ghosts Before Breakfast" by Hans Richter from 1927. Masterliness!
Blues, Jazz, Progressive Rock, JamBand, Southern Rock.
Jam Band/Southern Rock
Allman Brothers Band & ABB (Myspace)
Gov't Mule & Gov't Mule (Myspace)
Derek Trucks Band & DTB (Myspace)
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - Oh, Victor Wooten's bass grooves... been listening to some live shows, I'm impressed!
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Urban Spacemen (actually from the UK!) - they also have space rock leanings, so may appeal to those who like Gong, Hidria Spacefolk, Hawkwind and Ozric Tentacles
Progressive Rock/Symphonic
Van der Graaf Generator
Peter Hammill
Gnidrolog - Oh wow, these Welsh prog-rockers are great! Reminds me of a cross between Jethro Tull, Van der Graaf Generator and many others, great stuff. Their first two albums are brilliant.
King Crimson
Anglagard
Anekdoten
The Tangent
Wobbler
Par Lindh Project
Bigelf
Pink Floyd
White Willow
Aphrodite's Child (666 album)
Discipline - I'm really enjoying their album, Unfolded Like Staircase, excellent lyrics and vocals by Matthew Parmenter and a sound with obvious influences from Van der Graaf Generator and Genesis, plus a lot more...
Moon Safari - what a great band! This has everything I like in symphonic prog and they're Swedish, which is even better.
The Flower Kings - I'm still trying to get to grips with their debut, I think it'll be a grower
Camel - Nimrodel and Lady Fantasy have just slapped me in the face!
Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Som Imaginario - this is an odd Brasilian prog band, their 3rd and final album is their masterpiece, still unsure about there earlier output though
Amagrama - this is a very young prog band from Argentina, I don't think a single member is over 20, but you wouldn't know that from listening to them, this is great stuff! Influenced by the Argentine prog band
Crucis (and they do a cover track of theirs too). Great stuff! Very symphonic.
Syzygy - The Allegory of Light is just a great album. I want their previous effort too (under the name of Witsend).
Spektakel - A one-album band, they released Spektakel in 1974, it's great! It's a bunch of German guys, some of whom went onto form Schicke, Fuehrs und Froehling. Lots of Steve Hackett-esque and Fripp-esque guitar playing, with lots of synth and the track "7 Pounds Tommy" goes a bit pyschedelic in the middle, with a sound clip from a woman giving birth to Tommy (who of course is 7 Pounds!). Great stuff! Oh and the lyrics are in English as well, a bonus! For anyone interested (Kenny!), The Laser's Edge have re-released the album with an extra live track.
Gotic - A great, Camel-esque melodic symphonic prog band, hailing from Spain. Very chilled and light on the ears and instrumental too. Great for chilling out to, or when you're busy working, because there are no lyrics, or bombastic moments to concentrate on.
Yes - Everyone in the world knows a Yes song... Relayer is great, better than CttE!
Italian Symphonic Prog
Alphataurus
Locanda delle Fate - Quite possibly my new favourite Italian band, what great music! Great stuff indeed.
Quella Vecchia Locanda - this band are just amazing! Need I say more? No.
Reale Accademia di Musica - some lovely prog on their 1972 debut album, even a Colosseum sounding track, very nice. Features the guitarist from Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
Le Orme - one of the big three Italian symphonic prog bands of the '70s. Felona e Sorona is a sounding like a grower upon first listen
Metamorfosi - Inferno is great, a pleasant surprise
Museo Rosenbach - Zarathustra as a great prog album!
RIO/Avant-Prog
Taal - an amazingly original and challenging French band, very much my thing
Alamaailman Vasarat - absolutely crazy Finns! Excellent stuff and very danceable, yet also very depressing at times
Le Silo - What an amazing band! Both of their albums are fantastic. A wonderful Japanese band, featuring the now keyboard player with Koenjihyakkei.
Koenjihyakkei - Yet more crazy Japanese music, this time they're more zeuhl-based, sounding much more like Magma. Again, excellent music.
Henry Cow and Henry Cow (Calyx) - A crazy band indeed! I am really enjoying the album "In Praise of Learning". It's not music to most peoples' ears though!
Skeleton Crew - a wonderful band featuring Fred Frith (Henry Cow) and Toma Cora (Zeena Parkins joined them for their second and last album).
Massacre - an exceptional band featuring Fred Frith, Bill Laswell and Fred Maher. Charles Hayward (Quiet Sun) later replaced Maher on drums. They're releasing a new album this year!
Hoyry-Kone - A Finnish band closely linked to Alamaailman Vasarat (sharing members). Crazy stuff indeed!
Sotos - Just discovered this French band. Very cool stuff. Reminiscent of King Crimson in places and also akin to Univers Zero, Present and Magma. Band have since disbanded, but some of the members have gone onto form Zaar I believe.
Zaar - This is another French band and is the successor to Sotos and features the same drummer and guitarist. Musically they are different though and this is a pleasant surprise. Very cool music, yet still likely to scare most people off! R.I.P. Yan Hazera.
Univers Zero - A cool Belgium RIO/Avant-Prog band. Lots of dark music here, very good stuff indeed.
Present - Roger Trigaux of Univers Zero's more recent band and also very much in the vain of Univers Zero. Excellent stuff once more. Their first two albums are exceptional.
OOIOO - I'm really not sure where to categorise this all-girl Japanese band (fronted by the lass who performed on that The Flaming Lips album), but the three albums I have heard are damned cool! Their new one especially is excellent. A great new discovery for me. I'm naturally going to progress onto Boredoms now, as they also have the same female vocalist.
Astrid Proll - An amazing new prog band from Puerto Rico. Their self-titled album seriously is great! They mix Krautrock, Avant-prog, Canterbury, King Crimson-esque prog and post-rock into some amazing music that is intelligent and imaginative. The 12 minutes long 88MHz reminds me of Krautrock and RIO, like Univers Zero and Present, yet other tracks remind me of King Crimson and Soft Machine (and both together at one point), whilst others are post-rock and ambient. Excellent stuff. my album of the year (yes, ahead of TAIGA!).
Guapo - What an awesome English Zeuhl/Avant/Noise band! Interesting stuff indeed.
Absolute Zero - Another excellent noise based band, featuring the late and great Pip Pyle on drums. Crashing Icons is a masterpiece of an album!
Canterbury scene
Caravan or Caravan (Calyx)
Soft Machine or Soft Machine (Calyx)
Robert Wyatt
Matching Mole
Hatfield and The North or Hatfield and The North (official website)
Egg or Egg (Andy Murkin)
Khan
Gong or Gong (Calyx)
Hugh Hopper - His album "1984" seems very interesting upon first listen, but it'll definitely need further listens
Nicholas Greenwood - The former bass player of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Khan, released just one album in 1972, called "Cold Cuts" and it's pretty good stuff! Not especially proggy, but it does occasionally remind me of Egg, Khan and even Keef Hartley Band. Good stuff indeed.
National Health or National Health (Andy Murkin)
Gilgamesh
In Cahoots
Jazz/Fusion
Miles Davis - Also just bought "In A Silent Way", one of the very first jazz/fusion records and featuring John McLaughlin, Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock amongst others. This is also the precursor to the critically acclaimed album "Bitches Brew".
Mahavishnu Orchestra/John McLaughlin
Weather Report
Pat Metheny - Just bought Pat Metheny and Ornette Coleman - Song X: Twentieth Anniversary and what wonderful music indeed! Great stuff!
Nucleus (also part of the Canterbury scene, but more jazz/fusion)
Maneige - this '70s Quebec band have just come my way and oh wow!
Tasavallan Presidentti - Oh wow! Lambertland is great! This is just cool jazz, with elements of funk, even amusing lyrics at times. The only issue I have is the fadeouts, because this album (Lambertland) was released in 1972 I believe, but wow, this is funky! The guitar solo in Dance, oh wow! Oh and they're Finnish and I have a thing for Finnish bands at the moment.
Quiet Sun - Another Canterbury scene linked band. This band had Phil Manzanera on guitar. Phil was previously of Roxy Music and later went on to form 801. A great album indeed, full of juicy guitar licks, solid drumming and excellent synth work (even some mellotron). Very nice indeed.
Progressive Folk
Comus
Jethro Tull
Circulus & Circulus (Myspace)
Progressive Metal
Opeth & Opeth (Myspace)
Ayreon (Arjen Anthony Lucassen)
Tool
Pain of Salvation
Indukti - this is a Polish prog metal band, with an excellent sound. The music includes violin, harp and the vocals of Riverside's Mariusz Duda and an exceptional drummer. A great metal band, maybe for those fans of Tool, Pain of Salvation and King Crimson. It rocks! I prefer them to Tool infact.
Winds - This Norwegian progressive metal band are great, very melodic, using violin and piano to great affect. Expect great metal riffs as well of course. The singer has a great voice as well. There are also deep-voiced spoken word parts through their debut album. After one listen, I like it. I shall next listen out properly to the words, for a full affect.
Anathema - An excellent band, heavily influenced by Pink Floyd, but with great metal touches and an excellent vocalist. Good stuff indeed!
Riverside
Psychedelic/Space Rock
Arzachel - It's all about the final track, ouch! Who needs drugs when you have this, oh wow! Recorded in less than a day way back in 1969 by the members of Uriel and Steve Hillage, this is immense! Especially the final track. I was tired when I listened to it though.
Hidria Spacefolk - an interesting Finnish band that have similarities to Ozric Tentacles, but also have a unique sound of their own. I was rather surprised, as I am not a huge fan of techno based music (not that this is techno per se of course).
Porcupine Tree (Steven Wilson) - Deadwing and Coma Divine (live) are excellent albums!
Proto-prog/Jazz/Psychedelic
Moody Blues - the band that started off my prog listening career! Just simply marvellous, inspirational and beautiful.
Justin Hayward was from Swindon, he went to my school, my music teacher was his school friend, Tuesday Afternoon was written in The Town Gardens (I believe - correct me if I am wrong). They are just such an underrated band.
Keef Hartley Band
The Misunderstood
Juicy Lucy
Traffic
Procol Harum
Colosseum
Tempest
H.P. Lovecraft - This American proto-prog bands second album is very good, their debut isn't quite so good, except for one track "The White Ship", but still worth checking out, nevertheless
Mogul Thrash
Art Rock
A.C.T. - They make Coheed and Cambria sound bland! Think of a cross between Co&Ca and Dream Theater, with lots of cheesy synth and quirky lyrics. They're also from Sweden, so that's a bonus too.
Rush - A little cheesy in places, but that's what Art Rock is all about in my book. I'm talking about "A Farewell to Kings" and "Hemispheres" era of course.
Coheed and Cambria
Pure Reason Revolution - an upcoming English Space Art Rock band, with harmonised vocals, spacey synth and a lot more. Their new album has (or is) released, but judging by their mini-album "Cautionary Tales for the Brave", they could have a bright future ahead of them.
The Flaming Lips - I've just bought The Soft Bulletin and it's rather tasty on my ears, I guess Kenny will be pleased I've finally bought something by them! Oh and they're not exactly Art Rock, but I cannot be bothered to create another category!
Blues/Jugband/Folk-Blues
Duster Bennett
Fleetwood Mac (1967-1971)
Peter Green and The Splinter Group
Gary Moore
Skip James
Mississippi John Hurt
Leadbelly
Albert King
Memphis Slim
Juke Boy Bonner
Rock
Led Zeppelin
Rolling Stones
Jimi Hendrix
Cream
Derek and the Dominoes
Songwriters/Folk/Rock/Country
Bob Dylan
Neil Young
Johnny Cash
Jazz
Eddie Lang
Lonnie Johnson
Joe Venuti
John Coltrane
Thelonius Monk
George and Ira Gershwin
Miscellaneous
George Formby
Paul Robeson
X2
Primal Scream
Unsigned/local and bands/artists that deserve more recognition
Old School Tie - who are friends of mine and are amazing
Juice - a similar sound to Old School Tie, but based in Ohio
Big Organ Trio - a hammond organ blues/jazz fuelled band
One Eyed Jack - a great JamBand influenced by Allman Brothers Band/Grateful Dead/Gov't Mule
Bands I want to investigate
Frogwings
Umphrey's McGee
Grateful Dead
The Dead
Phil Lesh and Friends
Phish
Widespread Panic
Aquarium Rescue Unit
moe.
Black Crowes
Oteil and The Peacemakers
Oysterhead
Delivery
Bruford
Jazz Is Dead
Karnataka
Karmakanic
Eloy
UK
Uriah Heep
Gentle Giant
Greenslade
Colosseum II
Hemlock
Savoy Brown
Frank Zappa
Captain Beefheart
Curved Air
Happy the Man
Parallel or 90 Degrees (Po90)
Echolyn
Oceansize
