Are you still love PHIL COLLINS please Say big YES 😘💛

uj/ Facebook AI death hoaxes are incredibly exploitative, but they're so transparently shit that they roll back around to being unintentionally funny sometimes.

Anyway Phil is alive and well and did an interview on BBC Breakfast earlier today, check that out if you want to hear how he's been

Ozric Tentacles are a band that I've liked for a while, but I've never really had the opportunity to do a deep dive into their wider discography for the longest time. Recently I've been getting back into them (and by that I mean it feels like I can't go a day without listening to them, haha) and with that I've been checking out some of their albums that I hadn't heard before.

The other day I got around to checking out their first live album (Live Ethereal Cereal), one of many of their early self-released cassettes that would've originally been sold at gigs and through mail-order. Despite the very lo-fi sound quality (although I've heard enough live bootlegs to have a decent tolerance) I came away liking it quite a bit. I do love me some raw, jammy psychedelia and it's a pretty good documentation of the band's mid-80s live incarnations. Even has a killer rendition of the Glorious Om Riff (which you may recognise as "Master Builder" from Gong's classic album You).

I'm under the impression that most if not all of these cassette albums (i.e. the ones compiled on the Vitamin Enhanced boxset) have similarly lo-fi, demo-y production qualities, but I am curious as to how many of them are worth listening to and which ones are most recommended.

PS: if you're reading this without any background of what live Ozrics sound like, give Live Underslunky or one of their many other live albums a listen sometime!

Hi everyone! Welcome again to our weekly album discussion. Any album can really be featured, whether it be well-known, overlooked, or by a more contemporary artist - as long as it’s in the style and spirit of classic krautrock/kosmische Muzik.

If you're interested in discussing this week's album through instant messaging or are just interested in talking with more fans, check out the Kosmische Muzik Discord server!

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Wenn Der Südwind Weht

Release Year: 1981

Label: Sky

Formerly of the legendary electronic groups Cluster and Harmonia, Hans-Joachim Roedelius subsequently went on to record many solo albums from the late 70s onwards. “Wenn Der Südwind Weht” marks his seventh solo album, which largely continues in the spirit of the more tranquil, melodic offerings of mid-70s Cluster (e.g. Sowiesoso). Recommended for fans of the aforementioned two bands and electronic music enthusiasts in general.

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For those who’ve heard the album - what are your thoughts? Feel free to share any opinions, experiences, etc. related to it.

This specific post was removed upon sight, but this is the second featuring this exact design within ~24 hours that I’ve seen here, which is more than a bit concerning. The same account that posted this was also trying to phish people on r/Rush in the comments of another post.

This is a very common scam tactic on Reddit that you may have come across in other communities over the years, but these bots have become better at feigning engagement in comments and manipulating votes to give their posts more visibility.

If you see posts like this showing off T-shirts, mugs, posters, etc. and there are people in the comments trying to direct you to sites that claim to sell them, don’t click on the links and report abuse under “Spam —> sharing harmful links such as malware and phishing attempts”. No actual product is being sold through them; the scammers are solely after your money/financial information.

I’ve seen many other designs used aside from this one, so it’s good to be suspicious of any posts that follow a similar format.

If you report the original posts under “Spam —> disruptive use of bots or AI”, Reddit’s automated system is usually very good at automatically removing posts and banning accounts. However, I’m usually here keeping an eye on the report queue in case anything needs to be removed manually.

Thanks and stay safe!

This is in some ways a repost of an older thread from a few years ago. The original post didn’t gain much traction, but I still think the topic is interesting enough to warrant another post.

While we now use the term “progressive rock” or “prog” to describe a scene of ambitious rock music that is often dense in composition and arrangement, I'm under the impression that the label was not as commonly recognised or ubiquitous during its heyday (e.g. in a colloquial context). I’m not really looking to argue that it was, especially as our current definitions of genre doesn’t really apply retroactively in the same way.

However, over the years I’ve seen some uses of terms like “progressive pop” and “the progressive sound” in old articles, advertising/promotional materials, record packaging, etc. that predate its wider adoption and spread.

I'll link a few examples from old press articles. While I've included photos of the relevant parts, these are all interesting issues to read in full!

Record Mirror (14 November 1968)

• In a feature with Keith Moon of the Who, the interviewer Ian Middleton describes what he deems to be characteristics of the "progressive groups," i.e. "pop music which is more creative and gets away from stylised sounds - pop which has absorbed the best of all that has gone before, ie. classical, jazz. Indian, etc., etc."

Billboard (10 January 1970)

• In a section describing chart success of "progressive rock" artists, a few examples are listed. You get bands like King Crimson and the Moody Blues that are nowadays associated with the genre, jazz-rock (e.g. Cold Blood, Ten Wheel Drive, Blood, Sweat and Tears) and… Joe Cocker? haha

Beat Instrumental (November 1971)

• A section from the article called “Electric vs Acoustic” describes some of the characteristics that are associated with progressive rock/pop, e.g. technical proficiency, long compositions, and musical experimentation. Interestingly, these traits mentioned in the context of the author's complaints! Just goes to show that some people finding prog rock to be excessive and dull is very much not a modern thing.

If anyone is having difficulty reading these images, feel free to request a transcription in the comments. I will happily do it for you.

What I’ve picked up on is that the term did not have the exact same definition or usage criteria as it does today in terms of how it was applied to specific bands. You’d see artists like Fairport Convention and Yes mentioned in the same context, whereas you would not regularly see them labelled very similarly today.

With all that out of the way, I’m curious about a few things if anyone else would like to leave a comment. These are more or less just discussion prompts and you're not obligated to answer them.

1. Might you know of any more examples of the term being used early on?
2. Do you agree with how the label was defined or used in some of the examples shared?
3. For those who were around and listening to music back in the 70s, what was were the more common names for this style of music?

Can't wait to hear what Lo-Fi Rush sounds like!

I love Neil Peart and his famous single drumstick

To mark his birthday, DGM has announced a new series of digital releases and commentary tracks to be uploaded to Fripp's YouTube channel every week.

>Robert Fripp will be 80 on 16th May 2026. To celebrate this, DGM is curating a Fripp@80 series, with weekly digital releases throughout the year drawn from his extensive solo and collaborations work from his wide-ranging and innovative career. Expect new insights and hidden gems as Robert Fripp and David Singleton add commentaries to many of the tracks. 

You can listen to the first commentary track (for the track "You Burn Me Up I'm A Cigarette" from Fripp's solo album Exposure) here.

Toyah Willcox's YouTube channel will also be posting new Toyah and Robert videos ("Upbeat Moments [today] at 19:00 CET and a vintage Sunday Lunch on Sunday at 13:00 CET") later this weekend.

Today is quite special as it also marks 40 years since the two of them were married on 16 May 1986. I've attached two wedding photos, but you can view more here on a past DGM Live anniversary post.

(PS: the last photo of Toyah and Robert embracing is from October of last year, but it was too sweet not to include!)

A special thank you to my friend OliveDane for recommending this album to me!

Heads-up: if you haven’t heard it before, don’t expect it to sound much like Tarkus or Emerson, Lake & Palmer in general. Outside of the concept from the ELP album being carried over for the title track, there isn’t much relation otherwise.

That being said, this is a very decent retro-prog record and one that would be worth checking out independent of its association with the ELP album, although it’s not particularly unique in terms of sound. The melodies and instrumentation are all quite well-crafted, and there’s some surprisingly beautiful instrumental passages courtesy of the guitar and varied keyboards/synthesisers. Bit weaker on the vocal end, but all around it’s pretty enjoyable.

Interestingly enough, there exists another Reactivated Tarkus album from 2006. It features an earlier version of the title suite, but the track listing is considerably different otherwise. While two songs on the second side of the 2021 version are also re-recordings, they were only previously available as live versions on the “Single & Live” CD. While I haven’t heard the 2006 album yet, I am curious as to how the title track differs from the version released ~15 years later.

Urban Trapeze look to have regrouped around 2018 and were playing live in their native Spain for a few years, but I am not sure of the current status of the band. If anyone has more information, feel free to let me know!

If you’re interested in checking out more of their stuff, I’ll link the YouTube channels of keyboardist/vocalist Daniel Seglers and former drummer Roberto Massafra (their live drummer c. 2018-2019) for live videos and other cool things.

Lastly, while the band don’t appear to have regularly updated websites or social media pages at the moment, I’ll drop a link to the archived version of their website if you can read Spanish and would like to learn more (although the MP3 downloads and many images do not appear to have been preserved).

I don't have a Facebook account, don't ask what I was doing there lol

Obligatory Discogs link

Censorship of media is by no means unheard of in the music industry. Alongside more common censorship methods like editing out profane lyrics for broadcast on public radio, I’ve come across many examples of (often region-specific) censorship done for a variety of reasons. Without further ado, here’s a list of some of the more interesting prog-related ones that I’ve found!

Political Reasons

This is the most interesting section to me, as a lot of these reasons are culture-specific or reflective of historical context. Some of the countries mentioned here (e.g. South Korea, Argentina) were under military dictatorships at the time that these albums were originally issued there, hence the more excessive censorship.  

• The original South Korean release of 2112 by Rush heavily censored the cover artwork by removing the prominent red star. This was done because it was deemed evocative of communist iconography and the flag of North Korea. 
• When In The Court of the Crimson King was first issued in South Korea c. 1979, the track “21st Century Schizoid Man” was cut by censors, likely due to references to the Vietnam War (which South Korea had had an active role in). The cover artwork was also deemed unsuitable. In Schizoid Man’s place, two songs from the album Lizard (“Lady of the Dancing Water” and the “Prince Rupert Awakes” movement of the title suite) were added, and its cover artwork was used instead. However, an uncensored version of ITCOTCK was later made available in the country from 1983 onwards.
• At the time, South Korea had a complete ban on distribution of Japanese media due to political tension between the two countries (stemming from the 1910-1945 occupation of Korea). Consequently, the King Crimson song “Matte Kudasai” was censored from the album Discipline because the title is derived from the Japanese phrase 待ってください. This also may be the reason why “Cat Food” was removed from the South Korean release of In the Wake of Poseidon, as a line from the song referencing "hurry curry" is likely a play on 腹切り/harakiri (a form of Japanese honorific suicide).
• The 1974 Czechoslovak release of Close to the Edge renamed “Siberian Khatru” to simply “Khatru.” This was likely done for sensitivity reasons pertaining to maintaining positive relations between Czechoslovakia and the USSR, particularly in the wake of the Soviet-backed invasion of the former in 1968.
• Although restored on subsequent reissues, the original 1979 Argentine release of The Wall by Pink Floyd removed multiple songs with lyrics criticising authority, the government, or fascism (The Happiest Days Of Our Lives, Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2, Mother, and In The Flesh) from the track listing. The album was first printed during the 1974-1983 Dirty War, a period of intense political suppression and violent persecution. 
• Similarly, the earlier Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon had two tracks (“Us and Them” and “Brain Damage”) cut from its South Korean release due to both containing lyrics critical of war and politicians. Interestingly, this is an example of particularly inept censorship, as the distributors failed to remove the lyrics of both songs from the printed insert and copies that still contain these two tracks (despite what is printed on the labels) were apparently pressed.

Obscenity

This essentially encompasses examples of censorship for obscenity unrelated to politics.

• Many countries (i.e. South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Spain) opted to censor the bare breasts visible on the first album by Atomic Rooster, with the latter three removing them entirely.
• The original 1975 Spanish edition of Aqualung by Jethro Tull, released while Spain was led by dictator Francisco Franco, removed the song “Locomotive Breath” from the album, likely due to sexual references. Interestingly, the track substituted in its place was "Glory Row," an outtake from the War Child sessions that was only available on this release until 1977, after which it was released in other countries through the widely available compilation album Repeat – The Best of Jethro Tull – Vol II.
• Another interesting example of censorship in Francoist Spain is the Mothers of Invention album Over-Nite Sensation. Due to sexually explicit subject matter, “Dina-Moe Humm” was removed and replaced by “Eat That Question” from the Frank Zappa album The Grand Wazoo. Despite this, it appears that another track was intended to be substituted at first, as on some copies, the label of Side 2 erroneously indicates that "Magdalena" (from the album Just Another Band From LA) is present. Why Magdalena might’ve originally been chosen, I have no idea, as the song is about incestous pedophilia and is arguably more obscene! The cover art was also edited to remove phallic imagery.
• On the topic of Frank Zappa, the live album Zappa In New York was infamously withdrawn and later censored to remove the song “Punky’s Whips” (and the reference to it in “Titties and Beer”), a move that affected editions in multiple countries. While Punky Meadows himself was never bothered by the song, Warner Bros. feared legal action and opted to cut it.
• Many countries in the Arabian Peninsula have differing modesty standards for how women dress compared to attitudes in the Western world. As a result, the female dancer on Pink Floyd’s “A Collection of Great Dance Songs” was replaced by a tree on editions produced in Saudi Arabia and sold in multiple countries (e.g. Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, etc.).

Copyright / Legal Challenges

Lastly, while not something I find as interesting in comparison to other forms of censorship, regional changes done to circumvent copyright challenges in some countries is a reasonably common practice, so I thought I'd mention a few examples here.

• Starting with a very well-known example some of you may own a copy of: the original album artwork for Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma included a photograph depicting the cover of the “Gigi” musical OST propped up against the wall. However, in Canada, the United States, and Australia, the imagery was replaced by a blank cover (or in the AU edition’s case, airbrushed out entirely), as it was used without licence.
• Although the Floyd 2LP compilation A Nice Pair is most infamous for censorship regarding nudity (as the original cover depicted bare breasts), the cover was also subject to censorship according to UK advertising laws. One of the original photographs was of the W.R. Phang dental surgeon’s office in Hammersmith, but as dentists could not legally advertise in the UK, Dr. Phang objected to its inclusion and the photograph was replaced on many subsequent reissues, even applying to those printed outside of the UK. Some versions also opted to censor both the office and the nudity with stickers.

Aside from album covers, there have also been cases where copyright issues have resulted in sections of music being entirely edited out of certain releases.

• Rather infamously, the self-titled Egg album had the third movement of the piece “Symphony No. 2” removed very shortly after release, therefore leaving it absent from any subsequent Decca/Deram LP editions. This was due to legal concerns related to an interpolation of a movement from Igor Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring.” Although the master tape of this section is believed to have been destroyed, it was restored on the 2004 Eclectic Discs CD (and many later reissues) using audio from a test pressing. 
• In a similar case, the Rare Bird album As Your Mind Flies By had a section of the suite “Flight” edited out of its original French release due to publishing issues concerning its interpolation of Maurice Ravel's "Boléro.”

Hi everyone! Welcome again to our weekly album discussion. Any album can really be featured, whether it be well-known, overlooked, or by a more contemporary artist - *as long as it’s in the style and spirit of classic krautrock/*kosmische Muzik.

If you're interested in discussing this week's album through instant messaging or are just interested in talking with more fans, check out the Kosmische Muzik Discord server!

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Saat

Release Year: 1972

Label: Pilz

Saat is the second and final album by the psychedelic folk-rock duo Emtidi, made up of the German Maik Hirschfeldt and the Canadian Dolly Holmes. Compared to the entirely acoustic preceding album, Saat’s more varied and textured instrumentation (integrating more electric keyboard instruments) lends it a dreamy, pastoral quality that is further accentuated by Holmes’ lovely vocals.

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For those who’ve heard the album - what are your thoughts? Feel free to share any opinions, experiences, etc. related to it.

Van der Graaf Generator were formed at the University of Manchester in 1967 by Hammill and Smith, who were both students there at the time.

Although not a founding member, Pearne (whose major was Liberal Studies in Science) was the band’s first organist and stuck around with VdGG long enough to play on their first demo, consisting of the songs “Firebrand” and “Sunshine.” Both songs were later re-recorded and released after Pearne had left the band, and the original recordings featuring him have since been officially released through the 2019 “The Aerosol Grey Machine” box set.

According to the Manchester Independent's 21/05/68 feature on the band, Pearne's departure was due to both discomfort with becoming a professional musician and the desire to continue with his studies.

>Nick Pearne, the organist, is less certain about the group. If Chris and Peter go pro, he will stay on at University. Nick doesn't like the atmosphere of the professional pop scene. "This is not my scene; my scene's something else". But Nick does feel that the group is going to do very well professionally, even if they'll have to find another mindblown organist. They are one of three groups chosen by American Mercury to plug, along with "The Eyes of Blue".

You can read some contemporary press articles about this incarnation of the band on the "Early Days" section of Phil Smart's Van der Graaf Generator site. (Based on his mention in an article that contains a portion of the first image, the photographer for it may have been Dunstan Pereira)