English experimental post-rock outfit with a Krautrock obsession based around songwriting duo Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier. For their major label debut the band pulled no punches, particularly on the 18-minute opus 'Jenny Ondioline'. A couple of softer moments bookend the record, with 'I'm Going Out of My Way' decidedly pop oriented.
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Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space Spiritualized 1997 [Dedicated/Arista]
Main motivator Jason Pierce left no stone unturned in his desire to produce a symphonic space rock masterpiece. The Balanescu Quartet, the London Community Gospel Choir and Dr John all help bring it to fruition. In true art rock style the title is taken from Jostein Gaarder's philosophical novel Sophie's World. Get out the headphones.
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Ágætis Byrjun Sigur Rós 1999 [Bad Taste]
Icelandic outfit that features all the sonic trademarks of their native country's rich musical heritage, including the ethereal falsetto wail of vocalist Jónsi Birgisson. As this album's reputation steadily gained momentum the band eventually found themselves opening for Radiohead, with their songs featuring on top US television shows.
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V Spock's Beard 2000 [Metal Blade]
Neo-prog outfit from LA strongly reminiscent of 70s art rockers Genesis, Gentle Giant and King Crimson. With this sort of heritage it is no surprise the single 'All on a Sunday' sounds a little out of place among all the artyfacts. Nevertheless, with most neo-proglodytes following the Floyd lineage this album fills its own niche quite nicely.
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The Dark Third Pure Reason Revolution 2006 [Red Ink]
One of a wave of neo-prog bands that occasionally display psych overtones. The obvious influence here is Pink Floyd, but elements of grunge and indie pop also creep in every now and then. Producer Paul Northfield has also worked with Porcupine Tree and it shows. A solid debut long-player from a band that shows real promise.
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Mirrored Battles 2007 [Warp]
AMG's Thom Jurek called this "...the Philip K Dick equivalent of modern rock." Not wanting to be wrongly categorised, the band has dubbed their music 'math rock'. It is basically what happens when a bunch of capable avant-garde rock musicians who know their way around modern technology get together. Fringe-dwelling neo-prog.
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Andorra Caribou 2007 [Merge]
Caribou is the stage-persona of electronic musician Dan Snaith, who came up with the moniker while reeling from a legal wrangle on an LSD trip in the Canadian wilderness. While previously content to churn out nifty shoegaze sounds, Andorra is a fully-realised work replete with a couple of buzzing dream pop gems in 'Melody Day' and 'Sundialing'.
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In the Future Black Mountain 2008 [Jagjaguwar]
Black Mountain is the lead group in a collective 'army' of musicians and artists based in Vancouver. Musically the group counterbalances leader Stephen McBean's more experimental Pink Mountaintops outfit, at times churning out a 70s-style prog-rock bombast that cheekily highlights the irony of the album's title. Worth a listen.
