Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a new re-mastered edition of the classic 1978 debut album by National Health. Evolving from Canterbury stylists Hatfield & the North, National Health featured the talents of Dave Stewart on keyboards, Pip Pyle on drums and Phil Miller on guitar along with guests such as Jimmy Hastings. At various times the group also included such luminaries as Bill Bruford, Mont Campbell and Alan Gowen. Released by Affinity Records in February 1978, the album is a classic of the ‘Canterbury’ style and is sure to be a much sought after release by all aficionados of the genre.

With a strong Canterbury influence implanted into their sound, Egg's first album has the band looking to establish their niche as a progressive group, with Dave Stewart's sharp, effective keyboard work outlining much of the album's overall feel. Mixing jazz and progressive rock drifts, the tracks on Egg contain rhythms and meters that are never at a standstill, with ongoing instrumental action encompassing nearly every track. Numerous classical overtones make for a familiar listen against a backdrop of loose-ended jazz fusion and an unordered yet inviting array of haphazard progressive spillages.

Short Wave Live is the only album by Short Wave, a UK band related to the Canterbury Scene, consisting of Hugh Hopper (bass), Didier Malherbe (sax), Phil Miller (guitar) and Pip Pyle (drums). The band was formed in 1991. Miller and Pyle had been playing together in In Cahoots, which had previously also included Hopper. In 1993, they released a live album that contains material from concerts in England, 1991 and France, 1992. Short Wave was short lived - all members were also busy in other projects and bands. The album was reissued on CD in 2005 on Voiceprint Records.

Kevin Ayers - Too Old To Die Young (1998) {2CD Set, BBC–HUX Records HUX006 rec 1972-1976}
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© 1972-76, 1998 BBC / HUX Records | HUX 006
Rock / British Psychedelia / Canterbury Scene / Art Rock

This double-CD contains three programs Ayers broadcast on the BBC from 1972 to 1976. A January 6, 1972 concert at the Paris Theatre in London takes up all of disc one, which is certainly the better half of this package, as it was almost a reunion of the Kevin Ayers & the Whole World lineup that had done Shooting at the Moon in 1970. Whole World-ers Mike Oldfield (guitar), Lol Coxhill (sax), and David Bedford (keyboards) are on hand to support Ayers, along with drummer Dave Dufort (who was not on Shooting at the Moon). Some singing accompanies the band, and orchestral arrangements also accent their playing on six of the nine songs.

Emerging from the Canterbury, England musical community that also launched Gong and Kevin Ayers' the Whole World, the whimsical progressive rock unit Hatfield and the North formed in 1972. Named in honor of a motorway sign outside of London, the group's founding membership brought together a who's who of the Canterbury art rock scene - vocalist/bassist Richard Sinclair was a former member of Caravan, guitarist Phil Miller had tenured with Robert Wyatt in Matching Mole, and drummer Pip Pyle had served with both Gong and Delivery. After a series of lineup shuffles, keyboardist Dave Stewart (an alumnus of Egg) was brought in to complete the roster, and in tandem with the Northettes - a trio of backing vocalists consisting of Barbara Gaskin, Amanda Parsons, and Ann Rosenthal - the group began gigging regularly…

The impressive Downwind is the first release from the band under its new moniker, Pierre Moerlen's Gong, as Moerlen assumes creative control and dominance. The release marks a return to vocals/lyrics, which proves only partially successful. Moerlen's voice is a hit on the opener, the rocking "Aeroplane," and the collective vocals on the fast-paced, percussive "Jin-Go-Lo-Ba" (popularized by Santana) are right on target. His singing is weak, though, on "What You Know" and detracts from the song's quality. Mick Taylor makes his only appearance here with an exceptional guitar solo. Downwind is also a return to compositions dominated by rock structures and styles, the jazz element minimal this time around. The instrumental cuts are sublime: "Emotions" and "Xtasea" are relaxing; "Crosscurrents" and "Downwind" are energetic and exciting. The title cut is easily the highlight of the album, featuring guest appearances by Steve Winwood (Moog, synth) and guitarist Mike Oldfield.

Usually regarded as the Belgian Zao, Cos develops an European type of chamber-rock, built on onomatopeic vocals or sung in French or German. The band displays beautiful themes interwined with complex orchestrated rhythms. Its music evokes the Canterbury School (Caravan, Hatfield And The North), the anguished and dark music of King Crimson or Quiet Sun and Terje Rypdal's atmospheric jazz-rock. Pascale Son uses her high-pitched voice, able to perform the most incredible modulations, and this allows her to become one of the best singers in that style. The leader Daniel Schell is a guitarist extraordinaire, and proves to develop ideas as original as Robert Fripp's…

Bassist Nick Greenwood is best-known today for his fiery work with Arthur Brown in his own 1968-69 heyday. Moving on, in 1972, Greenwood chose to record a solo album, and to that end brought together a crack band of sessionmen. Even for its time the resulting Cold Cuts set was way out there, a mighty slab of psychedelia-laced prog rock that soared into musical recesses seldom explored. Besides showcasing Greenwood's superb bass skills, fans are also surprisingly treated to his vocals – surprising, because Greenwood was not previously known as a singer. He acquits himself quite spectacularly here, his delivery as powerful on the rockier numbers as it is nuanced and introspective on the proggier songs.

Sound Effect Records presents "Natt o Dag", Me and My Kites brand new studio album! Out on March 16th, on limited edition vinyl, CD and Digital download,"Natt o Dag" is possibly the Swedish collective's best so far. Darker, moodier and filled with some irresistible pop-hooks, "Nat o Dag" is destined to become a modern psychedelic classic. Natt o Dag is a flower common in the Swedish forests. Its purple and yellow flowers represent night and day and the idea of this two sided record took place in a huge patch of these flowers on a lonesome bike trip on remote paths some two Summers ago.

If it never serves any other purpose, this two-disc collection of National Health's complete official output will at least always work as an effective refutation of the belief that all 1970s British prog-rock was overblown, self-indulgent, Mahlerian twaddle. Of course, most British prog-rock was just that, so it would be easy to understand anyone's reluctance to spend much time with it. Also, National Health has to be the least inviting band name in the history of British rock. But if you make the effort, you'll be richly rewarded. Yes, the compositions are long and they have titles like "Borogoves" and "Tales of a Damson Knight." Yes, there are lots and lots of solos. But there's also lots of structure and self-discipline undergirding those compositions and guiding those solos, and the band never seems to lose sight of the fact that they're playing for people other than themselves. That means there are melodies (sometimes even jazzy ones) and rhythmic hooks (sometimes even funky ones…okay, very slightly funky) as well as interesting textures and impressive fretwork. Highly recommended. (This isn't actually a "complete" collection of National Health's recorded output – see Missing Pieces, also on East Side Digital, for a good compilation of outtakes.)

Progressive rock of the Canterbury school is heard echoing off the fjords of Norway. Needlepoint is a truly unique band centred around multi-instrumentalist Bjørn Klakegg and featuring members of Elephant9, Møster! and Bigbang. Fans of Soft Machine, ELP, and Camel will feel at home in this warm throwback to the heyday of experimental rock music.

This is the third album by Sicilian art rockers Homunculus Res. It is a 2018 work that exquisitely mixed Canterbury style stylish technical and Italian singing. Although skillful meter is intertwined, with its own style with translucency as a warm heart, the wind instruments of flute, clarinet, oboe, horn etc are exchanged for guitar and vintage synth, and Melotron and charming female vocal are added. Including lyrics, the poetic deepening aiming for Canterbury spiritual increased. Hat off with precise content recorded by members close to 20 including Yao Paolo Botta.