Kavus Torabi "Hip To The Jag"

Country: UK
Genre(s): Art Rock, Psychedelic 
Label: Believers Roast ‎– BR23
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: May 22, 2020
Tracklist: 
1. Chart The Way (2:42)
2. Silent The Rotor (4:24)
3. A Body Of Work (2:31)
4. The Peacock Throne (3:49)
5. You Broke My Fall (7:02)
6. Cemetery Of Light (3:54)
7. Radio To Their World (4:09)
8. My Cold Rebirth (4:57)
9. Where The Eyeless Walk (2:54)
10. Slow Movements (9:25)

Total Time 45:47

Line-up: 
Kavus Torabi (Knifeworld, Cardiacs, Gong, Guapo) - Vocals, all instruments

Description/Reviews: 

The impact is evident from the curtain-raising hypnotic drones, tuned percussion and acoustic guitar notes that herald Chart The Way. The incoming chants and tribal rhythms might remind those of us old enough to know better of Jon Anderson’s Olias Of Sunhillow opus.
The journey is a rich one that encompasses the psychedelic and the joyous, the spectral and the gossamer. Soft acoustic picking leads Silent The Rotor that ebbs and flows and confirms the absence of any limitations. Not that there ever have been in a genre where boundaries are for pushing. Hip To The Jag moves beyond the astral to a space where the music cascades into astral territories. Swirling through and around the cosmos in a parcel of ethereal space rock. Might sound a bit flowery but hey!

Read the full review by Mike Ainscoe at atthebarrier.com

Also read the review by Joe Banks at loudersound.com

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Karda Estra "Infernal Spheres"

Country: UK
Genre(s): Instrumental Symphonic, Classical, Chamber
Label: Believers Roast (BR020)
Format: CD, digital
Release date: February 1, 2017 (ltd. ed), February 20, 2017 (reg. ed CD), March 20, 2017 (digital)
Tracklist: 
1. Prelude To A Dark Vortex (1:52)
2. The Fermi Paradox (3:19)
3. Ceres (1:36)
4. Obelisk Of Cruithne (6:46)
5. Anatomy Of The Heavens (4:48)
6. Solar Riviera (6:42)
7. Legacy Of Theia (4:21)
8. Kklak! (3:45)
9. Free Fall On Tyche (4:51)
10. Nemesis (5:35)

Total Time 43:35

Line-up: 
Richard Wileman - acoustic, classical, electric, bass & prepared guitars, keyboards, samples, percussion, rastrophone, bouzouki, Appalachian dulcimer, zither
    With
Jo Court  - bass clarinet (6, 9, 10)
Caron De Burgh - oboe (3, 8), cor anglais (1, 8)
Helen Dearnley - violin (4)
Amy Fry - clarinet (5, 9), tenor saxophone (9)
Richard Overton - bass trombone (1, 3), tenor trombone (6, 9)
Lauraine Phelan - trumpet (6, 9)
Paul Sears - drums (2, 6)
Ileesha Wileman - vocals (7, 9, 10)

Description/Reviews: 

Infernal Spheres is another fine release from Richard Wileman who continues on the crest of a creative wave. His skill at taking chamber classical, jazz and rock influences and turning them into something new is beyond reproach and he continues to give his audience fascinating and intelligent music of real depth.

Read the full review by Jez Rowden at theprogressiveaspect.net

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp (from digital release date)
Prelude To A Dark Vortex
Introduction & Ceres (live) 

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Karda Estra "The Seas And The Stars" EP

Country: UK
Genre(s): Instrumental Symphonic, Classical, Chamber
Format: CD, digital
Release date: August 4, 2015
Tracklist: 

1. Tidal - 1:16
2. Lighthouse - 5:15
3. Andromeda Approaches! - 3:58
4. The Big Freeze - 2:11
5. The Sleepers of Gliese - 6:07
6. Return to the Singularity - 1:20

Line-up: 
Richard Wileman - guitars, keyboards, bass, percussion, melodica, accordion, kalimba, Appalachian dulcimer, bouzouki, glockenspiel, rastrophone
    With:
Amy Fry - clarinet, flute , alto saxophone
Ileesha Wileman - vocals

Description/Reviews: 

These are not songs, those familiar with previous Karda Estra records wouldn’t be expecting anything so mundane anyway, but soundtracks or musical statements created through a wide range of instruments, many more usually found in the classical and folk repertoire. It merges disembodied sounds with sweeping orchestration, mournful piano lines with melancholic woodwind, delicate acoustic guitars with brooding electronica and the result is music that bridges a gap between the dark and the ethereal, sounds that are familiar yet often heavenly and occasionally suitably alien.

 Read the full review by Dave Franklin at dancingaboutarchitecture.info

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Karda Estra "Strange Relations"

Country: UK
Genre(s): Instrumental Symphonic, Classical, Chamber
Label: Believers Roast
Format: CD, digital
Release date: January 20, 2015 (CD), February 9, 2015 (digital)
Tracklist: 
1. Strange Relations 1 (4:32)
2. Strange Relations 2 (5:27)
3. Strange Relations 3 (9:15)
4. Strange Relations 4 (6:47)
5. Strange Relations 5 (9:10)
6. Strange Relations 6 (5:27)
7. Ylla   (4:45)
8. The Wanton Subtlety Of Monna Tessa   (7:40)

Line-up: 
Richard Wileman - guitars, keyboards, samples, percussion, zither, rastrophone
    With:
Caron de Burgh - oboe (4, 5, 8), cor anglais (4, 8)
Amy Fry - clarinet (4, 7, 8) , saxophone (4, 5, 7)
Mike Ostime - trumpet (2)
Paul Sears  (The Muffins) - drums (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), percussion (6)
Kavus Torabi  (Knifeworld) - electric guitar (2)
Ileesha Wileman - vocals (5, 8)

Description/Reviews: 

‘Strange beauty’ is probably my favoured cliché for describing Karda Estra; music that blends classical chamber instruments with rock instruments and synthesiser without, even for a moment, sounding like any kind of a fusion, this album is yet another among an amazing number of totally coherent and emotionally powerful artistic statements. Utterly wonderful music’. Oliver Arditi

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Stars In Battledress "In Droplet Form"

Country: UK
Sub Genre: Art Rock, Prog Folk, Chamber
Label: Believers Roast
Release date: June 16, 2014
Tracklist: 
01. A Winning Decree (5:54)
02. Buy One Now (2:41)
03. Hunt The Button (5:42)
04. Fluent English (3:37)
05. No Glory No Gain (1:16)
06. Hollywood Says So (4:27)
07. TKS2 (4:37)
08. The Defenders In The Mill (2:29)
09. Unmatchable Bride (4:39)
10. The Women From The Ministry (9:29)

Line-up: 
Richard Larcombe
James Larcombe (North Sea Radio Orchestra, William D. Drake)

Description/Reviews: 

...the brotherly duo of Richard and James Larcombe produce a magical brand of guitar and piano-based (and also drum-less) music that skips nimbly between dissected pastoral psych/prog and deconstructed music hall burlesque.
The sometimes eccentric arrangements and non-aversion to packing as many notes as possible into every bar firmly place Stars In Battledress in the same lineage as Peter Hammill, Cardiacs and Field Music, artists intent on waking their audience up from the somnambulant potential of conventional songwriting. And along with their minimal baroque style, their nicely evocative, sometimes opaque, lyrics hint at childhood games, thwarted lives and dark deeds in the corridors of power, all delivered in the well-enunciated and decidedly un-rock voice of the ex-choir boy.
Which makes sense, because the Larcombe brothers' music is also intensely English in an almost ecclesiastical, high church way, its very essence infused with the musty air of a thousand village halls, provincial libraries and decaying baronial mansions. While the likes of British Sea Power, Public Service Broadcasting and the Ghost Box label refer back with varying degrees of nostalgia to a classical vision of Albion, Stars In Battledress often seem to still be inhabiting that past, concocting cheering entertainments for a nation enduring wartime

 Read the full review by Joe Banks at thequietus.com

Media/Samples 
A Winning Decree

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Rael Jones "Mandrake"

Country: UK
Sub Genre: Chamber, Classical
Label: Believers Roast
Release date: November 1, 2013
Tracklist: 
1. Lacuna 05:02
2. Feet 02:09
3. High, Plain 02:02
4. Chug Up, Chug Down 01:39
5. Algernon 03:21
6. Jimmy Runs Home 02:15
7. Silflay 05:00
8. Boca Del Cielo 04:00
9. Friendly Reminder 01:48

Line-up: 
Rael Jones (Thumpermonkey) - Piano and Acoustic Guitar
Sara Wolstenholme - First Violin (Tracks 1-5, 7 and 8)
Natalie Klouda - Second Violin (Tracks 1-4 and 7)
Becky Jones - Viola (Tracks 1-4 and 7)
Jonathan Tunnell - Cello (Tracks 1-4 and 7)
Tim Gibbs - Double Bass (Tracks 1 and 8)

Description/Reviews: 

Mandrake is a 9 track album of cinematic chamber music by composer and multi-instrumentalist Rael Jones (Thumpermonkey), written for string quintet, piano and acoustic guitars.
The album blends a wide range of influences and genres. The French Impressionistic movement and composers such as Bela Bartok and Igor Stravinsky can be heard in the harmonic and rhythmic backbone of the pieces, but the approach to structure draws more from Minimalism and Film Music.
Films themselves play a large part in the concept for the work; the inspiration for the movements comes from different movies that have special emotional significance to the composer. The opening track 'Lacuna' is named after the LTD company in 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' that erases people's memories for a fee. In reference to the final climax of the film, the music attempts to convey the passage through memories as they are lost, until nothing remains but silence (lacuna). Similarly, 'Silflay' is a time for coming above ground and grazing in the rabbit language of 'Watership Down', represented in the pastoral, skittish and happy nature of the piece. 'Boca Del Cielo' is the name of the Mexican beach that the characters in 'Y Tu Mamá También' travel to. The track draws on the passion, sex and death in the film, whilst also incorporating Hispanic influences. The album itself is named after the Mandrake plant, because of its appearance in 'Pan's Labyrinth' (and to a lesser extent the Harry Potter franchise); the hallucinogenic and magical properties associated with it fit well with the album as a whole. The artwork ties into this too; the composer captured in a blurred, hypnotised trance.

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Various Artists "The Exquisite Corpse Game"

Country: Multinational
Sub Genre:  Avant Prog, Electronica, Experimental, Psychedelic
Label: Believers Roast
Release date: September 2, 2013
Tracklist: 
Fold 1: Khyam Allami
Fold 2: Karda Estra
Fold 3: JG Thirlwell
Fold 4: Kavus Torabi
Fold 5: British Theatre
Fold 6: Bob Drake
Fold 7: Weasel Walter
Fold 8: Dominique Leone
Fold 9: Appleblim
Fold 10: Katharine Blake
Fold 11: Max Tundra
Fold 12: Mikrokosmos
Fold 13: Craig Fortnam

Line-up: 
Khyam Allami
Karda Estra
JG Thirlwell (Foetus/ Manorexia/ Steroid Maximus etc)
Kavus Torabi (Knifeworld/ Cardiacs/ Guapo)
British Theatre (Oceansize/ Biffy Clyro)
Bob Drake (Thinking Plague/ 5uu's/ The Science Group etc)
Weasel Walter (The Flying Luttenbachers/ Behold The Arctopus)
Dominique Leone
Appleblim
Katharine Blake (Mediaeval Baebes/ Miranda Sex Garden)
Max Tundra
Mikrokosmos (Levitation/ Dark Star/ Cardiacs)
Craig Fortnam (North Sea Radio Orchestra/ Arch Garrison)

Description/Reviews: 

Exquisite corpse is a method by which a collection of images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence until finally the whole completed picture is revealed. This technique invented by the Surrealists is similar to the old parlour game, Consequences, in which players write in turn on a sheet of paper, fold it to conceal part of the writing, and then pass it to the next player for a further contribution.

The Exquisite Corpse Game is a unique musical collaboration based on these rules. Once the first 'fold' was recorded each artist was given only the last 20 seconds of the previous composition and had to continue by recording instrumental music in any way they saw fit.
Whether they chose to develop themes or take an obtuse 90 degree turn was entirely up to them. Each 'fold' had to be a response to the 20 seconds they were given and be between one and four minutes long. None of the contributors heard the entire piece until the final 'fold' had been completed

Taken individually, The Exquisite Corpse Game represents thirteen brand new, original compositions by thirteen innovative musical artists but taken as a whole the entire album has a kaleidoscopic, dream-like yet homogenous quality. Themes and ideas seem to repeat and reoccur throughout in a way that could not have been known to the contributors. There is an ebb and flow throughout that sounds both pre-concieved and deliberate.

 Also read the review by Oliver Arditi

Media/Samples 
Trailer

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Karda Estra "Mondo Profondo"

Country: UK
Sub Genre: Symphonic, Chamber, Classical
Label: Believers Roast
Release date: July 22, 2013
Tracklist: 

Mondo Profondo:

1. On Those Cloudy Days - 6:12 

2. Mondo Profondo I - 5:36

3. The Happy Breed - 5:16

4. Mondo Profondo II - 8:42 

5. The Haunter Of The Dark - 6:12

6. Mondo Profondo III - 4:09

New Worlds:

7. Chronoclasm I - 1:26

8. Transmissions - 3:24

9. Fifty Below Zero - 1:55

10. Eternity Station - 3:36 

11. Girl In A Spaceship - 2:55

12. Sea Of Tranquility - 4:08

13. The Sky Below (Wileman/Falcone/Wishart) 4:23

14. Radiance - 4:31 

15. The Doll's House - 3:20 

16. The Celestial Lounge - 3:12

17. Invaders From Venus - 3:27

18. Chronoclasm II - 1:27

Line-up: 
Richard Wileman – guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion, kalimba, pencil sharpener, sequenced echo piano, needle and thread
Helen Dearnley – violin (1,3,5)
Caron Hansford – cor anglais (1), oboe (3)
Zoë Josey – flute (1,3), soprano, alto and tenor saxophones (1)
Matt Baber – keyboards, synth percussion (2)
Ileesha Bailey – vocals(2,4)
Amy Hedges – clarinet (2,4,5)
Mike Ostime – trumpet (2)
Mohadev – guitar, keyboards (4)

Benjamin DeGain – vibraphone, percussion (4)
Stu Rowe – guitar, bass, keyboards, drums (4)
Kavus Torabi – guitar (4)
Phil Mercy – keyboards, guitar, drums (4)
Marco Bernard – bass (4)

Description/Reviews: 

The CD will also include the 2011 album 'New Worlds' which has only been available as a download so far. 'Mondo Profondo' features four Richard Wileman compositions plus two collaborations – one with Matt Baber (Sanguine Hum) and another with Mohadev and Benjamin DeGain (Terraformation), Stuart Rowe (Lighterthief /Andy Partridge), Kavus Torabi (Knifeworld/Cardiacs) and Phil Mercy (Thieves' Kitchen). 

Media/Samples
Bandcamp

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Thumpermonkey "Sleep Furiously"

Country: UK
Sub Genre: Art Rock, Avant Prog
Label: Believer's Roast
Release date: October 31, 2012
Tracklist: 
1.When Scouts Go Bad 03:20
2.Direct 06:55
3.Wheezyboy 04:34
4.Defecit 06:28
5.The Rhetorician 03:13
6.Pigheart 03:40
7.Sleeve 05:26
8.Own 03:57
9.Toxcatl 04:40
10.Blackout 05:25
11.Quiet Earth 02:02

Line-up: 
- Michael Woodman / Vocals, Guitars
- Ben Wren / Drums
- Rael Jones / Guitars
- Sam Warren / Bass

Description/Reviews: 

From those humble musical foundations the band craft a complex blend of punkish prog - think Cardiacs, Crimson and The Pixies playing tag - that bounces out of the speakers like a chimps' tea party and comes right at ya from the off with When Scouts Go Bad, a furiously paced ditty, odd time signatures to the fore and attitude aplenty, but lightened by a rich vein of pop sensibility. 

Read the full review by Roger Trenwith at  dprp.net

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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