Happy Family | |
---|---|
Origin | Japan |
Genres | Progressive rock, Zeuhl, avant-rock |
Years active | 1987–present |
Labels | Cuneiform |
Website | facebook |
Members | Kenichi Morimoto Takahiro Izutani Keiichi Nagase Hidemi Ichikawa |
Past members | Shige Makino Tatsuya Miyano |
Happy Family is a Japanese instrumental progressive rock band based in Tokyo formed in 1987 by music students of Tokyo's University of Meiji. [1] They are influenced by French progressive rock band Magma (and so are associated with Magma's style of music which is termed Zeuhl) [2] and British experimental band Henry Cow, [1]
They are also influenced by minimal music.[ citation needed ] Jim Dorsch, writing for AllMusic, feels that the drummer, Nagase, contributes "rhythmic complexity" to their music. [1] They broke up at the end of 1998 for 14 years, then reformed in 2012. [1] They are now active, releasing new album along with attending 1st edition of Rock in Opposition Japan Festival in 2014.
Magma is a French progressive rock band founded in Paris in 1969 by classically trained drummer Christian Vander, who claimed as his inspiration a "vision of humanity's spiritual and ecological future" that profoundly disturbed him. In the course of their first album, the band tells the story of a group of people fleeing a doomed Earth to settle on the planet Kobaïa. Later, conflict arises when the Kobaïans—descendants of the original colonists—encounter other Earth refugees. The style of progressive rock that Vander developed with Magma is termed Zeuhl, and has been applied to other bands in France operating in the same period, and to some recent Japanese bands.
Soft Machine are an English rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen, and Mike Ratledge. As a central band of the Canterbury scene, the group became one of the first British psychedelic acts and later moved into progressive rock and jazz fusion. Their varying line-ups have included former members such as Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, and Andy Summers, and currently consists of John Marshall (drums), Roy Babbington (bass), John Etheridge (guitar), and Theo Travis
Blankey Jet City was a Japanese rock trio from Aichi Prefecture, active from 1987 to 2000. It consisted of Kenichi Asai on vocals and guitar, Toshiyuki Terui on bass, and Tatsuya Nakamura on drums.
Gerard is a Japanese progressive rock band.
The High Water Marks is an indie rock band associated with the Elephant 6 collective. The band has two lead creative members, Hilarie Sidney and Per Ole Bratset, who co-write the band's music.
Museo Rosenbach is an Italian progressive rock band whose album Zarathustra, in spite of the limited success it scored in the 1970s, is today considered a cornerstone of the genre.
Miriodor is a Canadian musical group in the field of what is known as Rock in Opposition; the band combines jazz, progressive rock and chamber music into a powerful sound reminiscent of better known artists like Univers Zéro or Art Zoyd. Bass player Nicolas Masino came up with this description of Miriodor's music: "rock-oriented post-modern chamber music, with definite humorous overtones."
Djam Karet is an instrumental progressive rock band based in Topanga, California. The band was founded in 1984 by guitarists Gayle Ellett and Mike Henderson, bassist Henry J. Osborne, and drummer Chuck Oken, Jr.. The band's name is an old spelling of an Indonesian word that translates loosely as "elastic time".
Kōenji Hyakkei, also known as Kōenjihyakkei, is a Japanese Zeuhl band led by Tatsuya Yoshida, and is "his tribute to the 'Zeuhl' music" of French prog-rock band Magma.
Cosmos is the ninth studio album by the Japanese rock band Buck-Tick. The album was released on June 21, 1996 through Victor Entertainment. It was the group's last album released through Victor and peaked at number six on the Oricon charts. Cosmos has sold 170,000 copies. The album was digitally remastered and re-released on September 19, 2002, with two bonus tracks. It was remastered and re-released again on September 5, 2007. The song "Tight Rope" was later re-recorded as the b-side to the group's "Alice in Wonder Underground" single in 2007, and "Sane" was re-recorded in 2012 for their "Elise no Tame ni" single.
Thinking Plague is an American avant-garde progressive rock group founded in 1982 by guitarist/composer Mike Johnson and bass guitarist/drummer Bob Drake. Based in Denver, Colorado, the band has been active off and on since 1982, taking on a number of musicians over the years. They have made seven studio albums between 1984 and 2017, and released one live album recorded at NEARfest in 2000.
David Kerman, better known as Dave Kerman, is a United States experimental rock drummer and composer, best known as the founder and member of the Los Angeles avant-rock group 5uu's. He is also a member of the Belgian progressive rock band Present and the Israeli avant-rock band Ahvak. Kerman has been a member of the United States bands U Totem and Thinking Plague, and the Dutch band Blast. He has collaborated with several musicians, including Bob Drake, Chris Cutler and Fred Frith.
Upsilon Acrux is an American progressive rock band from Los Angeles formed in 1998.
Inédits is an album by French progressive rock group Magma. It was released in 1977 and features unreleased pieces and music that would eventually be used in the band's 2004 studio album K.A. . The album was first released on Tapioca, then on LTM, and more recently on Seventh. It is noted for its poor sound quality.
Takahiro Izutani is a video game music composer and guitarist. He is notable for his work in the Metal Gear Solid series.
The Muffins were an American Maryland-based progressive rock/avant-jazz group. They were formed in Washington, DC in the early 1970s and recorded four albums before disbanding in 1981. In 1998 the group reformed and recorded a further five albums and a DVD. The Muffins played at Symphony Space on Broadway in NYC with Marion Brown in 1979, and also performed at a number of festivals, starting with the ZU Manifestival in New York City in 1978, The Villa Celimontana festival in Rome, Italy in 2000, two appearances at Progday in 2001 and 2002, NEARfest in 2005, and the "Rock in Opposition" festival in France in 2009. In 2010, The Muffins headlined at Progday, making a third appearance at this long running festival.
5 Ahead is the seventh studio album by Japanese band Tokio. It was released on December 5, 2001. It was the first album to be released under Universal Music Japan. The album reached eighth place on the Oricon weekly chart and charted for six weeks.
Forever Einstein is an avant-garde band formed in 1989, and described as a, "very smart trio," The band consists of original members John Roulat and Charles O'Meara, aka C.W. Vrtacek. The band features bassist Kevin Gerety on acoustic and electric fretless basses and Warr Guitar. Past members include original bassist Marc Sichel and Jack Vees. The band was a featured act at the annual MIMI festival of progressive music in France (1991) and Prog Day in North Carolina (2003). They are known for tightly weaving a variety of styles such as folk, surf-rock, jazz, metal, country and more into concise, highly arranged pieces with long, often ridiculous titles. They sounded like a mixture of King Crimson, Frank Zappa, and Gong.
Bent Knee is an American art rock band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2009. The band performs in multiple genres and draws from multiple influences, including pop, industrial rock, progressive rock, and avant-garde. The band is known for unpredictable dynamic contrast and the wide vocal range of singer Courtney Swain.
Refusal Fossil is the sixth album by Ruins, released in 1997 through Skin Graft Records. In 2007, Skin Graft released a special edition with five extra tracks, easily identified by a different text font for the band name and title.