#progressive

NMR Indie Playlist

Andy Wors

Feb 28, 2020
1 min

'From Scratch' - 'The Plague' (single)

After 'The Little Hands of Asphalt' we'll stay in Norway for an introduction to a band we haven't featured before, but that have started to make a real impression particularly in the last 12 months - notably with a performance at 'Øya', and whom this weekend will make an appearance at 'by:Larm' in Oslo. 'From Scratch', as the name suggests, started from absolutely nothing, but have quickly evolved into an interesting alternative rock band who blend a variety of rock styles to

'YOHIO' - 'Oh My.... Polkadot Politics' (single)

Andy Wors

Feb 27, 2020
1 min

'YOHIO' - 'Oh My.... Polkadot Politics' (single)

Back in the 'old days' it was traditional for an artist to release 2 or 3 singles (at most) before the release of an album, but clearly the musical world is changing, and we're delighted to update you on the latest release from Swedish sensation 'YOHIO' with, wait for it, the 6th single from his forthcoming album - which is to be entitled 'Neon Light Orchestra'. Of course we don't really mind at all, because each one has been a highly entertaining fusion of pop and progressiv

'Martin Månsson Sjöstrand Trio' - 'Universum Faller' (album)

Andy Wors

Feb 11, 2020
3 min

'Martin Månsson Sjöstrand Trio' - 'Universum Faller' (album)

I was in Oslo recently and came across 2 lovely Norwegian guys who claimed (ok, they actually were, but 'claimed' sounds more intriguing) to once have been in a 'Cardiacs' tribute band called 'Piffol'. No record of 'Piffol' seems to exist online, but a few of you out there will understand the respect due to these guys for doing such an extraordinary 'laudatory' thing. Multi-talented Swedish musician Martin Månsson Sjöstrand, the founder of his trio creatively called, erm, 'M

Andy Wors

Jan 3, 2020
2 min

'Major Parkinson' - 'Jonah' (single)

There are, of course, 2 ways to consider the release of new single 'Jonah' by Norwegian alternative rock colossus 'Major Parkinson' so early on in January, depending on whether your post New Year glass is still half full, or now half empty. The first possibility is that this a welcome sign that 2020 is going to be a fabulous year of new releases, and that we're heading for 12 months of musical treats. The other perspective is that, quite frankly, a 'Major Parkinson' single i

‘Lauri Porra Flyover Ensemble' - 'Dust' (album)

Andy Wors

Dec 17, 2019
2 min

‘Lauri Porra Flyover Ensemble' - 'Dust' (album)

Well we’ve covered 'Steve Buscemi’s Dreamy Eyes', so it feels only right to move on to the equally brilliantly named ‘Lauri Porra Flyover Ensemble’, who’ve recently released a new instrumental based album ‘Dust’, including a single ‘Matter’, which particularly caught our attention. Finnish readers in particular may be aware of Lauri Porra, as he is a well established musician, composer and collaborator, with an extraordinary musical mix of musical experiences behind him. Not

'Phogg' - 'Mofeto: Mashine Adamkosh' (album)

Andy Wors

Dec 3, 2019
3 min

'Phogg' - 'Mofeto: Mashine Adamkosh' (album)

We hopefully should be featuring an Album a Day this week, and after the melodic strains of 'Agacy' yesterday, today we feature Swedish rock band 'Phogg', who have a psychedelic and even slightly progressive basis to their music. There a 4 piece band from 'Stockholm' who debuted with an EP called 'Zun, Stein & Graaf' in 2017, followed by an album 'Slices' last year, and their new release curiously entitled 'Mofeto: Mashine Adamkosh' was released back in September. Since the r

Andy Wors

Nov 29, 2019
1 min

'YOHIO' - new single 'Defeating a Devil a Day'

We've already featured the new(ish) 'CeaseTone' track, and we can't deny that another 'favourite' of ours is the incomparable 'YOHIO' - the Swedish audio / visual artist who we wrote about previously when he released his singles 'My Nocturnal Serenade' and 'Merry Go Around'. His latest single is, somewhat preposterously, the 5th from his forthcoming album 'Neon Light Orchestra', entitled 'Defeating a Devil a Day', and as expected it's big, bold and totally brilliant. 'Defeati

'Moron Police' - 'A Boat on the Sea' (album)

Andy Wors

Oct 14, 2019
4 min

'Moron Police' - 'A Boat on the Sea' (album)

To state the obvious, people are entitled to entertain themselves in pretty much any way that they choose. My Great Uncle Ivan (God rest his soul...) used to buy 3 flagons of 'Cripple Cock' Farmyard Scrumpy every Sunday morning, and settle down in the afternoon to watch 'Bullseye' and 'Little and Large' - and anyone attempting to interrupt his viewing would be subject to a barrage of unintelligible Devonian cursing. Now I realise that he wasn't exactly setting the entertainme

'Moron Police' - 'Captain Awkward' (single)

Andy Wors

Jul 8, 2019
1 min

'Moron Police' - 'Captain Awkward' (single)

I decided last week that if I could get this thing back on track I'd treat myself to listening / writing about the new 'Moron Police' single, and we're pretty much getting there - so here is their new(ish) song, it's called 'Captain Awkward' and as expected it's a highly enjoyable romp, which will take you on a journey across musical boundaries and genres and leave you sitting with a huge, if slightly astonished, smile on your face. We featured the 1st single of the Norwegian

In Brief: 'Star of Heaven' - 'Kino' (single)

Andy Wors

Jul 1, 2019
1 min

In Brief: 'Star of Heaven' - 'Kino' (single)

Hopefully July will be a better month than June. So we'll try and catch up with 'In Brief' mentions to as many bands as possible, and we'll start with 'Star of Heaven', a Swedish instrumental band that we featured back in 2016 when they released their post rock / progressive influenced album 'Vinter 2015'. Anyway they're back with a new single called 'Kino', and the good news is that it's the first from a new album which is due to be released in Autumn - which will be called

Sunday Non Nordic Indie: 'Psychotic Villager' - 'All The Money That I Need' (single)

Andy Wors

Jun 23, 2019
1 min

Sunday Non Nordic Indie: 'Psychotic Villager' - 'All The Money That I Need' (single)

So here's something different to brighten up your Sunday, and it's a track from the Indonesian Indie Folk band 'Psychotic Villager' which popped up in our Inbox a few weeks ago. There are 4 people in the band, but they also rely on instruments such as flute and violin, and 'All The Money That I Need' is their second song, which follows on from their release 'Winter Hymn' in 2017. It's a curious and interesting track, which takes influences from across many centuries of music

Andy Wors

Jun 12, 2019
1 min

'The Sleeplings' - 'Four Hens Down' (single / video)

So a couple of years back we wrote a glowing review of Danish band 'The Sleeplings' debut album, which was entitled 'Elusive Lights of the Long-Forgotten' and therefore gave it away as the type of curious prog-influenced album that we like at Nordic Music Review. It even made it on to our Albums of the Year list I believe, and fully deserved that was too. Anyway they're back, and their new single and video is rather brilliant. Entitled 'Four Hens Down', it's a thumping song

'Moron Police' - new single 'The Phantom Below'

Andy Wors

Apr 12, 2019
2 min

'Moron Police' - new single 'The Phantom Below'

We've covered quite a varied selection of new Nordic music today, from the debut EP by the rather unusual Finnish trio 'Ocelot' to the new album by Swedish band 'Insaunas', but I have no idea how, because all day we've had this huge distraction weighing on our shoulders - no, not the lunacy of Brexit for once, but simply the release of the new single by Bergen quartet 'Moron Police' - it's entitled 'The Phantom Below' and quite simply, it's utterly marvellous. I'm not sure th

'YOHIO' - new single 'My Nocturnal Serenade'

Andy Wors

Mar 1, 2019
1 min

'YOHIO' - new single 'My Nocturnal Serenade'

So we've featured a newish band in 'St. Bennetts' from Norway, and we'll head back to someone who is becoming somewhat of an old favourite, Swedish visual Alternative / Progressive Rock phenomena 'YOHIO'. Now I'm going to admit straight away that I do feel his music is somewhat of a guilty pleasure sometimes, and I mean that in the nicest possible way, simply because it is just so lavish and fully orchestrated, but the reality is that it's also hugely entertaining too. Last

'Through the Canopy' - 'Descension' (EP)

Andy Wors

Jan 16, 2019
2 min

'Through the Canopy' - 'Descension' (EP)

We've covered a range of Albums / EPs in our previous feature, but there is one new releases which has sneaked out on Tuesday of this week, and it's a quite monstrous 2 track debut from Norwegian post-metal / prog-doom band 'Through the Canopy' - it's called 'Descension', and as we would probably expect from a post metal band with this type of name, both tracks are over 10 minutes long. This qualifies for an almost instant write-up in Nordic Music Review, we love music to get

Andy Wors

Nov 29, 2018
1 min

'YOHIO' with new track 'Merry Go Round'

After our Elsa Åborg feature we'll go straight to the opposite extreme now, as this next track does have a big Commercial bias to it, but it is undeniably a hugely entertaining song. The artist is Swedish/Japanese visual pop sensation 'YOHIO', who came to prominence a few years ago when he participated in Melodifestivalen (which is used to select the Eurovision Song Contest representative) both in 2013 and 2014, making it to the final on both occasions, and coming in second

'Electric Crayon Set' - new track 'Moonlit Graveyard'

Andy Wors

Nov 15, 2018
1 min

'Electric Crayon Set' - new track 'Moonlit Graveyard'

It's probably true to say that we've featured a couple more 'commercial' style releases than normal in previous days, so we'll make no apologies for heading slightly leftfield towards music that you won't find on your national Radio playlists. 'Electric Crayon Set' are from Finland, and if we think we've done well to last into our 5th year, well these guys have reached 20 years of music making, and early in 2019 will release a new album (their 3rd) to celebrate two decades of

Det Skandaløse Orkester - 'Tenk om noen ser deg' (Album)

Andy Wors

Oct 24, 2018
3 min

Det Skandaløse Orkester - 'Tenk om noen ser deg' (Album)

We're trying to cover a massive range of artists and genres this week, and this is a perfect excuse to delve into what I would describe as 'diverse eclectic' acts and others might probably describe as 'weird stuff'. 'Det Skandaløse Orkester' are from Bergen and play a rather extraordinary blend of progressive jazz, inspired by the likes of Frank Zappa and many others, and the 8 piece collective (which includes 'a Major Parkinson') play impossibly complex and occasionally self

'Ludvig the Band' with track 'Descendant'

Andy Wors

May 11, 2018
2 min

'Ludvig the Band' with track 'Descendant'

Apologies for the slight delay on posts for a few days, sometimes stuff gets in the way of writing about lovely music, I wish it didn't, but it does. But we're back with 'vengeance' today, and after being able to announce earlier the amazing news about our collaboration with Major Parkinson and their debut UK gigs, we can now also tell you about the most lovely of tracks from a new name to Nordic Music Review, 'Ludvig the Band'. 'Ludvig the Band' (and I particularly love the