Aardvark – Tuntematon Sotilas. 2006. As I stated in an earlier blurb, if it’s from Finland then it must be good. Mellow of Italy has stretched their tentacles into this land of creativity before (Groovector, Haikara, Giant Hogweed Orchestra). Aardvark are the true modern group since they live in all parts of the globe, and yet manage to record a cohesive band effort through the magic of the Internet (and once again, raise a glass high to The Rascal Reporters, who pioneered this idea in the cassette tape / snail mail era). Aardvark were presented to me as an amalgam of all things 70s Finnish rock, calling out Kaamos, Nova and Nimbus as reference. And since I’m an obscure reference guy, I was already enthused. Now, to be honest, I was hoping only one of these references would truly check out. Kaamos were pretty middle of the road and Nova (of “Atlantis” fame) could be quite boring in reality. But Nimbus – ah yes, now we’re talking. Organ rock baby. Nothing fancy, just good ole hard rock with plenty of juicy think organ and loud lead guitar. And damn if Aardvark didn’t just do that – and zoom in on the ghost of Nimbus. Or Sweden’s Rag I Ryggen (sure, we’ll throw in Blakulla since I’m name drop city here). Not sure if this is a one time event, as the group doesn’t seem to have any active presence, but let’s hope they get the itch to send megabytes to each other again.

Combination Head – s/t. 2006. A simple flash line blared out from a respected catalog: “Best UK instrumental prog in 30 years”. “Recalls the best of mid 70’s Camel”. Big shoes to fill right there and I wasn’t expecting “new brand on the block” Combination Head to be a prefect fit. Ahh, but they are comfortable shoes and look nice too. Maybe this is the real deal and not a Canal Street knockoff? (excuse the New York City reference). These guys get it right – and once again the mix of old and new – digital and analog – keyboards are the distinguishing factor. Great guitar work as well. So…. maybe this is the best UK instrumental progressive rock record in years (at least one without a space rock leaning)? Don’t rush me, I’m still thinking about it….

Arc – Arcturus. 2005. Arc are Ian Boddy and Mark Shreeve (Redshift) and it’s their house brand for old school Berlin analog electronic music (on Boddy’s DiN label as well). Shreeve is the undisputed master of the big Moog, and his sequences are the best in the business. Once the sequences are rolling, it’s a matter of throwing on the melody lines and atmospheres (including mellotron of course). Not much to rant on about here – if you like 1974-1977 Tangerine Dream, just buy this – you will like it.