Canterbury Scene

Produced by Robert Fripp and featuring a guest appearance from Brian Eno, Matching Mole's (Robert Wyatt's post Soft Machine band) second album saw Dave MacRae replace the outgoing Dave Sinclair.

This edition has been remastered from the original master tapes and is expanded to include four previously unreleased studio session alternate takes and Matching Mole's appearance on BBC Radio One 'In Concert' from July 1972.

The booklet restores all original artwork and includes an essay by Sid Smith.

Preorder now for 27th February release date

A 2CD Expanded edition of Matching Mole's self-titled debut album.

A Canterbury supergroup formed in 1971, Matching Mole featured former Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt, former Caravan keyboard player Dave Sinclair, guitarist Phil Miller, and Quiet Sun bassist Bill McCormick.

This edition has been re-mastered from the original master tapes and is expanded to include five previously unreleased studio session alternate takes; the single versions of O Caroline and Signed Curtain, along with two BBC Radio One sessions from 1972.

The booklet restores the original artwork and includes an essay by Sid Smith.

Pre-order now for the 27th February release date.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of Caravan's seminal 'Canterbury' offering, In The Land Of Grey And Pink, the album has been reissued as a three-disc, deluxe edition.

Alongside a new remaster of the original mix and several rarities (both audio and visual), the multi-track master tapes have been remixed in stereo and 5.1 surround by Steven Wilson.

The booklet includes many rare period photographs and an informative Mark Powell essay.

Caravan's last album of the 1970s was the Tony Visconti produced Better By Far.

This is a new Pye Hastings endorsed reissue of one of the lesser known albums in the band's catalogue.

Mostly continuing in the vein of its Pop influenced predecessors Cunning Stunts and Blind Dog At St Dunstan's, the album also includes the viola-driven instrumental The Last Unicorn and the epic and serene Nightmare.

This re-mastered version of Caravan's eighth studio album from 1976 comes in a limited edition vinyl gatefold replica format, with a booklet featuring sleevenotes by noted author and journalist, Chris Welch.

This re-mastered version of Caravan's popular seventh album from 1975 comes in a limited edition vinyl gatefold replica format, with a booklet featuring sleevenotes by noted author and journalist, Chris Welch.

A live album recorded on November 13th 1974, A Hunting We Shall Go is a 34 minute 180g LP containing a side long version of the Caravan classic, For Richard.

Taken from the same year as the Caravan And The New Symphonia live release, this non-orchestral configuration of the band consisted of Pye Hastings on guitar and vocals, Geoffrey Richardson on viola, Richard Coughlan on drums, David Sinclair on keyboards and then recent recruit, Mike Wedgwood on bass

Soft Machine's third album from 1970 was a double LP, with each vinyl side featuring a lengthy single composition.

Immediately considered the band's most accomplished achievement, Third explored aspects of the emerging Miles Davis/Bitches Brew influenced Jazz Fusion sound, and marked the most major of Soft Machine's stylistic shifts, completing the band's transition from Psychedelic gurus to giants of Jazz.

A significant milestone of the Canterbury scene, the album contains Robert Wyatt's celebrated long-form song, Moon In June.

* 180 grams audiophile vinyl
* Gatefold Sleeve

The final live recordings to be released by Soft Machine during its lifetime, Alive & Well was the product of a series of concerts at Le Palace Theatre in Monmartre, Paris in July 1978.

Initially released as a single album, the discovery of multi-track masters of a concert in the archives has resulted in this deluxe expanded edition containing a CD of additional material recorded during the same set of performances.

Unavailable officially on CD for nearly fifteen years, this reissue has been re-mastered from the original master tapes and fully restores the original artwork.

Soft Machine's final studio album, from 1981, featured the duo of Karl Jenkins and John Marshall being joined by the likes of Jack Bruce, Allan Holdsworth and Dick Morrissey.

A sophisticated release dominated by the compositional prowess of Jenkins, Land Of Cockayne remains an overlooked part of this legendary band's catalogue.

This remastered edition features a booklet including restored artwork, rare photos and sleeve notes by Sid Smith.

Esoteric's long overdue re-release of the 1976 Soft Machine classic, Softs.

The band's second for the Harvest label, Softs featured a line-up of Mike Ratledge (keyboards), Karl Jenkins (Oboe, Piano, Soprano Sax), John Marshall (Drums), Roy Babbington (Bass) and new member, John Etheridge (Guitar).

An accessible set that provided a more lyrical companion to Bundles, this was the final album to feature founder member Mike Ratledge.

Unavailable on CD for 15 years, this reissue has been re-mastered from the original tapes, features comprehensive Sid Smith sleeve notes and fully restores the original artwork.

Esoteric Records long overdue, re-mastered, release of Soft Machine's classic 1975 album, Bundles.

An accessible and highly praised collection, the album featured the classic Mike Ratledge, Karl Jenkins, John Marshall, Roy Babbington quartet augmented by new member, Allan Holdsworth.

Unavailable on CD for nearly 15 years, this reissue has been re-mastered from the original tapes, restores the original artwork and features sleeve notes by Sid Smith (with contributions from John Marshall).

Recorded in London in 1967, Jet Propelled Photographs is a re-issue of the first recordings made by one the U.K.'s seminal psychedelic and Canterbury bands.

Originally intended as demos for the group's projected first album, the musical importance and historic significance of these recordings is undisputed, representing as they do the only recordings made by the group's original line-up of Robert Wyatt, Daevid Allen, Kevin Ayers and Mike Ratledge.

'Jet Propelled Photographs shows why The Soft Machine sounded comfortable alongside Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. A rough curio, but high on the list for Canterbury connoisseurs.' ('The Rough Guide To Rock').

Quiet Sun was Phil Manzanera's pre-Roxy Music project, alongside Bill MacCormick (Matching Mole / Random Hold), Charles Hayward (This Heat) and Dave Jarrett.

A stunning, Psychedelically inclined Progressive Jazz Rock album, Mainstream was recorded 4 years after the band's break-up during the night-shift sessions for Manzanera's debut solo album, Diamond Head.

Occasionally echoing the styles of early Soft Machine, Pink Floyd and King Crimson, and hinting at the ambition of the 801 project to come, Mainstream is the only remaining legacy of this great 'lost' British band.

This edition comes in a beautiful DVD sized digi-book format and features extra tracks and a comprehensive booklet containing many period reviews and photos.

All copies are signed by Phil Manzanera.

"This is a ferocious combination of the ideas on the first two Velvet Underground albums coupled with the musical inventiveness of King Crimson or Soft Machine. The musicians are superb, the production flawless." - Trouser Press

Two creative heavyweights at the peak of their powers, Peter Blegvad (Slapp Happy) and Andy Partridge (XTC) uniquely take on and develop the myth of Orpheus.

Described as a bit part play for the fable-minded, the cd (filled to the brim with Partridge's engaging musical experiments and Blegvad's captivating poetry) is beautifully packaged in an A5 digi pack and illustrated with images that Peter and Andy created with paper and stationery.

Three years in the making, the new Wizards of Twiddly album, 'People With Purpose' marks the first release since the band reformed in 2004. It also features material premiered on the band's live appearances with Kevin Ayers in the mid 1990's.

The late, great Jimmy Carl Black (Zappa's Mothers of Invention / Beefheart's Magic Band) provides vocals on 'Hooverman' & 'Ping Pong Head'.

"'The best band to ever come out of Liverpool"
Steve Davis BBC 6 Music 10th July 2011

'Warning - Wizards of Twiddly are on top form.' The Organ

'A mid-way point between Soft Machine and the Dadaist dementia of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.' Losing Today

'Mad, bad and dangerously addictive.' Steven Reid seaoftranquility.org

Gloriously atmospheric and intense, 2004's 'The Stolen Hour' was a superb extension of Hugh Hopper's 'Jazzloops' series of explorations written to accompany the distinctive imagery of comic book artist, Matt Howarth.

Assisted by, amongst others, Robert Wyatt (cornet, voice), John Marshall and Didier Malherbe, Hopper updated the Jazz-tinged Minimalist looping he initially developed in the 1960s, evoking the innovative spirit of early Soft Machine, while simultaneously suggesting new possibilities for his music.

One Of A Kind, from 1979, is one of the most celebrated Bruford-related offerings.

Featuring the classic quartet of Bruford, Dave Stewart, Jeff Berlin and Allan Holdsworth, the album demonstrated a consistency and purity of vision that fully reflected the band's ongoing creative growth and maturity.

"A monumental step in the drummer's career, perhaps the greatest one, here is a branch from the progressive rock history tree that should not be overlooked." - Michael Ezzo, Expose.

The astonishing 1977 debut album from drumming legend Bill Bruford.

Featuring a stellar line up including guitarists Allan Holdsworth and John Goodsall, bassist Jeff Berlin, keyboardist Dave Stewart, ECM flügelhorn maestro, Kenny Wheeler, and singer-songwriter Annette Peacock.

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Features bonus track, Joe Frazier.

Released in 1979, I Can See Your House From Here was the 7th studio album by the legendary English band, Camel.

Despite possessing a more commercial sensibility, the album still contains several ambitious Progressive compositions, including arguably the greatest Camel piece of all-time, the 10 minute instrumental Ice (featuring Phil Collins on percussion).

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This remastered edition also includes Remote Romance (single version) and a powerful live reading of Ice.

Breathless, released in 1978, was the last Camel album to feature the original keyboard player Peter Bardens, who left the group shortly after the album's completion.

Involving the contributions of Richard Sinclair and Mel Collins, the album possesses a more Canterbury Scene styled sound that mostly focuses on shorter songs with a more playful Jazzy feel.

Contains the ambitious Progressive classics/fan favourites, The Sleeper and Echoes.

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This remastered edition features sleeve notes and the radio edit of Rainbow's End.

We are pleased to announce the release of a new solo CD by Mont Campbell, founder member and main composer of Egg. A sequel to Campbell's 1996 work Music from a Round Tower, which was placed third in the International Green Dolphin Critics' Awards for that year, and continues his exploratory style of composition introducing rare non-western instrumental performance directly into western harmonic and formal structures.

"Ambrosia for the ears. Superbly performed and produced, this is music with extraordinary integrity." Victor Lewis-Smith (writer/director)

"It's lovely to hear those strange timbres play things which sound quite natural to them, although they are from such far-away lands and cultures. The harmonies and rhythms are beguiling..." Jonathan Harvey (composer)

"Once again, Mont has produced a beautiful, imaginative and thoughtful work with flashes of the humour that belie his 'serious composer' persona. All power to Dirk 'Mont' Campbell, one of the UK's unsung musical geniuses." Dave Stewart (keyboardist/composer)

"Elaborate, beguiling and multi-faceted, Music From a Walled Garden is presented as an almost continuous sequence... there are many contrasting juxtapositions of material, presenting surprising twists and turns en route - you never quite know where the music will go next." Symon Clarke (composer)

Music From a Walled Garden (56 minutes) ships in a full-colour Digipak with a 12-page booklet containing track notes and musical information by Mont Campbell. The CD is released on November 20th 2009 and may be pre-ordered now.

Website www.dirkcampbell.co.uk

Egg consisted of Dave Stewart (keyboards), Mont Campbell (bass/vocals) and Clive Brooks (drums). Known for their uncompromising complexity and pinpoint accuracy of performance, the group was one of the most musically adventurous to emerge from the UK underground scene of the late '60s.

The Metronomical Society is a collection of live and studio recordings made by the pioneering trio between 1969 and 1972. It features archive material unheard for nearly 40 years, including a sizeable segment of Egg's last Roundhouse concert which demonstrates the group's live power. Also included are superior versions of tracks from the band's radio sessions, previously available only on poor-quality bootlegs.

The CD lasts over an hour and ships in a full-colour Digipak with a 20-page booklet containing Egg's history in the musicians' own words, unique period photos and artwork. The foreword is written by the irrepressible Captain Sensible.

Specially written to accompany the two Egg Archive CD releases, Copious Notes is a 60-page, 26,000-word companion booklet written by Dave Stewart, Mont Campbell and their close friend Antony Vinall.

The booklet tells the inside story of Uriel, Egg, Arzachel and the Ottawa Company from the formation of Uriel in early 1968 to the making of Egg's final album The Civil Surface in 1974. The text is crammed full of personal memoirs, anecdotes, short stories, random recollections, social observation, period details, musical analysis and song lyrics, as well as a priceless collection of archive photos taken by Terry Yetton and the musicians. An essential read for Canterbury and prog fans, UK music historians and collectors.

Formed in 1967 at the height of the UK psychedelic scene, Uriel consisted of Steve Hillage (guitar/vocals), Dave Stewart (organ), Mont Campbell (bass/vocals) and Clive Brooks (drums). When Hillage left the band Uriel continued as an organ trio, later changing their name to Egg.

Arzachel Collectors Edition is a re-mastered version of the legendary 1969 psychedelic album recorded under a pseudonym by Uriel, featuring the amazing 17-year old Steve Hillage on guitar throughout. The CD also contains four unreleased, ultra-rare Uriel studio demos, a spoken-word message from the past and a live snippet recorded in 1968. Steve Hillage plays on two of these bonus tracks.

61 minutes of mind-expanding music and the occasional freak-out in a full-colour Digipak with its own 20-page booklet. As in The Metronomical Society, the story of Uriel (told in the band's own words) is illustrated by a unique set of photos taken in the late '60s.

A limited number of copies signed by the four musicians were available but have now sold out

Recorded in late 1973, 'You' is the final instalment of Gong's highly regarded 'Radio Gnome Invisible' trilogy, and is considered to be the most sophisticated and best produced album in the band's history.

It was the last Gong album made before the departures of both its founder member and driving force Daevid Allen and its legendary guitarist Steve Hillage, who was soon to embark on his highly successful solo career.

This is the Charly label edition.

The Hatfield musicians continue their popular archive CD series with Hattitude, a second volume of rare 1970s recordings and an excellent companion to last year's highly acclaimed first volume, Hatwise Choice.

As on Hatwise Choice, the new CD contains a mixture of live and studio tracks (including extracts from the band's radio sessions) and features some hitherto unrecorded compositions.

The CD comes in a full colour Digipak with a 20-page booklet containing archive photos and period artwork.

The first volume of archive recordings by the legendary UK band Hatfield and the North, featuring the classic line-up of Phil Miller, Pip Pyle, Richard Sinclair and Dave Stewart.

Anglo-Dutch band the Relatives formed in the late 1980s, when Jack Monck and Willem Jan Droog met in London.

Both had been involved in and influenced by the UK's Canterbury scene bands. Jack played in Delivery with the Miller brothers and Pip Pyle, collaborated with members of Henry Cow and worked with the legendary Syd Barrett, while Willem had led the band Slipover in Holland.

Trans Europ Connection was recorded between September 2006 and May 2007 and features a combination of original songs and instrumentals.

The Relatives' eclectic and personal style, combines elements of jazz, pop and latin flavours.

Quirky, humourous and inventive collection of original songs and compositions in the Happy Accidents tradition capturing the essence of the true Canterbury Sound enhanced by video sequences.

Featuring a cameo appearance by Robert Wyatt.

A new release from this long term musical partnership featuring a blend of jazz flavoured atmosheric pieces with hints of ethnic soundscapes underpinned with a strong rhythmic base.

Sneaky Improvisations…

The Unfairground was the sixteenth studio LP from former Soft Machine member Kevin Ayers.

A delightful mixture of folk and skewed psychedelia, the album was considered a massive return to form for this most eccentric of very British talents.

Features cameos from Teenage Fanclub, Euros Childs and Candie Payne.

180gm vinyl with gatefold sleeve.