hello everyone

I have used the reviews on this site to evaluate potential purchases at my local record stores (Amoeba Music!) for years. Sometimes I have felt that maybe contributing reviews could help other people as well. So I finally joined!

I have been a long-time listener of progressive rock  - got into Rush, Genesis, and Yes in high school in the '80s while living in Tokyo, Magma in the earlier '90s while in college and again in the 2000s, Gong and Soft Machine as well. I feel very fortunate to have seen some of these bands live as well over the years. I also like jazz-rock fusion in its various forms, funk, blues, electronic, classical, etc.

Oh yeah, I play music too - during & after college it was Grateful Dead/Phish kind of stuff, more recently I try and incorporate a more varied mix of influences. Bass guitar mostly, some synths.

Anyway, thank you for having this site!

Thanks for the welcome! Yeah, Amoeba can be dangerous - fortunately I don't live that close now, I used to drop lots of money there! Actually, been trying to sell some stuff off, it definitely hurts less to buy stuff with store credit!

By the way, I posted my first review! http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=1386866

Hope I didn't go overboard...

Yeah, I love the specialty sections at Amoebas SF & Berkeley - not sure how much "psych" there is in there, and Berkeley I think still calls it "International Rock," genres are a messy business! I noticed that Soft Machine can now be found in SF's Psych-Prog section, which works for me. Also cool to see vinyl - the Magma vinyl stuff is tempting! I think that the Hollywood store just has everything mixed together, though New & Used are found in separate sections.

So I've been active here for about a month, and enjoying myself. Posted my review of the San Francisco Magma concert (http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=102008), learned not to get into discussions about genre (especially if hip hop is involved...), and even started my own thread! (http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=102068)

I want to start a poll, but at this point I'm not allowed - I think maybe I need 40 posts? I'm trying to walk the fine line between active participation and spamming to reach a specific poll count! Anyway, just wanted to say that I'm having fun, though I wish I had more time to write reviews...

JD wrote: Welcome aboard from the Great White North. Never been to California but would love to venture there some day. We have our own versions of it here in Ontario, Grand Bend and Wasaga Beaches (unfortunately not year round). Jump onto the 'Just for Fun' forums and join in a few games. It's fun and will grow your points value without being considered spam. Always looking for more fun here. Cheers

OK - I think I am going to review the recent FZ release Roxy by Proxy next - just came in the mail a couple of days ago! Also planning on doing a review of Magma's Merci - need to pull it out and give it a listen again. Seems like most people hate it but I grew to really appreciate it.

Thought I would update - haven't done as many reviews as I had hoped, but I did manage to get my Magma poll "Favorite Magma Bassist?" finished!

http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=103661