Other than location, what makes "Canterbury"

Canterbury, more so than the other regional sub-genres krautrock an RPI, has closer familial ties to one another. At least that's my take on it.

Great, you discoverd Kahn. Also one of my favorites! Kahn is often seen as Canterbury act because of the involvement of Steve Hillage (Arzachel, Gong) and Dave Stewerd (Egg, National Health, Hatfield and the North). Besides that 'Space Shanty' has little real Canterbury features, though jazz influences and some riff-based parts do appear.

Originally posted by friso often lack of in depth song-writing

The Canterbury "Scene" was so named owing to a group of acts that grew out of the English region/town of the same name, but all of which shared a commonality in their approach and sound.

Originally posted by Smurph Ok- so really stylistically they could probably fit under one of the other genres as well, but because they share such a commonality that it's easier for organization's sake to put them under Canterbury?

Bingo. In a nutshell.

Its good music......just press play and be done with it

Originally posted by Smurph I never got into the Canterbury scene genre on this site. (...) And are there other Canterbury bands that are this heavy or heavier and more symphonic in nature? Because when it comes to music before 1980, I tend to prefer the heaviest RPI bands and the most complicated weird stuff. Il Balletto, Banco, Semiramis, Van Der Graaf, etc. But hearing this album from Khan makes me feel like I'm missing out on a genre of REALLY good music- and I don't know where to start.

I've noticed over the years, the relationship of inverted chord voicings repeated and used between Soft Machine, Hatfield and the North, Gong, National Health, and even the Muffins, which for me identifies something musical in Canterbury. I've had difficulties in spotting the same bass lines and chord voicings in the music of many other jazz/fusion units, although I have (in the past) heard them phrased that way in the music of Frank Zappa. In some cases the harmony structure can be identified in Canterbury music and is in a world of it's own. Whether or not it may be written by Dave Stewart or Robert Wyatt , it has the same flow and some of the same chord progressions being reversed or switched around. It's a different style that I do not hear in the music of Weather Report and many others. I often assume that the idea of sound and style was original and created by the English musicians. Alan Gowen and the bassist from EGG ...forgive me..I always forget his name..but they all have this unique concept of writing.

Edited by TODDLER - July 09 2012 at 22:21

Wow. I'm really enjoying all the suggestions. I'm really happy I decided to step into this genre!

What I really found to be remarkable was that the 3 part harmony of the Northettes sounded like it derived from earlier harmony structure utilized on instruments within Caravan's music or Soft Machine. Some people in the past (including yours truly), have made the simple observation that Gentle Giant focused on the concept of counterpoint. By learning and playing J.S. Bach's "Bouree In Eminor, you could almost figure out any Gentle Giant tune by ear...but, this was different. I never could fully connect an influence for the Canterbury inverted chord voicings and harmony ...so perhaps it was truly an original idea or maybe the influence is well hidden. It's like writing a secret code or message with lemon juice and cannot be revealed until it is held under a candle. LOL!