flute in prog
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Topic: flute in prog
Posted By: rick gryphon
Subject: flute in prog
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 04:51
| hello there can anyone help me i love flute playing what are the best tracks in prog rock that feature flute playing .... |
Replies:
Posted By: el dingo
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 05:07
I'll kick off with the obvious... Jethro Tull.
If you can get it, check out Sonata in Z by Fusion Orchestra on the album Skeleton in Armour. Played by lead singer Jill Saward and not a session musician in sight. A lovely passage that's followed by some searing guitar work from Colin Dawson.
I'll probably get slated by prog purists, but I quite like Are You Receiving Me by Golden Earring - it's on Moontan and played by singer Barry Hay.
To grab back a little prog credibility, Firth of Fifth by Genesis from Selling England by the Pound is pretty cool too. I presume the flautist is Gabriel but I dunno for sure.
I remember seeing a band called Alquin in the 70s who had a pretty tasty flautist but can't recommend anything specific. I seem to remember that Principal Edwards had a female flute player too - I think one of their albums is called Round One but I can't be sure.
I'm sure there's millions more but these are my faves. ------------- It's not that I can't find worth in anything, it's just that I can't find worth in enough. |
rick gryphon wrote:Posted By: Rocktopus
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 05:24
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On top of my head, and not so obvious: http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=6442 - Triode http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3579 - Jean Cohen Solal http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=3303 - Magma Kobaïa http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=688 - Supersister (three first) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3498 - Skin Alley (debut) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=701 - Mythos http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=701 - (Two first) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1082 - Out of Focus http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=13697 - Flamen Dialis I'll let one of the baldies introduce you to Gong. I'll come back later. There's loads more great stuff. ------------- Over land and under ashes In the sunlight, see - it flashes Find a fly and eat his eye But don't believe in me Don't believe in me Don't believe in me |
Posted By: Man Erg
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 05:26
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Fruit in Plog.
Apart from el dingo's excellent recommendations,especially the wonderful Principal Edward's... Camel.Especially Mirage,Snow Goose and Moonmadness - e.g. (Supertwister,Air Born,Flight of the Snowgoose) Focus.Moving Waves,Focus III and Hamburger Concerto are must haves.- e.g.(Sylvia,Answers Questions? Questions? Answers) Supersister.A Present From Nancy ,To The Highest Bidder and Pudding en Gisteren - e.g.(A Present From Nancy,A Girl Named You) PFM - Especially the early stuff upto and including Chocolate Kings King Crimson - In The Court of The Crimson King and In The Wake of Poseidon - e.g.(I Talk to the Wind, Cadence and Cascade) There's a few to be going on with. ------------- 
Do 'The Stanley' otherwise I'll thrash you with some rhubarb. |
Posted By: Rocktopus
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 05:29
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Forgot you were asking for tracks. I'll get to that eventually.
------------- Over land and under ashes In the sunlight, see - it flashes Find a fly and eat his eye But don't believe in me Don't believe in me Don't believe in me |
Posted By: sleeper
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 05:55
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White Willow's The Reach and Chemical Sunset, or any White Willow song come to that.
------------- Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005 
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Posted By: Alucard
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 07:57
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Canterbury has some nice flute music : Jimmy Hastings on the Caravan & National Health records
Geoff Leigh on the H&TN and Henry Cow records
+
Jon Field on the Jade Warrior records
------------- Tadpoles keep screaming in my ear "Hey there! Rotter's Club! Explain the meaning of this song and share it" |
Posted By: TGM: Orb
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 08:10
A couple of suggestions: Genesis' Trespass is quite heavy on flute playing, and, though simple, it has very moving results - Dusk and The Knife are the two most memorable, I think. Jethro Tull has flutes everywhere: the Thick As A Brick album is essential if you don't already have it. Ditto the less progressive, but no less excellent, Aqualung. One later song with a memorable flute part is Fallen On Hard Times off The Broadsword And The Beast. Early King Crimson has some flutes... especially beautiful is Mel Collins' flute off Islands, but In The Court Of The Crimson King has a lot of flute on it. Van Der Graaf Generator... very heavy on flutes and saxes... the lush Out Of My Book and House With No Door are the first to come to mind, but The Undercover Man, When She Comes and bits of A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers have a lot of tenser flutes. The Hammill solo track, originally intended for a VDGG album, In The The Black Room/The Tower/In The Black Room off Chameleon In The Shadow Of The Night has some superb flute in it. Hackett's first few albums have a bit of flute on them... Hands Of The Priestess and (I think) Lost In Time In Cordoba stand out particularly for me. Maneige's incredible Les Porches, possibly my favourite song ever, has a fair amount of classical-styled flutes in it, as well as lots of clarinet, sax, and odd percussion. The Mahavishnu Orchestra's Apocalypse has a lot of flute on it, but I'm not familiar enough with it to say which track is the best for that. McDonald And Giles' first, and only (I think) album has a bit of flute too. IIRC, Camel have a bit of flute, but you can find bigger Camel fans than me. There's probably a bit of Gentle Giant with flutes somewhere, but I can't remember it off the top of my head. As mentioned, I'm a big fan of the sax and flute on Caravan's albums. Well... that should keep you busy for a while  |
Posted By: Astrodomine
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 10:14
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Harmonium - Si On Avait Besoin D'Une Cinquième Saison Flute is also one of my favorite instrument :) |
Posted By: Vibrationbaby
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 10:16
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Here`s some other tracks that haven`t been mentioned : Dark Rose - Brainbox Scarborough Fair - Brainbox ( both from Their first LP " Brainbox", both can also be heard on youtube ) Wonderful Music - Grobschnitt ( from their first LP " Grobschnitt " ) ------------- |
Posted By: annexusquam
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 10:24
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OUT OF FOCUS of course!
------------- https://0a0wake0.bandcamp.com/releases |
Posted By: Hawkwise
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 11:08
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Lets not forget Didier Malherbe and Gong lots of nice flute in GONG
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Posted By: Vibrationbaby
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 11:19
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Holderlin - Traum ( from the LP Holderlin`s Traum also on youtube )
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Posted By: Mandrakeroot
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 11:40
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OSANNA, great Neapolitan Prog band (flute and sax). ------------- 
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Posted By: Hercules
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 12:30
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Horslips use flute a lot and it's played brilliantly. I also love Thijs van Leer's playing on the Focus albums. ------------- A TVR is not a car. It's a way of life. |
Posted By: Burning Shed
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 13:11
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There's flute aplenty (played by Theo Travis) on No-Man's recent song, Truenorth Part Two. The audio can be heard on the band's MySpace page at www.myspace.com/nomanuk and the video for the song can be seen on YouTube at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=coYZcM8MoTE Theo also plays some atmospheric flute on his recent collaborations with Robert Fripp, called Thread. Also, as other have said, early Genesis provide plenty of 'flute moments' as do Jethro Tull, Focus, Caravan, PFM and Gong.
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Posted By: Ivan_Melgar_M
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 13:12
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Jethro Tull, Focus, Genesis, Anglagard have too many good flute tracks to attempt to make a list. Iván ------------- 
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Posted By: Ivan_Melgar_M
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 13:21
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But my favorites will always be:
1.- The House of the King (Focus)
2.- Dusk (Genesis)
3.- Vandringar I Vilsenhet (Anglagard)
4.- Thick as a Brick (Jethro Tull)
5.- Lizzy (Frágil - Perú)
Iván -------------
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Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 13:36
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Anything with Theo Travis or Jimmy Hastings. Also "The Virgin and The Gypsy" by Steve Hackett. |
Posted By: Takeshi Kovacs
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 19:35
The flute info to Air Born is almost enough to reduce a man to tears! -------------  Open the gates of the city wide....
Check out my music taste: http://www.last.fm/user/TakeshiKovacs/ |
Posted By: tszirmay
Date Posted: October 24 2008 at 23:12
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hey Solaris is flute laden
------------- I never post anything anywhere without doing more than basic research, often in depth. |
Posted By: el dingo
Date Posted: October 25 2008 at 03:32
I must have been comatose when I made my list - how could I forget Horslips? Do I love that band or what.
Johnny Fean top man on guitar.
I'd say Dancehall Sweethearts is the most commercial - great stuff, esp King of the Fairies/Mad Pat.
Horslips include all sorts of traditional wind instruments on their stuff and I guess a flute player would find them a good listen. I can't even play a tin whistle and love them. Try The Tain and Happy to Meet Sorry to Part as well. I think the flautist's called Jim Lockhart but I dunno for sure. ------------- It's not that I can't find worth in anything, it's just that I can't find worth in enough. |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: October 26 2008 at 07:46
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The album with the best flute on it is in my honest opinion "Fairy Tales" by Mother Gong. The flute solo in the "Magic Land" part of the epic "The Pied Piper" (the album consists of three epics: "Wassilissa" at 22:28, "The Three Tongues" at 12:41 and "The Pied Piper"" at 14:38) is worth the price of the album alone. And there is lots of flute on that album, played by a Didier Malherbe in top form. -------------  BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: October 26 2008 at 11:19
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Check Genesis Trespass, definitely. Looking for Someone, The Knife and Dusk have very nice mellow flute.
Tull's stuff. My God(Aqualung), Thick as a Brick(pt 1), A Passion Play(pt 1), Songs from the Wood and Wounded Old and Treacherous(Roots to Branches). Supertramp's early phase had some. Check Try Again from their debut or Aries from Indelibly Stamped, amazing songs also. Crimson's I Talk to the Wind(In the Court) and Cadence and Cascades(In the Wake). Formentera Lady also, I think, from Islands. |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: October 26 2008 at 14:03
want flute.. check out RPI.. .  more flute than you can shake a ....flute atin particular.. Ivano Fossati... Delirium.. read Raff and my reivews of this album... wow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hEirXObOYU - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hEirXObOYU ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: LinusW
Date Posted: October 26 2008 at 16:39
| ^ Was just about to mention the flute obsession of Italy's finest. I better be quicker next time. |
Posted By: Bern
Date Posted: October 26 2008 at 17:11
This features probably the most beautiful flute melody ever. As a flautist, I'm in love with the instrument too. A lot of awesome flute players have already been listed. To list an obscure one (and probably the most impressive flute work I've heard), check out L'Orchestre Sympathique. -------------  
RIP in bossa nova heaven. |
Posted By: omri
Date Posted: October 27 2008 at 12:50
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Few unmentioned :
Trafic - Freedom rider & John Barlycorn
Lady lake - I could never be a soldier
Comus - Bite
The moody blues - Legend of a mind ------------- omri |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: October 28 2008 at 10:23
| I can't believe no one mentioned one of early prog's unsung masterpieces, East of Eden's Mercator Projected, with lashings of flute courtesy of Dave Arbus. Check out "Isadora", for instance, and be amazed! I'm planning to get their second album Snafu, which I've heard is even better. Great band, and one that should be discussed far more often. |
Posted By: Plankowner
Date Posted: October 30 2008 at 17:08
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I just recently listened to Nostradamus. It's flute lead instrumental metal.
http://nostradamus-zenekar.hu/news.php - http://nostradamus-zenekar.hu/news.php
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Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: October 30 2008 at 17:21
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I was listening to the album Grace from Farpoint earlier today. Dana Oxendine played flute on that album. It appears that she has been replaced by Jennifer Meeks on flute for their 2008 release Cold Star Quiet Star. ------------- 
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Posted By: RoidRageOnStage
Date Posted: October 30 2008 at 18:52
Hahahaha, life can be weird... yesterday I was listening to that exact song and thinking: Tomorrow I'll post the song "Isadora" in this thread and you beat me at it, good going Raff
 I've got some East Of Eden albums, all are good but I prefer Mercator... it's a magic album.
Oh yes, East Of Eden is so underrated... they deserve some light and not only shadows.
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Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: October 30 2008 at 19:01
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A band that I have been listening to quite a bit lately is Tea for Two. They are a prog folk band from Germany. Flute is played on their albums. -------------
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Posted By: mobby
Date Posted: November 04 2008 at 03:42
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any album by brit dawn artists 'gravy train' esp the first..(very raw hard edged flute..simply great..
the new album by yoke shire 'witching hour' has some great flute moments..very 70s sounds
camel-snow goose
sinkadus..both albums but i prefer their first..
and 'course where the flute will be without ian anderson and any tull song..
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Posted By: b_olariu
Date Posted: November 04 2008 at 03:47
| some bands that i listen lately and love in same time and with flute are Raw Material, Triode and Gnidrolog, all three top notch bands, very often to unnoticed by many prog listners. |
Posted By: Vibrationbaby
Date Posted: November 04 2008 at 04:58
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Just listening to Ruphus' first album New Born Day from '73. Some great flute here on Scientific Ways. ------------- |
Posted By: Negoba
Date Posted: January 14 2009 at 09:08
I've recently come to love good flute playing, just got my hands on the two Anglagard albums. 
I happen to love the less complex but cool metal-flute instrumental by Devon Graves "The Gossamer Strand" on _Lullaby for the Devil_. I'm wondering about his other flute work as I haven't gotten into DST that much or Psychotic Waltz. Any other flute in metal suggestions? ------------- You are quite a fine person, and I am very fond of you. But you are only quite a little fellow, in a wide world, after all. |
Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: January 14 2009 at 10:33
| there is so much flute and violinin prog and I keep discovering more. PROMETHEAN is a group recently added to PA that used a lot of flutes. MR TOAD, an Israeli p[rog folk group, used them on their lone album so far. Doesn't MAGO de OZ, the Spanish folk metal group, use them? The latest album by BELIEVE (Mirek Gil's group) has a great solo on one song. MOODY BLUES had a flautist and their song "Legend of a Mind" shows it off. So many more |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: January 14 2009 at 10:52
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I can only support Friede's recommendation; flute in prog just doesn't get any better than on "Fairy Tales. and it is a great album in many ways. even our kids love it
-------------  A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: January 14 2009 at 11:06
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http://progfreak.com/home/music.xhtml?path=tags/instruments/flute - http://progfreak.com/home/music.xhtml?path=tags/instruments/flute Additions/corrections are always welcome!  |
Posted By: Einsetumadur
Date Posted: January 14 2009 at 11:47
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Focus - In and Out of Focus (1970) ... "Focus (Instrumental)" has one of the greatest flute solos that exist; not because of the virtuosity, but because it fits so well with what the band does at the same time. "House of the King" is outstanding, too. but too short. Jethro Tull - Thick as A Brick (1972) ... all those distorted flutes, the overblown flutes, the classically played flutes - in any case, the flutes on this album are terrific. Moody Blues ... on every album of the classic 7 (plus the debut album, "Magnificent Moodies"), the flute is used in a very effective way. Ray Thomas is probably the first flautist in rock music, and his oriental flute play is great. Supertramp - Supertramp (1970) ... has this great flageolet recorder at several places, Camel - Moonmadness (1976) ... many great flutes; without them the album would be far less interesting. ------------- All in all each man in all men |
Posted By: manofmystery
Date Posted: January 14 2009 at 13:04
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Always a fan of flute inclusion in rock
Jethro Tull of course has been moentioned and so has Osanna but I don't think anyone has brought up Quella Vecchia Locanda. Giorgio Giorgi put some mighty fine flute work on their albums. -------------  Time always wins. |
Posted By: mrgd
Date Posted: January 14 2009 at 18:54
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Had a quick flick through and cannot see where AUDIENCE has been mentioned . Keith Gemmell plays some great flute [ as well as sax and clarinet ]
e.g. ' Priestess ', ' House on the Hill ' and ' Eye to Eye' [ there's a stream of that track right here ]. That's just a few - there are more tracks which feature flute from them. ------------- Looking still the same after all these years... mrgd |
Posted By: T.Rox
Date Posted: January 15 2009 at 07:49
The title track from the album Green Eyed God by Steel Mill is worth a mention 
Some words from Sean Trane's review...
"The second side opens on the superb 9-min title track with a haunting (and eastern-sounding) flute over a steady tom-drumming and psalm-like vocals, before the heavy guitar takes the song to a higher and harder climate. Clearly this song is the one that gives the album its weight in prog content, with its slight ethnic influences."
------------- "Without prog, life would be a mistake." ...with apologies to Friedrich Nietzsche |
Posted By: Negoba
Date Posted: January 15 2009 at 11:22
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Wow, just listened to the Osanna track sampled here. Good stuff. Having some trouble finding the Mother Gong tracks. ------------- You are quite a fine person, and I am very fond of you. But you are only quite a little fellow, in a wide world, after all. |
Posted By: ghost_of_morphy
Date Posted: January 17 2009 at 03:09
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The single track where the flute is most impressive (among the ones that I know of course, I don't know everything) is Camel -- Supertwister. ------------- 
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Posted By: rogerthat
Date Posted: January 17 2009 at 10:27
| Just thought I will go in for an example from a new band for a change - First Band From Outer Space. And then... one of the more unorthodox situations - though not unorthodox style of playing it per se - in which flute has been used in prog is on the track "I Remember" off Psychotic Waltz's A Social Grace. |
Posted By: Syzygy
Date Posted: January 17 2009 at 11:44
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Lots of good recommendations here; I'll just add my voice to those recommending Jimmy Hastings (especially the 1st National Health album), Didier Malherbe and Theo Travis.
From the Zeuhl scene I recommend the first Magma album (a double set also known as Kobaia) - the flute is featured prominently on several tracks and is played by no less than 3 members of the band (guitarist Claude Engel and both saxophonists). For some reason Magma mainly favoured either brass, saxophones or a combination of the two on most subsequent releases (if the used horns/woodwinds at all) until the disappointing Merci, which has a couple of nice flute parts by Guy Khalifa. ------------- 'Like so many of you I've got my doubts about how much to contribute to the already rich among us...' Robert Wyatt, Gloria Gloom |
Posted By: Grimfurg
Date Posted: January 17 2009 at 14:14
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I'm with Syzygy on this one. :) Also Khalifa's flute work is great in Offering. And of course, DIDIER MALHERBE! ------------- http://regulab.bandcamp.com/album/vol-i/" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: CPicard
Date Posted: January 17 2009 at 15:02
| Oh yeah, there are some flute parts on Gong's albums (we can hear the introduction to "Oily Way" on the Gong PA page) that sound good. |
Posted By: PROGMONSTER2008
Date Posted: January 17 2009 at 15:22
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Tull and Caravan have the coolest flute ------------- Jazz/Classical Rock(70's style prog/fusion). Lots of prog keys and melodies(all original ideas) http://www.myspace.com/vigilante2008" rel="nofollow - http://www.myspace.com/vigilante2008 |
Posted By: Grimfurg
Date Posted: January 19 2009 at 10:53
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Flute Salad is the coolest flutes.
------------- http://regulab.bandcamp.com/album/vol-i/" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Dervisan
Date Posted: January 31 2009 at 08:10
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at first i can say jethro tull and van der graaf generator ... i love the flute and sax in van der graaf generator songs...
------------- Turkish (Anatolian) Progressive Psychedelic Ethnical Rock |
Posted By: mobby
Date Posted: February 02 2009 at 03:03
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the best flute i heard in a song, is 'shiver' by yokeshire (from witching hour)..it just blows your mind away.. imagine the best of tull, the raw edged flute of gravy train and add some innovative and powerful melodies and modern crisp production to the mix and you get 'shiver'..
highly recommended!!!
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