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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Prog with odd instrumentation
    Posted: January 14 2016 at 18:04
In that case, here are a few more suggestions:
Art Zoyd, a RIO/electronic/neo-classical/Zeuhl group with jazz influences. They started out playing chamber music, but have become more electronic-oriented since the 80s. I only listened to Metropolis, their 2002 soundtrack to the 1927 film (they're that kind of group). Their 1997 album Häxan has a 4.61 rating on PA.
 
Three consecutive Tangerine Dream albums: Stratosfear, Cyclone and Force Majeure.
 
Stratosfear features unusual instruments for progressive electronic music: harpsichord, mouth organ, 12 string guitar, and grand piano.
 
The last two are their two most prog rock influenced albums. On Cyclone, newcomer Steve Jolliffe is responsible for bass flute, C-flute, piccolo, cor anglais, bass clarinet, Hohner clavinet, Elka string synth, Grand piano, Fender Rhodes, Roland System-100 synth, Tenor & Soprano horns, lyricon (an early flute-shaped MIDI-like synth controller). And vocals! On a Tangerine Dream album! The vocals are a little unusual and this is often a love it or hate album.
 
Force Majeure features electric guitar, drums, and piano, which are common rock instruments, but not in progressive electronic music. The recording engineer also contributes cello.
 
Since you mentioned you like medieval instrumentation, you might want to check out French acts Alan Stivell, Tri Yann, Seven Reizh and Malicorne.
 
The first three are Breton groups, so expect Celtic flavor, but Alan Stivell and Seven Reizh also have world music influences.
 
Here is my review of Seven Reizh's latest album and make sure to check the album's instrument list. All three of the band's albums are excellent and highly recommended.
 
Alan Stivell plays Celtic harp and is responsible for its revival in France. I only own a couple of his albums, including the The Best of Alan Stivell.
 
Tri Yann make extensive use of the binioù (Breton bagpipe), the flute and the violin. For Tri Yann, I recommend their medieval-influenced album Portraits as a good introduction to the band.
 
Malicorne played prog-folk in the 1970's and I recommend their album Le Bestiare, which has several medieval/traditional compositions and features former Gryphon crumhorn and bassoon player Brian Gulland. Most band members were multi-instrumentalists and they played "crumhorns, recorders, violins, rebecs, dulcimers, harmoniums, autoharp, saxophone, hurdy-gurdy" (from the band's PA entry).
 
There's also this British band that has a bearded guy who plays the flute and mandolin, but the name escapes me...


Edited by Replayer - January 14 2016 at 18:10
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 14 2016 at 15:45
Originally posted by Replayer Replayer wrote:

Gryphon recorded interesting medieval prog using instruments such as crumhorn, bassoon, recorder and mandolin in addition to the standard electric guitar, keyboards, bass and drums. I highly recommend their instrumental album Red Queen to Gryphon Three.

Gotta love Gryphon! Red Queen to Gryphon Three is a classic. In fact, their quirky instrumentation combined with my recent adventures into Gentle Giant's earlier works was part of the reason why I made this thread.
when i was a kid a doller was worth ten dollers - now a doller couldnt even buy you fifty cents
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 13 2016 at 10:38
Gryphon recorded interesting medieval prog using instruments such as crumhorn, bassoon, recorder and mandolin in addition to the standard electric guitar, keyboards, bass and drums. I highly recommend their instrumental album Red Queen to Gryphon Three.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 13 2016 at 09:46
The Canadian band FM uses violins instead of guitars.  They've been around since the 70s, but they just put a record out last year called Transformation that's pretty good.  Couldn't find the track on youtube, but the song "Reboot Reawaken" was my favorite from that album.

Note that there is also a British band named FM that sounds like Def Leppard.  That band is not so much what you're seeking.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 13 2016 at 08:24
You should listen to Basta! "Oggetto di studio": drums, guitar, bass guitar, clarinet and melodion (you can listen to their record here http://www.bastapuntoesclamativo.it/music/)


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2016 at 13:19
How about Ozric Tentacles?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2016 at 13:07
Originally posted by Nogbad_The_Bad Nogbad_The_Bad wrote:

If you like World music then Dirk Mont Campbell has releases two albums, Music From a Walled Garden & Music From a Round Tower.

Walled Garden features a lot of unusual instrumentation  including flutes, reeds, shawms, lutes, primitive trumpets, animal horns, bagpipes and percussion. Cello and piano make the occasional appearance along with Baroque violin and Irish flute, West African harp (kora) and east African lyre (nyatiti)* 
 
This sounds really interesting and I'd no idea it existed - thanks for posting it.
 
 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2016 at 12:37
That ZGA is pretty wild! I would also recommend Roz Vitalis which i am reviewing at the moment. The current album for exampel that i'm writing a review for "Patience Of Hope" has not only the standard instruments but has lots of flutes, harp, metallophone, gusli, cello, clarinets, bassoon, flugelhorn and sax all rolled into a free flowing pleasantry
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2016 at 08:10
Jaga Jazzist,
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2016 at 08:09
Originally posted by Mascodagama Mascodagama wrote:

If you're open to some jazz-rock with Canterbury and Zappa influences, the albumSchnörgl Attahk by Camembert is great fun:
 

Originally posted by Mascodagama Mascodagama wrote:

I would also suggest checking out Ut Gret, starting with their recent albumAncestors' Tale:
  

Originally posted by Mascodagama Mascodagama wrote:

For something closer to home, but further 'out', try Blituri from Montreal:


All great suggestions, highly recommended.

If you like World music then Dirk Mont Campbell has releases two albums, Music From a Walled Garden & Music From a Round Tower.

Walled Garden features a lot of unusual instrumentation  including flutes, reeds, shawms, lutes, primitive trumpets, animal horns, bagpipes and percussion. Cello and piano make the occasional appearance along with Baroque violin and Irish flute, West African harp (kora) and east African lyre (nyatiti)* 
Ian

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https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2016 at 07:10
Gentle Giant with the shubbury, and other instruments are a good contnder, early Supertramp use balalaika or someting
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2016 at 06:53
Originally posted by siLLy puPPy siLLy puPPy wrote:

for crazy music that has different instruments usually falls into the experimental rock category
 
Yeah - in that vein, and really outside the ambit of prog and well into the realms of the experimental / unlistenable, here's a bit from ZGA of Riga:
 
 
As I understand it they build all their own instruments from stuff they find in scrapyards.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2016 at 06:47
Originally posted by Mascodagama Mascodagama wrote:

I would also suggest checking out Ut Gret, starting with their recent album Ancestor's Tale:
 
 
There's a smorgasbord of reed instruments on show here, including the mighty contra-bassoon, as well as flute, violin, vibes and marimba. Excellent album and easy to get into - they are categorised as RIO/avant here, but this is definitely at the user-friendly end of that spectrum. Previous album Radical Symmetry adds sitar, cello and bouzouki. The triple CD compilation of earlier, more experimental work Recent Fossils has everything but the kitchen sink, including prominent use of home-made gamelan instruments.
 


A resounding Clap for your mention of the sublime Ut Gret - not just fantastic musicians, but a delightful bunch of people.

A couple more personal faves with idiosyncratic instrumentation (which I have grown to prefer to the traditional one): Jack O'The Clock (hammer dulcimer and bassoon!) and Rêve Général (strings with guitar and drums). Bandcamp links below for your listening pleasure:

https://jackotheclock.bandcamp.com/

https://altrockproductions.bandcamp.com/album/howl



Edited by Raff - January 10 2016 at 06:47
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2016 at 06:33
For something closer to home, but further 'out', try Blituri from Montreal:
 
 
Instruments employed are clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe, alto and soprano sax, guitar, bass, synthesizer, vibraphone, French horn, drums and percussion. This is avant-garde chamber rock, but excellent if that's within your bag.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2016 at 06:24
I would also suggest checking out Ut Gret, starting with their recent album Ancestors' Tale:
 
 
There's a smorgasbord of reed instruments on show here, including the mighty contra-bassoon, as well as flute, violin, vibes and marimba. Excellent album and easy to get into - they are categorised as RIO/avant here, but this is definitely at the user-friendly end of that spectrum. Previous album Radical Symmetry adds sitar, cello and bouzouki. The triple CD compilation of earlier, more experimental work Recent Fossils has everything but the kitchen sink, including prominent use of home-made gamelan instruments.
 


Edited by Mascodagama - January 10 2016 at 07:17
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2016 at 06:08
If you're open to some jazz-rock with Canterbury and Zappa influences, the album Schnörgl Attahk by Camembert is great fun:
 
 
No keyboards here, but a myriad of colours from tenor and bass trombones, trumpet, tuba, didgeridoo, whistle, harp, xybraphone, and all sorts of percussion instruments mean that they aren't missed. Guillaume Gravelin really rocks his harp on this one. 
 
New album this year, allegedly.
 


Edited by Mascodagama - January 10 2016 at 06:09
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2016 at 05:47
Check out the run of four albums put out by Jade Warrior on Island Records between 1974 and 1978: Floating World, Waves, Kites and Way of the Sun. Here you'll find all forms of flutes, every kind of Western, Asian and African percussion you can think of, harps, massed choirs and occasionally sax, brass and violins. Not to mention occasional storming electric guitar interjections from Tony Duhig. The music is other-worldly, kind of New Age / World Music before those categories really existed. But it's absorbing. Personally I would start with Kites or Floating World.
 
The CD re-releases on Esoteric are the ones to get if you buy any of these.

Edited by Mascodagama - January 10 2016 at 05:52
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2016 at 01:41
For UZ, start with Uzed. It's their most accessible and then dive straight into Ceux and Heresie like Nogbad and HackettFan mentioned for their best. Clivages and Heatwave are awesome too.

Edited by sublime220 - January 10 2016 at 01:41
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 09 2016 at 23:50
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum uses home made instruments.

Codona (and other raga rock) used many indigenous instruments from around the world

Mr. Bungle used everything they could find

Unexpect was fairly adventurous with violins for an extreme metal band

Zaar uses a hurdy gurdy on their one album

that's just a few off the top my head but really progressive rock is a genre of music and that means music usually has characteristics that put it here

for crazy music that has different instruments usually falls into the experimental rock category 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 09 2016 at 22:27
In Spe uses a typewriter on their appropriately named 'Typewriter Concerto' album.

Tyrannosaurus Rex has a Pixiephone (toy gramophone) on 'Unicorn'.

Verdun employs several traditional Vietnamese acoustic instruments on their only album.

Adaro features the hurdy-gurdy prominently on all their records.

Fractal has quite a bit of Chinese violin (Erhu) on several of their songs. I have one of these, they're fun to play.

Gjallarhorn use a bunch of traditional Nordic and aboriginal instruments.

And I think Faun even makes some of their own instruments.
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