Strong recommendation: The Seven Dreams (album), by GOLDBUG

Year: 2010
Country: USA / United Kingdom
Spotify link

After having flirted with the mainstream for a short while, we are now back deep, extremely deep in progressive rock territory. I was unable to find Goldbug in YouTube and was actually rather surprised to find them in Spotify - hence the link above. Their first release The Seven Dreams from a couple of years ago remains a stunning and challenging masterpiece that really requires you to concentrate on listening instead of simply hearing.

Influenced by jazz and avant garde as well as prog, and obviously improvised for a considerable part, The Seven Dreams is the result of a collaboration between veterans of said genres. Arguably the best known of the group members is flutist and saxophonist Theo Travis, a former member of Gong and Soft Machine who has also worked with Robert Fripp of King Crimson fame. Another connection to King Crimson comes via drummer Eric Slick, a member of the Adrian Belew Power Trio, Belew obviously formerly known as the second guitarist of King Crimson since the early 1980's.

Together with bassist Barry Meehan and guitarist Tim Motzer, who, in his past, has collaborated with former Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit (sorry about the deluge of references here), they have created a truly astounding album that really begs for some sort of a continuation. I have no idea if Goldbug is going to continue to record following this initial offering, but would be truly excited about such a prospect.

On this album, the two longest tracks are arguably the least interesting, although far from mundane. The 11-minute-plus works Scratching the Third Eye and The Past is Still Present sound slightly underdeveloped in relation to their running time. Mind you, this is a very, very minor complaint: they are outstanding pieces of music but do not quite match the rest of the album which is nothing short of flawless.

The Seven Dreams is easily one of the most significant prog albums of the 2010's. It is not very easy to access, but extremely rewarding for listeners with patience and an endless desire to experiment, discover, and readiness to expand the boundaries of their musical taste.