Heratius - Gwendolyne (1978)

Quite an interesting album. This album is a fantastic under the radar avant-prog gem from France. It's real out there, just a really strange album. Heratius play all over the place, from really relaxed tracks to spastic jams, the whole album is a real non sequitur. It's just a beautiful kind of nonsense that makes for a great listen. The group is immensely underrated if you ask me, France just never seems to get as much credit as it should for being home to a lot of amazing musicians. All in all this is an off the rails prog gem that I would definitely suggest checking out.

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Biota- Invisible Map

From what I’ve gathered listening to an infinitely small sampling of all the music out there, all genres have their highs and lows.  Whether it’s a specific moment or scene, or just a handful of artists and albums, every category (save for an anomaly or two) offers both great and horrible music.    However, for me personally, the range of quality is never as extreme as with progressive rock.  At its best prog is both complex and evocative, offering varied and intricate instrumentation that can still stir up abstract yet potent emotions.  Conversely, emotions and an artistic focus are often eschewed for technical wankery, pseudo-intellectual concepts, and general soullessness.  Whenever I hear an album described as 'progressive rock', I get both excited and nervous, as the potential for both success and failure is massive. 

Tiere der Nacht - Hot Stuff (1991)

Tiere der Nacht (literally "Animals of the Night") was a band that could probably best be described as Krautrock (albeit Krautrock is more of a scene than a genre, I've always considered it a genre). The band consisted of  Mani Neumeier and Luigi Archetti who together released 5 albums as Tiere der Nacht from 1991 to 2005. Before Tiere der Nacht, Neumeier led successful Krautrock band Guru Guru, Luigi was also a member of the band at one point, but he also had a pretty strong solo career. The duo's experience really shows in this hidden gem.

Mong Hang - Debakata (2005)

Mong Hang are an Avant-Prog group from Japan, and on their third album, Debakata, they have produced one of the most unique and unhinged avant-prog records of the past decade.

Gomorrha - I Turned to See Whose Voice It Was (1972)

Gomorrha were a relatively short-lived German band associated with the Krautrock movement operative in the early 1970s. In 1972, they released their swan song "I Turned to See Whose Voice It Was", considered by many to be their finest album. This album is a masterful blend of more blues-based psychedelic rock and progressive rock to create an extremely lively sounding brand of Krautrock dubbed "Hard Krautrock" by many germanophiles. Personally, this is one of the overlooked gems of the Krautrock movement, and one that definitely earns it's place on this blog