Yang, France

News: In 2017, Yang released The Failure of Words. Of course we missed it altogether. Shoot we never even heard Machines (2009)! Band is still quite active. Last check: December 26, 2018

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Afroskull, USA

News: After a couple of years off, Afroskull returned playing live in late 2019. No mention of a 3rd album though. Last check: February 15, 2020.

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Overview: Hard hitting funk rock from New Orleans. Like a latter day Mandrill pounding notes with the Budos Band, and a heapin' side dish of Funkadelic. A straight up mix of hard rock riffs, tight horn charts, and funky rhythms. How I wish there were more bands like this.

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Level Pi, Germany

News: Uwe Cremer has been partnering with Andreas Baaden for some time. The above album is a CD-R from March of 2019. Last check: February 15, 2020.

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Overview: Level Pi is one Uwe Cremer, and this is non de plume to pay homage to classic Berlin School artists of the 1970s.

UMR Notes

Eldberg, Iceland

News: From Facebook in March of 2018: "Heimir Klemenzson keyboardist of Eldberg passed away the 20. of February 2018, his funeral took place on the 3. of March. We had the great pleasure of working with Heimir and we have loving memories of him. Condolences to his family from us." Awful news of course. It's unclear if the band will continue on or not. Last check: Nov 4, 2018

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Location: Borgarfjörður Eystri (far Eastern part of the country)

Overview: Eldberg successfully restores the early to mid 70s Scandinavian progressive rock scene. Comparisons to acts such as Alrune Rod (Denmark), November (Sweden), and Host (Norway) would not be out of place.

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The Dave Gryder Band, USA

News: It doesn't appear Dave has done more with this project since 2014. He's still focused primarily on his hard rock band Blood of the Sun. In addition he also released a solo album under his own name titled Panacea (2019). Last check: February 15, 2020.

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Location: Fort Worth, Texas

Overview: The Dave Gryder Band is  the namesake's (Blood of the Sun, Storm at Sunrise, Covenant) homage to the mid 1970s American funk scene.

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Herba d’Hameli, Spain ***Inactive***

News: In April 2019, the band stated they have gone to an instrumental format. But nothing since. Last check: February 15, 2020.

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Location: Barcelona

Overview: Herba d'Hameli are one of my favorite current bands who play in a style rarely heard anymore - that of the late 70s French and Spanish progressive movements.

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