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Intstrumenal rock suggestions

thetaxmiser

Supporting Member
Feb 23, 2002
543
321
Cincinnati, OH USA
With so many micro genres of music today I don't even know what the type of music I am searching for is called.

There is a CA band called Quasi Bonsai that I listen to on Spotify. It is guitar based instrumental rock but not in your face or fusion. Thee is a TB member whose band has about 5 songs on Band Camp (as I recall). I really like there music but have forgotten their name, the TB member's name, or even the thread where I found the reference. Search function has not been my friend.

If anyone can point me to the TB member that would be great.

What label would you apply to this type of music?

Any suggestions for similar artists?

Thanks for your help.
 
OK... just listened to Quasi Bonsai after finding the link for what I posted below, and it's nothing like this. But I'll post this anyway, cuz I think its great :). And I will definitely be listening to more Quasi Bonsai. The little bit I listened to was awesome.

Michael Shenker - into the Arena

 
A good portion of that harkens back(to my ears)to early 70's hard rock/'power rock', not 'metal' in the sense that the term wasn't in wide usage in those days. Those guys are still somewhat blues based in the riffing, but with all sorts of proto-prog mood swings. It was faintly reminiscent of Captain Beyond(even though they had a vocalist). Most of the CB stuff is on Youtube, so you'll have to sift through all of that on your own time. In the early to mid 70's, there was a lot of fairly obscure UK/Euro-prog; some of it flirted with fusion, some of it had vocals(but that was not the focal point of the material), some of it meandered around, like Hatfield and the North(checking all three boxes)...

and some of it was spacey mind voyages, like the Jade Warrior albums...

You should check into the whole 'Canterbury' band rabbit hole(every band spun off of The Wilde Flowers/Soft Machine), although it may not be exactly what you want. Henry Cow and Gong as well. Allmusic.com is your friend.
Then there was this Finnish guy, may be too fusion-y for you...

And a lesser-know Ronnie Montrose instrumental album; it sounded like he was chasing after Jeff Beck's "Blow By Blow", but a cool piece of work nonetheless. The first track is a very Star Wars inspired opener, then the rocking starts after that...
 
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bkbirge - I listen to a lot of soundtrack music these days. That is a good description of what I am looking for. something in a rock format that is almost like a a soundtrack. I started playing bass in 1972 so I have listened to a lot of fusion over the years. I am pretty familiar with Montrose as my friend from high school who I played in a couple of bands with toured with him.

I followed similar types of music in the funk world and found it easier to find new acts. Nightmares on Wax does extended electronic funk groves. Any kind of searching for guitar instrumental ends up at surf, shred, or fusion.

I like the threads in the recordings forum as I almost always discover something new. in this case Jade Warrior. Thanks Michedelic.
 
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With so many micro genres of music today I don't even know what the type of music I am searching for is called.

There is a CA band called Quasi Bonsai that I listen to on Spotify. It is guitar based instrumental rock but not in your face or fusion. Thee is a TB member whose band has about 5 songs on Band Camp (as I recall). I really like there music but have forgotten their name, the TB member's name, or even the thread where I found the reference. Search function has not been my friend.

If anyone can point me to the TB member that would be great.

What label would you apply to this type of music?

Any suggestions for similar artists?

Thanks for your help.
You described my band actually.

 
My kind of topic. Perhaps you'll dig the album I put out a couple years ago - Freebassing. Working on a new one called Strangebassing. Here's a taste:



People tend to dig the song above as well as A Day at the ZoO and Burn Away. The link to the site is in my sig. Sorry for the shameless self promotion. Tough genre to get people to listen to. Labor of love.