Thomas Klarmann : basses , flute , keyboards ,
guitars , lead vocals , programming
Robert Gozon : lead vocals , keyboards , guitars ,
Ulf Jacobs : drums , percussion , backing vocals
Influences
Genesis , Yes , Caravan , Camel , Fruupp , Stackridge , Hatfield and the North , XTC , Klaatu ,Soft Machine , England , Eberhard Weber, Kraan, Richard Sinclair, Ian McDonald, King Crimson, Happy the man , Van der Graaf Generator, Pulsar, Gentle Giant , UK , Bo Hansson ,Renaissance , Beatles , Uzeb , Focus , E.S.T. ,
Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Sun Ra , Return to Forever, Eric Dolphy
etc...
Sounds Like
Review of ARGOS / ARGOS on the Dutch Progressive Rock Pages
This smashing debut disc from German three-piece Argos surprised me with its high quality and also with its sound. There is no resemblance to 70’s Krautrock here, but neither is there much evidence of the modern heavy prog sound of Sylvan or Everon.
The three-piece Argos takes its cues from (amongst others) Genesis, Camel, The Flower Kings and Bo Hansson, Indeed, the opening suite of songs (The CD consists of three such suites) has a very Swedish sound. The upbeat, positive atmospheres of The Flower Kings come directly to mind, but the music stays mainly on the wistful and delicate side of things, eschewing the lengthy epics and more intense fusion sound that the Kings are wont to indulge in. With gentle flute, warm synth tones, harpsichord, mellotron and melodic guitar, Argos delivers beautiful, wistful melodies with a tender touch.
My favourite section of the opening suite is A Name In The Sand, which could easily be a lost Caravan classic, with fragile vocals, acoustic guitars and a very English sounding whimsical air.
Caravan also features as a strong influence on the second suite, as the title indicates, along with Hatfield And The North and Soft Machine. The typical Canterbury sound is replicated with affection and warmth. Aside from a short vocal section (The witty Young Persons Guide To Argos), this suite is instrumental. From the relaxed Hatfield And The North tribute The Hat Goes North to the more up-tempo and jazzy Ten Fingers Overboard (with a terrific organ solo), Argos cover all the Canterbury basses and should easily please all those who enjoyed the similar Canterbury Sequence on the first Tangent album.
The final suite is more of a mixed bag; from the piano ballad Further Apart, we arrive at The Beatles via Klaatu pop-prog of Time For Love. The next couple of tunes introduce some more modern beats and, in Electro-Wagner, there are orchestral textures and electronic drums. The closing Passing Through seems to be a looking back and summing up of all that has gone before; it’s a strong number to finish with, making one want to flip back to the first track, press play and experience it all again!
Redolent of lazy summer days and the golden age of gentle psych/prog, this outstanding CD offers a real treat to fans of melodic prog. With some Canterbury jazz and Beatles pop textures in the brew, the result is a delightful, dreamy, escapist hour that seems to pass much more quickly than that.
I guess that, after recently reviewing a string of spiky, avant-garde CDs, I was ready for something more accessible and melodic. Argos really scratches that itch for me
Highly Recommended for Flower Kings / Canterbury fans and all lovers of a good tune.
Conclusion: 8.5 out of 10
DAVE SISSONS
DPRP Pages
Argos was started in 2005 as a one man homerecording projekt by Thomas Klarmann . He
had been playing bass and flute with numerous bands ,covering different styles
from pop,progressive to funk and jazz or fusion-music
.With his first band „Eyesberg“ back in the late 70..s Thomas had also started composing original material inspired by
the progressive bands ,that were still popular back then (Genesis,Yes,King Crimson,Gentle Giant,Jethro Tull,etc...)
In the 80,s and 90,s he moved away from performing progressive music and started to play in various fusion and
jazz orientated bands interpretating songs from artists like Herbie Hancock,Miles Davis,Chick Corea
or Weather Report.
Thanks to the arrival of such contemporary progbands bands like the Flowerkings,Spocks Beard or Echolyn
in the middle of the 90..s , his „old Love“ to progressive music was revived again.and he began composing
and recording a kind of jazzy ( some say canterbury )flavoured prog music at his homestudio.
A chance meeting with Robert Gozon at a party of a common friend was providing the final spark,that led to a
very fruitful collaboration between both musicians as one half of the four piece progressive band „Superdrama“,
Here they share their musical ideas with robert stein holzheim on drums and michael hahn on guitar,playing
long complex compositions in the classic symphonic style of the 70..s progbands“
With Argos the duo of Gozon and Klarmann began to cover a somewhat broader range of progressive styles (whimsical pop
in the style of Stackridge or Klaatu as well as jazz and fusion inpired tunes (courtesy of Hatfield and the north ,
Caravan or the early Soft machine with Robert Wyatt).
They also used the possibilities of modern digital technology to refine the arrangements of their songs
by using a variety of modern electronic sounds and loops .
Thanks to the internet and exspecially the arrival of myspace ,the duo found it..s third member . Ulf Jacobs.
Beeing a composer and lover of progressive music himself ,he discovered the Argos myspacesite and liked what
he heard. he made contact to the other two members and offered his drumming skills for the recording of
what was to become the debut album of Argos.
Thanks to the kind help of the people at Musea ,the Debut Album was released in Dezember 2008.
At the moment ARGOS is writing and recording the material for their second offering.
This time they will be joined by various guest musicians
Hallo Thomas, wie geht es? Wir sammeln uns gerade fürs nächste Konzert, diesmal in Köln und es gibt noch einmal Martigan und eine weitere interessante Band aus Holland namens Silhouette. Das ganze eine Woche nach unserem Treff bei Dir in Mainz. Vielleicht hast ja Lust am 30.01.09 nach Köln zu kommen. Ich werde in 2 Wochen mit Timo ins Friesische düsen zum Weihnachts Gig von Morphelia. Ich wir sehen uns bald mal wieder, Bis denne und ein schönes Wochenende Gruß auch an die Liebste Horst
Hi Thomas, listened to some of your new uploaded tracks. Nice! How is it going with the debutalbum? I think the most reviews are great. Allready booked for Progfarm 2010? If so, I will be there by then.
Este viernes desgarraremos todo menos vuestras gargantas, luxaremos vuestros cuellos y joderemos vuestros oídos, sin compasión. Os lo vais a perder...?
Wir freuen uns sehr, demnächst wieder nach Deutschland zu kommen!
Wir spielen am 8.12. in der Moritzbastei / Leipzig - wo wir auch schon das neue Album "Learn to Swim" im Gepäck haben! TICKETS
Übrigens, das neue Album "Learn to Swim" könnt ihr ab sofort auch auf Amazon.de vorbestellen! Es kommt dann pünktlich zum Veröffentlichungstermin am 4.12.2009 bei euch an!
Did you ever think there would be a social network just for prog? Well the wait is over Prog has a new home for bands and fans of this great style of music. Mingle with old friends and make new ones. Here are some cool site facts: we have 356 members 28 of which joined this week 1,000s of photos 100s of videos 1,000s of songs - forms - blogs -events and groups and we have only been LIVE! for about a Month Now that’s Prog
Hi ARGOS, es freut uns euch hier kennen zu lernen. Das Kompliment an eure Musik und das Layout eurer Seite geben wir gerne zurück!! Unser Layout hat ein Bekannter entworfen. Leider ist aus der Band selber niemand in der Hinsicht so begabt :) Beste Grüße aus Essen, Nina | Euphonic Journey
Wenn ihr Lust habt, dann könnt ihr ja mal bei http://www.musikerVZ.cc vorbeischauen. Der Treffpunkt für Musiker bietet eigene Profile mit eigenen Songs, Kleinanzeigen und einen Eventkalender.
I do, in fact, perform and sing with a 'german' accent!! Outside of Castle Canyon, I do cabaret performance and have a glam persona that is german and very gothic. It's pretty darn funny, and the accent is way overdone, but I'm working on my german now. -e
There are plans to start recording in February, barring unforseen changes in the landscape. I have 2-3 new songs and 2 from back in "1973" and one grand plan to do our own version of of a Tallis piece (though I will really have to roll up my sleeves and get to work to make that one happen).
I'd like to do a cover of Green Bubble Raincoated Man (I think that's the title) by Amon Duul. That would mean VOCALS. !!!
Argos was started in 2005 as a one man homerecording projekt by Thomas Klarmann . He
had been playing bass and flute with numerous bands ,covering different styles
from pop,progressive to funk and jazz or fusion-music
.With his first band „Eyesberg“ back in the late 70..s Thomas had also started composing original material inspired by
the progressive bands ,that were still popular back then (Genesis,Yes,King Crimson,Gentle Giant,Jethro Tull,etc...)
In the 80,s and 90,s he moved away from performing progressive music and started to play in various fusion and
jazz orientated bands interpretating songs from artists like Herbie Hancock,Miles Davis,Chick Corea
or Weather Report.
Thanks to the arrival of such contemporary progbands bands like the Flowerkings,Spocks Beard or Echolyn
in the middle of the 90..s , his „old Love“ to progressive music was revived again.and he began composing
and recording a kind of jazzy ( some say canterbury )flavoured prog music at his homestudio.
A chance meeting with Robert Gozon at a party of a common friend was providing the final spark,that led to a
very fruitful collaboration between both musicians as one half of the four piece progressive band „Superdrama“,
Here they share their musical ideas with robert stein holzheim on drums and michael hahn on guitar,playing
long complex compositions in the classic symphonic style of the 70..s progbands“
With Argos the duo of Gozon and Klarmann began to cover a somewhat broader range of progressive styles (whimsical pop
in the style of Stackridge or Klaatu as well as jazz and fusion inpired tunes (courtesy of Hatfield and the north ,
Caravan or the early Soft machine with Robert Wyatt).
They also used the possibilities of modern digital technology to refine the arrangements of their songs
by using a variety of modern electronic sounds and loops .
Thanks to the internet and exspecially the arrival of myspace ,the duo found it..s third member . Ulf Jacobs.
Beeing a composer and lover of progressive music himself ,he discovered the Argos myspacesite and liked what
he heard. he made contact to the other two members and offered his drumming skills for the recording of
what was to become the debut album of Argos.
Thanks to the kind help of the people at Musea ,the Debut Album was released in Dezember 2008.
At the moment ARGOS is writing and recording the material for their second offering.
This time they will be joined by various guest musicians
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