October 2019 – T P A

AVA – Waves

By way of an introduction, AVA are violinist Anna Phoebe and pianist Aisling Brouwer who collectively released their stunning debut album, Waves, in July of this year. Although written against the farcical Brexit debacle, the music is neither chaotic or…

Alan Davey’s Psychedelic Warlords – Hall of the Mountain Grill/Captain Lockheed & the Starfighters Live

Here’s a really interesting ‘twofer’ from the extended Hawkwind universe. Recorded live in London in 2014, these two live discs take a trip down memory lane with Alan Davey, a member of Hawkwind from 1984 to 1996 and again from…

Organic Noises – Organic Noises

Discovering new music is one of life’s great joys, and in my opinion, particularly when you hear something as interesting as Organic Noises. The group has been formed in Poland by young musicians, students and graduates of various jazz and…

The Flower Kings – Waiting for Miracles

Just when you thought the workaholic Roine Stolt might be taking a break from activities, or concentrating on the next album with Jon Anderson, he suddenly announces work starting on the next Transatlantic album, and the imminent release of a…

Led Bib – It’s Morning

The long-running U.K. exploratory-jazz-rock collective known as Led Bib awake to a new dawn with their latest album, It’s Morning, a fraught message struggling to leave the sender, transmitted into the hectic world in which we live. We find less…

Van Morrison – Three Chords & the Truth

While most rock stars in their 70s are content to release a new album or go on another ‘Greatest Hits’ tour once in a blue moon, Van Morrison, who most likely was the inspiration for many of them, continues to…

Leprous – Pitfalls

Prog metal has come a long way over the last 30 years, and Norwegian band Leprous have been making an indelible mark on the genre since their debut album in 2009, not that they see themselves as tied to any…

Chasing the Monsoon – No Ordinary World

I have often felt the Welsh poet William Davies, writing in 1911, perfectly foreshadows the sentiment which underpins one of the key crises of modern life. “What is this life if, full of care / We have no time to…

Nick Beggs

With his third solo album, Words Fail Me, being released imminently by Esoteric Antenna, TPA’s Phil Lively spoke to Nick Beggs about Chapman Stick and music and the new album and lots of things… and it went like this: PHIL:…

Nick Beggs – Words Fail Me

Esoteric Antenna are about to release Nick Beggs’s new solo album, Words Fail Me. It is impossible to review without mentioning his other solo works and the instrument he uses to deliver them. It is for me, anyway. Much-loved and…