Released towards the end of last year, Oak’s The Quiet Rebellion of Compromise wasn’t an album I considered for my picks of 2022, simply because I hadn’t listened to it enough. Having immersed myself in its riches many times now,…
View More Oak – The Quiet Rebellion of Compromise
The rather oddly named WIZRD are another interesting bunch from Norway who are hard to pigeonhole, and that’s nearly always a good thing in my book. Sonically they employ retro-sounding instrumentation, but what they do with those instruments is more…
View More WIZRD – Seasons
Montrose were formed in 1973 when hot shot American session guitarist Ronnie Montrose quit the Edgar Winter Group and teamed up with Sam Hagar (as he was then known) and drummer Denny Carmassi, who had been playing together in cover…
View More Montrose – I Got The Fire: Complete Recordings 1973-1976
It’s rather nice to welcome Flamborough Head back with this new album, Jumping The Milestone. The last album, Lost In Time was released nine years ago. In the intervening years, the band have undergone line-up changes, and were of course…
View More Flamborough Head – Jumping The Milestone
It’s been four years since the last album of new music from Phi Yaan-Zek, 2018’s seminal Reality is My Plaything, which was a cosmic stew of complex and avant garde absurdity, and amazing guitar playing. I’m pleased to report that…
View More Phi Yaan-Zek – Interdimensional Garden Party
This album from Canadian band Versa, A Voyage / A Destination, is their third (and first for a decade) but the first I have heard, and I suspect I’m not alone in being new to them. Approaching the album with…
View More Versa – A Voyage / A Destination
New music from Djam Karet is always a cause for celebration, and given the numerous other projects Gayle Ellett has on the go at the moment, (The Electromags, Kelp Dwellers, etc.), they perhaps aren’t as frequent as they once were.…
View More Djam Karet – Island in the Red Night Sky
An erupting bubble of synths, an assertive nimble keyboard riff with a touch of funk, some power chords, some more layered keys as we romp away… yes, it’s the latest Derek Sherinian album, Vortex. His style is instantly familiar, as…
View More Derek Sherinian – Vortex
Babe Ruth began life in 1972 as Shacklock, named after Alan Shacklock, the creative driving force behind the band. He was a gifted guitarist, composer and arranger who trained at the Royal Academy no less, and a young talent which…
View More Babe Ruth – Darker Than Blue: The Harvest Years 1972-1975
The Canadian experimental noise merchants return with a soundtrack to the classic 1926 silent film Faust directed by F.W. Murnau. It tells the legendary tale of temptation, corruption and redemption, and Mahogany Frog certainly succeed in producing a soundtrack which…
View More Mahogany Frog – Faust