Taking the music that British new wave band Japan made in the 1980s as a starting point, and particularly the fretless bass work of the late Mick Karn, Italian producer Stefano Castagna and bassist Fabio Trentini have teamed up to…
View More Mask of Confidence – Mask of Confidence
Wormelow, Herefordshire 4th – 6th August 2023 Roger: How often do any of us buy a ticket to a three day festival in the middle of nowhere, where 90% of the acts listed are a complete unknown? Not many I…
View More Unorthodox Paradox Festival 2023
What is music for? What should it be about? Should it be about anything, and does it matter if it isn’t? Of course it doesn’t, as long as it finds listeners who can be affected by it and be delivered…
View More PoiL Ueda – PoiL Ueda
The National Bowl, Milton Keynes Sunday, 25th June 2023 Enormo-gigs have not featured largely on my radar for a long time now. I haven’t been to an arena show either since early 2019, so it was quite a surprise to…
View More Muse / Royal Blood / The Warning
The Tramshed, Cardiff Monday, 19th June 2023 Steve Hillage is one of those iconic artists who has eluded me previously. My interest was piqued anew by the shows over recent years by a resurgent Gong (who perform double duty as…
View More Steve Hillage Band / Kavus Torabi
A new name to me, this is Ruby Dawn’s debut album, having been together for a few years now. I remembered the name of singer and keyboardist Carola Baer from the TPA review of 2021’s Prog the Forest event, wherein…
View More Ruby Dawn – Beyond Tomorrow
From the shimmering guitars that introduce Particles of Light, you’re immediately on notice that there is something distinctly ‘other’ about this collaboration between the Prince of Gong, Kavus Torabi, and Karda Estra’s uncanny composer and solo artist, Richard Wileman. Heaven’s…
View More Kavus Torabi & Richard Wileman – Heaven’s Sun
Cards on the table time: I’ve known Gary Brunton for a long time, since university in fact, but I haven’t seen him since 1988, shortly before he decamped to Paris to further his career as a jazz musician. He’s still…
View More Gary Brunton – Trên Dydd
Held as annually as he can manage in the environs of Cheltenham, Ian Fairholm’s marvellous Eppyfest is a gateway to much beauty and loveliness. One of the discoveries I have made from it is finger-style guitarist and singer Marvin B.…
View More Psychedelicat – Like A Delicate Psychedelicat
The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham Monday, 22nd May 2023 Don’t you just love it when the stars align? As of last Thursday morning I had not heard of Paranoid Void, a math-rock friendly trio of young ladies from Japan. After this…
View More Paranoid Void