Peter Hilton

Lab X – Ikigai

‘Ikigai’, in Japanese, means “the reason to wake up in the morning and to live for”. It is also the title of the studio album debut by Italian instrumental progressive rock band Lab X, the band being made up of…

Einar Solberg – 16

The first thing to say is that there is some beautiful music on this album. Einar Solberg is without doubt an exceptionally talented composer, arranger and musician. I am a new convert, and one reason is that he is such…

Random Earth Project – Airwaves

Random Earth Project (REP) are a four-piece, formed in January 2022. The band are a group of experienced musicians who seem driven to taking this opportunity to create themselves a space in the re-vitalised neo-prog scene. Having spent time in…

Yes – Mirror to the Sky

Creating new Yes music over the last decade has been extraordinarily challenging. The band has had to re-group under the most tragic of circumstances, twice, incorporating new members who have had to get fully engaged with learning the back catalogue…

Gecko & Tokage Parade – Heart of Tokage

What we have spinning today is Heart of Tokage by Gecko & Tokage Parade, a Japanese new-generation instrumental jazz band. If that sounds like a mouthful to you then you may well be asking “why?”. In fact, this particular release…

Rick Wakeman & The English Rock Ensemble – A Gallery of the Imagination

Since the turn of the century, Rick Wakeman has been re-invigorated by the interest generated from his various re-workings of old favourites, and he has embarked on a new creative period, including a couple of well-received albums accompanied by his…

Tomorrow – Permanent Dream

Tomorrow had a brief career in the mid- to late-’60s that was remarkable for two reasons. They were one-hit wonders with My White Bicycle (taken from their one eponymous LP), but more notably Steve Howe was the guitarist and he,…

Pere Ubu – Trouble on Big Beat Street

Pere Ubu have been, unashamedly, a bit of an acquired taste throughout their history, and this album marks a quite dramatic shift into avant-garde territory that requires the listener to take a huge leap of faith before tuning in and…

Aisles – Beyond Drama

Beyond Drama is the fifth album by Chilean band Aisles, and comes after a seven-year hiatus following 2016’s acclaimed concept album Hawaii. Aisles have been tagged very much in the melodic neo-prog genre and the development from their first album…

Psicolorama – Dark III: The Hero

Psicolorama is the project of Manuel Casado, a multi-instrumentalist from Spain. He has been prolific over the years, releasing some 24 albums since 2013. Not surprisingly, the pandemic saw an uptick in the rate of output and a series of…

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Author: Peter Hilton