Whenever I would listen to Sid Smith’s Podcasts from the Yellow Room, I would imagine that a spider was creeping underneath my arm and giving me goose bumps, not just from discovering reissues, but also artists and bands both old…
View More Anouar Brahem – Blue Maqams
Drought On Mars hail from Bridgnorth, Shropshire in the U.K. and is another excellent new band which I found on CDBaby.com. The key to this band is the melancholic, but beautiful vocals of Vicky Kempner, whose voice is mature beyond…
View More Drought On Mars – Autumn Leaves
Peter Jones has been making quite a name for himself in prog circles in the last few years, largely on the back of his hugely impressive live shows, both solo and in conjunction with Red Bazar, who he also joined…
View More Tiger Moth Tales – The Depths of Winter
In a year where there seem to be more concept albums than ever and backed by a couple of alleged psychological observations this is, in Sigmund Freud sotto voce, “Very Interesting”. The premise is thus: “It traces the life of…
View More Circu5 – Circu5
Back in 2014 an album arrived for review from Finnish composer, arranger and keyboard player Juha Kujanpää, and, as with many things unexpected, it turned out to be a rather pleasant surprise. This agreeable trend carries on with Niin Kauas…
View More Juha Kujanpää – Niin Kauas Kuin Siivet Kantaa | To Where My Wings Will Take Me
PFM had a career bunk up when Greg Lake introduced them to ELP’s Manticore label and Pete Sinfield’s poetic English lyrics in the late ’70s. Returning to Italy, the group’s output has been mainly Italian based until this new album,…
View More PFM – Emotional Tattoos
Okay, another crowd funder and another punt not heard. No idea beforehand but very satisfied with the results. I could end it there, that could be the review! But it deserves more, another sentence at least. The riff that opens…
View More I Am The Manic Whale – Gathering the Waters
Italian bass guitarist Lorenzo Feliciati, in between supplying the lower register for several bands from the RareNoise stable including Mumpbeak, Berserk!, Naked Truth, and Twinscape, has found the time to make his own records, the last being the highly engaging…
View More Lorenzo Feliciati – Elevator Man
I am, as any who knows me will testify, fascinated by new music in its many guises, and if something catches my interest I will seek it out. This album is one such example. I read about it on a…
View More Simen Lyngroth – Take All The Land
Two years ago I was pleased to discover the music of Swedish guitar player Samuel Hällkvist when I reviewed his Variety of Live. This current release Variety of Rhythm completes a cycle that began with 2012’s Variety of Loud, intended…
View More Samuel Hällkvist – Variety of Rhythm