To me live albums sit firmly in two camps. They can be towering stamps in the annals of music demonstrating how good a band was at a particular time. Think Live at Leeds by the Who, Seconds Out by Genesis…
View More Jan Akkerman – My Focus: Live Under The Rainbow
I have to start with the context for this compilation, given that Strawberry / Cherry Red Records have already built up a collection of releases covering this period of American music history. This set, a 94-track companion volume being a…
View More Various Artists – Steppin’ Out: The Roots Of Garage Rock 1963-1965
Douze (Twelve) apparently wasn’t meant to be. In my report on Lazuli’s October 2024 show, I jokingly floated it as the likely title for the French prog rockers’ next album, a natural follow‑up to Onze (Eleven). But that’s not the…
View More Lazuli – Être Et Ne Plus Être
Music cannot be divorced from its context; if Starcastle had released their debut album a decade earlier, in 1966, they would be hailed as prog-rock visionaries and not Yes clones. Procol Harum, named after their friend’s cat’s pedigree name, may…
View More Procol Harum – Procol Harum (Vinyl Edition: LP & 12″ EP)
Cherry Red’s Esoteric Recordings imprint continues to revive, remix and reissue classic and forgotten prog releases. Amongst them, at the start of 2026, we have IQ’s Live From London release which has circulated in various official and bootleg versions since…
View More IQ – Live From London: Camden Palace 1985 (CD/Blu-ray)
“Searching for a place Find a different way Let go of what has gone And cannot be returned” These lyrics from Woodcut, Big Big Train’s sixteenth studio album, seem singularly appropriate. As the founder, bassist and last standing original member…
View More Big Big Train – Woodcut
English musician Pete Barnes (based in Utrecht, The Netherlands) formed the cinematic post-rock project Thistle Sifter, after a serious cycling accident in November 2020, during his rehabilitation to express personal emotions and struggles. Moving on from his first two previous…
View More Thistle Sifter – Forever The Optimist
Can an eight-year-old kid have the blues, asked a 1996 Oscar-nominated documentary. It turned out he could – not only that, he could ‘have’ jazz too and play guitar like a pint-sized Pat Metheny. The kid was Californian prodigy Julian…
View More Julian Lage – Scenes From Above
Two years ago, I ended my review of We Can Work It Out: Covers of the Beatles, 1962 – 1966 with the following sentence: From the 1962 to 1966 caveat in the title, I’m hoping that Strawberry is working on…
View More Various Artists – With A Little Help From My Friends (3CD Set)
The Prophets introduce their new album with a statement of intent: this is “a mind’s journey to places where conflicts are overcome.” What’s more: “Those who give their time will be truly blessed.” If you’re going to make a record,…
View More The Prophets Of Zarquon – Galleon Ascending