My Nektar collection has looked rather like a piece of Swiss cheese recently, but slowly and surely, Esoteric has been plugging the gaps. The reputation of each Nektar album is uncannily similar to that of the Star Trek film series,…
View More Nektar – Down To Earth: Remastered & Expanded [4CD Edition]
Mountain’s imposing, statuesque lead guitarist Leslie West is often mentioned as a key early influencer by musicians, many of whom went on to have much more commercial success, longevity, and ultimately left more of a musical legacy than Leslie himself.…
View More Mountain – Don’t Look Around: The Recordings 1969-1974 (7CD Boxset)
The Syntax of Things is the sophomore album from Galasphere 347, a band named after a spacecraft from the early sixties puppet series Space Patrol. Despite my advancing years, I don’t recall it at all, but Stephen James Bennett obviously…
View More Galasphere 347 – The Syntax Of Things
Guy Chadwick, weary voiced romantic songsmith of great repute, was never someone who gave the impression of being “a fucking lunatic” but that’s how Creation main man Alan McGhee affectionately describes the leader of The House Of Love on the…
View More The House Of Love – The House Of Love [Double Transparent Vinyl]
Neal Morse is an insanely prolific song-writer, with a vast array of albums that he has been involved with over the last 30 years. Beginning with 6 studio albums with Spock’s Beard, 5 with Transatlantic, 3 with Flying Colours, 3…
View More Neal Morse Band – L.I.F.T.
Synth pop has been the soundtrack for much of my adult life. From electronic beats underlying the dance clubs of the eighties to the current day output of Taylor Swift, synthesizers have been an inescapable part of the music scene.…
View More Various Artists – Musik Music Musique 1979: The Roots Of Synth Pop
CBGB, located in what was at the time one of the least desirable parts of New York City, could barely aspire to divedom. It was a sleazy, tiny and filthy bar in a city that was spiraling down the toilet.…
View More Various Artists – CBGB & OMFUG: A New York City Soundtrack 1975-1986
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