(46:15; Cuneiform) Apparently, Rosa Ensemble were formed in Utrecht back in 1997, originally playing contemporary classical music, but they have since expanded their repertoire to include musicians from different backgrounds and also work with actors, opera singers and other creatives.  They have been involved in more than 30 major productions and projects, releasing a dozen albums, but this is the first time they have been involved with Cuneiform. John Dikeman (soprano, tenor and bass saxophone) is an American saxophonist currently residing in Amsterdam, Peter Jessen (double bass) can be heard playing (and often singing) on nearly every Rosa Ensemble’s production of the last 15 years, Koen Kaptijn (trombone) is recognised as master of the instrument in Holland,  Jeroen Kimman (electric guitar and 19tet baritone guitar) is one of the three composers and Mei Yi Lee (percussion) has more than 15 years’ experience collaborating in different fields of arts such as music theatre, d...

(54:43; Blue Matter Records) Paul first came to public awareness following the release of his debut album ‘The Werewolf of London’ in 1980, which soon became a John Peel favourite, while Rolling Stone described ‘A Cabinet of Curiosities’ as “one of the best albums you’ve probably never heard”. I first came across Paul decades ago when an album of his was released by Black Widow, and we have kept in touch sporadically ever since, and while he has released far more material than I have heard (20+ albums and counting), I have always enjoyed his music and that is the same here. It was originally recorded in 2020 by Paul (vocals, piano, organ, flute, violin, cello, sax and additional percussion) with Jenny Benwell (electric violin), Mick Crossley (lead, rhythm guitars and bass) with Violet the Cannibal (drums) with core songs being the pick of 22 sketches Paul wrote  in one weekend of intense activity to which were then added a few songs he had demoed many years previously. The decision...

(54:16; Dur Et Doux) This is the debut album from Mélissa Acchiardi (The Very Big Experimental Toubifri Orchestra, l'ARFI, Saint Sadrill) and Vincent Duchosal (Trio Meije, Phonem, ZOZIO, cie la Grande Magouille), which has been created in quite a strange manner as Mélissa plays drums and synthesizer played with drumsticks (which I guess is a vibraphone), while Vincent plays “prepared electric guitar”, whatever that is (aren’t all guitars prepared in one way or another, from choice of strings to tuning to set up etc?). One of the things I have learned from Dur et Doux releases is that it is not unusual for the initial playing of one of their releases to not exactly fill me with confidence and delight, but the more I persevere the more there is to enjoy, and that is the case with this one. According to the label they have invented desert rock that calls for dancing, involves techno, and their sound is inspired by Maloya and Mandingo. For those unaware of the last two (me, for example...

(184:58, Cuneiform) Here we have the debut album from Jesse Krakow  who is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, sideman and music director. He was a founding member of the NYC experimental rock band Time of Orchids, a touring bassist for Shudder to Think, guitarist for The Shaggs, and Professor at Bootsy Collins’ Funk University. It contains more than 80 tracks, some only lasting the length of a good Napalm Death number while others hit 10 minutes, giving us a total playing time of 2½ hours. It is a concept album, providing us with a three-act treatise on progressive rock, and is one of the strangest albums I have come across for some time. One of the listings given to this by the label is “comedy”, and that would be right if you think of juvenile pre-teen humour as comedy, but I found it quite wearing and soon was wondering what on earth I was doing playing this, but I have always believed in listening to an album all the way through, and there are some real gems in here, ...

(53:03; Cuneiform) Here we have a live recording taken from the tour to promote ‘Elastic Juggling’, which was the last album to feature Sabin Hudon (saxes, accordion) and the first to include Bernard Falaise (guitar) who along with Rémi Leclerc (drums) and Pascal Globensky (keyboards) is still there to this day. The trio were unable to play all the instruments required in a live environment so here they have been joined by Stéphanie Simard (violin) and Nicolas Masino (bass, keyboards). Given that the most recent album had been a concept about a rather strange and demented circus (albeit instrumental) it is perhaps unsurprising that all the material comes from that, with the set recorded directly to 2-track in Quebec City on January 17th, 1997. What we have here are five musicians who clearly demonstrate just how much understanding and control they have over a seemingly chaotic world where everyone can be using music as a weapon in the way it is directed at each other, yet there are tim...

(58:59; The Mighty Ra) I had a very weird week recently, as I found myself having conversations regarding Casual Affair and Walking On Ice (and adding both bands to ProgArchives) when I saw a post regarding Welsh proggers The Mighty Ra where the guitarist and singer is Andy Edwards. I did a doubletake and thought to myself, “Surely that cannot be the same Andy Edwards who was in Ezra and The Fyreworks?” Needless to say, I soon discovered it was, so dropped Andy a line and we were soon chatting as if it was the mid 90’s all over again. Back then I reviewed all of Ezra’s material, I recall two cassettes as well as the three CDs, as well as The Fyreworks, and was disappointed when they stopped. Joining Andy in this endeavour is Dave Rowe (bass, vocals), Rob Griffiths (drums) and new keyboard player Jeremy Robberechts who joined after the debut album, replacing Rob Wilshire (who was a founder member of Multi Story back in the day). I would be somewhat disappointed if we were facing anythin...