(112:15; Cuneiform Records) The 16th album from French TV is a little unusual in that the two discs come from very different concepts, and there are slightly different line-ups. For the first, founder member and bassist Mike Sary undertook the approach from the Seventies when bands would “go to the country” to write, rehearse and then record. He took with him regular members guitarist Kasumi Yoneda (also in the Japanese band TEE), long-time drummer Jeff Gard, plus members of the French band Mentat Routage (who also make up French TV's line-up when touring Europe), Nico Fabre (keyboards),  Ludo Fabre (violin ) and Karl Ledus (sax, weirdophone). All the tracks on this set are credited equally to five musicians (Gard is not included) and finds us in the world of Canterbury and RIO, combining together in a series of eight instrumentals. I was somewhat surprised not to see Pat Strawser involved as he has been playing with the band for quite a while now, but it is always possible he coul...

(61:43; Progrock.com's Essentials) Childhood friends Jérémie Arrobas (lead vocals, synthesizers, synth guitars, sound machines) and Thomas Szirmay (sound machines, voice) are back with their fourth album and have again been joined by Hansford Rowe (bass) and Alain Bellaiche (guitars) who are now credited as being members of the band. There are a series of guests, and while I was disappointed to see that Rob Harrison (sax, flute) was not involved this time around, I was certainly pleased to see both Steve Bonino and Laiura Piazzai coming along for the ride. I don’t know if I started thinking this due to the final track on the album, but to me this album sees a shift away from Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream more into music which I normally credit to Gary Numan, although yet again there is no doubt there are also major influences from Gabriel’s solo works, and songs such as “Siren Song” would have been major pop hits in the Eighties in edited versions. Arrobas is a fine electronic pop ...

(50:05; Arnaud Bukwald) Following on from 2024’s excellent ‘Moondragore’ album, Arnaud has stuck with the same line-up but moved in a very different direction again. He provides vocals, guitar, weissenborn, sitar, keyboards and arrangements while the incredible Didier Malherbe (Gong) has again returned on flute plus Cherry (vocals) and Cloudy Myster (drums, tablas) are back as well. What makes this album such a delight is the sheer variety of styles contained within – one could make a case for saying it has Canterbury at its heart, but from there it shifts in so many directions that one never knows what is coming next. There are two lengthy tracks, “Mumble Jumble” (18:06) and “Xanadu” (10:34) while the rest are very much shorter, including some which are only just over 30 seconds long, but even the longer tracks move around so much that one can imagine they were originally many short pieces which were then brought together. Mostly instrumental, the album dabbles with Zappa and Gong (in...

(43:46; 3VE Records [2026 Edition] ) Track list: 1. Gate to Calatea 6:04 2. Survey from the Summit 5:34 3. Volcano 11:28 4. Pyramids 5:15 5. Apocalypse of Sounds 6:42 6. Gate Out of Calatea 8:43 Line-up: Pit Furrer - drums & percussion Urs Hochuli - bass, vocals Roland Ruckstuhl - keyboards Peter Wolf - flutes, saxophones, vocals Urs Waldispühl - vocals, guitars Prolusion. Swiss band Flame Dream had their initial phase as an active band between 1977 and 1986, releasing six full length albums in that period. The band reformed a few years back and besides releasing one more album since then they have also reissued the albums they released in their first active spell as a band. Earlier this year it was time for their debut album "Calatea" to be made available again. Analysis. This album is very much a product of its time and its era, with an argument possible to be had that this is a production that would have made much more of an impact if it had appeared in 1975 rather tha...

(177:24; Layered Reality Productions) Back in the glory days of vinyl, buying a record was not just about the music it contained but what came with it. There would generally be wonderful artwork, possibly lyrics, maybe even a gatefold sleeve, but some artists took it even further. Being a keen Jethro Tull collector I revelled in the programme which came with ‘A Passion Play’ and the pop-up figures on the sleeve for ‘Stand Up’, but of course the highlight was the mighty ‘Thick As A Brick’. Not only was it musically their finest hour, but it also came inside a broadsheet newspaper which even included a review of the album itself! I spent many hours reading this, as I am sure many other fans did as well, but with the advent of CDs and digital downloads this style of presentation mostly disappeared. I thoroughly enjoyed the release of ‘Mad Martins’ by Gary Miller back in 2018 which brought a highly researched 100-page book to the table, and now we have Tom de Wit, who surely must have brou...

(40:12; Moonjune Records) It has been well over a decade since drummer Xavi Reija last released an album under his Electric Quintet banner, experimenting with different styles and musicians in between, yet now we are back again. Of the musicians who played with him in the last incarnation, 2008’s ‘Ritual’, we still have his longtime sparring partner Dušan Jevtović (electric guitar) as well as Rafael Garcés (sax) and Bernat Hernández (bass guitar) with just one new boy, Tomàs Fosch (Fender Rhodes electric piano, Mini Moog) replacing Álvaro Gandul. Six of the tracks were composed by Xavi, one by Dušan, and one by the two of them together, and the original songs then gave the musicians a springboard to move and improvise together. I have long been a fan of Xavi (and Dušan with his own releases) so it is always great to hear them working together as they have such a strong relationship that it is always a delight. The first time I played this I fell in love with the spontaneity and joy whi...