(42:00; English Electric Recordings) I never met Judy, although her voice has long been a soundtrack to my wanderings, from the time I first came across Fairport Convention in the Seventies to her work with Trader Horne and beyond. To me Judy was a friend on Facebook, who cheered my days with her photos of her garden and her beloved greyhound Jessie, and whose posts were always positive and full of life even though she was gravely ill. When she passed from cancer earlier this year aged 71, I was deeply saddened, yet I knew she was incredibly excited about her latest recording, and very much looked forward to hearing it. This was recorded with Big Big Train singer David Longdon, and I knew a large part of me really wanted to enjoy it, but would that emotion change my approach to the music given I felt a bond with it? I can’t tell if that has actually had an impact, but I know I love this album deeply. It is a restrained modern album, and although Judy’s voice has aged, she still has...

(79:04; Timezone Records) This is the fourth album by German band Electric Mud, and although this is the first time I have come across them any band which describes their last album as Deep Purple and Camel jammed together with Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream then they are going to grab my attention. This release is described as “rooted in the classic prog era of the 70’s but takes a step forward into the great unknown of instrumental territory sublimely combining styles like post-rock with neoclassical elements and Berlin school.” This is definitely looking back to the Seventies, with Tangerine Dream being very much the main influence, alongside some early Kraftwerk and Brian Eno, resulting in something which is delicate and dreamy, yet also containing some repetitive elements which take the music in a quite different direction. The band used to be a live trio, but these days have morphed into a studio-based duo with founder Hagen Bretschneider (bass) joined by guitarist and keyboard...

 (38:50; Wild Thing Records) Glass Ocean were formed in Sydney in the summer of 2013, by vocalist Tobias Atkins and Northlane drummer Nic Petterson. Over the years they have released a few EP’s, and there have been the normal set of line-up changes, so much so that they now have bases in both Sydney and Melbourne (for the non-Aussie, the two cities are nearly 900 km apart by road). The line-up on this their debut album is Tobias (vocals) and he is now joined by Patrick Smith (drums), Eamonn Wooster (bass), Nguyen Pham (guitar) and Julian Dobric (guitar). Nic may no longer be in the band, but he co-wrote 6 of the 11 songs on offer. This is an album which revolves around the vocals, with the instrumentation always driving the ear towards the voice of Tobias, which is somehow tuneful yet also distinct and sometimes sharp, sometimes flat. They describe themselves as alt-prog, and while I am loath to give credence to yet another sub-genre I can see where they are coming from. Me, I ...