(78:55; Fruits de Mer Records) Track list: 1. Track Seven (White Witch Black Panda Mix) 18:36 2. Track Four (Noah's Marc Mix) 17:20 3. Track Six (Bamboozled Mix) 6:25 4. Track Seven (Waltzing Me Panda Mix) 9:34 5. Track Five (Yangtze Basin Mix) 5:49 6. Track Three (Into The Hadron Kaleidoscope Mix) 21:11 Line-up: Panda Pete - guitars Panda Paul - violin Panda Chris - electronics Panda Jack - drums Panda Kate - cello Panda Glenda - bass Prolusion. UK based project The Stoned Pandas started off as a side venture of UK band Sendelica, with members from that band and a number of outside musicians engaging in creating material where the aim appears to have been to have fun and be expressive and experimental. A total of five albums have been released under this moniker so far. "Tune In, Turn On, Get Panda'd" is the first of these albums, and was released through UK label Fruits de Mer Records in 2020. Analysis. The four tracks on the promo CD I have in my possession, where ...

(58:02; Uneasy Dreams) Track list: 1. Going for the Sense 4:00 2. Lost in Ocean 2:52 3. Cannot Reach Altitude 3:48 4. Frightening Dream 2:06 5. Follow Your Heart 6:00 6. Branches and Roots 3:16 7. Diligence 3:54 8. Stream 4:13 9. Lost in Desert 2:29 10. Eventide 3:20 11. Pretty Faces 3:58 12. Romanza 3:22 13. The Only Road 4:46 14. Elation 3:17 15. The Only Road. Afterthought 2:49 16. The Amazon 3:52 Line-up: Victor Go - vocals, instruments with: C. George - cello, piano Prolusion. Ukraine artist Victor Go is a bit of an unknown quantity for me, and he doesn't divulge too much information about himself online either. He appeared back in 2018, and released a handful of studio albums in quick succession of which the most recent appeared in 2021. "Going for the Sense" appears to be his debut album, and was released through the label Uneasy Dreams in 2018 - a label I presume is the artist's own. Analysis. The music explored by Victor Go on this album is perhaps one that m...

(85:36; Fruits de Mer Records) Track list: 1. Sarah Birch - Reverence 3:54 2. Mark McDowell and Friends - Starstreamer 6:06 3. Alain Pire Experience - Lazin' in the Afternoon 3:31 4. Ken Pustelnik's Groundhogs - The Garden 7:06 5. Elfin Bow - Autumn Stone 5:29 6. Fellowship Of Hallucinatory Voyagers - Taith Yr Afon Teifi 16:42 7. The Chemistry Set - Love or Confusion 4:03 8. Sendelica - Nine Miles High 17:08 9. Three Dimensional Tanx - Racing Car #9 4:39 10. Moon Goose - Second Life 5:03 11. The Bevis Frond - Pale Blue Blood 11:55 Line-up: Artists as listed Prolusion. UK label Fruits de Mer Records have for quite a few years had a hand in arranging annual festivals where the bands associated with the label and other interested and interesting parties are given the opportunity to perform for an interested audience over a weekend. The festival is called The Dream of Dr. Sardonicus and is held in Cardigan, Wales. The double live album "The 17th Dream Of Dr. Sardonicus Festiva...

(46:50; Tonzonen) Track list: 1. Der Schiffer 2:33 2. Das Wesen Des Seins 4:10 3. Szyszka 2:08 4. D.A.E.L. 3:14 5. Lichtpyramide 3:00 6. Funkelnder Wein 3:20 7. You've Only to Say the Word 4:43 8. Festtagszug 3:04 9. Glow in the Room 2:40 10. Stand Auf 4:11 11. Korytarz 2:57 12. Das Rufen 1:52 13. Bergwanderung 3:33 14. At The Beach 5:25 Line-up: Jack Ellister - vocals, all instruments Prolusion. UK based artist Jack Ellister has been around the block a few times, and if I remember correctly he had some past endeavours going before opting for the Jack Ellister artist moniker as well. But over the years he has been something of a mainstay of niche record label Fruits de Mer Records, and he has also started to release material outside of that label's scope. The album "Lichtpyramid" is one of those albums, and was released through German label Tonzonen Records in 2020. Analysis. Ellister is known for being a psychedelic rock artist, and that is a style he does explore al...

(74:53; Fruits de Mer Records) Track list: 1. SilVer VialS - Sweet Life 4:03 2. Stray Owls - Snake in the Grass 4:04 3. Stay - In the Hole 5:37 4. Vilse i Pannkakan - Horisont 8:03 5. Mark McDowell and friends - Breakthrough 4:41 6. James McKeown - Life Aboard the International Space Station 4:22 7. Cary Grace - Cassiopeia, 1572 13:14 8. The Sugarman Band - The Wind Coloured Like Laughing Rainbows 5:48 9. Scott William Urquart - Ballet Dancer 2:51 10. Superfjord - Cut and Paste 8:36 11. Psychic Lemon - Seeds of Tranquility 13:34 Line-up: Artists as listed Prolusion. UK label Fruits de Mer Records have developed into a powerhouse in the vinyl scene as well as the psychedelic rock scene in the 15 or so years they have been active. Among the items I have received by the label over the years that I didn't have the capacity to take on when I got them is this compilation album from 2020, "The World Is Our Lobster". This is a compilation of (mainly) new music at the time, and wa...

(57:58; Pretentious Dinosaur Productions) Track list: 1. Ghost Zone 2:29 2. Noble Obelisk 5:38 3. Urgent Fury 8:31 4. Tree Incident 7:38 5. Golden Pheasant of the Infinite Reach 10:40 6. Nimrod Dancer 8:35 7. Vigilant Sentinel 10:40 8. Silent Years 3:47 Line-up: Mike Sary - bass, loops, samples Katsumi Yoneda - guitars Mark L. Perry - drums, percussion Patrick Strawser - keyboards with: Ludovic Fabre - violin Karl Ledus - saxophone, flute Nico Fabre - keyboards Prolusion. US band French TV can look back at 40 years of being an active band, and can safely be considered to be a veteran player in the progressive rock scene in the US. A grand total of fourteen albums have been released by the band in the decades they have been active, of which thirteen are studio productions. The album "Operation: Mockingbird" is their twelfth album overall, and was released through their own label Pretentious Dinosaur Productions back in 2017. Analysis. French TV have by and large been a band th...

(69:55; Progressive Promotion Records) Track list: 1. Conspiracy of Fools 13:08 2. Incomprehensible Intention 14:15 3. Override Our Instincts 12:56 4. Losing Gentle Control 4:58 5. Colors and Shades 11:46 6. The Whispering from Outside 12:52 Line-up: Arne Schäfer - vocals, bass, guitars, keyboards Ebi Graef - drums, percussion Prolusion. German project Apogee is the creative vehicle of composer and musician Arne Schäfer, and for close to 30 years albums released under this moniker has been a staple of the German progressive rock scene with a total of 11 albums released at the time of writing. The album "Conspiracy of Fools" dates back to 2018, and was released through German label Progressive Promotion Records. Analysis. Just where you would place Apogee as a project in terms of specific style and orientation, as Schäfer's material tends to incorporate elements from a few different subsets of the form. For my sake I have always considered the music of this project inside ...

(44:18; Progressive Promotion Records) Track list: 1. Acte I 6:37 2. Acte II 4:44 3. Acte III 5:52 4. Acte IV 6:19 5. Acte V 6:18 6. Acte VI 7:38 7. Acte Final 6:50 Line-up: Sebastien Bourdeix - guitars, keyboards, bass, vocals Fabrice Berger - drums Anthony Leteve - bass with: Sandrine Bourdeix - vocals Clement Bourdeix - vocals Leon Burghgraeve - vocals Prolusion. French band The Black Noodle Project have been around for a couple of decades by now, and have been a creative and active band from the early phases when it was more of a solo project and through the later stages when this venture became a bit more settled and band-oriented. At the time of writing they have explored their brand of progressive rock on nine studio albums. "Code 2.0" dates back to 2020, and was released through German label Progressive Promotion Records. Analysis. While the earlier albums I have encountered by this band by and large have been exploring more of a psychedelic and cosmic direction with ...

(67:00; Melodic Revolution Records) 2021 saw the release of the second album from GorMusik, following on from 2015’s ‘Fun In OuterSpace’. This is primarily the solo project of Gordon Bennett who originally recorded and sang everything himself, but then brought in some guests who added their talents to the record in Joseph Frick (bass), Jay T McGuinn (drums) and Peter Jones (vocals and Irish whistles) – how Peter Jones manages to contribute so much to so many albums is beyond me, but he does and is always amazing. GorMusik is a Christian prog band, and what we have here is a concept album which attempts to work through the timeline of the Bible, which is a huge task in just 67 minutes (broken into five songs). Musically there is huge variety on this, as we have heavy sections which would not sound too out of place on a Rush release, and then we have others which are acoustic with multiple guitars. This variety means one is never quite sure where the music is going to lead, and there doe...

(55:59; OOB Records) As is my preference when listening to music, I read the press release only when it was time to write the review, so when playing this I was intrigued to hear the neo/melodic rock crossover sound of this new band and my thoughts immediately when to late Nineties Galahad. The keyboards are an important part of the overall sound, the guitars crunch nicely, and there are great vocals while the production is superb. I soon realised why the latter was the case as Karl Groom (Threshold) was involved, and I have been a fan of his skills behind the desk for 30 years. Then I looked at the band itself which was formed by André Saint (vocals) and Aaron Gidney (guitars, Chapman Stick) who then brought in Tim Ashton on bass and drummer Graham Brown. I know Brown from the excellent Cairo, but Tim Ashton? I first heard Tim on Galahad’s wonderful ‘Nothing Is Written’ and saw him play a few times back then before he moved to Japan, only to return later and rejoin the band for ‘Seas ...

(58:17; New Joke Productions) Born and raised in Sweden, multi-instrumentalist Kristoffer now lives in The Netherlands, playing in Kayak. Many people still think of him as being associated with his brother Daniel, and he played on the first six Pain of Salvation studio albums but since leaving in 2006 has built a reputation working with many different artists. ‘Let Me Be A Ghost’ is his fourth solo album, released towards the end of 2021, following on from ‘Rust’ (2012), ‘The Rain’ (2016) and ‘Homebound’ (2020). I reviewed the last, and I was intrigued at just how much at home he sounded with the one cover, Leonard Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel #2” I many ways this is a logical extension of that album, as it is melancholic, and is something which really needs to be played on headphones. The songs are more like soundscapes, with a huge use of space and a slow tempo which really lets the listener into what in many ways feels likes quite a private world. Yes, there are a few additional singers a...

(58:40; Steamhammer) There are few bands who I can say I have enjoyed for 45 years, but Magnum is one of them. True, there have been line-up changes but when all songs are written by guitarist Tony Clarkin and sung by Bob Catley, who together formed this band back in 1972, does it really matter? They have created their own pomp sound, and are unmatched in the UK (and probably Europe) not only for their style but longevity. This album was released at the beginning of 2022, which means it was recorded when Bob was 73 years old yet his voice has none of the fragility or frailty one might expect. I have only seen the band four times, and probably not in nearly 30 years, yet I was always amazed at how powerful and on point he was in concert and in the intervening years nothing has changed. Is this album as immediate as their classic early albums? No, not at all, but it is a grower in the way of many of their later ones. Clarkin has a way of crafting great songs with wonderful hooks which ra...

(45:45; Third Star Records) Here we have the debut solo album from Italian guitarist Marco Mattei, which has guests including Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel), Fabio Trentini (Le Orme, Markus Reuter), Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Hall & Oates), Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson, XTC), Chad Wackerman (Frank Zappa, Allan Holdsworth), Clive Deamer (Portishead, Radiohead, Robert Plant). Musically it covers many different bases, from prog-rock, dream-pop, folk and world music, and this is both its charm and its problem. If I were to liken this to another artist then it would probably be to Peter Gabriel, and having two of his musicians in here has not hurt, but he has also used quite a few singers and that combined with the myriad styles means this feels less like a complete album but more like a project. Many of the songs are a delight, and the psychedelic folk of “I’ll Be Born” is nothing short of beautiful, but this is a difficult album to enjoy as a whole, as it meanders through...

(80:00; Mark Murdock) Murdock is probably best known for being drummer and leader in progressive rock band Cymballic Encounters, and here he has used some of the musicians involved in that plus other guests in what is presumably a concept album of some type. Singer Tim Pepper is one of these, but while he can hit the notes, his delivery rarely has any real presence, and when that is combined with music which is rarely inspiring it results in a somewhat flat album where everything just washes over the listener who is soon looking to see how much longer there is to go (74 minutes in total).  This is a real pity as there are bits and pieces which are real sparks of delight. For example, at the beginning of second track “Time Travelers from the Future” there is an instrumental passage which reminded me immediately of Colosseum II and I was looking forward to something of great speed and intricacy, but although that passage was repeated a few times, the rest of the song was somewhat let...

(45:10; Progressive Promotion Records) Track list: 1. Interrompu 7:05 2. Listen to the Smell of the Pretty Picture 10:28 3. Severn Speaking 4:41 4. Wasting Time 8:53 5. Life Part I: Random 7:40 6. Life Part II: Metaphors 6:23 Line-up: Sebastian Brennert - vocals, piano Michael Kuchenbecker - keyboards Matthias Hommel - bass, pedals Carsten Dannert - drums, percussion Kolja Maletzki - guitars with: Ina Merz - vocals Julia Gorzelanczyk - vocals Prolusion. German band Invertigo has been a going concern for 20 years or thereabouts, albeit spending quite a bit of time in their initial years settling as a stable band unit. They recorded and released their debut album "Next Stop Vertigo" back in 2010, and since then they have released new material every few years. The album "Inmotion" is their third and most recent studio production, and was released through German label Progressive Promotion Records in the late fall of 2019. Analysis. Invertigo is a band that is fairly ea...

(52:49; Novus Rex) Track list: 1. Act 1: Inception 9:17 2. Act 2: Independence 10:38 3. Act 3: Devotion 9:00 4. Act 4: Wisdom & Surrender 23:54 Line-up: Scott Hume - drums A. I. Fernandez - guitars J. R. Fernandez - keyboards, bass, guitars Prolusion. US band Novus Rex is a venture that was formed back in 2008. They released their first album back in 2009, and following a spell of little activity they have since released a further three studio productions. "Zoi" is one of those albums, and has 2019 as its official year of release. The text on the CD itself states that the year of copyright is 2018, hence this album is presumably made later than the album "Belteshazzar's Dream" that also has 2019 as the official year of release, but where 2014 is the year that this album was copyrighted. Analysis. This second album released under the Novus Rex moniker in 2018 is a creation that in some manners is a marked improvement over the other album they released the ver...

(49:57; Novus Rex) Track list: 1. Belteshazzar's Dream 8:08 2. Mcmxiv 18:40 3. Plowshares into Swords 10:17 4. Old World News 8:21 5. Locust Swarm 4:31 Line-up (according to the band's website as of 2019): J. R. Fernandez - keyboards, drums, guitars, bass, programming A. I. Fernandez - guitars, bass Scott Hume - drums, percussion Prolusion. US band Novus Rex is a venture that was formed back in 2008. They released their first album back in 2009, and following a spell of little activity they have since released a further three studio productions. "Belteshazzar's Dream" is one of those albums, and apparently has 2019 as it's official year of release. The text on the CD itself states a copyright going back to 2014, hence this is an album that may have been sitting in for a bit prior to release. Analysis. The style explored on this album is firmly placed inside a symphonic progressive rock tradition, and with something of a vintage orientation of the form as a com...

(60:23; Yang Music) Track list: 1. Badong 7:00 2. Inevitable Traversee 4:27 3. Descending the Slow River 6:28 4. Amour Et Dissolution 3:32 5. Delta 8:26 6. Hymne Aux Ancetres 1. 3:15 7. Treasured Wounds 6:48 8. Mist 4:53 9. Parle-Moi Encore 6:40 10. Souvenirs De Traversee 5:45 11. Hymne Aux Ancetres 2. 2:05 12. Wegschippernd 1:04 Line-up: Frederic L'Epee - guitars, percussion, synthesizers, piano, programming with: Andre Fisichella - drums Volodia Brice - drums Nico Gomez - bass Laurent James - guitars Olivier Innocenti - bayan Prolusion. French composer and musician Frederic L'Epee is probably best known for his tenures in the French progressive rock bands Shylock and Philharmonie as well as his current band Yang. Over the years L'Epee has nurtured a solo career too, with a dozen or so albums to his name at the time of writing. The album "The Empty Room" dates back to 2019, and was released through the private label Yang Music. It is one of three solo albums issu...

(44:35; Masters of Art) Track list: 1. Mission Creep 3:47 2. The Cosmic Commodore 4:13 3. The Trick of the Lock 3:37 4. Mercury 4:55 5. Skin in the Game 5:15 6. Nothing to See Here 3:17 7. Here’s the Thing 4:10 8. Best Before 5:02 9. The Little Flower 6:10 10. It’s Another Day 4:09 Line-up: Judge Smith - vocals Robert Pettigrew - piano, vocals Prolusion. UK composer and musician Judge Smith has a solo career that started all the way back in the late 1960's, but in progressive rock circles he will probably always be remembered as one of the original members of iconic progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Just how many solo albums Smith has released over the years I don't know, but if the CD leaflet is to be trusted that number is 17. And at the tender age of 74 he is out with a new one. Released at the start of 2023 the album is called "The Trick of the Lock", and is out on the label Masters of Art. A label I guess is Smith's own label, due to its release ...