(77:29; Cuneiform Records) Rascal Reporters have had a somewhat unusual career in that they were formed in 1974 by multi-instrumentalists Steve Gore and Steve Kretzmer, with the latter taking a step back from composition after 1995’s ‘Purple Entrapment’ before taking a break from music altogether. Steve Gore continued working under the name, utilising guests such as Dave Newhouse (The Muffins) before Gore died in 2009. Kretzmer later decided to revisit old material with bassist and multi-instrumentalist James Strain, releasing the two ‘Redux’ albums in 2019 and 2021, and now the pair have shared writing and performing on the first album of new material since 2008’s ‘The Mind Boggles’. There are again a series of guests including long-time collaborator Dave Newhouse (The Muffins, Manna/Mirage) and Guy Segers (Univers Zero), along with Jessica Martin Maresco (Pili Coit, Le Grand Sbam) and Dario D'Allessando (Homunculus Res). With a career stretching nearly five decades, and with this...

(39:56; Dur Et Doux) The first four albums from French avant garde outfit PoiL featured the trio of Antoine Arnera (keyboards, vocals), Boris Cassone (guitar, vocals) and Guilhem Meier (drums, vocals), but since then they have been joined by Benoit Lecomte on bass, a role previously also undertaken by Boris, but in early 2023 a new outfit came together called Poil Ueda which also includes Japanese musician Junko Ueda (satsuma biwa, vocals). Their debut self-titled release was very enjoyable indeed as they mixed European avant-garde with Japanese styles to create a new artform with two genres crashing into each other to tell a traditional Japanese tale. This time around we have the epic story of samurai hero Yoshitsune. At the naval battle of Dan-no-Ura, he brought victory to the Genji clan in the long war against the Heike clan.  Yoritomo, Genji general and Yoshitsune's elder brother, suspects that our hero secretly intends to seize power, and orders his assassination. Despite Yosh...

(40:41; Cuneiform Records) This is the first time I have come across Italian Canterbury-inspired band Picchio Dal Pozzo who released two albums in the Seventies before disbanding in 1980. They reformed and released two albums in the early 2000’s, but since then there has been nothing. Then in 2020, just before the lockdown, guitarist and founder Paolo Griguolo received a CD labelled ‘Valdapozzo 05/30/2004’, from an unknown sender. He remembered they had played a fully improvised gig at the location where they had earlier recorded their last album, which at the time he thought had gone really well but when he played the CD, he was not so happy. But perhaps it could be cleaned up? The result is the first new album from Picchio Dal Pozzo (‘Woodpecker from the Well’ according to Google, what a great name) since 2004. It features founders Paolo and Aldo De Scalzi (keyboards, sampler, programming) along with long-time drummer Aldo Di Marco and saxophonist Claudio Lugo who joined the band whe...

(93:00; Inside Out Music) I am glad to see that Spock’s Beard have various tours lined up as it would not take much for fans to assume that band no longer exists, given they have not released an album since 2018 (the return to form ‘Noise Floor’), but the band formed out of it have now released their fourth since then. Both Ted Leonard (lead vocals, guitar) and Dave Meros (bass) are still in the line-up of Spock's Beard, drummer Jimmy Keegan was in the band for a large number of years, while keyboard player John Boegehold is a long-time collaborator (and nearly joined them prior to Ryo Okomuto). I have been a fan of Ted’s since the debut Enchant album a million years ago, and he never disappoints (so pleased I managed to catch that band in concert), Jimmy Keegan has always been an exciting player who adds to every band or project he is involved with, Dave Meros is one of the most exciting and constructive bassists around (listen to any of his live work in particular to see just wha...

(41:41; Atomic Fire) I have been racking my brains but cannot remember another situation like this, where we have a brand-new band releasing a sequel to an album by another. Richard West didn’t feel ready to leave the world Threshold brought to us in their mighty ‘Legends of the Shires’, but his bandmates did, so nothing was going to come of it. Richard then started writing for his own pleasure, until he realised this was a viable release so brought together some old friends to make it a reality, hence Oblivion Particle. Here Richard provides lead vocals and keyboards, and he has been joined by Guitarist Ruud Jolie (Within Temptation), bassist Simon Andersson (Darkwater) and drummer Darby Todd (Devin Townsend) while Karl Groom (Threshold) provides solos on a couple of numbers. Richard may not be the strongest singer in the world, but he has composed and arranged the album in such a way that he comes out very well indeed and demonstrates why he did not feel any need for anyone else to t...

(57:36; FTF-Music) It is always a difficult decision as to whether to maintain a band when a key person leaves or sadly passes away, and I am sure there were many discussions as to what to do when multi-instrumentalist Eric Bouillette passed away way too young. He was also the most high-profile member, having been involved with multiple other bands as well, but it is nice to be able to report that Nine Skies have not only kept going but have returned with a very enjoyable album indeed. It is a concept, telling the story of Rudy who is living his 1001st and final life and is retracing some of his existences through different characters and he reflects on these. They have dispensed with saxophones, so Laurent Benhamou is no longer with the band, but the rest of Nine Skies are the same as on ‘5.20’. They have again used guests, but this time around they have used multiple singers, and since the recording have brought in a new lead vocalist themselves in Charlie Bramad (who here provides l...

(48:02; Dur et Doux) Here we have the third album from Anthony Béard (guitar, scream), François Mignot (guitar), Nicolas Bernollin (drums) and Benoit Lecomte (bass), following on from 2019’s ‘Pantophobie’. Yet again they refuse to sit happily inside any particular musical genre and even the record label asks the question are they math rock, noise, metal, jazz or something else, or all of it and more. I enjoyed their last album immensely so was looking forward to this one and am glad to say I was not at all disappointed. There is something inherently strange about a band who can pummel like Meshuggah, be insanely shred happy like Protest The Hero yet have the progressive inclinations of King Crimson and the off the wall avant garde of Markus Reuter, yet somehow it all works. I am not surprised it took four years between the debut and the second album, and then four more between that one and this, as this is insanely complicated yet all four are linked in incredibly tightly. It is dense ...

(81:50; Cuneiform Records) When I first came across this, I misread the title and thought it was a collection of material recorded by multi-instrumentalist brothers Ben and Laurence Miller back in the day when they were performing with bands such as The Nova Mob, Fourth World Quartet, The Cruzonic Music Ensemble and others. Actually, what we have here are new recordings of songs they wrote and scored nearly 50 years ago. They both play numerous instruments on each track and form a full band all on their own, although they do have some guests and old colleagues involved here and there. Although there is little in the way of keyboards on this, the intricate use of horns immediately made me think of The Muffins and anyone who enjoys their style will find this immensely intriguing right from the off. This never sounds like just two people, but always a full band as we normally have bass, guitar and proper drums. This is even more remarkable when one realises there a few tracks where it is ...

(44:36; Massimo Pieretti) ‘A New Beginning’ is the debut solo album from keyboard player and composer Massimo Pieretti (Shaman’s Soldiers, Noage etc). Many musicians used the isolation caused by the Covid pandemic to look closely at themselves, their works and what they wanted to achieve, and in the case of Massimo it was to get his musical ideas out in front of the world, and what better way to do that than with an autobiographical concept album? This consists of 15 tracks through which Massimo demonstrates his point of view on society by reflecting back on his own personal problems and life experiences. Although he worked with others throughout the crafting of this album, he ensured he was involved in everything from writing of the material through the choice of musicians to work with and was even involved in the mastering. There are 12 singers involved, including Ray Weston from Echolyn, and a total headcount of no less than 30 to bring to life Massimo’s vision. The album itself can...

(34:54; Madlen Keys) There are times when an album just seems to slip out and instead of being rightly heralded as a wonderful piece of art just sits there on a dark corner of the largest library in the world waiting to be discovered. Fortunately for me, I have been around long enough to have some guides and when this was sent my way I was in sheer awe of its beauty, depth and lightness of touch. I do have some difficulty in believing these guys are French, but if that really is the case then they have been particularly influenced by multiple British acts Kate Bush, Enya and Clannad, Russian duo iamthemorning while I am also reminded of New Zealand act French For Rabbits. Here we have dream pop/crossover prog where the focus is kept firmly on the wonderful vocals of Caroline Calen. However, that is not fair on the rest of the band as it is the arrangements which allows her to shine and all power to Yann Pousset (drums, percussion), Antoine Geremia (keyboards), Baptiste Mottais (electri...

(30:38; Cuneiform Records) While one may think the artwork for this album is a little unusual, as is the title, nothing prepares the listener for what this album actually sounds like. A Light Sleeper is a quartet,  consisting of Maria Elena Hernandez (alto and tenor saxophone), Traci Huff (viola), Matthew Jung (drums, keyboards), and Dheeru Pennepalli (guitar) and is their first album since 2019’s ‘Distinction (A Ballet In Six Parts)’ when they were a quintet including cellist David Kellar. I am sure the reason he is no longer in the band as there is just no room within the intricate arrangements which are layered and interwoven so everyone is a lead player, and everyone is support. When music is as complex, experimental and off the wall as this, reviewers often like to fall back on labels, and who am I to ignore such as well-used approach, so how about chamber music, post rock, RIO and avant garde that has been heavily influenced by Art Zoyd? Or, Zappa taken to illogical extremes?...

(67:00; Karmamoi) It is safe to say that over the years I have not been the most consistent fan of Italian band Karmamoi, and felt that their last album, 2021’s ‘Room 801’ was a step in the wrong direction. That saw them again working as a trio of Daniele Giovannoni (drums, keyboards, backing vocals), Alex Massari (guitars) and Alessandro Cefalì (bass) along with a series of guests, including singer Sara Rinaldi who was there for her third album as lead singer. Also on that album as a guest was Valerio Sgargi, who has now joined as a full member of the band on lead & backing vocals plus keyboards. The band are now working as a quartet with no guests, apart from the use of an orchestra. What we have here is a somewhat unusual approach in that there are only four new songs, along with five songs from previous albums which have been rearranged and revisited for orchestra to provide new dimensions. While I have not been a consistent fan of Karmamoi, I have reviewed the last four of the...

(74:00; Jam Records) This 2021 release found Jeremy working with different musicians and recording in different countries. As normal, Jeremy provides the vocals and the majority of instruments, and here he is joined by Dave Dietrich (drums), Steffan Johansson (keyboards and drums), Oscar Granero (guitar), Carlos Vigara (bass) and Swordfish (synthesizer) appear on select numbers. Actually, Dave, Stefan, Oscar and Carlos all appear on opening tracks “Flowers In My Hair”, and only Dave appears on one other while Swordfish only plays on the second track, but what a track that is. Jeremy tends to concentrate on shorter songs but here the seven songs clock in at 75 minutes as two which are past 10 minutes and another two which are more than 19. The first of these is “Cosmic Journey”, one of two instrumentals contained on this album, which is also somewhat unusual. The result is an album that may appear from the title to be one of his “Worship and Praise” series, and while lyrically that may ...

(71:00; Jam Records) This 2020 album finds Jeremy Morris yet again full in power pop mode but before I get into the album itself I must mention the artwork by Gretchen Ellen Powers which continues through the inlay. There we see the cat on the roof of an old car with his guitar, listening to the fox sing and the rabbit playing harmonica with the owl toasting marshmallows: there is a story there somewhere as it is delightful imagery. Jeremy provides the vocals and the vast majority of the music, along with support from the likes of Todd Borsch of the Ringles and Jamie Hoover (the Spongetones). There are 25 songs contained in this set, 15 of which are originals plus 10 covers, and Jeremy kindly puts who originally recorded the songs so there is no scratching of heads attempting to remember who did what. Of course, his own material more than stands up against the originals, not all of which are known to me, so if he hadn’t said I would not have known. Jeremy has always been heavily influe...

(816:27; Cuneiform Records) Hiro Kawahara is a Japanese experimental musician who has been releasing material under his own name or using the band name Heretic for more than 30 years. There have been times when Heretic have been a proper band, or Hiro and guests, or others when he has been the only member but always with the same aim of taking influences from the likes of Heldon (in particular) and Tangerine Dream and imbibing them with Japanese hints and nuances to create something which is challenging and confronting all at the same time. This compilation has been put together in album sequence, but many of these have additional tracks so the complete set is 62 tracks with a total running time of more than 13 hours. Yes, you read that correctly, 13 hours 36 minutes to be precise and I played it through twice before I started to understand what was going on. This is not music which is easy to listen to or comprehend, and it would be very easy indeed to discard it as the noodlings of s...

(51:37; PeacockSunrise Records) Gayle Ellett & the Electromags are back with their second album which has seen them take on a quite different approach to the debut, ‘Shiny Side Up’. Although it still includes guitarist/organ player Ellett (Djam Karet) along with  Craig Kahn (drums) and Mark Cook, he decided he wanted to capture the feeling of hanging out on the deck and playing music with friends. The trio recorded the base tracks, and then they were sent to contacts all over the world to add their own lead roles over the top. By having musicians record in their own studios it allowed Ellett to involve people who would not normally work together, and it resulted in twenty-two guests over the 13 songs including members of BARAKA (Japan), Minimum Vital (France), Aisles (Chile), Electric Swan (Italy), Shylock (Germany), Edhels (Monaco), and California Guitar Trio (USA). This means the album is incredibly varied, especially as Gayle did not restrict himself to asking just guitarist...

(53:08; Avalon Records) With a relationship stretching back more than 30 years, my prog writing journey will always be inextricably linked to Galahad as theirs was the first album I bought from the underground scene, while they in turn put me in touch with another band and it all went downhill from then. I have written words for a few of their booklets, and while I have not seen them play since moving to New Zealand I am still often in contact with singer Stu Nicholson. I know this closeness means I am never nearly as objective as others when it comes to reviewing Galahad, but when a band keeps putting out wonderful albums then I feel justified in continually singing their praises. This is their twelfth studio album, and features the same line-up as with the last release, ‘The Last Great Adventurer’, namely Stu Nicholson (vocals), Dean Baker (keyboards), Spencer Luckman (drums), Lee Abraham (guitars) and Mark Spencer (bass guitar). Recorded in multiple places it was then edited, mixed ...

(49:44; Xymphonia Records) Apparently, keyboard player Ron Lammers started The Foundation as a trio back in the Nineties but nothing came of it and it is only in recent years that he decided to revisit the idea, bringing in some very well-known Dutch musicians to assist. The core of the band are Mark Smit (vocals, Knight Area),  Rinie Huigen (guitars, Cliffhanger, King Eider, Novox, Knight Area), Jens van der Valk (electric guitar, Autumn, Cantara, Enraged), Gijs Koopman (bass, Taurus pedals, keyboards, Cliffhanger, Novox, Sylvium, Odyssice, Knight Area) and Jan Grijpstra (drums, Autumn). Additional players also include keyboard player Jan Munnik (Autumn) and guitarist Aad Bannink (Sentinel) plus flautist Judith van der Valk and violinist Sjoerd Bearda. Not only are they all seasoned musicians but they are also used to playing together in other outfits, and that experience shows through in this album which does not appear as if it is a fragmented project but instead is a band who h...

(86:00; Layered Reality Productions) There have been some changes in the ranks of Dreamwalkers Inc in recent years, and the band as it stands now is totally different from what it was apart, of course, from singer Tom de Wit. He has now been joined by drummer Sander van Elferen and bassist Bjorn van der Ploeg along with guitarists Lennert Kemper and Norbert Veenbrink along with singer Radina Dimcheva. The concept is taken from a story written by singer/frontman Tom de Wit (which has now been turned into a novel)  about a girl found in a forest on a dark night who is adopted into a small village by a loving couple. The girl is clearly different from everyone in the village and seems to be at odds with everything. It feels like everything she thinks and stands for is ‘not normal’ according to the world around her. This leads to a dark conclusion at the end. There are a cast of voice actors, and unlike some concepts this is easy to follow from beginning to end, a movie for the ears wi...

(75:00; Elevate Records) Docker’s Guild are a new band to me, and as one can tell from the title this is the second in a series. On further digging I discovered this is actually a prog metal project, telling the story of the dark world of The Mystic Technocracy, where a silicon-based techno-organic alien race attempts to wipe out all life on Earth through organized religion, while a tormented scientist makes it his mission in life to save humanity. His quest will take him across the universe and on a personal journey from which there is no return. Apparently the story is so huge that it is going to play out through five “seasons” and four “books” for a total of nine albums. Given that many bands/projects never release that amount of material through their existence this is quite some undertaking from producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Douglas R. Docker. He provides keyboards, bass and vocals and is joined by a quite wonderful cast which includes none other than one of my ve...

(50:24; Trilateral) Track list: 1. Dividers of Infinity 4:18 2. Cloud Forest 6:25 3. Airlock 1:19 4. Celestial Bodies 4:36 5. Whalefall 5:46 6. Fountainhead 4:30 7. Nomad 2:12 8. Blessed Protagonist 4:48 9. Charon 4:18 10. Darkless 5:07 11. Arbitrarium 4:44 12. Convergence 2:21 Line-up; Graeme Kalb - vocals, guitars Sam Smit - vocals, bass Jacob Goose - drums, percussion with: Morgan Lander - vocals Prolusion. Canadian band Trilateral appears to have started out sometime around 2013, with the band releasing their initial EP that year. A few years down the line they released their debut album "Elliptic Orbits", a self released production dating back to the spring of 2017. The band haven't released any new material since then, and the band's Facebook page have been dormant since the end of 2020. Analysis. Whether this is a band and an album that fits within a specific progressive context will probably be a matter of subjective opinion in this particular case, but for me...

(33:33; Andy Watts) Track list: 1. A Strange Beginning 5:40 2. An Unsure Thing 5:22 3. The Way Back From Here 7:25 4. Out of Season 4:31 5. Exit Strategy 4:18 6. Working As Intended 6:17 Line-up: Andy Watts - cornet, effects, bass Filippo Galli - drums with: Joe Edwards - guitars Richie Sweet - percussion Prolusion. UK based and New Zealand originating musician and composer Andy Watts has been a member of the band London Afrobeat Collective for a decade and a half, and following many years as a band member he saw it fit to create some material for himself as well. Cue the debut album solo album by Watts, "The Way Back From Here", which was self released towards the end of February 2024. Analysis. Now this isn't an album that will come across as tailor-made for a progressive rock interested audience, even it some of the songs does feature rock music elements here and there. But for those with a deeper interest in jazz of the more expressive and creative manner, then this i...