(71:00; Inside Out Music) I have always been a huge Mike Portnoy fan, and always felt that Dream Theater were missing something without him involved, but I am sure I am not the only one who thought he would never return to the band he co-founded, but after years doing plenty of other things, he has been welcomed back to the fold and here we have the first album with this line-up since 2009’s ‘Black Clouds & Silver Linings’. Parasomnia is a category of sleep disorders, and this album is a concept based around that theme. What strikes me most about this album is just how much it feels like a Portnoy release as opposed to pure Dream Theater. While we do get the bursts of the complexity and majestic interplay we know and expect from these guys, and LaBrie is singing just as well as ever, what is ever driving this album in the right direction is the sheer punishment being given out by the bearded gentleman at the back. It is almost as if Mike feels he has something to prove, and the res...

(160:17; Cherry Red Records) Many years ago, back when there was no such thing as the internet and all media still hated prog, I was perusing records at a jumble sale and came across ‘Photos of Ghosts’ by an outfit I had never heard of previously, PFM. I turned it over and was going to put it back when a logo caught my eye: this had been released on Manticore, the ELP label and all of a sudden I was very interested indeed. Needless to say I bought it, took it home and played it, and discovered a band I now needed to discover more about. I think the next album I purchased was ‘Jet Lag’, and those two releases bookend ‘The World Became The World’ and ‘Chocolate Kings’ in this new 4-CD set from Cherry Red Records. This clamshell boxed set gathers these four albums in replica album sleeve wallets and also includes a new poster.  Once Premiata Forneria Marconi, as they were called for their first two albums, had been discovered by Greg Lake and signed, Pete Sinfield became involved and ...

(202:00; Cherry Red Records) Given her role in being the first singer for Fairport Convention, the person who put up an advert which led to the formation of King Crimson, as well as album with Trader Horne, it is difficult to imagine that apart from a few appearance here and there, Judy Dyble basically disappeared from the music scene for nearly 25 years. These three albums, ‘Enigmatic Garden’, ‘Spindle’ and ‘The Whorl’ came about directly because of Mark Swordfish (Astralasia), who had always loved her work and wondered if she would be interested in collaborating, He asked Peter Pracownik, who was working backstage at Cropredy in 2002 where Judy was guesting, to pass on his phone number and she got in contact. The original idea was to release the material as Astralasia, but it was felt by all involved that it should instead be under Judy’s name. The first album was released in 2004, and the sessions for the second resulted in so much material that two albums could be released a few mo...

(41:16: New House Music) “Soli” is the plural of “solo”, so what we have here is one person performing on his own, but providing multiple layers and instruments, so much so that the list I have seen includes piccolo flute, flute, alto flute, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, keyboards, accordion, kit drums, hand drum, percussion, voice, guitar and bass. What I also find remarkable is not only the dedication and skill which comes with this effort, but his last album ‘Natura Morta’ only came out last year, he has just published his first novel, continues to paint as well as perform in other bands and on sessions. That is just insane. Dave has of course been at the cutting edge of music for 50 years, with The Muffins, Manna/Mirage and many others, and I always find his work exciting as it is just not possible to predict what journey he is going to take us on, not only with no idea of the final destination but ho...

(71:00; InsideOut Music) It would be easy to just state we have yet another Neal Morse project on our hands, and in while in some ways that is true it is also very different in others. Neal hung out with Chester Thompson at a Steve Hackett gig in Nashville and felt they should do something together, and a month later they had lunch and a jam which delivered interesting results, so Neal then invited in two of his previous collaborators,  guitarist and singer Phil Keaggy, and bassist Byron House, and they got together for some sessions. Much of the album was apparently created from those jams, where Morse’s long-time audio partner Jerry Guidroz put the best parts together, such as for the 38-minute epic, “Deep Water Suite”. However, this album has Morse all over it, although the main surprise for me was the power of Thompson’s drumming as he is all around the kit, hitting very hard indeed. Bear in mind he is in his mid-seventies, it is astounding he is able to punch like this, while ...

(47:46; Cuneiform Records) Guitarist/singer Chris Cochrane is a Brooklyn-based musician, guitarist, improviser, noise maker, collaborator and composer who formed No Safety with Zeena Parkins and was also a member at one time of the highly regarded Curlew. He formed Collapsible Shoulder in 2014, which included Mike Duclos, and later Kato Hideki, Brian Chase and Kevin Bud Jones, who remained at the core of this recording. From 2016-2020 the Collapsible Shoulder Big Band became an annual event made up of an array of musicians based in New York, with other special guests coming through town, and what we have here are recordings taken from two concerts recorded live at Roulette in 2019 and 2020 (plus some studio cleanup). Somewhat remarkably this means there are 19 musicians/singers involved, although not all are involved at the same time. The recording consists primarily of original compositions by Cochrane, but there are also covers from the likes of Robert Pollard, Fred Frith and This He...

(156:26; Fruits de Mer Records) This 32-track double CD retrospective of this iconic duo contains two and a half hours of music from the band's Fruits de Mer back-catalogue (and a little bit more), with all tracks remastered. Any band who cite their influences as including The Beatles, Arthur Lee & Love, Jimi Hendrix, The Kinks and Pink Floyd (Syd era) will obviously always be incredibly interesting, and what makes this compilation really interesting is that Lake and McLean chose the tracks themselves, stating they were their own favourites, and understanding that while it meant some songs were missed out these were the ones which meant the most to them. They formed the band in 1987, gaining fans in the likes of Factory Records boss Tony Wilson and the legendary John Peel (who used to regularly play their music on his shows). As well as their own psychedelic originals we get covers from the likes of Jimi Hendrix (possibly not one you would expect, “Love Or Confusion”), Traffic ...

(112:29; Cuneiform Records) Recorded on the 1990 Knitting Factory tour, this album features one complete show (DNA Lounge, San Francisco, California) and one nearly complete show (Fasching Club, Stockholm, Sweden) from fairly late in the timeline of the Barnett / Cora / Cartwright / Rupel / Williams line-up. Curlew were a band who had many musicians in their time, with the only constant being George Cartwright (saxophones), and what we have here is the ‘Bee’ line-up with Ann Rupel (bass), Pippin Barnett (drums), Tom Cora (cello) and Davey Williams (guitar). The vast majority of the music is taken from that album, with just a few from the previous ‘North America’ but given there had been quite a few changes in personnel between the two that is not too surprising. Although we are treated to the majority of two shows on the same tour, the sequencing is very different and only five songs were played on both nights. This RIO/avant-garde/free jazz outfit manage to be completely together, as ...

(37:51; Cheat the Prophet) Apart from a couple of guests adding little touches here and there, this album is by the Ars Nova/Nepenthe core trio of  Matt Mizenko (basses, guitars, keyboards, programming, vocals), Todd Mizenko (guitars, keyboards, programming, vocals) and Jamie Boruch (drums, percussion). They had broken up at the turn of the century when nothing had been going well for them on a musical basis, and although they had always kept in touch it was only after Covid they decided to work on some songs again, for the first time in decades. They brought in Brett Kull (Echolyn) to assist with the engineering and mixing, and he was the person who put them onto me. There are not many bands who arguably have released three different albums under three different names, but that is essentially what we have here, but it never seems as if Matt, Todd and Jamie have been away from the scene for so long, as this demonstrates just how many hours they spent together in the old days. What ...

(33:00; Ars Nova) I received a request earlier this year to review the debut album by Cheat The Prophet, a progressive band I had not previously heard of. Nothing strange there, as it is not unusual for bands to contact me, but I realised they had previously been active in the Nineties as Nepenthe, whose album I had reviewed (1997’s ‘Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt’). However, on doing some digging I could see that Nepenthe themselves had originally had another name, Ars Nova, so now I am listening to their debut album from 1993. The 1993 band comprised Matt Mizenko (bass), Todd Mizenko (guitars), Jamie Boruch (drums), Eddie Konczal (keyboards), who all performed on the Nepenthe release, plus singer Keith Watlington. In these days of glossy magazines devoted to prog music plus all the websites devoted to the topic, it can sometimes be difficult to remember that when this album was released none of that existed and the only publicity came from underground fanzines and word of ...

(45:17; Ambassadors of Doubt) Here we have the debut album by Dorset quartet Ambassadors of Doubt, who describe themselves as veteran musicians, all aged between 59 and 65. Given I am a veteran myself I have no issue with a band being that age at all. They comprise Richard Stockdill (keyboards), Steve Taylor (drums, backing vocals), Keith Nuttall (guitars, backing vocals) and Martin McKendrick (vocals, bass) and the album itself contains 17 tracks, which is 9 proper songs with an interlude between each of them. Musically this is very interesting as Richard often plays piano as his main instrument, adding other keyboards, when necessary, Steve keeps it tight at the back, Martin is a fine fretless bassist which brings in that wonderful warmth of sound, with Keith dropping guitars in and out. The result is a crossover progressive rock album with touches of Neo which has a lot going for it as there is plenty of melody and commerciality, but I don’t feel the vocals really stand up to the st...

(77:17; English Electric Recordings [2025 Edition] ) There is no doubt that by the time of their third studio album (‘From The River To The Sea’ was basically a collection of demos), Big Big Train were suffering some issues. They had been dropped by their record label, had not been gigging much (I remember seeing them support Jadis and IQ back then), lead singer Martin Read was moving away from the band and Steve Hughes had already gone. In many ways Andy and Greg thought this could well be the last album, and it was not critically well-received, yet I always enjoyed it and felt it deserved more praise (and in my original review said, “they are another act that has suffered through the downturn in the prog scene, but hopefully this album will do well enough to make them reconsider their position. This is an album full of depth and balance, well-produced and full of melody and soul that makes it an enjoyable jaunt. Nice one lads - you owe it to yourselves to keep it going.”). They did, ...

(43:17; Quasars of Destiny) This is one of the finest titles I have ever come across for a space rock album, I wonder how long Scott Heller has had that one up his sleeve? Yes, this is another project from the highly active keyboard player from Øresund Space Collective. This came about when Scott (Hammond, Mellotron, Synthesizers) met with his cousin Craig Wall (Drums, Congas, shakers, bass, guitars, Rhodes piano) and his friend James (Cow Bell, Shakers) when they came to Portugal for five days in July 2023. The result was this Pink Floyd-inspired space rock album which has a 32-minute-long track sandwiched between two six-minute ventures. Listening to four Scott Heller albums, under three different names with four different line-ups, in close proximity to each other has been hugely satisfying as he has a total command of the space rock genre and knows just how to create music which is compelling and strangely hypnotic. It is certainly not music to be listened to in the car, as there i...

(26:24; Castle Records) I recently reviewed the reissues of three albums by 1970’s band Coincidence, and now I am reviewing the latest release by their guitarist, Jean-Pierre Llabador. However, one thing which is somewhat unusual is that although the album has been released under his name, due to having had a serious a car accident as well as other life-threatening health events in recent years, he is no longer able to play so instead brought in others to realise his compositions. The concept behind this release was that all songs should be 3:33 long, and six manage to be within a few seconds of this (although I do think fade outs are cheating), and the other two are less than 30 seconds out, so an interesting concept (I remember Galahad once setting out to record a three-minute prog song). Six of the songs are guitar-based jazz-rock fusion instrumentals, while the other two are more pop fusion, all with a very Seventies feel to them, very middle of the road indeed. The sound is clean,...

(143:09: Twelfth Night) In 1990 Geoff had the idea of releasing ‘I May Sing Grace’ and ‘Psalm Enchanted Evening’, his second and third solo albums after leaving Twelfth Night (originally only on vinyl), as one CD. He felt that ‘In One Era’ would be the right title, explaining it as follows “In One Era, a pun of course. I do not know if you use the phrase ‘In one ear and out of the other’, it refers to a statement that no-one listens to!”. This did not happen in Geoff’s lifetime, but in 1994 Malcolm Parker worked with Andy Labrow to produce a set as close to Geoff’s original concept as possible. Two tracks had to be dropped to make them fit onto a single CD, and the two albums were made available as ‘In One Era’, but it has long been unavailable, and it is only through the reissue series from Brian Devoil that this is now again seeing the light of day. The cover has been changed, although it is still very much in the same vein as the original, the two missing tracks brought back in the ...

(72:28; Doctors of Space) This is the first time I have come across Doctors of Space, a project which features  Dr Space (Hammond, Mellotron, MOOG Modular, Custom Modular Synth, Nord Lead 2, Novation Ultranova, Octave CAT, Yamaha CS-10) from Øresund Space Collective/Black Moon Circle and Dr Martin Weaver (guitars, bass, drum machines, MicroFreak, Cauldron synth) from Wicked Lady/Dark. Apparently, this album is a collage of older tracks mixed with new more electronic pieces to create a single 70-minute-long piece of music which is broken into eight songs if one feels the need to break the listening for whatever reason (just don’t shuffle). Weaver has been creating jam-style improvisational music for more than 50 years, and in Heller he really has discovered a kindred spirit. In turn, Heller is here working with just one other musician, and the result is music which is much heavier and with more direction and loads more guitar than one would normally find on his releases with ØSC. In...

(57:23; Lion Music) Any review of music by DTB will probably always mention that he is keyboard player with Ten, but for me he will always be the musician I discovered by accident one night when on the net, listened to ‘Celestial’ and decided to review it. Since then we have stayed in contact and I have reviewed all his solo works, plus of course Ten and Nth Ascension, as well as the debut album by his latest project, Darrell Treece-Birch’s Atlantea. Now he is back with the second, and yet again he has provided much of the instrumentation himself and brought in additional musicians and singers to help out with completing the sound. There is always a potential when reviewing an album from someone I consider a friend that I am too nice in the review, as no-one likes to upset their mates no matter how objective us writers try to be, which sometimes has the reverse effect and that I am too hard as I don’t want to be accidentally unfair. Hence, I listened to this album far more than I norma...

(55:19; Iapetus) I long ago stopped trying to work out how many bands I know which include Markus Reuter (Touch Guitars AU8, Live Looping), but when I am sent an album which involves him in some way I know it is always going to be a delight. Add to that the incredible drummer Asaf Sirkis (who is a current member of Soft Machine, among many others) and the highly talented bassist Fabio Trentini (here providing Wal Fretless Bass and Bass Synth) and it is going to be exciting. This is the third album from the trio and given the amount of work undertaken by Reuter it is interesting to hear him say the following, ““This band makes me play differently, and I think this is our most successful album so far. It’s a display of what people are capable of when they meet with respect and an open heart. Emotional, technical, groovy, melodic, storytelling—but always with a light touch. This time we managed to say a lot in 10 highly structured improvisations. The music is accessible but always with in...

(68:37; Discus Music) Here we have the fifth album from Eclectic Maybe Band, a collective organised by Univers Zero bassist Guy Segers who brings together a pool of creative progressive musicians to either play and improvise on his compositions or collectively compose live in the studio, with further work then often taken by Segers later. The physical release contains not only the lyrics for those songs which have vocals but also details who plays on what track which is important given no two songs have the same line-up and there may be as many as a dozen musicians involved in one piece of music. In some ways it is reminiscent of Øresund Space Collective and their approach to space rock, while the way the music is constructed and brought together is similar to the work undertaken by the late Robin Taylor, except in both cases this feels far more earthy and real with less emphasis on electric guitars and synthesisers. In some ways it feels like the clashing together of multiple worlds w...

(47:58; Space Rock Productions) The second ØSC album of the year is somewhat shorter, at only 48 minutes in length and just three songs only one of which is lengthy (by their standards). That song, “Whole Tone Dinner Circle”  was the last jam of the day, after dinner, and they decided to play in whole tones only to push themselves. On top of that, KG Westman was invited for this jam, and he provided sitar which cuts through the rest of the space rock to provide some sort of weird space/prog/Indian/world hybrid which is incredibly compelling and fascinating. I would quite happily hear him involved in even longer pieces in the future (this is only 30 minutes) as the way it blends in with the rest of the arrangement, yet due to its style sits above with its sharpness is quite special. As with all their albums this is music which demands to be listened on headphones when one has the time to do just that as this never works as background music, as one needs to give oneself to the experi...

(90:30; Space Rock Productions) Recorded live in Estúdio Paraíso Nas Nuvens, Central Portugal on Sept 5-6th, 2022, this is the 34th album from the Scandinavian space rock collective who have been releasing albums since 2006. Given that the line-up is rarely the same, and the music is improvised, one can never be sure where the journey is going to lead apart from knowing it will be based in space rock and will undoubtedly be absolutely fascinating. I have reviewed this band since the early days of their career and always find myself playing the albums on headphones and falling deep into their world. This double CD/double vinyl set is more than 2 hours in length yet contains only five tracks, with the title cut taking up both sides of the first record and most of the first CD, as kit is nearly 50 minutes in length. It is hypnotic in the extreme, lulling one deep inside the world of Dr. Space and his colleagues as we get taken on a journey where the rhythm section keeps everything togethe...

(59:12; Instru Dash Mental Records) Keyboard player Clay Wulbrecht has brought together a core band of Rodrigo Cotelo (guitars),  Mateo Ottonello (drums), Ramiro Flores (woodwind), Jeffrey Parker (trumpet, trombone), and Marco Messina (electric bass) plus many more additional guests to create an album which is undoubtedly very clever but not only sounds very dated but also as if it was being developed to a formula. What we have here is a combination of jazz, fusion and even some prog but also plenty of dated keyboard sounds and pop which makes me think we have gone back to the mid to late Seventies, and not the good stuff either. It is mellow, it is danceable, and perfect for late night radio as long as the listener is not driving as that is just likely to cause an accident.   The way it commences, I thought we were heading into a concept album, but that was not to be the case, and the dance style soon made me wonder what was going on and could I listen to the whole album...

(56:46; Drop Zone Jazz Records) In 2016, drummer Karl Latham, along with bassist Mark Egan and the late guitarist Vic Juris, recorded ‘Living Standards’ which took 11 rock classics and transformed them into jazz. Now we have the follow-up, with a expanded band which again includes bassist Egan along with guitarist Mitch Stein, keyboardist Henry Hey, percussionist Roger Squitero and vibraphonist Wolfgang Lackerschmid. It is a somewhat eclectic selection, as we have The Doors (“Break On Through To The Other Side”), Buffalo Springfield (“RockAnd Roll Woman”), Led Zeppelin (“What Is And What Should Never Be”), Eric Clapton ( “Layla”), King Crimson (“Matte Kudasai), a great song but surely slightly out of keeping with the rest,  Steppenwolf (“Magic Carpet Ride”) and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (the two part “Carry On”). What is good about this set is that unlike some others where the vocals have been played by an instrument (often guitar), and nothing else has been changed in the a...

(58:51; Psychiatric Records) Subtitled ‘Vol 3.’, here we have the third album from The Haas Company, all of which have had a different guest musician, and this time it is guitarist Samuel Hällkvist joining Steve Haas (drums) and Pete Drungle (Rhodes, Moog Odyssey, Mini Moog, various synths), the latter providing all 10 songs. In addition, Kirwan Brown and Guy Pratt (of Pink Floyd) alternate on bass, and there are guest appearances by guitarist Sean Lennon (who also provides bass atmospherics), and violinists Jerry Goodman (famed for his work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra), Nicolas Draps, Todd Reynolds, Robert Wechsler, Mark Feldman, and Scott Tixler.  As with their other releases, what we have here is classic Seventies jazz rock fusion with Hällkvist here providing most of the lead melody, although Drungle is never far behind and it is when he really lets himself fly such as on the piano on “In Cologne” where this album really comes alive. Too often the musicians are playing it som...