(35:13; Marbin) ‘Russian Dolls’ came about in 2020 when saxophonist Danny Markovitch came across an old musical notebook when he and his wife were reorganizing their house. The songs inside were written when he was in a very different space, in that he was a new immigrant to America, had only recently left the army etc. Danny realized there was probably enough material for an album, so he spoke to Dani (guitar, bass) and asked what he thought. He agreed, as long as they could get in a good drummer, so they compromised and brought in a great one in Grammy and Golden awards winner Antonio Sanchez! The title was inspired by Danny’s Ukrainian wife, who has some different sets of Russian dolls and had written an essay on them describing them as a vision of ourselves, a collection of different people inhabiting the same body (our teenage selves, young love, married, work etc). This is quite a different album in many respects to what I generally think of as a Marbin album, and in many ways is...

(60:41: Marbin) For a band that normally plays in excess of 250 gigs a year, the COVID pandemic had a major impact, resulting in the cancellation of more than 100 already booked gigs and Danny and Dani taking the longest ever break from live performance since they got together in 2007. So when the opportunity arose to record a live set at Stillwater Studios they jumped at it: It may have been eight months since they had been together but one would never guess that from the performance. They were joined again by bassist Jon Nadel and drummer Everette Benton Jr., Nadel has been with the band since 2016’s ‘Goat Man & The House Of The Dead’ while Benton Jr. was on 2019’s ‘Strong Thing’. Whereas the previous studio album, ‘Russian Dolls’ was very different in many ways, more like a solo album from saxophonist Danny Markovitch than a full Marbin release, this is totally different, with guitarist Dani Rabin relishing the opportunity to really let rip. Also, did you know that a saxophone c...

(42:11; Marbin) Marbin fans have been spoiled over the last year or so, with both Danny and Dani releasing albums under the Marbin banner in 2020 which were basically solo releases showing a different side of the band, and then the powering ‘Shreddin’ At Stillwater’ release earlier this year and now here we have ‘Fernweh’ which shows yet another side of the band. This time they are operating as a trio, so Danny and Dani are again joined by Jon Nadel, who this time is playing double bass. Why a double and no drums? That is because the guys have gone back in time, Dani is on acoustic, and we have a gypsy jazz album which sounds as if it could have come from the Thirties. Anyone who has studied their jazz will be familiar with the Paris-based Quintette du Hot Club de France, which was formed by guitarist Django Reinhardt, but whereas he played against the incredible violinist Stéphane Grappelli, here Dani is with Danny in a relationship that has seen them play thousands of gigs together. ...

(45:48; Apollon Records) Matterhorn is a new project founded by singer Tommy Sebastian Halseth (Atrox, Manes) for which he has brought in Edvin Matthieson (bass, acoustic guitar), Andreas Stunes (drums, keyboards) and some guests (including 8 guitarists!). The result is something which is very polished indeed, with loads of harmony vocals, and it feels very constructed and carefully thought through. That, combined with the somewhat smothering production, has resulted in an album which has some interesting sections, but for large parts feels that it needs more freedom and soul. There is no doubt that Halseth has a wonderful voice, but this just feels too cloying and restrictive. Looking on PA, here we have an album which has been out for nearly a year, released on a well-known label, yet there is not a single review and only three people have rated it so far. There are times when Matterhorn show some very strong Pink Floyd influences, but there is no real cut through, which is somewh...

(56:40; Frontiers Music) It never ceases to amaze me that I can still come across incredible bands and then realize they have been around for years. My initial reaction that here we had a supergroup put together from established musicians, but at the same time it has a way more organic feel than that, so off I went and did my due diligence and was somewhat surprised to see that this is their tenth album in more than 25 years of existence. There may have been some line-up changes over the years, as is generally the case, which means there are no longer any founder members involved, but everyone has been in the band since at least 2008, and drummer Fabio Costantino has been there for more than 20 years, so it is certainly a valid line-up. This is an Italian prog metal act, who interestingly are approaching the metallic side far more from AOR than what would normally be expected. There are nods to the likes of Stratovarius, with a grounding in incredibly quick runs on keyboards and guitar...

(33:02; The Foxholes) Towards the end of last year, I saw a few people commenting positively about this album, including my great friend Olav Bjørnsen who gave it maximum marks. Given that Olav and I have very similar tastes in music, I knew I had to seek this out, and have now been playing it for a while. The band themselves are a trio, comprising Jonah Luke on guitar and vocals, Angel Millán on drums and Max "Mojo" Moritz on bass. Luke is the only constant in the band, who have had nine releases in eleven years, and this is the first time I have heard them. This album contains just five songs, and a total running length of 33 minutes, so quite a short introduction in many ways. The band are from Barcelona, with all lyrics in Spanish, and I must admit I was somewhat surprised as I started to work my way through the album, as I must be missing something as there is little here which makes it stand out. This feels more art rock than progressive rock, as they mix up the likes o...

(34:04; Arnaud Bukwald) This is only the second album I have heard from Arnaud and given that was the first of the “Marmite” series and this is now the sixth I am not surprised to find this is very different indeed. Here we have singer Cherry Pob combining with Arnaud, who provided all the arrangements, on two length tracks: “contes lunaires” is more than 22 minutes length, while “dynamogeny” is nearly 12 (both are deliberately titled in lower case). Here we have Arnaud working very much in the territory of modern classical, combined with experimental prog and even jazz, to create something which is both sweeping in its ambition yet also delicate and refined. It is an album which demands to be played on headphones, so that one can really get inside all the nuances and not miss anything, as the listener needs to pay close attention. One never knows where the music is going to lead, and while the main track is one long suite it could well have been broken into different elements as we ca...