(154:16; Moonjune Records) Leonardo Pavkovic has long been a fan of the residential recording studio Casamurada to get the best out of improvisational musicians, and in May 2017 he assembled another group in that environment. This time the band would be led by pianist Dwiki Dharmawan, who would provide scores for the musicians to start work with, alongside touch guitarist Markus Reuter, drummer Asaf Sirkus and singer Boris Savoldelli. I have no idea who many times I have reviewed Markus, I think the official figure is “lots”, while Asaf has also featured many times. I of course know Dwiki both for his wonderful solo albums plus his collaborations with Dewa Budjana, while I have also reviewed Salvodelli in the past as well. This meant that the length of the album didn’t worry me, at more than 150 minutes long, nor that there were only nine songs, and that much of it would be improvised. Leonardo has described this as “Arguably, the most important and the most far-reaching album I've...

(68:12; Explore Rights Management) Originally released by the band on their own label back in 2008, this compilation has recently been made available again, this time with three additional songs, including the previously unreleased studio recording of “Goodbye My Friends”. All the songs are taken from the four albums they were involved with for Alain Simon, and as well as performances by the band’s longest ever (and still current) line-up of Nicol, Pegg, Leslie, Sanders and Conway, they were also joined on different number by Martin Barre, John Wetton, John Helliwell, Dan Ar Braz, Alan Simon, Pat O’May, Andreas Vollenweider, Laurent Tixier, Jacqui McShee, James Wood & Dave Mattacks. It is safe to say I am a fan of Fairport Convention. Four years ago, I flew from New Zealand to the UK just to attend their 50th Anniversary Cropredy Festival, have a framed photo on my study wall taken more than 30 years ago and signed by the Nicol, Pegg, Sanders, Allcock and Mattacks line-up, while in...

(114:56; Banging Colours) You must give it to these guys, as apparently “Hallucinogenic Treasures from the Convolution of an Imaginative Brain” is a two-disc compilation of all the recording works of the legendary Banging Colours and was recorded between 1967 and 1969. The press release waxes lyrically on how important this band was in the UK underground scene, appearing at the U.F.O. Club and in Middle Earth, and that Matthias Derer has meticulously searched and rummaged through the archives of record companies, radio stations and film studios to pull this all together. The kicker is, of course, that this band did not exist, and this is a brand-new recording, whatever the release says. This marketing campaign may have got away with it pre-internet, but there is no reference to this band anywhere on the web prior to this album, and if they had performed with the major bands of the time, in the major venues, then there would be something. Once this is established then the rest of the pr...

(41:33; Winterfold Records) As a 16-year-old back in 1979, I used to try and see as many episodes of ‘Rock Goes To College’ as possible, as seeing live gigs on TV was so rare back then. Of course, this was in the days before video recorders so I could only see them when they were aired, but some of the shows made a huge impact on me (I vividly remember both April Wine and AC/DC). What we have here is the first gig by the band of Bill Bruford (drums, percussion), Allan Holdsworth (guitar), Dave Stewart (keyboards), Jeff Berlin (bass) and Annette Peacock (voice), capturing them at the very beginning of their journey. It is also the only time this line-up was ever filmed, and the album has now been reissued as a DVD/CD set. I only have the audio, but with this line-up I am more than happy enough to sit back and revel in what is taking place in my ears. Holdsworth will rightly always be thought of as one of the most important and innovative guitarists of his generation, many will argue the...

(60:17; Melodic Revolution Records) In 2019 Marco started working on material for what would be his eighth studio, then over the course of time the thought changes from the positive to something more inward due to the pandemic. Marco lives in one of the regions of Italy which were heavily impacted by the outbreak, yet still had to go to work last March when no-one knew what the future held, except we all looked to Italy as the epicentre. This has all impacted on this album, which in many ways is his most thoughtful I have come across. He also moved away from using the same musicians as before, which resulted in him bringing in Airbag guitarist Bjørn Riis, who provides lead guitar on 4 of the 9 tracks. When asked about the album, he said “Recording this record was a mystical experience. A year and a half ago I started with the idea of writing an album that was full of positive thoughts. Then in the course of 2020, because of what happened and is still happening, I changed my perspective...

(36:23; Fruits de Mer Records) The initial vinyl pressing of the latest Moon Goose album has already sold out, so the guys have made another limited run available (in a different colour), and anyone into psychedelic space rock really should be seeking this out (also available digitally through Bandcamp). I am a real fan of this band, not only for the superb music they keep producing, but also for their sense of humour. According to them, “the record is best understood as a piece of bricolage held together by a childhood ghost, manifesting in such diverse places as a Vietnamese Banknote and an imaginary cave on the Iowa border. The music can be enjoyed quite loud, fairly late in the day, accompanied by a human sundae machine if available, on board a fungal transport if possible.” So, there you have it. On this album we are treated with five mostly instrumental tracks, plus four micro tracks (“short enough to be used to TikTok videos”) where three are under 30 seconds and one stretches t...

(21:56; Nuclear Blast) There was a gap of five years for fans waiting for new material until March 2020 saw the release of ‘The Ghost Of Orion’, yet later the same year the band were back with this three-track EP of more new material, checking in at 22 minutes in length. Apart from drummer Jeff Singer, who joined in 2018, and the addition of guitarist Neil Blanchett in 2019 (who is not credited on this release), the line-up of MDM has been stable for quite some time, with singer Aaron Stainthorpe and guitarist Andrew Craighan having been there since the very beginning in 1990, while bassist Lena Abé and keyboard player/violinist Shaun Macgowan have both been there for more than 10 years as well. This continuity of tenure means everyone knows what to do to create the classic My Dying Bride sound, and while the doom may be slightly quicker than it used to be, it still has the presence and emotional feeling of a band at the very top of their game. Melancholic, thoughtful, passionate, powe...