Opinion
I thought it might be fun to place all my music, book and tech type reviews under one banner. Hence OPINION. Use the main menu to find specific sections you might be interested in.
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Rhapsody Sweden – Strange Vibrations
Many years ago, more than I care to remember, I heard a song on the radio called Belly Dancer. I loved it straight away and managed to record most of it to cassette. DJs being DJs, I never got to find out who it was by. As the years passed,…
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Public Service Broadcasting – The War Room (2012)
I saw this band in concert on the BBC a few weeks ago and I was severely impressed. They were a trio playing various guitars, drums, keyboards and DJ type stuff. The only ‘vocals’, if you could call it that, were to be found in the spoken word samples from…
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Spock’s Beard – Live At Sea (2014)
Here we are with yet another entry in the Beard’s live album discography. This differs from the others as it was recorded on a boat(!): the so-called Progressive Nation at Sea cruise and also features a certain Neal Morse on June and The Light. The album features a good mix…
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The Wrong Object – After the Exhibition (2013)
Belgian band The Wrong Object have released a new album entitled After the Exhibition. It is very much cast in the mould of Soft Machine around the time of Bundles and Softs, both of which are excellent fusion albums. Anyway, The Wrong Object play a kind of prog/fusion hybrid with…
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Syd Arthur – Moving World EP (2012)
Just discovered this band and picked up the EP at Bandcamp (where else?!). There are four tracks and you could describe it as Psychedelic/Canterbury inspired prog rock. Sort of. Regardless of what you choose to call it, though, it is well written, beautifully played and quirkily sung. The last track is…
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Big Big Train: Make Some Noise EP (2013)
Big Big Train have re-released their previous two albums English Electric Part One and English Electric Part Part Two (both unmitigated works of genius) as one album called English Electric Full Power with 4 bonus tracks + 96 page booklet. So one doesn’t feel obliged to have to buy them all…
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Blood Ceremony: the Eldritch Dark (2013)
This is the Canadian band’s third album and, I think, their best. Fusing seventies hard rock with some progressive flourishes – like a mixture of Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Curved Air and a dash of Fairport Convention, not to mention the overt paganism of the lyrics – the band have produced…
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Gordon Giltrap and Oliver Wakeman – Ravens & Lullabies (2013)
This is the first electric album from Giltrap in many years. On Ravens & Lullabies he has partnered with Oliver Wakeman and together they have concocted a delightful semi-prog rock record. By semi, I mean if you like Alan Parsons Project and Kayak, then this is right up your street.…
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Andy Burrows: Company
Artist / Title: Andy Burrows: Company (2012) Month Reviewed: June 2013 Format: CD Well, here is an album that has the words ‘pleasant surprise’ written all over it! Andy Burrows was the drummer in Razorlight, a UK indie/rock band that I had little time for. Anyway, here he is with his second solo album,…