New and Updated

Updated 30th October:

Emerald Dawn (UK): The Land, The Sea, The Air (Volume I) (World’s End WERCD6, 2025)
Progressive
Katrina Jane Stewart (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion, flute)
I’ve rated everything the Emerald Dawn have produced so far, and this ecologically-themed concept album is no exception. On the plus side, it takes them into some interesting new areas: the jazz-fusion feel of the opening instrumental ‘Dancing With The Spirit’ is a bold departure, as is the prog-metal riffing of ‘Under Changing Skies’. That’s not to say the album is perfect: the doomy melody lines of ‘While Oceans Die’ feel a little self-conscious, there are some occasional neoprogressive tinges and the brash mastering is a tad unsympathetic, but there’s plenty to enjoy here. GRADE: B–.

Giöbia (Italy): X-Æon (Heavy Psych Sounds HPS363, CD, with digipak, 2025)
Psychedelic/Progressive
Melissa Crema (keyboards)
One track is titled ‘1976’, but this predominantly instrumental space-rock set sounds thoroughly modern in its execution. That said, it draws liberally on seventies sources, with more of a Krautrock feel than their earlier releases, taking them away from their more familiar Floyd stylings and adding further exciting textures to their impressive sonic palette. GRADE: B–.

Submarine Silence (Italy): Atonement Of A Former Painter Turned Artist (Ma.Ra.Cash MRCLP 048, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2025)
Progressive
Manuela Milanese (occasional vocals)
Whilst the slight neoprogressive edge and strong Genesis influence (never my favourite seventies prog band) initially made me think this might be a strong C+, I was ultimately won over by the band’s rich folky textures, clear passion for classic Rock Progressivo Italiano and sheer ambition in including a beautifully-crafted side-long suite. The superb artwork (especially on the LP, which has a gatefold sleeve and insert) didn’t hurt either. GRADE: B–.

Updated 23rd October:

Amber Asylum (USA): Ruby Red (Prophecy Productions PRO 394 LU, CD, with book sleeve, Germany, 2025)
Progressive
Kris Force (joint lead vocals, synthesiser, violin, viola), Jackie Perez-Gratz (joint lead vocals, cello), Becky Hawk (joint lead vocals, drums, percussion), Fern Alberts (bass)
Back to being a band, Amber Asylum return with an album blending mid-length songs and instrumentals. It’s all effectively eerie and atmospheric, with the sparse string arrangements conveying a real sense of melancholy and doom, but I do find myself missing some of their more out-there excursions. GRADE: B–.

Goat (Sweden): Seu Sangue EP (Rocket Recordings LAUNCH304, cassette, with obi, UK, 2023)
Psychedelic/Dance
This stopgap set combines the new ‘Seu Sangue’ with dance remixes of songs from Oh Death to mixed effect. Whilst the quality of the underlying music remains stellar, ‘dance remixes’ aren’t really my thing, so on the basis that none of these versions improves on (or even equals) the original, I’d have to question the usefulness of this release. It’s certainly significant that the folky ‘Seu Sangue’ – the only track not to have been remixed – is the clear highpoint. GRADE: C+.
Goat & MC Yallah (Sweden/Kenya): Nimerudi (Rocket Recordings LAUNCH399, green or yellow vinyl, with download card, UK, 2025)
Psychedelic/Dance
In an odd sidestep for Goat, this 23-minute 12” EP contains five different mixes of their 2024 single ‘Nimerudi’, recorded with Kenyan female rapper MC Yallah. Needless to say, rap is not one of my preferred musical styles, but collaborating with an African hip-hop artists makes sense given with the band’s fixation on the continent’s music. As for the music results: by no means bad, but (surprise, surprise!) I would much have preferred this without the rapping and a couple of the remixes (notably the deconstruction by Good) are frankly tedious. As a footnote, the vinyl version contains ‘Seu Sangue’ as a bonus track. GRADE: C+.
Goat (Sweden): The Human Language ‘Goat’ Tape (Rocket Recordings LAUNCH424, cassette, UK, 2025)
Psychedelic/Dance
Yet another remix EP – this one consisting of eight tracks from Goat reworked by Human Language (whoever he/she/they may be). As Goat are increasingly recycling their music, I’ll recycle my reviews and once again note that the music here is decent but better before Human Language got his/her/their hands on it. GRADE: C+.

Litania (Italy/Serbia): Litania (Heavy Psych Sounds/Subsounds HPS369/SSR158LP, purple and black swirl vinyl, Italy, 2025)
Metal
Elisa De Munari (lead vocals, harmonium, sitar, dilruba)
Describing themselves as a ‘doom/Hindustan psych band’, Litania blend world music and metal influences in a similar way to Lowen – at least on paper. In practice, Litania’s music is harder-riffing, groovier, trippier and more majestic, giving them the edge for me. Whether their material equals their sound is debatable, but this is still hard-riffing, groovy, trippy and majestic enough to make it over the line to a B–. GRADE: B–.

Pic-Nic (Spain): Pic-Nic (HIspavox HHS 11-157, 1968)
Pop
Jeanette Dimech
This charming little pop album is an unassuming delight, with its feather-light textures, sweet harmonies and well-composed original material. In fact, this cam hold its own with the best folk/pop albums to emerge from the States and the finest Swingin’ London LPs of the era. GRADE: C+.

Updated 16th October:

Albergo Intergalattico Spaziale (Italy): Navicomete (Psych Out PO-33048, double, with poster, 2025)
Progressive/Avant-Garde
Terra di Benedetto (joint lead vocals)
True to the spirit of their 1978 album, this epic double LP offers spacy, drifting music that’s simultaneously very relaxing and deeply weird. Often folky and occasionally jazzy, these four long suites cover a wide range of territory without ever really settling anywhere or doing anything in particular. As such, my grade partly reflects the duo’s sheer ambition and level of craft – whilst this is frequently lovely, I can’t imagine myself listening to something this diffuse very often. GRADE: B–.

Ecstatic Orange (UK): World Keeps Spinning/Skimming Stones (Pop God PGCD30, CD, 1995)
Pop/Psychedelic
Elisa Carrahar
I discovered this Bristol band in a book about nineties psychedelic music, but whilst Elisa Carrahar had underground connections (appearing on an excellent Praise Space Electric album), this two-track 13-minute EP is trippy pop rather than anything resembling Jefferson Airplane or Hawkweed. Big surprise, given its locations: there are notable trip-hop elements too. GRADE: C+.
See also Praise Space Electric

Kathy McCord (USA): Kathy McCord (CTI CT 1001, 1970)
Singer/Songwriter
Kathy McCord (lead vocals)
Wild, jazzy opener ‘Rainbow Ride’, with its squalling horns and extended psychedelic guitar solo, is nothing short of remarkable. The remainder is much more conventional singer/songwriter fare, albeit beautifully sung and pleasingly varied, with settings ranging from baroque orchestration to lively country/rock to nostalgic whimsy. She went on to release a second and final album Baby Come Out Tonight as Kat McCord in 1979, which I have not heard. GRADE: C+.

Rawjaw (Germany): Cyclone Cycle (ON/Enlightenment Music ONR 601/EMCD 96113, CD, 1998)
Psychedelic/Metal
Anne Wichmann
At the hinterland of heavy psychedelia and metal, Rawjaw offer 11 shortish, slightly punky songs with just voice, electric guitars, bass and drums. The results are mildly interesting and often quite energetic, but this isn’t what you’d call a profound or consequential album. GRADE: C+.
Rawjaw (Germany): HC00H (Rawjaw RJ-CD 1, CD, 2000)
Psychedelic/Metal
Anne Wichmann (lead vocals)
Whilst operating under the same self-imposed limitations as their debut, this is better in any way: whereas their first sounded constricted, this is expansive, and whereas their first was frankly a little dreary this is highly engaging. However, given their self-imposed limitations, this still doesn’t quite make it to a B–. GRADE: C+.
Rawjaw (Germany): Retrospective (Nasoni 015, 2001)
Psychedelic/Metal
Anne Wichmann (lead vocals)
This compilation features tracks from both their albums and from some rare CDR EPs that I have never encountered. It cements my earlier impression of the band: a serviceable outfit making enjoyable but unexceptional music, meaning I’d like to hear those EPs but am far from desperate to do so. GRADE: C+.

Sirenia (Norway): Nine Destinies And A Downfall (Nuclear Blast 27361 17570, CD, with digipak and booklets, Germany, 2007)
Metal/Progressive
Monika Pederson (principal vocals)
Whilst this is still very well-crafted, their music is starting to sound a touch formulaic, especially with a procession of short tracks that allow little room for experimentation. Thus the problem here isn’t quality: it’s that this style has been commonplace, meaning albums need to be exceptional to stand out, and this isn’t. GRADE: C+.

Updated 9th October:

Crystal Jacqueline & Friends (UK): Smoke Road (Regal Crabomophone winkle 60, double, smoky or clear vinyl, with insert, some with signed print, 2025)
Folk/Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (principal vocals)
The finest cut here is the intricate guitar instrumental ‘Greygoose’, which showcases the elegance (and indeed eloquence) of Icarus Peel’s playing. Elsewhere, this is considerably folkier than the norm for Crystal Jacqueline, with considerable input from poet David Greygoose, subject of said instrumental, and guest appearances from Tír Na Nóg’s Leo O’ Kelly. The results are sparse, eerie, haunting and – Crystal Jacqueline being Crystal Jacqueline – frequently very trippy. GRADE: B–.

Grateful Dead (USA): Dick’s Picks Volume 54 (Rhino R2 726977, quadruple HDCD, with digipak, minisleeve and booklet, 2025, recorded 1973)
Rock/Psychedelic
Donna Godchaux (backing vocals)
The main show from 26 March 1973 is a slow burner: the first set, whilst perfectly competent, doesn’t really take flight until the closing 20-minute ‘Playing In The Band’. Typically for the Dead, the second set is far superior, so the show just about qualified as a B–. The bonus disc, recorded on 31st March, features ‘Playing In The Band’ from the end of the first set and most of the second; it contains some fine jamming and is a solid B. GRADE: B–.

Sirenia (Norway): At Sixes And Sevens (Napalm NPR 105, CD, Austria, 2002)
Metal/Progressive
Fabienne Gondamin (joint lead vocals)
This offshoot from Tristania sees Morten Veland playing all the instruments apart from the violins, though you’d never know it was a one-man-band project from the huge and majestic sound, which recalls both Tristania and Therion. As such, the hype sticker proclaiming it’s simply ‘gothic metal’ doesn’t really do it justice: whilst this doesn’t necessarily bring anything new to the genre, it’s so effectively executed that that doesn’t really matter. GRADE: B–.
Sirenia (Norway): An Elixir For Existence (Napalm NPR 135, CD, Austria, with digipak and booklet, 2004)
Metal/Progressive
Henriette Bordvik (joint lead vocals)
This doesn’t add much to the impression created by their debut – in fact, it doesn’t add anything as it follows the same format to a tee. Consequently, even more so than their debut, its usefulness is debatable but the quality of theirmagnificent, beautifully crafted music isn’t in question. GRADE: B–.

Square Wild (UK): The Astral Lodge Sessions (No label, CDR. with minisleeve, 2025)
Progressive/Metal
Lucy Shevchuk
Modern prog bands have become increasingly adept at making a little material go a long way here, but here’s a new wrinkle: the first half of this apparently contains songs from their forthcoming debut album and the second half demos for their planned second. The main difference between the two types of material is that the finished songs have much chunkier riffs and a fuller sound, emphasising the hard rock side of their sound, whilst the demos are more sparse, emphasising their prog roots. Which is better? That’s moot, but they add up to an enjoyable debut album (despite the band billing it otherwise) that builds old the promise of their earlier EP. GRADE: B–.

Weltraumstaunen (Germany): Weltraumstaunen (Nasoni, 1999)

Psychedelic

Silk Heinrich (joint lead vocals, bass)

This offshoot from Growing Seeds focuses more on the talents of multi-instrumentalist Dave Schmidt, with Silk Heinrich co-writing and performing on only two of the five tracks. I don’t find the music quite as fully realised as Growing Seeds', as side one consists of somewhat scrappy free-form jams, though the two longer cuts on side two are nothing short of superb. GRADE: B–.

See also Growing Seeds

Updated 2nd October:

Corima (USA): Amaterasu (Soleil Zeuhl SZ 50, CD, France, 2016)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive/Avant-Garde
Andrea Itzpapalotl (lead vocals, violin)
Executed as two lengthy suites, Amaterasu mostly trades Quetzalcoatl’s manic zeuhl for something far more unusual and less Magma-influenced. Almost entirely instrumental, the album balances jazz and classical motifs to deliver music of considerable invention and intensity, with the relaxed 'Tsukotomi' giving way to the deranged fury of 'Amaterasu' itself. As much RIO as zeuhl, this is the kind of album I wish Art Zoyd had gone on to produce, instead of becoming seduced by electronica and arts council grants. It’s also a landmark of modern experimental prog. GRADE: B.

Loomings (Italy/France): Hey Weirdo! (Soleil Mutant SM 57, CD, with digital and booklet, France, 2019)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive/Avant-Garde
Maria Denami (joint lead vocals), Clara Weil (joint lead vocals)
Despite the title, the self-conscious manic wackiness that characterised their debut has been replaced by a much more laid-back sound, though Loomings’ music is still unpredictable and highly experimental. This change of emphasis could have been a positive or a negative; in this case it’s clearly the former, with the album being more mature and consistent and far less fatiguing than their first. GRADE: B–.

Nicole Calo (Philippines): ShadowPlay EP (No label, CD, 2014)
Singer/Songwriter
On the basis of this five-track, 25-minute EP Nicole Calo could be viewed as a modern Véronique Sanson, with a similarly slick and commercial style. Of course, what set Sanson apart was not just her style but her truly exceptional songs; I don’t hear anything equally compelling here, though ‘The Warriors’ is nothing short of excellent, but this is still a more than promising debut. GRADE: C+.

Praise Space Electric (UK)L 2 Leaving Demons (Delirium DELEC CD 015, CD, 1994)
Progressive/Progressive
Elisa Carrahar (occasional vocals), Caroline Jarret (occasional vocals), Lia Leenderly (occasional vocals)
This odd little album is difficult to describe: about half-instrumental, it combines somewhat psychedelic jamming with progressive influences and a fair bit of lounge. In some ways, the laid-back jamming here could be compared to Astralasia without the electronics and dance edge, though its defining characteristic is how laid-back most of it sounds. As such, I’m torn as to a grade: this is nothing more than a series of rather inconsequential vignettes, but they’re very good vignettes so I’ll err on the side of generosity. GRADE: B–.
See also Ecstatic Orange

Us & Them (Sweden): We Count The Evening Stars (Withdrawn 007, CD, with minisleeve, 2023)
Folk/Rock/Psychedelic
Britt Rönnholm
Limited to 50 numbered copies, this 21-minute EP features six cover versions (two of which are designated ‘bonus tracks’ for some reason) including a lovelyversion of Trees’ ‘The Garden Of Jane Delawney’. As always, this is delightful, delicate stuff: bittersweet, haunting and extremely evocative. GRADE: B–.
Us & Them (Sweden): The Lights And The Shadow (Fruits De Mer Friends Of The Fish 88, CDR, with digipak, UK, 2025)
Folk/Rock/Psychedelic
Britt Rönnholm
This is perhaps a little slight – the keynote cut is the eerie, psychedelic six-minute ‘Things Obvious To Other People’, with everything else being pleasant rather than striking – but it is customarily lovely. GRADE: B–.

Updated 25th September:

Big Brown Bear Way Out Hotel (Denmark): Live From The Livingroom (No label KMLP 6, 1981)
Singer/Songwriter/Folk/Rock
Kate Merete Israel (backing vocals)
Although credited as a band project, this is essentially the vehicle of singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Samuel Israel. He largely performs his atmospheric songs to backing from acoustic and electric guitars, though about half the cuts have full band backing. The results have an unpretentious down-home charm and are worth a listen by anyone who likes laid-back singer/songwriter or contemporary folk music. GRADE: C+.

Cruachan (Ireland): The Living And The Dead (Despotz DZCD110, CD, with digipak and booklet, Sweden, 2023)
Metal/Folk/Progressive
Audrey Trainor (violin, viola, cello)
Cruachan’s first album with a female member in nearly two decades is a fine set, blending Celtic and metal influences with aplomb (even if they don’t appear to have learned any new tricks in the intervening 17 years). However, Karen Gilligan’s vocals are a significant loss: whilst the use of several guest singers provides welcome variety, the only female vocal is on ‘The Changeling’ and it lifts the album significantly. GRADE: B–.

Filigree (UK): Filigree (IBC Sound Recording Studios, acetate, 1973)
Folk
Christine Jeffrey, Patricia Spratt
This unreleased album is wide-ranging indeed, from an acapella ‘Yesterday’ to a beautiful version of ‘Banks Of The Lee’ that resembles Faraway Folk at their finest to an unusual (and very effective) garagy electric reading of ‘Meet On The Ledge’. However, whilst this is frequently quite lovely it’s not all good news: the band also have one foot in choral classical music (notably on ‘O Bone Jesu’) and another in the pure MOR and nostalgia camp (pun very much intended), as throwaway numbers like ‘Moonlight Medley’ and ‘Lida Rose’ indicate. An archive release, also self-titled (Bright Carvings BCLP012, with inserts, 2024) compiles the better tracks from the acetate with a few pieces from a live cassette. GRADE: B–
See also Sunday Afternoons

Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra (USA): Time/Life (Song For The Whales And Other Beings) (Impulse 4798480, CD, 2016)
Jazz
Carla Bley (piano)
Bley’s final album with Haden, issued two years after his death, shows her firmly in the driving seat: in addition to playing piano, she arranged, co-produced, and wrote three of the five numbers. A world away from their noisy 1969 debut, this is richly scored big band music, with strong classical influences: mellow, sumptuous and engaging, but a little lacking in surprises or moments that grab the attention. GRADE: C+.

Mae McKenna (UK): Everything That Touches Me (Transatlantic TRA 321, 1976)
Pop/Rock
Mae McKenna (lead vocals, piano)
This is a little more robust and a lot less precious than her debut, but it shares the same strangths and weaknesses. It’s all tasteful and impeccable, making for wonderful background listening, but this isn’t really music that demands your attention. However, if you’re of the opinion that Like An Old-Fashioned Waltz is Sandy Denny’s best work, you’ll thoroughly enoy this. GRADE: C+.
Mae McKenna (UK): Walk On Water (Transatlantic TRA 345, 1975)
Pop/Rock
Mae McKenna (lead vocals)
Album number three offers lovely mellow pop, with superb singing and musicianship, impeccable arrangements and a beautiful cover to boot. However, like many albums without any self-penned songs, it’s utterly lacking in personality. GRADE: C+.

Softwire (UK): Amplitude (No label, download, 2024)
Rock
Softwire being Software (and essentially a ‘various artists’ project as much as a collective), this ranges from early seventies-style hard rock (quite a bit of hard rock, actually) to ballads, synth-pop and rap. As such, most listeners will have strong preferences between tracks, but overall this is as charming as usual and somehow just about manages to hang together. GRADE: C+.

Us & Them (Sweden): From The Corner Of My Eye (Mega Dodo Mega 17P, CDR, no sleeve, UK, 2018)
Folk/Rock/Psychedelic
Britt Rönnholm
Another day, another lovely EP from Us & Them – this one comprising four songs totalling 15½ minutes and available only as a download or a sleeveless promo CD (though a single with two of the four songs achieved a full commercial release). Musically this moves them from folk to folk/rock with the addition of programmed drums on most songs; the move suits them, adding further depth to their delightful sonic palette, as does the frequent Mellotron. GRADE: B–.
Us & Them (Sweden): On Shipless Ocean (Mega Dodo DODOCD29, CDR, UK, 2018)
Folk/Rock/Psychedelic
Britt Rönnholm
Two ten-minute tracks indicate the duo’s broadening ambitions, introducing a slight progressive edge to their haunting, trippy folk sound. The other nine numbers are pretty impressive too, adding up to another fine set. GRADE: B–.
Us & Them (Sweden): …And I Observed The Blue Sky (Withdrawn 006, CD, with digital, 2022)
Folk/Rock/Psychedelic
Britt Rönnholm
This is a more straightforward than their last, consisting entirely of short songs. But those short songs are so haunting and beautiful and compelling that it doesn’t feel like a step down. GRADE: B–.

Willow Willow (USA): Willow Willow (Mod Lang ML014, CD, with digipak, 2002)
Folk/Rock
Miranda Zeiger (joint lead vocals, guitar), Jessica Uchs (joint lead vocals)
Miranda Zeiger’s songs are delicate and melodic, with a strong pop sensibility, and the electric backing is sparse and well-judged, with some nice baroque touches. The whole thing has an appealing summery, beatific vibe, but the girlish harmony vocals – very American, very indie – make this is a little too twee for my ears. GRADE: C+.

Updated 18th September:

Babal (UK): Running In The Gutter (Friends Of The Fish FOTF 86, CDR, with minisleeve and booklet, 2025)
Rock/Progressive
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
The musical settings here are a tad more relaxed than normal, both for better and worse. But once again, I again find this listenable without being enormously compelling – which is as normal. GRADE: C+.

It’s A Beautiful Day (USA): Live In San Francisco (No label, download, 2021, recorded 1960?)
Psychedelic/Progressive
Patti Santos
The provenance of this live recording – five songs in just under 28 minutes – is unclear, but judging from the track listing I’d say it’s from 1970 or 1971. Despite the superior bootleg sound, there is some stunning music here, including an eight-minute ‘White Bird’ taken at a faster pace that the studio version. As an amusing footnote, notwithstanding the recording quality the download is high-resolution, at 96/24. GRADE: B.

Giannis Kozatsas & Giannis Petritsis (Greece): Troïkas Polemos (Philips 6331 079, with poster, 1975)
Folk/Rock
Elpida Karagiannopoulou (occasional vocals), Marina Adamopoulou (occasional vocals)
This concept album about the Trojan War features full band backing with some assertive lead guitar and relatively restrained orchestrations. Its charming period sound is persuasive enough to make it a contender for a B– but I remain unconvinced that it has the killer material to push it over the line. GRADE: C+.

Shelagh McDonald (UK): Parnassus Revisited (No label SMCD2013, CD, 2013)
Folk
Shelagh McDonald (lead vocals, guitar)
On her unexpected comeback album, Shelagh McDonald resembles neither Sandy Denny nor Joni Mitchell. Her beautiful voice remains undimmed by the passage of time and her guitar playing is remarkably fluent, However, whilst this is a fine set by any standard, there’s a limit as to how excited I can get by any album with voice, acoustic guitar and no other accompaniment, hence my grade. GRADE: C+.

Elisa Montaldo (Italy): Il Fascino Dell’Insolito (No label, download, 2024)
Progressive
Given the eccentricity of Montaldo’s previous solo work, this could have been almost anything. In fact, this 26-minute mini-album sees her reinterpreting a selection of theme tunes from cult 1970s Italian TV shows. Not being familiar with the originals, I can’t judge the success of her covers, but the spacy keyboard-based music here is certainly enjoyable enough, with a faintly eerie aura, if perhaps a little substantial given the tracks’ short running times. GRADE: C+.

Solstice (UK): Clann Live: The Colchester Gathering (No label, download, 2025)
Progressive
Jess Holland (principal vocals), Dyane Crutcher (occasional vocals), Ebony Buckle (occasional vocals), Jenny Newman (shaker, violin)
‘Gathering’s is the operative word, as Solstice keep the notion of eighties (rather than retro sixties) communality alive with their uplifting, melodic tunes and fiercely independent stance. That’s to be admired, but as usual I find their actual music pleasant and relaxing rather than admirable. GRADE: C+.

Us & Them (Sweden): Based On A True Story (Withdrawn 004, CDR, 2007)
Folk
Britt Rönnholm
At their best – notably the trippy ‘Things Obvious To Other People’ this duo of singer Britt Rönnhom and guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Anders Håkansson achieve a beatific mood of great beauty and fragility. Not everything is of the same standard, but for the most part this is delightful, with a high C+ rather than B– grade reflecting a relative lack of variety rather than a lack of quality. GRADE: C+.
Us & Them (Sweden): Summer Green And Autumn Brown (Mega Dodo DODOCD11, quadruple CD, with minisleeves and envelope, 2015)
Folk/Psychedelic
Britt Rönnholm
The addition of electric guitar to the band’s sonic palette on many songs is a welcome development, making their sound richer as well as a great deal trippier. In particular, the 10-minute ‘From The Inside Looking Out’, with its synthesisers and Mellotron, is a stunning piece of psychedelic folk. The limited edition version of the album included three previously released EPs: 2009’s Fruits De Mer Volume 8, 2011’s Summerisle (all covers of material from the ‘Wicker Man’ soundtrack, as the name suggests) and 2014’s By The Time It Gets Dark. GRADE: B–.
Us & Them (Sweden): Fading Within The Dwindling Sun (Fruits De Mer Crustacean 75, 10”, some on orange vinyl, 2016)
Folk/Psychedelic
Britt Rönnholm
This 22½-minute EP comprises covers of five songs by Sandy Denny: for the most part they’re superb, with Us & Them preserving the atmosphere of the originals without slavishly copying their arrangements. Overall I find the interpretations here more satisfying that those of ‘Wicker Man’ numbers on their earlier EP: whilst that was enjoyable, they never quite equalled the originals, whereas here they really bring their own gently trippy style to bear. GRADE: B–.

Updated 11th September:

Arteria (Mexico): Cuatro Visiones (Elbon 002, CD, 2011)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive/Avant-Garde
Mari Carmen Graue (violin)
The real revelation here is that the band is from Mexico: I tend to associate this kind of dissonant chamber music/RIO with French and Belgian outfits, and this immediately brings to mind Univers Zéro and some of Art Zoyd’s less electronic ventures. Entirely instrumental, the music prominently features electric guitar, anchoring it to rock rather than modern classical music, and there’s a high level of dynamism, but the presence of 10 discrete tracks makes the album a little fragmentary. Nonetheless, anyone liking Univers Zéro or the less electronic end of Art Zoyd, as I do, will find plenty to enjoy here. GRADE: B–.

Babal (UK): Dreams For Imaginary Puppet Shows On The Radio (Melodic Revolution MRRCD22193, CDR, with gatefold minisleeve, 2020)
Progressive
Karen Langley (occasional vocals. devices)
Quite different from the norm, this is entirely instrumental, with Karen Langley providing only occasional wordless vocals and ‘devices’ (whatever they may be). It’s rather good too, with the music being nimble and virtuosic and covering a wide range of rock territory with aplomb. GRADE: B–.
Babal (UK): Spirit In A Meat Suit (Melodic Revolution MRRCD 22196, CDR, with digipak and booklet, 2021)
Rock/Progressive
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
After several interesting diversions, this marks a return to business-as-usual for Babal. I like both Karen Langley’s declamations and Rob Williams’s space, mildly funky soundscapes, but over an hour and nine often barely indistinguishable tracks the limitations of their style once again become obvious. GRADE: C+.
Babal (UK): Who Will I Be When I Leave? (Melodic Revolution MRRCD 22211, CDR, with gatefold mini sleeve, booklet and poster, 2022)
Rock/Progressive
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
This is one of Babal’s more varied albums, adding some acoustic elements to their familiar sonic palette. As such, it’s definitely one of their better releases, though to these ears it still falls just on the wrong side of the divide between C+ and B–. GRADE: C+.
Babal (UK): Let’s Get Lucid (Melodic Revolution MRRCD 22232, CDR, 2023)
Rock/Progressive
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
The presence of a 20-minute opening track raised my hopes that this is might be one of Babal’s better outings, but it’s neither particularly well structured nor well sung. The remainder – two different mixes apiece of ‘Radical’ and ‘Going Home’ – implies that the band is struggling to fill space. The instrumental version of ‘Radical’ and the ‘vocal mix’ of ‘Going Home’ are both mildly interesting, but I still doubt that anyone will mistake this for one of the band’s more successful albums. GRADE: C+.
Babal (UK): Life Is Always In The Wild (Melodic Revolution MRRCD 22234, CDR, with minisleeve, 2023)
Rock/Progressive
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
A significant step up from their last studio set, this live album has real energy and dynamism. It doesn’t have a great deal of variety, however, and I was slightly disappointed to discover that ‘Volunteers’ is an original – I assumed it was a Jefferson Airplane cover and was interested to see what they might do with it. GRADE: C+.
Babal (UK): Live At The 20th Dream Of Dr Sardonicus Festival 2024 (FRG CD 083, CDR, with minisleeve, 2024)
Rock/Progressive
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
As ever, Rob Williams’s guitar work is frequently superb. Also, as ever, at their best Babal remind me of a cross between Catherine Ribeiro & Alpes and the Poisongirls. Unfortunately, also as ever, when they’re not at their best they strike me as listenable but not particularly exciting. GRADE: C+.

Gong & Daevid Allen (UK/France/Australia): 1998 GAS Tape (Gong Appreciation Society GAS 1998, cassette, 1998)
Psychedelic/Progressive
Gilli Smyth (occasional vocals)
One of the more interesting annual GAS compendiums, this features one side of live Gong and another of pieces by Daevid Allen, his band Brainville, and Stephan Lewry. However, the Gong side is much less compelling than the superb performance captured on the previous year’s cassette: whilst ‘You Can’t Kill Me’ and its lengthy intro are excellent, it reaches a nadir on the pedestrian ‘Heaven’s Gate’, sung (for some reason) by occasional latter-day bassist Keith Bailey. The Allen/Brainville/Lewry side, meanwhile, is consistently solid without crossing over into greatness. GRADE: C+.

Grayceon (USA): Then The Darkness (Translation Loss, double, marbled black or cream vinyl, 2025)

Metal/Progressive

Jackie Perez-Gratz (lead vocals, cello)

This is Grayceon’s most ambitious venture by some margin: 11 songs in 78 minutes, including the 20-minute epic ‘Mahsa’. That said, it’s debatable whether this breaks any new ground for them; what isn’t up for debate is the majesty and dynamism of the music here, making the issue immaterial. GRADE: B–.

Growing Seeds (Germany): Miraculous Journey (Pleitegeier PGV 7960, CD, 1997)
Garage/Psychedelic
Silk Heinrich (joint lead vocals, guitar, bass, synthesiser), Doris Sörgel (organ)
‘With Me’ liberally quotes the riff from Hawkwind’s ‘Assault And Battery’, which proves the adage that if you’re going to borrow you might as well borrow from the best. In fact, Growing Seeds borrow from anyone and everyone, creating a spacy sonic stew with everything from crushingly heavy guitars to sitars. The result is one of the finest psychedelic albums of the nineties, executed with real energy and verve. Oddly, the vinyl version has a quite different track listing, dropping several cuts from the CD but adding an excellent exclusive suite ‘Five Days In A Bus’ on the second side. GRADE: B–.

Hobbit House Collective (UK): The Hobbit House Collective (Regal Crabomophone winkle 45, CDR, with mini sleeve, 2022)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne
Bringing together various stakeholders from the Honey Pot/Crystal Jacqueline, this received broader release as a double single featuring superb covers of Led Zeppelin’s ‘The Battle Of Evermore’ and ‘Ramble On’, a heavy acid-rock jam based around Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ and one original jam ‘Wolfgang Does The Nurburgring’. However, a CDR adding five bonus alternative versions of the tracks was sold at a Honey Pot gig in London in January 2022. Whilst my grade may seem generous for what amounts to an odds-and-sods collection, this is perhaps the best album to emerge from this collective of musicians – which is saying quite something. GRADE: B.

Updated 4th September:

Babal (UK): The Big Everything (Melodic Revolution MRRCD-22166, CDR, with gatefold minisleeve and insert, 2019)
Psychedelic/Progressive
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
Featuring one song of nearly 20 minutes and another of nearly nine, this mini-LP followed on from the download-only EP Liquid Sunshine (comprising a rather lovely 30-minute semi-ambient instrumental with no input from Karen Langley). Needless to say, the extra space afforded by the extended song times enables them to shine: this time round, they really do sound like an updated Catherine Ribeiro & Alpes, which is high praise indeed. GRADE: B–.
Babal (UK): Frank’s Lament (Melodic Revolution MRRCD-22181, CDR, with digital, 2020)
Psychedelic/Progressive
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
A marginal case for inclusion, this 22½-minute EP features two new songs and two new versions (one studio, one live) of old ones. Musically, this is rather good, with a wide range of moods and textures, though it’s nowhere near as wild as The Big Everything. GRADE: C+.
Babal (UK): Rabbit’s Moon (No label, download, 2020)
Progressive
Karen Langley (lead vocals, percussion, recorder)
Babal recorded this improvised 16-minute soundtrack to the Kenneth Anger film of the same during 2014 under their alter-egos as Trio Diabolique, but did not release it until early 2020. Quite different from their normal work, this is gentle, pastoral and haunting music with wordless vocals – all impressionistic yet melodic, adding up to a delightful addendum to their catalogue. GRADE: B–.
Babal (UK): Hellish Interlude (No label, USB stick, 2020)
Psychedelic/Progressive
Karen Langley
Limited to 30 copies, this rather interesting odds-and-sods collection features nine WAV audio files (alternate versions, improvisations, live numbers, one old song and one taster for the forthcoming Spirit In A Meat Suit), a couple of live video clips and some photos. The results are a bit of a mishmash, but this is mostly at the heavier and wilder end of Babal’s repertoire – or in other words, the Babal I really like. GRADE: B–.

Honey Pot (UK): The Secret (Billywitch B1004CD, CDR, with book sleeve, 2021)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (joint lead vocals, keyboards)
A picture of Jefferson Airplane, a quote from Robert Crumb about the Grateful Dead and a still from ‘A Clockwork Orange’ indicate the Honey Pot’s secret: they take psychedelic inspiration from anything and everything, rather than slavishly adhering to any particular style. Of course, many modern bands play eclectic psychedelia, so the real issue is whether or not they have innate trippiness. The Honey Pot have it. GRADE: B–.
Honey Pot (UK): The Happiness Explosion (Billywitch B1020, double, 2024)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (joint lead vocals, keyboards)
The Honey Pot’s first album in three years is quite the epic, offering 17 songs totalling nearly 83 minutes. However, don’t expect any kind of high-blown concept album, as I’m struggling to identify any overarching or collective identity. Nonetheless, as with everything this band has released, there’s plenty of good music on offer. GRADE: B–.
Honey Pot (UK): Live At The New Avalon Ballroom (Mega Dodo DODOLP38, purple vinyl, 2025)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (joint lead vocals, keyboards)
Mixing old and new material, this live set is customarily excellent, boasting the winning combination of acid guitar and trebly organ – the building blocks of many favourite albums in my collection. GRADE: B–.

Musica Orbis (USA): To The Listeners (Longdivity 22644, 1977)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive
Kitty Brazelton (joint lead vocals, piano, flute, recorder), Caille Colbourn (joint lead vocals, piano, harp)
Musica Orbis’s blend of jazz-fusion and modern classical influences is unusual, to say the least, lending their music a slightly detached and academic feel. That said, the album is not without its charm and is frequently very inventive, though the more experimental first side is clearly superior to the more conventional second. GRADE: C+.

Updated 28th August:

Babal (UK): The Glacier (Melodic Revolution MRRCD22156, CD, with gatefold minisleeve, 2018)
Rock/Progressive
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
This 23-minute, three-song EP strikes me as Babal’s best release to date. That may be because the music here is livelier and more energetic than their norm, with a welcome spaciness and some customarily fine guitar work. Or it may be because it’s a 23-minute, three-song EP and they’re a band with an established modus operandi that varies little from number to number. GRADE: B–.

Foehn (France): Faëria (Centre Loisirs & Culture CC 4610, 1985)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive/Avant-Garde
Anou Belliard (lead vocals)
The obvious reference point here is Cos, with Anou Belliard offering some very Pascale Son-like scatting, though there are slight references to the softest end of Magma and fusion and jazz/funk in general. Composed as the soundtrack to a modern ballet, this is both well-structured and beautifully recorded, but it doesn’t have quite the same carefree abandon as Cos or sense of adventure of Magma, and the prominent synthesisers sometimes get a bit cheesy.

GRADE: C+.

Honey Pot (UK): Inside The Whale (Mega Dodo DODOCD14-1/3, triple CD, with mini sleeves, fish and autographed tin, 2016)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne
The sublime eight-minute title track, with its hazy washes of flute and hypnotic organ, is as trippy and beatific as the multicoloured cover. Actually, come to that, the whole album is quite the trip. Initial copies came with a bonus EP featuring several tracks from singles plus the live album Live In London.

GRADE: B–.
Honey Pot (UK): Bewildered Jane (Mega Dodo DODOLP 33, LP, white and black vinyl, plus CD, with minisleeve, insert and download card, 2019)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (joint lead vocals, keyboards)
The Honey Pot’s greatest strength in their diversity: they don’t sound like Jefferson Airplane or Pink Floyd or Hawkweed or a Swingin’ London or sunshine pop act but can sound like any of them if they choose. Of course, it helps that they can write great songs in any of those idioms. The first pressing came with a very enjoyable bonus CD Live At The Onboard The Craft Festival, which focuses on the garage end of the band’s repertoire. GRADE: B–.

Updated 21st August:

Babal (UK): Hanging In The Balance (Degenerate BAB6248, CD, with minisleeve, 2015)
Rock/Progressive
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
The main difference between this four-track, 24-minute studio EP and a studio album from the former Wise Children and Babble crew is length. In other words, this ploughs their familiar furrow, as usual with enjoyable though not necessarily memorable results.
Babal (UK): Live At Sonic Rock Solstice 2015 (No label, download, 2015)
Rock/Psychedelic/Progressive
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
This download-only EP indicates that the band’s material works well on stage as they deliver their vaguely funky grooves with real energy and drive. The music here reminds me of everyone from Catherine Ribeiro & Alpes to Talking Heads, which I mean as a compliment, with the only missing ingredient being a few killer riffs and tunes. GRADE: C+.
Babal (UK): Singular Adventures In Post-Modern Capitalist Society (Infeffable INEFF003, CDR plus DVDR, 2016)
Rock/Psychedelic/Progressive
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
The settings here are varied but uniformly atmospheric. Rob Williams’s guitar work is as stellar as ever. Karen Langley is clearly passionate and highly effective. The recording is, as usual, excellent, whilst the whole thing reminds me once more of an updated and scaled-down Catherine Ribeiro & Alpes. But yet again this lacks the je ne sais quoi to take it to the next level, and the term is apposite – I’m struggling to define what it is that it lacks. GRADE: C+.

Babal (UK): The Circle Of Confusion Of Tongues (Melodic Revolution MRRLP-12-002, LP plus CD and DVD, with inserts, 2018)

Rock

Karen Langley (lead vocals)

This is one of Babal’s best albums – probably. The settings for Karen Langley’s sprechgesang are both dynamic and reasonably diverse, yet the more Babal I hear the more I realise they’re essentially one-trick ponies. They’re good at that trick – I can hear bits of Catherine Ribeiro, Brainticket and even Poisongirls here – but I keep waiting for them to break out of their comfort zone and they never do. Initial copies of the LP came with a bonus CD Glossolalia compiling various bits and pieces plus the superb live DVD Bread And Circuses, which demonstrates Babal to be a stunning live act with a very theatrical approach (easily a B–). GRADE: C+.

Babble (UK): Shape Of The Flux (Out Of The Box, CDR, 2012)
Rock
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
The band formerly known as Wise Children return with an album containing several remakes of some earlier songs. As such, this feels like a recap rather than a step forward, unsurprisingly blending the slightest different styles of the two Wise Children LPs. The results are pleasant and mellifluous enough, but given the sense of familiarity I don’t find this an album that particularly holds my interest. GRADE: C+.
Babble (UK): Bread And Circuses (Out Of The Box, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2012)
Rock
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
Babble are a thoughtful band: a lot of work has clearly gone into the social commentary of their lyrics, the intricacy of their arrangements and, on this release, even the fine artwork and much more elaborate packaging. Yet this sense of restraint is perhaps their downfall: whilst their brand of supple, somewhat funky, vaguely proggy rock is enjoyable it isn’t hugely memorable. Indeed, on the couple of occasions they up the energy level – remakes of Tied To The Machine’ and ‘Lady Of The Wild Things’ towards the end of the disc – the difference is palpable. GRADE: C+.

Crystal Jacqueline (UK): Live (Mega Dodo CDCD1/CJDVD1, CDR plus DVDR, with book sleeve, 2018)
Garage/Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (lead vocals)
Limited to 100 copies, this lavishly packaged set combines a 45-minute CD with a 30-minute DVD. Rather wilder than Ms Bourne’s carefully crafted studio albums, this is perhaps a touch less consistent but at its frequent best offers some superb garage rock and psychedelia. GRADE: B–.
Crystal Jacqueline (UK): A Prayer For The Birds (Mega Dodo DODOCD35/SAM 35, double CDR, 2019)
Folk/Rock/Psychedelic/Progressive
Jacqueline Bourne (lead vocals)
A Prayer For The Birds is a game of two halves: the first (side one on the vinyl LP) is delicate and acoustic, recorded without drums, and the second (the ‘A Prayer For The Birds’ suite itself) is more robust and electric. Both are delightfully trippy and filled with charming moments. Meanwhile, the bonus disc Live At Johns Park Studios is also in an acoustic and folky vein, with excellent versions of some familiar numbers as well as a lovely cover of King Crimson’s ‘I Talk To The Wind’. GRADE: B–.
Crystal Jacqueline (UK): Two Moons (Billywitch BCD0001006, CD, with digipak, 2022)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (lead vocals, piano)
That this contains great retro psychedelia isn’t newsworthy: it’s a Crystal Jacqueline album after all. It also isn’t particularly newsworthy that this blends all elements of her style: from heavier acid-rock through trippy popsike to folkier sounds, with some new ground being broken on the glam-influenced ‘Boudecia Love’. But it’s certainly worth noting that this is well worth hearing. GRADE: B–.

Sylvie Fisichella (France): Takk (Arion SF 001, CD, with digipak, 2025)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive
Sylvie Fisichella (principal vocals)
As a Magma alumna, one would expect Sylvie Fisichella to deliver a mellow jazz-fusion album stepping on from the softest end of zeuhl. One would also expect the credits to be dotted with fellow Magma associates. Takk delivers on both counts, offering pleasant, mildly proggy fusion with a decent level of variety and occasional experimentation (including the odd touch of free-jazz) and a cast list including Stella Vander and Jannick Top’s son Jimmy. GRADE: C+.

Honey Pot (UK): To The Edge Of The World (Psychedandy PSY 92, CD, 2012)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne
Jacqueline Bourne and Icarus Peel’s band pursues much the same furrow as her parallel solo career as Crystal Jacqueline. In fact, the main two differences are that Peel takes most of the lead vocals whilst – less predictably – Bourne co-writes everything whereas Peel writes almost all her solo material. The music? Great psychedelic pop and psychedelic folk/rock, of course, with a more Swingin’ London and less West Coast feel than Crystal Jacqueline, partly due to Peel’s wide-boy (and wide-eyed) vocals. GRADE: B–.
Honey Pot (UK): Ascending Scales (Regal Crabomophone winkle 25, quadruple CD, with minisleeves, inserts, postcards, poster, box, envelope and seeds, 2016)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (joint lead vocals, keyboards), Judy Dyble (occasional vocals), Britt Ronnholm (occasional vocals), Cary Grace (occasional vocals, synthesiser, Theremin)
This gargantuan set – 24 tracks in nearly two and a half hours – sees the Honey Pot collaborating with a wide range of psychedelic luminaries, both old and new. Among others, Anton Barbeau, Tony Durant, Judy Dyble, Leo O’ Kelly & Sonny Condell, Cary Grace, Dick Taylor, Nick Saloman and Britt Ronnholm put in appearances as they tackle both covers and originals. The result? Two hours 26 minutes of trippy bliss, wandering all over the psychedelic, garage rock and acid-folk map. GRADE: B–.

Monumentum (Italy): In Absentia Christi (Misanthropy AMAZON 7, CD, UK, 1995)
Metal/Progressive/Avant-Garde
Francesca Nicoli (joint lead vocals)
This experimental album is both very metallic and very gothic, but not what the description ‘gothic metal’ usually implies. Its tapestries of songs and instrumentals (that somehow manages to include a deconstruction of Visage’s ‘Fade To Grey’) covers a wide range of musical territory, with lots of classical references and a dark, despondent theme being the unifying factor. Add in some anguished semi-spoken male vocals and mainly wordless female soprano singing and the end results can only be described as quintessentially Italian: very likely influenced by seventies Jacula and Antonius Rex and probably an influence on those bands’ return in the early noughties. GRADE: B–.
Monumentum (Italy): Ad Nauseam (Tatra TATCD-060, CD, Norway, 2002)
Rock/Metal/Progressive
Elisa Carrera (occasional vocals), Francesca Bos (occasional vocals)
Whilst equally gothic, this second and final album is more electronic, less metallic and considerably less varied and experimental. Nonetheless, this is still atmospheric and powerful stuff, even though I miss the constant surprises of the debut. GRADE: B–.
Monumentum (Italy): Metastasi (Cursed Land Entertainment CRS.03, CD, 2004)
Rock/Progressive
Francesca Nicoli, Francesca Bos
This collection of remixes and odds-and-sods sees the band abandoning its metal roots almost entirely: what remains is gothic, doomy electronic music with lots of symphonic references. Whilst much of the music is more than decent, the heavier riffs that used to anchor down their material are a significant loss, and like many odds-and-sods compilations this doesn’t cohere like a studio album. GRADE: C+.

Updated 14th August:

Crystal Jacqueline (UK): Heal Yourself (Psychedandy PSY 97, CD, 2010)
Blues/Rock/Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (lead vocals)
Aside from a surprisingly effective cover of Belinda Carlisle’s ‘Circle In The Sand’, this consists entirely of originals by Ms Bourne’s regular collaborator Icarus Peel. They’re consistently fine originals too: bluesy, trippy rock with a clear late sixties lineage, fronted by assertive, slightly Joplin-esque vocals and some stinging acid guitar. As such, this is at the very top end of a C+: nearly a B–, but lacking the couple of truly killer songs to push it over the edge, though the stunning closer ‘What Have They Done?’ nearly manages it. GRADE: C+.
Crystal Jacqueline (UK): Sun Arise (Mega Dodo DODOCD 3, CDR, with digipak and poster, 2013)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (lead vocals)
This is more overtly psychedelic than Heal Yourself, with some charming garage edges, and the better half is delightful. The other half isn’t particularly memorable, but this is still clearly good enough to merit a B–. GRADE: B–.
Crystal Jacqueline & The Honey Pot (UK): Electronic Memory (Mega Dodo HPCD1, CDR, with minisleeve, booklet, photographs, bag of space dust, badge, box and obi, 2015)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (joint lead vocals), Paige Naomi Baker (joint lead vocals)
This concept album, compiling tracks by both of Ms Bourne’s main projects, expands the double 7" EP Honey released the previous year. It’s trippier still than Sun Arise, acting as a sort of homage to late sixties British psychedelia and including excellent covers of ‘Remember A Day’, ‘White Rabbit’, ‘Hole In My Shoe’ and, less predictably, Curved Air’s ‘Puppets’. The result is a modern psychedelic classic, with the narration by a little girl highlighting the surreal nature of the set (though some listeners could find it twee), GRADE: B–.
Crystal Jacqueline (UK): Rainflower (Mega Dodo DODOCD8, CD, 2015)
Psychedelic/Folk
Jacqueline Bourne (lead vocals)
Considerably folkier than previous Crystal Jacqueline albums, but equally dreamy and psychedelic, this sees Ms Bourne and her associates continuing to expand their musical territory. She does it with aplomb as well, with no obvious weak moments during the LP’s 45 minutes. GRADE: B–.
Crystal Jacqueline (UK): Await The Queen (Mega Dodo DODOCD23, CD, 2017)
Psychedelic/Folk
Jacqueline Bourne (lead vocals)
Despite running for 77 minutes, this doesn’t feel like a landmark work: whereas the last two albums felt exploratory, this feels more like a consolidation. As such, whilst this is consistently enjoyable it sits on the cusp between a C+ and a B– and it’s only the majestic coda to the 11½-minute title track that gets it over the line. GRADE: B–.
Crystal Jacqueline & The Honey Pot (UK): We Fill In Forms And Mow The Lawn (Fruits De Mer FISH25, purple vinyl LP plus CD, autographed, 2018)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (principal vocals, keyboards)
This collection of (mainly) cover version was compiled from EPs, flexidiscs and unreleased session and returns Crystal Jacqueline to her garage psych roots. The results are a delight, with the bonus CD EP with the initial run featuring a further five songs. GRADE: B–.

Lost Crowns (UK): Every Night Something Happens (Bad Elephant Music BEM065, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2019)
Progressive/Psychedelic/Avant-Garde
Nicola Baigent (clarinet, recorder), Sharron Fortnam (backing vocals)
Crossing the Cardiacs with Hatfield & The North (the latter clearly represented by the Richard Sinclair-like vocals and literate yet whimsical lyrics) sounds obvious, but it’s the first time I’ve heard it done in quite this way. Unlike the Cardiacs, Lost Crowns aren’t particularly punky and they’re also a good deal jazzy than the Hatfields, despite the tricky time signatures, with a faint folky bent. Whilst the results are impressively skewed and eccentric, the lack of variety means that the album unequivocally sets out its stall in the first five minutes, with few surprises thereafter, whilst a few more extended instrumental passages would not have gone amiss. GRADE: B–.
Lost Crowns (UK): The Heart Is In The Body (Believers’ Roast BR39CD, CD, with digipak, 2023)
Progressive/Psychedelic/Avant-Garde
Nicola Baigent (saxophone, clarinet, flute, recorder), Sharron Fortnam (backing vocals)
Sharing the same strengths and (slight) weaknesses as its predecessor, this is perhaps a little heavier and a touch punkier, though it still reminds me as much of the Hatfields as the Cardiacs. Of course, it doesn’t have quite the same wildness and virtuosity as the Hatfields and maybe not quite the same wildness as the Cardiacs either, but in the absence of those outfits the Lost Crowns fill the void nicely. GRADE: B-.

Wise Children (UK): Collaborating With The Inevitable (No label, CDR, 1999)
Rock/Psychedelic
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
Wise Children’s elegant, mildly trippy rock, sometimes folky and sometimes spiced up with quasi-tribal rhythms, is characterised by Rob Williams’s virtuosic guitar work, both electric and acoustic. Their musicianship isn’t always matched by material of the same quality – ‘What Shall We Do?’ Is by some margin the most memorable thing here – but this is promising enough to indicate why they became habitués of Daevid Allen’s extended UK milieu. GRADE: C+.
Wise Children (UK): The Law Of 3 (Ineffable Music WC1002, CDR, 2001)
Rock/Progressive
Karen Langley (lead vocals)
Somewhat different from their first, this consists of metronomic, somewhat funky, rock that creates a vaguely hypnotic vibe and could at a push be compared to Catherine Ribeiro & Alpes without the wildness or any of the experimental elements. Once again it’s rather good, though it’s precisely that wildness and those experimental edges that would have carried it over the boundary to B–. After this, the band changed named to Babble and then Babal. GRADE: C+.
See also Babal, Babble

Updated 7th August:

Susan Christie (USA): Paint A Lady (B-Music BMS002, CD, with slipcase, 2006, recorded 1970)
Folk/Rock
Susan Christie issued several novelty singles on Columbia in the mid-to-late sixties, gaining a minor hit with ‘I Love Onions’, before gaining a deal with ABC-Paramount and recording about two-thirds of an album in a more serious vein in 1970. However, her label cancelled her deal partway through, with three acetates being cut of the six songs. These were combined with two 1966 single tracks to form the Paint A Lady album in 2006, which won her considerable acclaim. That acclaim was deserved – this has a fine folk/rock album, ranging from orchestrated cuts recalling Bonnie Dobson’s sublime 1969 album on RCA (though Christie was not a songwriter) through to more robust numbers with chunky electric guitar. However, the standout cut is the nine-minute ‘Yesterday, Where’s My Mind?’, which starts out as a spoken-word recitation of an acid trip accompanied by organ and drums, hinting towards Catherine Ribeiro & Alpes or even Brainticket, before becoming a fine, slightly psychedelic folk/rocker. Had Christie completed the album and included another similarly fascinating track, this would have been a comfortable B–. GRADE: C+.

Fleece (UK): Music Of The Hounds (Storm SR 3306, with booklet, 1979?)
Folk/Spoken Word
Chris Russell (backing vocals)
Side one of this unusual album is a sort of audio documentary of a fox hunt, whilst side two consists of pleasant acoustic folk by Fleece, again with hunting-themed lyrics. The package is completed with a very attractive full-colour laminated cover and a lyric booklet, indicating that the hunt had an unusually high budget for a privately pressed album. GRADE: C+.

Gong (UK/France/Australia): 1997 GAS Tape (Gong Appreciation Society GAS 1997, cassette, 1997)
Psychedelic/Progressive
Gilli Smyth (joint lead vocals)
Whereas most of the other annual GAS tapes were compilations of various bits of pieces, this mostly consists of a 1996 gig in Lille recorded by a hybrid line-up of Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Didier Malherbe, Mike Howlett, Pip Pyle and Stephan Lewry. Less jazzy and more overtly psychedelic than early seventies Gong, this features a fine selection of classics from the band’s golden age, peaking on a superb rendition of ‘Isle Of Everywhere’. Given the cassette format, the sound is a little thin, but the music is so good that I wish they’d included the entire show instead of closing with a (perfectly decent) trippy synth piece by Lewry. GRADE: B.

Valtozash (Australia): Sundered Synapses (No label, CDR, with minisleeve, 2025)
Jazz/Metal/Progressive
Emily Booij (saxophone)
With seven tracks in 25 minutes, this isn’t the landmark work that Boiling Solitude was, but that’s not to say that it’s anything less than excellent. The frequently superb music here demonstrates not only that Valtozash have melded big band jazz and metal so effortlessly that they sound like natural bedfellows but also a grasp of dynamics and pacing that leaves 90% of experimental outfits in the dust. GRADE: B–.

Updated 31st July:

Stormy Six (Italy/UK): Macchina Maccheronica (L’Orchestra OLPS 55009, with booklet, 1980)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive/Avant-Garde
Georgie Born (cello)
Some albums transcend language barriers whilst others don’t: the admittedly fascinating Macchina Maccheronica belongs in the second category. This Italian band pioneered Rock In Opposition during the seventies, issuing a string of albums (though this was the only one with Henry Cow alumna Georgie Born in the line-up), and here their sound blends Brechtian elements with Italian folk styles, chamber music, some circus-like elements and a few (fairly restrained) avant-rock edges. The end results are very interesting, but I suspect one would need some command of Italian to appreciate this to the full. GRADE: B–.
See also Lindsay Cooper, Feminist Improvising Group, Henry Cow, Officer!, Mike Westbrook Orchestra

Uffington Horse (USA): Enchantment (Sea Fire Productions SFP 0409, CD, with poster booklet, 2004)
Folk/Rock
Heather Alexander (lead vocals, guitar, violin)
This electric folk album features excellent original material by Heather Alexander and lively, if not particularly varied, arrangements. The relative narrowness of the band’s style becomes obvious over 14 songs and nearly 66 minutes, but there’s enough good stuff here to get it over the line to a B–. Ms Alexander made a number of solo albums, which I have not encountered. GRADE: B–.

Various (Greece): I Pop Stin Athína – Zontanoí Sto K‎ýttaro (Zodiac SYZP 89023, LP plus 7", 1971)

Rock/Progressive

Stella Gadedi & Bourmpoulia, Despina Glezou

This compilation of supposedly live tracks (though the audience sounds overdubbed to me) features two excellent garage pop numbers from former Nostradmos member Despina Glezou. Meanwhile, Stella Gadedi & Boumpoulia offer nearly ten minutes of experimental prog, led by Gadedi’s occasional wordless vocals and eloquent flute playing. Among the non-female acts, Damon & Phidias deliver two pleasant contemporary folk songs and Exadaktylos offer a jazzy prog jam with spoken vocals (very vague reference points might include Catapilla and a sort of Greek version of Catherine Ribeiro & Alpes) and a straighter bluesy number. Finally, the best-known act here, Socrates Drank The Conium, provide a ten-minute blues jam covered in stinging fuzz guitar. GRADE: B–.

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