Some albums just come out at the right time for a listener. Just before I experienced a very sad event Jo Beth Young released her own unique blend of ethereal indie-folk infused Broken Spells. After my loss, listening to and reviewing music was simply off the radar for a while, and in her generosity when I informed her the review would be delayed by this event Jo Beth suggested that in those circumstances that there was no need to review her album. However, life goes on and perhaps it was timely that I reviewed such an album at this time as it is balm for the soul. This is jo Beth Young’s thir ..read more

Multi-instrumentalist Kristoffer Gildenlöw has had a long and varied career. Beginning with brother Daniel’s band, Pain Of Salvation, Kristoffer honed his bass chops and eventually moved on, doing session work in his newly adopted home in the Netherlands, working with artists such as Neal Morse, Lana Lane and Damian Wilson. Gildenlöw’s first solo album, Rust was released in 2012. A stint with Kayak and three additional solo albums later, we finally have Empty. Empty is a dark, brooding meditation on the human condition. A concept album in the sense that its songs centre around a theme rather t ..read more

With Australia’s Voyager proving to be very popular at Eurovision last year, the message is clear: Eurovision and prog rock are no longer mutually exclusive! It’s high time that we all got invested in this long-running song contest and hope that it can spread awareness of prog even further. Truthfully, I would have liked to have seen the group perform an ultra-complex song that would dazzle and befuddle audiences (my go-to reference for a three-minute prog-out is Gentle Giant’s Cogs in Cogs) but I can respect the band’s desire to hustle and write a more marketable tune. I think that most of u ..read more

This is the second in a series of six White Willow re-releases on Karisma Records and is presented for the first time on vinyl, with the original cover artwork. Ex Tenebris was White Willow’s second album and has been remastered by Jacob Holm-Lupo, who formed the band in Oslo, Norway back in 1992. The album, following their debut Ignis Fatuus (also the first of the re-mastered series) was released in 1998 at a time when a third generation of Progressive rock bands were all in their infancy, but who would soon begin to make their mark on the Prog scene in the noughties. The classic Prog of the ..read more

Robin Armstrong is releasing an unexpected live album of one of Cosmograf’s rare performances, in May 2023 at the 1865 venue in Southampton (now firmly established as one of THE essential Prog venues in the U.K.) ‘The Official Bootleg’ subtitle indicates the nature of this release, but such was the quality of the recording and performance Robin Armstrong decided to release it. It is a worthy document of a fine band in action with a range of Cosmograf’s material across the last decade or so. Cosmograf’s publicity about this release explains: ‘There was no original intention for the gig to be re ..read more

Featured artists: Alter Ego | Wombat Supernova | Malwina Zero | Oddtomatic Kicking off the ADA section for 2024 (yes… we know it’s April) we have bite-sized reviews of just some of the recent instrumental albums & EPs to land at TPA HQ: • Alter Ego – 砂​城​の​宴​ (Sandcastle Banquet) | Permanent Triangle [EPs] • Wombat Supernova – Apewoman VS Turbo • Malwina Zero – Caminen Bien [EP] • Oddtomatic – Cryptic Messages [EP] Alter Ego – 砂​城​の​宴​ (Sandcastle Banquet) [EP] | Permanent Triangle [EP] Bob Mulvey Released in February 2024, the Sandcastle Banquet EP is the latest release from Japanese tri ..read more

The California music vibe came to prominence in the sixties and seventies. Like most scenes, it fed on itself, sucking in and spitting out artists at a relentless pace. One of the hippest places to be at the time was Laurel Canyon, an enclave that was home to such soon-to-be luminaries as Joni Mitchell, Buffalo Springfield and The Mamas and The Papas. Even The Doors, Love and Frank Zappa set up base in the Canyon at one point or another. This was fertile musical ground, and there was much cross-pollination as members of one band would leave to join or form another. In its recent compilation, I ..read more

Everywhere & Nowhere is the impressive second album by The Round Window. This is a band from Colchester in Essex formed by the father and son duo of Rich and Tom Lock, in 2018 and subsequently joined by the other son, Jack. With David Brazington on guitar and Dietmar Schantin on bass joining the core family trio, they released a very promising self-titled debut album in late 2022. However, it is with Everywhere & Nowhere, released in December 2023, that the band have fully blossomed in my opinion. The Round Window produce ‘widescreen’ melodic and progressive rock but are refreshingly n ..read more

A glance at the album cover, the band name and album title, then perhaps check out the two well known names in the line up, and you will have a mental image of what this might be like. And the chances are you won’t be wrong. Whom Gods Destroy sounds for all the world like a prog metal behemoth, and the involvement of Derek Sherinian and Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal who provide the sonic fireworks for Sons of Apollo tells you all you need to know, right? Well, yes and no. You’ll be in the right ball park for sure, but to write them off as sons of Sons of Apollo would be completely wrong, and do a diss ..read more

Hope is the remarkable new melodic progressive rock album from the Polish band Amarok (not to be confused with a Spanish band of the same name… or the Mike Oldfield album title). Hope shows a considerable progression from their notable 2021 album Hero. Under the auspices of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Michał Wojtas Amarok have been going since 1999, initially releasing 3 albums between 2001 and 2004, including significant contributions from Mariusz Duda in his very early days of Riverside. After a considerable break Amarok re-emerged in 2017 with Hunt, with contributions from Colin Bass ..read more