In 2022, the Captain released his fourth album, the absolutely amazing ‘Hidden Gems Chapter 3 – Mysterium Tremendum’ which I gave maximum marks to and declared it to be a “review killer” in that once it hit my player, I was unable to listen to anything else, greatly reducing my output for a time. It has taken longer than expected for Shaun to come back with his next album, because he and his family were the innocent victims of a road traffic accident where someone fleeing police drove into their car. It has taken eighteen very long months for everyone to work through the physical and mental injuries, which also had a huge impact on them in other ways, as Shaun is a working musician as opposed to someone doing this as a hobby. Through these terrible times, the Captain still had the need to create music, albeit in a very slow, labored, and somewhat sedate ‘late-night fashion’. Musically this is a very different release to what we have come to expect from him, far more thoughtful and reflective, with less energy, but more power and emotion. He provides vocals, bouzouki, mandolin and guitar, and here he has been joined by Damian Clark (keyboards, synthesizers, sound design) and Wendy Ross (violins). We find the Captain taking his alternative folk roots, with all songs having his acoustic instrumentation at the base, and then lifting them into something quite different which brings in both progressive and ambient styling. What is so hugely impressive with this release is the sheer presence of the man, he has created a swirling soundscape where he is at the very center, somehow imbuing a sense of being and self into a world here that presence is often fleeting and passing. He is rooted, and the music is at times ethereal and magical, a gossamer web of strands being brought together in an incredible manner. At any time, this would be a remarkable release, but knowing what he was going through makes this truly something incredible and essential. The way he moves his vocals into clear falsetto is like no-one else I know, and there is clear direction and purpose, a single-minded laser vision of taking us on a journey, to where we know not. Since I first came across COTLW and ‘Hidden Gems Chapter 1’ in 2016 I have loved all his works, and is someone unique in the current scene, quite unlike anyone else around, yet at the same time he is wonderfully approachable and everyone I have played his music to wonders where he has been all their lives and why they have not previously come across the artist. In this plastic, disposable, transient and permanently connected artificial world the reason is simple, Captain of the Lost Waves is a man out of time. His music is rich, thoughtful, deliberate and designed to last for eons. Like rich swamp kauri it is full of depth and passion, something which people want to touch and cherish, and hold close to their hearts. A remarkable person has released a remarkable album, and the only reason I give this 10/10 is that mathematically I can’t give it anymore. Incredible. Kev Rowland
There are very few bands who have impacted the progressive scene like (The) Soft Machine, who are still enthralling and challenging audiences more than 50 years since their debut. Over the years they have had numerous incredible musicians through their ranks, with multiple different line-ups, and while there will always be some disagreement about which was the best, there is no doubt that the tenth version of the band can lay claim to that accolade. While Lyn Dobson was with the band just long enough to record one track on ‘Third’, it was the remaining quartet of Elton Dean (alto sax, saxello, Hohner pianet), Hugh Hopper (bass), Mike Ratledge (Hohner pianet, Lowrey Holiday Deluxe organ, Fender Rhodes) and Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals) who completed that seminal work and then went on to record ‘Fourth’.
In February 1971, Soft Machine performed two concerts at the Henie Onstad Art Center near Oslo, Norway, as part of an art exhibition by the Boyle family, with Mark Boyle’s films projected during the performances. Mark Boyle, with his partner Joan Hills and their Sensual Laboratory light show, had accompanied Soft Machine on many of theirs gigs in the band’s early years, and this was a reunion of sorts. The set came mostly from ‘Third’ and the newly-released ‘Fourth’, with a few extras—“Neo-Caliban Grides,” soon to appear on Elton Dean’s self-titled solo album; ‘All White’, the only new composition in the set (and the only one to utilize Ratledge’s newly-acquired Fender Rhodes piano); and “Pigling Bland,” which, despite appearing alongside “All White” on 1972’s ‘Fifth’, actually dated back to 1969, having been written as a new ending for the septet arrangement of “Esther’s Nose Job.” Both nights were recorded by Meny Bloch with a tape machine connected to the mixing desk, but it was some years before they were made available, with Michael King releasing the second night as ‘Live At Henie Onstad Art Centre 1971’ in 2009. That has long been unavailable, while the first night has not previously been available at all, but that has now changed.
Ian Beabout was given the job of mixing and mastering the tapes, and an amazing job he has done. The best way to listen to this is on headphones, and when one really has the time to do just that, as this release is nearly three hours long, broken into four sets of continuous music. There are long periods where Wyatt shows incredible restraint and control by not playing at all, leaving it to the musicians in front of him to bounce ideas off each other. There is no doubt that the best way to appreciate The Softs is in a live environment, and thanks to Cuneiform we now have the opportunity to revisit four musicians at the height of their powers, and from their performance no-one would believe that in a few short months after this recording that this line-up would be no more with the departure of founder Wyatt.
It is arguable that the second night has more of a togetherness about it, but one would expect that given they had played in the same venue the previous night so were able to get back into the connections more easily, but all four discs show a band very much at the height of their powers. This is Canterbury progressive rock at its very finest, and Cuneiform have provided a lot of information and photos in the booklet, telling the story of the nights and how the recordings were rediscovered. The result is something which is absolutely indispensable to anyone who enjoys this style of music, as Ratledge and Dean combine to create interweaving melodies which bounce off each other, Hopper does much more than “just” play bass as he provides incredible foundations and groove and then at the back is one of the more under-rated drummers from the scene who was then in the prime of his health.
Here we have a wonderful set showing just why Soft Machine have had such a major influence on so many others and why they continue to be an important force in the present day, even if the current line-up has no-one in common with the one from 1971. According to ProgArchives, the most highly rated album by the band is ‘Third’ (and rightly so), and here we have that line-up doing what they did best, performing incredible music in front of an appreciative audience. Now we are able to experience it for ourselves. 10/10 Kev Rowland
I was not the biggest fan of ‘Monochrome’, Sammary’s debut album, as at the time it was primarily the work of multi-instrumentalist Sammy Wahlandt along with three singers. One of those, Stella Inderweisen, is still here in the project which has now morphed into a band with Sammy just providing drums on this release, having been joined by Jörg Wahlandt (guitars), Julius Stapenhorst (bass), Marvin Kollmann (lead guitar), Ivan Khobta (synthesizers), and Benedikt Schadt (keyboards). There is also a synth solo by Adam Holzman and a guitar solo by Bruno Bolz. When I reviewed their debut, I said they were bringing in influences from the likes of Porcupine Tree, Radiohead, The Pineapple Thief, The Gathering and Within Temptation, and in many ways that is still true except this time around there is more edge and bite than previously.
One never knows where the music is going to lead in that the songs are at times quite different from each other and they can easily move to being quite heavy when the need arises, which does make this somewhat difficult to listen to at times as the only continuous thread are the wonderful vocals of Stella, who often appears to be singing almost half-heartedly with little in the way of force and strength. The result is something which is undoubtedly a step forward from the previous album, but still feels more like a project than a full band, with some songs feeling as if they are not fully formed and could have done with some judicious editing and more collaboration. This is actually an album I enjoyed less the more I played it, and normally it is very much the other way around but let us hope they keep progressing and with the next one produce something which fulfils the promise. 6/10 Kev Rowland
I have missed out on Richard’s last few albums, which were both collaborations but now he is back with another ‘solo’ work. Richard of course provides most of the music (guitars, vocals, keyboards, bass, percussion, bouzouki, Appalachian dulcimer, accordion, melodica) and as with his other three solo releases he has been joined by Amy Fry (vocals, clarinet and saxophone) and this time we also have Chantelle Smith (vocals, harp, bodhran) while Sienna Wileman provides Avebury sound recordings. Wileman describes the album as a Prog / folk horror concept album, rooted in his home county of Wiltshire charting the encounter of a comet with Earth resulting in the undead rising and converging on The Ridgeway (an 87-mile chalk hill walk that starts at World Heritage stone circle site Avebury), all bookended by the last and first books of English magic.
I have been a fan of Richard’s work for the best part of 30 years, and this release fits in well with his most recent canon where he moves between singer-songwriter styles and his film for the ears approach. Whatever he is doing the music is wonderfully layered with multiple threads which interweave to create a world for the listener to fall into. That he is not more widely appreciated and recognised has long been a mystery for me, and I can only put it down to the fact that it would take many musicians to be able to recreate this music in the live environment so when he does perform it is generally in a stripped-down format. I always relish the opportunity to hear his albums and feel enriched for having done so, and with more than 20 albums now available under various guises Richard continues to produce music which is wonderfully enthralling and dramatic. 8/10 Kev Rowland
Volapük were a somewhat unusual RIO outfit formed in 1993 by percussionist Guigou Chenevier, who was already known for being a founder of Etron Fou Leloublan, who became a charter member of the Rock in Opposition collective in 1978 along with other groups including Henry Cow, Univers Zero, Stormy Six, and Samla Mammas Manna. Bass clarinettist Michel Mandel received a master’s degree in music from the Grenoble Academy of Music while cellist Guillaume Saurel studied at the Avignon Academy of Music. Yes, what we have here is an instrumental trio bringing together instruments in a very strange indeed. This recording, taken from their 1998 Polish tour finds Guigou providing drums, saxophone, vocals and electronics, Michel is on bass clarinet, clarinets, taragot, vocal and Guillame cello and vocal.
If one could imagine a RIO avant prog chamber trio experimenting more than one could even expect from that description, then possibly one might be able to somewhat understand what is taking place in front of our ears. I can only imagine the Polish audiences were somewhat blown away by what they were experiencing as there is perfect silence during the course of each song, although they are all well received once the audience gets themselves back to reality. Influenced by Art Zoyd? Definitely, but being taken in a quite different direction. The band released four studio albums during their existence (they broke up in 2010), yet this was the only live album which was a limited release on a Polish label back in 1999. That this has now been revived by Cuneiform is wonderful, as not only is the label the logical home for this release, but this is something which will be of great interest to fans of RIO as not only is this wonderful historically but is something which is simply fascinating and exciting throughout. There is a freshness to this, a sense of no-one (including the musicians) really sure where the journey is going to take them or what the end destination may be.
All I know is that I am now intrigued and can see I need to further investigate the music of Volapük as they walked through musical boundaries as if they did not exist. 8/10 Kev Rowland
Like many others, I first became aware of Jimmy when he joined Spock’s Beard as their live drummer so Nick could concentrate on vocals when he took over from Neal, and then after Nick’s own departure he stayed in the seat. I had seen the Beard a few times with Neal, and there was no way I was going to miss out on seeing them again without (especially as Enchant were support), and that night I was blown away by the drummer I had not previously heard of. These days he can also be heard with Pattern Seeking Animals, but I have also come across him working with Steve Bonino and know that while he is widely known for playing in prog bands there is far more to Jimmy than “just” that.
I get the impression this album was recorded over quite a period of time, as the musicians vary quite a lot with the only constant being Jimmy himself who provides all lead vocals and drums as well as keyboards. Something I find interesting is that Jimmy has obviously decided he is not a good enough songwriter to provide material for his own album, and has instead looked to others, with Greg Lastrapes providing four and Steve Bonino two along with other writers and two well-known covers. The major weakness of Nick D’Virgilio’s debut solo album, ‘NDV’, was the material included and by using other writers it has allowed Jimmy to display his diversity of styles, and how much he feels at home with being the frontman.
Although there are some very well-known friends performing here, as would be expected, this is not a prog album at all. Instead, what we have are a variety of songs performed in a rock/pop manner with Jimmy taking them wherever he wishes. This means the listener has no idea what is going on, as we may be in a world of funk, or something thoughtful or dynamic, with lush harmonies or a more direct approach. What is never in doubt is that Jimmy is a great singer, and it is something of a surprise to hear his vocals as here is someone who could happily be at the front of a stage as opposed to being hidden by the drums and one can easily understand why the Beard came calling. The two covers could not be more different, in that we get an angular take on Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed and Painless” which I prefer to the original. With Mike Glendenning and Randy Jacobs on guitars, Bill Lanham on bass, he brings out an inner beauty I find somewhat missing from the version on ‘Remain In Light’.
However, the highlight is the closing number, Split Enz’ “Six Months In A Leaky Boat”. For those living outside New Zealand or Australia it will be difficult, if not impossible, to understand just how important this band was, and how Tim Finn and brother Neil (who formed Crowded House after their demise, another NZ outfit, whatever Aussies say) are regarded. Even though the song tells the story of how long it took pioneers to sail to New Zealand, it was felt by many in the UK to be about the Falklands War and was banned! Some people concentrate on the middle section of this song, which is the jaunty rock section, but it has an important intro and outro, and Jimmy has ensured these are given the reverence they deserve, with Ryo Okumoto providing a delicate piano introduction which is more direct than the original with less orchestration, but still with the sounds of the storm while the close out is by Otmaro Ruiz.
In many ways this song is a wonderful representation of what can be found on the album, as Jimmy has made it his own, with stacks of confidence. I love it and have heard the original countless times yet understand this is a homage. I sat and played this album three times straight the other day, enjoying it more each time as there is a warmth and companionship within this which only comes from someone doing what he loves, and not attempting to fit inside any particular musical box or expectations but doing what makes him happy. This needs to be heard by a much wider audience than progheads as this is a delight from start to finish. 9/10 Kev Rowland
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