With the seasons a-changing and temperatures plummeting faster than a sheep in a Monty Python sketch it is time for me to actually come in from the garden and write a few reviews highlighting some of the fine music that has been building up recently.

Let's kick off with a trio of Prog legends, beginning with Yes and the re-release of their 1994 album ‘Talk’, the last album to feature Trevor Rabin and quite possibly the best of the three he appeared on, although I like them all and this one did not produce the big hit after the success of ‘Owner of A Lonely Heart’ and the ‘Big Generator’, ‘90125’ albums. Harking back to the sound of Seventies Yes, the album is solid throughout, with some fine playing, as expected, and some classic Yes moments including ‘I am Waiting’ and the fifteen minute ‘Endless Dream’ which closes the album in style, a complex piece split into three parts featuring some heavy guitar, time changes, and everything else you would expect on a Yes album. Of course the draw for this re-release would be the deluxe 4-CD box set with unreleased and live tracks, sadly we didn't get that one so I cannot comment on the merits, or otherwise, of the bonus material. Moving on I was quite surprised to find that Focus were still making music, releasing ‘12’ (their 12^th album) just this year. With Thijs Van Leer still at the helm the band continue to make Jazzy Instrumental Prog that sparkles with life and features plenty of Flute along the way.  Opening track ‘Fjord Focus’ highlights this beautifully, whilst ‘Meta Indefinita’ is an improvised piece (often played at sound checks), that has a spacey vibe complete with rumbling bass and more lovely flute before taking off as the drums, played by Pierre Van Der Linden, come into focus and the guitar takes centre stage creating my favourite track on the collection. Definitely worth hearing if you have a fondness for some Dutch Prog. Finally in this progressive starter pack we have ‘Anam Cara’ the eleventh album from Oliver Wakeman’, son of Rick and an excellent Keyboard player in his own right. Dealing with the Celtic concept of a ‘Soul Friend’ the album has that Celtic influence with whistles, pipes and a host of stringed instruments listed on the sleeve. One early highlight are the vocals of Hayley Griffiths, crystal clear and   soaring, they lift every song bringing a brightness and light to the tracks, reminding me of Mellow Candle or Trees, both good reference points for this album, the tracks flowing beautifully and the whole sounding like a band rather than a keyboard player's solo record. Over 10 songs the band are inventive and perfectly in tune with each other with the rather lovely ‘Here in My Heart’ being a gentle highlight sounding like it could be included in the Braveheart soundtrack. Another album worthy of your attention, if you like this kind of thing, more details from SPIRIT OF UNICORN MUSIC  or   Cherry Red Records    

Not really straying too far musically we come to The Near Jazz Experience, a trio of musicians who have, between them played with Madness, The Higsons, Siouxsie, Robyn Hitchcock, and Alex Harvey, amongst a long list. On their ‘Character Actor’ EP, they are joined by Mike Garson, who has played with Bowie and Oliver Cherer (Aircooled) giving the music a pedigree that could be hard to live up to. Thankfully it isn't, with the title track featuring some almost classical, think Keith Emerson, sounding piano that is beautifully recorded and joined by quietly twinkling synths and weird noises to produce a piece that is more near prog than jazz, but mighty fine. Moving on, we get part 2 of the opening piece, the piano now joined by the rest of the band to great effect, although ELP still linger in my mind, which is fine by me, a rising sax adding to the fun. Over on Side two, yep you can get this on vinyl, we didn't sadly, there are four tracks that didn't quite make the soon to be released album with ‘The loping four’ getting all groovy as it trucks down the street like the soundtrack to a hip seventies cartoon, whilst ‘The Projector’ is a mellow burbling cloud of sound with Mellotron and synths to the fore, the mellow mood lifted slightly as percussion joins the party at the end. Featuring some excellent Sax, ‘MacGuffin’ is another funky groove to get your head nodding the collection, brought to a close by ‘Lockstep’, a slightly stranger piece that has a Steve Reich vibe and is far too short. I really enjoyed this collection and maybe you will too. (bandcamp.com)

Every so often you come across a track that makes you want to whack the volume right up and get lost in the noise. Today that track was ‘Alright Alright’ the second track on ‘Hindsight is 50/50’ the third album from Ghostwoman a band I knew nothing about until twenty minutes ago, but boy did they get my attention with this song, a creeping psychedelic bass riff and some distorted guitar combining to make me a fan instantly and there I go starting the tune again. To be fair the band hold my interest throughout the album, ten tunes that demonstrate rock and roll is not dead yet, the atmosphere like the Doors meeting the Stooges without keyboards but with plenty of attitude. With a Garage/Surf vibe, ‘Ottessa’ is another fave track, volume up again, whilst ‘Wormfeast’ is a moody little instrumental number that reminds me of The Monomen, before ‘Buik’ leads us out with a jangly smile and a bottle of JD in our hand. Magnificent stuff that makes me happy. (bandcamp.com) 

Recently I was looking through some early Terrascopes, and came across a piece from Phil McMullen stating that the Ptolemaic Terrascope had no fixed musical policy: if we liked it we would review it. It’s a statement that I have always taken to heart, and continue to do so with ‘Rolling Stock’ a collection of tracks from 3 digital EPs now collected on CD and highlighting the work of Pawel Starzec working under the name Optimal. Not your traditional Terrascope stuff, the music is frenetic Breakbeat/Jungle/Illbient guaranteed to wake you up and quite possibly scare your pets away. With distorted bass, machine-gun percussion and big synth washes underneath, there is nary a tune to hold onto, the best approach is to turn the fucker up and get lost in its glorious noise. A bit difficult to name a favourite moment but both ‘Get Paranoid’ and ‘Rolling Stock’ summed it up nicely whilst ‘Snare Buzz’ seemed positively mellow compared to everything else. (bandcamp.com)   

Phew, after all that frantic noise my ears could do with a nice tune and luckily Small Town Jones are on hand to provide just that with ‘Kintsugi,’ their latest release. Opening with a song of hope, ‘Better Days’ has a sweet Americana vibe reminding me of Wilco or Grandaddy, the trick repeated on ‘We Alive’ another gentle tune that gave me a Boygenius vibe. Named after the Japanese practice of highlighting flaws with gold, this seems to be an album of healing songs with ‘Go Easy on Yourself’ suggesting that we treat ourselves worst than we should, time for a change, the emotional voice and sympathetic arrangement adding much to the sentiment. Over 11 tunes the mood remains melancholy and introspect, the sadness softened with hope and a trust in change. Beautifully played each song is a stand-alone gem that together create a powerful and wistful collection that rewards repeated listening the songs revealing their fragile beauty over time.  (bandcamp.com)

Another band I had never heard of until this Rumble is Denim TV, a California based band featuring Sean O'Brien, whose music ranges from Jangly pop to power pop, garage and good old rock and roll. Now the first two albums have been re-released with bonus tracks a-plenty, with ‘Skull Behind the Face’ now containing 22 tracks which makes it a long but rewarding listen featuring plenty of variety and quality throughout. Favourite tracks include the power-pop of ‘Can't play guitar’, the lyrics adding to the fun, the frenetic guitar romp of ‘Close to His Kids’ and the even faster, not quite punk, delivery of the title track. Entertaining from beginning to end, by the time you get to ‘In the Bag’ you will have sung along, danced, nodded your head and smiled at the wry and intelligent lyrics. Just as good is ‘Starving Rich’ another collection of quality tunes with plenty of energy throughout, beginning with the indie funk of ‘Burning Bush’ and ending with the moody guitar tones of ‘Never Died’ one of four bonus tracks included. In between there is plenty to enjoy including the Garage charms of ‘Bad Bus Ride’, the folk rock of ‘Embers’ and the jangly ‘Two Flies’ all good stuff from a band that just make you feel better about yourself. My lovely wife Cara was reminded of The Wonder Stuff and that that seems a very fair comparison, give 'em a listen. Released by First Cold Press earlier this year. www.seanobmusic.com

Next up, Fernando Perdomo whose latest album ‘Self’ covers the theme of discovering who you really are and does it with a melodic charm that is easy to like. Opening track ‘Searching for Myself’ is a gentle opener with some lovely guitar moments and plenty of hooks, I resisted the temptation to wave a lighter around but it has that vibe, whilst the rippling guitar intro of ‘Everything Leads to Now’ heralds another gentle tune that drifts along sweetly. Getting a bit heavier, ‘Optimist Prime’ (groan) turns the volume up briefly before ‘Absolute Silence’ takes us back into sweet melancholy once again. After six short tunes we are left with the nineteen-minute title track which has the same vibe as those commercial prog bands in the eighties, pleasant but not groundbreaking in any way although it does go a bit weird around the ten minute mark before regaining its melodic heart. Perfect for an Autumnal Sunday afternoon and enjoyable too, reminding me of Todd Rundgren at some points. (Cherry Red Records  )

 Originally composed as a piece of music to help a friend's new baby sleep, ‘Blue Fifty’ consists of one long piece ‘Night Time for Miri’, split into two parts, written by Joe Shrimpling working under the name Emmer. Drifting, relaxing and beautiful, the music has delicate drones, acoustic guitar, clarinet, violin and soft bass guitar, each instrument mingling and intertwining together creating a piece of music that draws you until you find yourself leaning back, or possibly lying down, allowing the sounds to drift over you and wash away the troubles of the day for 37 glorious minutes. Around the eight-minute mark, the music slowly fades, revealing the sound of the ocean, before softly returning, an exquisite moment found within a wonderful album that is perfect for deep relaxation.

Also split into two long tracks is ‘Vol 5’ the latest release from The Blue Tapes House Band, which this time consists of Matt Collins, David McNamee and Lisa Jayne. Manipulating, samples and sounds, ‘Deer Shelter’ writhes and pulsates with alien life, a living soundscape that creeps and crawls, drones, tablas and all manner of sounds combining and competing for space within the piece creating a dynamic track that stays interesting and engaging over 32 minutes, an ever-changing landscape of sounds that is easy to get lost in. Flip the tape over and side two greets you with the pulsating electronic storm of ‘Sounds Like You're Siding with Doro’ a harsher soundscape that scuttles into your ears, gnawing at your brain and shredding your nerves in a good way for 24 minutes. Definitely not easy listening, but as the music moves forward you manage to find calm within the noise, a hypnotic and restful heart that is good for the soul. Blue Tapes (bandcamp.com)

Time now to hand back to the studio, where Andrew has some more grist....

I’ll start with the debut album by Sykofant, an Oslo based Norwegian progressive rock band. The album’s concept is about the search for meaning and of humanity’s relationship with nature. The drums are jazzy, yet forceful, the bass lines are heavy, yet funky, the guitars are terrific throughout.  The band consists of Emil Moen-vocals, Per Semb on guitar, Melvin Treider on drums and Sindre Haugan on bass. They have been playing for a few years now and have put together a pretty cool album running to 55 minutes. They like to play with time changes throughout and I think they have made a pretty good album, find it here on Sycophantastic records. www.sykofantband.bandcamp.com

Out on the small but perfectly formed Folk Archive label we have three releases, the first is The Eccentric Domain by David CW Briggs, it is a very limited CDr, as are all of them. Label owner David is no stranger to these pages releasing close to a hundred records now, on his Folk Archive label. Recorded at home in 2024 it begins with ‘I Never Wanted to Be (A Bat In Your Belfry)’ a low-fi groover with shades of The Clientele. I also detect Paul Roland on the following ‘The Day Got Away’, David gets to let loose a few lengthy guitar excursions like on ‘A Pox On The Poxy’, a track that’s dirty and loose. Other notable tracks are the excellent ‘Demolished’, ‘Sunlit Vein’ and the album closer ‘Ain’t It Grand’. www.davidcwbriggs.bandcamp.com David has also just released ‘Guitar Ha Ha’ on which he gets to grips with a new batch of freshly hatched songs, such as portentous opener ‘A Thousand Ears Ago’. Flanged guitar informs ‘The Brown Eyed Girl’. I particularly enjoyed the Nick Cave on morphine tale of ‘Read the Green Season Like A Book’. I similarly enjoyed ‘The Black Cat Of Edward Street’, with distant, wailing harp for company. David plays some fine guitar on ‘The Deranged Collage’. The album ends with the Hitchcockian ‘Rotting Words’. www.davidcwbriggs.bandcamp.com The other release on this cottage industry label is by Jessica Parnell available in an edition of 50 copies. Jessica is a filmmaker and the tracks included here were made specifically to accompany her video art and performance, spoken word snippets and library music would appear to be the order of the day, and this disc may suffer from being divorced from its art: it is not easy listening, unsettling and disconcerting, at various points I thought that maybe the CD had got stuck. It’s challenging and for me a bit too outre.   www.davidcwbriggs.bandcamp.com

Up next is a new album by Mean Mary ‘Woman Creature Portrait of A Woman, Part Two’. This album is her 19^th studio release; she recorded her first album at age 6. She is highly proficient on the banjo, although we won’t hold that against her, and also a fine songwriter and singer with a distinctive vibrato, ala Joan Baez and a hell of a range.  On this album she plays five and six string banjo, acoustic and electric guitar, violin, oh and castanets. The album opens with a very strong song in ‘Revenge’, and then comes the fun title track ‘Women Creature’. ‘Tarzan’ is an interesting song; she is lying in bed dreaming of a loin clothed man of the wilds. A lengthy, murder ballad in ‘Murder Creek’, is fairly epic, don’t go down to the woods today, a murder ballad that stretches to well over twenty verses! I enjoyed this album a lot and will be investigating further. www.meanmary.com

One thing that has remained constant since I took over the Rumbles column has been new releases from the excellent Sound In Silence label. Each of their discs is hand-made, adorned with photographs on the covers, which lend a uniformed feel to them, and all are limited to a few hundred copies or so. Memory Drawings ‘Deathbed Requests’ is the second release on the label for this English, American and Australian band led by hammered dulcimer player Joel Hansen, it’s instrumental throughout, firmly in the post rock genre and has a lovely organic sound, where violins dance over a bed of hammered dulcimer, electric guitar washes, underpinned by deep cello and bass, it rocks out a bit more than I expected, it was also mastered by Simon Scott (Slowdive). The Green Kingdom have another instrumental album out on the label entitled ‘Arcadian.’ It was released in the spring of this year and has been played many times since its arrival. The Green Kingdom is the project of Michael Cottone. Based in Michigan, Michael is a sound artist and graphic designer which becomes apparent once you immerse yourself in his sound world, tracks lazily build and fade adding instruments to create an album of floating ambience and epic soundscapes, dreamy tracks such as ‘Forgotten Futures’, ‘Silent Stars Above’ and ‘Arcadian Skies’. ‘For Years’ is the new album by Panoptique Electrical, the project of Jason Sweeney. Jason composed, played and produced the album in his native Australia. This is his fifth release for the label and it is quite the immersive listen. It starts with ‘For Oceans’, a dense, deep track which sets the tone for the album. The standalone album is actually part of a much bigger project called Ageism which traverses ideas of what it means to grow older. The last album to be reviewed by the label here is JARR with ‘All These Passed Lives’. JARR is collaboration between John Attwood and Ray Robinson, hence the name. For this latest record they get to grips with each other’s composition, reimagining and rearranging them; they also add new themes and melodies creating fresh, innovative music. This is their fourth release, the third for the label. Again it is instrumental and in the post rock genre; highlights for me were ‘Cartographer Maps a Wa’, ‘Fever’, ‘Sine’ and album closer ‘There’s A Girl Who Lives In The Woods’.  Find them here at www.soundinsilence.bandcamp.com

A new sassy country singer songwriter who reminds me instantly of a young Dolly Parton India Ramey has released her debut album ‘Baptized by the Blaze’, she writes and sings throughout, ably assisted by her band which consists of Seth Taylor on acoustic and James Mitchell on electric lead guitar, Tommy Harden plays the drums and Alison Prestwood handles the bass, with Scotty Sanders playing some excellent pedal steel guitar. Things explode out of the gate with ‘Ain’t My First Rodeo’, the title track has lovely loping western sound, ‘Silverado’ is another winner, I feel she is destined for great things, as it is an infectious listen and one I have played plenty of times since it arrived late, last month. The first three tracks are taken at a hell of a lick but the ballads ‘Piece Of My Mind’ and ‘It Could Have Been Me’ are also noteworthy. Other highlights for me are ‘She Ain’t Never Coming Home’, the cool rockin’ ‘Never Going Back’, and album closer ‘Go On Git’.

British Columbian singer-songwriter Jack Garton has just put out a new album ‘Original Skin’. He has been plying his brand of trumpet and accordion roots music for a good number of years, recording three full length albums and playing plenty of shows along the way. He also came over here for a few dates in late July/August. To my ears he sounds l bit like Elvis Costello, he was a part of a few bands Viper Central, Blue Moon Marquee and Petunia & The Vipers. His songs have a short story kind of feel, mini novels if you like. As well as trumpet and accordion he plays Piano, Fender Rhodes, classical and acoustic guitars, mellophone and secret reeds, he is joined by Jodie Ponto - drums, Noah Walker – electric and acoustic guitar, Steve Charles - upright and electric bass and baritone guitar with Corwin Fox adding backing vocals and emotional support.  The album has touches of rockabilly evident in instrumental ‘Stovetop Coffee’. It starts with the blue-eyed soul stirrer ‘Watching Kurosawa’, there’s some clever wordplay in ‘Western Shirt’. Dion would be another touchpoint, evident in ‘Good Times’. ‘Berkeley In the Springtime’, is an infectious sunny song, and ‘Hey Grandad’ ‘Don’t Feel at Home’ rock out more. It’s a pretty decent album, all around. find it here: www.jackgarton.com

Emily Haden Lee ‘The Woman I Would Be’. Emily grew up in Missouri, evident in ‘Will You Set Me Free’. Soaking up the influences of country-folk music loving parents, she took piano lessons from an early age and much later the guitar, although she doesn’t play piano on the album. Her influences are classic singer songwriters like Eva Cassidy, Patty Griffin and Allison Kraus.  This is a charming country folk record and also her debut and it shows an artist in thrall to her craft. She is joined by her husband Alex Lee, who plays guitar, harmonica and sings, plus Chicago musician Steve Dawson playing lap steel, electric guitar, keyboards, bass and drums. The lyrics talk of small-town America, about families, desire, longing, dreamers and of escape. I also like her singing, not over emotive, pure and untrammelled. [This is one of my favourite new releases as well – Phil] www.emilyhadenlee.bandcamp.com

Mind Control System ‘Blackacid’ - (Remixed) Mind Control System are a duo consisting of Kev McGuire – vocals, guitar, electronics, samples and saxophone and Dave Robinson – synths, drums, guitars, bass, samples and backing vocals from Manchester. It consists of four lengthy tracks and was originally released in 2021 and taking its influences from such disparate acts such as Throbbing Gristle, Gnod and Hawkwind. The lead off track ‘Pulse’, includes a narration from Japanese author Kenji Siratori. They were not completely happy with how the debut sounded and so decided rather than record a new album that they would do justice to Black Acid, cleaning up the sound making it more accessible with a clearer tighter sound. ‘Medicate’ is a dense, jazz noir piece which ups the pace half way in with a great Hawkwind style riff. The title track ‘Black Acid’, is a trippy, nightmare of a song which floats and drifts about the firmament, with much clanging and skronking, imbued with echoing pulses. The album ends with the lengthiest track ‘Manipulate’ a track to get lost in, it builds and builds to a climax of dystopian, kraut-influenced psych rock. www.mindcontrolsystem.bandcamp.com    

Conveniens ‘Victims Of Convenience’, this is the second album by a band which was active for a few years at the end of the eighties, it was originally released in 1986 and here it gets a deluxe expanded edition, adding another three bonus tracks and a single edit in the form of ‘Commercial Dance Song’, It is part funk, part jazz, part electronica and part experimental. The instrumental duo of John Maz and Sterling Smith coming on like some kind of progressive rock crossed with elements of industrial and ambient sounds. They have also re-mastered their self titled debut album too, find them here at  conveniens@hotmail.com

The Bluest Sky ‘Raindancer.’ This is the project of The Bean Picker’s Union Chuck Melchin, following on from the debut ‘Maximum Volume’. Raindancer picks up where that one left off, he recruits Andy Santospago, Mike Giordano, Gary Goodlow and Jabe Beyer on guitar, Rick Cranford drums, Duncan Watt Piano and organ, and Dave Breen bass. It was recorded at the home of Dave Westner who also plays bass. It’s a pretty good album, ‘This Is What Poets Mean’ with drifting organ and delicate mandolin is an early highlight, as is the stinging guitar in ‘Girl From My Building’. For a reference point he sounds a little like Jonathan Richmond, or perhaps Dan Stuart, certainly Green On Red and Long Ryders territory. Other highlights are ‘Crop Circles’ ‘The Weight Of Being’ and  ‘Smuggling’, guitars crunch when required, like on ‘Queen Of The Sick Burn’ and the whole thing choogles along nicely, good stuff. www.thebluestsky.bandcamp.com

Grey DeLisle - ‘Driftless Girl.’  Grey is one busy lady; she recently became co-host on a brand new musical variety show along with Asleep At The Wheel’s Ray Benson, she has three more album projects in the works, with Andy Paley, Marvin Etzioni and John Carter Cash, but has found time to make another album. To my ears she is another artist that sounds a bit like Dolly Parton [c/f India Ramey, above] and she also covers ‘Down From Dover’ here. The title track ‘Driftless Girl’ is pure country folk, delicate and forlorn, other highlights for me are ‘The Ballad Of Ella Mae’, a desperate tale of woe, and the toe tapper ‘Little ‘Ol While’. She also duets on the aforementioned ‘The Ballad Of Ella Mae’ and on ‘Mama’s Little Rose’ with the producer of the album, Jolie Holland. www.greydelisle.com

We like Mark and The Clouds here at the Terrascope, so I was pleased to receive a new album from them. Their last one was great and I am happy to report that this new one continues in the same vein. It starts with the super-catchy ‘What Happened To the Future’ then follow a series of songs featuring such exotic instruments as sitar, the Beatles-esque ‘Graves For You And I’ being a case in point.  The band are Marco Magnani vocals, guitars, keyboards, bouzouki, John O’Sullivan on bass, pedal steel and backing vocals along with Shin Okajima drums, cajon and percussion and it was recorded at Cloud 10 studio, London. Love the dirty guitar sound achieved in ‘The World Is Falling’ a fine rousing song indeed. A few horn players were also called upon to add their services and duly arrive on track five, ‘Soul of Nature’. ‘The Shadow’ has some biting lead guitar breaks and a sixties vibe, I particularly like ‘In the Blink of An Eye’ with its sixties tropes, like backwards guitars. Other notable songs are the wistful, slide guitar infested ‘The Cry of The Wind’, the wah-wah imbued ‘Swearing at The Moon’, and the epic album closer ‘The Age Of Clowns’. The CD version comes with a couple of bonus tracks ‘Robotic Man’ and ‘Two Minds in My Head’. It’s out on the Gard Du Nord record label www.garedunordrecords.co.uk

Michael McDermott Lighthouse ‘On The Shore/ East Jesus’. Out now on Michael’s own label Pauper Sky Records is this intriguing album, well two albums really in one set, one disc acoustic and the other electric. Another Chicago based singer-songwriter; there must be something in the water. For the quiet one he enlists Heather Lynn Horton on Fiddle and vocals, Will Kimbrough guitar, banjo and mandola, John Deadrick piano, Matt Thompson upright bass and Katie Burns cello. For the electric one John Deadrick switches to organ, Omnichord and keyboards, Grant Tye handles the guitar along with Will and Steve Gillis plays drums. Michael plays guitar, piano, bass and sings throughout.

Of the discs my preference is for the electric one, but with time who knows maybe I’ll love the acoustic one more, it certainly sounds pretty good, strong narrative driven songs delivered with slightly hushed vocals, particularly effective on ‘Lighthouse on The Shore’ and the beautiful ‘Where God Never Goes’. The electric one begins with the anthemic ‘FCO’ and ‘Berlin at Night’, ‘Head Full Of Rain’ slows things down a bit before an impassioned ‘East Jesus’. Anchored by cello, it is a song about temptation and addiction. ‘Lost Paradise’, has some wonderful guitar breaks and pleasing piano. Over-emoting in a song is something I am not fond of and Michael comes close to doing so on a few of these anthemic rock songs, however I know lots of people who love that kind of thing, so I am probably in the minority here. ‘Quicksand’ is also a fine, well observed rocker of a song; the album ends with a piano led ballad ‘Whose Life Am I Living’.

The Fugitives ‘No Help Coming.’  Canadian band The Fugitives attempt to take a deadly serious subject, one of climate emergency, for their sixth full length album, and try to engage us with a playful record of songs with the concept at its heart. The Fugitives are Adrian Glynn vocals, guitar, balalaika, and bass, Brendan McLeod vocals and guitars, Carly Frey vocals and violin and Chris Suen vocals, banjo and ukulele. They handle all the instrumentation, bar some added organ, percussion and drums and all sing lead at some point. They are no strangers to a concept: their previous album was about WW1 poems entitled ‘Trench Songs’. Preachy songs are always going to be a tough balancing act but they do a good job here, it helps that they are all great musicians and singers and they complement one another well. It’s an acoustic country folk record with strong vocals and memorable songs and if that sounds like your kind of thing then you would do well to investigate further. www.fugitives.ca

Martin Harley - ‘Morning Sun’.  Ace guitar player Martin Harley has a new record out, always something to look forward to, he plays Weissenborn, resonator, acoustic and electric lap steel and sings accompanied by Nigel Stonier (who also produced the record) on additional guitars, keyboards, bass, ukulele, dulcimer and vocals, along with Mark Lewis upright bass, Luke Shenton drums, Michael Blair percussion, C J Hillman pedal steel, Paddy Milner piano and Clive Mellor harmonica. It starts with the title track, utilising a tempo based on Martin’s walking pace. It is a relaxed sounding album, much in the way of say a J J Cale album, with no sharp edges. Martin has a very warm, natural, relaxed style of singing the country blues. He follows this with ‘Wolves’, invested with a lovely slide guitar solo and twinkling piano. Along the way he takes in the reflective ‘48’ about the number of years he has been on the planet, ‘The Best is Yet to Come’ also mines a similar seam, looking forward and also of seeing how far he has come, it also has some tremendous, heavily amped blues harp. ‘Lemonade’, sounds a bit like ‘ol lazy Leon Redbone, it also has some fine piano from Paddy Milner, ‘Stranger’ is a terrific atmospheric, slow blues song. Standout track on the album is ‘Shotgun & a Shovel’, it features Martin on Weissenborn guitar and C J Hillman on pedal steel guitar. The album ends with ‘Kite’, a song of gratitude and love for his daughters.  www.martinharley.com

Mark Brown ‘Happy Hour Uncle Buckles.’ Mark Brown delivers his third solo album, his distinctive, gruff vocals are framed on a strong batch of songs by a few of his trusted long-time musical friends, Ken McGloin on guitar, Mark Murphy on bass, Dean Sharp on drums, Dean Jones playing keyboards, banjo and vocals, Dakota Holden pedal steel guitar and Katie Mullins adds vocals, Mark plays guitar and sings. The album is firmly in the absolutely vast Americana genre, populated by songs of misfits and drifters, of dusty roads, Inertia and drugs. I’m reminded of artists like Greg Brown and John Prine; especially for his playful slacker humour, ‘Gasoline Hands’ has a nice calypso thing going on with it, ‘Acetone’ features some tasty organ and exotic rhythms, ‘Happy Hour’ has some great guitar and ‘Davenport’ celebrates the sloth in all of us, this is a fine album, it breezes by in just over half an hour. www.unclebuckle.com

So that’s it for now, I hope that you find something that tickles your fancy amongst these reviews, happy trails........

Rumbles is written and produced by Andrew Young, with contributions from Simon Lewis.

Graphics, editing and production: Phil McMullen © Terrascope Online, October 2024