AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST
GRANT MOON has a rummage down the back of the Prog sofa for the ones that nearly got away…
Not an act usually found in these parts, 90s post-Britpop survivors Kula Shaker are back with 1st Congregation Church Of Eternal Love And Free Hugs (Strange Folk). This likeable double album is a full-blooded throwback to the psychedelic times, conceived as taking place under a “badly leaking roof in the quaintly imagined village church of Little Sodbury”. As usual there’s more cod here than there is in the Atlantic, but frontman Crispian Mills still knows his way around a hummable tune and their chosen period, making 1st Congregation Church Of Eternal Love And Free Hugs an engrossing, fun hour of music. David Kovacevic’s latest under his prog alias Dreaming David K is Dreams Of Progress
(www.dreamingdavidk.com). The followup to 2020’s Mr Passive Progressive is another delve into the man’s love for this particular strand of rock. As homemade as the album feels and as limited as Kovacevic’s vocals are, his keyboard playing’s strong and it’s easy to get swept up in the sheer enthusiasm and character on display. Norway’s brilliant Øyvind Holm returns with The Unreliable Narrator (Crispin Glover Records), a highly literate and timely piece about fake news and the stories we tell ourselves. The singer-songwriter’s smart, hip selection of jangly alt-rock tunes comes with a chamber pop sensibility and some pleasingly warped melodies and textures.
Sharron Kraus and Justin Hopper made Swift Wings (Nightshade Records) as a musical companion piece to the work of early 20th century poet and occultist, Victor Neuburg. Composer/multi-instrumentalists Kraus and Hopper recite Neuburg’s words against a spare, mesmerising backdrop of dulcimer, recorder, viola and violin. No prior knowledge of Neuburg’s colourful, troubled life is needed – the combination of odd, magic(k)al music and enchanting spoken-word casts a dreamy, folky earthy spell all its own. The fourth record from Fred Lessing’s self-styled ‘Portuguese transgressive rockers’ Daymoon, Erosion (www.daymoon. bandcamp.com) is a strong, atmospheric set with shades of Peter Hammill, Roger Waters and Knifeworld. Traditional rock instruments are enhanced by sax, flute, fujara and trumpet (from Isildurs Bane’s Luca Calabrese) and The Tangent’s Andy Tillison is a guest on an experimental, oddball, sometimes terrifying album referencing Trump, vaccines, tyranny and other detritus from these strange times.
Ukraine is very much at the centre of world events right now. Doom/post-metal outfit Nonsun come from Lviv, their monolithic sound owes much to Sunn O))), and it’s hard to hear Blood & Spirit (Dunk!) without it conjuring heart-rending images of their war-torn homeland. Their label’s donating 100 per cent of all profits to the band to help see them through this unimaginably difficult time.