Progressive Rock charts

Review: Measured Mile is a new 7" label run by regular Ace consultant and confidante Bob Stanley. The plan is to release DJ-friendly 45s that are either very rare or previously unavailable on seven-inch. On this new one come two pieces from esteemed library musicians - the well known pairing of Alan Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett, and Dave Richmond. 'Name Of The Game' is a slow instrumental blues piece with beats ready to be plundered for hip-hop beats that once soundtracked a 1970s aftershave ad, while Richmond's 'Confunktion' is a motivational builder-upper with drums and organs aplenty.

Review: Fabled jazz-rock group Soft Machine present this heartfelt tribute to one of the greats of British jazz - trumpeter Harry Beckett - covering his stunning 'The Dew At Dawn' on this limited edition 7" vinyl, with a cover of a classic Softs tune on the B-side. This is the second 7" in My Only Desire Records' Brit Jazz 45s series, which sees some of their favourite contemporary jazz acts each making brand new studio recordings of two classic compositions from the golden era of 60s and 70s British jazz.

Review: Pulled from the earliest days of The Soft Machine when they were closer to a psychedelic rock band than a tripped-out jazz concern, Universal Japan have reproduced a very limited single version of 'Why Are We Sleeping?'. The song itself is still a nebulous, twisting and turning freak ride riding on a satisfyingly heavy rhythm section, embellished with organs and following droll poetry to the pure 60s burst of the chorus, as masterful now as it was mind-blowing back in 1968. On the B-side, 'Joy Of A Toy' is a subtly funky affair laced with languid wah wah guitar and artful dynamic shifts from the mellow beginnings to a rollicking beatdown by the crescendo, and all in under three minutes. Collectors will especially enjoy the Japanese artwork on this unique single, but just having these two gems on a handy 7" is worth the price of entry alone.

Review: Estonian rock band Centre El Muusa hail from Tallinn and in vitally started out as experimental electronic duo Centre Electronique Muusa before evolving into the current set up in 2018. They have dropped a couple of tasty albums since 2020 and now contain with their explorations and fusions of the worlds of jazz, rock, folk, world and country with hints of kraut on the new 7" for Funk Night. 'Moonlight Horses' is a psyched out world of campfire guitars and star gazing riffs that leaves you feeling fully hippie-d up. 'Catching Stars' then heightens the trip with more angular guitars and a big wall of garage-rock sound.

Review: Astral Quartet was a group that changed their name and evolved into Centre El Muusa. They never played live nut managed to record just two tunes back in 2018. Now, five years later, they finally get to see the light of day. They could be 50 years old such is the quality of the musicianship - fusions of jazz and funk that brim with character. The band is made up of Monika Erdman, Rauno Vaher, Volodja Brodsky and Misha Panfilov who mix up cosmic Wurlitzer sounds, languorous synths and fresh drums, turning it into something laidback and psyched on the b-side and more funky and up-beat on the a-side.

Review: People are not over-egging it when they try and tell you that Polish composer Andrzej Korzynski was an exploratory artist. Words like 'mind-bending', 'cosmic', and 'immersive' are often used in the same sentence as any reference to his name, let alone musical output, which remains some of the most sought after among fans of what can only really be described as staunchly experimental psyche.

For many, The Devil Tapes is the holy grail of Korzynski. Made to score Andrzej ?u?awsk's film, The Devil, by this point the pair had already worked together on the movie soundtrack to Possession, and cracked the collaborative process. Having been asked to make music that was "totally unique, like something from another planet", the composer took his initial taped experiments and pulled the vari-speed down, then layered hallucinatory effects over the top, resulting in something that's beyond a mere accompaniment, and very much integral to the film itself.