Space(rock) on my doorstep - Mirror System et al in Lewes

Not for the first time, Steve Hillage & Miquette Giraudy bring their ambient techno project Mirror System to The Con Club in Lewes as part of a unique all-dayer, organised by Brighton promoters Om-Rock with assistance from The Electric Salad Co; the people who bring you KozFest, Glastonbury PsychFest, New Avalon Ballroom and other superb events.  This colourful shindig is loosely made up around bands and musicians affiliated with Gong and/or the late Daevid Allen.

Starting the ball rolling is The Gregg McKella Band, playing material from Gregg's excellent new solo album. Onstage, his band for this event includes Martin Litmus on bass and backing vocals - he engineered Gregg's album - Paradise 9 drummer Wayne Colyer, plus violinist Mister Eugene and special guest Cary Grace on modular synthesiser.  The band are super-tight and the arrangements allow room to breathe; particularly on their expansive version of Blind Willie Johnson's "Motherless Children". Gregg's songs hark back to his days busking in London in the 90s but suit the weight lent by expanding his material for a five piece band.

Solo synthesist Jah Buddha is up next. It's always a pleasure to catch Bob Hedger at work behind his fragrant piles of technology, whether he's dishing out Berlin School, techno or floating ambient with glissando played on his white headless Steinberger guitar (a nod to Daevid, perhaps).  Tonight he's playing new material; a construction that instantly energises the room with it's pulsing beats and filigree arpeggios - towards the end of the set he very firmly presses the button marked "RAVE!" but manages to always keep a velvety edge to his machinations.

Due to a vehicle breakdown en-route from Birmingham, there is no expected solo set from bazouki/guitar wunderkind Shankara Andy Bole.  Neither are his intricate improvisations part of Dark Zen Kollektiv's set tonight, which is a shame.  However, DZK comport themselves admirably despite this unfortunate turn of events ably assisted by Cary Grace and her multitude of magical modular devices.  Now on guitar, Martin Litmus references Andy Bole's rembetika-laden style momentarily, but the overall effect is one of brutal psych-jam tonight and that's all good.  The high point for me was the last ten minutes where after the bombast of their motorik jam, rather than lay down and surrender, DZK presented a sudden, challenging change of pace whereby small noises and electro-acoustic artefacts came to the fore, pushing the audience to listen closely.  Very brave and very commendable in my view.

Organiser Paul Woodwright's psych-rock trio Deviant Amps, fresh from a busy tour schedule over the last nine months or so played super-tight with panache.  You can practically smell the enthusiasm with this trio.  Propulsive meta-rock with ample melody and a big dose of fun.

Next on were NUKLI, whose fusion-style take on psych-rock really appeals to this listener.  You can tell they buy as much soul and funk records as space-rock.  They are notable also for being, I think, the only group to utilise vocal samples on a playback device tonight.  Used to great effect, possibly on an old tune if I heard guitarist Kev Hegan correctly; I know they've re-released some of their excellent early (90?) material recently.  Very much worth investigating.

Always a treat are The Glissando Guitar Orchestra who this evening are made up of Paul Woodwright from Deviant Amps, Kev Hegan and Mark Huxley from NUKLI, Bob Hedger and Gregg McKella all using guitars except Mark who is on bass.  I've seen this project a few times, sometimes with as many as twelve players, including Kavus Torabi from Gong / Cardiacs on occasion.  Initiated by Daevid Allen, it is more therapy than spectacle, you could say.  They play five minute drones, moving through musical keys as the sounds move through the chakras of the body.  You really need to be lying down to get the full effect of this - indeed some of the audience were - but it's an experience which is as much rooted in ritual as it is mindfulness.  Everybody should experience this at least once, in my view.

Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy need no introduction, and tonight they present the flip of their System 7 project; Mirror System.  A melange of ambient, dub ambient and techno disciplines,  ably demonstrating the skills and finely tuned ears that have kept them at the pinnacle of live electronic music for so many years.  As I mentioned earlier, this is the second of these all-dayers; the first happened in the same venue in April of last year, which I also attended and was similarly impressed.  These gatherings are full of friendly faces, people who have been part of this scene for a long time and consequently there's a nice vibe somewhat similar to an extended family gathering.  Hopefully this will continue as an annual event.

 all photos by Paul Khimasia Morgan

Jamie Drouin & Lance Austin Olsen - a field far beyond form and emptiness

 

Jamie Drouin & Lance Austin Olsen - a field far beyond form and emptiness

Infrequency Editions 2026

Deliberation, intention and wonder.  Kettles, contrabass, piano and crushed papers, among other things, jockey for supremacy in this fascinating construction by Messrs Drouin and Olsen.  Both veteran noisemakers, both active in the art world - Jamie Drouin is a visual artist, Lance Austin Olsen a painter - the rich palette on offer here shows both at the peak of their endeavours.  There is detail, as you might expect, in this solid 40 minute piece, but also plenty of surprises along the way.  Drones are used quietly to underscore particular passages or sonic events, but I get a sense of propulsion rather than ennui.  These drones are harmonically rich, despite their fleeting presence.  Silence - also as you might expect - fulfils a structural purpose, but the chunks of airy existence that are cut away are not overlong, as is sometimes the case with perhaps certain adherents of Wandelweiser principles, more bookmarking; turning the corner of the page over so that the listener can mentally refer back should they need to.  The recording itself is pristine; elements are close-mic'ed and yet enough space is left so that you can still hear the room.

''...shortages have been fueled by US sanctions...'', a brief burst of humanity at 20 minutes; a female newsreader's voice cuts through with gale force.  Drumskins are rubbed, strings drubbed, a wooden object falls over on a desktop.  A pair of prepared piano notes hang in the air momentarily.  A drum skin activated into a bass sinetone disappears into the distance.  Breath becomes heavy as if readying for sleep.  More vocalising at 29 minutes, but this time male and incomprehensible.  A beautiful mid-high drone, possibly electronic in origin, then a single drop of 1980s digital reverb activated by unseen forces.  A hammer-tap positioned deep within a piano sound-box.  Adhesive tape is removed from an unseen surface as a door squeaks open in another part of the building.  The disparate events start to come quicker now with a wooden, reedy ambience - put the drum down; the sun starts to push through my curtain and I must reluctantly leave...

Wrong Côtes Wrong

 

Wrong - Wrong Côtes

UK - dl/cd - self-released 2026

Perrenial pop-noise purveyors and Brighton UK-based trio of TJ Cottrell, jimwg and Karl M V Waugh present their latest six slices of cosmic/psyche/blart pie; their first since 2024's Ect and sure to hit the receptive nerve-endings of the most demanding gourmands.

Another Side Of Another Side hits like The Myrrors meets Eno & Byrne's My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts.  Optimum psyche vocals lacerate propulsive psycho-Surf guitar and a juicy, repetitive rhythm section.  Are You Out Tonight begins with spiky skanking guitar and a monolithic bassline. Then goes on to pit Gang Of Four -style guitar against 1960s Tropicalia vocals to strafe your mind and your feet.  Puts me in mind of early Here & Now almost.  Imagine hearing this drifting over a meadow near a stone circle in the early 80s... Never Again features a staccato approach to snare drum performed with a vigour seldom seen this side of Drumbo's finer moments in The Magic Band.  The pace slows down a bit with Irreversible; a weird amalgam of Parquet Courts and Marvin Gaye's What's Going On. A beautiful drone in the background that becomes clear at the end.  In fact this and Never Again heard together could be read as a Wrong Côtes' protest song.  "...the damage we have done...is irreversible..."  Picking the knees up again forthwith the boys launch into Super K, an update on the Neu brand of motorik but with catchy vocals.  Finally, Unhelpful takes the best new bass riff from VB's Henrik ''Benke'' Höckert's cryogenically frozen brane and slathers tape murk and lavishly overcompressed fx over the ending.

Peak dancefloor psyche - Wrong Côtes could sell this entire collection of tunes to The Oh Sees and buy a yacht with the proceeds.

Nandi – a concert film

 

Suriya Sweets – a fascinating fusion

Nandi – a concert film

Acoustic bassist Pascal Lovergne recently got in touch after I reviewed his trio Nandi’s 2017 album Mylapore for The Sound Projector magazine, to tell me about a new film documentary about his extended visit to South India. Documentaries about improvised music are occasional, at best – the last film specifically about improvisers I saw was part of the Meandre(s) set from 2023, which I wrote about here:

https://www.thesoundprojector.com/2025/08/06/canoe/

- so this film project directed by Ben Flinois is welcomed by this observer.

In it, Lovergne travels to South India to study Konnokol under the guidance of his bandmate; percussionist Suresh Vaidyanathan. They put a version of Nandi together with pianist Stefan Orins, percussionist Zohar Fresco and flautist Amith A Nadig and, naturally, play some shows. The viewer makes the assumption that Lovergne’s aim is to submerge himself both in the country of origin and the study of the music to better understand the nature of their Indo-Francais project. As well as the music culture and history, we learn a lot about Suresh Vaidyanathan’s background and Lovergne’s motivations, although Orins, Fresco and Nadig remain largely in the background.

The film is beautifully shot with plenty of travel footage and interesting sites alongside serendipitous encounters with local musicians and people going about their everyday business. It is relatively pacey, so one can only imagine the sheer quantity of footage the film-makers came away with. The edit ensures the material is accessible though - at one point, Suresh says “...but Konnokol, actually, is the easiest form of rhythm to enter your heart.” This is contrasted with Pascal Lovergne sat in the audience practicing counting out the rhythms with his hand. Elsewhere, we also see Pascal in his hotel room practising with earbuds in. Later, Suresh adds this observation: “Sometimes a wrong note is a blessing, because perfection is only for gods, right? Humans should have some faults.”

For those interested in fusion or improvisation – for the record, Nandi refer to themselves as a ‘’jazz band’’ – this film supplies a good hit. I found the travel footage fascinating as well. The director attempts to thread in a kind of ‘’pilgrimage’’ device by following Lovergne along a quiet beach as he carries a bag of marigolds looking for presumably a suitable potentially moksha-inducing location along the waters edge where he can commit the flowers to the waves. The full significance of Lovergne’s actions are not immediately apparent, but perhaps it acts as a way of introducing a further non-Western flavour into the film. It is a nice contrast to the many recordings of the group performing threaded throughout. On the whole, a solid, beautifully shot and engaging documentary.

Bill Thompson - Improfest - Ash International

 

Bill Thompson

Improfest

UK  Ash International  2026 - download

A live document of Bill Thompson’s streamed performance with his Moog guitar, live electronics and found objects at Improfest in February 2022. A sophisticated drone composition performed at London’s Rearview Studios, this is his latest work on London’s Ash International imprint. I previously reviewed Bill’s And The Sky Breaks Open from 2024 also on Ash International. You can read that here:

https://honestmusicfordishonesttimes.blogspot.com/2024/11/bill-thompson-and-sky-breaks-open.html

Initially, Thompson pivots from calming low-mids to diverting mildly overdriven high-end information with aplomb. This produces beautiful results, particularly in the first third of the piece. There’s a culmination of anxiety-inducing squeal shredding the nerves around the 12 minute mark before the piece collapses into a warm deep tissue massage of the cortex lasting long enough to put this listener into a very relaxed state. Here, there seems to be some kind of rotational action upon the strings of Thompson’s Moog guitar. A bell-like pulsing is then foregrounded while randomized squealing emerges from the distance. Before long something is dancing on the strings while oscillations build. Two thirds through, feedback is harnessed for texture, like an auditory approximation of the multi-coloured event horizon in Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey. Thompson tears melodic sparks from a building chaos. The final three minutes sound like a large tube amp blowing its valves until only a thin veil of pure tone and the idle manual tapping of guitar strings is left. Highly recommended.

https://billthompson.bandcamp.com/album/improfest

https://ashinternational.bandcamp.com/

Three Guest cd Reviews by Joe Candy

Somnambulance - from the chalk to the stream - 2025 self-released

Tracing a path from Berlin School to Dub Ambient via drone and shoegaze…

This studio recording from this somewhat relaxed group of west country electronicists sees them responding to an unexpected summer rainstorm as nearby stream transforms into a powerful river as the rains flow off the chalk hills. "from the chalk to the stream" is one 39 minute-long improvisation. It builds on previous Somnambulance releases - the recent "Tripartite Drifting Lab" on Liverpool's Moolakii Club Audio Interface, "Wally's Ashes" from 2023, and their two cds on Colander Records - with Andy Roid's shift from synthesisers and Digitakt to his recently acquired modular set-up, coupled with Saul Yarg's decision to employ a second, rhythmic, guitar to complement Just George's filigree looping guitar work and King Razor's inclusion of radio broadcasts and other sampled material, this current version of the group seems ready to embark on their next project: a documentary-style film of live performances in unusual locations. I look forward to seeing the results."

https://somnambulanceuk.bandcamp.com/album/from-the-chalk-to-the-stream

Rubber Bus - Urban Dust ep - 2025 Rubber Bus Records

A related item to the Somnambulance dudes, joined by Tim Hawthorn, (who has worked with the late great Daevid Allen and latterly with The Invisible Opera Company of Tibet), who is usually found leading The Anarchetypes or composing soundtracks for films.  Here he takes on the guise of a kind of visionary poet railing against many and various contaminants in the home, the environment and the planet generally.  These sentiments can either be taken literally at face value, or as I prefer, can be seen as a stylistic vehicle for concerns of a more existential or personal nature.  The musicians create a unique kind of spacerock dub-reggae combination with some lovely, twisted guitar work, pounding electronics and delicate wafts of production tricks in order to perplex the listener.  The album version is presented first - from the new Welcome To Karmic City long player - followed by three remixes by members of the band, and if that wasn't enough for you, there's two live tracks added as well.  The live version of Noh Yogah is from a Real Music Club show in Brighton and features occasional member Daniel Spicer - the author of books on the Turkish Psychedelic Underground and Peter Brotzmann - while the live version of Assassin was recorded at New Avalon Ballroom in Glastonbury and features the redoubtable Tim Hawthorn on vocals.  Apparently Rubber Bus are rarely seen in public - they don't tour as far as I'm aware, preferring to hit unwary festivals without warning.  I'd advise you to keep an eye out though - from the evidence presented here they are as unhinged live as they are on record, so well worth checking out.

https://rubberbus.bandcamp.com/album/urban-dust-ep

mazenta z - Doubt thou the stars are fire - 2025 self-released

Titled after a line from Shakespeare, this cd is one of the most compelling ambient releases I have heard this year.  The mysterious mazenta z are a trio of two synthesiserists and a guitar player based in Brighton, UK.  Hellbent on control of their material, they recorded, mixed and mastered the tracks themselves and roped in one of their partners, painter Hiroko Lewis, to contribute the fine artwork for the sleeve.  The music itself is ambient in style - and consequently extremely relaxing - but runs a gamut of influences from 1970s jazz fusion through David Sylvian and Holger Czukay's mid-80s experiments and more recent YouTube Lockdown Ambient, (I just made that genre up).  I like the way the guitars merge with the electronics so that a gravity-defying mass is created; not exactly diaphanous or lightweight, but existing in its own plane almost, without compelling the listener's attention; just as good ambient music should.  When you focus in on the material though, there is a world of detail; not just a featureless drone landscape. There is an interview with them by the Battery Operated Orchestra guys on their YT channel if you want to know more.

mazenta z interview with Battery Operated Orchestra BOOCAST

https://mazentaz.bandcamp.com/

- Joe Candy, July 2025

2024 - The Year Politicians Looked The Other Way - an end of year list

END OF YEAR MUSIC ROUND-UP 2024

Best live performance (tied):

Limpe Fuchs at The Rose Hill Arts Hub, Brighton 13^th July

L’Anarchie Flotant at KozFest 2024

Basil Brooks (Zorch / Space Falcons) / Brian Abbott (Invisible Opera Company of Tibet) / Shankara Andy Bole / Ashenashae Farnham (Daevid Allen) / Mark Huxley (Dark Zen Kollektiev)

Top 9 live performances

Dhangsha at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London 29^th June

BANTU at Spirit of Gravity, Rossi Bar, Brighton 5^th September

Mark Wastell / Steve Beresford / Sylvia Hallett / Maggie Nichols / Dirk Serries / Benedict Taylor / Colin Webster at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton London 31^st March

Armatures at The Bee’s Mouth, Hove 23^rd June

Emily Burridge & BJ Cole at Semley Music Festival, Semley, Wiltshire 6^th July

The Glissando Guitar Orchestra at Lewes Con Club, 9^th November

Paradise 9 at Lewes Con Club, 9^th November

Mark Wastell / Bill Thompson / Dominic Lash at MOM, Canvas & Cream, Forest Hill 24^th October

Julian Lage at CHALK, Brighton 24^th November

Best “studio performance”

Entropy Zero (Brian Abbott, Andy Roid, Bob Hedger) at Visual Radio Arts

Kavus Torabi at Visual Radio Arts

Best YouTube performance

Helene Vogelsinger - any

Look Mum No Computer - Buel & Kjaer Room at This Museum Is Not Obsolete

Most Returned To album of the year (tie-break)

Normil Hawaiians – Empires Into Sand – Upset! The Rhythm

This Celestial Engine – This Celestial Engine – Discus Recordings

Top 7 “ambient” albums

Modulator ESP – Hydra Equinox  -  www.modulator-exp.co.uk

Laurel Halo – Atlas - Awe

Ah! Kosmos & Hainbach - Blast Of Sirens - FUU Records

Ian Boddy & Dave Bessell – Polarity  -  DiN

Martin Taxt – Second Room – SOFA Recordings

Bruno Duplant – quelques instants d’eternité – Moving Furniture Records

Brighton Ambients – With Dhangsha On Our Minds  –  The Slightly Off Kilter Label

Top 3 improv/modern composition albums

Bee Reiki Trio (Beresford/Afifi/PKM) – bee Reiki – Discus Recordings

Fredrik Rasten – Lineaments – SOFA Recordings

Bill Thompson – and the sky breaks open  -  Ash International

Top 5 electronic albums

Sonic Arcana – Ecliptical Drift  -  Sonic Arcana

The Utopia Strong – The BBC Sessions – Rocket Recordings

Jah Buddha – Live at Control Voltage

Dhangsha – Broadcast Signal Intrusion – Brachliegen Tapes

Polypores – The Album I Would Have Released In An Alternate Universe  -  Moonbuilding / Castles In Space

Top 6 “rock” albums

GONG – Unending Ascending  - k-scope

Ulrika Spacek – Compact Trauma – Tough Love Records

Ozric Tentacles – Lotus Unfolding – k-scope

Thurston Moore – Flow Critical Lucidity – The Daydream Library Series

Deviant Amps – The Castle In The Sky – D Amp Recordings

Paradise 9 – Science Fiction Reality – Flicknife Records

Best event of 2024

KozFest 2024

Top 3 events of 2024

Mirror System et al at Lewes Con Club

Julian Lage at CHALK, Brighton

New Avalon Ballroom at The King Arthur, Glastonbury

My This Year’s Favourite Song of All Time Song

Karen Dalton – There’s Something On Your Mind

 

 

DISCLAIMER - Some of these records may not actually be from the current year.  I may have only heard them for the first time this year.  Anyway, I don’t care – I like them.