That a fresh album from YES – a follow-up to the ensemble’s quite impressive “Mirror To The Sky” from 2023 – would be called “Aurora” has been known for some time. Now, however, it’s confirmed by the appearance on the Internet of the record’s cover artwork and various pack-shots, which also give a hint at what the platter’s tracks are.
Always in flux, SYSTEM 7 – an experimental outfit steered by Steve Hillage and his wife Miquette Giraudy – may have released concert recordings over the last decades, yet there’s not been a studio offering from the British ensemble for quite some time. Yes, 2018 saw them issue "Café Seven" where new cuts shared space with numbers from the same musicians’ alternative projects, but the band’s previous full-length work hit the shelves as far back as 2015, when “X-Port” introduced the listener to the former GONG members’ fresh material. This is why it’s so heartwarming to learn they’re ready to present a platter titled “Flower Of Life” on April 17th.
He didn’t only play with such FAIRPORT CONVENTION offshoots as THE ALBION BAND and WAZ! and the band members’ solo projects – Dave Whetstone composed several songs for the mothership per se, songs that landed on "Gladys' Leap" and a few other albums. His own discography, however, seems rather short, which is why it’s immensely satisfying to see the veteran release a fresh record on April 10th, titled “Winding To You” and featuring his old friends.
1977 seemed to be a strange year for NEKTAR, who had parted with one of the ensemble’s founders, singing guitarist Roye Albrighton, and had, for the first time ever, to deliver a record with a line-up different to the one which created their previous six albums. Still, “Magic Is A Child” – a platter the band recorded with Dave Nelson at the fore – turned out quite impressively, what with Larry Fast’s keyboard contributions and the foursome’s confidence firm enough to let Robert Fripp’s six strings on “Train From Nowhere” go on the shelf for a few decades. And now, that platter, anticipating its 50th anniversary, is getting a deluxe treatment within the group’s reissue programme.
It was announced some time ago, that when “Under Wraps” would be released as the next installment in JETHRO TULL‘s exemplary reissue series, it would include Ian Anderson‘s “Walk Into Light” as part of the package. Which is only logical, of course, because the former album, from 1984, and the latter platter, out in 1983, share not only a temporal point and the presence of Peter-John Vettese on keyboards, but also the sound – steeped in the now obsolete trend of using synthesizer and electronic percussion to quite an unnatural effect. No surprises here, then, in what is out as “Under Wraps (The Unwrapped Edition)” on May 15th… or, rather, there are things to get disappointed about.
