Tag Archives: ambient

Album review: WILL PIKE – Elevator

Posted on October 16, 2026 by petefeenstra

The Elastic Stage Store [Release date 13.10.26] Will Pike’s ‘Elevator’ is an impressive art rock and ambient concept album. It’s glued together by amoeba like soundscapes with a proggy undertow, and interestingly it’s an instrumental album with a sense of … Continue reading →

News: Albums of the Month (July-September 2026)

Posted on October 10, 2026 by GRTR! HQ

Get Ready to ROCK! - Albums of the Month (July-September 2026)

A quarterly feature highlighting album releases rated highly by the GRTR! review team and worthy of your investigation. We try and pick out a cross-section of albums that reflect the range of genres reviewed at the website. The star rating … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), Albums of the Month, ALL POSTS | Tagged 2026, albums of the month, ambient, August, blues rock, classic rock, hard rock, July, melodic rock, September | Leave a comment

Album review: OZRIC TENTACLES – Harmonic Mind

Posted on September 14, 2026 by GRTR! HQ

KScope [Release date 18.09.26] Festival favourites Ozric Tentacles formed at the Stonehenge Free Festival in 1983 and have kept a solid fanbase ever since. They released a number of cassette only albums during the 80s, releasing their first full album … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, ambient, Harmonic Mind, Ozric Tentacles, prog, progressive, psychedelic, review, rock | Leave a comment

Album review: SCOTT ARCHIBALD the id project – Sol Caravan

Posted on April 5, 2026 by petefeenstra

Bandcamp [Release date 05.12.25] ‘Sol Caravan’ is a ground breaking debut album by Scott Archibald’s the id project which strikes the perfect balance between jam band interplay, rock related intensity, subliminal percussive rhythms and timeless musical traditions. It’s a conceptually … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, ambient, Arthur DeCossette, Dan Neale, Frank Zappa, funk, fusion, Gong rock, Haleshla, Hawkwind, Howard Gill, Jam, jazz, John Baggot, Jukka Virri, Justin Adams, Maghreb, Mouna Eddrou, Pierre Moerlen, psych, review, rock, Scott Archibald, Simon Webster, Steve Evans, theidproject, trance | Leave a comment

Gig review: GONG – Esquires, Bedford, 8 November 2025

Posted on November 9, 2025 by jason

There are gigs you enjoy—and then there are gigs that leave you floating somewhere between dimensions. Gong’s performance at Bedford Esquires last night was firmly in the latter category. The support act Snorkel took the stage first, the evening promised … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS | Tagged 8 November 2025, ambient, Bedford, Esquires, gig, Gong, progressive, psychedelic, review, rock, Snorkel | Leave a comment

Album review: CHIMPAN A – Music Is Art Vol.1

Posted on October 30, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

Tigermoth Records [Release date 29.08.25] Chimpan A’s debut album was quite a revelation and one of the best low key releases of 2006. (We only got to hear of it some time later). This off-on project is essentially Mike Oldfield … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, ambient, chill-out, Chimpan A, Christine Booth, classic rock, groove, Magenta, Music Is Art Vol.1, review, Rob Reed, Steve Balsamo | Leave a comment

Album review: KALANDRA – A Frame Of Mind

Posted on September 30, 2024 by GRTR! HQ

By Norse Music [Release date 13.09.24] What is it with Scandinavia – still enticing and alluring with it’s Scandi Noir blend of melancholy and repressed emotion? If you want an album to soothe the soul as we head out of … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged A Frame Of Mind, album, ambient, folk, Kalandra, Progressive Rock, review | Leave a comment

Album review: UNIFONY – Unifony III

Posted on October 20, 2023 by GRTR! HQ

Volkoren [Release date 03.11.23] The great thing about GRTR! is our eclecticism over 20 years, very much reflecting the taste and preferences of our solid review team. We’re not bound by classic rock but the music has to move us. … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, ambient, chill-out, Clannad, instrumental, Moya Brennan, review, Unifony, Unifony III | Leave a comment

Album review: SOUNDSCAPISM INC. – Staring Down On Incandescent Cities

Posted on June 25, 2023 by jason

EtherealSoundWorks [Release date 20.07.23] Fifth album by Soundscapism Inc., the musical project created by Bruno A, who handles the production and the majority of the instruments on the album, along with composing all the music and writing the lyrics (save for … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, ambient, electronica, experimental, progressive, review, rock, Soundscapism Inc, Staring Down On Incandescent Cities | Leave a comment

Album review: FURY WEEKEND – Afterglow

Posted on May 29, 2023 by GRTR! HQ

FiXT Music [Release date 25.05.23] Presenting ‘New to GRTR!’ each week for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio I have become aware of the increasing number of bands combining electronica and rock. I have to say the FiXT label has much … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged Afterglow, album, ambient, Ars Nikonov, Fury Weekend, new age, Ollie Wride, review, synth pop, synthwave, The Anix | Leave a comment

Album review: ESBE – I Might Be Dreaming

Posted on August 13, 2022 by petefeenstra

Pete Feenstra chatted to Esbe for his Feature show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio. First broadcast 28 August 2022. New Cat Records [Release date 20.05.22] Esbe is a British composer, musician, arranger, producer and vocalist with a beautifully expressive … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Radio interview | Tagged album, ambient, Bjork, electronica, Esbe, I Might Be Dreaming, interview, keyboards, Nico, review, The Velvet Underground, vocal | Leave a comment

Album review: ESKINA – We Were The Moon

Posted on November 18, 2021 by GRTR! HQ

Challenge Records [Release date 19.11.21] www.eskinamusic.com Has the music world gone all reflective? Or maybe it is just a coincidence that in the past few weeks we have received several releases that seem to chime with the times. Or maybe … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, ambient, chill-out, classical, Eskina, instrumental, review, We Are The Moon | Leave a comment

Album review: AVAWAVES – Chrysalis (Anna Phoebe/Aisling Brouwer)

Posted on October 19, 2021 by GRTR! HQ

One Little Independent Records [Release date 08.10.21] The return of Anna Phoebe!! She contributed a track to our Rising Stars sampler in 2007. She has performed with Trans-Siberian Orchestra. She was special guest of Jethro Tull (2009) and gave Ian … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged Aisling Brouwer, album, ambient, Anna Phoebe, Avawaves, chill-out, Chrysalis, instrumental, piano, review, violin | Leave a comment

Album review: MICK PINI AUDIO 54 – Backtrack

Posted on June 28, 2021 by petefeenstra

Pete Feenstra chatted to Mick Pini and Craig Marshall for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio. First broadcast 29 August 2021. Bandcamp [Release date 01.07.21] Mick Pini’s ‘Backtrack’ marks his 55th anniversary in the music business. It’s a career defining contemporary … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Radio interview | Tagged album, ambient, Audio 54, Backtrack, blues, Freddie King, funk, jazz, Mick Pini, Mike Vernon, Peter Green, review, rock, Sherman Robertson, Snowy White | Leave a comment

Album review: ALIAS8 – Digital Sound Cinema

Posted on June 1, 2021 by jason

Facebook [Release date 18.06.21] There was a real bloom of interest in ‘chill-out’ music a number of years ago and countless compilations came out, all guaranteeing to soothe your senses. Of course, what could have been classed in the same … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Alias8, ambient, Brian Eno, chillout, Digital Sound Cinema, melodic, Phil Wale, review, the Willows | Leave a comment

Album review: TED & MAJELLA – Divine Timing (Ted Turner, ex-Wishbone Ash)

Posted on December 30, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

www.tedturnerandmajella.com [Release date 21.12.20] Ted Turner is best known as the one time original guitar slinger in Wishbone Ash with whom he remained until 1974 and then on and off until 1994. Ted reappeared in 2018 together with his partner … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, ambient, chill-out, Divine Timing, guitar, guitarist, new age, pop, review, Ted & Majella, Wishbone Ash | Leave a comment

Feature: Albums that time forgot – CHIMPAN A

Posted on April 15, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

F2 Music (2006) Chimpan A, released in 2006, was a project featuring Rob Reed (better known for his work in the prog-rock band Magenta), and two members of country rock band The Storys: Rob Thompson (guitar) and Steve Balsamo (vocals). … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES | Tagged album, ambient, chill, Chimpan A, Christina Booth, electronica, Magenta, Progressive Rock, review, Rob Reed, Steve Balsamo | Leave a comment

Album review: THE REVEREND SHAWN AMOS & THE BROTHERHOOD – Blue Sky

Posted on March 23, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Put Together [Release date 17.04.20] Americana tinged with a little bit of everything – electronica, reggae, ambience, psychedelia, the blues. And that’s the just gently flowing opener ‘Stranger Than Toda’y. Shawn Amos is a New York songwriter and record producer … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, ambient, Blue Sky, blues, electronica, gospel, psychedelia, reggae, review, The Reverend Shawn Amos & The Brotherhood | Leave a comment

Album review: DAVID CROSS & PETER BANKS – Crossover

Posted on March 8, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Noisy Records [Release date 17.01.20] David Cross will be best known for his time with King Crimson in the 1970s. His more recent solo works and collaborations (with the likes of one-time Van Der Graaf sax player David Jackson and … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, ambient, Billy Sherwood, Crossover, David Cross, fusion, Geoff Downes, instrumental, King Crimson, Peter Banks, review, Tony Kaye, Yes | Leave a comment

Album review: CHASING THE MONSOON – No Ordinary World

Posted on November 2, 2019 by GRTR! HQ

[Release date 20.09.19] Once upon a time, in a Galaxy far, far away – well, OK, maybe not a Galaxy far away, but Swansea isn’t a place most people could pinpoint on a map without the help of Google – … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, ambient, Chasing The Monsoon, Karnataka, No Ordinary World, prog, Progressive Rock, review, world | 1 Comment

Album review: ATLANTAEUM FLOOD – One Day

Posted on October 29, 2019 by jason

Self-release www.schoolkidsrecords.com [Release date 11.11.19] Atlantæum Flood is an instrumental five-piece collective featuring former the Church and All About Eve member Marty Willson-Piper (electric guitars, acoustic guitar, bass, shaker, EBow, bongos, bouzouki, classical guitar, snare), Olivia Willson-Piper (violins, cellolin, duduk), … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, All About Eve, ambient, Atlantæum Flood, classical, folk, instrumental, Marty Willson-Piper, One Day, progressive, review, Steve Knott, The Church | Leave a comment

Album review: RISE – Strangers

Posted on October 10, 2019 by GRTR! HQ

Wise Queen Records [Release date 18.10.19] Strangers is the new album by Sussex based singer songwriter RISE – the artist formerly known as Talitha Rise (aka Jo Beth Young). The follow up to her 2018 debut An Abandoned Orchid House, … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, ambient, progressive folk, review, Rise, singer, songwriter, Strangers, Talitha Rise | Leave a comment

Album review: HAWKESTREL – The Future Is Us

Posted on September 26, 2019 by GRTR! HQ

Purple Pyramid/Cleopatra Records [Release date 13.09.19] It gets quite confusing now with so many Hawkwind-related permutations: Hawklords, Hawkwind Light Orchestra and so forth, and the various solo endeavours. Alan Davey – bass player originally in the mid-eighties to mid-nineties – … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged Alan Davey, ambient, Ginger Baker, Hawkestrel, Hawkwind, Huw Lloyd-Langton, Lemmy, Mick Slattery, Nik Turner, Paul Rudolph, Simon House, space rock, The Future Is Us | Leave a comment

Album review: GLITTER MACHINE – Hanging Out For Fame

Posted on May 18, 2019 by petefeenstra

Pete Feenstra chatted to Glitter Machine’s John McKeown on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio with tracks from the new album (Sunday 19 May, 20:00 GMT) Two Nine Records [Release date 15.03.19] Glitter Machine is an art rock band that embraces … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Radio interview | Tagged album, ambient, art rock, Brendan Perry, Brian Eno, David Bowie, Dead Can Dance, Dom McGuiness, electronica, Glitter Machine, Goth Rock, Hanging Out For Fame, hard rock, James Blood Ulmer, John Lydon, John McKeown, Lou Reed, Metal Machine Music, Muse, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Paul Stone, Psychedelic Rock, review, Rick Hornby, rock, soundscapes, the Everly Brothers | Leave a comment

Quick plays: DUNCAN LLOYD, HARDLINE

Posted on May 15, 2019 by jason

DUNCAN LLOYD Outside Notion Afternoon In Bed [Release date 24.05.19] Third solo outing from Maximo Park’s guitarist and main songwriter Duncan Lloyd, one that sees a marked departure from his last album. This time it is less alternative rock, more … Continue reading →