Life is a cabaret, old chums, with the scintillating Take Back The Night (Sumerian Records). A power-packed, credulity-stretching showcase of strong, strong pop-rock songwriting and arranging courtesy of Starbenders; this album is full of punky attitude and thrusting ambition.
On All Input Is Error (Self-Released), Canada’s Pomegranate Tiger (aka prog multi-instrumentalist and accomplished composer Martin Andres) takes a topical AI concept and runs with it. Does he win the race? Yes, in the end – even if the final fate of humankind is ultimately unknown (there are no lyrics, you see, so you can make up your own mind, all you creatives out there).
Some people don’t like surprises – they prefer things predictable, just so. But what would life be without surprises? I was surprised, for instance, when my good friend Ajax recited the closing lines of The Great Gatsby, at 4 AM, after a vat of cocktails (sours, rickeys, alexanders, the lot).