Essentially, Blanos does take control of this album, keeping the fusion flame alive and well.

The result is 10 tracks of very good to excellent psych rock that sounds both old and new at the same time, to the delight of all psych rock fans.

In a way, Of Becoming presents what Vanbur have already achieved musically elsewhere, but also gives a sense of what could be expected from the duo from now on.

Blake manages to conjure that ethereal atmosphere that can be connected to all things dealing with magic, whether you see light or dark things through it, making this album reach its goal.

No wonder it took Zucker six years not only to come up with music like this but to make it actually work, and yes, it surely does.

It all flows in a truly natural way, sounding like something ECM’s Manfred Eischer would pay anything to have recorded for his label.

The effect is some imaginative and utterly fresh music, with Barbier coming up with one of the better musical surprises this year.

This seemingly elongated process brought some excellent music from Cyril – all the songs sound complete, detailed in their structure, arrangements, and personal lyrics, yet personal lyrics that quite a few listeners can relate to.

This concept makes the music of Levitation Orchestra run a very natural course here, something that really embodies the essence of spiritual jazz.

Loose and fluid on one hand and quite firm and concrete on the other.

The approach obviously worked, as Lane was able to get great feedback from McRoberts, turning it into a set of 12 delicate, quite touching compositions that work on every musical level.

An intriguing album that will leave the listeners with an ultimate dilemma – should I fall asleep or keep on listening?

Rouse is able to slip in enough good melody lines with his deeply set vocals and has guitar touches that are not just technically good but are set at the right place at the right time in his songs.

The Mountain Goats’ music has reached new levels of complexity, as well as quality, and that Darnelle and co have enough imagination and capabilities to take their music in any direction that they wish.

The abilities and inventiveness of the two musicians bridge all the possible gaps here and do reach that “liminal state of mind” that the duo was striving for.

Krok is an album that offers quite a few delights, both “old” and new.

Jamie’s songwriting has a substance that firmly holds things together here, and instrumental and vocal help from guests like Josephine Foster make things (darkly) intriguing throughout.

It is just one of those (late-night) albums that you simply don’t care if you understand a single word of the lyrics; it just works in every way it should.

It all might sound like a bit of a strange mix, but it turns out that Cohen was able to turn all the varied influences, or rather varied ideas, into a very cohesive whole.

It seems The Necks have developed a tight empathy and a set of tight instincts, with the three musicians involved always being able to sense where each of them is going, making their runs shift with full sense and logic.

The quality of music Charlie Bruber presents on ‘Prized Burden’ just might not keep him in the musical shadows for much longer.