It was my best year for live music since Covid with 14 gigs and here are my favourites

February was a very poignant visit to Bristol as it was my final Fish gig, 36 years after the first one

March bought a trip to Truro to catch Public Service Broadcasting on the excellent The Last Flight tour

Onto May it was Grice at the Exeter Phoenix. Here paying tribute to Raphael Ravenscroft

October brought a new venue to visit (Things Happen Here in Dartington) to see the album launch for Abrasive Trees

And we rounded out the year with the ever brilliant Blockheads back for their annual Exeter Phoenix gig

 Probably the last review of the year and one of those albums you luckily stumble across by accident.

I was aware of PERTURBATOR as he had done some remixes for Alcest and Cult of Luna, but I’d never really looked at his albums.

Age of Aquarius is a fantastic analog synth driven album with thudding drums, think of it as a night club version of John Carpenter (especially Lunacy which could easily feature on one of his soundtracks).

Approximately half the tracks are instrumental but it’s those with the guest vocalist that caught my attention in the first place – Ulver, Author & Punisher and Alcest.

The opening track, Apocalypse Now features Ulver and would have fitted in perfectly on their Assassination of Julius Caesar album. Lyrically dark and deliciously unsettling.

The best is saved to last – the title track is a ten minute epic featuring the wordless vocals of Neige from Alcest. It ebbs and flows marvelously, almost coming to a stop at 7 minutes in before cranking up the drums for a suitable monumental finale   A note of hope after all the previous bleak dystopian sounds. 

I shall definitely be investigating the PERTURBATOR back catalogue after this.