2001 Space Odissey

After the seven-year gap between 1990's Jordan: The Comeback and 1997's Andromeda Heights, many Prefab Sprout fans were surprised by the comparatively brief four years between that album and 2001's The Gunman and Other Stories. The album holds other surprises for the longtime Prefab Sprout fan; for one thing, backing vocalist Wendy Smith is absent, having left the group after the birth of her first child, and for another, it's a Western-themed concept album.

This group of five musicians will certainly capture the attention of Ozric Tentacles fans. Their music is loaded with textures and colours that leave most space rock bands sounding like a sample machine stuck in loop mode. It's actually going somewhere: on all of their albums, the tracks evolve continuously, with the music occasionally returning to specific themes but with something new each time. Overall, their material sounds like a less guitar-dominated Ozric and without the heavy techno influence. Their albums are pure instrumental excursions into psychedelia propelled by Tim Blake-like droning and burbling synths, Steve Hillage-like guitar arpeggios, pulsating bass lines, phasing sitars and precise drumming with the occasional Jethro Tull flute work (simultaneous flute blowing and vocalizing) and some infectious grooving rhythm lines that make you want to move around, bang your head and dance nonsensically…

Cyber Zen Sound Engine is a duo from Houston consisting of GraceNoteX and Smith6079, who produce soft space music built around slowly pulsing hypnotic sequences. The music that comprises Moonscapes: How Stones Become Enlightened grew out of two and a half hours of evolving ambient music first composed and recorded for an art gallery in Houston. The work was so well-received that they extracted 13 passages from the initial compositions and created arrangements so that they could become distinct pieces. Moonscapes… is a very unique recording. These guys have really struck something with this work. Moonscapes… is a very tranquil and minimalistic recording that's both evocative and provocative…