Birth Binjury

Orchid-Star was put together by Pete Ardron at the start of 2005, initially as a vehicle to perform music he had written for DJ sets, mostly for chill-out rooms. The sound is lush and colourful with a strong world music influence – Indian, Arabic, Celtic, African and more fused with everything from psychedelic chill and dub to drum and bass and funk. Part electronic, part live - vocalists - Myo and Samanta Ray, guitar and bass - Pierre Luigi, electric fiddle - Kait Farbon, full-size marimba - Becky Dell, percussionists - Jon Bongly and Becky keyboards - Pete, dancers Diane Everitt and SandRa and occasionally more.

Of all of Bruce Dickinson's solo albums, Accident of Birth sounds the most similar to Iron Maiden, which isn't surprising since former Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith co-wrote many of the songs and plays on the record. The album is better than many latter-day Maiden efforts, and though the songwriting is occasionally uneven, the best moments (including "Man of Sorrows") make it an intriguing album.