THE WORLD AT MINDS END

I guess that a fair few of us visit PA in the hope of unearthing those long lost gems of progressive music and I was lucky enough to come across this one while trawling on YouTube with that very purpose in mind; this album certainly fits the bill. There's not much information available on Skywhale but basically they were a seven-piece Classic Fusion band that formed in Bristol in the mid-seventies.

This was their only album and it's a melodic blend of entirely instrumental music comprising six tracks in total, all but one of which exceed the seven-minute mark. In addition to the ubiquitous guitar, keys, bass and drums Skywhale featured an additional percussionist and two wind players so there's always plenty going on and the music has something of a Latin feel. There's no real need to try to describe the music further so I'll just let it speak for itself.

In spite of its many qualities this album is probably destined to remain an obscurity and while it's never likely to challenge for a place in the top 100 prog albums it deserves at least some attention. Your first port of call should now be YouTube where you can listen to the album in its entirety (just ignore the vinyl crackles on the recordings), followed by a visit to Amazon where the MP3 is currently available to download for less than a five-spot. If you're a fan of Jazz Rock/Fusion you're in for a rare treat!