‘Ichigo Ichie’: “Treasure every encounter for it will never recur.” Two hours of live Camel from the tour no one thought would ever happen! ‘Ichigo Ichie’ was recorded in Tokyo at the Ex-Theatre in Roppongi during May 2016, the line-up of this event was: Andrew Latimer (guitars / vocals / flute / recorder), Colin Bass (bass / vocals), Denis Clement (drums / recorder) and new member Peter Jones from Tiger Moth Tales (keyboards / vocals / penny whistle). Released on 25th January 2017.

The subtitle "The Poet Sings" does not refer specifically to Pablo Neruda or to the Neruda poems set in this collection by the fine small American choir Conspirare. Instead, the designation comes from a series of concerts performed by the group in its home base of Austin, Texas, all of which will be devoted to settings of works by specific poets. As it happens, Neruda, whose poetry Conspirare has touched on before (on Threshold of Night, its Harmonia Mundi debut), makes an ideal subject for this experiment.

The final El Rayo-X record, while lovely, does not exactly contain the power and fury of the first two. On Very Greasy, David Lindley and his cohorts explore a myriad of lighter, more Caribbean rhythms and textures, rendering a very pleasing album. Some great covers such as "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" and "Do You Wanna Dance" are pleasant enough, but the fact that hard rock Warrior drummer Ian Wallace – who was such a big part of the power of their second CD, Win This Record – is missing results in a weaker record. All in all, a very nice, eclectic slice, but not what this fine band was really about.

Released a year after Martin Scorsese’s controversy-laden film first hit the big screen in 1988, "Passion" tends to be regarded as a work in its own right rather than just being a movie soundtrack. It features additional music than was included in the film; this extra material was the result of Peter Gabriel (ex-Genesis) continuing to record and to resolve "unfinished ideas", hence the later arrival of the record. Built on a foundation of Middle Eastern and North African rhythms and melodies, "Passion" is unsurprisingly Peter’s most spiritual work, no more so than when the alternately ascending voices of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Youssou N’Dour and himself interweave on the title track. Nusrat and Youssou are far from the only notable guests; the cross-continental gathering of musicians also includes Senegalese griot Baaba Maal, jazz drummer Bill Cobham and avant-garde trumpeter Jon Hassell among many others…