He came to notice with the duo I Monster and their big pop hit Daydream In Blue, but Sheffield boy Jarrod Gosling is a progger at heart.
He proved it well earlier this year with Use And Ornament, a brilliantly imaginative trip that shot you down a musical wormhole and popped you out the other side feeling wonderfully warped and entertained. There’s a full-length follow-up in the pipe, but until then this mini-album, subtitled A Small Collection Of Big Suites, will do nicely. The opener is the 18-minute, word count-busting Odilon Escapes From The Charcoal Oblivion But Endeavours To Return And Rescue The Cactus Men. With Peter Ophone returning as lead vocalist, this feat of near-rock opera blips and blops powers along, dips into Mellotron sadness and Moog loveliness then rocks out in double time. In parts it’s like ELO falling through space, hitting every planet as they go. The following three brief pieces – Animal Attic, Tombland Gorilla and the joyous Sovereign Of The Skies – are fluff in comparison, but 18-minute fantasia The King Of Sleep Parts 1 to 5 seals Gosling’s reputation as one of the most capable, compelling and all-out fun purveyors of odd rock around.
