This is such a remarkable piece of work we don't know where to begin. Anyone who liked the idea-rich, sonically breathtaking and compositionally daring pop music of the '60s, will recognize in these 20 perfectly crafted songs a similar mixture of pop-sensibility and radical innovation, but now recast in contemporary terms and not as pastiche or imitation. If you have hesitated thus far, now's the time to enter the intensely musical world of the Drakian Academy, where unassuming virtuosity and state of the art studio practice are merely means to greater ends. I know we've all heard everything these days, but you haven't heard this. As always, Bob Drake is an enigma, a revered cult figure with a unique & bizarre approach to music. A founding member of the avant-rock band Thinking Plague in the early 1980s, and a member of the 5uu's, Hail and The Science Group (with Chris Cutler, Stevan Kovacs Tickmayer and Fred Frith), he formed his own band, Bob Drake's Cabinet of Curiosities, in 2007. Drake is also a renowned studio engineer, whose engineering credits are absurdly (!) diverse, including mainstream artists the likes of Ice Cube, Tina Turner and Engelbert Humperdinck. A musician's musician, he just does what he does, this time on his 9th solo album. Like several previous releases, this one has been illustrated by fine-artist Joe Mruk, who created a remarkable 36 page full color booklet chock full of original illustrations.