The Plum, The Orange and The Matchbox is the third album by Phosphene. This time, John Cavanagh is joined by friends for a series of nine collaborations. The idea for this record followed John's introduction to Lol Coxhill - thanks to Scottish saxophonist Raymond MacDonald for that!

Six tracks were recorded one day in June 2002, but the album was only completed in the autumn of 2004 and is now available from Secret Eye records.

If you'd like to buy this record, or other Phosphene releases, we recommend the thoroughly excellent Melodybar online music emporium.

Mats Gustafsson has written this review of the album on his Broken Face blog page:

When reviewing Phosphene¹s Projection album (also on Providence label Secret Eye) I think I described it as ominous electronic soundscapes, tranquil drones, vibrant psychedelia and eerie tone fluctuations that are interspersed with a somewhat traditional song formula and lovely harmonies. Given this background the sound of John Cavanagh¹s (aka Phosphene) brand new album initially comes as a bit of a surprise. On top of the gauzy tone structures and oozing electronics we get wheezing reeds and the occasional full-throttle jazz freakout with legendary improv saxophonist Lol Coxhill in the center of attention. This gives the whole thing a very pleasant blend of ear-piercing free jazz, relatively structured melodies and atmospheric abstraction that is really difficult to escape. The most intensely beautiful moments of the album are when background layers of drones and synthetic soundscapes are speckled with absolutely insane sax wailing. Coxhill¹s attack and timing during these moments touches what to me is the essence of free jazz ­ the way it ³should² be created. The unplanned beauty and nervous intensity that is present here sounds like an organic dance of sound that continues all the way through the disc¹s 39 minutes. The Plum, The Orange and The Matchbox is a weird album, gleefully bent music that teeters on the fringes of experimental music from a lot of different directions.

Click on each of the images below to hear short MP3 sound samples from the album.

Spheries

The Plum, The Orange and The Matchbox

Henry The Ninth

Cepheid Variable