Christmas, and other mid-winter festivals, have always been as much about remembering those we have loved and lost as they are about birth celebrations, looking forward to new life in the spring.

This website’s annual “Topographic Oceans” award, so named, of course, after the Yes album which had a mere four tracks sprawled across two vinyl records, is a bittersweet one. It celebrates a remarkable piece of music, nigh on 30 years in the making, but also mourns the premature loss of its creator, Dave Hilbourne.

Box Man was always intended to be the swansong of Nova Cascade, but the wondrous music created does make you ache at what our music world has lost moving forward.

The Choice is a massive piece of music, split into eight distinct segments. You can buy the album at https://novacascade.bandcamp.com/album/box-man-2