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HOT NEW REVIEWS
MATT
BACKER 'BACKERNALIA' (RIGHT RECORDS/NOVA/UK IMPORT)
Currently settled in
the UK, the extremely talented multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter MATT
BACKER has lived all over the world, played with countless musicians (including
JULIAN LENNON, BOB DYLAN, ELTON JOHN, ABC, etc.) and now releases his 4th album
Backernalia. He plays a lot of instruments (guitar, bass, clarinet, Hammond
organ, harmonica, harp, piano), but is best known as a gifted guitarist and
also a strong lead singer, which we can clearly hear on his new album. Matt
composes almost all of his songs on his own, except for a few songs that were
written together with several guest co-songwriters. There are 15 songs on this
new album, so there’s a lot to enjoy here and thankfully it’s also very diverse
musically speaking and from start to finish the included material is of a very
high level. Although Matt does a lot on his own, he gets help from a list of
guest musicians, such as drummers Randy Morrow and Jim Kimberley, bassist Andy
Carr, Rob Hughes on horns, Phil Taylor on piano, a few female singers and quite
a lot more guests are joining Matt on this wonderful new album Backernalia.
Opener TMI is a very strong uptempo bluesy southern rocker that has some slight
memories of JOE BONAMASSA and KENNY WAYNE SHEPHARD, while following Hooked On
Love is quite different, because this is a soulful R&B/Gospel ish midtempo
piece with guest female singer LILY GONZALES. Middle Class White Boy has a
lovely groovy laid-back bluesy rocksound, with also a touch of southern rock.
The high level of these first 3 songs is kept until the end of the album, with
as other highlights The Devil Washed His Hands Of Me (sounding like a STEELY
DAN kinda laid-back tune sung by BILLY F. GIBBONS of ZZ TOP), the raw rocking
THE BLACK KEYSish The Last Guitarist, the uptempo hardrocking Close Protection
(FREE/BAD COMPANYish), The Eyes Have It (superb midtempo laid-back tune with a
lot of soul, partly thanks also to guest female singer MARI WILSON), the catchy
midtempo melodic rocker Life And Soul and the catchy classic rocker Mystic
Rulers, with it’s FREE – All Right Now guitar riff. Please do yourself a favor
and check out this wonderful British musician’s new solo album out a.s.a.p.
at: https://www.mattbacker.com/music
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
TARAH
WHO? 'SUPPOSEDLY A MAN' (KURUKILLA RECORDS/M & O MUSIC/USA IMPORT)
TARAH WHO? is a female
fronted rockband out of the American Prague, which is a small town not far from
Oklahoma City in the USA. The band sent me a nice mini-CD titled Supposedly A
Man, which contains 8 songs in total. The band is formed around Tarah G.
Carpenter: Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Backing Vocals, Theremin, Floor Tom, Coralie Hervé:
Drums and Jason Orme: Guitar, Backing Vocals, Jew’s Harp, Shaker, Tambourine,
Baritone. They already recorded quite some songs, but I believe this is their
official debut CD. The included music is 90s inspired rock, with absolutely no
compromise, so it does sound quit dark and edgy here and there, but Tarah has a
great strong voice to sing the songs quite easily. This band totally rocks with
a lot of great uptempo pieces, such as Bad Time, Swallow That Pill, the short
punky La Petite Boche and the catchy Manners. TARAH WHO? is a good old fun
classy punky female fronted rock and roll band with the attitude of PATTI
SMITH, 70s BLONDIE or JOAN JETT and let’s hope they will release a lot more and
of course that one day they will be able to tour around the world. Meanwhile,
check out this band at: https://tarahwho.bandcamp.com/album/supposedly-a-man and http://www.tarahwho.com/ and https://www.m-o-office.com/site/
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
SPIERS
& BODEN 'FALLOW GROUND' (HUDSON RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
Although we don’t
review that much Folk music, the new album of the Oxford/Sheffield duo SPIERS
& BODEN is definitely an exception, because Fallow Ground is a sensational
ultra-melodic folk record. The duo has been making music together since the
late 1990s, although they both were already playing together in the same band
before that, namely in the band BELLOWHEAD. Anyway, on the new album the
English duo John Spiers (melodeon and concertina) and Jon Boden (vocals, fiddle
and guitar while stamping the rhythm on a stomp box) present us a wonderful
selection of 13 strong songs that resemble some of the best Folk Music I have
heard in ages. The songs are a mix of covers of traditionals (instrumentals a
lot) and self-written material (such as The Fog, Bailey Hill / Wittenham Clumps
and Giant's Waltz / The Ironing Board Hornpipe, which is inspired by the
beautiful Irish Giant's Causeway). There’s not a single dull moment here and
the most interesting thing is that instrumental the two musicians create a
fantastic sound as if a whole band is playing and along with Jon’s superb
vocals, it is a pleasure to listen to songs like Bluey Drink, Butter &
Cheese & All, Hind Horn and the titletrack Fallow Ground. Check it out for
yourself at: https://hudsonrecords.co.uk/product/spiers-boden-fallow-ground
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
LEE
O’BRIEN ‘THIS IS ME’ (OBO RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
Essex, UK based singer/songwriter
LEE O’BRIEN did almost everything on his own on his new album This Is Me,
except for the production and co-writing of the songs, because for that he got
help from the legendary FRANCIS ROSSI of STATUS QUO. The resulting album is a
fun cheerful upbeat melodic pop/rock album with a nostalgic feeling about it,
yet still sounding fresh enough for the modern world. Opener I Was Told is a
lovely classic 70s/80s inspired fun uptempo poprocker with a catchy chorus and
very strong vocalwork of Lee. Don’t Need Anyone follows and is a bit rockier,
kinda like 70s DAVID BOWIE meets 70s ROD STEWART. This is all cleverly done and
if it was the 1970s I am sure Lee would have had major hits, but in this modern
world it’s a bit harder to be an excellent musician, singer and composer,
because you really have to be lucky to score a radio hit. Anyway, Lee does a
great job and there’s a lot of great material on this mostly upbeat fun melodic
pop/rock album, with as other highlights the 70s WINGS/PAUL MCCARTNEYish One
Day, the JULIAN LENNON meets the catchy 80s midtempo pop/rocksound of TOM
PETTY/ROY ORBISON produced JEFF LYNNE ish All In A Dream, and the lovely catchy
early 80s uptempo poprockers You And I and Last Man Standing. Well done and a
recommended album in case you like to hear normal traditional old school
pop/rock with strong vocals and catchy memorable choruses. More info at: https://www.leeobrienmusic.co.uk/
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
SOME
VELVET MORNING ‘ROUGH SEAS’ (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
SOME VELVET MORNING is
a band from North London, formed back in 2007, and Rough Seas is their 4th album
so far. It took some time to finish this new album, because 2 of the 3 members
of the band were with their family in a small coastal town on the Irish Coast
when all hell broke loose due to corona in March 2020. Fast forward to the
present day, the new album is finished and Desmond Lambert (singer - songwriter
- guitarist – engineer), Rob Flanagan (drummer) and Gavin Lambert (bassist –
vocalist and brother of Desmond) deliver a great piece of new music here.
Opener Ghosts is a very strong start, a modern type of semi rocker that starts
calm, but builds up in the best spirit of FLEET FOXES, so melting a bit of
folk, pop and rock, with a focus on crystal clear vocals and a catchy poppy
melodic chorus, while giving the beat a bombastic approach that will appeal to
a lot of people out there. After this rather poppy starts, things get excited
during the following bluesy raw midtempo rocker Rough Seas, which is a
fantastic song that is pretty close to THE BLACK KEYS and GARY CLARK JR. SOME
VELVET MORNING is clearly in the rock mood here and without a doubt it sounds
quite sensational! By the way, the song changes into a catchy uptempo 70s ish
piece towards the end, so it is quite an epic adventurous diverse song! The
album continues with a mixture of poppier and rawer rocksongs and no matter
what SOME VELVET MORNING is doing, it all sounds pretty good I would say. Other
highlights are the superb calmer Butterfly, the THE WHITE STRIPESish rocker
Good To See You, the midtempo 80s influenced melodic pop/rock of Love Begins
and After Goodbye (with a slight COLDPLAY meets KEANE kinda touch) and the
catchy early 80s danceable New Wave influenced Berlin. Concluded, a great
radio-ready album to check out and for more info please go to: https://svmofficial.bandcamp.com and https://www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk/
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
ELIANA
CARGNELUTTI ‘AUR’ (INDEPENDENT/ITALY IMPORT)
Out of Italy comes singer
and guitarist ELIANA CARGNELUTTI, and she is definitely one to check out
a.s.a.p., because her 3rd album Aur represents high quality modern day female
fronted heavy blues rock. Among the guests are ANA POPOVIC and ERIC STECKEL, so
you can bet that Eliana has got all it takes to become huge. She already played
with several well-known musicians, including the DEEP PURPLE drummer IAN PAICE.
As soon as the first song Breathe Again starts, it is clear that we are dealing
with a sensational and extremely talented singer and guitarist. The song itself
is a lovely typical modern day retro heavy bluesrocker with a catchy chorus,
like JOE BONAMASSA meets SAMANTHA FISH meets JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR. The material
is here and there a bit lighter and also focused on a catchy melodic ‘pop’
chorus, such as can be heard during the following song Who Is The Monster?, yet
always featuring cool guitar riffs. Other highlights on this excellent album
are the superb soulful groovy I Don’t Know (featuring superb vocals of Eliana
and a very catchy chorus besides a superb SANTANAish guitarsolo), the uptempo
rocker I Won’t Change, the lovely semi melodic rocker Alone, which reminds me a
bit of LEE AARON and HEART, and the closing track I Swear, which is a great
AOR/Melodic Rockballad. All together, it's actually a very diverse album that
has a lot to offer and I am really looking forward to catch this
singer/guitarist live one day. Until then, check her out at: https://www.elianacargnelutti.com
and https://elianacargnelutti.bandcamp.com
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
GREEN
DIESEL ‘AFTER COMES THE DARK’ (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
As soon as the opening song Follow The
River of the new album After Comes The Dark of the Canterbury based band GREEN
DIESEL blasts through the speakers, it’s like we stepped in a time machine back
to the 1970s, because this is basically picture perfect classic 1970
progressive folk rock in the style of such legendary acts like RENAISSANCE,
FAIRPORT CONVENTION, LINDISFARNE, STEELEYE SPAN… Formed around Ellen Care (lead
vocals and violin), Matt Dear lead guitar and vocals), Paul Dadswell (drums and
vocals), Ben Holliday (bass) and Greg Ireland (guitar, bouzouki, dulcimer,
mandolin, keyboards, percussion, vocals), GREEN DIESEL was formed back in 2009
and After Comes The Dark is their 4th album so far. It is a
such a pleasure to listen to such good original music, because progfolk-rock is
quite rare nowadays. KANSAS for example is slightly more AORish compared to
their early work and a band like MOSTLY AUTUMN is also more proggy melodic rock
orientated. GREEN DIESEL however is doing things exactly like it was done 45
years ago and if only the Balfolk nights in Rotterdam would still exist, they
could have easily been on the bill. From start to finish, this is the way
to do it, instrumentally sounding classic folky, with proggy twists and superb
crystal clear female vocals, and each and every song is all about melodies.
Other highlights are Dusty Fairies, The White Hart, Katy Cruel and the
titletrack After Comes The Dark. Fans of the aforementioned bands will
absolutely love this album, so go check it out a.s.a.p. at: https://greendiesel.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
MONSIEUR
DOUMANI ‘PISSOURIN’ (GLITTERBEAT/XANGO MUSIC)
Out of Nicosia, Cyprus
comes the interesting band MONSIEUR DOUMANI, a trio formed in 2012, and so far
they have established a strong following thanks to their 3 studio albums and
their live performances. Pissourin is the 4th album of the
band, and they are formed around Antonis Antoniou (Tzouras, Vocals,
Electronics), Demetris Yiasemides (Trombone, Flute) and Andys Skordis (Guitar,
Loops, Backing Vocals). The music of MONSIEUR DOUMANI is a mix of various
styles, sometimes reminding me of ALTIN GUN (just listen to the song Kalikandjari
for example), so there’s a psychedelic middle eastern/Mediterranean influence
to be heard. World Music with elements of 70s psychedelic rock and traditional
Cyprus influences is the main melting pot here, but actually MONSIEUR DOUMANI
is one of those bands you need to check out for yourself, because they sound
very original, especially when you listen to the superb Poulia. There are so
many surprising elements to be heard and this band sounds like a rockband in
disguise, meaning that they rock, but they will still appeal to fans of
traditional music and World Music as well. They blend everything perfectly
together, and besides the aforementioned songs, other highlights on their new
album are Tiritichtas, the superb Koukkoufkiaos, Thamata (with a guest female
singer) and Nychtopapparos, although actually every song is a winner here.
Without a doubt, this is a band to watch out for in the near future and
hopefully later this year I will be able to catch them live on stage when they
come down to Rotterdam to perform. Of course the world might look entirely
different by then due to the pandemic, so fingers crossed and meanwhile check
them out at: https://www.monsieurdoumani.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
FABRIZIO
SAVINO ‘THE RISING SUN’ (INNER URGE RECORDS/XANGO MUSIC)
Out of Italy comes the
sensational guitarist FABRIZIO SAVINO, who already released several albums the
past 10 years, performed all over the world with a lot of well-known musicians
at various festivals, and now releases probably his finest work so far. Double
bass player LUCA ALEMANNO and drummer SEBASTIAN MERK join him on The Rising
Sun. 11 songs are included, of which 9 Fabrizio composed himself and the music
fits somewhere between old school smooth jazz and modern calmer progressive
rock (a song like No Ifs, No Ands, or Buts is basically pure prog). Calmer
instrumental jazzy prog fusion is most of the time the name of the game here,
with really fabulous relaxing smooth guitarplaying (like GEORGE BENSON, LEE
RITENOUR meets STANLEY JORDAN), such as can be heard during the wonderful
Rebirth and Skylark (HOGGY CARMICHAEL cover) as well as the jazzy April In
Paris (VERNON DUKE cover). There is so much to enjoy here, because just listen
to the beautiful haunting Wisdom and the smooth sensational Her Fears for
example. This is of an incredible high level from start to finish, so it is
basically a must-have album for anyone who likes precise guitarwork like the
mentioned legendary guitarists. It fits right between smooth jazzy fusion and
calmer prog, so it’s taking the best of both worlds! More info can be found
at: https://fabriziosavino.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
DEMIAN
DORELLI ‘NICK DRAKE’S PINK MOON - A JOURNEY ON PIANO’ (PONDEROSA MUSIC
RECORDS/XANGO MUSIC)
Pink Moon is the last of 3 albums recorded
by British songwriter NICK DRAKE, a legendary musician who left us way too soon
in the early 1970s. DEMIAN DORELLI is an Italian pianoplayer who is currently
living in the city of Cambridge, where Nick also once started his music career.
Together with schoolmate and friend ALBERTO FABRIS, Demian recorded 11
piano-only songs that are a hommage to Nick's album Pink Moon. Demian gives his
own twist to the original songs of Nick's classic album, which also featured
Nick's vocals and guitarwork back then, but this tribute is now all done on 1
piano by the talented musician Demian. The result is interesting and
fascinating. Fans of NICK DRAKE should really listen to the album a.s.a.p. More
info at: https://ponderosa.it/en/disco/nick-drakes-pink-moon-a-journey-on-piano/
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
JACKSON
BROWNE ‘DOWNHILL FROM EVERYWHERE’ (INSIDE RECORDINGS/HEMIFRAN)
The legendary JACKSON
BROWNE found fame and fortune in the 1970s and early 1980s with his own music,
but he also worked with almost all the big names in the
singer/songwriter/Americana/heartland rock musicians throughout the past 50
years. He released his last studio album in 2014 and actually started working
on this 15th solo album Downhill From Everywhere just before
lockdown. Eventually it took over a year to actually finish and now it is
released. Quite a few guests appear alongside Jackson on vocals and guitar,
such as bassist BOB GLAUB, guitarist GREG LEISZ, drummer MAURICIO LEWAK and
several more. Jackson’s voice is still amazing, sounding as good as in his old
days, so he aged very well. 10 songs are included in total and after the calmer
lovely start of Still Looking For Something that brings back memories of his
classic 70s westcoast/singer-songwriter days, Jackson gets rocking on the
following My Cleveland Heart. This is a superb uptempo rocker with a classic
early 80s approach like Jackson also did in those days, so with a typical
American Heartland Rock approach like also JOHN COUGAR, MICHAEL STANLEY and so
many others did in the early 80s American radio rock days. Minutes To Downtown
is up next and here we are in a very smooth midtempo AOR/Westcoast direction. A
Human Touch introduce guest female singer LESLIE MENDELSON, and is a very nice
calmer Americana/Singer-Songwriter ballad-duet with Jackson. Love Is Love is a
beautiful song where Jackson shows he hasn’t lost any of his writing skills,
while the song itself is a nice calmer pop/rock song in a sorta STING style.
The titletrack Downhill From Everywhere is a great uptempo rocking song again,
with however lyrics that are not so uplifting, because they are displaying the
reality of the world where we live in and that’s as we all know not really
positive concerning all the things happening in and to our world at the moment.
Then we get to The Dreamer, an amazing laid-back Americana tune that does have
a classic BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN meets THE EAGLES kinda feeling, yet with a sorta
LOS LOBOS touch as well. Until Justice Is Real is back to rock again, because
this is a great catchy uptempo classic American Heartland Rocker in the best
classic JACKSON BROWNE style of the late 70s/early 80s. Up next is the
beautiful calmer A Little Soon To Say and during the superb closing track A
Song For Barcelona Jackson praises his love for the beautiful Spanish city
Barcelona and also crosses western pop/rock with Latin/Spanish rhythms.
Concluded, this is a wonderful return from one of the great American
singer/songwriters around. More info can be found at: http://www.jacksonbrowne.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
STEVEN
GRAVES ‘ALL ALONE’ (INDEPENDENT/HEMIFRAN)
All Alone is already
the 9th album of the American singer/songwriter STEVEN GRAVES
who gathered around him a bunch of musicians, such as Travis Cruse on guitar,
Doug Pettibone on guitar and pedal steel, Bill Walker on guitar, Russell
Kreitman on keys, Will McDougal on keys, Robert Melendez on bass and backing
vocals, Bryant Mills on drums, and Andrew Guterman on drums, and recorded this new
album. The music is 70s orientated pop/Americana/singer/songwriter, but sadly
Steven's vocals are not so strong I’m afraid. If we go through some of the
songs, I need to mention Fire (a song that is quite representative for
California right now), Rita (uptempo rocker), So Far Away (midtempo
westcoast/Americana ish ballad), the swinging All Alone and the uptempo rocker
I Can Be Free. However, the album’s finest songs are the uptempo melodic
rockers Sitting Bull and the JACKSON BROWNEish Good People, which are both towards
the end of the album. Vocally you really need to get used to his mediocre voice,
but overall STEVEN GRAVES delivers a nice new album, which you can check out
at: https://stevengravesmusic.com/all-alone
(Points:
6.5 out of 10)
ANNIE
GALLUP ‘OH EVERYTHING’ (GALLWAY BAY MUSIC/HEMIFRAN)
American
singer/songwriter ANNIE GALLUP returns with another new album. I lost count
somewhere along the way, because she releases quite a lot of albums (solo and
as HAT CHECK GIRL), which is a good thing when the quality is of a high level
and that’s thankfully also the case on her new album Oh Everything. With the
help of other multi-instrumentalists (husband) PETER GALLWAY and HARVEY JONES,
Annie presents 13 lovely new calmer singer-songwriter pieces on which she sings
and also plays guitar and foot percussion here and there. A song like Rockabye
reminds me a lot of SUZANNE VEGA and that’s perhaps the best comparison if you
would like one, but actually Annie has developed her own style through the
years. Her voice is calm and relaxed, sometimes whispering and talking, while
sounding fragile like a female version of LEONARD COHEN during a song like
Sleeplessness. You need to be aware that the music is very calm, poetic and
lullaby ish, which is done perfectly well, but for some a bit too laid-back,
although personally I think when she starts whispering, such as during the song
I Dreamed, things does get quite exciting. Check out more info at: http://www.anniegallup.com/
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
PAUL
BENOIT ‘BEAUTIFUL LIES’ (ZEBADIAH RECORDS/HEMIFRAN)
PAUL BENOIT is a gifted
singer/songwriter/guitarist from Seattle who has built up a strong reputation
as a performer through the years in his area and with his new album Beautiful
Lies he should easily be able to reach a bigger audience for sure, because it
sounds really good from start to finish. Paul is joined by Rebecca Young on bass,
Ron Weinstein on Hammond B3 organ and Will Dowd on drums, while there are also
several guest backing singers and musicians, including Jesse Dalton on acoustic
bass and Noah Jeffries on violin and mandolin from the band THE DEER. 10 songs
are included and overall it feels like a lovely trip through the American
history of music, which is a melting pot of Americana, Singer-Songwriter, some
rock and roll and a bit of blues. It sounds a bit dark here and there, yet more
authentic than for example JOHN MAYER. The titletrack Beautiful Lies is an
absolutely beautiful Americana-pop song that could easily become a huge hit.
Paul is a fabulous singer and the songs he writes will please any fan of real
music. Other highlights are the superb BRUCE SPRINGSTEENish The Score and
Saddest Eyes, the lovely ultra-melancholic dark depressing bluesy ballad Let’s
Pretend We’re In Love, the uptempo rocker Black Crow (kinda JOE JACKSON ish,
with a lovely precise guitarsolo a la ERIC CLAPTON/JOHN MAYER) and Smoke. Paul
has got all it takes to become a household name all over the world. Check it
out for yourself at: https://paulbenoit.hearnow.com/beautiful-lies
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
ALLAN
THOMAS ‘THE JOURNEY’ (BLACK BAMBOO RECORDINGS/HEMIFRAN)
Out of Hawaii comes
ALLAN THOMAS, a singer-songwriter who delivers his 7th album
with this The Journey. You don’t hear much music from Hawaii, so this makes it
rather interesting to check out, because obviously the island’s influences can
be heard on this nice singer-songwriter album The Journey. Allan has a good
raspy voice, the music is cheerful and sounding tropical. Highlights among the
12 included songs are The Journey, Van (catchy jazzy vibe, pure STEELY DAN!), After
The Storm, the instrumental It Goes Without Saying, the superb Love’s Way
(lovely 70s westcoast-jazzy pop/rock fusion like once again STEELY DAN and the
beautiful smooth songs So Far So Good and Change Of Plans. The music reminds a
lot of the aforementioned STEELY DAN, yet with an own approach by Allan. On the
other hand this comparison is not that strange, because the featured musicians
include STEELY DAN/STING drummer Keith Carlock, and also bassist JIMMY JOHNSON
(JAMES TAYLOR, ELTON JOHN) guitarist Dean Parks (ELTON JOHN, STEVIE WONDER, BOB
DYLAN..), the legendary MICHAEL LANDAU (MILES DAVIS, JONI MITCHELL),
YELLOWJACKETS composer and pianist Russell Ferrante, DAVID CROSBY pianist and
producer James Raymond, the legendary MICHAEL RUFF on keys and guitarist Bryan
Kessler. I personally enjoyed this summer ish record a lot and hopefully I will
get to learn much more about this extremely talented musician from the
beautiful island of Hawaii, especially since he already released his debut
album way back in 1971!!!! Go and check out more info on Allan at: https://allanthomas.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
BARD
EDRINGTON V ‘TWO DAYS IN TERLINGUA’ (INDEPENDENT/HEMIFRAN)
Although I am not
a big fan of country music, since some of it usually goes more in a pop
direction and the honky-tonk country is hard to listen to for more than just a
few songs, but I do admire the country rock bands that throw in slight southern
rock influences. In the past POCO, ALABAMA, BLACKHAWK, DOC HOLIDAY and such
bands were sometimes flirting with southern rock, although they are mainly seen
as country rock bands. BARD EDRINGTON V is an American
singer/songwriter/guitarist with a sound closer to the aforementioned acts.
Besides Bard, other involved musicians on the album Two Days In Terlingua are
KARINA WILSON (vocals, violin, viola), BILL PALMER (vocals, bass), JIM PALMER
(drums), ZOE WILCOX (vocals) and ALEX MCMAHON (pedal steel, guitar, banjo). 12
songs are included and it's really a pleasure to listen to this album, which
has as highlights A New Day On The Farm (uptempo country americana), Strange
Balloon (has a modern edge clearly, and is a fantasic song!), Ma Cherie
(uptempo piece), Athena's Gaze (great midtempo light southern folk rocking), No
Reason (nice ballad). There's lots of slower balladry ish songs, but on the
other hand BARD EDRINGTON does it really well. He has a very strong voice,
while the country rock is not too honky-tonk orientated, but also not too poppy
either, so basically picture perfect! Check them out at: https://www.bardedrington.com/
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
PAUL
KAPLAN ‘WE SHALL STAY HERE’ (OLD COAT MUSIC/HEMIFRAN)
Now this is classic
Folk with fun lyrics, sung very well and lyrically American singer/songwriter PAUL
KAPLAN has definitely a sense of humor when listening to These Are The Days, a
cover of the old classic, but with lyrics about the pandemic, which is way too
funny! It gets even funnier with The Frozen Blogger, a hilarious song that you
just need to hear! There's a mixture of old and new songs here, some of the
1982 songs are more serious and very melodic actually, because Life On This
Planet is a lovely melodic folk piece for example. The songs from the recording
sessions of Rising are also serious classic folk traditional with good
vocalwork/close-harmony ish vocals. As mentioned, the 3 new songs here show a
humoristic side of Paul, and I have to say that this is the best way to keep
people entertained with folk music these days. Check for yourself at: https://paulkaplanmusic.com/
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
THE
BEAUTIFUL ART OF DECAY ’SOUNDS OF A PROMISING FUTURE' (PARAPLY RECORDS/HEMIFRAN)
THE BEAUTIFUL ART OF
DECAY is a great new Swedish band with a lovely 4 tracks counting mini-CD
titled Sounds Of A Promising Future. Opener Americans is a catchy uptempo
modern sounding melodic rocker that does sound really good and is also very
well-performed. Perhaps nothing new under the horizon here, this band is
definitely doing things quite perfect to come up with a radio-ready sound that
rocks big time, and both vocally and instrumentally it is of a very high level.
Following Happiness Ever After is a great slow tune that recalls memories of
DAVID BOWIE, while Stories is probably the strongest song. This song is also
sounding a bit like DAVID BOWIE, to be exact in his 1980s Let’s Dance period,
but it reminds me even of the retro new wave sound of bands like WHITE LIES and
SLOW READERS CLUB. Closing track Enemies is another nice BOWIEish midtempo
pop/rock piece. The CD has a massive crystal clear sound that should gain them
definitely exposure, especially if you like any of the mentioned acts. Check
them out at: https://www.facebook.com/TBAoD/
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
MITCHELL
MANBURG ‘LAPLACE RESONANCE’ (INDEPENDENT/HEMIFRAN)
Out of California
comes the talented singer/songwriter MITCHELL MANBURG, who had DAVE RUDE of
TESLA as a guitar teacher in his youth. After releasing a few EPs with a band
called CASE HOP TALLY, Mitchell now releases a solo mini debut CD titled
Laplace Resonance, The album starts and ends instrumentally, while in-between
we can hear some nice calmer indie pop/rock during the songs At What Cost and
Headlights. He has sorta an own identity, and I look forward to a full-length
album sometime in the future. Meanwhile, check him out at: https://mitchellmanburgmusic.com
(Points:
7.8 out of 10)
LADY
PSYCHIATRIST’S BOOTH ‘LADY PSYCHIATRIST’S BOOTH’ (INDEPENDENT/HEMIFRAN)
LADY PSYCHIATRIST'S
BOOTH is an all-female trio band consisting of Ashley E Norton (lead singer of
WHITHERWARD), Stephanie Groot (violinist of WHITHERWARD) and Laura Hall (music
director of hit TV show, “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”). Together they recorded an
interesting same titled debut album. Only 6 songs are included, so you could
actually call it a mini-CD. The band has an own style that sounds quite melodic
and vocally very strong. After the short intro, following Heritage Flakes is a
great tune. It sounds extremely melodic, with really beautiful lead- and
harmonyvocals. Only the drums are missing here and overall it reminds me a bit of
CHALLENGE, in case you remember them, this means LADY PSYCHIATRIST'S BOOTH is
almost unplugged AOR! Glory Box is excellent, quite original, and performed by
a full blown rockband this would be an AOR/Melodic Rock dream, yet now it’s
unplugged, which is also sounding sensational, so please check out this
talented all-female band at: https://www.hemifran.com/artist/Lady%20Psychiatrist%E2%80%99s%20Booth/
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
KALINEC
& KJ ‘LET’S GET AWAY’ (INDEPENDENT/HEMIFRAN)
The album Let's Get
Away by the singer/songwriter/country duo KALINEC & KJ is a nice old school singer-songwriter folk/country with
a focus on melodies that are beautiful sung by both. 10 songs are included and
from start to finish it's a pleasure to listen to KALINEC & KJ, whom you
can check out for yourself at: https://airplaydirect.com/music/kalinecampkj/tour.php
(Points:
7.8 out of 10)
HOT'N'NASTY
'BURN' (SONIC REVOLUTION/BOB MEDIA/GERMAN IMPORT)
The German band
HOT'N'NASTY has been around for a few decades now, and I believe Burn is their
4th album so far. The band had to replace their original lead singer a few
years ago, because PATRICK PFAU sadly died in 2013. His replacement was ROBERT
COLLINS, who also plays harp. The other members in the band are guitarist MALTE
TRIEBSCH, bassist JACOB MULLER and drummer DOMINIQUE EHLERT. The new album Burn
was recorded, mixed and mastered at the Megaphon Studios by Martin Meinschläfer
(producer and recording engineer for Henrik Freischlader, Layla Zoe, Kai
Strauss and Tommy Schneller), and musically speaking the band flirts with
classic blues here and there, but is mainly playing heavy bluesrock and a bit
of classic rock/southern rock, such as can be heard during the catchy LYNYRD
SKYNYRD ish Superstar. The vocals are very strong, the guitarwork is groovy and
bluesy, and the material definitely rocks. This is a great band to listen to
and it doesn't surprise me they won a German music award for being the best
Blues band. There's not a single weak song on their new album, because it has
13 awesome rockers and of course my favorites are the somewhat heavier tunes,
such as the aforementioned Superstar, Dark City, Anyway The Wind Blow, Too Good
To Be True and Too Much Babble. However, when the band slows things down to a
bluesy GARY MOORE/WALTER TROUT affair such as during the lovely semi-ballads It
Ain't Easy and closing track The Night Before, it shows the band's diversity.
The guys have a great sound and I'll bet live on stage they will impress for
sure and it's always great to see a band performing self-written material.
HOT'N'NASTY has an own identity, but I think if you like your blues to rock a
bit harder in a way we also know it from bands like BLACK STONE CHERRY, 70s
WHITESNAKE, LYNYRD SKYNYRD, BLACKBERRY SMOKE, RIVAL SONS, JOE BONAMASSA etc.
etc., then you will definitely like this band as well! Check them out at
a.s.ap. at: http://www.hot-n-nasty.de/
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
ZITTER
'INTOXICATED WORLD' (INDEPENDENT/SWEDEN IMPORT)
Out of Sweden comes
ZITTER, and they sent me their digital only release on CDR. It's the third
album of the band so far, and features 9 new songs. We reviewed their previous
2 albums and Intoxicated World seems to follow the same direction. The band is
formed around Fred Z (vocals & bass), B Gustaf (guitars) and MacCalico Adee
(software drums), and it's a pity this album will not be officially released on
LP or CD, because for people who are not familiar with them, ZITTER has a great
melodic sleazy rock and roll sound that sounds like a cross between HANOI ROCKS
and SHOTGUN MESSIAH. Most of the songs are uptempo and feature catchy hooks and
melodic choruses to sing along to. The guys are very productive, because they
released these 3 albums within the pandemic period, and all of them sound
pretty good. This new album might be their best effort so far, so go check them
out at: http://www.zitter.se/
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
SYRINX
CALL 'M/I/R/R/O/R/N/E/U/R/O/N' (TIMEZONE RECORDS/ART OF MUSIC/GERMAN IMPORT)
Just like his other bands and projects
(such as ISGAARD and SINGLE CELLED ORGANISM), German
singer/multi-instrumentalist JENS LUECK is specialized in all kinds of theories
and thoughts about the world and it’s human beings, which he brings to life in
his progressive rockmusicworld. SYRINX CALL is one of his acts, and it seems
that the previous albums with this band/project were folk/classical music
based, yet when listening to the new album Mirrorneuron, we are heading
straight into high class progressive rock/symphonic rock of an incredible high
level, and also here there is a concept story connecting all the songs
together. The band/project consists of vocalists ISGAARD, DORIS PACKBIERS,
VOLKER KUINKE and Jens himself, who also took care of the keys, drums,
percussion, programing, acoustic guitar. The list of guest musicians is quite
impressive, because (ex-) ELOY members Hannes Arkona (guitar, keys),Frank
Börnemann (guitar) and Klaus-Peter Matziol (bass) and SYLVAN guitarist Jan
Petersen make their appearance on this rather impressive sounding album. Here
and there is has a slightly bombastic touch which is thanks to the classical
music influence of a few other guests who play cello, flute and violin. The
music is however as expected pure prog or perhaps 70s symphonic rock in its
best tradition of classic 70s albums by ALAN PARSONS PROJECT, ELOY (of course),
KAYAK, CAMEL, PINK FLOYD, etc. etc. From start to finish, this is a lovely
album to enjoy if you’re into such timeless romantic music, which has as
highlights Deceptive Illusion, Breakdown, Weird Resonance, the titletrack
Mirrorneuron and Sweetness. Without a doubt, this album of SYRINX CALL is a
must-have for the progfans! More info at: http://www.syrinxcall.com/
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
ISGAARD
'HUMAN' (ART OF MUSIC/GERMAN IMPORT)
Human is the 2019
album of the classically trained German singer ISGAARD, who already has had
success in Germany and especially in the Philippines about 20 years ago. She
has released quite a number of albums so far, and on this CD Human she is
assisted by a list of well-seasoned musicians such as her partner JENS LUECK,
who performed a lot of the instruments, but also a few other musicians are
involved. The included music is lovely calmer epic light semi-prog (and a bit
of 70s) balladry orientated, sounding quite theatrical and bombastic at times,
yet with the focus on Isgaard’s wonderful high pitched vocals that remind me
all together a lot of KAYAK when CINDY OUDSHOORN was singing with them, yet
also with a sorta KATE BUSH/WITHIN TEMPTATION touch here and there, such as can
be heard very well during the highlights of the album, which are I Couldn’t Say
Goodbye, The Sun Comes Up Tomorrow (lovely), Black Swan (pure WITHIN
TEMPTATION, fantastic bombastic tune), Your World Is Broken (huge AORish
ballad, with a beautiful guitarsolo) and part 2 Fractioning of the epic prog
closing track Borders. Concluded, this is a very nice album from Isgaard that
should definitely appeal to the fans of the aforementioned acts. More info
at: https://www.isgaard.com/en/
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
SINGLE
CELLED ORGANISM 'SPLINTER IN THE EYE' (AFRAID OF SUNLIGHT RECORDS/GERMAN
IMPORT)
Now this is a wonderful
pure modern day progressive rockalbum that reminds me a lot of EVERON,
PORCUPINE TREE, RPWL, RIVERSIDE, and such, with a nice mixture of beautiful
soaring guitar melodies, laid-back yet exciting keyboardwork, a progressive
rhythm section and melodic calm male and female vocals. The result is an
interesting album for all the progfans out there. SINGLE CELLED ORGANISM is an
one-man’s project from Hamburg, Germany, formed around
drummer/multi-instrumentalist JENS LUECK, who wrote with his partner/companion
ISGAARD MARKE this 2017 released debut album Splinter In The Eye about a girl
who is part of an experiment to see what happens to a human life if from birth
it never is surrounded by other human beings, lives inside one room the first
10 years of her life, being brought up by robots and only gets to see mass
media on a screen after the robots leave. The result is a fascinating story
that you can hear on this concept record of SINGLE CELLED ORGANISM. Other
involved musicians are INGO SALZMANN (guitars), JAN PETERSEN (guitars,
ex-SYLVAN), DIETER KOCH (acoustic guitar), VOLKER KUINKE (recorder), KATJA
FLINTSCH (violin, viola), and ANNIKA STOLZE (violoncello). Although the whole
album feels like one long lovely journey for the progfan, the absolute highlights
are the proggy masterpieces New Horizon and Splinter In The Eye (a la RPWL and
PINK FLOYD), the beautiful calmer KAYAKish Flies In My Head, and the
instrumentals The Virus and closing track Epilogue (Her Poem). Without a doubt,
a recommended progalbum to check out at: https://singlecelledorganism.com/ and https://singlecelledorganism.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
INNER
AXIS 'MIDNIGHT HUNTER' (FASTBALL MUSIC/BOB MEDIA/GERMAN IMPORT)
Out of Germany comes
INNER AXIS, a band which has been around for a while now, with 2 album releases
so far and now there is a fantastic CD-single titled Midnight Hunter that consists
of 4 songs. Midnight Hunter is a superb piece of faster uptempo melodic Heavy
Metal in classic Teutonic/German style of bands like GRAVESTONE, RUNNING WILD,
NO TROUBLLE, NOISEHUNTER, etc., while following Steelbladed Avenger is speeding
things up to sensational melodic Power Metal a la NOCTURNAL RITES meets MYSTIC
PROPHECY and a bit of classic PRIEST. Performed and produced extremely well,
the lead vocals of KAI HAGEMANN and shredding guitarwork of ZACHARIAS DROSOS
and NINO HELFRICH also sound exceptionally strong, and along with the
impressive 2 instrumental versions of the same songs, this INNER AXIS is a band
to check out a.s.a.p. at: http://inneraxis.home.rock-promotion.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
BODYGUERRA
'FIRE & SOUL' (FASTBALL MUSIC/BOB MEDIA/GERMAN IMPORT)
The German band
BODYGUERRA released their debut album in 2013, but it took another 8 years
before a follow-up was released, however now their 2nd album
Fire & Soul is available via FASTBALL MUSIC. The band is formed around
guitarist GUIDO STOECKER, vocalist ELA STURM, bassist DANIJ PERL and drummer
CHRISTIAN ANTWERPEN, and this new album was recorded, mixed and mastered by
guitarist/producer ROLF MUNKES (TONY MARTIN, EMPIRE, RAZORBACK, CREMATORY,
etc.), who also plays a solo on one of the songs. 13 tracks are on the album,
and opener Stay Free shows right away that we are dealing here with a great
classic traditional melodic hard/heavy rockband that reminds me a bit of the
massively produced late 80s/early 90s German hardrock/metalsound of bands like
BONFIRE, CHARON, VICE, KARO, BAD SISTER… The vocals of their female singer are
quite nice, and highlights on Fire & Soul are Danger Zone (SINNERish, but
then with female vocals of course), Magical Touch (strong melodic rocking
song), Steelheart (lovely catchy uptempo melodic rocker a la ROUGH/DORO
featuring a superb guitarsolo), the midtempo Soultrail, the DIo guitar riff
driven uptempo melodic heavy rockers Breakout and Out Of Control and the
excellent uptempo melodic rocker Believe (with its AORish chorus and Ela’s
vocals like BONNIE TYLER meets STEVIE NICKS meets BELINDA CARLISLE, a clear 80s
influenced piece). BODYGUERRA is a recommended band to check out if you’re into
old-school guitar orientated (German) Melodic Hardrock. Check out more info
at: https://www.bodyguerra.com/
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
UNFORGED
'EYE FOR AN EYE' (FASTBALL MUSIC/BOB MEDIA/GERMAN IMPORT)
The German band
UNFORGED is clearly influenced by the modern metalsound of bands like TRIVIUM,
PANTERA, SLAYER and METALLICA, but also influences of American Metalcore of the
past 20 years can be traced. We have seen all over the world millions of bands
playing a style that fits somewhere between those influential bands, and
UNFORGED is no exception to the rule. Most important however is the sound and
production, and also if vocally all is in shape, then it becomes interesting
and thankfully all those things are not bad on the CD Eye For An Eye of
UNFORGED. I would however hear some more clean singing, because the growls and
screams are sometimes getting a bit too much. However, as mentioned, the band
does a great job and if you’re into the extreme modern metalsound, this is
recommended to check out at: https://unforged.de/
(Points:
-)
THE END
A.D. 'IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD' (FASTBALL MUSIC/BOB MEDIA/GERMAN IMPORT)
Out of Philadelphia,
USA comes the female fronted band THE END A.D., whom were formed back in 2014
and It’s All In Your Head is their 2nd EP so far. AMI FRIEND is
clearly the person in charge here, because she can do a lot with her voice, but
most of the time she has this ARCH ENEMY aggressive kinda tone in her voice,
although she can also sing quite clean. Thankfully the music is slightly more
melodic than ARCH ENEMY, and is actually close to Thrash Metal, yet with a
modern Metal-Hardcore approach here and there, and also pure Heavy Metal can be
heard during a song like Head. THE END A.D. is a nice band to check out if
you’re a dedicated True Metal head! More info at: http://theendad.bandcamp.com
(Points:
7.8 out of 10)
TEAL
'HEARTH' (BIRD'S ROBE RECORDS/CREATIVE ECLIPSE PR/GERMAN IMPORT)
TEAL is an Australian
band, and their debut album is titled Hearth, which was actually already
recorded back in 2013, and the band has meanwhile split up, with each of the
members doing other things in the music industry. However, as part of the 10th
year anniversary of their label BIRD'S ROBE RECORDS, it has been re-released.
The included music is not bad, but vocally a bit over the top, sounding here
and there like an emo singer meets the vocalist of LEPROUS. Musically TEAL
takes elements of Emo, Metalcore and modern post-progrock to come up with a
nice strong sound that is still quite melodic, and along with the American
kinda modern rock approach, it does remind me a bit of TOOL meets a 90s Emocore
band. Not bad at all and you can check out more at: https://tealband.bandcamp.com/album/hearth-ep
(Points:
7.7 out of 10)
SYNTAX
ERROR 'MESSAGE' (BIRD'S ROBE RECORDS/CREATIVE ECLIPSE PR/GERMAN IMPORT)
The Australian band
SYNTAX ERROR make their debut with Message, which is released through BIRD’S
ROBE RECORDS. The Sydney based band comes up with a great fascinating modern
sound during the 7 included songs on this first album. Opener Esoteric
Transmissions is very nice instrumental modern post-progressive rocker, kinda
like PORCUPINE TREE and OZRIC TENTACLES in a battle with LONG DISTANCE CALLING,
so mostly dark, melancholic and quite calm actually, but building up to an
exciting uptempo rocking climax that will please all proggies out there! Next
song Time In Reverse introduce vocals, and they sound really good actually.
Guitarist BEN AYLWARD has a really strong relaxing voice, making this song a
lovely tune to listen to. There’s some RADIOHEAD to be heard in this song, but
SYNTAX ERROR is definitely more proggy and cleaner in the vocal department. The
other members in the band are drummer BEN EADIE, bassist PETER YATES and
MATTHEW SYRES (guitar/theremin). The album was originally released in 2018, but
it’s now worldwide available and therefore introducing this interesting band.
They will release a follow-up in 2022, so that’s something to look forward to!
Other highlights on this rather diverse debut album are the fantastic uptempo
post-punk ish The Unknown (what if U2 and THE CURE went into a slightly more
experimental direction back in the 1980s!), Depth Charged (interesting uptempo
experimental post-punk-prog mixture) and the haunting melancholic midtempo Under
The Ice. This band is mostly recommended to fans of modern (semi-instrumental)
post-progrock at first sight, but as you can see there’s much more to enjoy
here! More info at: www.syntaxerror.com
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
ROPES
OF NIGHT 'IMPOSSIBLE SPACE' (GOLDEN ANTENNA RECORDS/CREATIVE ECLIPSE PR/GERMAN
IMPORT)
ROPES OF NIGHT is a
very exciting band that comes out of Cologne, Germany, and their debut album is
titled Impossible Space. I’ll bet that if this was a band from the UK or
Ireland, then they would have been hugely praised by the press. If you’re a fan
of bands like INHALER, THE EDITORS, THE SLOW READERS CLUB, BLOSSOMS, INTERPOL,
KILLING JOKE, etc., then you absolutely need to check out this album a.s.a.p.
This is retro 80s new wave/post-punk at it’s very best! As soon as the opener
Another Closing Door blasts through the speakers, you will be hooked for sure,
because this is a sensational uptempo Post-Punk piece where everything sounds
picture perfect, including the vocals of singer THOMAS SCHINDLER, who also
plays the bass. The rest of the band consists of guitarist MARTIN STENGER,
drummer MANUEL SCHAUB and guitarist/keyboardplayer RALPH SCHMIDT. It’s been
some time for me to hear such a great Post-Punk album from start to finish, but
ROPES OF NIGHT are definitely impressing all the way here on their first album
Impossible Space. Recorded in the summer of corona pandemic year 2020, the 9
songs capture the best of early 80s post-punk/new wave you can imagine! Other
highlights are Perfect Prison, Vanishing, What’s Done Is Done, Lunacy By Which
We Kneel, Strange Moons and the superb closing track If Death Was A Color.
Actually there’s no weak moment to be found, so please make sure not to miss
this superb band, because their first album is an absolute winner that should
be in everyone’s end-of-the-year album charts! More info at: https://ropesofnight.bandcamp.com
(Points:
8.9 out of 10)
DUMBSAINT
'PANORAMA/IN TEN PIECES' (BIRD'S ROBE RECORDS/CREATIVE ECLIPSE PR/GERMAN
IMPORT)
DUMBSAINT is a 4-piece
band from Sydney, Australia, and their new album Panama, In Ten Pieces was
actually recorded back in 2014, and is now part of the 10th anniversary series
of their label BIRD'S ROBE RECORDS. It's great to see this album now being
released worldwide, because this band offers interesting heavy experimental instrumental
modern post-prog / heavy rock / doomy metal, which is extremely complex and
needs further listens before making up a good judgement. The band also creates
cinematic/movies to accompany the music, so live on stage it is a thrill to
watch and listen to this fascinating band. It's impossible to compare DUMBSAINT
to any other band, which makes them of course very interesting to check out at:
https://dumbsaint.bandcamp.com/album/panorama-in-ten-pieces
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
SHANNON
LAY 'GEIST' (SUB POP/KONKURRENT)
The Californian
singer/songwriter/guitarist SHANNON LAY has already released 3 solo albums and performed
with the bands of FEELS and TY SEGALL. Ty also appears on her new album Geist,
which is a beautiful calmer modern semi-acoustic orientated
folk-pop-singer/songwriter ish record that sounds very impressive from start to
finish. This is beautiful music that is sung perfectly by Shannon. A song like
A Thread To Find is such an amazing song that could easily become a huge hit,
although any song of the 10 included here is a pleasure to listen to. Awaken
And Allow is an acapella song that even has a sorta Irish/Celtic touch a la
ENYA, so there's still a lot to enjoy here, despite it being a very calm
laid-back atmopsheric album. If you want to hear a calm album in this crazy mad
and loud world, then this new SHANNON LAY album is definitely highly
recommended! More info can be found at: https://shannonlay.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
LALA
LALA 'I WANT THE DOOR TO OPEN' (HARDLY ART/KONKURRENT)
Out of Chicago comes
the band LALA LALA, which is an indie pop/rock project of LILLIE WEST, and I
Want The Door To Open is her 3rd album so far. It has a modern hi-tech
electronic orientated indiepop sound, which sometimes has a very haunting and
exciting approach such as during the song Color Of The Pool, but we can also trace
cheerful uptempo pop/rock ish material such as during the excellent DIVER and
how about the sensational Bliss Now!. It has great vocalwork, a handfull of catchy
tunes, and the modern sound has the typical female fronted touch, so this is a
highly recommended album! There's a guest male singer during Plate, but overall
this is modern day female fronted hi-tech electonic pop/rock meets indie/wave
at it's best. More info at: https://lalabandlala.bandcamp.com/album/i-want-the-door-to-open
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
VANISHING
TWIN 'OOKII GEKKOU' (FIRE RECORDS/KONKURRENT)
Here we have a very exciting British band
with a retro sound that feels like we’re back in the 1970s in a time when funky
rhythms were very common, and with the addition of a psychedelic rocking
guitar, lush prog like melodies and strange synth sounds, it really feels that
way. We have seen a lot more bands doing this the past few years, which was
combining all these past sounds of krautrock, prog, afrofunk, jazz and
avant-garde, and now we are being spoiled with some really remarkable original
sounding new bands. VANISHING TWIN is one of those bands, and they are formed
around songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist CATHY LUCAS, drummer
VALENTINA MAGALETTI (BAT FOR LASHES), bassist SUSUMU MUKAI, and synth/guitar
player PHIL MFU. The band’s sound is exciting and innovative, yet still
reminding of the aforementioned long forgotten past sounds. Highlights on their
new album Ookii Gekkou are the fantastic Phase One Million (ALTIN GUNish meets
Krautrock), Zuum (featuring a cool middle eastern synth part a la ZENOBIA, yet
it also has a SADE kinda vocal melody and a complicated jazzy drum rhythm), the
weird 70s instrumental psychedelic spacey The Organism, the African tribal drum
rhythm dominated In Cucina (which also features kraut meets jazz weirdness) and
the catchy YELLO meets HUMAN LEAGUEish Light Vessel. I can only imagine that
live on stage, VANISHING TWIN will easily take you into their hypnotical
journey of all kinds of strange synth noises and sounds, but it somehow always
feels very comfortable. Check them out at: https://vanishingtwinmusic.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
SUZIE
UNGERLEIDER 'MY NAME IS SUZIE UNGERLEIDER VINYL RECORD' (STELLA RECORDS/REPUBLIC
MEDIA/UK IMPORT)
Although the Canadian
singer/songwriter SUZIE UNGERLEIDER has already released 9 albums (under the
moniker OH SUSANNA), this is the first time I hear about this extremely
talented musician, but it's also the first album under her own name. She is
based in Vancouver, Canada, and on her new album My Name Is Suzie Ungergleider,
she is assisted by producer JIM BRYSON, who also plays keys, guitars,
percussion and bass. Other musicians joining Suzie and Jim are KERI LATIMER
(harmonyvocals, theremin), PETER VON ALTHEN (drums), BAZIL DONOVAN (bass), CAM
GIROUX (drums), PHILIPPE CHARBONNEAU (bass), SAMANTHA PARTON (harmonyvocals),
KINLEY DOWLING (string arrangement, viola, violin) and KEVIN FOX (cello). Suzie
wrote almost all of the 10 included songs by herself, and when listening to the
shiny beautiful vinyl release of the album, it is clear that we are dealing
here with a talented singer/songwriter. Opener Mount Royal is a beautiful
calmer singer/songwriter piece based around the acoustic guitar and lovely
voice of Suzie. She has a very pleasant voice to listen to, while the music is
extremely melodic and when during the next song Pumpkins other instruments join
in, we get to hear a sensational sound that fits somewhere between Americana,
Classic Singer/Songwriter Pop and a touch of Folk. Summerbaby is another
beautiful calmer singer/songwriter piece that reminds me a bit of SHARON CORR
and FIRST AID KID. Hearts is a very calm peaceful lullaby song, while Baby
Blues closes the album very nicely in a sorta semi pop/rock ballad direction
that reminds me a bit of STEVIE NICKS.
Side-B opens with
Disappear, a 70s calmer folky singer/songwriter piece a la MARIANNE FAITHFUL.
Sweet Little Sparrow bring the drums back and it gives us a 'Spring' like
happiness, because this is a very cheerful uptempo Americana pop/rock piece
with lovely melodies, reminding a lot of FIRST AID KIT, THE WEBB SISTERS and
THE STAVES. Here and there Suzie also reminds me of HEATHER NOVA and even a
calmer KT TUNSTALL comes to mind sometimes. Things slow down again to an
acoustic folk pop direction a la AMY MCDONALD during the beautiful North Star
Sneakers. Roses has a slow shuffle pop/rock touch and closing track Ships is a
very strong country ish pop/rock ballad with an emotional singing Suzie.
Without a doubt, Suzie
needs to be heard by a lot more people, because this new album she released
under her own name is a beautiful piece of calmer singer/songwriter, Americana,
pop/folk in the tradition of all the classic female troubadours of the past and
present day. Check her out at: https://suzieungerleider.com/
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
JACKIE
VENSON ‘VINTAGE MACHINE’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Out of Austin, Texas comes the extremely
talented JACKIE VENSON, who sings and plays guitar, keys and some drum sampling
while she is assisted on her album Vintage Machine by drummer RODNEY HYDER and
there are also guest appearances by TIM PALMER (guitar, bass) and CHRIS
"FRENCHIE" SMITH (guitar, vocals). Jackie has already released quite
a lot music the past few years, but this Vintage Machine is an official new CD
I received. The included music is of an incredible high level! Basically it's
funky retro 80s groovy soul injected pop/rock with a focus around Jackie's
strong voice and lyrics, but it also features big massive synths in classic
80's mode, including the catchy hooks and memorable choruses (sometimes PRINCE
comes to mind). On the other hand it also has the typical modern female pop
edge thrown in quite clearly (FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE/DUA LIPA etc) and the
album contains 8 songs and I have to say that they all sounds quite impressive.
Jackie could easily become the next big mega superstar, because she has got all
it takes to become huge. Her voice is just picture perfect and songs like
Vintage Machine, Surrender and Go My Way are instant winners for today's retro
80s pop dominated radio charts. Sometimes I have to think about the early
records of NENEH CHERRY, but then crossed with PRINCE and some nice guitar
solo's here and there, although actually Jackie has an own identity which you
can hear on this superb new album. Make sure not to miss this fantastic
singer/songwriter/musician from Austin, Texas! Check her out at: https://jackievenson.bandcamp.com/album/vintage-machine
and http://jackievenson.com/
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
CUMBIA CHICHARRA ‘EL GRITO’
(DISCOS LA CHICHARRA/L’AUTRE DISTIBUTION/FRANCE IMPORT)
El Grito is the 4th album of the
Marseille, France based band CUMBIA CHICHARRA. I was not familiar with the band
before, but this new album shows what an incredible band this is and they
absolutely deserve a lot more attention. Their music is fun and groovy, sounding
tropical and contains all kinds of influences. The band played all over the
world and therefore picked up those various music/cultural influences from all
kinds of regions, which you can clearly hear on this new album. There's Middle
Eastern influences, but also Latin American rhythms are featured in most of the
songs, but also traces of Urban, Caribbean, a bit of dance, jazz and pop/rock,
and even a touch of Reggae can be heard in a song like Grito Animal. The band
released their debut album in 2013 and I am safe to say a song like ?Quien Es? or
the party winning closing track Polleromax could easily put them into a
megastar status if radio picks it up of course. CUMBIA CHICHARRA is an
extremely talented band and they are playing World Music without any borders,
so you can discover everytime something new when you listen to their new album.
I think live on stage this band will definitely impress a lot and they are
definitely a guarantee for a huge happy party, which is also thanks to the use
of all kinds of instruments (trumpets, synths, drums, guitars and much more),
both male and female vocalwork (in Spanish) and the aforementioned latin,
middle eastern, african and european mash-up of music and cultural influences.
I have not heard such a strong World Music album in a long time as this
wonderful new album of CUMBIA CHICHARRA, so make sure to check them out at:
https://www.lacumbiachicharra.com/
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
TSL
‘IRREVERENT’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Now
here we have a sensational band from Florida with a classic late 80s/early 90s
groovy melodic hardrock/hair metal sound. TSL has a superb singer by the name
of Cam Canedy and the rest of the line-up of the band features Jeff Korb –
Guitars, Luis Antonio Alicea – Drums and Ross Kevles - Bass Guitar. It’s a pity
this is just a CDR and digital release only, because these guys sound like the
next big deal in the melodic hardrockscene. 4 songs are on the EP Irreverent
and all of them sound superb, although the midtempo semi-ballad Ressurect Me
and the superb midtempo melodic rocker Leaving Alone sound like we’re back in
1990 when FIREHOUSE, SLAUGHTER and such ruled the MTV airways! They also remind
me a bit of WINTER ROSE, if anyone remembers that JAMES LABRIE fronted band
from the late 1980s, and countless other bands come to mind while listening to
this superb band! Their EP was produced by PETER KLETT (guitarist/songwriter of
90s rockers CANDLEBOX) and let’s hope for an official CD or VINYL release of
them in the future, because they show on these first 4 songs TSL is a name to remember!
This is one of the most authentic Melodic Hardrockbands at the moment, with an
incredible singer, an amazing guitarplayer and a handful of sensational songs.
Go check them out a.s.a.p. at: https://www.tsl-band.com/
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
GET
SMART! ‘OH YEAH NO’ (CAPITOL PUNISHMENT/XO PUBLICITY/USA IMPORT)
The corona pandemic also brought us
positive things, because here and there musicians and bands reunited and
recorded new material or went into their archives to release music that was
never before available. In the case of GET SMART!, a Chicago, USA based band
that was active in the 1980s, they recently reformed and now release a 6-tracks
EP CD titled Oh Yeah No that contains unreleased material from 1987. The band
managed to release 2 albums in the 1980s, but eventually split up towards the
end of the 1980s. Musically speaking they blended early 80s Powerpop with
typical 90s Alternative Rock/US College Rock (R.E.M./HUSKER DU/PIXIES) and after
hearing this album I can honestly say that GET SMART! was ahead of their time,
because all 6 songs still sound fresh, which might also be due to the fact that
it was recorded by the late IAIN BURGESS (MINISTRY, NAKED RAYGUN…) and mixed by
the legendary STEVE ALBINI (NIRVANA, PJ HARVEY, PIXIES…). The band has shared
female/male vocals, so when bassist LISA WERTMAN CROWE sings, the sound is more
akin to acts like PJ HARVEY, PATTI SMITH and THE PRETENDERS, while guitarist
MARCUS KOCH’s vocals are giving it a pure R.E.M./PIXIESish sound, but the band
is also not shy from some louder early 80s lite-post-punk here and there, such
as can be heard during Oh yeah No and the catchy Paradise (even a bit THE
KNACKish powerpop). Altogether, a nice record for sure, especially interesting
for those who are already familiar with this band’s work from the 80s.
Hopefully soon new material of GET SMART! Check them out at: https://getsmart.bandcamp.com/album/oh-yeah-no
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
HARKNESS
‘THE OCCASION’ (WINDCHILD RECORDS/CANADA IMPORT)
If it was up to me I would bet my money on
the current Canadian music market, because there is so much talent out there in
one of the most beautiful countries on earth. From the late 1970s until the
early 1990s we were overwhelmed by countless sensational bands from Canada, of
which RUSH, TRIUMPH, MAX WEBSTER, FM, BRYAN ADAMS, HAREM SCAREM, HONEYMOON
SUITE, LOVERBOY, HAYWIRE are just a few that come to mind, but there were
thousands more (all in my collection of course!). This period in music I would
refer to as the Golden age of rock and roll for Canada, but somewhere in the
early 90s fewer bands and albums made it to the European market, since the
labels over here didn’t sign them anymore somehow. However, the past few years
Canada is literally exploding with new high quality album releases, and the
internet made it a lot easier to discover these mostly independent active
bands. HARKNESS from North York/Toronto, Ontario is definitely a band to keep
your eyes wide open for, because when listening to the opener of their debut
album The Occasion, I was hearing one of the most original bands I have heard
in a long time. It sounds refreshing, retro and also modern, taking the best of
different music genres. That opening song is the title track The Ocassion, a
lovely diverse tune that combines 70s progrock, late 60s psychedelic pop/rock
and today’s modern dreampop/shoegaze. It reminds me a bit of TAME IMPALE, but
you can trace much more during this long song. It’s like a trip through the
music history, with here and there you can pick up influences of late 60s THE
BEATLES, progrock parts of the MAX WEBSTER meets FM meets RUSH kind, and then
the aforementioned TAME IMPALE similarities, but also on top of it all, there’s
bombastic orchestration sounds every now and then. 10 more songs follow that
are shorter, but nevertheless as good as that fantastic opening song, and
despite mentioning other similar acts, HARKNESS has really created an own kinda
identity after listening to the album a couple of times. This album is a
must-have for anyone into real original but authentic 60s/70s inspired music
like it was also done in the 1960s/1970s, with room for improvisation and
experimental parts, such as can be heard very clearly during a song like Hymn,
but never forgetting the melodies that make you want to return to a particular
song (in a way it reminds me of a slighter darker version of GODLEY & CREME
meets THE BEATLES‘ SGT. PEPPERS). HARKNESS is actually not a band, but a
one-man’s band/project that is based around singer/songwriter/producer/artist
HARKNESS. There are additional musicians to be heard as well, but it’s HARKNESS
his project/band creation where he does most parts on his own (bass, drums,
piano, guitar, vocals) and for all the strange noises you hear throughout the
album, he hired local musicians to do that. I almost forget to mention that
there’s also Funk elements to be heard a few times, such as during the JETT
REBEL/PRINCE ish Shark Fin Soup, so basically there’s a lot to enjoy here and
every time when revisiting it, you discover something new. Check it out for
yourself at: https://harkness.bandcamp.com/album/the-occasion
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
SINOPTIK
‘THE CALLING’ (INDEPENDENT/UKRAINE IMPORT)
Out of
Kyiv, Ukraine comes SINOPTIK, and The Calling is their 2nd album
so far. I have to say that it sounds very impressive and original, while the
included material is of an incredible high level. It ticks most of the boxes
and musically speaking quite diverse, because they pick elements from both
classic 70s prog and today’s stadium melodic hard/heavy rock. They have a huge
international sound and in case you like for example MUSE, then why not give
this band also a try when you hear a fantastic stadium progrocker like Apple
Tree, a song which also shows the band’s love for other genres, because it also
has parts that remind me a bit of HAKEN. Anyway, the 3-piece band is formed
around Dmitriy Afanasiev - Guitar, Keys & Vocals, Ruslan Babayev – Drums
& Backing Vocals and Aleksandr Savin – Bass & Backing Vocals, and it
took them a while to release this new album, which is due to the political
issues in Ukraine. This is extremely sad, because SINOPTIK is a sensational
band that should gain a lot of support to become better known. In fact, this is
one of the best bands I have ever heard out of the eastern European region!
There’s not a single weak moment on The Calling, with as other highlights the
Progmetal piece Black Soul Man, the straight-forward uptempo melodic heavy
rocker Sell God’s Number and the dark post-proggy opener Le Menteur (TOOLish).
You absolutely do not want to miss this amazing band, which you can check out
at: https://thesinoptik.bandcamp.com/album/the-calling
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
PAUL
ALEXANDER LOW ‘SUNSHINE AFTER THE RAIN’ (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
As soon as British
singer/songwriter/guitarist PAUL ALEXANDER LOW starts singing, it is clear we
are dealing with a gifted musician with a Golden voice, because he has the
kinda classic AOR voice you would hear back in the old days when this kind of
pop/rock was up in the charts and on the radio. Paul has a fantastic voice (a
la DENNIS DE YOUNG, DAVE BALDWIN and RUSSELL HITCHCOCK!) and also his music is
laid-back classic westcoast/AOR/Poprock orientated in the style of AMERICA,
RICHARD MARX, DAVE BALDWIN, MARK FREE, STAN BUSH, JOHN PARR, JOHN FARNHAM, DAN
LUCAS, BRYAN ADAMS and such. 13 songs are included on his debut album Sunshine
After The Rain and it’s a nice mixture of calmer midtempo semi-ballad
orientated pieces and a few uptempo rockier pieces, with as highlights the
superb uptempo pure AOR rocker catchy Alien Race (incredible vocal melodies can
be heard in this song!), the semi-AOR ballad Everyday hero (close to RICHARD
MARX), the poppy friendly Americana ish Look Into My Garden (VENICE memories)
and opener Better Life. Paul is assisted by MATT PLATT (keys, piano, hammond,
cello), bassist JERRY SOFFE, drummer ROBERT BRIAN and a few others. He did a
wonderful job here and fans of lite-AOR/Poprock a la 90s STAN BUSH, RICHARD
MARX, DAVE BALDWIN and DAN LUCAS will absolutely fall in love instantly with
the voice and songs of PAUL ALEXANDER LOW. In a different time and age, Paul
would have been huge, because he is as good as RICHARD MARX, DENNIS DEYOUNG or
BILLY JOEL for example. Hopefully he will get the chance to become well-known,
because he is an amazing singer/songwriter with lovely classic 80s/early 90s
aor/westcoast/pop. The only remark I could make is that the second part of the
album is a bit calmer and more moving into 70s singer/songwriter pop here and
there (a la JIM GROCE, such as can be heard during the beautiful World Created
By You and even a bit AIR SUPPLY), so perhaps on a future record a few more
uptempo rockier pieces would give the whole album a boost, but why complain
actually, because Paul is a fantastic singer you need to check out at: https://www.paulalexanderlow.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
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