MWE3.COM
MUSIC NEWS & NOTES
FEBRUARY
2012 RECORD LABEL SPOTLIGHT
POP
& ROCK
ALEXIS MARCEAUX MUSIC - Hailing from New Orleans, singer-songwriter
Alexis Marceaux bounced back in 2011 with her 8 song CD Orange
Moon. Marked by a bouncy rock beat, Alexis is all over
the pop map, yet suffice to say this CD rocks. Sometimes a touring
musician and vocalist with American pop icon Susan Cowsill, Alexis
gets great backing from her musical backing players as well as producer
Sam Craft. Ms. Marceauxs voice is being described as
richly expressive and classically trained and her songs really rise
up to the occasion. Orange is a solid and convincing eight
song CD that holds up well with repeat listening. www.AlexisMarceaux.com
BLUE HORIZON - Back in the 1960s the Blue Horizon
label was responsible for releasing some of the great blues-rock albums
by the original Fleetwood Mac and Chicken Shack too for that matter.
Now lo and behold in 2012, Blue Horizon has a new studio album of
modern day blues classics from rock n roll pioneer Dion.
Entitled Tank Full Of Blues, the Blue Horizon
release features a number of Dion DiMucci originals as well as Dions
select covers from blues giants Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. Although
hes best known for his early rock n roll hits like
Runaround Sue, The Wanderer and Ruby
Baby, Dion has always been a staunch supporter of the blues.
Further commenting, Dion adds, The blues is the naked cry of
the human heart longing to be whole or at peace with ones self.
On Tank Full Of Blues, Dion gets solid backing from his band
and, while musically different from his pop-based original oldies
sound, the 11 cut Tank Full Of Blues proves that Dion still
has a lot of music inside of him. Dion adds, Its the work
I consider the crown of my career. Its work that I couldnt
keep inside. Its work that was burning in me till I got it out.
On Tank Full Of Blues Dion sounds fully energized and rocking.
One can hardly wait to see and hear Dions next musical move.
www.OfficialDion.com
BLUE NOTE RECORDS - Best known as a major jazz label back in the
1950's and '60s, Blue Note branched out with international pop a decade
ago, and they have a fine new 2011 CD from Israeli - Dutch singer-songwriter
Keren Ann. The 9 track 101 is an ambient, synth
jazz excursion into blue note pop. The single hit of the the CD Sugar
Mama is ABBA-esque, 70s style disco. On other tracks she
sounds like Norah Jones singing with Nico-era Velvet Underground.
With Bowie-esque set changes, Keren Anns 101 tracks have
a slightly surreal edge that sometimes evoke Bowie during the fleeting
mid 70s era. The percussion creates a remote edge while the
synth work has a dreamy Pink Floyd effect in places. www.KerenAnn.com
COOKITUP MUSIC - The blues just keeps on cookin onwards
on the self-titled 2011 CD from Tennessee-based blues rock guitarist
/ singer-songwriter Shawn Starski. Having written and recorded
with Jason Ricci And New Blood, on his 2011 CD Starski teams with
a tight band and the results are a solid and convincing set of blues-rock
vocal and instrumental originals. A pair of Starski originals, track
4, called For Us and track 9, the jazzy fusion-y Hallows
Eve are each solid instrumentals in the spirit of blues guitar
giants like Steve Miller (as well as Miller band guitarist Kenny Lee
Lewis) and jazz guitar hero George Benson respectively. Fans of blues
rock guitar hero Joe Bonamassa are also strongly advised to hunt down
Starskis self-titled CD. www.MySpace.com
INSIDE OUT MUSIC - A musician who has never been afraid of pursuing
wide screen musical vistas, Steve Hackett returned in 2011
with a double CD set of all new material entitled Beyond The
Shrouded Horizon. Released on long time progressive
label legend Inside Out, the material touches on everything great
that Hackett brings to the rock and classical music world. Combining
the 13 tracks on disc 1 with the 9 additional tracks on disc two and
it quickly becomes apparent that this is Hacketts ultimate double
album masterpiece. Steves band throughout reads like a list
of first call musicians including contributions from YES bass great
Chris Squire, Roger King (keyboards) both Simon Phillips
and Gary OToole (drums). Highlighting one of Hacketts
great vocal arrangements and melodic productions, Between The
Sunset And The Coconut Palms is among the most lushly tropical
songs Hackett has ever penned while the four part Four Winds
instrumental suite tastefully combines progressive rock, spacey jazz
and classical guitar within the same space. Interesting to note that
on Four Winds Hackett cites inspiration from Fleetwood
Mac founder Peter Green while another trackon the excellent
disc 2 of special extra materialEruption: Tommy
cites the Moving Waves album by Dutch prog-rockers Focus as
well as a track originally written and played by another Dutch prog
band from the mid 70s called Solution. On Beyond The Shrouded
Horizon, Steve Hacketts eclectic musical nature is only
surpassed by his refined musical taste and fretboard finesse. www.HackettSongs.com
JORDAN CARP MUSIC- Described by the artist as a comedy
of our miscommunications, Slam Pig is a fine return
to form from pop pundit Jordan Carp. Carp describes his muse
as being influenced by heritage artists like The Beatles, Pink Floyd
and Peter Gabriel and, while that might be true, for the modern pop
music disciple theres certainly enough in the way of originality
to make Carp and this album in particular worthy of more than one
or two spins. Best described as power pop for the new millennium,
Slam Pig is impeccably performed by Carp and his cohort Josh
Fix. The Slam Pig eye candy cover art is also worthy of
taking a second look at. www.JordanCarp.com
RAGING KRILL RECORDS - New on the Raging Krill label is Treehouse,
the sixth album from guitar virtuoso Ned Evett. Best known
for his avant gard fretless glass guitar playing, Ned puts on his
singer-songwriter hat and teams with American progressive guitar hero
Adrian Belew, who produced the 14 cut Treehouse CD.
Interestingly, Belews sound imprint is all over Treehouse,
which sounds inspired by Belews solo work and his work in
King Crimson. In addition to producer Belew, Evett gets amazing support
from his band here, including son of Jack Bruce, Malcolm Bruce
(bass, string arrangements), Lynn Williams (drums) and
Ed Roth (organ). In addition to producing the album, Belew
kicks in some piano and guitar here and there, but the dark-side-of-the-pop
Americana sound of Treehouse speaks for itself and is really
amazing to behold. Perhaps Ned sums it up best adding, Because
I play a freaky guitar, people sometimes brand me as just a
guitar player. I mean, I've certainly created that impression myself.
But this is it for me. I had to write these songs. www.NedEvett.com
ROCK RIDGE MUSIC - Based out in N.J,, the Rock Ridge label are
doing great things for pop with the 2012 CD release of Grand
Hotel by The Explorers Club. Its a pretty bold
move copping a name like Grand Hotel, considering the 1973
release of Grand Hotel from Procol Harum but hey, Im
aging myself! Unlike the neoclassical prog-rock sound of Procol Harum,
The Explorers
Club are much more concerned about the music in L.A. circa 1966-1971.
In other words, this Grand Hotel aint prog-rock but instead
a near carbon copy of the amazing vibe of Brian Wilson and Harry Nilsson
or even The Association back in their late 60s heyday. One part
Pet Sounds, one part Along Comes Mary and Explorer's
Club come up with something retro but modern at the same time. Check
out the natural sunshine pop of Ive Been Waiting.
Perhaps the most amazing this here is that The Explorers Clubfeaturing
the voice and vision of Jason Brewerare actually from
South Carolina! Whod have thunk it? Anyway, backed up by some
fine playersand further assisted by the talents of Brian Wilson
studio ace Mark LinettBrewer really sounds at home on
this sunny, SoCal kind of late 60s vibe of pop goodness. Just
soak in that soulful, old man sunshine. www.ExplorersClubMusic.com
STAR 7 RECORDS - Shes being compared to rock icons like
Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel and New Age experimentalist Steve Roach,
and on the 2011 Janet Robbins album you can hear why. The CD,
Song Of The Gypsy Tree sounds sometimes like a tribal
version of King Crimson, however instead of searing sonic guitars,
you hear keyboards and rhythmic, synthesized beats mixed with Janets
breathy vocals. Amazingly full bodied and multi-tracked, all the sounds
are performed by Ms. Robbins. Theres some pretty piano based
sounds that sound like theyd work on an ambient Eno production.
The music is beaty, trip-hop New Age vocal with Kate Bush type overtones
and the cover art is really spectacular, reprinting Janets lyrics
amid swirls of breathtaking colors. www.JanetRobbinsMusic.com
STREET ARTIST MANAGEMENT - Australia and the entire New
Zealand region has such a rich heritage of sonically appealing pop
that it staggers the mind. One new artist from Australia worth a listen
among pop fans is singer-songwriter Courtney Murphy, who released
his debut CD, entitled Big. Four years in the
making, the 2011 release of Big features a number of key influences,
especially early 80s ELO and of course the biggest of the greatest
of all the Aussie / New Zealand rock-pop bands, Split Enz. A whole
lotta of musicians back up Murphys songs and singing and the
results are truly something to behold. Extra mention should go to
the truly imaginative CD cover art and overall packaging. Pop fans
who miss late period ELO after all these years, and still long for
the one, two punch of Split Enz during their late 70s / early
80s heyday, owe it to themselves to give Courtney Murphys
Big a good listen. www.CourtneyMurphy.com.au
UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP - Finland has always been a major sonic
destination for fans of both jazz and rock music and The Von Hertzen
Brothers Band keeps the legacy of great Finnish pop music strong
on their 2011 CD Stars Aligned. Someone suggested
that the brothers sounded like a cross between the harmonies of The
Beach Boys and the spatial aggression of Pink Floyd, albeit for 21st
century ears. With the three Von Hertzen brothers, Kie, Mikko and
Jonne getting solid backing, the sound of Stars Aligned is
a quite eclectic and colorful pop / rock mix. Even though these guys
are pop to the bone, theres also an experimental edge, in places
not unlike Pink Floyds work with Ron Geesin. With both bands
sometimes sounding as if theyd been drinking from the same source
of musical inspiration, it would be totally amazing to see a show
with Finlands Von Hertzens plus Swedens Moon Safari.
The Von Hertzen Brothers are well worth the time for modern rock fans
and prog-rock fans looking for something wild and intriguing. www.VonHertzenBrothers.com
INSTRUMENTAL
ARCTIC
NOIR - Influenced by Fellini films, The Doors, guitarists like
Hank Marvin, John Blakeley and Duane Eddy, Finnish surf-rock instrumentalists
The Spytones strike a blow for guitar-noir with their 2011
CD Dead Note Theory. After the upsurge of interest
in 60s instrumentals in the first post-Beatles year of 1981,
countless great Finnish and Scandinavian acts began to call the genre
home again, and. In later years, coupled with the resurgence of instrumentals
in exotica and lounge music in the 1990s, surf-flecked instros
have been going gangbusters ever since. A quartet of surf-rock specialists
including guitarists Jaakko Rossi, The Spytones follow
suit yet bring something uniquely Finnish to the table. A rockin
quartet featuring guitarists Janne Tokko and Jaakko Rossi,
bassist Heikki Eloranta and drummer Juha Pyötsiä,
The Spytones follow through on a silver disc CD of 15 tracks including
impressive originals and covers from the pens of John Barry and Henry
Mancini. www.myspace.com/TheSpytones
CDL
RECORDS - Over in the U.K. The Evening Shadows keep the
spirit of the 60s burning brightly on their 2011 CD entitled
60-63. What theyre referring to are the
magical musical years of 1960-1963, when every great thing that was
possible in the music world did in fact happen. Before world wide
Beatlemania ensued late in 1963, The Shadows were the key
band in the U.K. With their sophisticated blend of pop instrumentals,
The Shadows sort of stepped aside (as did every other band worldwide)
when the Beatles truly arrived on the international stage yet the
songs The Shadows wrote and recorded during that magical pre-Beatlemania
era still sound great. On 60-63, The Evening Shadows offer
a short but sweet set of a dozen Shadows classics. Starting off the
Shadows signature song Apache, The Evening Shadows
cover a number of classics, including a dozen songs Shadows fans have
known inside out for the past 50 years. What they lack in originality
is made up for in a devoted and fresh approach to recapturing the
greatest era of guitar instrumentals. Armed with his Fiesta
Red Fender Strat, played through his VoxAC30, guitarist Chas
de Lacy gets solid support from his fellow band membersincluding
Alan Peacock (bass), Tony Grubb (rhythm guitar) and
Peter Precious (drums and percussion). Close your eyes and
its 1961 all over again! www.CliffAndTheShadowsTribute.com
CDM
RECORDINGS -
Mixing ambient jazz, with World Beat styles including tango, bossa
nova and samba, New World Beat catch a fire on the 2012 CD
release of After Carnival. Produced, edited,
mixed, arranged and composed by Richard Sprince, the CD features
Sprince on vibraphones, backed up by a number of musicians, drummers
and percussionists. All told, the CD evokes a kind of orchestral jazz
effect in the spirit of greats like Gary Burton meets Milton Nascimiento,
for an all instrumental, Jobim-esque set of Brazilian magic. A couple
tracks feature some fine guitar work from Tom Lippincott and
Gary Damanti. Global instrumental jazz rarely gets better than
New World Beat. www.NewWorldBeat.com
CROSSFIRE PUBLICATIONS - One of Americas great surf-rock
guitar heroes, John Blair is feted on the 2011 CD reissue of
the 1980 debut album, Surf Beat 80 from John
& The Nightriders. Blair has released a number of albums over
the years but this first-ever CD reissue of the debut John & The
Nightriders album is an essential spin for surf-rock instrumental
fans world wide. Penning liner notes for the original album was none
other than guitar pioneer Dick Dale. Blairs California
style surf-rock guitar instrumentals, nowas then, are reminiscent
of Dick Dale. Interestingly, the idea for the album came from legendary
record company owner Greg Shaw. Blair gets solid support from
his Nightriders band and in his additional liner notes, Blair delves
into some vital history and is right in reassessing that back in the
1979-80 era, Blairs devotion to recreating the magic of the
early 60s surf-rock sound made him ahead of his time. In addition
to the original 14 track album, the CD rounds it out to 20 with the
addition of six additional bonus tracks, including several Ventures
covers. www.JohnBlair.us
EMARCY
RECORDS - Two giants of the American jazz world get together,
and the end result is an album of sublime magic music. Were
talking about jazz piano genius Hank Jones and jazz bass ace
Charlie Haden and their 2011 CD release Come Sunday,
released by NYC based jazz label Emarcy. An instrumental duet
album pairing Jones on grand piano with Hadens
acoustic bass, Come Sunday was recorded in early 2010. In a
twist of fate, Jones died three months later, at age 91. Haden is
no kid either, having turned 74 in August 2011. Fittingly, Come
Sunday works as an album of old time gospel music spirituals,
performed in an acoustic jazz setting. Songs in this genre have been
done this way before by numerous artistsnot forgetting that
Jones and Haden recorded another album of traditional spirituals and
folk songs called Steal Away, in 1995. Even so, theres
something quite peaceful and meditative about these songs played by
these two jazz mavens. With acoustic jazzy instrumentals like Take
My Hand Precious Lord, Nearer My God To Thee and
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen played with keen insight in
this acoustic jazz setting, you cant help get the feeling that
God was actually cueing up this CD just as Hank was ascending to that
great jazz gig in the sky. The CD booklet is packed with extensive
liner notes about this music and this album by Maurice Jackson,
with fitting closing notes by Charlie Hadenshining further light
on just what makes Come Sunday such a transcendental, blissful
listening experience. www.emarcy.com
EMARCY
RECORDS - The follow up to his 2009 gospel flavored Peity Street,
the 2012 CD release of A Moments Peace finds
instrumental jazz guitar legend John Scofield in a most mellow
mood. Backed up by some jazz legends, including Larry Goldings
(keyboards), Scott Colley (bass) and Brian Blade (drums),
Scofield is quite mellow on his latest instrumental jazz opus yet
as he describes, Its an album of slow, gentle music, but
at the same time, we didnt want it to be easy listening.
Perhaps the giveaway here is a sublime, instrumental, jazzy cover
of the Beatles white album classic I Will, rendered
here with a misty-eyed sentimentality that works so well in a jazz
setting. Rounding out the Scofield originals, in addition to the Beatles
track, are other jazzy, late night feeling tracks penned by Carla
Bley, Don Redman, Billy Eckstine and the Gershwin brothers. Recording
in NYC, the CD also benefits from the work of top notch mastering
engineer Greg Calbi. Essential for Scofield fans, A Moments
Peace is also a great introduction to Scofields masterful,
jazzy guitar sound. www.DeccaRecords.com/JohnScofield
/ www.JohnScofield.com
HEADSCOPE
- Back when Pink Floyd released Ummagumma in the fall of
1969, no one would have predicted that their 1970 album would feature
a significant contribution from composer Ron Geesin. That wild
sense of progressive rock orchestrations Geesin brought to Pink Floyd
on the side long Atom Heart Mother title track remains a hallmark
of Geesins sound and he brings his amazing music into the 21st
century with his 2011 CD, Roncycle 1: Journey
Of A Melody, released on his Headscope label. Somewhat
of a mad sonic scientistsort of the rock version of Edgard VareseGeesin
is really in his element on his big comeback album. Iironically Journey
Of A Melody was released the same time, the same year as the CD
remastering of the entire
Pink Floyd back
catalog, including Atomic Heart Mother. Thanks to Geesins
sonic vision, AHM remains the Pink's most unique album. Very
much in the progressive spirit of Atom Heart Mother, minus
the rock etchings, Journey Of A Melody is Geesins penultimate
masterpiece. www.RonGeesin.com
LONE
RIDER RECORDS - Guitarist Peter Williams keeps the spirit
of classic rock instrumental music alive with a new for 2011 CD compilation
tribute to Elvis Presley entitled Remembering Elvis Presley
- A Guitar Instrumental Tribute By Peter Williams. In
the past, Williams has done some very cool guitar tribute CDs in the
spirit of guitar hero Hank Marvin, yet he manages to put his own stamp
on his releases. Williams had an Elvis tribute album out before, yet
Remembering really adds to the festivities, rounding out the
CD to 26 guitar instrumentals of songs Elvis made famous back in the
1950s and 60s. The CD features liner notes by James
F. Cullinan. Williams also has a history of recording instrumental
rock tributes to other artists including The Shadows and, then he
had a guitar instrumental tribute to U.K. pop singer John Leyton and,
also in 2011 Williams recorded a new guitar instrumental tribute to
U.K. pop star Billy Fury called Remembering Billy Fury.
So much of that U.K. pop sound was similar in scope during the
late 1950s early 60s and Williams does a great job turning
Furys mini pop opuses into dramatic instrumental guitar overtures.
Williams' Fury tribute features 32 tracks, clocking in at just under
80 minutes. In depth liner notes by Williams and Chris Eley sheds
light on Fury and his musical significance. Williams and his deft
guitar touch makes each of these instrumental guitar tributes to American
and English pop stars a most enjoyable guitar experience. www.peterandsonjawilliams.com
NEW
WORLD MUSIC - New Age music has always been associated with all
things spacy and cosmic. Also referred to as musical therapy, the
mostly instrumental genre has spawned an unbelievably wide range of
musicfrom sedate instrumental space music to full blown orchestral
prog-rock. Most New Age fans know the name Jonn Serriewriter
and performer of some of the most sublime cosmic space music ever
recorded. As far as that genre goes, it doesnt get much better
than Serries latest CD, actually released in 2009, called Thousand
Star. Released on the U.K. based New World Music, Thousand
Star is Serrie at his finest. Of course with his background in
aviation with his keen interest in the U.S. space program, Serries
extraterrestrial musical tendencies come into play big time on Thousand
Star. Commenting on his musical mission as a New Age music icon,
Serrie adds, My music exists to help us explore a sense of ourselves
and our place in the universe. Having already released
albums with titles such as Planetary Chronicles and The
Stargazers Journey, Jonn Serrie keeps his legacy
alive and well with the ultra-spacy and sublimely meditative cosmic
sounds on Thousand Star. www.ThousandStar.com
LEGACY
SOUNDS - Over in England, guitarist Tony Hoffman keeps
the transatlantic surf-rock sound sound alive and well with the 2012
CD release of Under The Influence by The Tone Raiders.
On the 16 track Under The Influence CD Hoffman plays some excellent
lead guitar in the spirit of The Shadows. Shadows guitar hero, Hank
Marvin also writes some timely liner notes that were penned for
the CD in December 2011. Supporting Hoffmans skillful guitar
work is a revolving cast of Tone Raiders including bona fide instro
icons like Alan Jones of the later period Shadows lineup and
Bill Bonney of The Fentones, who both add bass, as well as
drummer Martin Verrill and many others. In addition to the
appealing Hoffman originals are some lesser covered instrumentals
including a cover of Daydream (the Lovin Spoonful
hit), and a pair of Beatles related tracks done by The Tone Raiders
as instrumentalsMr. Moonlight and the Rubber
Soul evergreen In My Life. The CD is attractively
packaged, including a 12 page booklet with a foreword by Hank Marvin
plus in depth liner notes by Hoffman, who goes on at length about
his fondness for guitar instrumental classics from icons like The
Shadows, Duane Eddy, Jet Harris & Tony Meehan, The Fentones, The
Outlaws and The Ventures. The Tone Raiders CD is a must hear CD for
fans of classic 60s guitar instrumental sounds. www.InstrumentalReview.com
MOSHULKA
PRODUCTIONS - The greatest rock guitarists have an ongoing love
affair with the classical guitaralso known as the nylon string,
gut string and Spanish guitar. Guitar masters from historySor,
Giuliani, Segovia, Villa Lobos and othersleft their mark on
today's musical icons, perhaps none more so than guitarist Paul
Galbraith, who makes a unique statement of his own with
his solo guitar CD Paul Galbraith Performs Mozart, Bach &
Britten. Although released back in 2010, the 21 track
CD is quite unique in that in addition to the CD, theres also
a DVD video version of the album, mirroring and featuring the same
musical fare as the CD. Galbraiths musical uniqueness is enhanced
by his mastery of the rarely seen or heard 8 string classical guitara
guitar which is supported by a metal end pin, making it similar in
style to the way a cello is played. Galbraiths CD and DVD has
a great sound and, in fact, was expertly recorded in L.A. at the famous
Studio A at Capitol Records and was engineered by sound
man Al Schmidt. It must have worked because the CD sounds fabulous
and has a unique presence that makes it well worth the time to play
and play again. Paul Galbraith Performs Mozart, Bach & Britten
offers substantial proof that the music of the masters played
on solo classical guitar is forever timeless and still has the power
to make musical inroads in the 21st century. www.PaulGalbraithMusic.com
PALMETTO
RECORDS - Best known for their extensive jazz catalog, Palmetto
breaks new ground distributing the 2011 CD from South Carolina based
Watsons Riddle. A solid studio set of new music featuring
like-minded superstar playersincluding
guitar ace Steve Watson, Marshall Tucker drummer Paul T.
Riddle, bass player Tim Lawter and keyboard session legend
Chuck Leavellthe Watsons Riddle sound is completely
modern American instrumental fusion. With all songs written by guitarist
Watson, the sound is full bodied and tastefully echoes both the fusion
instrumental and smooth jazz genres. Paul Riddle describes the sound
as being melodic freak, while theres truly something
positive to be said about this CD that so expertly combines all manners
of instrumental jazz, R&B and pop. A legend of the Allman Brothers,
the Stones and Sea Level, Chuck Leavells piano and keyboard
work truly enhances the Watsons Riddle album which, overall
should hold immense sonic appeal among fans of guitar aces such as
Pat Metheny, Lee Ritenour and Larry Carlton. www.WatsonsRiddle.com
PRESCOTT RECORDINGS -
Few gutiarists can entertain with just a solo electric guitar. There
are various New Age disciples, then of course there's jazz purists,
avant garde players and then theres Ross Hammond, who
returns with sonic vengeance on his 2011 CD release of Ambience,
Antiquite And Other Love Songs. Sonic instrumental
guitar extrapolations
that owes more to Daniel Lanois than say David Gilmour or Hendrix
per se, Ross Hammond's superbly recorded and expertly mastered CD
hangs together with a unique kind of free falling fretboard tenacity.
Acknowledging the efficacy of a variety of music pioneered back in
the 70s by prog guitaristsfrom Howe to Hackett and Gilmour,
from Frith to Fripp to Rotherits all in play in Ross Hammonds
spatial guitar universe. That Rother opposed to Fripp side of Hammonds
guitar style is quite entertainingespecially on the first half
of the CD, featuring a spatial jangle of abstract and reverbed instrumental
guitarbut as the CD progresses it gets heavily involved in the
more Fripp-ian side of the musical coin and so it goes. With the CD
release of Ambience, Antiquite And Other Love Songs,
the two or more sides of Ross Hammond reveals the inner mechanisms
of a veritable guitar universe. www.RossHammond.com
SYLVAN HOUSE MUSIC - Back in 2008, mwe3 featured the CD Live
by L.A. based guitarist Brian Hughes and as a follow up,
Brian's 2011 album Fast Train To A Quiet Place is another
fine album. Backed up by some top players, including drummer Tal
Bergman, Fast Train is a quick getaway to a lush and languid
guitar land where smooth jazz joins forces with bop level guitar skills.
Theres plenty of Metheny-esque, instro jazz-rock guitar soundscapes
in play on Brians ten track Fast Train CD for guitar
fans and smooth jazz fans to savor. www.BrianHughes.com
TRI-SOUND / INTROSPECTION - Back in the 1960s, Swedish
keyboard genius Bo Hansson revolutionized the Swedish instrumental
rock scene. Recording together with amazing musicians such as guitarist
Kenny Håkansson, Bo Hansson single-handedly invented the entire
European New Age rock sound. Before his 1969 classic Lord Of The
Rings, Bo was involved in the organ / drum duo Hansson & Karlsson.
The pair influenced rock guitar great Jimi Hendrix so much that Jimi
performed H&Ks classic Tax Free a number of
times. With so much music history behind them, another pair of Swedish
musicians that call themselves Trummor & Orgel have released
a 2011 CD that borrows from the swinging psychedelia of Hansson &
Karlsson and deftly brings that late 60s sound into the future.
The group features siblings Staffan Ljunggren (drums) and Anders
Ljunggren (organ) and their Out Of Bounds CD is
a must for those who thrilled to the early, swirling organ-based instrumental
sounds of Bo Hansson and the spirits of the still highly influential,
primal instrumental psychedelia that evolved out of that era. www.TrummorOrgel.com
TRS RECORDS - Sounding like theyve been watching
way too many old spaghetti westerns, The Reverb Syndicate serves
up some mighty fine instro-rock sounds on their third album, the retro
fun room sound of Mondo Cacti. The third album
from these Canadians, Mondo Cacti is filled with uptempo guitar
rave-ups that evoke images of The Ventures and Shadows and the wild
west sights and sounds of the late 50s instro guitar craze that
came out of California. Theres some quite solid Dick Dale style
guitar ravings from axe-wielder Victor Tremelo, who here gets
solid support from his RS band mates. www.TheReverbSyndicate.ca
URKO RECORDS - Much more than about just trying to return
zombies from the dead, the new CD from The Coffin Daggers is
like surf-rock for the sci-fi generation. Infatuations with 1960s,
b&w sci-fi and horror movies aside, The Coffin Daggers make some
truly swinging, swaggering 60s style surf-rock instrumentals
on the 2011 CD release of Monsters From The ID. Recorded
in NYC, the 14 track CD features excellent cover art that mirrors
the overall performance of the band. Featuring Viktor Venom (guitar),
Eudocia Rodzinak (keyboards), Peter Klarnet (bass) and
David Varriale (drums), the sound of the CD is first rate.
Sounding like The Ventures playing the best of Vic Mizzy (the late
great genius who wrote the Adams Family theme), Monsters From The
ID is a supernatural surf-rock experience. www.CoffinDaggers.com
REISSUES & RETROSPECTIVES
BGO RECORDS - Over in the U.K. BGO continues onward into
2012 and their late 2011 CD reissues included a pair of double CD
sets from English instrumental rockers Tangent. The group was
based around three brothersDerek Jefferies (lead guitar),
Mervyn Jefferies (bass) and Bill Jefferies (drums).
The Tangent was solidly in the realm of Hank Marvin and The Shadows
and between 1987 to 1994, they released a batch of fine instrumental
rock albums. The Tangent was able to bond with original Shadows bass
ace Jet Harris and, fittingly, Jet is featured here on key
Tangent tracks. Also on hand here is later period Shadows bassist
Alan Jones. BGO has done a great job reissuing four albums
from Tangent on two double CD sets. The pair of double CD sets includes
Beyond A Shadow Of A Doubt / Chasing Shadows Live
while the other double CD set on BGO pairs the 20 track Shadow
Magic - The Very Best Of Tangent with Jet Harris &
Tangent - Twelve Great Guitar Gems. Both of these double
CD sets offers a cool glimpse into the long-standing U.K. based Shadows-related
guitar world and both double CD sets feature extensive liner notes
by Rob Bradford. Very late 80s and early 90s sounding
in places, while for guitar fans and especially Shadows fans, both
double sets are highly enjoyable just the same. Another cool reissue
on BGO at the end of 2011 is a splendid two on one CD reissue by Soft
Machine founder Kevin Ayers, pairing the nine track Rainbow
Takeaway (1978) with Thats What You Get Babe (1980).
The 19 track CD features Ayers recording his usual eclectic pop fare
in the company of session greats including the late great Ollie
Halsall (electric, slide and lead guitars), Mo Foster (bass)
and many others greats including Anthony Moore, who produced
Rainbow Takeaway. August 2011 liner notes by David Wells
provides an excellent, concise history behind Ayers and these
albums. BGO has a number of CD reissues from rock icons Dr. Hook
and in 2011 they released a 19 track two on one CD pairing Makin
Love And Music (1977) with Live In the U.K. (1981).
First released on Capitol records, Live In The U.K. finds the
group serving up live tracks of their big hits including Sylvias
Mother and Cover Of The Rolling Stone. Also out
on BGO in 2011 is a double CD set of The Doobie Brothers pairing
Cycles (1989) with Brotherhood (1991),
while also on BGO is a 2011 remaster of the 1987 album from John
Waite entitled Rovers Return. BGO continues
to amaze with these CD titles that will keep listeners tuned in for
future planned CD reissue classics from BGO. www.BGO-records.com
CAPITOL / EMI - Edgard Varèse once said that an
artist is never ahead of his time but most people are far behind theirs.
40 years ago, in early 1972 the same thing was kind of true for Pink
Floyd. Reflecting back on their famous Summer of Love smash See
Emily Play, Pink Floyd's debutalthough never released
on a planned Pink Floyd studio albumhas remained in some ways,
their signature song. That song, with its groundbreaking production
from Norman Hurricane Smith, kept the name Pink
Floyd near the front in the racks during the heady late 60s
Beatles / post-Syd era, at least up until the 1973 Lp release of Dark
Side Of The Moon. Backtracking, See Emily Play
almost made Pink Floyd a one hit wonder, at least in the late 1960s.
After the histrionic withdrawal of front man Syd Barrett from
the music world, Pink
Floyd remained on the periphery of the pop world, never really gaining
another top 40 hit. Despite critical acclaim as a cult band, they
continued onwards in the years following the Syd era. Then something
amazing happened with the 1969 album release Ummagummaa
groundbreaking, four sided double Lp masterpiece. Produced by Norman
Smith, that album firmly established Pink Floyd as the new kings of
progressive rock (albeit completely avant gard in practice). This
made Pink Floyd seem even more incredible in the minds eye of
the teenyboppers who were still wondering what happened to Syd? Even
with Syd apparently vanquished and banished from Pink Floyd, from
Ummagumma onwards Pink Floyd couldnt do any wrong, even
in the heads of those teenyboppers, who just a couple short years
back were grooving to the irrepressible pop aura of See Emily
Play. Every thing that happened before changed again with the
massive success of Dark Side Of The Moonthe controversial
album that (at the time) not only fractured and split Pink Floyds
fan base but, in fact it altered the entire post-Beatles rock world.
Of course, in early 1973, the entire music world was rapidly evolving
and, going on to sell a hundred million Lps, cassettes, 8 tracks
and, from 1986 onwards on CD and DVDs and now downloads, Dark Side
at 40 still has a life of its own. Now in the early days
of 2012, it seems good time to reevaluate Pink Floyds vast and
often underrated catalog. This is a band that hasnt really done
anything new since The Wall hit in 1980, yet they continue
to sell in the millions. With Capitol / EMI overhauling and reintroducing
the bands vast catalog in late 2011, highlighting everything
Pink Floyd under one roof from A-Z, that number is bound to change
again. Laying aside all the rifts and then grief over the deaths of
both Syd in July of 2006 and the late great Pink Floyd keyboard genius
Rick Wright, in September 2008, its safe to say with
these 2011 remasters from Capitol / EMI, now is an opportune time
to listen to Pink Floyd again. Each of these 14, 2011 historic Pink
Floyd remasters features perfect sonics as remastered by sound experts
Robin Guthrie and Joel Plante. All these reissued Pink
Floyd studio albums are here individually, including separate Immersion
and Experience version multi-disc sets for Dark
Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall as well
as a 14 CD box set collection containing all the Pink Floyd albums
called Discovery. For the curious, theres also a new
single CD best of called A Foot In The Door - The Best Of Pink
Floyd that barely scratches the surface, and even slightly
plays down the legacy of one of rock musics perennial best selling
bands. www.PinkFloyd.com
EAGLE ROCK - The tragedy and devastation of 9/11 yielded to a
veritable outpouring of rock bands and musicians that culminated in
the now historic October 20, 2001 Concert For New York. No, George
Bush and his sons didnt attend but instead the concert featured
legends from The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who and David Bowie
and a whole lot more. Spearheading the event was none other than Beatles
icon Paul McCartney, who was actually sitting on an airplane,
on the tarmac
at JFK when the FAA grounded all planes that fateful day. In retrospect,
this harrowing turn of events that resulted in the CFNY really became
Maccas Tragical Misery Tour. Capturing all the events of this
opportune madness was famous film maker Albert Maysles, who
followed Paul everywhere as he became the Beatles sent messenger of
peace and thoughtfulness. The movie of McCartneys involvement
in the CFNY is captured for posterity on the 2011 Eagle Rock DVD called
The Love We Make. The DVD features all the rockers
on hand performing and even schmoozing with the irrepressible PaulPaul
and his then band, David Bowie, Pete Townshend, Bon
Jovi, Billy Joel, Eric Claptonalong with a
slew of culpable politicians (isnt that presiding 9/11 governor
George Pataki in there blabbering away with Paul?). Also there were
famous New York City personalities like Howard Sternwho
were all no doubt suffering from the same shock and awe as the New
Yorkers who were seemingly ready, but in reality completely unprepared
to cross the bridge into the massive suffering that has plagued America
since that fateful September 2001 day. With John Lennon 20 years gone
and with George Harrison having less than two months to live, (George
in fact passed a month after the CFNY) as this concert film event
points out, Paul McCartney became the man of the hour and in fact,
the man of the decade. Macca fans, miss The Love We Make at
your own risk. Fans of Eagles near impeccable record as the
progenitors of the 21st century DVD business should turn and eye (and
an ear) to their 2011 DVD release of Mr. Mojo Risin: the
Making Of L.A. Woman. Of course, L.A. Woman was
to be the last album The Doors would make with lead singer and musical
visionary Jim Morrison, who died in Paris on July 3rd, 1971.
The latest edition in Eagles ongoing classic album documentary
series, Mr. Mojo Risin features a barrage of new interviews
with the key players involved in making the original 1971 albumincluding
Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, band mates Ray Manzarek
and John Densmoreas well as other Doors insiders
like Bruce Botnick, Bill Siddons and more. The 103 minute
rockumentary also includes 35 minutes of additional footage not seen
on TV along with a video of a previously unreleased Doors track called
She Smells So Sweet. Another Eagle DVD sure to make waves
with rock fans is The Rolling Stones - Live In Texas 1978.
Recorded live on July 18, 1978 at Ft. Worth Texas, the 2+ hour
DVD captures the Stones live at their post 60s zenith performing
tracks from their 1978 Some Girls album. Remixed and remastered
by legendary sound man Bob Clearmountain, the live in concert
DVD also features a 2011 interview with Mick Jagger and other
perks bound to interest long time Stones fans. www.EagleRockEnt.com
MVDb2b - Produced and directed by Joel Gilbert, Elvis
Found Alive presents the story, as told in documentary form,
of Elvis Presley in a whole new lightincredibly revolving
around the not so well known facts that Elvis worked for the F.B.I.,
the
D.E.A. and the C.I.A. as well as the Republican party and, in fact
his death in 1977 was just a cover up. Elvis met the Beatles in August
1965 and, for those who doubt the whole premise, it truly was revealing
that during the filming of Anthology in the 90s, even Ringo
Starr admits that Elvis at one point tried to banish the Fab Four
from America. The whole movie is astounding stuff and the premise
of how in fact this happened or didn't happen, is quite revolutionary.
As part of the Elvis Is Alive DVD release, MVD also has out
a CD called Elvis Is Alive too, featuring early Elvis hits
and other pop hits sung by an Elvis impersonator called Jon Burrows.
Will Elvis finally make his comeback, will Obama be reelected in 2012?
This is crazy stuff if you can dig it. www.MVDb2b.com
VOICEPRINT
- When classical instrumental rockers Sky released their famous
Sky III CD in early 1981, the music world was a different place
indeed. Kings of the international music scene, Sky featured a band
of session legends from the heyday of Abbey Road, including classical
guitarist John Williams, while the bands electric guitarist
Kevin Peek turned Sky into the sonic solution to Mike Oldfield
and even Eurock masters like Pekka Pohjola. Sky attained huge critical
heights although their fame in the U.S. was marked by a few underexposed
albums released by Clive Daviss Arista empire between 1979 and
1984. Also during that period Peek released a truly great pair of
rock instrumental solo albums, also on Arista / Ariola, that perfectly
captured the sense of orchestral rock so deftly niched out on the
7 Sky albums. Its been quite a while since Kevin released an
album, with and without Sky, so its pretty near shocking to
see Voiceprint release a new studio CD of solo guitar music from Kevin
entitled Still Waters - Music For TV And Film.
In the mind of some fans, Peeks guitar style personified
the essence of what Sky was trying to do and did in fact accomplish.
Peeks Music For TV And Film is pretty much a lushly recorded,
part acoustic / part electric guitar soundtrack of sounds minus drums
but the sound is often so rhythmic you dont even miss the drums.
Considering the amazing recording quality and mastering here, Still
Waters is definitely a classic of the genre. The liner notes say
the music here was made back in the 80s(?) as library music
for film composers, but the sound is really timeless and Still
Waters becomes a priority reissue CD worthy of the Sky legacy.
www.voiceprint.co.uk
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