This is totally, totally gorgeous. A beautiful electronic instrumental by the prolific Adrian Von Ziegler from Switzerland. His stuff is available to buy as downloads (including in the top quality FLAC format) at http://adrianvonziegler.bandcamp.com/.There are also a couple of CDs available at http://www.cdbaby.com/artist/AdrianvonZiegler . Unfortunately, "Evocation" does not seem to be available to buy just yet, as it is a brand new track. It's worth waiting for. Many thanks to my friend Len for introducing me to this music.
Best known for his work with Journey and Bad English, wild axeman Neal Schön has a new solo album "The Calling" out now. The title track promo video above is a touch ridiculous, but hey, this is rock'n'roll so why not live the dream? It's a great track and it's made me think about getting my guitar out again. You can listen to the album at Neal's solo site http://www.schonmusic.com/
More Journey here and here. Beautiful!
Is there a more frustrating band to follow than The House Of Love? Since their re-grouping in 2005, there's only been one short album, and comparatively few gigs. This year, there's been just one appearance, at a festival in Poland! It's hard to find out what the band's been up to other than at their official Facebook page.
With such a rich back catalogue, perhaps the band can afford their casual attitude to their career. Anyway, the band's classic debut album is about to be reissued as a deluxe 3CD edition. This is the album that brought classics such as "Christine" and "Love In A Car". Demos, live and previously unreleased tracks and the entire "German Album" are included as well as the classic Creation album. There are nice takes of "Destroy The Heart", "Shine On" and the Stooges classic "I Wanna Be Your Dog". Pricing is very competitive for an indie release, so order it today!
"Somebody called me Sebastian..." Ah yes, I can remember listening to that epic debut single on the fading-prone signal of Radio Luxembourg back in the 1970s. The single flopped here in the UK, but was a monster hit in Europe. I had a bit of a love/hate thing with Steve Harley, depending very much on my mood. And now, as predicted here a long time ago, is a compilation celebrating the early Cockney Rebel line-up. You get 4 CDs for the price of 1! You get the classic albums "The Human Menagerie" and "The Psychomodo". You get all the early EMI singles including "Judy Teen", the edit of "Sebastian" and all the B-sides. You get a disc of early versions and demos. You get a BBC Radio 1 In Concert and Peel Sessions CD. You get a hell of a lot for your money. You get down your local record emporium and get yourself a copy!
"Your lips, ruby blue..."
Read all about Steve and the special live performances of the first two albums at
Regular readers will know that I am a big Simple Minds fan, having followed them since 1979. However, even I have grown tired of the continual re-hashes of old material and "Greatest Hits"-type tours. For a band that has allegedly got a lot of new material written, they are certainly acting oddly. So, I really can't summon up much enthusiasm for the recently announced "Greatest Hits+" tour and "Celebrate" compilation. There are 28 dates on the tour, but no London, Glasgow, Edinburgh or Birmingham shows yet!
Here are the dates announced so far:
Waterfront, Belfast, UK 28th March, 2013 Sand Centre, Carlisle, UK 29th March, 2013
City Hall, Newcastle, UK 31st March, 2013
Music Hall, Aberdeen, UK 1st April, 2013
Caird Hall, Dundee, UK 2nd April, 2013
Cymru Arena, Llandudno 4th April, 2013
De Montfort Hall, Leicester, UK 5th April, 2013
Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, UK 6th April, 2013
Dome, Brighton, UK 8th April, 2013
Pavilions, Plymouth, UK 9th April, 2013
Engine Shed, Lincoln, UK 11th April, 2013
Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, UK 12th April, 2013
O2 Academy, Leeds, UK 13th April, 2013
O2 Academy, Bournemouth, UK 15th April, 2013
Winter Gardens, Margate, UK 16th April, 2013
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend, UK 17th April, 2013
Opera House, Blackpool, UK 19th April, 2013
Empire, Liverpool, UK 20th April, 2013
Corn Exchange, Cambridge, UK 22nd April, 2013
G Live, Guildford, UK 23rd April, 2013
Hexagon, Reading, UK 25th April, 2013
City Hall, Sheffield, UK 26th April, 2013
City Hall, Hull, UK 27th April, 2013
Colston Hall, Bristol, UK 29th April, 2013
Guildhall, Portsmouth, UK 30th April, 2013
New Theatre, Oxford, UK 2nd May, 2013
University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK 3rd May, 2013
Regent, Ipswich, UK 4th May, 2013
Some interesting venues there. I can recommend Southend. I remember a wild time in the mosh pit last time the band played there! I have seen them at the Colston Hall, Bristol too and that's a good venue with a mix of seating at the back and standing at the front. Oxford is somewhere I don't remember the band playing before. However, the venue is a dump with cramped seating. Avoid! You'd be better choosing one of the standing venues, perhaps on the coast. I'm surprised to see Cambridge on the list after the notorious "Show some respect!" debacle when "Mandela Day" was played there last time.
Sadly, right now I'm bored with the band. I guess really I'm not in the mood to see Jim prancing around the stage, straining to hit the high notes. Perhaps a backing vocalist will be dragged in again to support his hoarser moments. Expect omnipresent guitarist Charlie Burchill to be there. Mel Gaynor is likely to be on drums (though I'm not a fan of his heavy style and much prefer original drummer Brian McGee). Ged Grimes is the latest in a long line of disposable bass players, and certainly not in the same league as Derek Forbes. There will also be a keyboard player, possibly Andy Gillespie, again no Mick MacNeil.
On the CD front, there are three new releases to report:
1. "Celebrate" a greatest hits album with a couple of new tracks, one of which will be "Broken Glass Park" - but wasn't that on the iffy "Hampton Court" live album? The artwork appears to be another tired re-hash of the "Empires And Dance" statue, first seen back in 1980, when it was genuinely iconic. This compilation is scheduled for March 2013.
2. A double live CD album from the disappointing 5x5 tour. Disappointing because this current line-up has little feel for the groove of this era. I didn't go to the shows, but I have heard the bootlegs.
3. A cheapo 5CD box of "New Gold Dream", "Street Fighting Years", "Sons And Fascination/Sister Feelings Call", "Once Upon A Time" and "Sparkle In The Rain". This is an odd selection which duplicates some of the terrific 5x5 box. This new box is on sale now.
All this material is being released by Virgin, so perhaps the band has been dropped by Universal? That would be a shame as the last album of new material "Graffiti Soul" showed great promise, and returned the band to the Top 10 Albums in the UK. As a long-time fan, what I crave is new material, but it doesn't seem to be on the horizon at all. D'Oh!
STOP PRESS: All is not lost, however, as splinter band XSM featuring Forbes, MacNeil and McGee have recorded a new album which will be released early in 2013. Great stuff!
I need hardly tell you that The Rolling Stones are on tour, with tickets in the range of £100 - £400 each! Richard Branson is one of the promoters. However, a much better buy is the upcoming tour by Welsh rockers Panic Room. Click on the flyer below to see the full dates. Anne-Marie and the boys always turn out a peerless show. I was going to Winchester but London seems more likely now as I'd like to catch Morpheus Rising, support band for only a few of the shows. Two great bands for just £12! More Panic Room here, here, here, here and here! Accendo Astri.
A new single from the Stones! Unsurprisingly, it sounds a lot like a typical Rolling Stones rocker, as you can hear if you click on the video above. It's featured on the "new" Stones album "GRRR!" which is yet another compilation. There is just one other new song on the album. After the overlong "A Bigger Bang" the lads have gone the other way and rationed the new product. You can find out more about the album and all things Stones at http://www.rollingstones.com/
The video reminds me of Prince's "Sign O' The Times" (no bad thing) as it is just computer-generated text and follows a similar topical groove. On reflection, I rather like this new single. It's not a classic, but that adds to its charm in a strange kind of way. The riff is good and Keefy and the rhythm is solid and beefy. I am a huge fan of the Mick Taylor years, and find Ron Wood's playing in the Stones to be surprisingly lacking in character, so I'd say there's no distinctive soloing guitar here. More importantly, Jagger's voice is remarkably strong on this new song. I like the harp too.
Heart are back! The Wilson sisters have a new album "Fanatic" out soon. Watch the promo video and the documentary above. I've been following Heart since the "Dreamboat Annie" album released here on Arista back in 1976. Never a hip band, I lost interest a little during their most popular period in the UK, around the time of "Alone". I think the ridiculous hair metal look (especially on the fellas) didn't help. Their Zeppelin riffs and covers have been in and out of fashion. Now, after a few years without much record company interest, Heart's star is very much in the ascendant again. I wish them luck with this new album and single. The sisters still rock!
I have to thank my very good friend Len for introducing me to the music of Dutch instrumentalist Arjuna Schiks.
There is a gorgeous free download of a one hour-long trancey piece entitled "Summer 2012" at http://soundcloud.com/arjunaschiks/arjuna-schiks-2012-summer-2012-paradiso Get it while you can! It's likely to appeal to fans of electronic music from the era of early Tangerine Dream to present-day disco outings. There are other pieces of his work to listen to at the same location.
It's very easy to take Europe for granted. A couple of years ago, I was blown away by their stage show and the album "Last Look At Eden". Despite this, it's taken me a while to catch up with this new album. If anything it's stronger and more consistent than its predecessor. The band are fairly traditional and sometimes sound a lot like Led Zeppelin or Whitesnake without the cock rock hilarity. There are eleven tracks here, and the album clocks in at just 41 minutes. In a sense, this is a strength and the album doesn't peter out towards the end like so many.
The album kicks off with "Riches To Rags" a cool rocker, and it must be
autobiographical to some extent. Next up is "Not Supposed To Sing The
Blues", the first single from the album. Here is the video, so that you
can judge the quality for yourself:
Third track is the new single "Firebox", reviewed here before. Just to recap, this is built around a Zep-type riff and has the most amazing psychedelic break mid-song. Check out the video here:
Title track "Bag Of Bones" is an interesting bluesy number, and features guest Joe Bonamassa on slide guitar. "Requiem", a short instrumental courtesy of keyboard player Michael Michaeli, leads into another bluesy track "My Woman My Friend". "Demon Head" is another rocker and "Drink And A Smile" has a more acoustic feel with Joey's vocal sounding rather strange. "Doghouse" is a fun rocker track which may be familiar from the Shepherd's Bush live CD/DVD/Blu-Ray (of which more soon) but sounds rather more together here. An even better riff kicks off "Mercy You Mercy Me" which has a guitar tone to die for, courtesy of original guitarist John Norum, now firmly back in the fold. Final track is the ballad "Bring It All Home".
So, all in all, a great album mixing rockers and bluesy numbers to devastating effect. While writing this review, I came across the interview below in which Joey explains the album in detail, and is quite honest about the influences on the band. Joey is an anglophile, and his command of our language is second to none.
This album is an essential purchase and is available on vinyl, CD and as inferior download mp3s. Get a copy now, and give some thought to the upcoming shows. The band's website is at http://www.europetheband.com/home.htmland is well worth a visit.
Another great release from Welsh rockers Dodgem-X. It features six of the best, hardest-hitting punk songs you will hear in a long, long time. I am particularly fond of the euthanasia rant "Operation Dignitas" but that's probably because it's the song I'm most familiar with, as they played it live when I saw them. A recording of the song from the gig has been on YouTube ever since. Here is a band with wit and intelligence. I think they'll go far. And now for the best news of all:
The release is available as an Amazon download and totally free, gratis, for nothing courtesy of the band at: http://dodgem-x.moonfruit.com/ - the band are also giving away their full album "If You Don't Want To Know The Score, Look Away Now" as reviewed here at the same download location! Wow! Thanks guys!
I first saw John Foxx leading the original Ultravox! back in the '70s. I think they were supporting Supercharge at the time! I saw them again as headliners only a few months later and was totally blown away by how much they had improved and by their amazing stage show. John was a true pioneer, imitated by Gary Numan and the Midge Ure incarnation of Ultravox.
Metamatic was a terrific debut solo album following his departure from the band. It featured the singles "Underpass", "No-One Driving" and US release "He's A Liquid". The gorgeous fat analog synths are on every track here. The original 10-track album is supplemented by a bonus CD of unreleased versions, B-sides etc. You get later single "Burning Car" but only the B-side to successor "Miles Away." There is even "My Face" originally a flexi-disc with some teen magazine.
So why only 4 and a half stars? Well, the transfers, while very good do lack the bloom and glow of my vinyl copies. It's still an essential purchase, though.
Europe have a new single out now. It's called "Firebox" and is the second single from their new album "Bag Of Bones". It's a tough rocker built around a Zeppelin-style riff and features an unlikely psychedelic break right in the middle. Something that could appear derivative is thus transformed into a really special number. I really must get my hands on a copy of the album! Earlier Europe material is reviewedhere.
This album gets played more often than any other in my car. It's my favourite Bryan Ferry solo album, although I don't know them all. For once the album is truly consistent with no dud tracks at all. Even "A Waste Land" passes muster, although I suspect it was originally planned as a longer track based on TS Eliot's "The Waste Land" (see http://www.bartleby.com/201/1.html for the full poem).
My favourite song here is the title track where Bryan sings artfully about a "wailing saxophone" accompanied by no sax at all! Later on in the track of course there is plenty of sax courtesy of the incomparable David Sanborn. Rather better known are the hit singles "Slave To Love" and "Don't Stop The Dance". A third single "Windswept" was a flop, undeservedly. All the material here is strong. Even "Valentine" manages to make a success despite its unpromising reggae foundation. The cast of musicians is a Who's Who of session players. Particular mentions must go to Chester Kamen and David Gilmour on guitars.
The album is on the short side at just 38 minutes, but this makes it ideal for burning onto a CD with another album for in-car listening. For example it fits with albums as diverse as theDacoits and Oxygene! You can find some nice online video of Ferry and Gilmour performing songs from this album at Live Aid.
There was briefly a Hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD) of this album, but that is long deleted. The standard CD is more than good enough, so treat yourself to a copy. More Bryan Ferry here.
At last, I've got my hands on this new album by Panic Room, one of my favourite bands. It's an essential purchase. You can hear extracts at the band's website http://www.panicroom.org.uk/music.html
and you can buy the album and its predecessors there.
This time around the music of Anne-Marie and the boys is enhanced by the addition of a string quartet. This adds a lush extra layer to the sound, while avoiding sounding like ELO! The album is also the first to feature the charismatic presence of new bassist Yatim Halimi. My favourite track just at the moment is "Chameleon" which is quite moody and haunting, with some excellent jazz shadings from guitarist Paul Davies. I am also particularly fond of the fat synth sound Jonathan Edwards gets on "Screens". It reminds me of the great Mick MacNeil of Simple Minds.
I can see this album selling well, as the band's product is now released through the Cherry Red group's new Esoteric Antenna imprint. It's the same label that has released the new Van Der Graaf Generator album "ALT", featured here in the review immediately below this one.
Panic Room are playing a few promotional dates in England and Italy. I'm not sure I can get to one of the shows, which is a shame. I see they are appearing at the Cambridge Rock Festival, as are Welsh rockers Sankara. Perhaps we'll get a more extensive Panic Room tour in the winter?
This album is available as a download and as a CD. The only downer for me with the CD version of the album is that it comes as a digipak. Apparently this is a "Limited Edition" and later copies will come in a standard "jewel case". Don't let this small disappointment put you off buying this outstanding release.
I really think if I was managing Van Der Graaf Generator, I'd have talked them out of releasing an all-instrumental album. Of course, we've been here before to some extent - the instrumentals on the re-issued "Pawn Hearts", the thoroughly weird "Time Vaults", Disc 2 of "Present", etc, etc. This new album "ALT" is surprisingly good. I hadn't expected much, but it is challenging and rewarding, if a little bit pointless. There is plenty of weirdness here, even without the distinctive sax of Jackson - although there is some fake sax from a synth - are they having a laugh? Indeed, I suspect there is something arch about all of this, and that the band are having a joke at our expense, to a certain extent. It's almost as if this was released as a spoiler to the re-issued Metropolis concert, also a June release.
The CD is released on Esoteric's new sub-label Antenna. I cannot see this being a money spinner for them. The album is presented as a standard CD, with entertaining notes by band member Guy Evans. He hits the nail on the head when he says that "these tracks really require you, the listener to complete them and give them life."
I can hear plenty of the influence of the frequently inconsistent Robert Fripp on Hammill's guitar. The real highlight of this album for me though is the amazing drumming of Guy Evans. Would I rather have had a vocal album? Yes, but this will do nicely. Do you need to buy it? No, you don't. Regard this one as an optional purchase, even for hardened VDGG fans. For all news on Hammill and Van Der Graaf, visit http://www.sofasound.com/
Dodgem-X hail from Bargoed, Wales. I recently had the pleasure of attending their first English gig at that hallowed rock'n'roll shrine, The Swan at Wantage. What was I doing there? Catching my favourite indie band The Dacoits. Dodgem-X were also on the bill that night, and I must say they were very entertaining. In singer Jody Davies they have a frontman of rare charisma and humour. They even have a Gaye Advert style bass player in the cool Natasha Muller. Line-up is completed by Luke Davies on mean yellow guitar and Geraint Bodman on drums.
I would say this music is typical British punk rock circa 1977. However, the band claim to be influenced by Therapy?, Helmet and Queens of the Stone Age. Well, these are bands I'm not terribly familiar with. They also mention Nirvana, but who doesn't? They remind me of 999, The Lurkers and The Adverts. The songs are strong, the hooks are catchy, the band could be huge. I really hope they stick with it. You can sample their wares with free downloads of the songs "Straightjacket" (live from the Wantage gig) and "Diane" (the latter a cover) at http://www.reverbnation.com/dodgemx and I recommend their CD album "If You Don't Want To Know The Score, Look Away Now". My copy of the latter was bought at the gig and was decidedly home-made rather than factory-pressed. Anyway, it was a real bargain at just £3! It includes the single "Action Man." Treat yourself to a copy now!
UPDATE: The album has been available on iTunes and Amazon downloads for some time. But now the band are offering a free download of the ENTIRE album, track by track athttp://dodgem-x.moonfruit.com/ - how generous is that? Get it while you can and pass your thanks on to the band.
This is an interesting CD. Somehow it seems fitting to be reviewing something from Ukraine right now. This is another Naxos release, so is available widely at a very reasonable price. This is modern choral music, and fully deserves four and a half stars. It hasn't got me hooked in quite the same way as sister release James Whitbourn - Luminosity which is a five star CD if I ever heard one!
At the time of writing you can find "Requiem" from this disc on YouTube, but as it is not an official upload it may not be there forever, so I am not linking to it here. The other pieces on this CD are "Know Yourself" and "Light To Lighten". I think this disc is a bit of a grower, with hidden depths. It's well worth seeking out. I got my copy from Devizes Books...
My copy of this remarkably cheap release arrived today. What we have here is a reissue of the recent "Classic Rock Presents" DVD with a new bonus of the concert soundtrack on 2 CDs. This isn't the only release from the band due this month, there is also an official one, entitled "ALT" and it is apparently all instrumental! I have a copy on pre-order, so will report on it as soon as I get it. It's worth stressing to anyone who has lost touch with the band that the line-up on both releases is Hammill, Banton and Evans. Saxman Jackson has dropped out of the the line-up again and I do miss his presence. What a shame too that Peter Hammill plays so little guitar live with the band these days.
The concert promotes recent material from the "Trisector" and "A Grounding In Numbers" albums. Old favourites "Nutter Alert", "Man-Erg" and "Lemmings" are also included.
This triple disc set is on specialist reissue label Salvo, and is joined by similar sets by Bill Nelson, Caravan, Barclay James Harvest (the superior John Lees version), Roy Harper and The Zombies. All these concerts were recorded live in front of small fan audiences, and were originally scheduled for broadcast on ITV here in England. This album, although not really an official release is available from Peter Hammill's site at http://www.sofasound.com/ as well as the usual suspects. Might as well get a copy of "Alt" as well!
Packaging is better than you'd expect for a budget release. This is a large 4-panel digipack, and there is even a booklet with good notes. At this price this surely is unmissable. Only reason I could see for not buying this is in case a Blu-Ray is forthcoming. Right now, that doesn't look likely though.
A generous release of DVD and two audio CDs
This was the original release, just 1 DVD and no CDs!
I was lucky enough to find a
second-hand CD copy of this 1992 album by The House Of Love. It's
currently out of print, which is a shame as it's such a strong album.
Universal own the rights to this, but instead of trying to promote
it they have deleted it. Now they want to acquire the EMI catalogue,
but what's the point if they cannot promote what they have already?
As it happens, bleeding chunks of this album are available on the
double CD “The Fontana Years” which is a patchy but cheap
release. Songs common to both albums are “You Don't Understand”,
“Yer Eyes”, “Crush Me”, “Feel”, and “The Girl With The
Loneliest Eyes”. Completists will need both releases as the
compilation includes rare B-sides etc.
The album kicks off with the crazy and weak intro to "You Don't Understand", released as a single in 1992 when it scraped into the Top 50. A strong, catchy song, it should have been bigger. Next track is "Crush Me" where the guitars while subtle, are quite overwhelming. The effect is quite beautiful and this is my favourite track on the album. It was also the fourth and poorest-selling single from the album. More shimmering and psychedelic guitars adorn "Cruel", making it a wistful, world-weary song but one which I love. At times it reminds me of The Beatles in their Indian period. "High In Your Face" is rockier, driven around an insistent bass line from Chris Groothuizen and incandescent guitar. "Fade Away" is quieter, folky, dreamy and closes Side One of the original LP.
"Feel" opens the second side. Sometimes referred to as "You've Got To Feel", this was the biggest of the four singles from the album. Indeed, I used to have it on a CD single (actually an EP) but where it went to, heaven knows. It's not the strongest track here as that accolade falls to the next song "The Girl With The Loneliest Eyes". This is a pop classic if I ever heard one! Guy Chadwick sings and plays this track beautifully, although as a single it fell on deaf ears, not even reaching the Top 50. At the time, the band blamed the record company Fontana/Phonogram for poor distribution of the release. Seems fair to me! Next up is "Burn Down The World", a very English track despite some nagging rockist piano. "Philly-Phile" is obviously American and a little doomy, featuring some interesting drumming and some more rockism in the shape of the closing guitar parts. With four different guitarists featured on the album (as another line-up disintegrated) it's hard to know who's playing what here. Closer "Yer Eyes" re-runs some of the subtle lyrical and dreamy themes of the album. Indeed, to the casual or first-time listener some of the tracks here could seem repetitive as Guy seems to be forever singing about feeling and eyes!
It's easy to detect some cynicism in the songs here, but really the album is something of a lost masterpiece. This album will repay the effort you will need to make to find a copy. It doesn't even seem to be available as one of those crappy mp3 downloads. In fact, it's not available at all legally. Well done, Universal! Now That's What I Call Business Acumen...
You don't have to be religious to enjoy this stunning release. This is modern choral music, performed by Oxford based Commotio, directed by Matthew Berry. It's a CD release on the budget-priced Naxos label, which is available widely.
You can listen to samples of this disc at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126161604 The main piece is "Luminosity" which is half an hour of celestial bliss, with an interesting accompaniment of tanpura, organ and percussion. It's really something special and should have been placed first on the disc. Instead it is preceded by 9 shorter pieces, all of which are of a very high standard, although they lack the epic embrace of "Luminosity" itself. Be sure to check out the audio samples at the link given above or at Amazon, because this is a real find.
Artwork is from the Hubble, and the full text of "Luminosity" is included in the 8-page booklet. If you fancy something different, this could be just what you're looking for.
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