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!
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