Ron Bolton Band - Ron Bolton Band

Bitrate: 192K/s
Year: 1983
Time: 38:07
Size: 52,7 MB
Label: Avenue Of Allies
Styles: Melodic Rock/AOR
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Maybe I'm Dreaming - 4:48
 2. Do it All for Love - 3:51
 3. Friends - 3:25
 4. Search of the Kind - 3:19
 5. 21 - 4:18
 6. Livin' on the Line - 4:19
 7. Midnight Lover - 4:09
 8. Little Girl - 3:17
 9. Play Your Game - 3:11
10. We're Gonna Make It - 3:25

Musicians:
Ron Bolton - Guitars, Vocals;
Mike Peters - Keyboards, Vocals;
Dean Schulenberg - Bass, Vocals;
George Kosta - Drums.

After a quarter of a century the Ron Bolton Band finally rises like a Phoenix from the ashes of the high quality Melodic Rock obscurities. The sound of the band is deeply rooted in the AOR of the Eighties, enriched by a touch of Pomp Rock, Westcoast and Power Pop. The official CD release of the ultra rare vinyl private pressing will cast a spell over fans of Toto, Dakota, Preview, Keane, 707 and the B.E. Taylor Group as well as over friends of Franke & The Knockouts, Le Roux, Automatix, Balance, 38 Special and the Michael Stanley Band. San Diego in sunny Southern California is the point of origin of the Ron Bolton Band. In the early Eighties the band was working hard to earn a good reputation as a live band. At first the gigs were performed by the trio of Ron Bolton (vocals / guitar), George Kosta (drums) and Robin Henkel (bass), about a year later Mike Peters joined on keyboards. The final line-up of the band was found when Robin Henkel left the combo and Dean Schulenberg took over the position as a bass player. Previously Dean was in a band called Prisoner, which was signed to Warner Curb, but they never released an album. The singer of Prisoner was James House whose solo debut for Atlantic is also a highly prestigious item among AOR connoisseurs. Over the course of the next couple of years the Ron Bolton Band strengthened their great renown as a live band, playing their set of original and cover songs in sold out venues all over Southern California. At that time some of the multi-platinum Rock acts of the era like Foreigner, Loverboy and Def Leppard were among the musical favorites of the band members. In 1983 the band finally entered the studio, recording ten of their original songs. The final result was incorporating different styles of Rock and setting great value upon elaborate, varied arrangements and vocal harmonies. The boys took the pressing and the distribution of the vinyl into their own hands, they sold it from the stage and through the local Tower Records stores. The opener of the disc, "Maybe I'm Dreamin'", is the dream of every 80s AOR lover. Stunning vocals with a catchy hookline, a perfect balance of rocking guitars and punchy keyboards, accompanied by a Rock solid rhythm section. The icing on the cake are Ron's terrific guitar solo and an awesome recurring guitar riff in the background. The song got a lot of local Radio Airplay and to this day fans of acts like Dakota and Preview rave about it. The AOR show goes on with the equally memorable midtempo tune "Do It All For Love" with which the band stakes out their claim in the territory of Franke & The Knockouts. With a certain Southern Californian nonchalance "Friends" is following on, before "Search Of The Kind" presents a composition back from Dean's days with Prisoner. Written by himself together with Tony Talbot and James House, the track's musical focus lies on Mike's organ play and Ron's guitar licks. Now it's time for perfect Pomp AOR, delivered by the number "21" with it's spacy keyboard solo and lots of "guitar action" towards the end of the cut. This is the perfect soundtrack for a trip to a gambling El Dorado. A highlight of the disc is without a doubt "Livin' On The Line". Ron's vocals are particularily versatile on this highly melodic Rock song and while George's drum beat pushes on the track, you will enjoy the mighty guitar riffs, that Steve Lukather also preferred during Toto's "Turn Back" era. After this adrenalin attack the AOR-Meets-Westcoast-Ballad "Midnight Lover" is very welcome. Introduced by a delightful keyboard intro and featuring a captivating instrumental arrangement and irresistible vocal harmonies, the song has "Radio Airplay" written all over it. Coming up next is "Little Girl", which heads more into the Power Pop direction, while "Play Your Game" takes us back to the realms of Pomp AOR. "We're Gonna Make It" is the rocking finale, showcasing again an impressive combination of rocking guitars, tasteful keyboards and polished harmonies, displaying the musical assets of the ensemble for one last time. After the release of their sole album the band successfully continued to play live for a couple of years before they broke up in the second half of the Eighties. (Words : Gregor Klee) Rapidly the album has become a favorite among reviewers : "An album like this is showing how interesting early 80s AOR was and still is, due to the fact everything sounds so perfect, just listen to the amazing vocal work (a la FREDDY CURCI) and ripping guitar work (a la THIN LIZZY)! Must-have!" ( Gabor / Strutter Magazine) "Musically, RBB range with ease between AOR, pomp rock and Westcoast. The sound is so beautifully early 80s US AOR that I just have to fall for it... To summarize, this album is a fine example of how 80s US AOR can age without getting old. It's refreshing to discover such a true cult album from the past, because it's really impossible to stay insensible during these 10 songs. Go and buy it!" (Stefanos / Metal Perspective) "Ron delivers a superb set of typical 80's AOR, with reference points taken from the likes Steel Breeze, Franke And The Knockouts, Dakota and The Producers." (George / Glory Daze Music) "This is a great release for every one that are looking for some classic AOR-sounding albums because you won't get much more pure 80s AOR/Pomp than this... Ron Bolton Band will be loved by every one that are into Toto, Dakota, Preview, B.E. Taylor Group, Franke & The Knockouts, Thrills and I could go on with the list but I think you get the picture." (Juha / melodic.net)

Ron Bolton Band (RBB)

Willie May - Haunted House

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2017
Time: 37:44
Size: 86,6 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Blues
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Hey Big Fannie - 3:18
 2. Haunted House - 4:44
 3. Ain't it Funny - 4:00
 4. Another Moon Song - 3:48
 5. Damn that Gubmint - 2:53
 6. I'm So Tired - 4:19
 7. Gypsy Eyes - 4:00
 8. Underneath the Trees - 4:22
 9. See You Smile - 3:13
10. Do Maiuke - 3:01

Featuring some of Western New York's best musicians including Mary Ramsey of Ten Thousand Maniacs. Harmonica virtuoso Mark Hummel also visits the Haunt. Don't be afraid, come on in.
Willie May has performed in basements, barns, garages, street corners, speak-easies, house trailers, preschool, high school, colleges, radio, television, bars, county fairs, carnivals, grocery stores, a pigeon coop, concert halls, outdoor festival arenas, and inside Attica prison.
Willie has taken his original blend of music to the blues clubs from The LaFayette Tap Room in Buffalo to Antones in Austin, TX, The Black Swan in Toronto, The Penny Arcade in Rochester, The Dinosaur BBQ in Syracuse, Hard Rock Cafe Niagara Falls, The Slippery Noodle in Indianapolis, Fat Fish Blue in Cleveland, Bflo Blues in Pittsburgh, and to countless other venues on thousands, yes thousands, of occasions.
Willie May has performed back to back on stage with Alvin Lee, Steve Marriott, John Kay and Steppenwolf, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, Otis Clay, The Climax Blues Band, Zorra Young, Jerry Portnoy, The Legendary Blues Band, Buddy Guy, Lonnie Brooks, Johnny Clyde Copeland, Sue Foley, L.A. Jones, Chris Duarte, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Stan Szelest, Chris Beard, Rock Bottom, James Cotton, Big Jack Johnson, Dangerous Dan Toler, Derek Trucks, Freddie Salem and many more. The Willie May Band is a 5 time Buffalo Area Music Award winner voted Western New York Blues Beat Magazine's Band of the Year.

Haunted House

Ghalia & Mama's Boys - Let The Demons Out

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2017
Time: 47:54
Size: 109,9 MB
Label: Ruf Records
Styles: Blues
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. 4 Am Fried Chicken - 3:34
 2. Let the Demons Out - 3:56
 3. Press that Trigger - 4:35
 4. Have You Seen My Woman - 4:20
 5. Hoodoo Evil Man - 3:29
 6. Addiction - 5:44
 7. All the Good Things - 4:27
 8. I'm Shakin' - 2:23
 9. Waiting - 3:37
10. See That Man Alone - 3:27
11. Hey Little Baby - 3:42
12. Hiccup Boogie - 4:33

Some albums stop you in your tracks. Like the smoky thump from a New Orleans juke-joint as you pass by on the sidewalk, Let The Demons Out is a rock ‘n’ roll siren call that pricks up your ears and puts you under its spell. And with Europe’s fastest-rising young vocalist and Louisiana’s hottest R&B crack-squad running the show, resistance is useless.
If you’ve not yet met Ghalia Vauthier, prepare to fall hard for an artist on the cusp of big things. Rewind to 2013 and Ghalia’s rise began with an apprenticeship busking on the streets of her native Brussels and double-duty in her two early bands, The Naphtalines and Voodoo Casino. “I always thought busking is the best schooling one could have,” she says. “You have only one second to catch people. It’s like a challenge – and I love challenges!”
Ghalia soon set herself the biggest one of all: America. With her passion for rocket-fuelled R&B drawing her to the motherland, the singer trekked the US cultural nerve-centres – from Chicago and Memphis to Nashville and Mississippi – winning fans and raising roofs at every stop. “The first time I went to the USA was like a musical pilgrimage to discover the places all my favourite songs talked about. The second time, things became real. I started singing where my heroes sang. I was strolling where they used to walk, buying booze maybe at their favourite liquor store, driving the same highways, watching sunsets in the same cotton fields. Then, from sitting in with local artists, I began to get my own shows.”
Every state heralded a new adventure, but perhaps most pivotal was Louisiana, where the seeds of Let The Demons Out were sown as Ghalia fell in with local legends Johnny Mastro & Mama’s Boys. The chemistry between these fast friends was undeniable, and it spilled over into New Orleans’ Music Shed Studio, as Ghalia drafted the lineup as her studio band. “The goal was to mix their attitude and experience with my songs and vocals,” she explains, “creating a symbiosis and letting the musical chemistry blossom.”
Working on impulse and trusting in their talent, this makeshift collective tore a page from the playbook of the blues originators, cutting live in the same room. “We think that this organic recording style brings more spontaneity and integrity to the music,” considers Ghalia. “Plus, it’s more fun and way more challenging.”
In an era of manufactured music, Let The Demons Out is as real as it gets. Mama’s Boys provide the engine-room on these twelve tracks, with sparks flying between Mastro’s gale-force harp, Smokehouse Brown’s stinger guitars, the grooving bass of Dean Zucchero and the visceral beats of Rob Lee. Leading the line, meanwhile, is Ghalia’s astonishing vocal, which somersaults from a honeyed purr to a hollered battlecry. “My lyrics come from stories I’ve experienced and the emotional reactions to them,” she says. “In the old days, they said blues is not only about lamentation but encouragement. That’s the way I see it, too. Another subject I find myself writing about is freedom – mine, yours, ours. Of course, there’s the subject of men. Can be about love, can be about sex, can be none of the above.”
These are songs that mark Ghalia out as a writer of dizzying potential. There’s the gunshot opener 4am Fried Chicken and the bone-shaking All The Good Things, with its fat beat and hedonist vocal (“All the good things, babe, they’re bad for you”). There’s the fuzz-faced swagger of Have You Seen My Woman and the unstoppable momentum of Hoodoo Evil Man. Press That Trigger fizzes with a frantic guitar solo, while the hoarse mouth-harp and thunderous beat of the title track recalls the Stones in their dazzling prime.
This multi-faceted band can also shift gears, as evidenced by the snake-charmer slow-burn of Addiction, or Hey Little Baby, which takes its sweet time, as Ghalia breathes a hypnotic vocal melody in your ear. Yet this party goes out with a bang on the closing Hiccup Boogie, with its shades of Canned Heat and a travelogue vocal that holds the listener rapt.
Look elsewhere for your background music. Let The Demons Out is an album that demands your undivided attention, and drags the blues genre into fresh relevance. “We’re not aiming to replicate traditional blues,” says Ghalia, “but rather to push the songwriting and playing to a point at which we discover something new and hopefully fresh, while still maintaining a blues vibe. Basically, we hope to strike a balance between the traditional and progressive. That’s what good art is about anyway…”         

Let The Demons Out

Inventions - Meta

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2017
Time: 75:54
Size: 174,6 MB
Label: FREIA Music
Styles: Progressive Rock/Symphonic Prog/Post Rock/Pop
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Meta - 4:27
 2. One and the Same - 4:48
 3. The Turing Test - 4:16
 4. Into the Light - 4:02
 5. Spaceship Earth - 5:45
 6. Touch of Rain - 5:49
 7. Oceania - 3:09
 8. The Dream Sequence - 4:21
 9. One Small Step - 5:23
10. A Place Where We Belong - 6:18
11. The Space Between - 8:48
12. Monochrome (bonus track) - 3:22
13. The Space Between (alternative version) - 4:37
14. Touch of Rain (alternative version) - 5:51
15. Space (alternative version) - 4:53

Loin de délaisser pour autant ses nombreuses activités au sein de groupes comme, Sky Architect, Nine Stones Close et The Black Codex , Christiaan Bruin s’essaye aussi depuis la début de la décennie à des échappées en solitaire, notamment sous le nom de Chris et pour sa nouvelle publication « Meta » avec le patronyme « INVENTIONS » . Ce nouvel opus, pour le moins original, « est une série de vidéos et de chansons sur le processus créatif de la composition à la fois de la musique et des paroles. Toutes les deux semaines, une nouvelle chanson sera diffusée, + une vidéo YouTube montrant les idées, l’inspiration et le processus d’enregistrement qui ont conduit à la création de la chanson ».
Défricher et aller voir plus loin ce qui s’y passe musicalement, telle est la démarche de Christiaan, en ce début septembre 2017. Cette fois ci le multi instrumentiste, s’est imposé un challenge d’envergure, dévoiler à la face de tous, sa manière de composer en images pour le mettre ensuite à l’écoute. L’album se veut éclectique et aborde tous les genres musicaux du rock, progressif, planant, symphonique et parfois même alternatif. Les influences de Christiaan laissent, quand même la part belle, comme à l’accoutumée, à un rock progressif mélodique et aérien. En fait on peut former deux groupes distincts, le premier regroupera les essais planants, mélancoliques et éthérés et le deuxième les approches alternatives, new waves et progressives. Sans analyser chacune des quinze pistes qui composent « META » , l’on peut souligner que certain titres tirent vraiment leur épingle du jeu.
Dans la première fournée on trouve, « Meta » le titre éponyme de l’opus processionnel et lancinant, qui s’étire bien trop en longueur à mon goût. «The Dream Sequence» qui pourrait presque être du Tangerine Dream, l’originalité et l’énergie en moins. « Spaceship Earth » qui rappellera aux plus anciens le groupe Wapassou (je vous conseille « Messe en ré mineur »), à la démarche progressive et contemporaine. Dans un registre légèrement différent, quoi que, « Oceania » lorgne de manière évidente vers Enya.
Dans le deuxième bataillon, les compositions comme « One And The Same » et « The Turing test» donnent lieu à des mid-tempo dans un registre alternatif, mais joués avec finesse, des compositions accessibles qui s’envolent grâce à un refrain imparable, une tendance déjà perceptible sur les galettes solo de Chris. «One Small Step» exploitent un créneau proche d’O.M.D (Orchestral Manœuvre In The Dark), dont je viens d’ailleurs d’écouter le dernier album «The Punishment of Luxury » qui soit dit en passant est vraiment très bon. « A Place Where We Belong » marche dans les empreintes et les climats de Mike Batt, avec une réelle réussite.
Christiaan Bruin a pris le temps nécessaire à la maturation et à l’élaboration très particulière de cet album. Les quinze compositions inventives se dégustent jusqu’à plus soif !

Meta

Trojka - I Speilvendthet

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2017
Time: 41:32
Size: 95,7 MB
Label: Apollon Records
Styles: Progressive Rock
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Tsarens Tarer - 2:55
 2. I Speilvendthet - 4:27
 3. Et Spill - 4:03
 4. Drommelos - 4:31
 5. Mat For Tanke - 5:32
 6. Trojka - 3:49
 7. Litt Glede - 3:18
 8. Alltid En Gate - 4:11
 9. Til neste farvel - 8:42

Musicians:
Simon Ulvenes Kverneng - Bass;
Simon Ulvenes Kverneng, Gjert Hermansen, August Riise - Gesang;
August Riise- Keys;
Gjert Hermansen - Schlagzeug.

TROJKA from Bergen , Norway are ready with their excellent debutalbum – I speilvendthet.
The album was studio-recorded by Njål Paulsberg (Young Dreams, Advanced Language, Put Your Hands Up For Neo-Tokyo) and will be published by Tik and Apollon Records in June 2017 outside Norway . The album displays Trojka’s versatility – from groovy, danceable hooks to touching ballads, from jazzy soundscapes to energetic, hectic synth and bass lines in varying time signatures. Their texts are equally varied, encompassing songs from an eclectic dive into video games (the Game), a humorous tribute to the human brain (Food for Thought), and darkly poetic introspection (Drømmeløs, Always a mystery, Until Next Goodbye). The creative lyrics are matched by the cover art by Ronja Svenning Berge.
The band cites Yes, E.L.P, King Crimson, Radiohead ,The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Genesis & Neal Morse as some of their influences.
Trojka have existed in the underground scene of Bergen for over ten years, and a performing experience thereafter. The singles «I speilvendthet» and «Drømmeløs» have been released prior to the album and have received good reviews in Norwegian magazines such as «Deichmanske musikkblogg» and «Stoff». The album well be available in LP, CD and digital formats.

I Speilvendthet

Aliante - Forme Libere

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2017
Time: 47:21
Size: 108,9 MB
Label: M.P. & Records
Styles: Progressive Rock/Symphonic Prog
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Forme Libere - 0:59
 2. Kilowatt Store - 5:19
 3. Di Quattro - 9:29
 4. Etnomenia - 6:21
 5. Coda: Marea 03 - 1:46
 6. L'ultima Balena - 8:38
 7. San Gregorio - 9:27
 8. Kinesis - 5:19

Musicians:
Enrico Filippi - Keyboards;
Alfonso Capasso - Bass;
Jacopo Giusti - Drums.

ALIANTE (meaning GLIDER in English) are a real surprise in Italian music. They are creative, careful, never dispersive and never excessive. They have clear ideas and the right talent to put them into practice. They know perfectly how to play with melody and with harmonious twists to create evocative and emotional enchanting music. A new sound sensation that smells of art and cultivated music without being snobbish. Just a gliding and planing flight, calm, reflective, with a few moments of slight madness in a faster descent can fully describe (or at least give the same kind of sensations) of the music you can hear in this album of ALIANTE. Unpretentious music that wants to open the boundaries of progressive rock to end in wide open skies, where the melody is absolute master and at the same time a travel companion of rhythms and unusual tempos.If moog solos were executed by a sax we could call it “jazz-fusion” …. And instead, the bass, keyboards, and drums sounds lead us to a symphonic-prog music, brand new but without forgetting the origins. A flight made of bright and breath-taking sounds, echoes of drums with almost ethnic sounds and the cross-beat of a loud bass. And so enjoy this freedom: for ALIANTE, your seat belts are not compulsory.
This may be the first production of ALIANTE, but while a new band they feature members that are seasoned musicians: Jacopo Giusti and Alfonso Capasso have a past as members of EGOBAND.
“Forme Libere” will be released by M.P. & Records and distributed by G.T. Music Distribution.

Forme Libere

Plaid - Understanding God

Bitrate: 192K/s
Year: 1998
Time: 34:23
Size: 47,9 MB
Label: Rustproof
Styles: Rock/Alt.Rock
Art: Front

 1. Pick Your Poison - 3:11
 2. The Call - 2:30
 3. Beautiful - 4:07
 4. Listen - 3:43
 5. Understanding God - 3:08
 6. Banter - 2:26
 7. Cant Run - 3:08
 8. Nails - 4:00
 9. Live & Learn - 3:35
10. Cry - 4:31

Plaid consists of Alien Salmon (guitar/bass), Andrew Adams (bass/tenor sax/vox), Jason Scott Payton (drums/percussion) and Brannon Hancock (lead vox/electric/acoustic guitars/bass/sax). 'Understanding God', Plaid's debut release for Rustproof, is both well produced and arranged; where Derri Daugherty (The Choir), who co-produced the album along with Paul Sallo and Mark Q, leaves a subtle but by no means overbearing influence on the proceedings, allowing the band's over all sound to be enhanced rather than compromised. Plaid play a modern hybrid of alternative hard rock, showcasing some of the finest thought-provoking and challenging lyrics; passionately delivered by Brannon. Overall, the band are an extremely tight unit; although in certain places the drums are not quite up to speed. Rather than detracting from the overall sound, however, this adds an extra live feel to the proceedings. An excellent album from a group destined to make big waves in the future.

Understanding God

Wobbler - From Silence to Somewhere

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2017
Time: 46:34
Size: 106,9 MB
Label: Karisma Records
Styles: Progressive Rock/Symphonic Prog
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. From Silence to Somewhere - 20:59
 2. Rendered In Shades Of Green -  2:05
 3. Fermented Hours - 10:10
 4. Foxlight - 13:19

Oh my, what an absolute treat! From Silence to Somewhere, the new album by Norwegian band Wobbler, has taken some time to get out into the light, but when it does on October 20th, fans will be very pleased with what the five members of this great band have created. Wobbler started out in 1999 and released their debut, Hinterland, in 2005. Using instruments from the golden age of progressive rock, their sound is inevitably influenced by the great bands from the seventies like Gentle Giant, Yes, Genesis and King Crimson. Their sophomore album, Afterglow (2009), and the critically acclaimed Rites at Dawn (2011) also broadened their sound, and with the release of From Silence to Somewhere the band has evolved in to one of today's best eclectic progressive rock bands. The sound is a bit more aggressive and somewhat darker than Rites at Dawn and sounds more mature because of the more refined songwriting. The band cites as being due to the new approach they took when writing and recording this album. Being much more of a band product than its predecessors, the quintet have clearly found a way to bring out the best in each other. With only four songs to sink your eager teeth into, this album still feels like a wonderful journey. With opener and title track From Silence to Somewhere clocking in at just under 22 minutes, the album starts off with a great intro, reminiscent of Yes and The Flower Kings. Once the vocals of Andreas Wettrennen Stromman Prestmo begin, you know this is just what the doctor ordered. His voice is very complementary to the music once again. The multi-instrumentalist did a fantastic job on this track, in particular using his voice in various ways within the different passages of this great song. This could be a real contender for my song of the year. The sometimes haunting bass parts by Kristian Karl Hultgren also sound great, and add to the wonderful mix during the instrumental parts. The rest of the band is in fine form, with guitarist Geir Marius Bergom Halleland, drummer Martin Nordrum Kneppen and keyboards by Lars Fredrik Froislie, who created a wonderful piece of dark, moody music on the second track, Rendered in Shades of Green, and a great intro to the third track, Fermented Hours. The first segments of this song reminded me of early Uriah Heep, and made me hold on tight for what was to come. Lasting for just over 10 minutes, this track is very powerful and strong. The organ and mMllotron sounds, create a landscape that puts you back 45 years to the heyday of progressive rock, while the harmonies between keyboards, guitar and bass are pure class and add to the eclectic mix. When you think things can't get any better, the fourth and final track, Foxlight, starts with a delicate and beautiful intro where flute and glockenspiel are brought to the mix (again). Once drummer Martin Nordum Kneppen gets involved, the song takes a dramatic but forceful turn. With a touch of renaissance and classical influences, this last song is a great way to finish the album. Fierce guitars and dark keyboards make this another stunner of a track, with great vocal and instrumental passages that are omnipresent on the entire album. Wobbler has really outdone themselves once again and produced an absolute masterpiece. With Rites at Dawn, the band found a lot of praise, but it is this new album that puts them right at the forefront of the genre. With four wonderful songs and a mature sound, Wobbler deserve a lot of credit for the use of analogue equipment and classic, progressive elements. This album will be on a lot of "best of" lists at the end of the year. It surely will be on mine. And that's a promise I will love to keep!

From Silence to Somewhere

Believe - Seven Widows

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2017
Time: 65:26
Size: 150,0 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Progressive Rock/Neo-Prog
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. I - 10:49
 2. II -  9:08
 3. III -  8:12
 4. IV - 11:43
 5. V -  8:35
 6. VI -  8:37
 7. VII -  8:19

Musicians:
Lukasz Ociepa - vocals;
Mirek Gil - lead guitar;
Satomi - violin, keyboards;
Przemas Zawadzk - bass;
Robert Kubajek (Qba) - drums.

Mam nadzieje, ze muzycy z zespolu Believe wybacza mi, ze musieli czekac dosc dluga na te recenzje. Ale w przypadku plyty Seven Widows kontakt z zawartoscia musi byc niespieszny, intymny i doglebny. Siedem spojrzen na progrockowe pejzaze wymaga skupienia, a dluzsza kontemplacja pozwala dostrzegac pelna game uzytych barw. Nie oznacza to bynajmniej, ze to jakas hermetyczna propozycja wylacznie dla milosnikow art rocka. Choc zespol nie siega po tradycyjna piosenkowa forme, choc lubi zaskakiwac, to jednak konsekwencja przekazu, brak nachalnosci i chwytow „pod publiczke”, przy jednoczesnej komunikatywnosci przekazu, stanowia zaproszenie do intrygujacej muzycznej podrozy.
Kompozycje sa tu doskonale zbilansowane i wywazone – zlozonosc idzie w parze w komunikatywnoscia. Gitarowe partie Miroslawa Gila funduja czesto swoisty trzon utworow, ktore swobodnie plyne, zanurzajac sie w coraz to nowe tematy, na tyle jednak przemyslane, ze nie odnosimy wrazenia, ze cos dzieje sie tu przypadkowo. Lider grupy korzysta z pelnej gamy srodkow – serwuje nam mocniejsze riffy, siega po gitare akustyczna, by przywolac wiecej spokojnego klimatu albo podaje gilmourowskie sola (choc zdarzaja sie tez bardziej zadziorne dzwieki, jak na final VII), w ktorych nie bieglosc jest najwazniejsza, a emocje.
Ale Believe A.D. 2017 to sklad bardzo zgrany i tworczy, a na albumie Seven Widows kazdy ma swoje „piec minut”. Ogromne brawa dla Satomi, Japonki mieszkajacej w Polsce, dla ktorej bardziej naturalnym srodowiskiem pracy od sali prob rockowego bandu jest filharmonia – skrzypaczka doskonale wpisala sie w kompozycje zespolu, urozmaicajac je, a jednoczesnie wtapiajac sie w niespieszny, refleksyjny charakter muzyki. Sluchacze beda mogli wychwycic tutaj wiele smaczkow – wystarczy posluchac krotkiego momentu w kompozycji I, gdzie motyw grany przez Satomi doskonale zazebia sie z partia akustycznej gitary. Mnie byc moze najbardziej spodobalo sie dlugie solo na zakonczenie IV, pelne smutku, przenikliwe, kojarzace sie z melancholia dokonan My Dying Bride (choc to odlegle od siebie muzyczne swiaty). Do tego dochodza jeszcze doskonale syntezatorowe plamy, wychodzace spod palcow instrumentalistki, ktore buduja skutecznie klimat, jak we wstepie do IV.
Warto jednak zwrocic uwage rowniez na pozostalych muzykow. Sekcja rytmiczna w postaci Przemka Zawadzkiego i Roberta Kubajka, stanowi zwarta druzyne, ale wprowadza tez momentami odrobine rytmicznego rozedrgania, co skutecznie napedza kompozycje. Lukasz Ociepa wnosi z kolei swoim wokalem sporo ciepla, ale i emocjonalnej prawdy, skutecznie oddajac przekaz tekstow i nastroj muzyki. Szczegolnie ciekawie wypada wokal w momentach spokojnych, delikatnych, siegajacych wysokich dzwiekow, jakby dochodzacych z innego swiata.
Believe, jak juz wspominalem, to swietny team, ktory rzeczywiscie moze zaciekawiac swym muzycznym materialem. Moze brak tu momentow rzeczywiscie rzucajacych na kolana? Z drugiej strony trudno doszukac sie w jakiejkolwiek kompozycji mielizn, calosc trzyma pewna dramaturgie. I choc plyte Seven Widows warto potraktowac jako dzielo calosciowo, to rownie dobrym pomyslem, juz po blizszym zapoznaniu, bedzie dawkowanie sobie tej muzyki. Kazdy wieczor tygodnia z innym utworem? Dlaczego nie. Z pewnoscia beda to wieczory pelne czaru.

Seven Widows

Breezin - Breezin

Bitrate: 128K/s
Year: 1983
Time: 33:53
Size: 31,2 MB
Label: Plahadima
Styles: Jazz-Rock/Funk/Soul
Art: Front + Back

Tracks Listing:
 1. New Horizons - 4:09
 2. Slow One I Love - 2:33
 3. Midnight Fiasco - 3:31
 4. I - 3:18
 5. Voodoo - 3:26
 6. Feeling Better - 2:08
 7. Normal Way - 3:33
 8. Salza's - 4:02
 9. Direct Connections - 2:56
10. Fairy Queen - 4:12

Musicians:
Bass – Jos Hagenaar
Drums, Vocals – Hans Hagenaar
Guitar, Vocals – Fer Hagenaar
Keyboards – Charles Knops
Percussion – John Van Der Meulen

Recorded at the Plahadima Studio Heerlen.

Breezin

Nightshift - Nightshift

Bitrate: 128K/s
Year: 1980
Time: 39:34
Size: 41,1 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Rock
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. No More Reason - 2:59
 2. Your Life - 2:59
 3. Stuck - 3:52
 4. Meanwhile - 2:45
 5. Shuffle - 2:35
 6. Not a Word - 3:32
 7. Dream - 4:00
 8. Nature - 4:53
 9. Warming up - 2:56
10. Rainbow Blues - 2:55
11. Sofia - 6:01

Musicians:
Walter Tromp - Bass;
Gerard Borst - Drums
Luc Buur - Lead Guitar, Vocals;
Jos Rijnaarts - Piano, Organ;
Haije Pieters - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals;
Jan Jansen - Vocals, Percussion;
Gerard Borst - Drums.

Recorded in Zeezicht Studios, Haarlem from 18 to 21 October 1980. 'Rainblow Blues' recorded live in Alpha, Beverwijk on 3 May 1980.

Nightshift

The Clear - Fill It In Your Self

Bitrate: 128K/s
Year: 1981
Time: 42:15
Size: 40,9 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Psychedelic
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Julie - 3:33
 2. Can't Express Myself - 3:41
 3. '52 - 1:40
 4. Softly - 3:22
 5. Madman - 3:13
 6. Everytime - 2:11
 7. Don't Know What To Do - 3:39
 8. Gambling - 1:13
 9. Right Phrases - 2:23
10. Adolescentlove - 2:45
11. I Don't Want You - 2:53
12. Don't Take Chances - 2:24
13. Don't Leave Me - 2:54
14. To You - 3:10
15. NAM Syndrome - 3:05

Musicians:
Johan Smit - vocals, guitar, bass & percussion
Cor Smit - vocals, flute, saxophone, mouthorgan, guitar, drums & percussion
Ifor Baynes - drums, percussion, voise

Eerder actief als Wild Havanna waarmee in eigen beheer LP werd opgenomen in 1977, onder de naam Wild Havanna. The Clear borduurt  een beetje voort op hetzelfde muzikale stramien wat toen ook al gehandhaafd werd: een vleugje new wave, maar met onmisbare psychedelische invloeden.  In 1981 verscheen een LP waar de gebroeders Cor en Johan Smit, aangevuld met drummer Ifor Baynes op samenwerkten. Ook deze LP werd thuis opgenomen en in eigen beheer uitgebracht in een oplage van 1000 exemplaren. De plaat verscheen in een prachtige wit vinyl uitvoering.
Geduren 1983-84 werd opgetreden als the New Clear met o.a. Omar de Boer (gitaar, ex-Applejack, naar Headline), Eric Brouwer (drums, ex-Brouwsel'82 ), Jaap Scheringa ( toetsen) , Cor Smit en Rob Stevenhagen ( bas, naar Blackout).

Fill It In Your Self

Dead Hippie - Living Dead

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 1983
Time: 31:12
Size: 72,3 MB
Label: Pulse Records
Styles: Rock
Art: Full

Tracks Listing:
 1. Manic Masquerade - 3:49
 2. I'm the Last - 3:10
 3. Living Dead - 2:32
 4. Mary - 3:04
 5. Giving up the Ghost - 4:11
 6. Big Train - 4:26
 7. Bad Medicine - 2:18
 8. Progress - 2:36
 9. Slave Babies - 5:02

I had gotten into the habit of Googling rock band names as I came to the albums that I had cleaned up after Katrina.  Somewhat to my surprise, as I recall I found nothing at all on DEAD HIPPIE.  There was nothing in Allmusic or Wikipedia, and that wasn't too surprising; but there were no hits anywhere else either (which is not to say that "dead hippie" didn't come up at all – it just wasn't a rock group).  This was also one of the first albums I came across where I couldn't come up with a front cover shot to put on the blank record cover where I was storing the album; it wasn't the very first, but there hadn't been many. Eventually I came upon a little information, but the tribute page that I remember from several years ago has disappeared; the MySpace page that I did find has some videos and photos but not much else.  Lead singer Simon Smallwood was the frontman for Dead Hippie.  When they were profiled in Spin magazine about the time their album came out in 1983, a photo on the MySpace page shows the other bandmembers as Mike Hagen, Paul Mars (aka Paul Black) and Bob Mann.  Jackie Fritz and Debra Exit also show up in photos with the band.  A later photo from 1985 shows Simon Smallwood, Bob Mann, Robert Williams and Mike Dewey.  I guess that is the same man as Big Mike D, who also has a MySpace page where he mentions his Dead Hippie pedigree.  Bob Friedman also has posts on the Internet saying that he had played with the band.
I was introduced to Dead Hippie in their performance on New Wave Theatre, the punk rock showcase on late night TV that originated from Los Angeles.  Dead Kennedys is about the only band that I had previously heard of which I saw on that show, but most have landed articles in Wikipedia (punk rockers have a lot of fans it seems).  To date, the only other UARB from New Wave Theatre that I have included in this series is the Unknowns.  I think it is fair to say that Dead Hippie has become one of my favorite punk rock bands.  I particularly like the long instrumental passages in their songs that would veer in unexpected directions.  Instrumentals, or even long introductions before the singing starts have virtually disappeared from rock music for several decades; in the bare-bones approach to music that punk rock uses, they were scarcely ever present to start with.
I didn't really remember the Dead Hippie performance on NWT that well (that's what 30 years will do to you); it turned out to be "Blue Red and White" – as with the song in the Broadway musical Hair, "Don't Put it Down" that also scrambled "red, white and blue", it is a song about misplaced patriotism.  What I do remember was that he is the only guest on the show that ever really got the better of host  Peter Ivers, whose annoying interviews after rock performances (including the inevitable question, "What is the meaning of life?") really got to most of the musicians, even for bands that were on their second or third visit to the show.  I am reminded of the late Tim Russert of Meet the Press who was always very irritated with guests who didn't have answers ready for his questions – oftentimes he would even send the list of questions in advance.
Well, after Dead Hippie's performance, frontman Simon Smallwood responded to Ivers' first question by saying, "I just want to say this, man" before launching into a prepared monologue for several minutes about what it would take to turn the country around (apropos of the news this week, one specific item was guaranteed health care for all).  He then handed the microphone back, and all Ivers could do at that point was scream out:  "Dead Hippie!"
Their only album, Living Dead came out in 1983 on the obscure Pulse Records label, and my copy (and maybe all of them from what I can tell) was in clear vinyl.  There is a remarkable variety on the songs, in terms of the musical style in particular.
I wanted to put in the inflection also, because that is their style:  Dead Hippie is quite theatrical; and though it is an easy style to mock, like the speeches of Rev. Jesse Jackson, we are all still better off for having heard their music. 
There are a lot of reviews of the album out there now, and most found something that they didn't like; they would like some of the song styles but not others, and they complained that Dead Hippie had pretensions because they were overly dramatic in their performances. 
Mostly though, it is Simon Smallwood's singing that the various blogger types don't like: "histrionics" come up a lot, "gallingly awful" is one description, and still another complained that he was trying to copy The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (remember "Fire"?) – like that's a bad thing.  I guess it is a personal preference; there are some who consider Sleater-Kinney lead singer Corin Tucker difficult to listen to (not to mention Bob Dylan), but I have never had that problem – far from it.
I think Simon Smallwood has a fascinating voice myself, and I am certainly not the only one.  I saw the term "the late, great Simon Smallwood" several times; the caption for the above photograph is:  "Simon as we like to remember him, terribly gut-wrenchingly funny."
Dead Hippie didn't make it, sadly, but Simon Smallwood later joined a band called Würm, which does have an article in Wikipedia.  The band is described as "sludge metal" and was originally active from 1973 to 1977; Smallwood joined up for a short time in 1983.  Bass player Chuck Dukowski was a founding member of Würm and would later join the seminal hardcore punk band Black Flag.  There are also a couple of videos out there of Simon Smallwood performing with TuTu Band as recently as 1991.

Living Dead

Nande & The Big Difference - Nande & The Big Difference

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2002
Time: 65:30
Size: 151,3 MB
Label: Cope
Styles: Blues
Art: Full

Tracks Listing:
 1. One Bad Stud - 3:49
 2. I Can't Stop It - 3:36
 3. What's Wrong - 3:29
 4. Why - 5:14
 5. Swing Machine - 4:06
 6. Good Understanding - 4:20
 7. Don't Count Your Chickens - 4:08
 8. She's a Good 'un - 4:40
 9. Taste of my Own Medicine - 5:57
10. Okie Dokie Stomp - 2:54
11. Duckin' & Divin' - 3:33
12. Don't Try - 3:23
13. Kansas City - 6:17
14. Kiss Your Feet - 4:13
15. Good Rockin' Tonight - 5:43

Nande & The Big Difference - Denmark is a long way from the Mississippi Delta or the south side of Chicago. It’s not a likely place to find a genuine mojo hand, or even your basic John the Conqueror root. Nande & the Big Difference
However, if you believe that blues music communicates a human condition, not just a geographical or cultural one, then you’ll no doubt take great pleasure in the artistry of Danish bluesman Peter Nande.
Nande is touring in support of his third CD, Jelly Bean Baby: California Sessions Vol. II, recorded under the auspices of California-based producer and blues artist James Harman. The CD affirms and documents Nande’s emergence as a bona fide blues songwriter, singer and harp man, and features a diverse mix of raw blues and exotic Caribbean rhythms, flavored with jazzy touches.
Nande weaves clever tales around the common theme of human desire and its consequences… stories of infidelity and excess. Nande is not afraid to take his time, telling his stories with a wily grin and anchoring them in the propulsive, hypnotic rhythms and tonal vocabulary of American blues and Caribbean music, flavored with jazzy touches.
Harman’s considerable artistic influence and production savvy resonate throughout the recording. Jelly Bean Baby builds upon the foundation that Nande laid with Big Boy Boogie, which was nominated for Danish Blues Album of the Year by the Danish Music Awards in 2007, and which figured substantially in Nande’s win as Danish Blues Musician of the Year for 2007 by the Copenhagen Music Festival.
Under Harman’s invaluable mentoring, Nande has learned that the best blues songs tell unique stories, often with an ironic twist, of human desire and human failings. However; Nande is his own man. He sings his own songs, peppering his deep blues roots with reggae, ska and European influences, all distinct from Harman’s work, resulting in enticing grooves that you’ll find yourself recalling long after the music has stopped. Nande’s voice is rich and inviting; his harmonica work is lean, crisp and articulate, each note impassioned, yet purposeful.
As is true with most success stories, this one didn’t happen overnight. For the better part of two decades, Nande dedicated himself to the passionate pursuit of legitimate blues music. It began in 1988 when, at age 16, he heard the music of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, and Sonny Boy Williamson (I and II) on LPs at the local library. He was inspired to buy his first harmonicas and, in his words, “started to mess around” with the blues.
“I was hooked on the sound of blues harmonica and the blues genre,” Nande recalls. “I wanted to play the harp, but as I got more knowledge, the blues grew on me. Suddenly I wanted to make songs and my own music, to be a singer and songwriter. It just sort of happened. The music and the ideas for songs were suddenly in my head and had to get out.”
Nande moved to Copenhagen in his early twenties and devoted himself to studying such blues masters as Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter and Howlin’ Wolf, as well as a younger generation of performers, including Harman, Charlie Musselwhite and William Clarke.
It took five years before Nande was ready. In 1998 he founded Nande & the Big Difference, and for seven years apprenticed as a blues musician. In 2002, the band released a self-titled CD and played festivals in Europe, backing Lazy Lester, Harman and others.
“I’m a go-getter,” Nande recalls. “I contacted the guys who I liked best in the blues business like James [Harman], R.J. Mischo and Gary Primich. I booked and went on tours with them, and asked lots of questions.”
Nande’s group disbanded in 2005. Nande set his sights on recording in the U.S. with American musicians. The dream became reality in 2006 when Nande and his band mate, guitarist Ronni Busack-Boysen flew to California to cut a CD with Harman as producer. Big Boy Boogie was engineered by the remarkably talented Nathan James, and recorded in Nathan’s home studio in Oceanside, Calif.
Fast forward to 2007: While Harman with his “Bamboo Porch” trio, including Nathan James and Ben Hernandez, toured Scandinavia for three weeks, Harman also gigged at festivals and other shows with the Peter Nande Band. All the while, plans for Jelly Bean Baby: California Sessions Vol. II were underway. Nande prepped for two months with Busack-Boysen prior to the sessions, which took place over two weeks beginning Feb. 1, 2008 in the one-car garage studio of Nathan’s new residence in Oceanside.
Jelly Bean Baby captures Nande’s continuing maturity as a songwriter. With Harman’s mentoring, Nande has learned that the best blues songs tell stories, often with an ironic twist, of the consequences of human desire.
Give a listen to “Beware Brother,” a tale of marital caution set to an irresistible groove; check out the sly reggae-styled double entendre “Slo’ Poke,” or “Ridin’ the Gravy Train,” with its lyric about livin’ the high life, set to a primal Mississippi blues rhythm. Listen to “Walk the Talk”: The song’s lyrics condemn an unfaithful woman, but the driving shuffle beat tells a different story, one of a woman shakin’ what her mama gave her; somehow, you know she’s going to get away with it, at least for a while. These songs work on more than one level, clearly, and bear evidence of Nande’s artistry.
Having completed Jelly Bean Baby, Nande returned to Denmark knowing that his blue journey is ongoing: Three years earlier, he had a dream of working with American blues musicians. With his second set of California sessions behind him, his progress is there for all to hear. And he keeps moving, with plans to cut a duo album with guitar/vocal partner Tim Lothar, to be produced in Copenhagen by Harman. He also plans work with U.K. musician Big Joe Louis and, in 2010, to record California Sessions, Vol. III.
Working with Harman, Nathan James and the other members of his recording line-up has only encouraged Nande to strive to improve even more. “It all makes me happy,” he says. “I’m a bluesman to the bone and I feel those 12 bars and a good song. It keeps me going in life!”
Jelly Bean Baby, was nominated for Danish Blues Album of the Year by the Danish Music Awards in 2009/

Nande & The Big Difference

Kenne Cramer - All Day Long

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2017
Time: 43:16
Size: 99,3 MB
Label: Ribo Records
Styles: Blues
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. The Itch - 4:08
 2. 442 - 3:15
 3. All Day Long - 5:12
 4. Someday a Change is Gonna Come - 4:21
 5. Who'll Be the Next In Line - 3:57
 6. All Along the Watchtower - 4:04
 7. Blue Tears - 3:36
 8. She's Trouble - 3:32
 9. Built for Lovin' - 3:01
10. Kenne C's Triumph - 3:43
11. Livin' Ain't Cheap - 4:22

“All Day Long” es el segundo disco del guitarrista Kenne Cramer, quien se ha hecho nombre como músico de sesión, cantante y compositor. Esta producción tiene el que es considerado el mejor trabajo de guitarra hasta la fecha, con una mezcla de blues, rock, soul y jazz, géneros en los que Cramer se mueve con total facilidad. Acompañan a Cramer en esta nueva aventura, artistas como Lee Roy Parnell, Dr. Hook y Shaun Murphy. Luego de “Midnight Ride”, su debut publicado en 2004, Kenne tocó con varios artistas además de estar al frente de su banda en importantes escenarios y programas de radio y televisión. Han sido 14 años de fortalecimiento de una carrera que se ve premiada con buenas reseñas por parte de la crítica especializada y que después de un viaje de medianoche se toma un día completo para deleitar al público con un sonido muy propio.

All Day Long

Little Milton - Guitar Man

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2002
Time: 53:18
Size: 122,4 MB
Label: Malaco Records
Styles: Soul Blues
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Guitar Man - 4:15
 2. Take Time Out to Hear Me Some Blues - 4:30
 3. Still Some Meat Left on this Bone - 3:00
 4. Blues Tune-Up - 5:48
 5. I Could Have Saved Our Love - 5:13
 6. I Wish I Could be Your Lover - 4:00
 7. You Were on the Right Street - 3:11
 8. The Juke Joint Is Calling Me - 5:42
 9. Mr. and Mrs. Untrue - 3:56
10. Just One Moment - 5:08
11. Whenever You Come Around - 4:08
12. My Way - 4:23

Sein sechzehntes(!) Album für 'Malaco' - und ein gutes dazu. Die Mischung aus Blues und Southern Soul ist gelungen und der für europäische Ohren schwer erträgliche Kitsch in den Arrangements auf ein Minimum reduziert. Dafür gibt's viel Gitarre und viele Bläser / his sixteenth album for 'Malaco' - and a good one it is. You'll get his well-known mix of Southern Soul (with back-up singers and horns), and guitar-driven, soulful blues.

Guitar Man

Jordsjo - Jord

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2017
Time: 37:45
Size: 87,7 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Progressive Rock/Progressive Folk
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Over Vidda - 1:47
 2. Abstraksjoner Fra Et Dunkelt Kammer - 6:49
 3. Finske Skoger - 2:56
 4. Jord I - 6:24
 5. Jord II - 8:26
 6. La Meg Forsvinne! - 6:37
 7. Postludium - 4:41

Jordsjo are a relatively new band out of Norway and this is studio album number three for these guys although they also have a split album with another band which is apparently more in the Electronic realm of things. The Anglagard influence is obvious with a symphonic Prog/Folk Rock style. The songs are well crafted with gorgeous melodies displayed around the flute, the delicate guitar lines, and the keyboards.
While the self-entitled double LP collected almost everything from their first three cassettes, it's no surprise that Jord, their third full release (or fourth, if you include Songs from the Northern Wasteland, a split with Breidablik) wasn't covered, but I hope this one doesn't languish in Bandcamp obscurity. Jordsjo is much too good for that, and besides they now have a deal with Karisma Records, so hopefully that would change things. Perhaps in the future I'll see their name in places like The Laser's Edge and Wayside Music. But for now... Jord only proves that Jordsjo is no fluke. "Over Vidda" starts off eerily sounding with eerie sound wailing sounds and synths, before jumping into the first actual song, "Abstraksjoner fra et Dunkelt Kammer". Right away, it's pretty obvious the music brings to mind the likes of Anglagard, Wobbler, and Tusmorke (in fact Hakon Oftung, the main man behind Jordsjo is currently in Tusmorke). "Finske Skoger" has that nice flute playing in a symphonic prog manner. The two part title track features a lot of Anglagard moves, but also plenty of vocals as well. Lots of the usual vintage keys here, Hammond organ, vintage synths, Mellotron (or modern equivalents, although Hakon uses a real Solina String Ensemble). "La Meg Forsvinnel" is very similar to "Solina, Min Dronning", in that the Solina String Ensemble is quite dominant and the music bringing to mind late '70s German space symphonic prog like Sommerabend-era Novalis or Ocean-era Eloy, with some ELP moves as well. "Postludium" is a jump into electronic music, in the Breidablik vein. In this case I keep thinking Morten Birkeland Nielsen, the man behind Breidablik accidentally left one of his recordings on this album, but he's not credited (but thanked in the credits). I love these short electronic pieces Hakon would occasionally put on (such as "Fugloykallen" or the end part of "Under Aurora B"). I could imagine him doing an electronic side project. Or record alongside Morten Birkeland Nielsen. This is great stuff I can recommend. I especially recommend this to those who don't feel Spock's Beard, the Flower Kings and Marillion are what the best prog has to offer.

Jord

Boczny Tor - Vol.1

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2009
Time: 30:35
Size: 70,0 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Progressive Rock/Crossover prog
Art: Full

Tracks Listing:
 1. Naive - 5:14
 2. Warszawska - 4:51
 3. Blue - 3:41
 4. The Moon and You - 2:58
 5. Island happy - 4:11
 6. Three walls - 3:53
 7. I remember you - 5:44

W roku 1982 grupa występowała w Jarocinie zajmując drugie miejsce w konkursie głównym za kapelą Rekonstrukcja. Po tym sukcesie grupa nagrała kilka utworów dla Polskiego Radia m.in. „Życie to teatr”. W 1984 r. nakładem Polskich Nagrań pojawił się ich album RSC (tzw. „fly rock”), a dwa inne nagrania pojawiły się na składance firmy Savitor. W roku 1983 grupa występowała w Jarocinie już jako gwiazdy festiwalu. Po tych występach nagrała nowy materiał wydany na kasecie RSC przez firmę VEGA. Znalazły się na niej takie utwory jak: „Maraton rockowy” i „Muzyka semaforów”. Oba albumy doczekały się statusu „Złotej płyty”. W roku 1984 z zespołu odszedł Andrzej Wiśniowski i grupa wkrótce rozwiązała się. Po trzech latach nastąpiła reaktywacja. Zespół przygotował materiał na trzeci album, który prezentowali na trasie koncertowej w dzisiejszej Ukrainie i południowej Polsce. Płyta nie została jednak wydana i w roku 1988 grupa ponownie rozwiązała się. W 1993 grupa po raz trzeci reaktywowała się. Ze starego składu pozostali Wiktor Kucaj, Zbigniew Działa i Piotr Spychalski, który niedługo potem odszedł, a następnie do zespołu powrócił Michał Kochmański. Reaktywowany RSC koncertował na terenie Polski południowo-wschodniej. Pod koniec 2001 roku zespół opuścił Andrzej Balawender. Niedługo potem Michał Kochmański wyjechał do Norwegii. Zastąpił go Andrzej Misztal. Zespół opuścił też Waldemar Rzeszut, którego zastąpił Marcin Pecel. Po zmianach składu aktywność zespołu zmalała i wkrótce nastała cisza. W 2006 roku zespół odrodził się ponownie. Wiktor Kucaj i Zbigniew Działa pod szyldem RSC dwa lata później wydają album aka flyrock. 25 lutego 2012 w rzeszowskim Klubie Pod Palmą ma miejsce koncert charytatywny dla przyjaciela Macieja Miernika. RSC wystąpiło w pierwotnym składzie, obok takich wykonawców jak Aurora, 1984, KSU, Wańka Wstańka, Maciej Maleńczuk, Made in Poland[2][9].
Album z tego koncertu (2 CD + 2 DVD)[10] zatytułowany Help Maciek 2 – Live miał premierę 14 stycznia 2015.
Od 2015 zespół ponownie koncertuje oraz nagrywa nowe piosenki. Zbigniew Działa zapowiedział te wydarzenia w programie INTV Łódź. W 2017 wydano reedycję drugiego albumu, który pod nazwą Życie to teatr trafił na rynek nakładem wydawnictwa GAD Records.

link

InnerSpace - Rise

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2017
Time: 69:32
Size: 159,8 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Progressive Rock/Crossover prog
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Dawn -  2:47
 2. Tree of life - 10:34
 3. The other side -  3:53
 4. In motion -  7:46
 5. Fill the void -  4:59
 6. Sunset -  3:56
 7. Under the spotlight -  6:46
 8. Dystopian Delirium I-from Sea to sea -  2:53
 9. Dystopian Delirium II-Shadow Of Freedom -  4:22
10. Dystopian Delirium III-Forsaken Dream - 11:55
11. Dystopian Delirium IV-Stronger Than Death -  6:22
12. Dystopian Delirium V-Dusk -  3:13

Cinq annees a attendre le nouvel Innerspace, c’est long, le premier opus de ce jeune groupe canadien « The Village » , m’avait bluffe, que de belles compositions toutes plus reussies les unes que les autres avec une splendide influence et ressemblance avec le Pink Floyd. Innerspace aurait pu etre l’incarnation de l’evolution du Floyd des annees 2000, moderne incisif et elegant. Depuis 2012 plus de nouvelle de ce super groupe si imaginatif, a part une information du guitariste Simon qui annoncait un double album pour 2016. Et puis voila qu’arrive en ce debut octobre « Rise » (encore un concept) le deuxieme album si attendu. Les reproches formules a « The Village » par l’ensemble des critiques etaient, malgre des compositions extras, une orientation qui manquait de personnalite, trop calquee sur celle de ses aines (Floyd, Jane, et plus recent Rpwl). Et bien a l’ecoute de « Rise »  je peux dire que Innerspace a tenu compte des avis, puisque il reussit avec brio le passage si difficile du deuxieme album et evite les ecueils d’une redite redhibitoire.
Les influences initiales sont toujours presentes tout au long des 12 titres mais plutot en des clins d’oeil furtifs, des bruitages, quelques lignes de guitares a la Gilmour et des passages proches de Camel, de fait la musique d’Innerspace prend son veritable envol aujourd’hui. Et quelle surprise d’entendre, des le premier morceau, sur fond de sirenes et d’aboiements de chiens, des ch?urs Gregoriens rythmes au son de la cloche venir ponctues « Dawn » , suivit de « Tree of life », un instrumental, premier titre de bravoure de plus de dix minutes ou le groupe puise dans ses acquis et son savoir faire et delivre une melodie musicalement imparable, symphonique, puissante et coherente, a faire frissonner de plaisir. Beaucoup plus intimiste « The other side » ou le seul accompagnement au piano permet d’apprecier la superbe voix de Phil Burton, melodique et sophistiquee. Pour notre plus grand plaisir « In motion » melange avec un certain bonheur le rock planant et la musique symphonique, le seul titre de « Rise » ou les accointances avec le Floyd sont les plus criardes, mais quand on aime……. ! Le cote progressif legerement en retrait, Innerspace aborde avec « Fill the void » un virage vers un rock alternatif puissant au refrain accrocheur, un eclairage different de la musique des canadiens mais bien maitrise. L’instrumental « Sunset » un veritable joyau de musicalite rappelle le Camel de la belle epoque. On change de genre avec « Under the spotlight » un hard rock avec des riffs qui plombent, assorti d’une melodie dont il est impossible de se defaire, ca surprend mais c’est reussi.
Retour dans le rock progressif pur et dur avec la suite « Dystopian delirium » qui se decline en cinq parties, 1) « From sea to sea » reprend le chant Gregorien du titre d’ouverture « Dawn »,  . 2) « Shadow of freedom » un neo progressif enleve, dans la lignee des morceaux present sur « The Village » . 3) « Forsaken dreams » extremement impressionnant des l’introduction, ou le chant de Phil intervient de maniere tres solennelle et atmospherique sur une melodie lancinante et prenante, au centre des chant religieux et pour finir un super solo de guitare de Simon Arsenault. 4) « Stronger than death » des nappes de claviers planantes et des soli de guitares en sont l’apanage. 5) « Dusk » mets un point final a « Rise » ou seul reste l’orchestre symphonique.
En conclusion, « Rise » reussit la prouesse de faire mieux que « The Village » , en portant plus loin les bases de son progressif Innerspace prodigue a sa musique la note personnel qui lui faisait defaut, pour parfaire un grand album !

Rise

Chas Crane - Cutting Up Rough

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2017
Time: 52:08
Size: 120,8 MB
Label: 596347 Records DK
Styles: Blues
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Snow on the Roof - 3:46
 2. Shit Happens - 3:50
 3. Cheap Wine - 3:32
 4. Snowflake - 4:18
 5. Another Gig - 2:22
 6. Do Your Own Thing - 4:48
 7. Move It - 3:31
 8. Drifting Blues - 2:54
 9. Cutting Up Rough - 4:12
10. Everybody's After My Money - 4:57
11. Happy - 2:33
12. This Is What We Find - 3:16
13. Born Under a Bad Sign - 4:51
14. Ballad of the Band - 3:11

The new album that I’ve been working on for the last few months is now complete. It’s a return to my blues and rock roots.

Cutting Up Rough

Creed - My Own Prison

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 1997
Time: 49:16
Size: 113,7 MB
Label: Wind-up
Styles: Hard Rock/Post-Grunge
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Torn - 6:24
 2. Ode - 4:57
 3. My Own Prison - 4:58
 4. Pity For A Dime - 5:29
 5. In America - 4:58
 6. Illusion - 4:36
 7. Unforgiven - 3:38
 8. Sister - 4:56
 9. What's This Life For - 4:08
10. One - 5:08

Musicians:
Scott Stapp - lead vocals;
Mark Tremonti - guitar, backing vocals;
Brian Marshall - bass;
Scott Phillips – drums.
Additional musician:
John Kurzweg - keyboards.

Over the course of 100+ weeks on the album charts, Creed’s 1997 debut album, My Own Prison steadily grew from a small independent release to a multi-platinum blockbuster which remains their most critically acclaimed work. The album’s sound hearkens back to the grunge classics released earlier in the decade, which stuck a chord with the angst of youth and the musical taste of fans like those of Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots. Formed in Tallahassee, Florida in 1993, Creed was spawned by the songwriting team of guitarist Mark Tremonti and vocalist Scott Stapp, who had been classmates in both high school and college. After several writing sessions, the duo held auditions for a rhythm section to complete the band’s lineup. With several original songs already written, Creed began playing local gigs, one of which at a club run by Jeff Hanson, who was so impressed by their original material that he signed on to manage the band. Hanson booked the group with producer John Kurzweg and self-funded their recording sessions starting in 1995. My Own Prison was released independently in 1997 and initially distributed to radio stations in Florida, resulting in about 6,000 copies sold. Later in 1997, the group was signed by Wind-Up Records and the album was remixed for further distribution.
The slow grunge of “Torn”, features gently picked electric and elongated vocal patterns before eventually building towards a strong rhythm and melody. Late in the song, the chorus melody is brought down to a very simple arrangement with clean guitar and untreated vocals, which provides the opportunity for one last dynamic blast. “Ode” has an interesting main riff and timing, with Stapp’s doubled vocals in the chorus section as well as some fine harmonies. Tremonti provides chromatic chord movements and harmonic licks. While repetitive, the title song “My Own Prison” is much clearer and easier to grasp than first two tracks. The lead single from the album, it reached the Top 10 of both the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and the Modern Rock Tracks chart. “Pity for a Dime” has a bright feel through its chording sequence, while “In America” is built on a cool drum roll by Scott Phillips along with socially conscious lyrics and some inventive effects through the melodic choruses. Bassist Brian Marshall commences “Illusion” with a doomy riff, soon joined by the sloshy guitars of Tremonti, while “Unforgiven” is a refreshing, upbeat, succinct jam with an effective verse and chorus.
The album wraps with its two most potent and indelible tunes. “What’s This Life For” was written about a friend who committed suicide with lyrics about the quest for meaning in the world. Musically, the track starts with delicate guitars and moves through some grunge progressions, with the highlight of song being an acoustic strummed coda which builds stronger and stronger through each iteration. The closing track “One” contains both the measured bass line of Marshall and the wild, effect driven guitar lead by Tremonti, with Stapp’s strong hook in between. This combo all resulted in “One” becoming a huge hit in 1999, two years after its release.
Once it caught on, My Own Prison became a charting hit world wide as well as being one of the top 200 selling albums of all time in the US. The group soon began developing material for their second album (Human Clay in 1999), which would bring Creed even more success.

My Own Prison by Creed

Sweet Bourbon - Night Turned Into Day

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2017
Time: 54:11
Size: 124,5 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Blues Rock/Jazzy Blues/Funky Blues
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. 2Nd Wallstreet - 4:24
 2. Texas Woman - 4:12
 3. Cool Down - 4:48
 4. Blue Wonder - 6:18
 5. Kicked Me Out - 3:35
 6. I Don't Care - 4:02
 7. This Year's Destination - 5:01
 8. Got To Say Goodbye To You - 7:58
 9. Blinded - 4:15
10. Swan - 7:09
11. Enfants Terribles - 2:23

Begin 2014 zag Sweet Bourbon het licht. Na wat wijzigingen in de bezetting zijn gitarist Chris Janssen en drummer Martijn Cuijpers als enige oorspronkelijke leden er nog steeds bij. Willem van der Schoof (toetsen), Roeland van Laer (bas) en Rene van Onna (zang) maken nu deel uit van de definitieve bezetting. Met achtergrondzangeressen Sonja Walters, Suzan Wattimena en Laura van der Vange als de Bourbonnettes is de band compleet. In 2015 verscheen de eerste live opgenomen cd “Live At Trianon” en nu is “Night Turned Into Day” als opvolger verschenen.
Op de cd horen we elf zelfgeschreven nummers. Muzikaal zit het wel goed. De bandleden komen uit diverse disciplines van de blues en die combinatie zorgt voor een aangenaam geluid. Het is een combinatie van rockende blues, ballads en – vooral door inbreng de Bourbonnettes – soulvolle blues. Er is een goede groove, strak gehouden door Roeland en Martijn. Rene heeft een prettige, heldere stem met af en toe dat rauwe randje dat dit genre nu eenmaal vraagt. En Chris en Willem zorgen voor een adequate backing en laten zich op gezette tijden ook als solisten horen. Het smeuige orgel zorgt voor een vol bandgeluid en Chris speelt laid-back als het nodig is, maar kan ook lekker scheuren. Mijn persoonlijke favorieten zijn “I Don’t Care” met een fraaie slidegitaar, het funky “Cool Down” met een mooie pianosolo, en het swingende “This Year’s Destination”. Een goede band, een prima cd.

Night Turned Into Day

Mordicai Jones - Mordicai Jones

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 1972
Time: 39:41
Size: 91,2 MB
Label: Big Pink (2010)
Styles: Roots rock, country rock, blues rock, folk rock, americana
Art: Full
Source: Mario

Tracks Listing:
 1. Walkin' In The Arizona Sun - 2:55
 2. Scorpio Woman - 3:49
 3. The Coca Cola Sign Blinds My Eyes - 6:22
 4. All I Want To Say - 3:13
 5. All Because Of A Woman - 3:19
 6. On The Run - 5:46
 7. Son Of A Simple Man - 4:24
 8. Precious Jewel - 2:16
 9. Days Before Custer - 4:00
10. Gandy Dancer - 3:32

Musicians:
Mordicai Jones (a.k.a. Bobby Howard) - lead vocals, piano, mandolin, harp
Link Wray - electric guitar, dobro, steel guitar, bass guitar
Doug Wray - rhythm guitar, proccnail can percussion, background vocals
Bill Hodges - organ, piano, scratcher percussion, background vocals
Steve Verroca - drums, background vocals
John Grummere - electric rhythm guitar, background vocals
Norman Sue - bass guitar, background vocals
Ned Levitt - foot stomp, hand claps, background vocals

Mordicai Jones is the 1971 album by pioneer Rock & Roll guitarist, and Shawnee Indian Link Wray. The album was credited to mysterious singer Mordicai Jones, who was Link's piano/mandolin player Bobby Howard. It was recorded under supervision of producer Steve Verocca at Wray's Shack Three Track studio in Accokeek, Maryland during the Link Wray/Beans and Fatback sessions by Link's brother Vernon "Ray Vernon" Wray and Chuck Irwin.
This Link's album was credited to lead vocalist Mordicai Jones, alias for Bobby Howard.[1] That music is an Americana blend of blues, country, soul, and folk rock. The same casual and laid-back sound was used on the Link Wray/Beans and Fatback sessions. Some tracks from the album later surfaced on the compilation Guitar Preacher: The Polydor Years, and it was included in its entirety together with other "shack" recordings of '71 (Link Wray and Beans and Fatback) on Wray's Three Track Shack 2CDs compilation.

Mordicai Jones

Zeroesque - Zeroesque

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2003
Time: 43:39
Size: 100,2 MB
Label:
Styles: Progressive Rock/Eclectic Prog
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Space Race - 4:11
 2. I Say - 1:06
 3. You Say - 3:07
 4. Drizzle Tizzle - 3:53
 5. Feels Like Falling - 9:18
 6. Ten Fifteen - 4:09
 7. Tequila Mockingbird - 3:22
 8. Maxilla Gorilla - 4:06
 9. All's Swell That Ends Swell - 1:42
10. Dujz - 4:48
11. New Math - 3:54

Musicians:
Tim Lehner - keyboards
Shawn Christie - guitar, bass

Guests:
Josh Gasior - drums
Tim Lloyd - drums
Brian Farr - drums
Pete Johnson - Tenor saxophone
Scott McGill - guitar
Vinnie Moore - guitar

Instrumental band Zeroesque is the new milleniums answer to Symphonic slam with a heavy guitar/keyboardbased progressive rock full of fusion. Their style is somewhere in the area of Symphonic slam, Deus ex machina, Somnambulist with a healthy dose of Mahavishnu orchestra thrown in. Zeroesque consists of Tim (keyboards) and Shawn (guitars) with the help of some drummer friends and a few special guests. First song kicks off at the speed of light with a heavy guitar and keyboard riff that feels like an intro to the album. The second song is quite the opposite consisting of only piano showing that this band also has the ability to write more relaxing and beautiful music. That said, the rest of the album keeps the tempo up. Their music is progressive rock for the new millennium, and with that I mean it's fresh, fast and heavy. Most of the songs are very guitarheavy, but never really bordering to metal. There's lot of heavy guitarriffs with an overlaying mooglike keyboardmelody or solo. The more the album moves on the more fusion it gets, some songs are pure fusion with hints of almost avante-gardish Deus ex machina rock. Take the songs Tequila Mockingbird or Maxilla Gorilla for example, songs that fits right in on anything Deus ex machina has done. Interesting with this band is that they don't only has a lot of cool chops, they have the ability to write interesting songs also. The song Feels like falling is the longest song on the albums and starts off nice and quiet and builds up to more uptempo and complex progressive rock. It's full of great chops with lots of twists and turns with a few fusion elements thrown in. The highlight on the album in my opinion. This is the young bands debut albums wich shows in the eagerness to show everybody look how we can play, and sure they can play. They're both skilled players but for the next album they should concentrate more on songwriting than fast solos. A song of mostly solos is a tricky thing, only Yngwie gets away with that. Conclusion: A fine and very enjoyable album. This is probably an embryo of what to come from this band. Fans of the mentioned bands should check this album out.

Zeroesque

Robert Plant - Carry Fire

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2017
Time: 49:04
Size: 112,5 MB
Label: Nonesuch/Warner Bros.
Styles: Rock
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. The May Queen - 4:14
 2. New World... - 3:28
 3. Season's Song - 4:19
 4. Dance with You Tonight - 4:48
 5. Carving up the World Again - 3:53
 6. A Way with Words - 5:18
 7. Carry Fire - 5:25
 8. Bones of Saints - 3:46
 9. Keep It Hid - 4:07
10. Bluebirds over the Mountain (feat. Chrissie Hynde) - 4:59
11. Heaven Sent - 4:42

When they set out to make new music, rock icons who have visited – or resided – at the pinnacle of success face unexpected challenges of scale.
Sure it's possible to re-create the larger-than-life arena-rattling sounds that propelled them in the (often distant) past, but such attempts can register as contrivance or desperation. We've all endured this particular ritual, in which legacy artists attempt to get back by serving up imitations of what worked 30 years previous. Painful.
Robert Plant, the gilded voice in the center of the maelstrom known as Led Zeppelin, has followed a different path. In the last decade, he's intentionally sidestepped the classic-rock bellowing business, opting instead to explore bluegrass and Appalachian folk (the still astonishing 2007 collaboration with Alison Krauss, Raising Sand), rural blues, and the intricate polyrhythms of music from the Middle East and India. Each project has demanded new tactics from him, and he's adjusted his delivery to suit the temperature and atmospheric pressure of the music.
This sensitivity is the guiding force behind Plant's transfixing new Carry Fire. His 11th solo effort, it continues his collaboration with The Sensational Space Shifters, and musically ventures further into the finely woven blend of folk, Celtic, blues and world music that defined his 2014 lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar.
It is a triumph of calibration, the work of a mature artist who understands how hard to swing and when to throttle back. It brings Plant's heaven-bound sound to a human scale, an approachable place. Robert Plant is 69 years old, and clearly not inclined to do the circus trick of singing "Black Dog" to new generations of dazed and confused concertgoers. That said, he can still summon the fury of the Gods when necessary – see the wailing swirl of vocal ad-libs on "Bones of Saints." But on most of Carry Fire, he's concerned with other evocations: He seeks to cultivate a zone of deep reflection.
His new songs dwell on notions of impermanence; scattered into the rhapsodies are images of dying embers, confessions of personal shortcomings and recollections of lost, long-gone moments of stolen bliss. Both the opening "The May Queen" and the spellbinding meditation "A Way With Words" share the thoughts of a man ruminating, directly and only slightly romantically, on the cycle of life and death. "I'm out here in the shadow," Plant sings plainly at the close of "The May Queen," presenting himself as a detached observer carefully tracking "the dimming of my light."
For all that darkness, Carry Fire is the polar opposite of music from death's waiting room. Through careful arrangements and a downright beautiful vocal capture, Plant and his collaborators create music that overflows with irrepressible life force – a riveting mix of exotic hand drumming and Bo Diddley rhythm, somber cello and dancing oud, high-minded U2-style processionals bumping right into the lusty energy that defined Led Zeppelin.
It's got strikingly ethereal passages, yet remains fully grounded, close to the earth. And, above all, Carry Fire is rivetingly intimate: After all those years of trekking the world in private jets, performing at peak volume for thousands, Plant has built an encore career that thrives on tenderness and nuance while somehow retaining his burning inner intensity. Within this place of existential whispers and delicate textures are lessons about life and love and heeding the call of creative exploration rather than the empty lure of dollars. When you set out to carry fire, you first need a living, sustaining flame.

Carry Fire

Timelight - Timelight

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2016
Time: 54:38
Size: 125,6 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Progressive Rock/Crossover Prog
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. The Law Of Identity - 15:07
 2. Genomes -  6:51
 3. Mountain Trilogy -  9:20
 4. Normalcy Blindness - 14:44
 5. Teach Us What You Love -  8:35

Musicians:
Chris Rudolf - guitars, keyboards, vocals;
Ron Murvihill - keyboards, flute, vocals;
Stevie Williams - bass guitar, keyboards;
Steve Lauer - drums, vocals.

Chris Rudolf (guitar, keys, vocals) has formed Portland/Oregon based quartet TIMELIGHT in 2013, additionally completed by Ron Murvihill (keys, flute, vocals), Steve Lauer (drums) and Stevie Williams (bass, keys). The member's approach is to combine elements of classic prog with more modern sounds. TIMELIGHT is independent and unaffiliated with any particular music label. They are primarily a studio band, but have played live at some of the iconic venues in Portland. 2016 saw the completion of their entertaining self-named debut album. It's consisting of five extended songs which occasionally are showing leanings to AOR. Furthermore the band is working on the second album in collaboration with Michael Morris (Hermetic Science, Maxwell's Demon).

Timelight