The Rascals - Peaceful World (1971)

The Rascals - Peaceful World

  Felix Cavaliere took the Rascals in 1971 in a direction that had not been experimented with too many time teaming up with some big time jazz luminaries to produce a unique album of soul, funk and jazz charm.   Joining the Rascals is Alice Coltrane, Hubert Laws, Joe Farrell  and Ron Carter adding their talents and moods.

    This double vinyl album contains some pretty trippy and psychy moments actually and at times really takes on a "Blood, Sweat and Tears" like sound.  But there is also funk , progressive , pop and jazz moments too making this a very cool listen.

The Church - Heyday (1986)

The Church - Heyday

  "Heyday" was the sixth album released by Australia's art rockers The Church and was the first album I bought from these guys back in the day.    The song "Already Yesterday" grabbed my attention as I recall and I used to put that track on my compilation tapes I used to make!   Wow where have those days gone !

  So some 25 years later here I am still listening to "Heyday" ...so for me it stood the test of time i guess.   Does anyone else adore this album like I do ?   I never hear much about this album of this band for that matter.....

Production wise this album sure does feel 1980's and you can tell its origination!

Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love (1985)

Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love

  Highschool soundtrack album!   Omg we listened to is album a billion times and it sent us all into the discovery of Kate Bush........next thing I recall is that I had all her albums and became a fan for a lifetime!   Hounds of Love is an extraordinary album with its musical duality with side one devoted to the hits and side B devoted to more the exploration of sound and themes.

Side one features some of Kate's most pop-sensitive moments ever recorded with somgs like Running Up That hill, The Big Sky and Cloudbusting.  Side two is clearly music in ode to dreams which runs more like a dream sequence.

THE musical moment of this album for me is the short prayer "and dream of sheep" which just gets me everytime!

Orchestration on the album was handled by Michael Kaman and that ends up making a huge impact on the overall feeling of this recording.

So many hi points to mention all but the addition of John Williams on guitar on "this morning fog" is just simply beautiful.

Breathtaking music for a lifetime ........the hounds of love are haunting me!!!!

John Foxx - The Garden (1981)

John Foxx - The Garden

 John Foxx was of course best known as the original lead singer of UK prog electronic pop band Ultravox.  Foxx recorded the first three album with Ultravox before going solo of which "The Garden" would be his second release.  

  On this album, Foxx continues his pop electronic explorations with great affect.

So Blue, So Funky - Volume One (2001)

So Blue, So Funky - Volume One

I have always loved the funky organ Blue Note albums...whether Jimmy McGriff or John Patton and here is the first collection for the Masters of the Hammond series.  This double vinyl set from Blue Note is just killer featuring some of the grooviest songs from the grooviest of groovers......

 Artists include Jimmy McGriff, John Patton, Jimmy Smith, Freddie Roach, Fred Jackson, Larry Young, Lou Donaldson, Grant Green and Reuben Wilson.    

Although I have a lot of these albums I still just love this compilation from start to finish!

First great volume in this series that focuses on the brilliant organ players in the Blue Note catalog, with a mix of grooves that ranges from hard funky playing to more complicated Coltrane-esque lines. Tracks include "Plaza De Toros" by Larry Young, "Brown Sugar" by Freddie Roach, "Silver Metre" by John Patton, "Ain't It Funky Now" by Grant Green, "Butter (Fo Yo Popcorn)" by Jack McDuff, "Boop Bop Bing Bash" by George Braith, and "Face To Face" by Babyface Willette. Plus, this LP set includes 2 tracks not on the CD – "Hot Rod" by Reuben Wilson and "Wine, Wine, Wine" by Freddie Roach!

The Watch - Tracks From The Alps (2014)

The Watch - Tracks From The Alps

  Originally known as the Night Watch, this Italian prog band has always modeled itself after the early Genesis era albums.   Tons of mellotron, acoustic guitar interludes, complex vocal harmonies and amazing songs.  Lead singer Simone Rossetti is a Peter Gabriel vocal brother with a distinctly unique voice that suits the music to perfection.

 


      Tracks From The Alps does not break any new musical territory but does provide us with another brilliant album in the discography of The Watch well worth owning.  What they have done on this album is try to break away from the cold hard Genesis reincarnated model and reallly blend in a more modern prog feeling.  In many ways it is not unlike the transition Genesis did from Selling England to "A Trick Of The Tail".

Dead Can Dance - Spleen and Ideal (1985)

Dead Can Dance - Spleen and Ideal

  "Spleen and Ideal" is the second album released by Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard and the dawn of a new era for DCD parting ways with their goth genre tendencies.   Perry and Gerrard introduce us on this album to the sound that would come to define their unique approach to music with imaginative cosmic and mystically atmospheric songs.

  DCD albums are to live for and require your commitment to listening i order to really grasp.  When i was a young kiddi boo boo i would never have listened to is music but I discovered this band in University and since have never looked back.   I have followed this band very closely and have all their albums just finally getting around to spinning this gem again.

  DCD are best known as a band that would incorporate rare and uncommmon instruments into their music (Brandon Perry is a huge instrument collector) blending Eastern and World music elements into their captivating mystic stylings.  Everything is left to your imagination and every DCD album is to die for and "Spleen and Ideal" is pure heavenly magic !

Alex Pangman - 33 (2012)

Alex Pangman - 33

  Last week I heard this what I thought was an amazing 1930's tune by Alex Pangman and after a wee hunt I discovered her work.  Thanks to my grandma and grandpa I developed a love of jazz and the 30's/40's music.   If you know the Bladerunner soundtrack and the tune "one more kiss dear" which i have always loved then you know what this album sounds like!

 The music of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl era is full of depth and emotion with a certain positive gaiety and innocence that you only get from this era of sadness.

Alex Pangman is a bit of an anomaly......but a very talented anomaly for sure with her with her unique '30's styling and jazz vocalizations.

Anita O'Day - swings Cole Porter with Billy May (1959)

Anita O'Day - Swings Cole Porter

  Here is a ultrasonic cool album with two big un's.........Anita O'Day and Billy May interpreting the well known music of Cole Porter.  Of course Porter's music was used in film and stage for years and years and has been done by so many people.  What I like here is that May and O'Day have reinterpreted the songs a bit and it really does not play like a rehash of just the old songs.

  I have the 1991 Poygram CD copy and it also contains six extra songs from their sessions that never made the original LP back in 1959.

Vangelis - Mask (1985)

Vangelis - Mask

  When i was a kiddi boo boo I discovered the music of Vangelis......i remember buying Charriots of Fire and playing the soundtrack forever....followed by Blade Runner and then Spirals and the Jon Anderson connections and I never looked back.   "Mask" was a later discovery for me and an album I think I must have passed up on about a million times.

 One day I was at my local record store and the guy was spinning "Mask" and then I knew I had to grab it.   This album is comprised of six movements that weave and spin from dark sinister operatic almost segments to light pastoral almost angelic slices.

Listening to this album you get the sensation that you are in a motion picture and this is the soundtrack.

Duke Pearson - Wahoo (1964)

Duke Pearson - Wahoo

 "Wahoo" is an original self penned six track hard bop jazz masterpiece that you just gotta hear!  This is a crazy good album with tons of life and vim to keep everyone bobbin'.  Duke of course plays the piano while his best friend Donald Byrd (trumpet) along with James Spaulding (sax), Joe Henderson (sax), Bob Crenshaw (bass) and Mickey Roker (drums) round out the chemistry.

  Songs like "Amanda" and "Fly Little Bird Fly" will stick with you forever.  And just when you think you have figured out the whole album, Duke throws in a 2:35 catchy little pop piano piece to keep you on your toes.

 Wahoo both cries and laughs........simply brilliant jazz music for your mind

Rose Windows - The Sun Dogs (2013)

Rose Windows - The Sun Dogs

  Seattles' psych post rockers Rose Windows released "The Sun Dogs" in 2013 stirring the gods of space!  With songs being written by band leader Chris Cheveyo and lead singer Rabia Shaheen Qazi this album will captivate your mind!...at least it did mine!

Fans of Sigur Ros will likely love this album with their atmosphereic spaceiness and deep unhurried musical exploration into textures.   Lead vocalist Rabia Shaheen Qazi has a beautiful voice that soars above the sonic kaleidocopes of sound.   Rose Windows is a seven piece band with 3 guitarists, bass, drums, organ, vocals and flute.......

There is also a definite Persian- Eastern tinged carpet and incense feeling going on here.....what a magical carpet ride

 My favourite moment is the 10 mins epic tune "This Shroud" with its huge wall of Eastern infused psychedelic rock.

A fantastic band and a great debut album......one of my favourites from 2013!!

Al Stewart - Modern Times (1975)

Al Stewart - Modern Times

  "Modern Times" is a progressive folk rock album produced by Alan Parsons and is one of my personal favourites from him!  It was on this album that I think Stewart really hit his stride musically and you can hear the dawning of "Year of the cat" right in the side view mirror!

This album was also Al's first entry into the Top 40 charts of album sales in 1975 marking a change for his fame.   Pink Floyd's second guitarist Tim Renwick also adds his electronic guitar wizardry to give a less folk vibe to this album.

 Cover art by Hipgnosis and production by Alan Parsons with Floyd's tour guitarist...omg how can u go wrong.....

......a beautiful album and another milestone LP IMHO from the 70's.

Gary Numan - I, Assassin (1982)

Gary Numan - I, Assassin

"I, Assasin" was the fifth album released by dark electonic rock legend Gary Numan who teams up with The Who's Pino Palladino and Chris Slade on this recording.  IMHO this was the last great Numan album (all the first five are excellent albums) and I always felt this was very much underappreciated.  

   I will admit that in the 80's I lost a connection to Gary Numan and thought his later albums were very boring and much less inspired.  I got to see him a number of years ago on tour and I picked up a few of his latest albums and do enjoy them as well but I think there is something rather magical about his early LP's.

Fans of the Tubeway Army will love "We Take Mystery To Bed" with Webb's drumming and the electronic funk sounding like a tune right off of "Replicas"!

So Blue So Funky Vol 2 (1994)

So Blue So Funky (2 x LP)

  Here is a superb double vinyl set featuring some great Blue Note vintage hammond organ jazz moments.  Artists featured include Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Smith, Reuben Wilson, Lou Donaldson, Richard Groove Holmes and Big John Patton (plus others).

 The centrifuge of the collection is of course the hammond organ on which each artist gets to show off their skills.   I have many of the albums these songs are yanked from but still this compilation totally funks out in a jazzy way!

Jane - Together (1971)

Jane - Together

Jane's debut album from 1971 was one of the early Krautrock LP's I ever owned.  I remember to this day exactly where I was and where I bought it....it is just that endelibly etched in my mind.   I loved this album from the first time I played it to today.   Jane were a heavy psychedelic progressive rock band from Germany that borrowed elements of Pink Floyd,Procol Harum with metal, space rock and even fusion.  "Together" reveals a wall of sound that combines elemenst of hard rock with dark progressive rock.

Berndt Pulst's lead vocals are smokey and harsh at all edges, but fits the dark feel of the band with tons of organ and heavy percussion.   Klaus Hess adds some epic guitar bits along with the heavy organ grinds of Werner Nadolny.  This band were an amazing outfit and this debut album is simply essential !

The full 12 minutes of "Spain" is punctuated with some stellar drum playing via Peter Panka and offfers a diverse Psychrock soundscape making this the watermark on this album.  The song is eerie and dark and totally spaced out to the Nth Degree

An Amazing Album !

Men At Work - Two Hearts (1985)

Men At Work - Two Hearts

  The music of Colin Hay is always something extra special and all The Men At Work albums are right there too!  "Two Hearts" was the third and least popular of their albums but still contains some great moments.    Their song "Maria" is one of my all time favourite MAW songs with its wonderful hook and melody.

By 1985 the Men At Work were reduced to 3 of the original lineup with Greg Ham , Ron Skrykert and Colin Hay.

Jethro Burns - Tea For One (1982)

Jethro Burns - Tea For One (1981)

Jethro Burns was of course half of the vintage classic country hall of famers "Homer and Jethro" who released tons of great comical musical albums back in the '50's and '60's.

"Tea for one" was wonderfully recorded and audiophiles will love the tones and clarity of this long play album. The album features a nice array of songs from various sources.

The albums narrated by Jehtro Burns as he moves from song to song....from his medley of "Somewhere over the rainblow " to his fav "Nola" to "Sophisticated Lady".

Dave Pike - The Doors Of Perception (1966)

Dave Pike - The Doors Of Perception

Two years after "Manhattan Latin" vibraphonist Dave Pike released a jazz psychedelic masterpiece hallucinogenically titled "The Doors of Perception".

 "The Drifter" is a trippy jazz tune with almost a lounge flare to it setting the stage to the whole album.

Gary Numan - Dance (1981)

Gary Numan - Dance

"Dance" was the fourth album released by Electronic pop wiz Gary Numan featuring Canada's Nash The Slash" and Roger Taylor!  I think this was Numan's wildest  of the four albums and has  some pretty cool moments.

I think on this album he Steered far away from his success formula of robotic electronic inspired dark musical matter.   Although the album still carries his sound and unique vocals, it takes on a more random and menacing vibe to the album.

Numan also enlists part of Japan members with Mick Karn on the bass and Rob Dean on guitars.

 The overall album is quite unique and exploratory in nature and songs carry a high degree of mystique and intrigue.......definitely not a lot of dance going on here.....

The tune "stories" is a fantatsic Numan moment

David Sylvian - Secrets Of The Beehive (1987)

David Sylvian - Secrets of the Beehive

  I have always been a huge fan of Japan and David Sylvian which dates back to high school for me.  Albums like Japan "Assemblage" and "Gentlemen Take Polaroids" were staples on my play list.  Post Japan I bought all the Sylvian albums and EP's and followed the guy like a god for years.  I never swayed from my love of David Sylvian's compositions and artistry.

  " Secrets of the beehive" is a masterpiece of textures and sounds.   Every song is truely beautiful and is always a great listen with "Orpheus" and "let the Happiness In" reaching heavengly highs.

  Sylvian teams up with Riuichi Sakamoto, Mark Isham, David Torn and Japan brother Steve Jansen.

The music of David Sylvian is as much about the atmospheres and textures as it is pure songs and this is why I have always found his music inspirational and with deep depth.

Audiophiles will also love this album with great sound and clarity.

A huge album!

Los Lobos - By The Light Of The Moon (1987)

Los Lobos - By The Light Of The Moon (SACD)

  "By the light of the moon" was the fifth album by the mighty Los Lobos and is another fantastic one!  David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas are another crazy combo who seem to feed off each other and continuously write and record great songs.
  Of course their most famous music watermark is La Bamba (which is not on this album!) but the best part of this band is the kind of tunes like what you will hear on this album.   Los Lobos mix American rock with some latin 'esque bits, funk and even countryish elements.   This album is R&B all the way !

  "By the light of the moon" was produced by T- Burnett who also adds some vocals on the album.

  This MOFI SACD was carefully mastered by Shawn Britton who brings out all the rich and intriquite details.  I have honestly never heard the Los Lobos sound so good!  There is a nice balance overall with excellent instrument seperation and a nice rich warm sound.   The vocals are just perfectly sitting in the mix and the guitars sound fantastic on this disc.

Anekdoten - Vemod (1993)

Anekdoten - Vemod

"Vermod" was one of albums that re-ignited the Swedish progressive rock revival. Without a question ANEKDOTEN have been heavily influenced by early 70's KING CRIMSON with their tailored and yet controlled FRIPP-like guitar playing (Nicklas Berg) & loads of mellotron (actually is 2 different mellotron going at some places!) ANEKDOTEN understands the Crimsonic use of contrast, and Vemod is centered on contrasting tempos and dynamics. Guitarist Nicklas Berg turns in a gritty performance on both guitar and mellotron reminding the listener at many points of why one likes this type of music in the first place.

 The combination of pump organ, Mellotron, and a deeply bowed cello creates a rich dark sound of brooding intensity. Emotionally charged melodic lines and powerful rhythms abound. The percussion on this album is killer with some great deep chops and complex percussion. Filling in the mix is cellist/keyboardist Anna Sofi Dahlberg who works with the mellotrons to really bring forth some warm tones. 

The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of Understatement (2008)

The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of Understatement

  The Last Shadow Puppets are Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys . Miles Kane from The Rascals and composer/producer James Ford (ex Simian).  No question Turner and Kane were listening to a lot of Serge Gainsbourg and Scott Walker when they wrote and recorded this album ........talk about a wild throw back to the late-’60s orchestral pop sound with forked lyrics.

 Musically this music is very interesting and is loaded with loads of accents, mood shifts, tempo changes and even some orchestra crescendos.   It is like the Moody Blues meets Scott Walker meets Serge Gainsbourg with a modern twist in there too.....actually is hard to exactly put your fingers on this one.......

  I love this album....played it a ton and still do......makes me go back to the era that I love and days ago really.... I was actually surprised they released an album this retro and wasnt sure it would sell for them. 

The Seekers - Seen In Green (1967)

The Seekers - Seen In Green

  Harmonic Folk legends The Seekers classic album "Seen in Green" released back in 1967 is a fun listen not unlike the Mamas and the Papas material of the same era.   This album is considered the Seekers " Sgt Peppers" with a great set of psych folk songs some self  penned  and some tributes.

My favs  are"Cant make up my mind", "Rattler" and "The Sad Cloud".

Frankie Laine & Buck Clayton - Jazz Spectacular (1956)

Frankie Laine & Buck Clayton - Jazz Spectacular

  Jazz lovers rejoice!   Here is the jazz spectacular!  Frankie Laine and Buck Clayton crooning and trumpeting with his amazing backing orchestra.  Circa 1956 this album still is a treasure of the golden age of age!   This is just one of those album where everything works like magic and you can tell this is extra special from the fist bars of the opening grabber "S'posin"!

  This is some hoppin' tunes my friends.....big bright jazz band with the sift crooner voice of Frankie Laine......i like the simplicity of his voice with the jazz backdrop.

Wings - Venus and Mars (1975)

Wings - Venus and Mars (1975)

Band on the run and "Venus and Mars" were the two Wings albums that I listened to over and over as a young kid.    My brother and I were fans of The Wings and songs like JET, Magneto and Titanium Man, Medicine Jar were simply part of my childhood soundtrack.

  I recently picked up the double vinyl remastered edition which was pressed in Germany and comes with original posters and stickers.   The original album on the first LP and a second LP with 3 unreleased tracks and a number of different mixes of songs from Venus and Mars era.

  By 1975 the Wings were down to Paul and Linda McCarney and Denny Laine with new members Joe English and Jimmy McCulloch.  There is also a few guest appearnaces with Tom Scott, Dave Mason and Allen Touissaint.   On the second LP ther is also a mix of "Letting Go" by Alan Parsons!

UZEB - You Be Easy

UZEB - You Be Easy

 While at University i met another student who adored UZEB and it was thru him that I became aware and a fan.   I became a huge fan of Alain Caron's solo work too as well as Michel Cusson' s year after the break up of UZEB.

  Fans of Level 42 will also love UZEB with Caron's huge fretless bass workouts and the creative clear sound of Cusson's guitar.

UZEB play a very clear and clean almost too precise jazz rock with tremendous musicianship.

Duke Ellington - A Drum Is A Woman (1956)

Duke Ellington - A Drum Is A Woman

  Here is a jazz concept album where Ellington shares his musical tale of Carribee Joe and his drum  which eventually transforms into a woman named Madam Zajj.  This actually became a television special in the late 50's and I would love to see this !

Robert Paquette - Prends Celui Qui Passe (1976)

Robert Paquette - Prends Celui Qui Passe

  Robert Paquette was a popular folk Quebecois musician who released quite a few albums over the years.  "Prends Celui Qui Passe" is a superb album with folk and pop leaning featuring the strong vocals and guitar work of Paquette.

    There is also a rather large cast of fellow musicians in support of Paquette blending in some varied instrumentation.  Fans of the folk prog band Cano will recognize the voice of Monique Paiement who joins Paquette on this album.

Supertramp - ...Famous Last Words (1982)

Supertramp - ...Famous Last Words

  I loved all the classic Supertramp albums and yes even ".....Famous Last Words".     This was the last Supertramp album to have Roger Hodgson on it and marks that last great Supertramp album!

  There were two top ten hits from this album including "its raining again" and "my kind of lady".

Supertramp - Breakfast In America

Supertramp - Breakfast In America (Audiophile Series)

  When i was a young boy my mom and I walked over to Towers Dept store and she bought me this album.  I played it right away on her stereo as she had at the time a much better hifi!   I remember thinking as I listened to this album that it was just amaing and I still think that today.....

  With classics like "Take the long way home","The Logical Song" amd "Lord is it mine" you just cant go wrong!   I was very fortunate  to have found the audiophile copy of this for a few bucks at a recent record show.

Canadian Conspiracy (1974)

Canadian Conspiracy - Canadian Conspiracy

Canadian Conspiracy were a short lived 7 piece band from Toronto in the early 70's.   This band were formed by members from two other groups. Band members included trumpteres Gart Greenword and Alex "Big Al Glover', bassist Ron Camerson and Mike Heath, guitarist Ricky Voigt, tromboniest Brian Mckay and Doug "Bummy" Jackson, drummer Albi Koteles and keyboardist Stevie Beach

The vocal duties were shared across the band with lead vocals falling in the great voice of  Ron Cameron.

They do a killer version of MacArthur Park with a horns, synths and great emotive vocals.  On many songs they even pull out and plug in my favourite the MELLOTRON.  

They also do a great little Righteous Brothers Medley and once again mix the brass with the strings of the mellotron........man these guys should have been huge!

  The band traveled across Canada and even into the US.  In 1976 Conspiracy recorded 2 singles : "Night Chaser" and "Watcha Gonna Do When The Rain Starts Fallin'.  The band sadly split in 1977 and remain hidden in Canada's music past. 

Gary Numan - Telekon (1980)

Gary Numan - Telekon

....you end on reel one.."....

  When i was in high school I must have played this album a billion times...this was a favourite of my BFF and I all the way thru highschool....i think we were the only Numan heads in the school!

I was also a big fan of Tubeway Army albums and Replicas was my go to album !

  I loved the Kraftwerk-like sounds and the 80's alt vibe of Gary Numan...with songs like "The Aircrash Bureau" and "Please Push No More".    Telekon was imho a ground breaking album that fused electronics and new wave in a way I had never heard before.

Quincy Jones & Band - I Dig Dancers (1961)

Quincy Jones & Band - I Dig Dancers

  Wow!!.....here is an album you just gotta hear!  1960 Quincy Jones and his huge arsenal of musicians.  Even for 1960 this album was considered aged with Jones electing to recreate the golden age of dance jazz aka Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman...

I Dig Dancers was mostly recorded in Paris and fans of Whats My Line will get a chickle that Dorothy Killgallen endorsed  this album on the back cover!

I Dig Dancers! is almost too good to believe. Simply consider the line-up, featuring Benny Bailey and Clark Terry on trumpets, Jimmy Cleveland, Åke Persson, Melba Liston, Quentin Jackson on trombones, Phil Woods, Jerome Richardson, Budd Johnson and Sahib Shihab on saxes, Patti Bown on piano and Les Spann on guitar and flute. It amounts to a jazz lover’s dream orchestra, assembled to accompany the European tour of Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer’s Free and Easy. 

This album is alive a feels just so cool and hip!   I grew up listening to jazz and Sinatra with Nelson Riddle and Billy May and my mom used to show me the bug Bam boom stuff they do!   

Marty Robbins - Gunfigher Ballads (1959)

Marty Robbins - Gunfighter Ballads (and trail songs)

  An absolute classic country album ...total concept album playing an ode to the old wild West!  The great thing album this album is that it does not carry an old country vibe.

 Of course the famous song "El Paso" which hit #1 on the country charts in 1965 opens side two and also contains my personal favourites "Big Iron" and "In The Valley"

Robbins has the perfect voice to match the twangy west songs actually...its like you can see him almost atop a horse with guitar in hand!     On this album you will meet the sheriff, the posse, the gun slingers, outlaws, saloons, the hanging tree and even god himself!

This is an album that would be on my top 100 of all time and a definite desert island pick for me.....i own both the mono and stereo mixes of this classic album.

  Cowboy music for life !

Joe Williams - Nothin' But The Blues (1984)

Joe Williams - Nothin' But The Blues (1984)

  Wow!   What a fantastic album.......blues jazz with the great vocals of Joe Williams, sax of Red Holloway, bass of Ray Brown, drums of Gerryck King, vocals/sax of Eddie Cleanhead Vinson and the organ of Jack McDuff!

  The sound on this vinyl is total audiophile!   Wow!!!!   It says on the back that "This digital recording was mixed directly to two track, avoiding the additional transfer involved in multi track mix down.

   This is how jazz should sound..........groovy and toe tapping goodness!

Rockin' Tabby Thomas - King of Swamp Blues (1988)

Rockin' Tabby Thomas - King of Swamp Blues

  Let me just say I love this album....... Great rockin blues!!

 Tabby is da man !!

"King of Swamp Blues" is a short little Southern blues album with some shake...rattle and roll!  Assisting Tubby is a solid but not so well know backing  band who contribute drums, sax, bass and harmonica.  Filled with songs like "I Love Big Fat Women" and "Everybody's Key Fits My Baby's Door" help make this a really fun album to listen to!

Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy (1973)

Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy (180g vinyl)

  Ok so i grew up listening to ZEP and there was a time in my life when I really was Zepped-out and put these albums away for a while.   My brother was a bigger Zep head than i but now I think my Zep collection is bigger than his!    And thanks to Jimmy Page and these remasters I have been able to pick up a great spunding vinyl versions of all HOUSES of THE HOLY one of my favourite Zep albums ".

Who could ever forget the guitar and mellotron of "The Rain Song" or the progressive/psychedelia of "No Quarter".....simply classic rock and an absolutely essenttial rock album!

Jimmy Page's remasterd version is simply fantastic and this album never sounded so good to my ears!

Essential classic rock !

Anekdoten - Walking The Dead (2005)

Anekdoten - Walking The Dead

Anekdoten is a Swedish progressive rock group and were along with Landberk and Änglagård pioneers in the revival of the Swedish progressive scene in the early 1990s.

  This well recorded live album mostly consists of high energy versions of tracks from their "Gravity" and "From Within" albums. Anekdoten play a  mesmerizing hard rock sound with lots of dark mellotron and other keyboards.  The band are Nicklas Barker (voice, guitars, Mellotron),   Anna Sofi Dahlberg (Mellotron, keyboards, voice....minus the cello here on this live album), Jan Erik Liljeström (bass, voice) and Peter Nordins (drums, cymbals, Mellotron). 

   This double vinyl album was recorded in Tokyo on two nights in February of 2005. There is also 2 new songs to help enjoy this Mellotron drenched masterpiece (Moons Of Mar and This Too Will Pass).  

  My only complaint is that there are not enough songs from their first two albums which I adore as well......but that is just me being me !

A stunning Live album that will shake your neighbours and leave you wanting more ........Anekdoten are an amazing band and if you are a fan of RED era King Crimson then this is right in your wheelhouse !