Chris Thompson - Won't Lie Down 2001

Chris Thompson has been on the cutting edge of rock for nearly three decades. The lead vocalist on Manfred Mann's Earth Band's chart-topping 1976 hit version of Bruce Springsteen's "Blinded by the Light," Thompson has continued to make his presence felt. His distinctive vocals can be heard on albums by Elton John, the Doobie Brothers, Ozzy Osbourne, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, John Farnham, and Jefferson Starship, who covered his tune "Blaze of Love" in 1989, as well as eight albums with Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Thompson's songs have been covered by the Doobie Brothers, Michael MacDonald, Heart, and Isaac Hayes. He co-wrote seven songs, and sang two, in the film Fire and Ice. Thompson has been involved with a number of bands besides Manfred Mann's Earth Band. He formed Night, a Los Angeles-based pop band, in 1979, shortly after leaving Manfred Mann's Earth Band. During the three years that he performed with the group, he recorded two singles that reached the Top 20 -- "Hot Summer Nights" and "If You Remember Me," the theme song of the film The Champ. Thompson collaborated with ex-Doobie Brothers vocalist/guitarist Patrick Simmons on Simmon's debut solo album, Arcade, co-writing and singing on the Top 20 hit, "So Wrong." In 1993, he began a long involvement with keyboardist/composer Alan Parsons.
The American-distributed version of Parsons' 1995 album, The Very Best Live, featured a studio recording of "You're the Voice," featuring Thompson's vocals. Thompson has also been closely aligned with Queen. The group's guitarist, Brian May, was featured on his second solo album, Radio Waves, in 1985. At the Freddy Mercury Tribute Concert at Wombley Stadium in 1992, Thompson rehearsed the band and guest artists. The following year, he participated in Brian May's solo tour of South America. Born in England, Thompson grew up in New Zealand, where he formed a band, Hilbery Walker. Returning to the United Kingdom in 1974, he joined Manfred Mann's Earth Band two years later. Although he left the group in 1978, he returned to help finish the album, Somewhere in Afrika, in 1982. Together with drummer John Lingwood, he produced a live album and video, Live in Budapest. Thompson has recorded several hits on his own. In 1986, his song "The Challenge" was adopted as the theme of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and became a number one hit in Germany. His fourth solo album, Beat of Love, released in 1991, included "The Joker," which was used as the theme song of a popular television show, Jolly Joker, and became a Top Ten German hit. He performed the theme song of another German TV series, Florida Lady, in 1994. In 2000, Thompson signed a worldwide songwriter deal with the London-based Notting Hill Music company. AMG.

listen here

Buy @ Amazon: USA - FR - UK

Bad Livers - Delusion Of Banjer 1992

Upon first listen, the Bad Livers' debut recording sounds like a good, old-timey bluegrass album, but by the time the tuba enters on the third track, you begin to realize that this is not your average bluegrass combo. Danny Barnes has got the chops on both guitar and banjo, and sings in a voice no more nasal than many of the genre's stalwarts. He can even write tunes that stand rather nicely next to traditional tunes and Reno & Smiley. Then there's "Shit Creek" and "The Adventures of Pee Pee the Sailor," a Butthole Surfers cover no less; and the mere presence of tuba and accordion almost assuring turned-up noses by the hardcore bluegrass crowd. But that's the beauty of the Bad Livers -- they love all sorts of music and aren't afraid to incorporate them in any way they see fit; a characteristic that would infuriate some fans later on in their career. On Delusions of Banjer, the sound remains mostly traditional, even when the subject matter may not be. Mark Rubin and Ralph White provide fine support, but the real focus is Danny Barnes. His songwriting ranges from "Shit Creek" to the beautiful bluegrass gospel of "Precious Time" and "How Dark My Shadow's Grown" to the murder ballad "Pretty Daughter"; and his guitar and banjo playing are both stellar. Delusions of Banjer is a great record that may not appeal directly to all bluegrass fans, but whose irreverent attitude and sense of humor might be just the ticket to attract other people curious about the genre, or those simply in search of an old-timey good time. AMG.

listen here

Buy @ Amazon: USA - FR - UK

White Hills - H-p1 2011

Evoking the spirit and sound of space rock pioneers likeHawkwind, White Hills capture the expansive rock sound of the '70s with their brand of trippy, synth-heavy rock & roll. Formed in New York City as the brainchild of singer and guitarist Dave W., the band also consisted of bassist Ego Sensation and drummer Lee Hinshaw; they got their first break when Julian Cope released their album They've Got Blood Like We've Got Blood on his own label in 2005. This kicked off a prolific string of releases, starting in 2007 withAbstractions & Mutations, released on Drug Space, and the self-released Glitter Glamour Atrocity (which was reissued by Thrill Jockey in 2014). Keeping the albums coming, the band self-released Little Bliss Forever in 2009, as well as Dead and Heads on Fire, both released by Thrill Jockey. In 2010, the expansive trio hooked up with Manchester-based psychedelic drone collective Gnod for Gnod Drop Out with White Hills II. The collaborations continued with the self-titled White Hills, which featured fellow New Yorker and Oneida drummer Kid Million on drums. Keeping the Oneida connection strong, the band returned to its Ocropolis studio to work on their next album with Shahin Motia, resulting in 2011's H-p1. Not wasting any time, the band went back into the studio later that year, bringing synth player (and Julian Cope drummer) Antronhy and touring drummer Nick Name into the studio with them to record the spacy and more refined Frying on This Rock, which was released in 2012. A fair amount of touring and smaller releases filled up 2012, with several live recordings and split releases leading up to 2013's bludgeoning full-length So You Are... So You'll Be. AMG.

listen here

Buy @ Amazon: USA - FR - UK

Eli Young Band - Live At The Jolly Fox 2006

Some call Eli Young a country artist, but his music could just as easily fall under the roots-rock umbrella. The Texas-based Eli Young band is part of the grass-roots Red Dirt scene, where country and organic, hard-driving roots-rock intertwine. The Red Dirt scene is centered on live shows, so the Live At The Jolly Fox album is unsurprisingly the best way to hear Young and his band, as they rip through rockers like "Drive Away" and "Guardian Angel," with loud, dirty guitars blazing. AMG.

listen here

Buy @ Amazon: USA - FR - UK

Richard Buckner - Our Blood 2011

No matter the medium of expression, songwriter Richard Buckner has been stubbornly mining the same vein his entire career, a Sisyphian struggle that delights his fans. Even on The Hill -- where he set poems from the Spoon River Anthology to music -- Buckner has looked incessantly at loneliness, betrayal, loss, displacement, yearning, and ennui to inform his lyric vision. What it all leads to is an impressive, stubborn, dark body of work that looks deeply into the interiority and detail of human interaction. His sonic approaches have changed, and are most ambitious on Our Blood, where the use of vintage keyboards equals the space taken up by guitars. Our Blood is Buckner's first recording since 2006's Meadow. He endured numerous obstacles along the way: broken gear resulting in the album's loss, the later theft of a laptop containing his new mixes and more astonishing ones. These nine new songs are a quiet, atmospheric, aural portrait of struggle, confusion, frustration, and the inability to surrender. Buckner produced and played all the instruments with the exception of pedal steel -- played by Buddy Cage on three cuts -- and maracas by Steve Shelley on another. Malcolm Burn mixed. Electric guitars and Cage's steel adorn "Traitor." It most closely resembles -- in form and sentiment -- the songs on his landmark Bloomed album, but its texture is radically different; it's a love song of the most strained variety. On "Thief," pulsing organs and a Wurlitzer piano interact with tom-toms and guitars as Buckner exhorts "Give it back, broken-in and stolen from the mourning....watching the gone go by, baited and kept alive, shaking you loose...." While it's an accusation, it's also a plea: in spite of everything, he longs for the thief's return, forgiveness already in place. 
"Collusion" is ushered in by guitars before synths enter after the first verse, and observes failure and loneliness by a narrator who empathically describes the dissolution of the song's subject and situation. Even the instrumental "Ponder," with its faux-flamenco guitars, harmonium, marimbas, and lilting piano lines broods and bleeds. "Confession," beginning with just an acoustic guitar, is as naked Buckner gets. He asks his age-old question in the opening lines, within and without: "We must've been carried away/And where are we now?...." In "Hindsight," another track with Cage and guitars colored by synths and electric piano, he simply explains that this is yet another case of opportunity either taken away by fate or by personal failure. That said, the song, with his trademark, authentic architecture of melodrama, approaches the sublime. All of the songs on Our Blood, as tragic and resigned as they may be, contain a trace of restrained fury that threatens to expose itself often, but never takes the bait. What remains is an unsettled acceptance without surrender. Our Blood, with its tattered, frayed grace, reflects Buckner's compellingly listenable, weary yet stubborn poetic journey, for answers to questions -- both past and and present, elliptical and enormous --that lie just beyond his grasp. AMG.

listen here

Buy @ Amazon: USA - FR - UK

Edward Ka-Spel - Red Letters 1999

The various reds of rage, love, apocalyptic prophecy, and taboo inform Red Letters, 2000's song-cycle offering from the pen of Legendary Pink Dots frontman and tortured poet Edward Ka-Spel. Bobbing amid the album's sad, sweet, slow-motion synth swells are some of the most forlorn and lonely words Ka-Spel has ever set to music. His familiar lost-in-space whisper seems content enough amid the star-streaked haze of the opening "Radio 6"; but Red Letters broadcasts a profound sense of alienation as it unfolds. Ka-Spel trudges with gloomy resolve through pretty but pained chord changes, a despondent song on his lips.

Dominated by candy-tone keyboards, hypnotic loops, and dazed chamber-music arrangements, Red Letters' more mirthful moments recall not only the Dots' first four full-lengths (as do most Ka-Spel solo albums), but also the late-'80s solo work of Wire's Colin Newman. The mystical "Illumina 3/ The Carrier," "Grooovy," and the closing medley wind through sample-warped atmospheric fronts, brushing against trippy, dub-circus beats. "Seeing Red" stands out as Red Letters' Ka-Spel classic, its obliquely doleful lyrics set to music of aching loveliness--including a memorable coda of psychedelic orchestration. AMG.

listen here

Buy @ Amazon: USA - FR - UK

Deuter - Eternity 2009

Like many artists in the contemporary instrumental realm,Deuter mixes acoustic and electronic instruments, ethnic influences, and sounds from nature -- only he's been doing it since the early '70s. Born in the German village of Falkenhagen, Deuter learned flute and taught himself to play guitar but was discouraged from pursuing music as a career. The trauma of a nearly fatal auto accident in 1970, however, motivated him to pursue his dreams. His first recording, D, was released on Kuckuck in 1971. Over the years, Deuter's spiritual search has taken him around the world, most notably to India, where he lived on an ashram, studied Indian music, and recorded several albums. In the mid '80s he moved to the US, eventually settling in Santa Fe, NM. Deuter's style is characterized by gentle melodies and joyful rhythms that render his music accessible even as he presents an intriguing blend of Eastern and Western styles. AMG.

listen here

Buy @ Amazon: USA - FR - UK

David Murray - Black & Black 1992

In general, tenor saxophonist David Murray's Red Baron recordings are not on the same level of his Black Saints albums; the settings tended to be more conservative and the material not as strong. This outing with pianist Kirk Lightsey, bassist Santi Debriano, drummer Roy Haynes and trumpeterMarcus Belgrave is better than most of his Red Baron releases. The material is fairly basic (including "Duke's Place" and the two-note "C Jam Blues" theme, which is listed as being composed by four people), Murray tends to play fairly freely despite the boppish rhythm section, and the closing "Head Out" (the longest of the five lengthy jams) has plenty of fiery intensity. Not essential but worth picking up by David Murray fans. AMG.

listen here

Buy @ Amazon: USA - FR - UK

Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra - Unza Unza Time 2000

No Smoking's debut as a "world" band reintroduces filmmaker Emir Kusturica -- who had a brief stint as the bass player of Zabranjeno Pusenje (Yugoslavian for No Smoking) in the mid-'80s -- to the group. Now one of the band's guitarists, he contributes sparingly toward songwriting and arranging. This is still the band of lead singer Dr. Nelle Karajlic, whose acerbic vocals and commanding presence dictate the group's course. But colorful instruments like balalaika, tuba, accordion, trumpet, and accordion contribute significantly as well. The term "Unza Unza" describes the hybrid of music found on this record. The Balkans are a centrally located region surrounded by Turkish, European gypsy, Greek, Russian, Middle Eastern, and Italian music. German and Spanish music is also welcome into this interwoven musical fabric that cites the local music of Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Albania, Bosnia, and Bulgaria as its foundation. The '70s punk sound that was No Smoking's initial influence is all but abandoned here, although Karajlic still retains some of his snarling and loathsome attitude. Combine that with the eclecticism of groups like Reptile Palace Orchestra and Brave Comboand the offbeat tendencies of mid-'80s Tom Waits, and perhaps a rough portrait of this group can be painted. This is an incredibly unique album that is essential listening for fans of alternative world music. AMG.

listen here

Buy @ Amazon: USA - FR - UK

Jimi Tenor & KabuKabu - The Mystery of Aether 2012

Best described as techno's first cabaret star, Finland native Jimi Tenor is what you might imagine Detroit's answer to a cheesy lounge artist would be. Coming off as a kind of lo-fi Prince cross-bred with Maurizio, Atom Heart, and perhaps Jean-Jacques Perrey, Tenor's recordings are released through Sähkö/Puu (home to most of the scant Finnish techno scene); despite the fact that they stick out of the label roster like a sore thumb, they have attracted something of a devoted cult following, mainly among the IDM/electronica crowds. Unlike most electronica artists, however, who routinely name-check Kraftwerk, Juan Atkins, and Carl Craig as influences, Tenor leans more toward names like Barry White, Isaac Hayes, and '70s B-movie and blaxploitation soundtracks. Classically trained,Tenor gained the attention of influential Sheffield label Warp after releasing the full-length Europa in 1996, leading to a recording deal and reissue plans for some of Tenor's Sähkö releases. Warp featured the previously unavailable Tenor cut "Downtown" on their Blechsdottir label comp and released the 7"/CD single "Can't Stay with You Baby" a few months later, with two additional singles appearing in early 1997.
Prior to his solo work, Tenor fronted Jimi Tenor & His Shamans, who in 1988 starting releasing several albums on the Poko, Euros, and Bad Vugum labels (including Total Capacity of 216, 5 Litres, Diktafon, and Fear of a Black Jesus, which included a 3-D sleeve and glasses). Despite the studied imperfection of his recordings (Tenor chides modern electronic music for sounding lifelessly exacting), he spent 12 years studying piano, flute, and saxophone at a Finnish music institute. After dissolving the Shamans in the late '80s,Tenor moved to New York, where he worked as a tourist photographer at the Empire State Building. He finally hooked up with Sähkö after receiving a copy of a solo recording by Mika Vainio (of Pan Sonic and Ø). Impressed with the label's openness to experimentalism (Sähkö had previously been known as something of the muso's minimalist techno label), Tenor sent along some tapes and landed a recording contract, releasing his debut, Sahkomies, in 1994. While in New York he also recorded withKhan/4E's Can Oral (under the name Bizz O.D.), releasing the "Traffic" single on Ozon in 1995. Tenorreturned to Finland in 1995 to film a documentary of Sähkö (funded, oddly enough, by a government grant) and has remained there since, releasing Europa in 1996 and securing licensing and recording arrangements with Warp. The full-length Intervision was released in 1997, followed two years later byOrganism.
After the release of Out of Nowhere in 2000, Tenor and Sähkö parted ways with Warp. His sixth full-length, Utopian Dream, an overtly solo electronics record, still received import distribution. Tenor was performing with a large band for 2004's Beyond the Stars, distributed widely through Kitty-Yo, and 2007's Joystone with his backing unit Kabu Kabu. The combination also paired for 2009's 4th Dimension. In 2010, Tenor and Afro-beat drum legend Tony Allencollaborated on a volume in Strut's excellent Inspiration Information series. Itetune, a collaboration with Ethiopian percussionist Abdissa "Mamba" Assefa, appeared in 2011. In February of 2012, the first exhibition of Tenor's photographs were shown at the Kingi Kongi Gallery in Helsinki, followed by his first feature film, Sähkö, which debuted in Berlin. He capped the eventful year by releasing The Mystery of Aether with Kabu Kabu for Kindred Spirits. AMG.

listen here

Buy @ Amazon: USA - FR - UK

Dashboard Confessional - Alter The Ending 2009

Other musicians have rounded out its lineup from time to time, but Dashboard Confessional has always been the brainchild of Chris Carrabba, the most sensitive raven-haired rocker this side ofMorrissey. Like Morrissey, Carrabba has built a career upon heartbreak; unlike Morrissey, he's never had a band as a strong as the Smiths to give his songs the right amount of lush, electric kick. As a result, Dashboard Confessional's best moments usually occur whenever Carrabba consolidates his strengths and functions as solo musician, from the more intimate moments of his MTV Unplugged performance to acoustic-based albums like The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most and The Shade of Poison Trees. 2009's Alter the Ending finds him reprising his role as frontman, though, yielding a track list that includes some fine songs but couches them in uninspired arrangements. It's testament to Carrabba's songwriting that these tunes fare far better on the bonus disc (available as part of the album's deluxe package), where they're played on acoustic instruments. Add a three-piece band to the mix, however, and you're left with hooks that suddenly feel clichéd, lyrics that try too hard to evoke a sense of teenaged abandon ("We lit the van with dreams after the sun burned into cinders"), and electric guitars that lack the trebly energy of their acoustic counterparts. Returning fans may take comfort in these cathartic anthems, but those who were won over by Poison Trees -- a return-to-form effort that combined melody with more nuanced arrangements -- will prefer the deluxe edition's acoustic disc. AMG.

listen here

Buy @ Amazon: USA - FR - UK