Maggie Bell & Midnight Flyer - Live Montreux July 1981

For Midnight Flyer, 1980 dawned bright. They recorded their superb self-titled debut album and then embarked on a European tour, opening for Bob Seger. Even the departure of keyboardist John Cookafter the band left the studio hadn't slowed Midnight Flyer down. Chris Parren, the perfect replacement, was swiftly enlisted and took to the stage. As 1981 began, Flyer flew back to Europe to support AC/DC, and their album arrived in February while the band bounded back and forth across the Channel, now headlining their own shows. In the autumn, they reunited with the down under bad boys, opening for their U.S. tour. However, the highlight of the busy year came in mid-summer, as Flyerclimbed onto the Montreux festival stage and ripped through one of the best shows of their all-too-brief career. Live Montreux July 1981 features the bulk of their show that day, as the band rips through its set, then is joined for two numbers by blues legend Taj Mahal and by the Telecaster master Albert Collins for a further pair. The album kicks off with a rampaging "Hey Boy," one of five songs from their studio album the band performed, the highlight arguably being their glorious take on "Rough Trade."Parren is on fire throughout the show, one-upping Ant Glynne at every conceivably turn, with the good-natured guitarist tossing flaming licks and riffs straight back at the keyboardist. The pair's dueling was a show in itself, anchored by Dave Dowle and Tony Stevens' solid rhythms, but Maggie Bell wasn't giving up the spotlight without a fight, demanding and getting the audience's nearly undivided attention with a performance determined to bring down the house -- which it did. By the time the band swung into an electrifying take of "Penicillin Blues," a song Bell had been covering since her Stone the Crowsdays, the crowd was on its feet and shouting along. Taj Mahal joins Bell for showstopping versions of "Bring It on Home to Me" and "Chain Gang," with the album ending with a smoldering "Stormy Monday Blues," the bandmembers almost awestruck by Collins' stunning guitar skills, but quickly regaining their composure. It was a phenomenal show, the sound quality exceptional, and the band at its very, very best. Unforgettable. AMG.

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The Watchman - The Carnival of Circumstance 2002

Dutch songwriter/guitarist Ad van Meurs started out playing keyboards in a folk-rock band called Deirdre in the mid-'70s. After the punk revolution, he switched to guitar and formed the punk band Bleistift. By the early '80s, the group had become an experimental noise band, including van Meurs'sgirlfriend, Ankie Keulthes. In 1983, the duo formed World According To, a less abstract band, featuring Keulthes on lead vocals. When Keulthes took time off to have a child, Ad van Meurs began his solo career under the name of the Watchman. The group supported Alex Chilton, Michelle Shocked andJonathan Richman, and released a self-titled album for Rykodisc in 1991. AMG.

This is also a B. link, thanks. If you say The Watchman plays Blues, you're right. If you say The Watchman plays American Folk, you're right. If you say the band rocks, you're right. The Watchman is not easily categorised.
The music of The Watchman is a search for originality along a road full of traditional elements, 'roots', improvisation and happy songwriting. If it really needs to be forced into words, why not just call it contemporary Rhythm & Folk. If anything, their music is straight from the heart, a heart that knows more doubts than certainties and is always hopelessly in love with life itself.
Ad van Meurs began his career as The Watchman in 1988 performing at the Rockfest in the still-behind-the-curtain Prague.
As a singer-songwriter with a rhythm-box, labelled as 'hard-folk', he took around the world, from The New Music Seminar in New York, an East coast tour and a Texas tour up to be the opening solo act for Urban Dance Squad's European tour in 1991.
The album "Carnival of Circumstance" is a Watchman album if there ever was one. Warm, sometimes lonely songs with lyrics as deep as Ad's voice speak of love, passion and being homesick regardless of what country you're in. Raving reviews allround, and reviewers wonder how soon The Watchman will see a much earned breakthrough.

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PIL - That What Is Not 1993

Former Sex Pistol vocalist John Lydon once again unleashed his Public Image Ltd. project, this time with a more basic, unrelenting rock & roll attack than ever before. The audio assault of guitarist John McGeoch and bassist Allan Dias perfectly complements Lydon's frenzied, strangled bleating throughout. As usual, Lydon succeeds in being all of satirical and fatalistic, confrontational and self-deprecating. The album's opening words set the tone: "What does it mean/What does anything mean." It's spat out as a statement rather than a question. "Covered" unpredictably tosses sampled vocals, bluesy harmonica, and Tower of Power horns into the mix. That What Is Not can be a difficult PiL to swallow, but the heady side-effects make the effort worthwhile. AMG.

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Jack Hardy - The Hunter 1987

Another post provided by B. and  an interesting one. Jack Hardy has been a central figure in folk music since his arrival in Greenwich Village in 1978. Instrumental in founding the Songwriter's Exchange, the SpeakEasy Musician's Co-op, and Fast Folk Musical Magazine, Hardy has released numerous albums domestically on his Great Divide label, extending into the 21st century with such CDs as Bandolier(2002), Coin of the Realm (2004), Tinker’s Coin: Celtic Anthology (2005), and Noir (2007). Considered a writer's writer, he is known for politics in his songs, Americanized Irish influences, and a preoccupation with mythological imagery, mixed up with standard New York folk & roll. Hardy's 16th album, Rye Grass, arrived on Great Divide in 2009. AMG. Thanks B.

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Teresa Bright - Tropic Rhapsody 2008

Beautiful, typical Theresa Bright, brings her unique voice and style to beautiful traditional Hawaiian music. Thanks to B.

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Aga Zaryan - A Book Of Luminous Things 2011

Aga Zaryan (born Agnieszka Skrzypek on January 17, 1976) is an internationally recognized jazz vocalist of the new generation.
Though (in jazz terms) young, her tone and delivery carry the hallmarks of classical jazz for a modern audience and as such is part of a new wave of Polish jazz artists recognised on the international scene. She is known for her distinctive style and intimate approach to singing, with a characteristic lightness of phrasing and warm, slightly matte-toned voice. Her performances are reminiscent of such female jazz vocalists as Shirley Horn, Carmen McRae and Joni Mitchell. This year Aga Zaryan was signed to Blue Note records to join such names as such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Dianne Reeves, she is also the first Polish artist ever to release albums on Blue Note Records.

Zaryan has been successful in integrating ambitious artistic goals with popular appeal, recording eight albums to date, all of which have earned gold, platinum or multi-platinum status. In 2008 she was honored with the Polish recording industry's most prestigious prize - the Fryderyk Award. She was nominated for the title of Woman of The Year 2008 by Gazeta Wyborcza, one of Poland's most widely circulated newspapers. Aga was also named Jazz Vocalist of The Year in the European Jazz Forum's yearly Jazz Top readers' poll consecutively from 2007 through 2013. She has an active performance and recording schedule.

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Luiz Melodia – Pintando O Sete 1991

An outsider to the recording industry, Luís Melodia is a talented composer and interpreter who has paid the price of his independence with an erratic discography. His songs, several of which are classics of MPB (like "Juventude Transviada," "Pérola Negra," "Magrelinha," "Dores de Amores," "Vale Quanto Pesa," "Pra Aquietar," "Ébano," "Presente Cotidiano," "Estácio, Holly Estácio," and "Farrapo Humano") were recorded by several artists such as Gal Costa, Maria Bethânia, and Zezé Motta. Son of Osvaldo Melodia, sambista of the traditional samba enclave of Estácio (in Rio), Luís Carlos dos Santos was involved in music from childhood. He left high school in his teens and formed the group Instantâneos, devoted to renditions of jovem guarda and bossa nova hits. In the ‘70s, his blend of traditional samba and pop music caught the attention of poets Waly Salomão and Torquato Neto. Salomão introduced Melodia to Gal Costa, who recorded his song "Pérola Negra" for her album Gal a Todo Vapor (1972). In the same year, Maria Bethânia recorded "Estácio, Holly Estácio" for her album Drama -- Anjo Exterminado. It was then that he adopted the stage name Luís Melodia. Melodia recorded his first LP in 1973, Pérola Negra. From his next album, the classic tune Maravilhas Contemporâneas (1976) was chosen as the theme for the soap opera Pecado Capital. In 1975 Melodia reached the finals of the Abertura Festival (TV Globo) with "Ébano." In 1980 he recorded Nós, featuring his trendy interpretation of "Negro Gato" (Getúlio Cortes). After a long period of ostracism, during which he continued to record, Melodia returned to the hit parades with his rendition of "Codinome Beija-Flor" (Cazuza). In 2001, a documentary directed by Karla Sabah portrayed his life. AMG.

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V.A. - Indian Calling 2007

An excellent compilation of Native American Music, no words are needed to express the feeling in these songs, just dive in!

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Chip Taylor & the New Ukrainians - F**k all the perfect people 2012

One more that was presented to me by B.  and is an ecellent album. Chip Taylor has done a lot of things in his life. He's been a professional golfer, a professional gambler (black jack), and horse handicapper. He's recorded a children's album for Smithsonian Folkways and he oversees a website, Rock and Roll Joe, that features and preserves the stories of some of the unsung heroes of rock & roll. And of course, he's been a songwriter (his two biggest songs are "Wild Thing" and "Angel of the Morning") and singer with several solo albums to his credit, which brings us to F**k All the Perfect People, an autumn-in-life release for this maverick artist. Sounding a bit like a country version of Leonard Cohen with hard-earned honky tonk lyrics, Taylor has delivered an oddly comforting album, even though the themes he touches on in these songs are for the most part dark and a little (to a lot) downcast. With a rough and hushed vocal delivery, and backed by his Scandinavian touring band the New Ukrainians, Taylor dispenses ragged wisdom on tracks like "F**k All the Perfect People" (a strangely comforting song somehow), the narrative "Me and Rohillio," and a pair of bleak monologues, "I Know Dark" and "Nothin' (I Suppose)," that are also kind of redemptive, being dark, yes, but not desperate. Then there's "Phoned in Dead," which contains the fantastic line "I used up all my sick days so I just phoned in dead," and could be a huge contemporary country hit if it were covered by the right hunky hat act. Chip Taylor may not come up with another "Wild Thing," and Lord knows, he isn't trying to, but he has found the perfect voice and tone for his cranky but still warm and assuring songs about dealing with age, time, and darkness in an impatient, rushing world that doesn't seem to want to bother with any of it. AMG.

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Stephen Micus - Desert Poems 2001

The respected German composer and multi-instrumentalistStephan Micus made his first journey to Asia at the age of 16. He has since traveled around the world. He spent extensive periods of time studying ancient musical techniques in India and Japan and collected a number of ethnic instruments previously unknown in the West. His recordings for the ECM label are essentially solo efforts in which the illusion of an ensemble is created by the composer's extensive overdubs. Micus' intention is not to play these instruments according to tradition, but to combine modes of expression from around the world in exciting new ways. Though he sometimes creates sounds you'd swear were the result of electronic keyboards,Micus is an acoustic purist who often develops unconventional performance techniques on ethnic instruments. He released Garden of Mirrors in mid-2000, with Desert Poems and Koan both following a year later. Micus continued to stay busy, releasing Towards the Wind in 2002, Life in 2004, and On the Wing in 2006, all of which kept his multicultural and multi-instrumental style intact. Micusoffered the concept recording Snow in 2008. On 2010's Bold as Light, he employed customized versions of the raj nplaim, a free-reed bamboo pipe from Laos, and the Japanese nohkan flute, also made of bamboo. As always, he not only studied the music of the instrument's native regions, but expanded the tonal reaches with his customization. For his 20th album, Micus collaborated with Greek historian and scholar Vassilis Chatzivassiliou, who selected Byzantine-era (seventh century) texts that were ancient prayers to "Holy Mary" (the Panagia of the title). The artists gave modern voice to these texts by utilizing bells from several traditions, gongs, stringed instruments, and up to 20 voices.Panagia was issued in March of 2013. AMG.

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Larry Jon Wilson - New Beginnings & Let me sing my song to you 2011

Omni's 2011 two-fer combines Larry Jon Wilson's 1975 album New Beginnings and its 1976 sequelLet Me Sing My Song to You on one CD. Larry Jon Wilson was very much cut from the same cloth as fellow Monument recording artist Tony Joe White, blessed with a similar warm, burnished baritone, a fondness for Southern narratives and blue-eyed southern soul tempered by some soft, easy-rolling pop. White tended to be much rawer than Wilson, favoring wilder rhythms while LJW has a gentler touch, giving even his funkiest grooves a touch of smoothness. This makes both New Beginnings andLet Me Sing My Song to You -- so similar they play like two halves of a double album although, if pressed, it'd be possible to argue that the latter has just a slightly slicker surface -- quite easy to enjoy even if they're not quite gritty enough to really take root. Wilson's pair of polyester-draped country-soul LPs are certainly exquisite curios of the mid-'70s but they don't transcend the time, they belong to it -- which is more than enough to recommend this two-fer, actually. AMG. Thanks to B. 

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Heavy Trash - Midnight Soul Serenade 2009

On their third album, 2009's Midnight Soul Serenade, Heavy Trash keep delivering the good old rock & roll, rockabilly, and hillbilly soul that their first two albums handed out like candy at a Fourth of July parade. Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray hit their stride right away on their debut and continue to be nothing short of great. They make no great changes to their sound here; it's still loose as geese on the rockers and pleasantly spooky on the ballads. Spencer and Verta-Ray still conjure all kinds of unhinged noise from the guitars, yet remain firmly within the bounds of the songs. Best of all, Spencerfully embraces his role as greasy, rockabilly crooner with an unrestrained joy and fervor. His performance on their cover of LaVern Baker's "Bumble Bee" is guaranteed to bring smiles, his unhinged howls on "Bedevilment" bring back memories of Lux Interior, and he's never less than entertaining. The whole record is just a flat-out blast, with the duo gleefully raising all kinds of ruckus, blasting through swamp blues, noisy punk blues, cornpone balladry, and nocturnal jazz poetry, and even laying down a song that could have been a chart-topper back in 1959, the sweetly rollicking "Gee, I Really Love You." It may heretical to say it considering the backgrounds of the participants, but Heavy Trash could be the best project either man has been involved with. And while Midnight Soul Serenademay not be the best Heavy Trash album (their debut takes that honor), it's still some of the best rock & roll around. Anywhere, anytime. AMG.

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Monster Magnet - Dopes To Infinity 1995

Expecting Monster Magnet to change from art-sludge-psych monsters into sweet cuddlebunnies from album to album clearly demonstrates a loss of reason. Wyndorf himself doesn't need to worry about losing his reason in particular, given how psychotically entertaining his band already is, and Dopes to Infinity is about as far apart from Superjudge as the original Siamese twins were to each other. Maybe "Dopeheads to Infinity" would have been the better title, but as the title track fires up into another rampage of excessively flanged guitar, storming lead riff, and steady drum stomp, all criticisms get left behind along with any sort of sanity. Wyndorf's singing is a touch crisper in the mix this time out, while the guitar playing is even more powerfully direct and epic amidst all the space-out swirl and rockets to the moon. It's the secret weapon of the album as a whole, turning Monster Magnet's gift for the large scale into something that's almost uplifting, often connecting with a listener instead of dominating one. That Mellotron ("Look to the Orb for the Warning") and strings (the acoustic guitar-led "Blow 'Em Off") are evident along with the sitars, folky strums, and similar acid quease of past albums only makes sense as a result. Then again, songs like "Ego, the Living Planet" and "Theme From 'Masterburner'" do a great job at sounding like Thor battling Galacticus for control of the universe -- no puny humans allowed. Lead single "Negasonic Teenage Warhead" became a minor hit, all the more surprising given how the band's idea of a commercial single features more processed guitar backing Wyndorfon the verses than the law normally allows. The catchy chug and scream of the chorus helps nail it, though, showing that Wyndorf can find the balance between his extreme and less-so sides when desired. AMG.

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