Posted in Cd Reviews

Pianist Otmar Binder is joined by Alexander Lackner (Bass) and Michael Strasser (Drums) to form the Otmar Binder Trio. Together with BJ Cole (Pedal Steel) and multi-instrumentalist Christian Dozzler, they have recorded this album – Boogie Woogie Turnaround.

As the name suggests, the music is Boogie-Woogie, a form of music that was very popular back in the 1940s but which is rarely heard these days. Essentially boodie-woogie is a piano based form of blues music. Fans of Jools Holland will probably be familiar with the style as he is one of the few well known musicians still playing this form of music.

It’s rare these days that you hear something completely different – there are lots of rock bands, heavy metal bands, singer songwriters and so on, but there is usually at least one other ar...

Posted in Interviews

Intervju med Kent Norberg och Chips Kiesbye från SATOR.
På Helgeåfestivalen fick jag chansen att sitta ner med delar av det nostalgiska rockbandet Sator. De dubbla frontmännen och gitarristerna Kent och Chips pratede festivalminnen. En mycket trevlig pratstund tidigt på fredagskvällen.
Samtalsämnet riktade in sig just på festivalspelningar eftersom det är festivaltider nu.

Festivalphoto:
– Ni har kört på nu i över två decennier.

Chips:
– Sen, sen Sator är det 1988 va?

Kent:
– Nja, 1987 egentligen!

Chips:
– 87 var det tydligen!

Festivalphoto:
– Vad är drivkraften till att fortfarande köra på som ni gör?

Kent:
– Vi har ju jävligt roligt.

Chips:
– Ja det är ju det!

Kent:
– Vi älskar att hålla på med musik.

Chips:
– Vi har en ambition att bli bättre också...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Frontiers/BAM

Youthful new Swedish AOR band WIGELIUS was probably founded after vocalist Anders Wigelius sang JOURNEY´s top hit “Don´t Stop Believin´ “ on Swedish TV. Raised on the likes of RICHARD MARX, JOURNEY and FOREIGNER there was precious little debate of how the band would sound. Luckily brother Erik plays drums and Anders himself seems to be a bit of guitar and keyboard playing song writer. Jake Svensson on guitars and Chris “Wielbass” Pettersson handles the four string, of cause. No sign of a drummer is slightly worrying, but as this disc is produced by Daniel Flores there might be a live one after all. The aim seems to be to have fun and to reinvent the big old AOR sound of the eighties, how did they do?

They might be a fun lot after all...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Frontiers/BAM

I remember this lot from the early nineties, but I didn´t know they formed as early as 1983. They flet quite fresh-faced and young back then… Their self-titled 1990 debut gave them hits like “Give It to Me Good” and “One in a Million”, and secured the release of their sophomore effort “Hear!”, the one I remember best. A tour as support to KISS surely secured them a spot in the media, but, alas, grunge brought them down. An independent release of a covers album was the final whistle in 1995. Or could have been, but 2007 saw the reunion of the original band; Peter Loran, vocals rhythm guitars, Steve Brown, lead guitar, harmonica, P.J. Farley, bass, and Mark “Gus” Scott on drums...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Frontiers/BAM

RICHARD MARX started out with a single, “Don´t Mean Nothing”, in 1987, talk about a misleading title! From then on he released an album, and ended up selling three million copies! In 1989, “Repeat Offender” sold an amazing seven million copies, not least vanguard by the single “Right Here Waiting”. Live, studio and compilation albums amount to 20, while singles released are 33. More than 30 million albums say that Richard is doing something seriously right, but is it still so 25 years on?

This album is sometimes denoted as a compilation, which is both right and wrong. This is a double album, with a second disc filled with rerecorded classics...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Napalm/Sound Pollution

Canada has contributed a lot to rock and metal over the years, albeit more often in the shadow of big brother the US of A. This is the second album of STRIKER, the first being “Eyes in the Night”(2010), and there is also an EP by the name of “Road Warrior” (2009). The recording band consists of Dan Cleary, vocals, Ian Sandercock and Chris Segger, guitars, bass player Dave Arnold and drummer Adam Brown. Inspired by bands like SAXON, IRON MAIDEN and ANNIHILATOR they have set out for world domination in true eighties fashion. So…?

The first two songs definitely kills off all suspicions of unfaithfulness or a modern take on anything. Opener “Forever” is a fine sounding almost Taliban version of what ruled the earth approximately 30 years ago...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Lion Music

In 2005 DUSAN PETROSSI`S IRON MASK released this stomper, which is now re-released in a very limited run. The band consisted of Dusan on all guitars, iron lung vocalist Goetz “Valhalla Jr” Mohre, and Oliver Hartmann as a guest, keyboard wizard Richard Andersson, and the Russian rhythm section of Vassili Moltchanov on bass and Arnold Arkhipov on drums. What can this sound like then…

Well first up the sound is very ok. If you have ever heard a wild Swede by the name of YNGWIE MALMSTEEN you will feel at home most of the time. Second up I don´t get the use of a guest vocalist as Goetz does a prime job. But all in all this is perhaps to a large extent summed up by opener “Holy War”...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Frontiers/BAM

PRETTY MAIDS has a pretty unique outlook, they can capitalize on both their success of the eighties, and in present times. Arguably their finest releases all came in the heyday of heavy metal around the mid-eighties, but 2010´s “Pandemonium” offered a plethora of prospect titles for future best of albums. 21 massive tracks, and an impressive effort of original members vocalist Ronnie Atkins and guitarist Ken Hammer. The rest of the band has spent less time in the band but are important additions nevertheless; drummer Alan Tschicaja (ROYAL HUNT, MISSING TIDE), keyboard player Morten Sandager (MERCENARY) and bass player Rene Shades of MIKE TRAMP fame. On with the show…

The atmospheric stormy weather intro progresses into “Pandemonium”, which may surprise a few since it i...

Posted in Press Releases

Guitar maestro Gwyn Ashton’s back with Radiogram, a hard-driving renegade rock and blues album. On this outing, he’s joined by some big names in rock and roll history.

A truly accomplished master of electric, acoustic and slide guitars, singer / songwriter / guitarist Ashton was voted third place as “Guitarist of The Year 2001” by French readers of Guitar Part magazine, behind Jeff Beck and Gary Moore at number one and two. Ashton’s abilities have been acknowledged by Italian company Liutart, which recently presented him with his own signature model guitar.

Radiogram boasts nine self-penned tracks plus a phat groove version of Willie Dixon’s “I Just Wanna Make Love To You” and has the Ashton trademark stamped all over it...

Posted in Press Releases

From their early roots touring with The National and Gang Of Four, to releasing their debut with an elaborate 80-page flipbook hand designed and put together by band member Danny Seim, they have always had the creative intent to match the music. On their breakthrough record, ”Friend and Foe”, and the first through Barsuk, they celebrated the release of the album with Justin Harris assembling a 25-member choir who he taught the various vocal layers of the new material with the help of his mother Diane, a trained opera singer. The album received 8.5 on Pitchfork and went on to sell well worldwide. The artwork on the album was from the wonderful graphic novelist Craig Thompson, he of Blankets and this year’s Habibi, and it was subsequently nominated for a Grammy for ”Best Recording Package”.