Posted in Cd Reviews

THe Birthday Massacre are back with their fifth album – Hide and Seek. The Toronto based synth rockers formed in 1999 and released their first album in 2002. Since then they’ve been very consistent , releasing albums every 2-3 years, and with each album evolving their sound slightly rather than going in for radical changes. This approach has brought them a loyal fanbase.

The album was mixed by guitarist Rainbow and Dave Ogilvie (Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails, Killing Joke, Marilyn Manson) who worked with the band on their last two albums.

”We wanted ‘Hide And Seek’ to have a certain depth and atmosphere, so we took time to create a lot of new sound textures that would complement running throughout it”, explains TBM guitarist Rainbow...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Batabeat is a musical project combining computer-assisted sound designs and live music. Musicians and music styles differ according to the various events or projects that Batabeat participates in. Guillaume Soucy is the mastermind behind this Montreal based project.

”Le projet Senecal” is a tribute to Patrick Senecal, a top horror writer from Quebec, who is sometimes referred to as the Quebec Stephen King. The album is a concept album, with each track being based on a different one of his books.

While I’m not usually a fan of instrumental albums, this really is something that little bit different as its use of sound effects as well as the music really adds something extra to it and that really helps each track stand apart from the others and makes it far more enjoyable to listen to...

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Where to start with this review? OK Eloah are an Austrian band, who’s name is one of the hebrew words for God. The lineup for the album is huge – an astonishing 13 members playing acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, saxophone, trombone, piano and flutes as well as vocals.
Musically it’s quite unusual. I can only describe it as Jazz blended with Prog rock, alternative and new age – it’s a really quite bizarre album. That’s not meant in a negative way – it’s just a very strange album, but sometimes strange is good.

The music is dominated by the acoustic guitar which is extremely well done, and the saxophone and trombone add something extra to reall make the songs stand out from almost anything else you’ll have listened to.

I have no idea if the first track title actuall...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Neal Schon is best known as the guitarist and a founding member of Journey. Over the past four decades he’s released fourteen albums with Journey as well as five solo albums and has earned numerous gold and platinum albums. He’s also performed with Joe Cocker, Sammy Hagar, Paul Rodgers, Larry Graham, Betty Davis, Michael Bolton, fusion legend Jan Hammer and supergroup Bad English,as well as a variety of side projects. In short then he’s got a pretty damn impressive CV.

Having said that, this album is an instrumental, and I’m always slightly dubious about instrumental albums. They’re almost always recorded by a guitarists – possibly as a way to make sure they take centre stage rather than the singers...

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Steve Winwood released his second solo album, ”Arc of a diver” in December 1980. A multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, he recorded everything on the album himself. On its release the album peaked at number 13 in the album charts and managed a very respectable 20 weeks in the chart.
It’s a real classic album that has comfortably stood the test of time – listening to it now it’s still stunningly good. It’s only fitting then that Universal have decided to give it the Deluxe Edition treatment.

So what do we get with the Deluxe edition. Firstly Disc one is the album itself, sounding crystal clear and top quality. Then we have a second disc with the extras. There are different versions of three of the songs plus a BBD Radio 2 Documentary – ”Arc of a diver: The Steve Winwood story”...

Posted in Cd Reviews

This brand new ABBA collection includes all the hits and more on 2CDs and 1DVD. It’s available in three different versions – a double-CD, a DVD, and a Limited Edition package featuring the two CDs, the DVD and an illustrated 28-page booklet.
The DVD features remastered versions of all the official ABBA promo clips including two previously unreleased videos: Conociéndome, Conociéndote and Gracias por la música (Spanish versions of Knowing Me, Knowing You and Thank You For The Music).

So, it’s a very good collection for anyone wanting an ABBA compilation, but I do have to wonder what sort of person wakes up thinking ”There just aren’t enough Abba compilations around – the world needs another one”...

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BOB MARLEY IN DUB VOL. 1
Bob Marley remains reggae’s greatest icon and a monumental musical figure of our time and continues to inspire and influence people around the world, his legacy continues to resonate as his music is revealed and rediscovered by new generations.
IN DUB VOL. 1, the first in a series of collections of classic, rare and new dub excursions from the Bob Marley & The Wailers catalogue, will be released physically for the first time on September 10th 2012 by Island/Tuff Gong.

This collection was previously released in digital format only in 2010 with several tracks making their CD/vinyl debut...

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“Nobody ever paid money to see Harry Houdini escape being buried alive” says Ex- Gutter Twins / Ex-The Twilight Singers guitarist / keyboardist and My Jerusalem founder and singer Jeff Klein. “They wanted the small chance of seeing him killed by the weight of the earth on top of him”.

Behold the concept behind Preachers, the second full-length release from Austin’s My Jerusalem. From the opening piano of the haunting title track, to the unexpected pummeling guitar and drums on closer I Left My Conscience In You, Preachers leads the listener on a cinematic journey through a reckless, jagged landscape of Raymond Carver-esque stories, fueled by Klein’s persuasive baritone, ominous guitars, dream-like keyboards and a deep rhythmic pulse.

Recorded in under three weeks by Spoon d...

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Watchers reveal video for new single, Cut The Ribbon

Since touring with The Charlatans in 2011 and supporting the likes of The Vaccines, Clock Opera, Islet, and S.C.U.M. Watchers have been gaining recognition as one of the best emerging bands in the north east of England. On October 8th, they will release their debut double A-side single, Cut The Ribbon / Every Night I Look Strong, produced by Danton Supple (Morrissey, U2, Coldplay, Doves).

The band now reveals a video to accompany the track. In a band statement, Watchers said;

“We are delighted to announce the release of our debut single Cut the Ribbon. This song is juxtaposed with a second a-side Every Night I look Strong. The video invites you into our studio and our lives around the north east...

Posted in Press Releases

Chris Helme, formerly the lead singer of The Seahorses, John Squire’s post-Stone Roses band has a new solo album out,’The Rookery’.

He is now about to start a tour of the UK, which takes in venues all over the country (and includes some dates with 90s legends Ocean Colour Scene and Mark Morriss of The Bluetones).

TOUR DATES
• 2nd Oct 2012, Surya, London
• 7th Oct 2012, Rock Your Mind Festival, Middlesborough
• 12th Oct 2012, Kings Hall (with Simon & Oscar of Ocean Colour Scene), Herne Bay
• 3rd Nov 2012, Venue Cymru (with Turin Brakes), Llandudno
• 4th Nov 2012, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham
• 9th Nov 2012, Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh
• 10th Nov 2012, Tollbooth, Stirling
• 23rd Nov 2012, The Square (with Mark Morriss of The Bluetones), Harlow
• 29th Nov 2012, Compass, Chester
• ...