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Author Archives: petefeenstra
Album review: SHADES OF REMEMBERANCE – Veil
Burn All Records [Release Date: 26.04.13] Ohio’s Shades Of Remembrance are metal band with proggy leanings on an album that straddles both genres rather than fuses the two. ‘Veil’ duly delivers enough speed, intensity, resolute playing and dark themes to … Continue reading
Album review: SUNS OF STONE – Suns Of Stone
Self release [Release Date: 24.05.13] Ottawa’s Suns of Stone are a classic rock band with bluesy influences. They cross over from Bad Company at their best to The Black Crows, with occasional Purple influences that extend beyond the familiar title … Continue reading
Album Review: RON SAYER JR. & CHARLOTTE JOYCE – Hard To Please
Self release [Release Date: 16.09.13] If ever there was an album that highlighted the way Euro blues artist are discriminated against by their American counterparts this is it. Had this album been recorded by an Austin band or indeed cut … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged blues, Charlotte Joyce, funk, Hard To Please, Oli Brown, review, Ron Sayer Jr., Tony McPhee, Wayne Proctor
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Album Review: NIK TURNER – Space Gypsy
Cleopatra Records [Release Date:04/11/13] Surprise, surprise! After a bewildering number of recent projects, Hawkwind founder member Nik Turner has gone back to his space rocking best. He may currently be busy touring the US with his ‘Space Ritual’ show, but … Continue reading
Album Review: TEXAS CANNONBALLS – Texas Cannonballs
Rock ‘n Roll Saves [Release Date: 2013] ‘Texas Cannonballs’ is both the name of a band and an album that rocks out with pounding, dirt in the tracks grooves. From the opening rumbustious ‘Fly Away’ to the laid back Stones … Continue reading
Album Review: THE BLOCKHEADS – Same Horse Different Jockey
Self release [Release Date: 23.11.13] It’s 36 years since The Blockheads first hit the road to stardom and 13 years since Ian Dury died. And on the evidence of this album, the band appears to be far better positioned … Continue reading
Album Review: P-A-U-L LAMB & THE DETROIT BREAKDOWN – Ready Fire Aim
E E Records [Release Date: 04.11.13] P-A-U-L Lamb & The Detroit Breakdown certainly live up to their name. Given their prickly urban rock, funk, soul and bluesy tinged style, they fit perfectly into the city’s musical landscape. Their songs are heartfelt, uncompromising … Continue reading
Album Review: STONEY CURTIS BAND – Halo Of Dark Matter
Blues Bureau [Release Date: 08.10.13] Everything in rock-blues guitarist Stoney Curtis’s world appears to be lyrically refracted through a gloomy lens, or as his album title suggests, a ‘Halo Of Dark Matter’. But it’s also a guitar album that positively … Continue reading
Album Review: GROOVE-A-MATICS – Keep It Clean
Self release [Release Date: 02.09.13] Newcastle’s Groove-A-Matics wear their musical influences on their sleeve. The band’s name is writ large on the opening groove of ‘Way Of The World’, which could easily fit into an early Fab-T Birds album. Impressive … Continue reading
Album review: LAYLA ZOE – The Lily
Cable Car Records [Release date: 30.o8.13] Canadian blues singer Layla Zoe offers a highly personal take on the blues. She’s a confident singer with an expansive range, who finds the perfect foil in the shape of German blues guitarist and … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged acapella, blues, Canadian, Henrik Freischlader, Janis Joplin, Layla Zoe, Neil Young, review, rock, The Lily
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Album review: HENRIK FREISCHLADER BAND – Live In Concerts
Cable Car [Release date: 28.10.13] It says something for Henrik Freischlader’s ability to captivate and enthral us with his guitar led, groove laden blues-rock that he is confident enough to release a live 4 CD box set. He’s already released … Continue reading
Album review: JOHN LEES’ BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST – North
Esoteric Antenna [Release date: 07.10.13] ‘North’ is an unlikely but successful return to recording by John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest. It’s an unlikely return because for the best part of 5 years, the band’s guitarist and composer Lees actually retired, … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged America, Ammon Wrigley, Crosby, John Lees, John Lees Barclay James Harvest, North, prog, review, rock, Steely Dan, Stills and Nash
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Gig review: DANA FUCHS – The Borderline, London, 8 October 2013
If the ‘Bliss Avenue’ CD was an interesting introduction to New York’s hard hitting vocalist and songwriter Dana Fuchs, her live show quickly revealed all her qualities. As she made clear at the outset, her songs deal with ‘the dirty … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged Bliss Avenue, blues, Dana Fuchs, Janis Joplin, Joan Osborne, John Diamond, review, rock, vocalist
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Gig review: JONNY LANG – The Borderline, London, 3 October 2013
Jonny Lang’s overdue return to London was a qualified success. At his best, as on the spiritual ‘That Great Day’, his mastery of the material showed a maturity that makes him a totally convincing while boy soul singer. His sense … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged blues, Bruce McCabe, Fight For My Soul, funk, gospel, Jonny Gang, live review, Muddy Waters, soul, Stevie Wonder
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Album Review: ANDERS OSBORNE – Peace
Alligator [Release date: 08.10.13] There may be a significant gap between Alligator Records’ original mission statement of ‘genuine houserocking music’ and Anders Osborne deeply felt, confessional singer song-writing, but the contemporary blues scene has surely benefited from the liaison. It’s … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Alligator Records, Americana, Anders Osborne, blues, Jackson Brown, Neil Young, Paul Simon, Peace, Procol Harum, review
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Album review: LESLIE WEST – Still Climbing
Provogue/Mascot [Release date: 28.10.13] ‘Still Climbing’ is an aptly title album and metaphor for the guitar heavyweight Leslie West who has rebuilt his career since his leg amputation. The album finds the former Mountain guitarist with a surprising amount of … Continue reading
Gig review: ROYAL SOUTHERN BROTHERHOOD – Boom Boom Club, Sutton, 28 September 2013
Royal Southern Brotherhood may be considered the latest super group on the circuit, but the label appeared irrelevant to a line-up that celebrated its wealth of talent with a breathtaking two hour set. RSB is the considerable sum of its … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged 28 September 2013, Bob Marley, Boom Boom Club, Charlie Wooton, Cyril Neville, Devon Allman, gig, Mike Zito, Paul Butterfield, review, Royal Southern Brotherhood, Samantha Fish, Sutton, The Allman Brothers, The Grateful Dead, Tom Petty, Yonrico Scott
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Gig review: ALEX SKOLNICK TRIO – Jazz Cafe, London, 29 September 2013
This always promised to be a curious night, but if some of the audience were taking a leap of faith they were amply rewarded by a band who clearly relished a challenge as much a sharing their enjoyment with their … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS, Pure Metal/Gig reviews
Tagged 29 September 2013, Alex Skolnick Trio, fusion, guitar, guitarist, jazz, Jazz Cafe, London, rock, Testament
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Interview with JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR – 27 September 2013
‘One night, one shot, no safety net’, such was the background to Joanne Shaw Taylor’s eagerly anticipated live album and DVD. Surprisingly perhaps, it’s her first live album in a career built on the back of incendiary live shows that … Continue reading
Interview with JOHN LEES (Barclay James Harvest) – 17 September 2013
John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest is back with a brand new album called ‘North’. The new CD features 9 new tracks that update the melodic prog rock band’s musical heritage, which is also neatly encapsulated on the accompanying live CD … Continue reading
Gig review: THE GRAVELTONES – Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes,London,17 September 2013
Blink and you’ll miss them. The explosive Graveltones came, saw and conquered with a frenzied, hi-octane, riff driven wall of sound and the kind of visceral intensity not seen since the raw doorstep blues of Hound Dog Taylor. The band … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged AC/DC, Charlie Francis, Don't Wait Down, garage rock, Hound Dog Taylor, Jesse Fuller, Jimmy O, John Otway, Led Zeppelin, Mike Sorbello, review, The Graveltones
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Album review: STEVE HARLEY & COCKNEY REBEL – Birmingham Live With Orchestra & Choir
Comeuppance [Release Date: 14.10.13] The commercial potential of pop or rock music is largely determined by a time, a place and a context. This was never more so than with the ego posturing of Steve Harley (and Cockney Rebel), … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Andrew Powell, Barry Wickens, Brian Ferry, Cockney Rebel, David Bowie, Ian Anderson, Ian Hunter, James Lascelles, Mark Knopfler, Orchestra Of The Swan and Chamber Choir, Steve Harley, Steve Norman, The Human Menagerie, The Psychomodo
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Album review: GRACE SOLERO – Hundred Years Apart
Wohone Records [Release Date: 30.09.13] Startling Italian vocalist Grace Solero lends her name to an international band whose second album ‘Hundred Years Apart’ is full of full of passionate vocals, poetic lyrics, crashing chords and steely riffs. It’s a thinly … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Bjork, Bjorn Zetterlund, Dan Beaularier, Grace Solero, grunge, Maurizio Liberato, review, rock, The Edge
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Album review: THE GRAVELTONES – Don’t Wait Down
Lagoon Dog Records [Release Date: 21.10.13] There’s a lot to be said for being in the right place at the right time and The Graveltones are knocking on the door at a time when their balls to wall bombast will … Continue reading
Album review: MOJO MAKERS – Wait Till The Morning
Hypertension Music [Release Date: 16.09.13] Danish blues-rock outfit the Mojo Makers attempt to recycle 70’s blues-rock and give it contemporary twist. Their rough hewn and visceral approach to recording leaves plenty of room for moments of real spark and … Continue reading
