Monthly Archives augusti 2012

Felsziget Peninsula 2012 – good, bu not quite great

Perhaps our expectations were too high – Peninsula was, for many years, our favorite Romanian festival. Perhaps a comparison with Sziget is unjust, although it can’t be avoided – but this year we were somewhat disappointed by Felsziget.

The festival was not bad or poorly organized. The line up consisted of smaller bands, but nothing here to complain about. It’s just that something was not right, thought it’s hard to put your finge on it.

For starters, we didn’t like the the way the festival perimeter was reorganized (they moved Main Stage somewhere in the middle of a field, along with the food court and a smaller stage). The space in front of the Main Stage was tiny – but then again, the Main Stage was about half the size we were used to.

There were few people, some of the headliners per...

Read More

Intervju med Eldrimner

Eldrimner från Göteborg släpper sin debutplatta ”Inom förloppet av ett liv” i slutet av september. Bandets sångare Alexander Andersson är laddad inför skivsläppet.
­ – Det är så himla gött, så länge som vi har jobbat med den här plattan, säger han.

Eldrimner bildades när killarna i bandet gick i högstadiet.
­ – Då var vi alla utom basisten, jag spelade bas och sjöng. Men det blir så tråkigt när man är låst vid basen, så då tog vi in Otto som spelar bas. Den sättningen är vi idag, säger Alexander.
Drygt fem år senare är det dags att släppa första plattan.
­ – Det är så himla gött. Vi har jobbat med den här plattan i två år och det ska bli så jävla gött att få släppa den.

“Inom förloppet av ett liv” är en konceptskiva, som titeln antyder får...

Read More

Steve Hackett announces new album on YouTube – Genesis Revisited II – release 22nd August

Legendary Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett has announced the details of his forthcoming studio album Genesis Revisited II in a special YouTube video message for Genesis fans worldwide.

Steve Hackett has brought together a host of stunning guest performers including Steven Wilson and Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth) to craft an album that revisits many of the best loved songs from his Genesis years.

What better person to introduce you to this epic undertaking than the man himself.

Steve Hackett’s Genesis Revisited II will be released on 22nd October 2012 and comes in a limited edition 2CD Media-book, as well as a beautiful 4LP & 2CD version that showcases the brilliant artwork above.

Last year saw the release of Steve Hackett’s critically acclaimed and best selling solo album Beyond The Shrou...

Read More

Bettye LaVette celebrates 50 years with new album ’Thankful N’ Thoughtful’

Legendary American soul singer-songwriter Bettye LaVette celebrates 50 years in music by releasing her new studio album Thankful N’ Thoughtful in the UK on Monday 1st October. To mark the UK release, Bettye will perform a rare one-off concert at London’s JazzCafe on Tuesday 11th December. Table reservations: 0207 688 8899, Box Office: 0207 485 6834.

Released by ANTI-Records, the new album is produced by Craig Street (Norah Jones, k.d. lang, Meshell Ndegeocello, John Legend) and features contemporary tracks written and previously recorded by Bob Dylan, The Black Keys, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Patty Griffin, and Gnarls Barkley, and others.

Thankful N’ Thoughtful opens with the funk injected Bob Dylan cut Everything Is Broken and, as Bettye moans and howls the title refrain, you have no dou...

Read More

Steve Miller Band (1968-1970) – First 5 Albums Reissued

Edsel Records is proud to announce its reissue programme of the legendary first five albums by the Steve Miller Band, originally released between 1968 and 1970, issued in Special Digipak Editions. The albums will be released on Monday 8th October 2012.

The albums include Children of the Future (1968), Sailor (1968), Brave New World (1969), Your Saving Grace (1969) and Number 5 (1970).

The CD booklets included in the Special Digipak Edition releases feature original artwork, song lyrics, exclusive liner notes written by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Joel Selvin based on new 2012 interviews with Steve Miller, plus rare photos from Miller’s personal archive. All five digitally re-mastered CDs are housed in six panel digipaks.

Steve Miller returns to Europe in October, the tour includes...

Read More

Journey’s Neal Schon to release new album ’The Calling’

Taking a detour from his main job as lead guitarist for Journey, the multi-talented Neal Schon has put the finishing touches on his latest solo album, The Calling – released by Frontiers Records in the UK on Monday 22nd October. Produced by and featuring Schon on all guitars and bass, The Calling reunites Schon with former Journey bandmate, Steve Smith, who lends his virtuoso drum talents to all 12 tracks on the new album.

Schon set up shop at Berkeley’s famed Fantasy Studios during a break from Journey’s busy touring schedule and recorded the album, completely from scratch, in just four days. After overdubbing multiple guitar and bass parts, Schon recruited two keyboard masters to flesh out the music...

Read More

Rory Gallagher re-mastered albums (1975-1982) released 1st October

Sony Legacy Recordings in association with Capo Records, is proud to announce the next series of Rory Gallagher’s classic studio albums re-mastered (1975-1982). All five albums will be released in the UK on Monday 1st October for a limited period in deluxe digi-packaging.

Each album has been digitally re-mastered to stunning effect from the original ¼ inch tapes and features digitally restored original vinyl release album artwork, new booklet content and extensive sleeve notes, original album reviews, rare photographs and bonus tracks. Each of the five albums will be released in three formats including CD, download and vinyl.

Picking up where Rory left off with the phenomenal Irish Tour ‘74 live album, the release of 1975’s Against The Grain, found Rory at the top of his game and i...

Read More

An interview with Skarlett riot

I spoke to Skarlett riot shortly after they performed on the Jaegermeister acoustic stage at this years Bloodstock to talk to them about the band and their plans.

Festivalphoto: OK for anyone who isnt familiar with Skarlett riot, can you tell us a bit about the band?

Tom: We’re an agressive hard rock band normally – obviously today was acoustic.
Skarlett: Four piece female fronted.

Festivalphoto: How did you find it today, doing an acoustic set?

Tom: It was brilliant. It was a change from what we normally do.

Festivalphoto: Was it difficult to prepare for it and make sure things worked acoustically?

Tom: We have been rehearsing like crazy – it’s something we don’t normally do...

Read More

Ensiferum post 24 hr stream of new album ’Unsung Heroes’

ENSIFERUM – FINNISH HEROIC METALLERS POST A 24HR STREAM OF NEW ALBUM ‘UNSUNG HEORES’…

TO CELEBRATE the release of brand new album ‘Unsung Heroes’, Ensiferum, the highly visual troupe who’ve long been a market leader when it comes to stirring, armour-plated anthems, will post a stream of the album in its entirety, available to listen to for 24 hrs.

http://soundcloud.com/spinefarmrecords/sets/unsung-heroes/

The Finnish quintet return to UK soil in September as part of the extensive European ‘Bearers Of The Sword’ tour, accompanied by special guests and fellow Spinefarm artists, Profane Omen.

September 2012:

18 – O2 Academy, Islington, London
19 – Moho, Manchester
20 – Button Factory, Dublin, Ireland
21 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

Read More

Lita Ford: Living Like a Runaway

SPV/Playground

The title here refers to Lita´s early days of girl band splendor, as well as the bad days of her life. In retrospect I can´t help wondering if it was a call to find out if the other ex-members of THE RUNAWAYS were into the idea of a reunion, which seems to be happening. The aim here is apparently to make music that helps people through hard times, and that requires cozy refrains and a lot of Lita´s 80´s music. Her previous outing, “Wicked Wonderland” was a sleeping pill compared to her glories of old, so I hope this one is destined to see many people out of the darkness and into the light.

Opener “Branded” has some nice energy and a stubborn refrain, but also some gloom. Wee, it sure beats the album before this...

Read More