BE-BOP DELUXE Revisit “Modern Music”

September 20, 2019

1976 saw BE-BOP DELUXE ride high: after "Sunburst Finish" proved to be successful, Bill Nelson and his band were determined to make hay, and that album’s successor “Modern Music” saw the light of day a mere seven months after their third LP. More streamlined than the quartet’s previous records, it was almost as brilliant, if less adventurous than “Futurama” (detailed here; not available for review), and pieces such as “Twilight Capers” – a sequel of sorts to “Jets At Dawn” and “Ships In The Night” – made America notice the group. So there’s a nice logic in giving the reissue of this effort a usual deluxe treatment: a box set and a 2CD versions will be out on December 6th via Esoteric.

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Interview with Brian Auger

September 20, 2019

Pushing boundaries while remaining faithful to tradition is what Brian Auger does. Even now, at 80. And he’s still having fun doing it.

We spoke shortly before the artist’s four-score anniversary, prior to his show that might blow the roof off the club Brian’s ensemble inhabited for the evening, and you should know: Auger carries on touring with no care of what category the listeners place him in. It’s all music, says the legendary performer.

Read the interview.

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Rodney Matthews Ready To Release A Star-Studded Record

September 16, 2019

It was almost four years ago that this site ran the news on Rodney Matthews‘ forthcoming album, yet it took the acclaimed designer much longer to finish “Trinity” that is finally ready for release on CD and vinyl, and also as a deluxe box set. While a few of his collaborators had been there from the beginning – guitarist Jeff Scheetz, who was instrumental in Matthews’ remembering his past as a drummer, keyboard wiz Oliver Wakeman, bassist and singer John Payne – subsequent recordings saw more luminaries join the fold, all recipients of Rodney’s artwork: Rick Wakeman, to handle harpsichord and church organ, and MAGNUM’s Tony Clarkin and Bob Catley in their usual roles.

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CAMEL Report From Albert Hall

September 4, 2019

It was about one year ago, on September 17th, 2018 that the mighty CAMEL played a remarkable concert in a remarkable venue, performing their 1976 masterpiece “Moonmadness” in its entirety at the Royal Albert Hall. And now the quartet – Andy Latimer, Colin Bass, Denis Clement and Pete Jones – are ready to release that evening’s footage, about 150 minutes of it, on DVD and Blu-ray, with pre-orders option finally made available on their website.

It should be a riveting watch, given that the show’s second set featured the ensemble’s deep cuts – including two tracks off “Dust And Dreams” and one from “Harbour Of Tears” – although if what the group presented is a cover artwork, they could have done much better in this regard.

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WHITESNAKE Unable To Release Box Sets Of Classic Material

September 3, 2019

If the reissues of two WHITESNAKE albums – the recently released “Slide It In” and the forthcoming “Slip Of The Tongue” – made the band’s aficionados think of a similar treatment for another one, “Lovehunter” that saw the light in 1979 (although imagining its cover in today’s stores is difficult), there’s nothing to wait for. As it turned out during a Twitter exchange (see below) between David Coverdale and this scribe, the singer has no control over his ensemble’s early output. A sad state of affairs, really, given that 2011’s “Box ‘O’ Snakes” didn’t offer any bonus material, while Coverdale’s archives must be ripe with previously unheard tracks.

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