Steve Hackett And DJABE Cross The Arctic Circle

December 1, 2024

For some lesser known artists using the services of famous musicians is just a means to draw attention, and prominent guests are just that: guests. Which is why a decade-and-a-half-long collaboration between Steve Hackett and Magyar collective DJABE has long become special – because the English guitarist was incorporated into this ensemble and not only records with them but also tours with his Hungarian friends. Yet while there have been ten concert albums to bring it all to the masses, studio platters appeared not as frequently, 2020’s “The Magic Stag” being the last one. Not for long, though, as February 28th will see the release of “Freya”: the result of the international enterprise’s recent Arctic adventures.

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Vashti Bunyan Demystifies Her Comeback Album

November 29, 2024

When Vashti Bunyan issued “Lookaftering” back in 2005, it was much more than sensational, but the English chanteuse’s return to show business felt rather hushed, so befitting her career arc of vanishing into obscurity while shaping up a legend. The singer’s 1970 debut “Just Another Diamond Day” sank without a trace, with her disappointment leading to disappearance from public eye, yet produced strong ripples over time – forceful enough to make Bunyan an influential artist, with the nu-folk likes of Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom praising Vashti’s tunes for the masses to become interested in her music. Interested to such an extent that she returned to action with the Max Richter-produced album which featured those youngsters – and which will be expanded to two CDs, or two LPs, twenty years after it first saw the light of day.

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CYMANDE Demand Renaissance On Album Number Six

November 27, 2024

Psychedelic soul may have had some exposure over the years, yet the funkier it gets the more obscure it becomes, which is why recent interest towards CYMANDE should be deemed immense progress in assessing this subgenre. The three platters the British ensemble issued back in the early ’70s have retained their diminishing brilliance, if not freshness, despite the passage of time, and connoisseurs who used to listen to those records before they were “rediscovered” by many thanks to 2022 documentary “Getting It Back” feel free from following fads, although quite a few of those aficionados didn’t pay much attention to the band’s 2015’s comeback album “A Simple Act Of Faith” – but ignoring the veterans’ forthcoming longplay “Renascence” will amount to a cultural crime.

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Leonard Cohen’s 1972 Live Tapes To Be Out

November 25, 2024

Fifty years after its premiere, “Leonard Cohen: Bird on a Wire” remains a unique document of the Canadian poet laureate 1972 concert trek. Directed by Tony Palmer, the film that follows Cohen to Europe and Israel was deemed, in Leonard’s own words, “totally unacceptable” and “too confrontational” – for a variety of reasons – and vanished after initial limited release to resurface in 2012 in a restored form – reconstruct with the help of original soundtrack. And now previously unheard parts of this soundtrack will be issued as a standalone CD.

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Elkie Brooks Unplugs For Farewell Album

November 23, 2024

Almost a quarter of a century after her “Powerless” saw the light of day, Elkie Brooks’ fans may have still harbor hope of the great chanteuse returning to the studio when “The Long Farewell Tour” allows her to step away from the stage, but one should assume that’s unlikely to happen. Still, Ms. Brooks doesn’t want her followers to feel abandoned, and November 22nd was the day when she issued what can be her last-ever offering: “Live & Acoustic” – an album with a telling title.

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