April 16th, 2012
HAIL THE WIND
That’s how the title of a new RENAISSANCE album translates. Called “Grandine il Vento”, it features Michael Dunford and Annie Haslam and is ready to be laid down and shipped out… once the means for it are there. Along with a current trend, the band decided to bankroll the enticing project through KickStarter – perhaps, primed for the move by their former keyboard player Tom Brislin who tried the service for his solo record. Those who finance it, will receive an array of prizes – according to the size of one’s contibution. For others, it worked, why not for RENAISSANCE?
GOING DEEP
After much speculation, DEEP PURPLE are all up for recording a new album, their first studio work since 2005’s “Rapture Of The Deep”. While other details remain untold, the name of producer the veterans chose has been maid public. It’s the eminent Bob Ezrin, the man behind Alice Cooper and Peter Gabriel’s solo sonic success as well as PINK FLOYD’s “The Wall. With Martin Birch retired, the choice feels right on the money.
THE TALES OF LAKE
On the brink of his autobiography release, Greg Lake takes to the road with an an intimate interactive show “Songs of a Lifetime”. Starting this month in Canada and moving across America, the trek reaches its finale in the UK in November. Those in attendance will have a chance to grab the first of the three parts of the veteran’s book in audio book form, read by Greg himself – while the printed edition is out at the end of 2012. In the spirit of things, Lake delivers the songs he recorded with KING CRIMSON, ELP and solo in a storyteller format, with a Q&A session to make each night a special one.
MUSIC IS ALL
For all its flaws, to many AllMusic.com has long become a useful reference but the site hasn’t moved with the times for awhile – since 2006 to be precise. And now, its back-end architecture has been changed in order to take the functionality to the next level. Currently available only to the insiders, AllMusic’s new version feels great. With improved inner life, there are new features such as: full track streaming allowing to listen to an entire song, multi-content, expanded search, the similar albums recommendations, sorting discographies and other lists by year, title and editorial rating, and editorial video previews of the week’s new releases and discussions as presented by the site’s staff of experts. Well worth checking out once it’s up and running which might be any day soon.
SWEET’S SMELL OF SUCCESS
It’s a bit confusing but these days there are two versions of SWEET, one, based in the USA, led by bassist Steve Priest and featuring guitar wiz Stuart Smith, and other, in the UK, steered by guitarist Andy Scott and fronted by Tony O’Hora. And it’s the latter band that release a new studio album on April 27th. Titled “New York Connection”, it features mostly a string of quite unexpected covers – spiced up by the veterans glammers’ own classics. Thus, the perennial “On Broadway” is crossed with “Love Is Like Oxygen” and RAMONES’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” quotes – what else? – “The Ballroom Blitz”. So the record’s going to be a guessing game for the listeners, and all the better for it.
1. New York Groove (Russ Ballard) 2. Gold On The Ceilings (THE BLACK KEYS) 3. It’s All Moving Faster (ELECTRIC FRANKENSTEIN) 4. New York Connection 5. Shapes Of Things (THE YARDBIRDS) 6. You Spin Me Right Round (DEAD OR ALIVE) 7. Because The Night (Patti Smith) 8. Sweet Jane (THE VELVET UNDERGROUND) 9. Blitzkrieg Bop (THE RAMONES) 10. On Broadway 11. Join Together (THE WHO) |