THE WATERBOYS Return To “The Sea” With Lost Dylan Cut In Tow

January 3, 2024

A watershed platter in this British ensemble’s history, 1985’s “This Is The Sea” is considered THE WATERBOYS finest work and is special on multiple levels – from containing their identity-defining song “The Whole Of The Moon” to the line-up changes, the former seeing the band scale the charts and the latter finding Karl Wallinger on the verge of hit-making career. Still hugely popular almost four decades after its release, the record has been reissued a few times but February 23rd it will be presented in an ultimate, deluxe form.

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PROG COLLECTIVE Meet The Gloom

January 2, 2024

Rolling for a dozen years now, Billy Sherwood-steered PROG COLLECTIVE – a vehicle for the producer’s music delivered in the company of stellar soloists – seem to settle on solid track now, with 2022’s covers album "Songs We Were Taught" succeeded in 2023 by “Seeking Peace” which somehow fell through the cracks of the genre aficionados’ consciousness, and March 15th, 2024 being a release date for those platters’ follow-up.

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Jim Capaldi’s Final Chapter Features Unheard George Harrison Part

January 1, 2024

From his brilliant debut "Oh How We Danced" onwards, there was no weak entry in Jim Capaldi‘s solo discography – which is unsurprising, given his melodic, lyrical and rhythmic contribution to TRAFFIC before that – but the great late veteran’s last albums remain somehow overlooked despite their usual quality and the presence on them of such luminaries as George Harrison, Ian Paice, Gary Moore, Paul Weller and, of course, Steve Winwood. Not as celebrated as Capaldi’s early platters, collected in a box set three years ago, 2001’s “Living On The Outside” and “Poor Boy Blue” from 2004, issued shortly before Jim’s untimely passing, will be given a similar treatment on January 26th.

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Chris Thompson Rounds Up His Concert Circle

December 31, 2023

Retirement has become a running joke for many a rocker, yet some of them take their age seriously and, loath to present less than stellar performances to the listener, quit the stage while they’re ahead. One of these veterans is Chris Thompson, a British husky-throated singer mostly associated with MANFRED MANN‘S EARTH BAND – with whom he recorded a string of hits-comprising albums, from 1976’s "The Roaring Silence" onwards – the international smash “You’re The Voice” that he cowrote, and delivering “The Phantom Of The Opera” in duet with Sarah Brightman. Of course, there’s much more to his career – yet Chris seems to stop producing studio works, his latest original platter being 2014’s "Toys & Dishes" and his last official release, "Jukebox: The Ultimate Collection" from 2015, simply collecting Thompson’s previously issued cuts. However, a few days ago digital platforms introduced the warbler’s farewell offering.

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KRAAN Release A Firebird

December 30, 2023

While most of this ensemble’s Krautrock contemporaries gradually gravitated towards traditional – so to say – progressive rock, it didn’t take a lot for KRAAN to reveal their true colors and turn into a fusion collective. Five decades further down the line, and the veterans are still pursuing the same jazz-tinged adventurousness, with the original core of guitarist Peter Wolbrandt, bassist Hellmut Hattler and drummer Jan Fride still creating fantastic funky pieces with a lot of gusto. And if the German band’s fans had to wait a whole decade before they delivered a follow-up to 2010’s “Diamonds” in the form of “Sandglass” – the latter seeing keyboard player Ingo Bischof out of the fold – that record’s successor arrived only three years later.

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