NEW MODEL ARMY Put Out Stripped-Down Concert Album

March 28, 2025

There’s no truer demonstration of punk attitude than refusal to go away and desire to mutate with the times without going for conformism, and there’s no better example of such approach NEW MODEL ARMY‘s oeuvre. Currently celebrating four and a half decades of the ensemble’s continuous existence, Yorkshire musicians are still eager to experiment and, when needed, do a volte-face with regard to presentation of what they do. That’s why while the veterans’ last live album was recorded with an orchestra, an on-stage follow-up to 2023’s “Sinfonia” – or to their studio opus “Unbroken” from 2024, if that matters – will be as stripped-down as one can get.

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Goodbye, Terry Manning

March 26, 2025

“Legend” has become too commonplace a word that rarely describes a subject of popular narratives, yet Terry Manning, who passed away on March 25th at the age of 75, deserved this title. There’s no other engineer and producer whose resume would include such different artists as Otis Redding and LED ZEPPELIN, Shakira and ZZ TOP, Isaac Hayes and THE TRAGICALLY HIP, Lenny Kravitz and IRON MAIDEN. A staple of Stax as a teenager, he became a master in the art of recording and a mentor to several generations of studio dwellers and performers – and the veteran was an artist, too, a musician and a photographer of note whose shots of Martin Luther King and Dusty Springfield considered classics.

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Robert Hunter’s “Tiger Rose” Sees Anniversary Release

March 26, 2025

Having a poet as permanent collaborator of a rock band seemed to have been a strictly British things, what with Peter Sinfield being a non-playing member of KING CRIMSON and Keith Reid of PROCOL HARUM and Betty Thatcher an outside contributor to RENAISSANCE fare, yet at least one American ensemble engaged a wordsmith too. Robert Hunter was an integral part of GRATEFUL DEAD legend, co-penning such perennials as “Dark Star” and “Truckin'” and remained within the collective’s circle for decades and also helping out his friends like LITTLE FEAT, who’s forthcoming platter features several of the late veteran’s lyrics sets. Less known are his solo albums of which 1975’s “Tiger Rose” is a well-respected classic that, over the years, saw a few reissues. Still, one scheduled for release on March 28th promises to be definitive. Well, almost.

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Eric Bell Observes His Past On Long-Awaited Album

March 25, 2025

An important part of Irish music history, Eric Bell remains rather underestimated as a solo artist and, such strong personal statements as "Exile" notwithstanding, the guitarist will eternally be associated with the ensemble he helped found. Bell’s latest resurgence was difficult to like, the veteran adding fresh instrumentation to classic THIN LIZZY numbers to produce "Acoustic Sessions" which didn’t succeed in restoring the past. Still, it was this experience that possibly inspired Eric to write a series of pieces about his musical journey.

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Bernie Marsden’s Posthumous Album Wraps Up His “Inspirations”

March 24, 2025

The great Bernie Marsden may have untimely left this world back in 2023, but his legacy lives on and keeps on growing. The guitarist’s last album was “Working Man” that hit the shelves shortly before his passing, yet three Marsden records that preceded it were collection of perennials which presented his homage to blues giants. Bearing the “Inspirations” legend and sharing the artwork, 2021’s “Kings” gathered pieces by Albert, B.B. and Freddie of the titular surname; “Chess” from the same year collected numbers released on the titular label; and 2022’s “Trios” comprised classics by three-strong power combos. Still, Bernie’s death doesn’t mean the series is over – it will be wrapped up on May 9th, when “Icons” will get issued.

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