​Goosebums from start to finish…‘That’s My Name’…!
Bob Stroger released now his first recording for Delmark Records as the band leader entitled ‘That’s My Name’. Bob, playing bass and singing, is backed on the recording by a very tight blues band out of Brazil….The Headcutters. The thirteen songs include five originals and a delightful array of covers of Ma Rainey, Eddie Taylor, Big Bill Broonzy, Casey Bill Weldon, and Herman “JR” Parker Jr. penned tunes. Smilin' Bob Stroger takes us back to the heyday of The Chicago Blues. What a blast of a release. Highly recommended…!

Beautiful country songs with honest content and strong musical accompaniment.  John Wort Hannam touches your heart.

​Peggy James was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but spent her childhood in Arizona. This has certainly influenced her music, which meanders on the border of pop, rock, country and Southern gospel. But despite everything, James' lyrics have always remained timeless and sincere. Her sixth album 'The Parade', which is the follow-up to Paint Still Wet' from 2020, was released on the label Happy Growl Records. Peggy mixes five new recordings with six songs. Her Americana and country inspired songs arz firm but friendly. Just like her alto voice sounds solid and pure.

​Do you also hate those 'après ski' nonsense and those meaningless songs that are only eager for ambiance? Well then there might be good news, because the German Bear Family is changing this with this album. 31 tracks that are touted as 'winter songs for your après ski party'. It should be noted that a broad musical taste is necessary. After all, not only do you take a journey through time with this compilation, but you also dive into the most diverse music genres. For example, this album contains songs that were recorded between 1939 and 1973. As far as genres are concerned, we navigate between the style that was then labeled as variety show, to rock 'n' roll, blues, jazz, doo-wop, pop and country. Well-known and lesser known artists make this collector a true musical winter event.
A plus is that this album is also perfectly enjoyable during the long winter evenings at home. With a drink within reach and some candlelight, a pleasant evening is already waiting for you.

​For volume 23, entitled 'Rough Lover', we prick our ears for the third time to the rocking rhythm & blues from Tennessee and Arkansas. There is still so much to discover from that region, so this compilation contains a great mix of electric blues and rousing boogies with the piano in the lead. The region was a hotbed of talent and as a result produced a large number of well-known artists. So it makes sense that Big Maybelle, Sonny Boy Williamson, Memphis Slim, Jimmy McCracklin, Aretha Franklin, Rosco Gordon and Joe Hill Louis, to name just a few, can be found on this compilation.
Like every volume in the 'Southern Bred' series, volume 23 is again full of catchy rhythm & blues, blues, soul and rock 'n' roll at the highest level.
You want more? Just a little patience, because volume 24 entitled 'Dippin' Is My Business' is scheduled for release on February 25.

One of the best singer-songwriters of the US, miscellaneous and poetic, powerful in every bone. Recommended!

​Lata's 2018 release "Healed & Gone" was a live studio session that was re-released in April 2019. So now there's his new release 'Stay The Same', on the Timezone Records label. It contains ten original songs and sounds a lot more tight and dynamic  than his first two recordings. Perhaps because the songs were written and produced shortly after he became a father. The album was recorded at the Holtz studios in Luxembourg and co-produced by Charles Stoltz. ‘Stay The Same’ well this is heavenly  roots, rock and country! Highly recommended… 

​A highlight in the career of founder Hasse Fröberg.  HFMC grows in every album with melodic soulful progsongs

After the demise of Colosseum, drummer Jon Hiseman started Colosseum II, recruiting new personnel: Dan Airey (keys), John Mole (bass, see also the Morrissey Mullen band) and future blues hero Gary Moore. At the end of 1976, the quartet spent an entire week (!) in the studio and subsequently released two albums: ‘Electric Savage’ and ‘War Dance’.  BGO Records re-mastered both, offering them in one case together with an informative booklet.
The album titles are well chosen, since the music is uncompromising, loud, fierce, and, of course, with bandleader Hiseman’s drumming to the fore. ‘Inquisition’  - referring to the Spanish Conquistadores who wiped out entire civilisations and peoples - is a wonderful example: the musical perfectly captures the violence and the aggression, with Gary Moore offering a nice, but cynical flamenco-based guitar intermezzo. In other words: you need to listen several times to really catch these albums. Gary Moore’s guitar is prominent on other, often slower tracks, revealing the direction he will choose as a blues icon a few years later. Contrary to the original Colosseum, vocals are all but absent.
Two fine records that need your full attention.
Radio 68  will play choice tracks in ‘Rock On!’ on Wednesday 9 February from 11 a.m. till 11 p.m. 

Brock Davis searches for emotional truth in his album 'A Song Waiting To Be Sung'. As a songwriter, he descends deep below the surface, only to return with songs about love, loss and redemption. Songs that are honest, real and often heartbreakingly beautiful. In his music he mixes fingerstyle acoustic guitar tunes from contemporary folk, with howling guitartunes, a lots of backing vocals and a whirling piano and Hammond B3 organ. Thirteen roots rock songs, richly spiced up with slide guitar and country music. Highly recommended… 

​Without a personal invitation, you can't get into the mysterious Gentlemen's Club, where Sadie and her ladies rule. When the doorman opens the door for you after a checking look and shows you the way with an inviting wink, there is no escape. The red velvet-covered walls and the dimmed lights absorb you immediately. It is strange and outsiders label it as 'the house of sin'. The temptation eats your heart out and is reinforced by the music that the deejay carefully chose. Here's the setting for the new five-part Atomicat series, 'Sadie's Gentlemen's Club'. We do not speak of 'volumes' here, but of 'visits'. ‘Lover’ is the first visit in this series. Visit that is expressed in 30 songs, which saw the light of day between 1952 and 1963, supplemented by three tracks from the late 1940s. A colorful mishmash of hip shakers, popcorn, exotic rhythms, rhythm & blues, big band crooners and rock 'n' roll should not only provide the gentlemen a relaxing evening, but also ensure that money is in the drawer.
In short, 30 cool tracks that form the soundtrack for Sadie's seduction game. ‘Visit 02 Flirtin” will be released on February 15. Keep an eye on this site for reviews of this fantastic series!

A heavy progrock album that makes me happy.  Use the random button and you will enjoy twice of this concept album.

Two years after their beautiful psychedelic debut ‘We Are Ever So Clean’ (1967), Blossom Toes delivers quite a different product. Brian Godding (> B.B. Blunder, Julie Driscoll, Kevin Coyne) and Jim Cregan (> Family, Rod Stewart) are still in charge of most songs, but the sound is now heavy, the lyrics gloomy, the voices low and dark. Sure, there is still talk about peace and love (a ‘love bomb’!), but things sound grim and Poli Palmer’s drumming adds to the overall atmosphere. Is it just me? I prefer the songs that remind me of their debut, such as ‘Indian Sumer’. Though this is a rather fine album with nice harmonies and meaningful lyrics about peace, love and war, the overall ‘heaviness’ reminds me too much of similar heavy stuff released in 1969. The band would call it a day soon afterwards.
Cherry Red not only offers a re-mastered version of the album, but equally a dozen or so rarities and demos, of which I particularly like the unissued single ‘New Day’, maybe because it reflects their superior earlier stuff. A third disc is filled with live recordings from Belgium and fans may appreciate the show they did with Frank Zappy at the Amougies festival. The sound quality is only average, consider it a document.
Radio 68  plays choice tracks in My Generation on Sunday 6 and Tuesday 8 Feb., starting at 11 a.m. GMT

​Sugaray Rayford returns with the release ‘In Too Deep’. Combining classic soul melodies with funky R&B grooves, raw blues power and mashed up with modern sensibilities, the album takes on issues, such as PTSD, civil rights and social justice. With vibrantly detailed arrangements tailored to showcase Rayford’s deft portrayals and interpretations, ‘In Too Deep’ is a poignant album that seeks to inspire and uplift. With a musical star cast he went into the studio, the result: ten unsurpassed funky, soul and blues songs. ‘In Too Deep’ is a highly recommended release..!
And then now replay, please !

Part 837 in the neverending series ‘shameful confessions of an alleged music lover’: I know nothing about Fela Kuti. Nigerian musician, versatile, trailblazing, sure, but his musical output draws a blank. Time to address said oversight. Knitting Factory Records/Partisan Records issues a ‘50th Anniversary’ re-release of a jam session Kuti recorded with Cream drummer Ginger Baker in 1971. Both Kuti and Baker have kicked the bucket in the interim, but their music lives on. ‘Ye Ye De Smell’ is an insane track of nearly fifteen minutes long, a devilish samba that will entrance you. Quite the trip without substances, and a surefire invitation to a meeting with Beelzebub and/or Lucifer for those who prefer mind-expanding drugs. This re-release is well done: two drum solo bonus tracks, two red vinyl records and a nice rendition of the artwork as an etching on side 4.
Yours truly found ‘Live!’ a little too repetitive – the genius is in the groove, the sweat, the joy of the players, the command of the instruments, never in the lyrics. What lyrics, one could ask. The music is everything, the music as an enchanting incantation. Great stuff from two giants of music, but not entirely my cup of tea.
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​Last year, the first volume was published for Valentine, entitled 'Think Me A Kiss'. Now the Atomicat label releases 'Kiss Me', the second volume filled with 'Rock 'n' Roll Songs Of Happiness' and therefore the ideal soundtrack for a successful Valentine's Day celebration. Another 30 songs recorded between 1955 and 1961 that immediately put you in a happy mood. Catchy and danceable rock 'n' roll, rockabilly and doo-wop, which will perfectly support your Valentine's celebration.
So, get this album as soon as possible. It's a matter of being well prepared for the coming 'Valentine'!

A honest road trip with a lot of authenticity in the stories. Country folk at his best

​The band Novelty Island from Liverpool promote their debut album 'How Are You Coping with This Century?'. It is a very rewarding journey through a sunny and psychedelic songcraft. Most of the songs also have a penetrating alt-pop reference. Would a music city like Liverpool and his  ‘Beatlemania’ have something to do with it…

Traditional folk tunes beautifully uplifted with jazzy improvisations. Experimental? Yes, in a certain way, but very accessible.

​Peter Vesteska and band return to the essence of the blues. The Jersey boys are shopping around wildly, and many of the songs are truly party starters. Highly recommended..!