​Tas Cru is known as a blues eclectic who refuses to let his music be bound to just one blues style, making him truly one of the most unique of bluesmen plying his trade today! You get it all from Tas, swing, shuffle, blues ballad, country blues and then he’ll rock your knobs off. 

​The Atomicat label recently started a new series with 'Jungle-A-Rama' and a new series will soon see the light of day, but that will have to wait a while. The existing series are also very popular and it is therefore logical that new volumes are coming onto the market. You could already read the reviews of the third volumes of 'Bop-A-Rama' and 'Stroll-A-Rama' here. Now it's the turn to 'Jive-A-Rama'. True to tradition, this compilation again contains 30 songs released between 1953 and 1962. With 'Just To Hold My Hand' a beautiful rhythm & blues from 1955 by Paul Perryman we are ready for more than an hour of steamy music. Vocal delights, rocking rhythm & blues, rock 'n' roll and rockabilly follow in a lightning fast way.
It needs no further explanation. You can also summarize this volume in four words, namely NOT TO BE MISSED!

The brainchild of Qualified Records, an independent record label based out of Nashville, TN, Let It Bleed Revisited features The Rock House All Stars (Kevin McKendree on keyboards and percussion, Yates McKendree on drums, John Heithaus on bass and Rob McNelley on electric and acoustic guitars) as the “house band”, with a variety of lead singers and guest musicians adding their various talents to different tracks. 

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​In the fifties to about the mid-60s, a lot of solid rhythm & blues, blues, rock 'n' roll and rockabilly were recorded in America. Recordings that could not always count on a wide success, but which often deserved it. It is therefore a pity that many of those recordings would never make it to our living room, if the Atomicat label did not exist. A first possibility could have been to randomly put those recordings together on albums, but unfortunately they would not always do justice to them. To avoid this problem and to release these songs in a proper and orderly way, creativity is needed. Creativity to always find new and appropriate perspectives for this. And that is precisely where the Atomicat team succeeds. This is also the case with this new series 'Duet-A-Rama', an album that bundles 28 known and less known and perhaps even forgotten duets. Duets can be one-off, although there are also duos that have a long life.
Whether the genre is rock 'n' roll, rhythm & blues, rockabilly or something a little more country, superior harmony vocals are the glue between them all.
Many of the artists recorded here operated under various names. You can learn all about this in the extensive liner notes from Mark Armstrong.
'Duet-A-Rama' shows surprising duets and since it concerns 'volume 1', there will certainly be a sequel soon. To discover!

​A deep calling led them both to the blues, and the blues brought them together in 2010. For more than a decade, Jen "Lil' Red" Milligan and Pascal "The Rooster" Fouquet have refined their style. Now they have to promote their second album 'Keep On!'. Together with engineer Blaise Barton of the acclaimed Chicago JoyRide Studio, drummer Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith and Felton Crews on bass, they entered the studio. They also invited blues harp virtuoso Grammy nominee Billy Branch to make a guest appearance on the title track and baritone saxophonist Jean-Marc Labbé appears on several tracks. The album is a melting pot of modern blues authenticity!

​One of the treasured benefits of traveling the world playing music is that you accumulate a wide circle of friends, like minded souls and collaborators on your journey. Croatian blues singer, songwriter and harmonica player, band leader, blues educator, radio DJ, festival organizer and recording artist, the inexhaustible Tomislav (Tomi) Goluban celebrates his two decades as a performer by bringing some of those friends together for his 14th studio album, 20 Years On The Road.

​The previously released 10-part series 'Boss Black Rockers' was such a success that the KokoMojo label fortunately added a sequel with 'More Boss Black Rockers'. A sequel that certainly does not compromise on the quality of the associated tracks. After all, the treasury in which compiler Little Victor is grabbing still contains a lot of danceable, formidable and not always known gems.
Powerful vocals, rousing rhythms, vicious guitar sounds and heated saxes, you will find it all on this fourth volume. With 'Sure Look Good To Me' to be released in January, we are already half way through the 'More Boss Black Rockers' series. In any case, we are already looking forward to it!

​'Fruit Of The Void' is the new long player from the band Kosmo Sound. Solid bass lines, tight drums and a lot of extraordinary melodies from these Ghent dub formation. This sextet strives almost chronically to push its musical boundaries. 'Fruit Of The Void' is not a musical fruit of emptiness…!

​The release 'Changing Time' exudes the soul of the blues. An existent and refreshing mode of modern blues music. This is flawless blues and soul! Blues and soul once again with Silent Partners and their album ‘Changing Times’, yet another example of sidemen reaching the bright lights. But these aren’t just any sidemen. It is the mission of the Little Village Records label to bring lesser-known, authentic artists to the recording studio. Hereby…! Highly recommended..!

​With the 30 tracks that adorn volume 3 in this series, it's boppin' time again. The golden years were between 1947 and 1962, the period in which these tracks were also recorded. There is no lack of diversity at this volume either. Wild or not, rockabilly goes hand in hand with country, hillbilly, Western swing and foot-stomping blues.
Rock 'n' roll with a more than fantastic drum solo comes first with Gene Watson's 'Drummer Boy Rock'. Immediately the tone is set for more than an hour of 'boppin'.
In short, this volume also contains catchy music. Not surprising, given that Atomicat's slogan is still 'killers and no fillers'.

​For the follow up to his sixth Billboard #1 album, The Blues Is Alive And Well, Buddy reunited with his Grammy Award winning producer/songwriter and longtime collaborator Tom Hambridge, to bring us even more emotionally charged music with even more bone-chilling hard earned lyrics and lessons.

​In this new series, the Atomicat label focuses on rocking songs with the theme of the 'jungle'. Between 1953 and 1963 it was a popular theme, on which many artists could give free rein to their creativity. The fascination for the jungle and everything related to it, however, did not originate in the fifties. The interest in this already dates back to 1912, when Edgar Rice Burroughs published his 'Tarzan Of The Apes'. Its film adaptation made new fans, including young rockers, who immediately poured the theme into songs. Mark Armstrong collected 28 of those songs that take you on a musical safari, full of rocking rhythm & blues, rock 'n' roll and atmospheric instrumentals.
You have to give it to the Atomicat crew that launching series around a certain theme, they do damn well. That makes this 'Jungle-A-Rama' series another one to collect.

Italians still love his music: warm, gentle and intimate recognizable.  But also very emotional engaged.

​They sell their souls to the devil and we… well, we get another great album in return. London-based voodoo blues band Jo Carley and The Old Dry Skulls are reviving that old myth and promoting the record 'I'll Put My Voodoo On You', a long player where vaudeville, blues and skiffle conspire once again, and this in eleven stories of terror, love and the fate of the eerie and magically weird world around Jo Carley and The Old Dry Skulls.
Watch out, we are really excited to announce that our fourth album 'I'll Put My Voodoo On You' is out now! Following on from 'Voodoo Bones & Vaudeville Blues', another chapter is here. Having escaped the witchdoctor she is now the ruler of all life on the island. ‘I’ll Put My Voodoo On You’, eleven tales of terror, love and destiny from the creepy and magical weird world of Jo Carley and the Old Dry Skulls. Check it out…!

​In 2020, the Atomicat label started this series and a year later the second volume appeared and now volume three is being released. Like the previous releases, this volume again contains not to be underestimated rockabilly, rock 'n' roll, energetic rhythm & blues in all its forms and doo-wop, as well as some not to be underestimated instrumental tracks. All tracks were recorded between 1956 and 1963.
If you like wonderful vocals, razor-sharp guitar work and scorching saxes, then this album is for you. All this in a superior sound quality and since the eye also wants something, Henrique San was again able to guarantee a suitable cover.
'Are you ready to stroll?' The 30 tracks on this album are happy to keep you company.

​Walker’s output spans the gamut of American Roots music, and he is regarded as one of his generation’s greatest bluesmen. 

​Atmospheric conceptual debutalbum from the Dutch band The One with a few guitar-based progrock songs.

That Tennessee and Arkansas were hotbeds of rocking rhythm & blues can be heard again at volume 26 in the 'Southern Bred R & B Rockers' series. After all, we are stopping in these regions for the sixth time. We kick off with a lady who recorded the song 'Rock And Roll Blues' for the De Luxe label in 1949. Her name is Erline 'Rock & Roll' Harris. She more than lives up to her nickname!
What follows next are pearls of rocking rhythm & blues dominated by piano, harmonica, saxes and guitars.
As mentioned earlier, Tennessee and Arkansas are home to rhythm & blues gems. This will also be apparent from the forthcoming volume 27, in which compiler Mark Armstrong will bundle even more rhythm & blues diamonds from the aforementioned regions for the last time.

​Her fan base has been asking for a live release for a while, which in turn is the ideal Christmas gift. Vanessa is a fresh fieselemie on stage, and she now embodies that in ten live tracks. She received backing from guitarist Laura Chavez, drummer Byron Cage, bassist Andrew Crane and William Gorman on piano, Hammond B3 and Rhodes. For those who have never seen Vanessa live on stage, this is the perfect opportunity. Anyone who has already experienced this, can give themselves a nice gift full of beautiful memories...!

Beautiful songs with a strong statement from South-Africa.  This is folklore with content, musically refined. 

​Mick Kolassa is one more than busy bee. The long player 'For The Feral Heart' is already the successor to 'They Call Me Uncle Mick!, which was released in the summer of 2022. It is his third album that will be released this year and every album has been given a theme. Now these are apparent love songs, but fortunately there is more than just love songs musically. The sound goes from blues, jazz, calypso, reggae and Americana standards. 

​Simply covering old blues and rhythm & blues songs is a sin many contemporary bands are guilty of. Fortunately they don't all do that, because sometimes, very occasionally a band makes such a debut album that you think to yourself, how is it possible that we had to wait so long for this. Well, let's pour clear wine right away. The Backyard Casanova's unleash a stunner of a debut with 'Backyard Stomp'. This quartet, consisting of Tommy J. Croole (voc., lead gtr.), Sidney Ramone (rhythm gtr., percussion), Lucky Luciano (double bass) and René Lieutenant (drums), is based in Bonn and also supports as The Cocks that other Germans promise, namely Cat Lee King. But now as The Backyard Casanovas, they clearly go their own way. In the 12 songs, which are a mix of their own songs and covers, the foursome immediately shows that they have craftsmanship. They immediately score with opener, the instrumental 'Chicken Stuff', a song by Hop Wilson & His Chickens. Because of the enormously solid rhythm section, the powerful raw sound and the frayed raw edges of the lead guitar you are immediately in the 'Backyard Stomp' story. Making covers to their liking and giving them a special twist is no problem for these gentlemen. They also prove that in Freddie Coaster's 'Be My Love', which here has been transformed into a straightforward rock 'n' roll song. Shufflewise, the Backyard Casanovas train rumbles on with the original ‘You Don't Give A Damn’, which showcases Tommy J. Croole's powerful voice. In addition, Tommy is also a talented lead guitarist. You will discover a nice example of this in the solo on 'I Ain't Botherin' Nobody'. Are boogies your thing? Then you will certainly get your money's worth on  'Hey Sweet Lady', propelled like a TGV, where Tommy shows his vocal stamina. The rock 'n' roll card draws the band into Jerry McCain's 'Geronimo Rock 'n' Roll'. But songwriter talent is also present in this foursome. 'Buzz Back Home' by drummer René Lieutenant testifies to this, a boogie floating on a wonderful riff. Another hip-activating boogie of their own comes with 'Scratchin'. On 'Big Fat Mama' by Hasil Adkins they present a contemporary interpretation of a classic rockabilly song.
The Backyard Casanovas find their inspiration in the fifties rhythm & blues and delta blues. Their raw sound, the powerful vocals and that wonderfully distorted lead and slide guitar also betray the influences of Hound Dog Taylor. They honor him in the last track, the rousing 'Take Five'.
'Backyard Stomp' is an incredibly good debut by The Backyard Casanovas. The pressing of the 'repeat' button needs no further explanation. Recommended!

According to Cherry Red, 1973 is the year when hippie-related Underground music was slowly but surely replaced by ‘progressive’ sounds – at least in the UK.  Well, a calendar doesn’t really matter, the success of ‘progressive’ music in the UK is a fact, as is its wide range of influences and modes of expression: rock, folk and blues, of course, but especially jazz and classical. Roundabout 50 tracks on 4 CDs are here to prove the point as you will come across all these influences by famous bands (Yes, Caravan, Manfred Mann), the less lucky but still influential and often very creative ones (Nektar!!) and, naturally, those that never really made it commercially speaking, such as John Lees or Spirogyra. I frowned my brows when I saw Al Stewart’s name, but I must admit he’s in the right room. The enit
As usual, Cherry Red presents re-mastered tracks only and provides a nice booklet.
Radio 68  plays choice tracks on Wednesday 07 December from 12 noon till 12 midnight CET. 

​With 'Burlesque A Rama' the label Atomicat starts a new series. The word 'Burlesque' comes from the Spanish 'burla' which means joke, fun and ridicule. For the roots of burlesque, we have to go back to the music halls and vaudeville theaters of 19th century America. The stage act performed there may have seemed ridiculous, but it was carefully staged by the dancers to seduce. During their act, they targeted a man in the audience. This man was set up and laughed at as the dancers frolicked around him and humorously teased him.
Naturally, the 28 tracks also have connections to love and seduction. By the way, the temperature immediately rises a few degrees with 'Fever', here in the version of singer and saxophonist Sam Butera. What follows are songs that can be classified as rhythm & blues, blues, rock 'n' roll and catchy instrumentals from 1948 till 1962, but above all they express the seductive musical characteristic of burlesque.
The recently launched 'Burlesque A Rama' once again puts a lot of great well-known and lesser-known artists in the spotlight. Volume 1 already makes us long for more!