​Nathan Carter can easily warm up his fans with country and folk structures in a popular canvas.  Great appearance.

​Progressive metal full of melody and a touch of gothic inside.  Wonderful debut from this Dutch band Meadows, indeed!

​This is the debut album of crooner Reggie Pryor from Singapore. The central theme is love in all its aspects. And Reggie knows how to bring those songs. I’m sure in the future, we’ll hear more from him! 

​This is guitarist Larry Newcomb’s third album as a leader. It’s his most inventive and mature recording to date, and brings an original approach by playing creative jazz. 

​Melodic blues and rock songs on Tim Woods third solo album.  For the intensive listener a wake-up call to mother nature.

​This album will appeal to fans of Americana, with hints of folk and country. The central theme of the album is love, that will help us overcome problems. 

​Mungo Jerry started their career with two No. 1 hits in the UK (‘In the Summertime’, 1970 and ‘Baby Jump’, 1971), managing no less than seven Top 20 entries in the UK between 1970 and 1974. That feat alone suffices to welcome this comprehensive 2cd release by BGO Records, comprising all the singles on the UK label Dawn, plus overlooked and rare tracks from (foreign) singles and EPs, all digitally re-mastered. Though front-man and main composer Ray Dorset wasn’t afraid of recycling a riff or two, you would be surprised by the range of styles the group mastered, usually disguised as a mixture. The basic foundation inspired by no-nonsense styles such as jug and skiffle plus some simple instrumentation (kazoo, washboard) is misleading, as the group makes a of point of spicing things up with mean electric guitar licks, soulful horns, uncouth vocals and tough rhythms. One moment Dorset and Co. let loose an acoustic blues only to switch to plain rock’n’roll (‘Little Miss Hipshake’, ‘Glad I’m A Rocker’) moments later, but they may equally opt for some heavy guitar (‘No Girl Reaction’). The result is always infectious: you just must sing or scream along and it’s nigh impossible to sit still. Finally, Dorset-the-lyricist speaks out against conservatism and mass madness (the Bomb), propagating the hippie philosophy of pacifism and love instead.
I’m a long-time fan of the band and I’ve cherished their wonderful seventies LPs as well. While awaiting their re-release, I’m settling for the original vinyl pressings and this wonderful collection. Peace! 

Inspire yourself with the theatrical songs and modest instrumentals from Lars Tanèsy.  After a few listens your imagination starts to work. Nice record!

​This album is the musical adaption of the science fiction novel ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ by the late Ursula K. Le Guin. Erik Dahl proves that a (favorite) book can be successfully transformed into sound & music. 

​This sixth album by Australian folk singer Kaurna Cronin contains 10 self-composed tracks. The lyrics have a content, and it’s a hint to those who love Neil Young, Bob Dylan etc. 

​Missed in 2010, but now one of my favourite albums.  Beautifully remastered….To get emotional in soft prog, you have to be a very good composer.

​This is the first in a trilogy of collaborations from guitarist Samo Salamon with other European guitarists. These 11 tracks are mostly improvised, but guitar fans will love them. 

​Besides Bobby Gentry's coversong 'Ode To Billie Joe', Cathy Grier wrote fifteen great songs. And they diverge from beautiful swampy funky songs to emotional ballads and delicious Chicago blues harp inspired songs. A well-balanced album!

​This is the debut album of this quintet from the Baltimore/Washington area. They serve East Coast jazz with their own original compositions.

​This debut album by Jeff Ellwood’s quartet is a must for those who like their jazz straight ahead, with lots of improvisations. Each of the players is a leader in his own right. 

​A soulful voice with a harp full of passion! Diane Blue is the definition of the blues. The release "Look For The Light" is therefore a welcome addendum in the collection of any true blues lovers!

​Really different sound compared to their ‘Now or Never’ album.  Melody is definitely a great singer-songwriter with narrative poetry in her fingers.  Electropop with content…not obvious!

​Inspired by the current and formerblues-rock pioneers, the band Beauwater was founded in 2008 in St. John's, Canada. And in that short span of time they have built up a versatile sound and fan base. Singer / guitarist Jonathon Reid, Greg Newhook (bass) and drummer Mike Maddox are now holding their third studio album 'Who Works For Who?' under the baptismal found. The basis remains solid blues rock, although the band aromatizes many songs with deep bluestunes. T The title track is an instant blast of a rock song. The dance is deployes…!

​This new album with southern soul is for me a real discovery. I thought that this sound had gone forever. This must be also great to hear in a live setting! Highly recommended! 

​This album will appeal to jazz as well as to jazz funk lovers. It shows Justin perfect as guitarist and bandleader. 

​Simone Kopmajer knows how to capture the magic of Christmas with this album full of Christmas joy. This is an album that I recommend!

​You may remember UK band Fancy because they had a top ten hit with ‘Wild Thing’ in 1973. That’s In the US, where they were really popular for a few years. Also, you may remember them because Ray Fenwick (Tee Set, After Tea, Spencer Davis) and Mo Foster (Affinity, Nucleus, Michael Schenker) were the core of the band, the former writing most songs with producer Mike Hurst. Fancy produced a mixture of Stevie Wonder, basic seventies rock and funk, which is sometimes labelled as ‘glam rock’. This mixture works rather well with tunes like ‘Wild Thing’, a new song like ‘Move On’ (Mike Hurst / Ray Fenwick) and even Leiber & Stoller’s ‘I’m A Woman’. It does not work  properly at all on ‘One Night’ (don’t try beating Elvis), whereas other self-written tunes such as ‘Touch Me’ (their second hit) sound entirely outdated. The band is at its best on the second album, when they were turning towards a jazz-blues-soul feel, e.g. ‘Bluebird’ (released a Ray Fenwick & Fancy), Stevie Wonder’s ‘ I Was Made To Love Him’ (Fancy had a female singer) and Mose Allison’s ‘Everybody’s Cryin’ Mercy’. This approach allowed them to show the talent on board, but didn’t yield any commercial success. After the usual ‘smash hit – tour - LP- another hit - second LP’ carrousel, the group called it a day in 1975.
This re-mastered re-release by Cherry Red (3cds) comprises all their recordings, including an unreleased live set at Ronnie Scott’s (of average sound quality), plus an unreleased radio interview. Bonuses are a new song by Fenwick and one by Foster.
The story is told in a nicely illustrated 20-page booklet. Radio 68  (www.radio68.be)  plays excerpts in ‘Rock On’ on Wednesday 30 December. 

​The debut EP of the Belgian-Chilean singer Marylène Corro contains 5 original tracks, that take you on a poetic journey, with English and French songs, situated in jazz and French chanson. 

​Tassin brings a coherent album, that pulls us to the frontier between dream and reality. And the tracks form a uniform total. Jazz with hints of blues, rock and film music. 

At a time when American soul artists rarely performed over here, Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band’s live shows displayed a wonderful sample of all things bright en soulful on Atlantic, Stax and Motown. His dynamic dance parties appeared on live albums that sold rather well. Typically, his only studio album sold poorly. The British adored Washington – the hand-clappin’ & foot-stompin’ show put on by this  black American stationed in the UK was as close to authentic soul as you could get, including a seven-piece band with horns and organ. For a while, Washington couldn’t do wrong and was even rewarded with hit singles such as ‘Michael’.  Was he a mere imitator or cover artist? Surely not. He sped everything up and rolled any song into the funky, sweaty soul mould, including evergreen ‘Que sera sera’ or a Beatles tune such as ‘Day Tripper’.  All in all, Washington was a stage animal who needed an audience that longed for a party. Recordings will never do him 100% justice. This re-mastered 3cd compilation on BGO Records gathers all his sixties albums, singles and EP tracks on Pye, a handful of unreleased Pye studio outtakes plus a series of singles issued later. As we have now been familiar with American soul music for decades, I’d say that Washington’s relevance today lies in his rendition of lesser-known soul songs (e.g. Eddie Floyd’s ‘Raise Your Hand’), straight pop such as The Troggs’ ‘Hi Hi Hazel’ and even the aforementioned ‘Que sera sera’. He’s always powerful and witty too. For some reason, I have returned a few times to his only studio album, Shake A Tail Feather, an underrated piece of work showing that there was a lot more to Washington than shouting and stomping. The attraction ended when pop went psychedelic and we got access to the original artists. Nevertheless, Geno Washington returned to the stage and can still be seen entertaining audiences all over the UK.
A selection from his LPs can be heard in ‘Long-playtime’ on Radio 68  on Mondays 28 December and 04 January.