​Emanuel Casablanca, the former Gibson USA artist, masterfully shows his prowess as a guitarist on this release. With a lots of guest artist, and a solid and consistent backing beatlaid down by the rhythm section, this album achieves many new heights. 

​World famous flamenco singer Tomás de Perrate impresses with his album Tres Golpes (Three Blows); a groundbreaking (r)evolution in flamenco music.

​Matt T Wall is a merciless guitar prodigy, a virtuoso who knows how to keep the attention on every song. With all those creative twists he now promotes 'Live Down Underground'. With his genre-breaking music styles, the always energetic and powerful Matty T Wall distills a diversity of music styles. 

Billy Jack Wills, the youngest of the Texas Wills Western Swing dynasty, which also included the well-known Bob Wills, is the next artist to be featured in the 'Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight' series. Unlike his brother Bob, Billy Jack didn't quite get the success he deserved. At Bob's suggestion, Billy Jack held the positions of drummer and bassist in his band the Texas Playboys for a while. But Billy Jack also contributed to the success of the Texas Playboys as a vocalist and songwriter. He lent his bluesy voice to 'Cadillac In Model 'A' and wrote the lyrics for Bob's smash hit 'Faded Love'.
Jack's performances flirted with rock 'n' roll and their covers of the then scoring rhythm & blues songs drew the crowd to the dance floor. Also unique is the sparse application of jazzy elements. You can convince yourself of this with the 31 tracks of this compilation.
This compilation not only honors Billy Jack Wills, but also shows how he managed to combine Western Swing with rock 'n' roll and jazzy outbursts at the time. For that alone, he should have become more famous.

​Dylan Triplett's debut album opens up a lot of perspectives and immediately answers the question 'Who Is He?' The sound of the release ‘Who Is He?’ can best described as soulful blues, with an occasional jazzy undertone. Triplett’s 4 and a half octave vocal is extremely suitable for its intended sound. He has what it takes to fuse blues, R&B and jazz into his wonderful soulful estouffade. Highly recommended release! 

​All in all, the album is a perfect combination of styles and genres, old and new, hi-fi and lo-fi, but the sound is still unique Chicken Grass. The more you listen to the album, the more it grows on you. You can hear the depth of the songs and the experience of the band with each playthrough. The band gets inspiration from different styles of Afro-American rhythm music: funk, soul, hip hop and jazz. ‘Chicken Grass’ out on CD / Digital on July 1st 2022 via Cattrack Records.

​The third volume of 'The Elvis Presley Connection' focuses on the music that inspired Presley on the one hand, and on the other hand you get a number of covers of songs that were immortalized by the King. The songs featured here are songs Elvis recorded between 1962 and 1966. Some of the covers on this compilation are rather rare and were recorded for UK and US budget labels. In addition, a number of well-known names are also present.
The 34-page full-color booklet contains, in addition to often rare photos, all information about the tracks and the performing artists by German Elvis expert Helmut Radermacher.
For Presley fans who want to know everything about the songs their idol released between 1962 and 1966, this edition is a must have.

​With ATA’s Early Works Vol.2 we have the confirmation that even old music can be perfect to celebrate a new dawn. ‘Early Works Vol.2’ out on LP / Digital on June 24th 2022 via ATA Records

​Californian singer-songwriter/guitarist Brad “Guitar” Wilson has appropriated a soulful contemporary sound after all these years. Considered by his audience as one of the most talented guitarists, Brad is also an exciting entertainer. Now he has this self-titled album to promote. Besides some cover songs, we also find wonderfully clever original compositions. 

​One of the most original singer-songwriters of the century, look out for a live performance!

​Sun, sea and beach immediately evoke a holiday atmosphere. Due to the pandemic measures, beach visits have not been taken for granted in recent years. Fortunately, there are now fewer restrictions and sunny weather lures us again en masse to water and sand. If you also want the right music to accompany you, then the compilation 'Destination Beach' released by Bear Family is the perfect soundtrack. Thirty tracks recorded in the late fifties and early sixties will undoubtedly put you in the right mood. Well-known and lesser-known songs and artists serve up brilliant rock 'n' roll, rockabilly, doo-wop and instrumental work.
However, don't be misled by the title 'Destination Beach', because even for those who opt for a 'staycation', these 30 songs are guaranteed to bring the holiday feeling to your home.

​Steve has been working on two album projects simultaneously over the past two years and they're both coming into full focus at this point.  The first project is called "Long Overdue," and we are currently looking at a mid-July 2022 release

Nigel Lees of Topsounds Records (UK) selected sixteen more gems from the vaults of Oak Records, Oak being the label of R.G. Jones studios in Morden and Wimbledon. The studio attracted innumerable groups, song-writers and session musicians buying a few hours of precious recording time to put down a couple of tracks. For most the Big Time never materialized, but R.G. Jones put out an amazing run of demos and acetates mostly featuring unknowns who would remain so. As we know, the sixties were a magic source of creativity and many a good tune is to be found here too, even if one is not always sure who’s playing on whose sessions. Unsurprisingly, the performers of two tracks are listed as ‘Unknown’.
Oak recorded every fashionable genre of the second half of the sixties, but curator Lees puts the stress on the emerging psychedelic moods, effects, sounds and lyrics. The Phaze surprise us with psychedelic beat and Zeitgeist lyrics (‘Long Hair, Dirty Shoes’), as do the duo Scott & Weller. Keith Dangerfield (later with The Honeycombs) has a voice that befits R&B, whereas Rowboat’s cover of ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’ is truly worth a listen.
Some of these musicians deserve a better label than ‘cult’, but after ’17 From Morden’, Topsounds prove again that the Anonymous and Forgotten are worth discovering and exploring. Radio 68  plays choice tracks on Sundays 17 and 24, and Tuesdays 19 and 26 July. 

​With 'Lovesick Blues', here performed by Joe Hinton, we arrive at the third volume in the 'Rhythm & Western' series. Compiler Little Victor once again bundled 28 country & western songs that, long before equal rights, were covered by black artists. Covering is actually not the right definition, because of their background of blues, rhythm & blues, gospel and soul, these artists gave the songs a completely different feel.
A series of well-known and lesser-known artists once again provide a great compilation in the equally sublime 'Rhythm & Western' series. Recommended!

​Brooklyn based folkband Barry Oreck brings the roots spirit with contemporary songs, softly framed with rhythm guitar, mandolin and weeping violin.

​Dennis Johnson has known as a world class slide guitar player, Johnson delivers an album of blues rockers, roots standouts mixed with gospel and country elements, and a slide guitar infused emotional instrumental. ‘Revelation’ is much more of a blues rock record. Check it out! 

​How beautiful to find love and music in a melting pot.  A much loved connection to the public included.

​With volume 3 in the 'R & B Goes R & R series, the Atomicat label serves us again 28 songs. Songs that were initially recorded by artists from the black community and could be classified under the name rocking rhythm & blues. As it often happened, white performers discovered their black colleagues' songs, recorded them, and called them rock 'n' roll. It is also remarkable, however, that the dividing line between the original rhythm & blues version and the rock 'n' roll version is often difficult to draw. Some songs were covered outright, while others added more rock 'n' roll. A mix of well-known and lesser-known artists once again makes an enjoyable album with versions of songs you've probably never heard before. To discover!

The band The Northern Steam forms a solid foundation for Lyle Odjick’s Chicago blues harmonica driven sound. What started as a blues cover band, with a swinging rhythm section and a stirring harmonica playing frontman, the formation has grown into an energetic blues rock band with its own foot-stamping sound. The album 'Through The Rain' is the highly anticipated debut album from Lyle Odjick & The Northern Steam. It is a blues rock album with ten songs, eight of which are originals. Highly recommended release! 

​If you need to learn Flemish, don’t listen to Flip Kowlier, you will be confused.
On the other hand, this album is the perfect example of Flemish singer-songwriters these days.

​Unfortunately, Lily Locksmith was unable to experience the release of her debut album. First, the release was delayed due to the pandemic, and on December 27, 2021, the sad news came that she had died of a severe brain haemorrhage. At the funeral, Patrik Staffansson, head of Sweden's Enviken Records, for whom Lily recorded, talked to her mother, who expressed her wish as follows: 'I want the whole world to hear her voice, release the album'. With her blessing, it was obvious. Lily Locksmith's debut album was to be released and has turned out to be one of the biggest surprises. From the first track, Lily convinces like no other. Her powerful, voluminous voice, her extremely tight and constructive playing band, the clever mix of own songs and covers immediately captivate you. Add to that Lily's enormous versatility and you get one hell of a debut album. In addition to being an excellent performer, Locksmith shows also her songwriter side. She does that in the bluesy written 'Praying' together with Staffansson. Finishing the songwriter's job alone, she immediately showcases in successor, the swinging 'Bad'. Guitarist Chris Bergström, who is responsible for several tracks, gave her the soulful 'Last Night', the swinging 'You Gotta Try' and the rockabilly leaning 'I Don't Need'.
Of the covers she puts down an enormously strong version of Nick Curran's 'Player'. That the blues also suits her, she proves with verve in 'Further Up On The Road'. Lily also knows how to bend a heck of a slow to her will. Listen to the Lloyd Price penned and sung into eternity by Little Richard 'Can't Believe You Wanna Leave'. Locksmith concludes with Bo Diddley's well-known 'What Do You Know About Love'. Although this album doesn't end completely, because Lily still treats you to an unmentioned track, where she shows the beautiful emotional side of her voice with only piano accompaniment.
With this debut album, Lily Locksmith had a golden ticket to a successful musical career. Too bad fate decided otherwise.

The cheerful 'Joy Ride' is the perfect opening song. It is immediately difficult to sit still on this southern and sunny caput. She keeps our attention in all songs. Marina Rocks has released her most different album. Highly recommended! 

​Japanese percussion virtuoso Stomu Yamashta rose to prominence in Europe in the early 1970s thanks to his work with the Red Buddha Theatre. Innovative label Island soon snapped him up and Yamashta would record no less than seven albums between 1972 and 1976, teaming up with a wide range of pioneers such as Hugh Hopper, Brian Gascoigne or Klaus Schulze. ‘Innovation’ is the key-word here. ‘What A Way to Live in Modern Times’ is basically a collage of deformed animal noises, thus criticizing the ways of Modern Man, including a cynical nod to the ‘modernization’ of Tokyo. Thanks to the percussion, you can actually hear the dice rolling in ‘Poker Dice’ – lasting a little under 19 minutes. ‘Memory of Hiroshima’ (nearly 9 minutes) begins and ends with a piercing air raid siren and it’s not difficult to guess what the explosive hard rock in-between stands for. Yamashta incorporates (and defies) jazz, electronic music and rock, eventually recruiting the likes of Stevie Winwood, Al Di Meola, Maxine Nightingale and Murray Had for ‘Go’, the album that comes closest to rock and prog, especially the live rendition on ‘Go …Live From Paris’. Produced by Paul Buckmaster, the latter should, in fact, feature on any list taking the innovative sounds of prog and rock seriously.
Don’t think about genres too much. This collection is named after… Vivaldi.
Thanks to Cherry Red, re-mastered versions are now available in a 7-cd box with an informative booklet.
Radio 68  will play choice tracks on Wednesdays 06 and 20 July.

​Michael Jonathan seems to be a ream troubadour with a broad view on folk.  Listen to his personal and emotional songs, you will be amazed.

​The rebirth of the roadhouse groove, stories about love and life.  Nothing much has changed for The North Star Band, except age.