The first officially released live album by Medeski, Martin & Wood, as well as their first acoustic recording since their debut, Tonic captures the best of several 1999 performances at the small New York City club of the same name. The group's playing is a nice mix of outside, bop, and funky grooves, but the difference here is that Medeski is unable to rely on the electric organ to produce effects. That often means his lines are busier and more staccato than usual, and, especially on "Invocation" and "Thaw," he takes spirited flights into the avant-garde with chaotic yet controlled flurries of notes. The group's rhythmic interplay, too, becomes more important in this context, with the grooves shifting around often enough to give the musicians more to react to.

With their new album, Rockville, due out on March 11th, UK-based AOR band FM have announced that due to the amount of interest generated in Rockville II, this album will now also get a standalone release via Riff City Records on March 25th. Originally only available as part of a two-CD Rockville package via the FM PledgeMusic campaign, Rockville II features ten new recordings, nine of which are new songs. The album also includes a new version of the song 'High', which was originally recorded by Steve Overland and Pete Jupp for the So! album Brass Monkey.

This album is pretty special and even though at the time of release, the melodic rock scene was pretty minimalist in terms of opportunities, a number of similar bands were kicking around, and managing to finally getting their demos released, after what seemed a lifetime. Bands that fall in these categories, which seem to have come from the similar stable as Mara are the likes of Stone Soup, Sunshine Jive, Stun Leer, Tour De Force and Shotgun Symphony.

Butthole Surfers - Hairway To Steven
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 258 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Blast First # BFFP 29 CD | Country/Year: UK 1988
Genre: Alternative Rock | Style: Psychedelic, Punk

The final album for the Surfers' legendary run on Touch and Go got a reception probably not even the band figured on – lead reviews in major music magazines, increasingly higher profiles, and more. As it is, though, Hairway is actually a touch lazy in comparison to the previous releases, sometimes sounding almost all too normal. When it connects, though, Steven works wonders, whether continuing in the punk/psychedelic fusion vein of the past or exploring a gentler, tuneful side…

The guitar is the uncrowned king of rock'n'roll instruments, and it sets the tone in other related musical genres as well. Here you have impressive introductions to the guitar playing of aces from different generations including major figures in rock, blues, soul and fusion. Live, without a safety net, they make their instruments sing, laugh and cry, rage and rejoice.

The first manifestation of a new sealed pact with our long time companions Horna, will be the release of their 9th full length album,entitled "Askel Lähempänä Saatanaa" (translated: A Step Closer to Satan).Musically the Band describes the album: "as a union of the early days raging hatred with fresh blood and currents. Our ninth full-lenght is also a step closer to Satan with it's lyrical approach, closing in on a necrospiritual atmosphere".

For a mild-mannered man whose music was always easy on the ear, Nat King Cole managed to be a figure of considerable controversy during his 30 years as a professional musician. From the late '40s to the mid-'60s, he was a massively successful pop singer who ranked with such contemporaries as Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and Dean Martin. He shared with those peers a career that encompassed hit records, international touring, radio and television shows, and appearances in films. But unlike them, he had not emerged from a background as a band singer in the swing era. Instead, he had spent a decade as a celebrated jazz pianist, leading his own small group. Oddly, that was one source of controversy. For some reason, there seem to be more jazz critics than fans of traditional pop among music journalists, and Cole's transition from jazz to pop during a period when jazz itself was becoming less popular was seen by them as a betrayal.