Volume Two by The New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers

Stony Plain Records announces a March 26, 2021 release date for New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers Vol. 2, the second edition of music from roots “supergroup,” New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers featuring Charlie Musselwhite, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Jimbo Mathus, the late Jim Dickinson, and North Mississippi Allstars members Luther Dickinson and Cody Dickinson. I reviewed volume one last august so I was looking forward to hearing this volume.  This eleven track album features such great tracks as Blues For Yesterday, Messin’ With The Kid, Millionaire Blues, Blue Guitar, Greens And Ham and so much more.  I was quite moved by the performance on this album as well as the great songwriting talent and a superb recording.  This is an exceptional addition to your blues music library which will be available from Amazon, Walmart, Spotify, and all other outlets where CDs and digital downloads are sold.

Wyoming by Randy Lee Riviere

Wyoming is the February 26, 2021 album soon to be released by Singer/songwriter Randy Lee Riviere.  This albumfeatures thirteen all-original songs with a band that includes producer Kevin McKendree’s world-class keyboard and guitar work, as well as solid contributions from James Pennebaker (Delbert McClinton) on pedal steel, fiddle, mandolin and guitar; Kenneth Blevins (John Hiatt) on drums; David Santos on bass; and Yates McKendree as special guest lead guitar on one track.  This album also showcases a great mixture where you will find instrumentals, ballads – a full spectrum of country, rock and folk music … from the upbeat to melancholy; stories about the human condition of the past and present.  I was impressed with this thirteen track album which features such songs as Lots To Say, Fences, Riverdale, Red Rain, the title track Wyoming and so much more.  I was amazed by the performance on this album as well as the great songwriting and superb recording.   I found this album a great album to enjoy in the morning while having my morning coffee.

San Fernado Blitz by Sandy McKnight and Fernando Perdomo

After last January’s release of their successful first collaboration, Albany-area artist Sandy McKnight and Los Angeles’ ubiquitous multi-instrumentalist/producer Fernando Perdomo are about to hit the road running with this year’s model, San Fernando Blitz.  This is my second review for this duo after doing a review of their EP San Fernando Beat, which was met with wide acclaim, with critics and fans alike.  Fernando Perdomo has the record of most reviews on my blog with fourteen so far.  This six track EP features the songs Living On The West Side, C’mon C’mon C’mon, Melody Anne, Pay It Any Mind, Why Make Promises? and Seven Words.  This EP showcases the duos great songwriting skills as well as a brilliant performance and a superb recording.  It is always a pleasure to hear their work. The EP is available for download  on Bandcamp, and streaming on Spotify, YouTube, and Soundcloud.

Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces by Seether

Myself being a collector of vinyl, I was quite happy when I found out that this particular album was finally released on vinyl.  Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces is the fourth studio album by South African rock band Seether. The album was released in South Africa and Switzerland on 19 October 2007 and released worldwide on 23 October 2007. The lineup on this amazing album features Shaun Morgan on lead vocals and guitar, Dale Stewart on bass and baking vocals, John Humphrey on drums and Troy McLawhorn on guitar (on two tracks).  This is the first album without lead guitarist Pat Callahan.  This amazing release features three singles, Fake It, Rise Above This and Breakdown have been released from the album with all three being top 10 singles.  One major difference in the vinyl version and the CD version is the omission of their take of George Michael and Wham’s hit Careless Whisper. Other notable songs on this two album release are FMLYHM (Fuck Me Like You Hate Me), Fallen, Don’t Believe and much more.  This release features great songwriting by Shaun Morgan as well as brilliant performance and a superb recording.  I presently own a complete library of this band and had the privilege of meeting this band in 2018 when they played at 98 Rock Fest in Charleston, South Carolina.  To get a copy of this album on vinyl go to https://www.merchbar.com/

A Sting In The Tale by Ten Years After

Fifty years after the release of their eponymous debut album in 1967, Ten Years After released a studio album containing twelve newly written tracks. The album A Sting In The Tale released through Butler Records (CD) and Music on Vinyl (LP) on October 20^th, 2017. As well as original members Ric Lee (Drums) and Chick Churchill (Keys), the band now features Bass Icon Colin Hodgkinson(Peter Green, Spencer Davis, Chris Rea) and multi-award winning Guitarist/Vocalist Marcus Bonfanti (Van Morrison, Ginger Baker, Ronnie Wood). I have been a fan of this band since their famous performance of I’m Going Home with the late Alvin Lee doing the vocals and guitar at Woodstock in 1969.  This twelve track album still features their great rock and blues sound with such tracks as Land Of The Vandals, Up In Smoke, Retired Hurt, Two Lost Souls, Last Night Of The Bottle and so much more.  This album showcases an amazing performance, brilliant songwriting and superb recording. After 50 years, this band is still as strong as ever, and hopes they will be doing live performances soon.  In closing, I want to give Decko Entertainment a big thank you for sending me this amazing CD and looking forward to any other CDs or Vinyl they send my way.

Uncommon Measures by Lyle Workman

Known both as a first-call sideman/session musician and a top-shelf film composer with credits including “Superbad,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” prolific guitarist Lyle Workman will release Uncommon Measures, his first solo album in a more than a decade, on February 19, 2021, via Blue Canoe Records.  This nine track instrumental album features mixing elements of progressive rock, jazz fusion, and romantic classical music with such tracks as North Star, Imaginary World, Unsung Hero, Rise And Shine and much more.  I was impressed with the performance on this album as well as his songwriting talent and a superb recording.  This is an album that you need to check out and is available on CD and digital download from Amazon, apple music and many other music retailers.

Up Front by Annicia Banks

Up Front is the debut solo album by Annica Banks, a reggae singer-songwriter from Kingston, Jamaica scheduled for release in stores and online March 5, 2021 on the Raw Vue Music Records label.  This album will introduce her own original songs, including an collaboration with the late and legendary Bob Andy, and as the first single a cover of the Dennis Brown hit Love Has Found Its Way featuring original saxophonist Dean Fraser will release online February 5, 2021. Annica showcases her amazing voice with a nice mixture of soul and reggae with such other tracks as Jamaica Forever, Hush, Restore My Soul and so much more.  This album also features an amazing performance, great songwriting talent and a superb recording.  This is an album you need to add to your reggae library.  You will be able to get your copy on CD and digital download from Bandcamp, and other music outlets.

Fabrique Deluxe by Fashion

Fabrique was the British new wave band Fashion‘s 1982 second album released on the Arista Records label.  Now there is a deluxe version of this album as a limited number box set containing: 4 CDs 60 Page Colour Booklet Signed & Numbered certificate of authenticity 4 8×10 photos A3 poster Reprint of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens Ticket available January 31, 2021. This album features De Harriss on vocals, guitar, bass and keyboards, Mulligan on synthesizer and vocals, Martin Recchi on bass and vocals and Dik Davis on drums, percussion and vocals. The album included the UK hit singles Streetplayer and Love Shadow.  This collection also features Whitestuff which was featured in the television show Miami Vice’s two-hour season 2 opener Prodigal Son and You Only Left Your Picture were featured in another episode.  Disc two and three are remixes and dub versions of the songs on the first disc the disc four features tracks from Dave and Zeus’s Birmingham gig on September 24th 2019.  I was impressed with the performance on this collection as well as their songwriting talent and a superb job in recording and production.  This collection is available from https://www.musicglue.com/fashion-fabrique-deluxe/

A Sky Full Of Ghosts by Sonus Umbra

A Sky Full Of Ghosts is the new album by Chicago based band Sonus Umbra released December 22, 2020 featuring Luis Nasser on bass, Roey Ben-Yoseph on lead vocals and percussion, Rich Poston on guitar and keyboards, Steve Royce on flute and keyboards, Tim McCaskey on guitar, Andy Tillotson on drums and guitar and Bill Harrison on drums and percussion.  This nine track progressive rock features amazing vocals and instrumentation and I love how they start their songs soft and build up heavier from there with such tracks as Antidentity, Hidden In The Light, Losing My Insanity, Time Is Running Out and much more.  I enjoyed this performance from start to finish and would love to add this amazing album to my library, I just wish it was available on vinyl.  This album also features great songwriting and a superb recording.  This recording is available on CD and digital download from Bandcamp, shadowsmadeofsound.com/store and other music retailers. This is a band that I need to find a way to get their complete CD Library to see the growth of this band.

Balls To The Wall by Velocihamster

Good Morning everyone!  I have just finished listening to the album Balls To The Wall by Velocihamster on on Born Free Then Caged Music  This amazing album is a mixture of heavy metal and progressive rock with the superb lineup of Sean Williamson on lap steel guitar and vocals, Matt Turner and Alex Lofoco on fretless bass guitar, Eric Kummer, Chris Oelke, Sean Smith, Matt Rhyner and Terry Jeanes Jr. on drums and Paul Kneevers on organ.  Most people associate a lap steel guitar with Country, but Sean proved everyone wrong on this album which features such great tracks as Trap, Misirlou (made famous by Quentin Tarentino’s 90’s classic Pulp Fiction), Fall, First Tube (a Phish’s jam band classic), Baba and so much more.  I love how this album was written, performed and recorded.  It also features a stellar mastering effort by Gary Tanin & additional engineering by Jeff Hamilton & Kneeverland Productions.  This album is available in digital format on Amazon, Apple Music and other retailers.  If you want something more physical you can Pre-order special edition vinyl LP in ‘silver foil’ jacket for $30  which includes a digital download from https://velocihamster.net/ballstothewall/.  I plan to add this one to my vinyl library myself.  In closing, I want to thank my friend Gary Tanin for turning me on to this superb album.

Artwork by Steven Bossler