Jody Grind - One Step On

Jody Grind may seem like a strange name for a band in the late 1960s during the psychedelic scene. They were a part of the underground scene in London. Now I remember hearing some of Jody Grind’s music 10 years ago both on Internet Radio and on a Podcast, and then I lost sight of them. It wasn’t until I remember five years ago buying Mark Powell’s book, Prophets and Sages: An Illustrated Guide to Underground and Progressive Rock 1967-1975.

His book made me opened my eyes and I championed the book here on Music from the Other Side of the Room where it was more to just the big names of the Progressive Rock movement. And he is a great expert when it comes to the underground scene and through looking the overlooked and underrated bands in which I would called them “Hidden Treasures” that Long John Silver had completely forgotten while on the shores through their telescopes.

But let’s get to Jody Grind. The band released their debut album in 1969 on the Transatlantic Records label and now reissued by Esoteric Recordings this year, the band which was launched out of the brainstorming mind of Tim Hinkley (Bo Street Runners) wanted to follow in the inspirations between the late Keith Emerson, Vincent Crane, and Steve Winwood. The band considered Ivan Zagni on Guitar, Barry Wilson on Drums, Louis Cennamo on Bass Guitar (Paint it Black, Rock & Roll Man) and David Palmer (Jethro Tull) handling the horn arrangements.

Recorded at Morgan Studios in the Summer of that year, it’s hard to understand why the album itself never charted well and while they were well received by the Music Press in the U.K, in my opinion, they just weren’t ready for Hinkley mind-blowing work he brought to Jody Grind. Rock n’ Roll Man is Hinkley’s tribute to his hero Chuck Berry. The song is like a rolling adventure done in the style of Johnny B. Goode with the fast 12-bar blues rock that Zagni takes it into the mountains with a maximum sound.

Night Today begins with a walking jazz turned soulful awakening between Tim’s Organ, Louis’ Bass, along with the clean melodic chords by Ivan and Barry’s gentle laid-back drumming. Tim heads down into the R&B groove throughout his Organ in the styles of Graham Bond. He just hits the notes on the keys as the members follow his route. It’s a nights out into the streets of Soul-Jazz Rock.

The cannon blast of Little Message brings Palmer’s brass arrangements and blistering roars into the highway as Hinkley and Zagni take the center stage and almost having a ride into the thunderstorms of electricity. It’s a real stunning track that comes to mind between Chicago and The Nice. The opening 18-minute title track that the two of them wrote together is a great introduction and a magnum opus.

I got to admit Zagni plays well throughout his guitar improvisation. It is a cross of Jimi Hendrix, Tony Iommi, Martin Barre, and Frank Zappa. And then once they cover The Rolling Stones Paint It Black which closes the suite and after the ecstatic drum solo by Barry, it is a brilliant take of the song and full sonic force that the horn section adds the powers that be.

USA is a crunchy blues rock done in the styles of Traffic’s Mr. Fantasy-era. It is a dooming and haunting composition that you can imagine during the time period of what the States was going through. The two bonus tracks on the album contain an alternate version of Night Today and a single version of Rock n’ Roll Man.

The 16-page booklet contains liner notes about the history of the band done by Mark Powell along with psychedelic artwork which was the gatefold sleeve done by John Courage. While the artwork contains Hinkley paying homage to Arthur Brown wearing a wizard’s cape and hat by casting a spell in a dark-blue background, the music industry is not an easy place to be.

One Step On is a lost treasure and mind-blowing yet explosive album I’ve listened to. I have to give Esoteric a big amount of credit for reissuing this unearthed gem. The band would later do a follow-up which was their last album which will be reviewed either this year or in 2017 entitled, Far Canal. 

Keep Progressive Rock Alive

(The first issue of Prog Magazine, 2009)

Today’s news can’t be any good. I received a bit of surprise when I read online that TeamRock which was home to publications such as Classic Rock Magazine, Metal Hammer, and one of my favorites Prog Magazine, the people who worked their butts off on their articles, reviews, and interviews with these amazing bands, artists, and some who were up-and-coming, were laid-off. To me, it’s a hard blow, because for me these were the magazines I would sometimes pick up either at Barnes and Noble or on eBay at times. And they showed what was happening both old and new.

I became a writer/blogger back eight years ago thanks to reading the magazines such as Classic Rock Magazine and Commerical Music Forum when I was taking back at Houston Community College in my degree in Jazz Studies. I’ve always wanted to be a writer. The course I took which was I have to write five concert reviews and I had a great time and that was where I knew where I would build up.

The blog site wouldn’t have gotten started if it wasn’t not just Houston Community College, but magazines such as Classic Rock Magazine and Prog Magazine which launched back in 2009. I admired writers including Geoff Barton, Malcolm Dome, Natasha Scharf, Jerry Ewing, Dave Ling, Jo Kendall, and my favorite Sid Smith. Who I consider the mastermind expert of King Crimson. I was originally going to consider him, the Sherlock Holmes of King Crimson, but that would be too much.

Prog Magazine was the magazine that introduced me to bands such as; Panic Room, Magenta, Blood Ceremony, ASTRA, Iamthemorning, Within Temptation, Purson, Pure Reason Revolution, and Crippled Black Phoenix to name a few. Not to mention Steven Wilson's debut as a solo artist with Insurgentes. And with the Progressive Music Awards and labels including MoonJune Records, Rise Above Records, and of course opening more of my eyes to the Cherry Red label, Esoteric Recordings which has been my favorite reissue label, it pushed opened the doors to Esoteric Antenna and Reactive.

I appeared in the magazine where I did a few things including asking a question for Carl Palmer, my top ten albums of 1974 in which I picked Gentle Giant's The Power and the Glory, and one of my top Kate Bush songs including the song Kite. It wasn't until I was asked by the magazine on Facebook to pick one of my favorite albums and I was spellbound at first. but I had to keep my fanboy distance away and it was hard to pick a favorite album, I picked one of my favorites from the Rock Progressivo Italiano scene of the 1970s which was Metamorfosi's second album based on Dante's The Divine Comedy or The Seven Deadly Sins of Hell, Inferno.

We need this music to keep the wheels and machine going to come and inspire newer generations who are going through their parents collection and delving into early Genesis, ELP, King Crimson, Yes, Rush, and Pink Floyd that showed it will opened their eyes of real good music.  I still support up-and-coming bands and newer bands now. With admires of the Aaron Clift Experiment, Proud Peasant, Bent Knee, Knifeworld, Worhol, Sanguine Hum, The Fierce and the Dead, and La Coscienza Di Zeno. I still support the music whether people like it or not.

Progressive Rock still makes the lava flow when a volcano erupts at the right moments from the synthesizers, mellotrons, mind-blowing drums, bass, and guitar work. The music industry is sometimes cruel. It’s hard for them to make it and not make it to the big time. But I’m a little off-topic. Let me close it up.

Prog has been inside me for 11 years. Please show your massive support and buying the magazines as I’ve mentioned from Classic Rock Magazine, The Blues, and Metal Hammer to name a few. I will keep the music alive and show my support to the genre until the day I die. As Stan “The Man” Lee said, With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility.

Here’s this website to show your support with crowd-funding done by Orange Goblin's Ben Ward.

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ukrockcommunity?utm_id=107&utm_term=GrWkVYgyr

9.30 Fly - 9.30 Fly

This is a hidden lost treasure of both in the genres between Progressive and Folk music in the early 1970s. Originally released on the Ember label in 1972, 9.30 Fly brought these two sounds of music in a rare gem that is going through the looking glass and seeing what mysterious beauty lies beneath in the magical mirror. With the help of Esoteric Recordings reissuing this unearthed gem, I delved at the chance to sink into the waters of 9.30 Fly.

The origins of the band’s music came through The Arthur Hinge Speed Band. They were known for their flash and their antics while receiving the awards in Gloucester at the Slough Arts Festival. Mike Wainwright, who wasn’t a musician, decided it was to write original music. Someone gave him an acoustic guitar, a Bob Dylan songbook, and he was a songwriter. The Hinge band faded away as 9.30 Fly was born.

The band considered Lyn Oakey on Guitar, Gary Chairman on Bass, Mike Clark on Drums, Mike Wainwright on Vocals, and Barbara Wainwright on Vocals. The band worked during their rehearsals in a village outside at Cheltenham and with influences raging between Yes, Beatles, and Family, the band were signed to Ember Records which was home to Blonde on Blonde’s last two albums, Blue Beard, and Davey Payne and the Medium Wave to name a few.

Recorded at Rockfield Studios in February 1972 and with Mike Smith of the Amen Corner in the production level along in the countryside at Monmouthshire which is a part of south east Wales, the band worked hard and fast to complete the album. While the album is now considered a cult classic and ahead of its time, this album itself deserves some light at the end of the tunnel.

You have the opener, Life and Times with flamenco guitar sections, galloping beats, and both Mike and Barbara singing into the skies above. It has this Ennio Morricone drive that you can close your eyes and imagine the Spaghetti Western genre is making a comeback as the son of the Man with No Name is honoring his father’s legacy to give him his last wish.

September comes to mind of Country-Folk music with some of the 12-bar chords with a straightforward style of sound that was very different from the other tracks. Elsewhere, the riding and thunderous drums and electric keyboards followed by Oakey’s stargazing guitar work into the stars and makes the ship excited for Mr. 509. It changes into a moody and watery atmosphere before dynamic rhythm sections from the guitar and melodic moments from the keyboards.

Charman’s bass creates this walking bluesy-jazz melody as Barbara helps her out to lay down the tempo in a slowed-down groove on Summer Days before going into a pumping style as Lyn and Barbara share the same melody on their instruments with fuzz-tone style and clean Rhodes techniques. I love how they always twist and turn with 9.30 Fly’s work.

Brooklyn Thoughts reminded me of Uriah Heep’s Lady in Black and Barbara’s voice resembling Annie Haslam as it a prog-folk journey into the streets of New York set to the tones of the Mellotron. It gives you chills down to the spine and hair on the back of your necks going up from this chilling composition of what is happening beyond the faces of the people in the city.

The 8-minute finale, Time of War which deals with the First World War and the subject of Jingoism of patriotic extremism, is a very difficult subject matter, the music itself is a chilling situation of what is happening in the what was happening in that time period that there is a dark side to the war itself. Lyn’s guitars just paint the picture of hell, brutality, and nightmarish views.

He lays it down the subject through his Guitar and it’s an eye-opener as the music changes into the styles of Blonde on Blonde’s Rebirth-era. Mike’s voice at times brings to mind of Roy Orbison and the echoing effects on his arrangements give power and emotion. It then changes into a militant vocalization in the styles of Celtic Folk between Mike and Barbara themselves near the end of the piece.

It’s a surreal ending, but knowing that the battle is far from over. The two bonus tracks contains the West Coast sound a-la Gordon Lightfoot textures of Song for L.A. and the first version of September. When the album was released in 1972, it didn’t do well and the band broke up. Mike and Barbara parted company. Mike now lives in California and retired from the industry while Barbara is now a coaching and guidance consultancy in California also.

The 16-page booklet contains liner notes by Sid Smith who wrote about the history about the band and includes interviews with both Mike and Barbara about the making of the album and the history of the band. It’s a very good reissue that Esoteric had done and I highly recommend checking out this album if you admire the Ember Records label and delving into the obscure gems of the progressive rock-era.

Greg Lake 1947-2016

Greg Lake was the driving force between his work with King Crimson, ELP, and as a solo artist. We lost not just a musician, but an amazing vocalist that hit those notes between those two bands. I remember hearing Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s music back when I was in Johnston Middle School which is now the Meyerland Performing & Visual Arts Middle School. I’ve heard tracks like From the Beginning, Lucky Man, and Karn Evil 9: 1^st Impression (Part 2) on Classic Rock 93.7 The Arrow back in the late ‘90s.

I can remember the day getting some Hanukkah money and my Mom driving me to Blockbuster Music. I remember buying Queen’s sole self-titled debut album, Ted Nugent’s Great Gonzos!:The Best of Ted Nugent, and ELP’s Brain Salad Surgery. It was the cover that just took me by surprise done by the late great H.R. Giger who would make a big name for himself thanks to the 1979 sci-fi classic, Alien.

From those giant notes of Jerusalem, to the 29-minute dystopian sci-fi epic of Karn Evil 9, I was hooked on the edge of my seat and playing it again, and again, and again. I always imagine those songs as a movie inside my head. Cut to 2000 when I bought King Crimson’s 1969 debut album, In The Court of the Crimson King. By this time, I didn’t know the term, Progressive Rock. But listening to Crimson’s music, I was spellbound.

The moment I’ve listened to 21^st Century Schizoid Man when I was 15 years old, I was blown away. It was like a cannon blast waiting to happen. From Robert Fripp’s heavy guitar roar, the blaring and shrieking sounds of Ian McDonald’s sax, and Lake singing through a megaphone (Leslie speaker), it had everything. While he was brilliant on both as a Bassist and Guitarist as you can hear his solos on both Karn Evil 9: 1^st Impression (Part 2), Tarkus (Battlefield), and the folky side of him on From the Beginning and Lucky Man in which he wrote when he was 12 years old.

Listen to Epitaph, you can imagine the aftermath of the battle and the sacrifices that they went through as Lake sings through Pete Sinfield’s lyrics; “Confusion will be my Epitaph/As I crawl a cracked and broken path/If we make it/We can all sit back and laugh.” He sings beautifully and gentle. You could feel that you are in the studio watching this band ready to make it.

I went back and listened to the albums, Brain Salad Surgery, In The Court of the Crimson King, Trilogy, and In The Wake of Poseidon. Not only that but he was also a big supporter of bands when it came to ELP’s label Manticore Records and he brought Premiata Forneria Marconi and Stray Dog to name a few to get them some recognition. He also produced Spontaneous Combustion’s sole self-titled debut album released in 1972 which is reissued by Esoteric Recordings four years ago.

2016 has been a rough and difficult year in Music. The grim reaper himself has always knocked on the doors of amazing musicians and letting them know it’s time. Losing people including David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Sandy Pearlman (Blue Oyster Cult’s producer), Prince, Keith Emerson, and now Greg Lake. It’s a tragic loss.

But we have the music, the legacy, and the memories. The song in the 1979 film, The Muppet Movie in the opening scene as Kermit the Frog sings in The Rainbow Connection, “What’s so amazing/That keeps us stargazing/And what do we think we might see.”

Greg was a stargazer and what a Lucky man he was. Rest In Peace, Greg. Be at peace now and let’s hope you are enjoying an amazing jam session with Keith Emerson up in heaven. Heaven’s just got bigger.

Progress - Tulejää

Estonia is home to composer Arvo Part. It is a country near the south of Lativa and it located near Northern Europe, the Baltic Sea, and the Gulf of Finland. One of the bands to come out of Estonia is a quintet called Progress. Formed in 2009, their music is song-orientated with some heavy/prog momentum. After the release of their 2014 debut album, Pillipuhujad (Hornblowers), the band decided to take a long-hiatus break.

This year, they’ve released their second album entitled, Tulejää (Fire-Ice) on the label, Strangiato Records. It is a very good album that I’ve listened to. And for me with their influences between early Beardfish, Rush, and early Wigwam, but it’s more than just from the three powerful bands. With six centerpieces on the album, I was not just on the edge of my seat, but listening to this twice, I know that this is a band I will keep my eyes on.

The band considers; Mattis Kirsipuu on Drums and Percussion, Johan Nestor on Bass Guitar, Mattis Kuppart on Guitar, Ragnar Kaasik on Vocals and Sax, and Kristen Kutner on Keyboards and Guitar. Kristen plays lead on two of the tracks. Opener, Hirmul on suured silmadi features this whirling organ introduction whilst going into a dynamic showstopping rhythm a-la Rush style as Rangar brings his vocals through time and space.

And then Kuppart himself goes into this spacey section on his guitar as Mattis’ drums help him out in the chilling section in which brings this rising finale as it segues into Janu. Guitars delve in rhythmic vibes with this complexity between Van Der Graaf Generator and The Beatles Abbey Road-era with stop and go sections that give it the twists and turns on the composition.

Drums make it sound like a roaring Tidal Wave on Rahutus. It reminded me of a mellowing jazz-psych pop orientated piece at first. But then, the switch turns on with a cosmic bluesy delay/reverb effect and the tune reminiscent of Black Sabbath’s Rat Salad. Kristen goes from the keyboards to guitar in his lead sections with Kuu. There’s these clean-tone sections.

And from there, it goes from that to a ‘60s psychedelia eruption of the garage-rock genre and believe me, Progress has some amazing twists and turns in their sound with a holy shit momentum! Musta lipu all is with Alice Cooper heavy riffs done in the style of Alex Lifeson with a ‘70s Glam Rock touch. Kagnar brings a beauty to his vocal arrangement and near in the song, he lets out a mighty scream that took me not just by surprise but almost saying “Wow!”

You have to admit the rhythm is ready for take-off with a punching sound while Progress have amazing potential from their craftsmanship as musicians. With a bass vamp done by Johan Nestor on the closing title track, you can imagine Kristen taking his keyboard and making reminisce of the mellotron. The piece takes you into the warmth and freezing places of hell as Kuppart keeps his guitar sounding like a train chugging into higher measures as it benefits from Agitation Free and Aphrodite’s Child.

Progress’ second album, Tulejää will get you to take notice of their music and the band themselves. It’s a journey into mysterious locations that will keep you guessing of where the quintet will go into. If you love the bands from the golden-era of prog, doom, and bits of glam, I highly recommend you check this out.

Anakdota - Overloading

Formed in 2013, this spectacular quintet from Israel, have released their debut album this year on the Fading Records label which is a part of AltrOck Productions. The band is called Anakdota. I’ve heard some of their samples on the AltrOck bandcamp website and I had my eye-brows go up at the exact moment when I heard some of the tracks. I went ahead and bought the album straight away from The Laser’s Edge website and my take of listening to the entire album, it was almost like finding a lost diamond in the Sierra Madre.

The band considers; Ray Livnat on Vocals, Ayala Fossfeld on Vocals, Erez Aviram on Piano and Keyboards, Guy Bernfeld on Bass Guitar, and Yogev Gabay on Drums. Their music is very intense and complex at the same time while the lyrics are storied to be told through music with a diverse composition. The seven highlights throughout the entire album will show much they need a gigantic stamp of approval that Anakdota badly need. 

Erez’s speeding piano, has this increasing rate through the Keith Emerson touches with a concerto followed by a switch from an allegro tempo to a waltz on Girl Next Door. Late is one of my favorite tracks on here. You have Ray acting almost in the style of the Master of Ceremonies as the rhythm is done in the styles of a Circus inside a gigantic merry-go-round as the music is this cross between The Blue Ship, William D. Drake, and a bit of the Diablo Swing Orchestra.

Ray has amazing operatic vocals as Yogev and Erez go straight near the end into the styles between Canterbury and Italian Prog-Rock in which the synths reminded me almost of Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso.  Opener, One More Day starts off with the drums sounding in the styles of the metronome going at 150 beats per minute as mid-fast tempos give those drums sounding like an electronic punch.

With the piano and bass in the melody that starts things off, the lyrics deal with trying to get away from the lies and hopefully one day it might come a time that you have to reveal with who you really are and finally getting ready to tell the truth. In the midsection, there’s Yogev handling his snare and making it sound very militant as Guy’s bass features reverb chords, and more of Erez’s piano jazz concerto with a classical twist!

Erez is stealing the show through his keyboards. Again with the essence of David Sinclair, Keith Emerson, and Vince Guaraldi, at times you can imagine him filling in Vince’s place and making the Peanuts gang brought back to life and honoring Schulz’s legacy. And not just he’s an amazing keyboardist, but bit by bit, whether the band goes, he follows with them to see what will happen next.

Ayala’s vocals are one of the best in the stronghold that keeps the rope tight in Anakdota’s sound. With Mourning, the lyrical styles are in the realms of Stephen Sondheim. In the lyrics, it deals with someone that you love and care about has moved on into the afterlife as Ayala’s character in the song is trying to figure out how she’ll move on, but the memories will be there with her.

And it continues with Staying Up Late. The character now is suffering through the realms of depression and for her struggling is hard for her to move forward. As a listener, you can feel her pain and sadness inside her.

But Ray’s vocals as the spirit of the loss loved one, comes into the scenery and comforting her as to say to her that no matter what happens to her, he will be there. Ray is in the vibe of his Danny Elfman-sque vocals on the title track. With wacky time changes, the melody has some art punk vibes that comes to mind of The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo and something straight out of a scenery from the realms of Tim Burton.

End of the Show, which closes the album, is a mini operatic duet between Ayala and Ray as they share vocals before the uplifting last 3-minutes of the piece kicks into the styles of Caravan’s In the Land of Grey and Pink-era thanks to Erez channeling the fuzztone styles of David Sinclair’s organ before Guy’s incredible Bass solo and the vocals close off the song on a high note.

This is now one of my favorite debuts I’ve listened to. And the quintet bring everything to the table. Anakdota’s Overloading is a mind-blowing fulfillment. And I hope they will continue to do more and Fading Records have scored as I’ve always say, another home run with up-and-coming bands and this is one of them.

Gravy Train - Second Birth

Esoteric Recordings have always keep my wish list growing, growing, and growing. On my blog site, I’ve been a big champion of the label from their reissues and supporting new bands/artists since their launch in 2007. Next year will be the 10^th anniversary of the label, which has been a part of the Cherry Red family. So who knows what surprises will lay ahead for them in 2017. One of them is a reissue they’ve released this year of Gravy Train’s third album, Second Birth.

Formed in St. Helen’s, Lancashire in 1969, the combination of the two that started the wheel of Gravy Train's chugging were; J.D. Hughes (Wind instruments, Keyboards, and Vocals) and Bassist Les Williams. Soon Drummer Barry Davenport and vocalist and guitar player Norman Barratt joined the force of Gravy Train. The band did some rehearsals in the summer of 1969 at St. Helen’s Cricket Club in Merseyside before being signed to the Veritgo label.

The band released two albums (the self-titled debut and (A Ballad) Of A Peaceful Man) one of them didn’t do well, but the second album showed an assembling sound in their music. It wasn’t until they switched from Vertigo to the Dawn label which was a progressive subsidiary label for Pye Records. They recorded their third album at Orange Studios in North London. By this time during the making of the album, Barry quit the band, but he only appeared on three of the tracks (Morning Coming, Fields and Factories, and Tolpuddle Episode).

What happened was Barry was getting exhausted and fed up that the band was not getting anywhere, plus no money, along with stress he was going through. He suddenly had a breakdown and left. Russell Caldwell took his place after a long extensive search that the band went through to find the right person to fill Barry’s shoes.

Listening to Second Birth, it’s a diverse album. There were some inspirations between Jethro Tull, CSNY, Cream, and bits of East of Eden. When you listen to songs like September Morning News, it has this West Coast Sound thanks to the Country/Folk rhythmic sound of the Acoustic Guitar and Barratt channeling his Neil Young style on his vocals along with as I’ve mentioned the harmonizing vocals of CSNY.

Tolpuddle Episode is another Acoustic Folky composition that has this bright and gentle arrangement as the lyrics deal with a strong concept of hoping for a new beginning and a new life in a new year while the music goes towards the reminiscent of Colin Scot and Gary Farr. Strength of a Dream, I can imagine this song thanks to it’s ballad and melodic melodies and a different side to Gravy Train with their sliding guitar work, their homage to George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass-era.

And when I listen to that song, I could tell that the band honor the sound and the style of his guitar playing and the album’s music is everywhere on the composition. It feels like it was recorded for the album’s sessions, but cut off due to time restraints. And Gravy Train’s song nails the Harrison tribute. Now let’s get to the rocking side of the band’s music.

There’s this classical guitar fast passage that Norman does in which it is a very tricky and hard riff-line in that tempo. You can hear the sonata format on Motorway which features thumping rhythm guitars and drums along with the bass and flute work a-la Tull styles with the homage to East of Eden’s Mercator Projected-era. The opening track, Morning Coming, feels as if it is a blaring alarm that is coming right behind you like a roaring monster from the guitars.

It is a great introduction to the start the album as if it is like a cannon blast coming out of the horizons to start the engines up. Not to mention the midsection featuring these mourning lyrical settings with guitars, drums, and keyboards setting this church-like choir. The closing title-track begins as I’ve mentioned, the fast passages that Norman does on his guitar along with Hughes’ flute between Melodic melody guitar/flute essence resembling Premiata Forneria Marconi and pre-Iron Maiden.

Inspired by controversial figure Norman Mailer’s novel in which I think in my opinion, it might be his debut novel in 1948 entitled, The Naked and the Dead. The lyrics are haunting and it delves into a disturbing view of the fictional universe between war and politics as the music sets the tone through the story. The midsection has a Van Der Graaf Generator twist and it is a chilling 7-minute story-song before fading into the night of what will happen next.

The bonus track, Good Time Girl which was released as a B-side, sees Gravy Train having a great time as they channel a shuffling Glam Rock take between the essence cross-over of Slade, The Kinks, String Driven Thing, and Ian Hunter. It is a rockin’ single and it shows them having a blast to get down into the groove and hitting the dance floors.

When the album was released in 1973, it didn’t do well. The band went back on the road and were supporting many of the big names including Genesis, Roxy Music, and Nazareth to name a few. The band broke up after the release of their fourth and final album, Staircase to the Day in 1974. When you listen to Second Birth, you can understand why this band were way ahead of their time.

It’s a shame they never got the recognition they deserve during the golden-era of the Progressive Rock scene of the 1970s. And with the Esoteric reissue which contains a 16-page booklet with liner notes by Malcolm Dome and interviews with J.D. Hughes about the history of the band and the making of their third album along with a little snippet interview with Norman Barratt.

Sadly, Norman passed away in 2011. And as I’ve mentioned Gravy Train never got the recognition they deserve, once you put this album on. You can tell where they could have gone and why they deserve some recognition. Let’s hope Esoteric does more of the Gravy Train reissues (they’ve already reissued their last album Staircase to the Day) including the first two albums released on Vertigo.

The Top 35 Albums of 2016

Originally, this list was going to be in December towards the end of the year. But I realized that I know it's way, way, too early. I've decided to go ahead and post my top 30 albums of 2016. There will be some criticisms about this list, but what it is, it is. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you my top 30 albums of 2016.

1. Bent Knee - Say So (Cuneiform Records) 
2. David Bowie - Blackstar (ISO/Columbia)
3. Purson - Desire's Magic Theatre (Spinefarm Records)
4. Blood Ceremony - Lord of Misrule (Rise Above Records)
5. Iamthemorning - Lighthouse (Kscope)
6. Anderson/Stolt - Invention of Knowledge (Inside Out)
7. Dwiki Dharmawan - Pasar Klewer (MoonJune Records)
8. Stick Men - Prog Noir (Unsung Productions)
9. Van Der Graaf Generator - Do Not Disturb (Esoteric Antenna)
10. Gong - Rejoice! I'm Dead! (Snapper Music/Madfish)
11. Knifeworld - Bottled Out of Eden (Inside Out)
12. Zhongyu - Zhongyu (MoonJune Records)
13. Eye - Vision and Ageless Light (Laser's Edge)
14. Matthew Parmenter - All Our Yesterdays (Bad Elephant Music)
15. The Far Meadow - Given The Impossible (Bad Elephant Music)
16. Dewa Budjana - Zentuary (Favored Nations Entertainment)
17. Admirals Hard - Upon a Painted Ocean (Believer's Roast)
18. Maglev - Overwrite the Sin (Self-Released)
19. Syndone - Eros & Thanatos (Fading Records)
20. North Sea Radio Orchestra - Dronne (The Household Mark)
21. Chat Noir - Nine Thoughts For One Word (RareNoise Records)
22. WorldService Project - For King And Country (RareNoise Records)
23. Leon Alvarado - The Future Left Behind (Melodic Revolution Records)
24. Moulettes - Preternatural (Craft Pop Records)
25. Manna Non Piangere - Manna Non Piangere N.3 (AltrOck Records)
26. Hedvig Mollestad Trio - Black Stabat Mater (Rune Grammofon)
27. Tiles - Pretending 2 Run (Laser's Edge)
28. Cirrus Bay - Places Unseen (Self-Released)
29. The Rube Goldberg Machine - Fragile Times (Bad Elephant Music)
30. Aperco - The Battle (Self-Released)
31. Edensong - Years In The Garden of Years (Laser's Edge)
32. Opeth - Sorceress (Nuclear Blast)
33. Blues Pills - Lady in Gold (Nuclear Blast)
34. Vasil Hadzimanov Band featuring David Binney - Alive (MoonJune Records)
35. Yugen - Death By Water (AltrOck Records)

The top 15 reissues of 2016

Now while we have gone through the Turkey coma, this will be a perfect time to name the top 15 reissues of 2016. The top 35 albums of 2016 will be up sometime in December. But if you've been very good and want to ask Santa to name the albums that you've been really wanting to get for Christmas, here are my top 15 reissues of 2016. Criticism is welcome

1. The Move - Reissues (Esoteric Recordings)

2. Jethro Tull - Stand Up: The Elevated Edition (Chrysalis)

3. Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans (Panegyric)  

4. Anthony Phillips - 1984 (Esoteric Recordings)

5. Anthony Phillips - Sides (Esoteric Recordings)

6. Three Man Army - A Third of a Lifetime (Esoteric Recordings)

7. Pink Floyd - Cre/ation The Early Years 1967-1972 (Pink Floyd Records)

8. XTC - Skylarking (Ape House)

9. I'm a Freak Baby: A Journey Through the British Psych & Heavy Rock Underground Scene 1968-72 (Grapefruit)

10. Barclay James Harvest - Everyone is Everybody Else (Esoteric Recordings)

11. Let's Go Down & Blow Our Minds: The British Psychedelic Sounds of 1967 (Grapefruit)

12. Gandalf - To Another Horizon (Esoteric Recordings)

13. Gilli Smyth - Mother (Esoteric Recordings)

14. Colosseum - Colosseum Live (Esoteric Recordings)

15. Gary Wright's Wonderwheel - Ring of Changes (Esoteric Recordings)

Let's Go Down and Blow Our Minds: The British Psychedelic Sounds of 1967

Next year, will mark the 50^th anniversary between the Summer of Love, the year music was changing. The year The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Pink Floyd’s overlooked debut, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and Procol Harum releasing their sole self-titled debut and their groundbreaking single, A Whiter Shade of Pale. But it was more than just those amazing albums and the Summer of Love. That and this amazing 3-CD set done by the great people by Grapefruit Records which is a part of the Cherry Red family.

It’s called, Let’s Go Down and Blow Our Minds: The British Psychedelic Sounds of 1967. It’s released in a clamshell box set done with a 41-page booklet about the history of the time period and focusing on the obscure, pop, novelty, unearthed nuggets, and histories about the bands/artists behind the music done by David Wells. This was like looking through the outside door of the closet and magic flowing out with brilliancy of the music that was ahead of its time. Along with some amazing highlights on here.

The title of Let’s Go Down and Blow Our Minds, comes from the song, Toyland which opens the set done by The Alan Bown. It’s a very whimsical, acoustical, flute, and symphonic of going through the dreamscape of a wonderland filled with Toys to be a kid all over again. The big ones are on here including The Crazy World of Arthur Brown’s Give Him a Flower, Procol Harum’s Kaliedoscope, the proto glam-garage rock crunch of The Move’s Vote For Me, and the eerie scenario of Defecting Grey by The Pretty Things.

Elsewhere there’s the Denny Laine-era of The Moody Blues which he would embark on his career with Paul McCartney & Wings as he last appeared with the band on the soul/R&B touch, Life’s Not Life. We delve into the underground scene from The Purple Gang’s psych ragtime with a humoristic approach named after the shop called, Granny Takes a Trip, the homage to the Syd Barrett-era of Pink Floyd, Traffic and The Who’s Silas Stingy is evidential on The Riot Squad which features the late David Bowie on Toy Soldier.

Not to mention John Children featuring Marc Bolan of T. Rex delving more into Garage-Psych Rock flavor on Desdemona, The Doves essence of a romantic Smokeytime Springtime, Rupert’s People’s mournful with a soul/psych organ beauty for the Reflections of Charles Brown, Dantalian’s Chariot’s running through the speed of light of the insane asylum on The Madman Running Through the Fields, The Artwoods’ galloping drums, haunting organ and story of Into the Deep End, and The Flower Pot Men channeling the essence of Sagittarius meets The Beach Boys Pet Sounds-era of A Walk in the Sky.

Then there’s the obscurity hidden treasures. There’s the homage to the Jeff Beck-era of The Yardbirds with Pink, Purple, Yellow and Red by The Sorrows, Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera usage of proto-psych punk of the Bass ready to drive into the sunrise for the fires to go up in Flames, Sweet Feeling’s lyrical essence of The Kinks comes to mind for a marching beat for All So Long Ago, Skip Bifferty’s Schizoid Revolution which was about Lindisfarne’s Alan Hull who worked as a nurse in a psychiatric hospital, and Richmond group, Sands paying homage to Gustav Holst’s Mars from the Planets suite played with a distorted feedback guitar along with the sound an air raid siren.

It is one of the most twists and turns that goes from psychedelic pop into nightmarish terror, and closes out the compilation. Funnily enough, Brian Epstein who was the Beatles manager, signed the band to his NEMS management company which was released on Stigwood’s Reaction label along with the flip side of their cover of the Bee Gees Mrs. Gillespie’s Refrigerator. Unfortunately the single disappeared after Brian’s death in that same year.

The 3-CD set is a wonderful discovery of listening to these unearthed, familiar, and overlooked gems of 1967. Grapefruit Records have done it again and I hope they will continue to do more to search for more unearthed recordings from the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. If you love the psychedelic era along with Lenny Kaye’s Nuggets compilation, then this is the one you need Santa to write and ask him to put on your Christmas wish list.

North Sea Radio Orchestra - Dronne

Formed 14 years ago by Craig Fortnam (Arch Garrison and Knifeworld), North Sea Radio Orchestra are this cross between Chamber, Alternative Classical, and Victorian Music. They have released three albums from 2006 to 2011. It’s been five years since they’ve released another album. This year, they’ve released their fourth album entitled Dronne. Two years ago, the band performed in Lyon at the Nuits de Fourviere Festival performing the music and legacy of Robert Wyatt which Craig conducted.

In the NSRO performing Wyatt’s music alongside the band were William D. Drake (Cardiacs) and John Greaves of Henry Cow for the live performance. They decided to put a cover of one of Robert’s composition from his fourth album released in 1985 on Old Rottenhat entitled The British Road. This is an amazing honor and beautiful take of the song. They honor the song as they do it in the style of Terry Riley’s A Rainbow in Curved Air with the keyboards before delving on the train voyage of the Krautrock adventure.

Craig and his wife Sharron share vocals each other on the song and they deliver justice to the piece. Guitar Miniature No. 4 sees Craig himself doing a folky-jig classical guitar down across the dancing sidewalk while Queen of All the Day and Night gives Sharron spooky vibes between this amazing arrangement of the song. You have this rapid ticking noise along with the violins done by Brian Wright with a middle-eastern vibe as you imagine yourself waking up and seeing the beautiful landscapes of India with a pastoral vibe.

I can imagine Sharron paying tribute to the Acid Folk scene. Not just that, but there is this lyrical texture set in this Victorian-era of England done in the styles of Ray Davies. The title track brings to mind not just the realms of Riley’s electronic compositions, but in the spacey voyages of Gong’s Radio Gnome trilogy as if Steve Reich himself was conducting the whole thing and making it surreal, strange, and hypnotic.

The opener, Arcade features guitars, and piano done by James Lacrombe as if both he and Craig share the same melodies between each other. With woodwind instruments setting up the scene by opening up a book that has been dusted and never touched for 73 years, opening up the book and the sounds of the Chamber-Pop musical mind as if you are looking through between the pages of the past and present before heading towards to see what the future holds for you.

While I have mentioned about the sharing vocals between Craig and his wife, Sharron in which both of them do an incredible job, the song Alsace Lorraine is Craig doing a take of lullaby of cradling a child to put them to sleep in a gentle composition. It is a terrific piece that do a duet as the violins and cello brings some sadness and lifting beauty that will bring you to tears.

The closing 2-part suite, Dinosaurus Rex starts off in part one with medieval chamber music a-la Mike Oldfield style between Nicola’s B-flat bass clarinet, Luke Crookes’ bassoon, Harry Escott’s cello, and Brian Wright’s violin work along with a mid-fast fingerpicking acoustic guitar and organ sections with a wicked twist of humor. The second part ends with a solemn atmosphere to close the album off.

It’s been two years since I’ve discovered North Sea Radio Orchestra when I bought I A Moon on Wayside Music and I almost forgotten about them. But with their new album, I was completely blown away right from the get-go. This is a very good, surreal, weird, beautiful, and staggering album I’ve listened to. I hope Craig continues to do more with the NSRO and Dronne is an album exploring the music of the Experimental, Chamber, Canterbury, and Folky side of their sound.  

Jethro Tull - Stand Up: The Elevated Edition

This 2-CD/2-DVD set contains an amazing reissue of Jethro Tull’s second album released in the summer of 1969 as Stand Up: The Elevated Edition. Originally released in August of that year on the pink Island label in Europe and on the Reprise label in the States, this was a diverse album. It shows Tull moving away from the Blues-Rock sound that was on their 1968 debut, This Was, into more of a Progressive, Folk, Jazz, and Classical approach they were moving into.

By this time period in 1968, Mick Abrahams left the band to form Blodwyn Pig before the band went on to record the second album because he felt that they should stay to the Blues roots and tension was between him, Ian, and Glenn. Enter, Martin Lancelot Barre who would join to take Abrahams place on guitar and be the only band member with Ian from 1969 to 2011. It’s not a concept album, but it’s more of a lyrical structure album dealing with Ian Anderson’s relationship between the band members and his family.

This was also Ian’s writing all the lyrics and in full control of the music. What I love also about this amazing set, is the homage to the children’s pop-up cover of the band members done by woodcarver James Grashow who worked on the album cover of the Stand Up album. You have Bach’s Bouree done in the style of a walking Jazz-Classical melody thanks to the late great Glenn Cornick’s bass. He takes his Bass through the jazz melody before delving into a rhythm style groove in the midsection.

While this album is at times, semi-autobiographical from Ian’s point of view and dealing with his issues with his Mom and Dad on Back to the Family and For a Thousand Mothers, it shows while that you are on the road and while they might oppose to what you do, it is a struggle that you want their approval to know that you’re not a little kid anymore, but you’ve worked hard and hard to make it. These two tracks are bluesy, psychedelic, and showing nod to Traffic.

Fat Man is an intense Celtic Folk Rock foot-stomping rhythm with a thunderous percussion work done by Clive Bunker while Ian is punching through the incredible strumming on his Acoustic Guitar and the Mandolin as the song deals with while you are an easy target being picked on as the fat one, you know you’ll reach a boiling point by knowing they push you too far, you push back.

The opener A New Day Yesterday and Nothing Is Easy, which features a crunching heavy riff blues-rockin’ opener and Ian’s switch both from Harmonica to Flute is jaw-dropping along with Martin’s instrument going through a circular phasing sound as the sixth track with Martin delivering the message again as Clive delves into some of the essence of a mode style in the work of Buddy Rich.

Inspired by Jack Kerouac’s novels, Desolation Angels and Dharma Bums which Tull paid homage to Kerouac’s title on Dharma For One for This Was, We Used to Know is a moving and touching ballad on looking back on the winter of 1967 of him living in the Attic room in the coldest part of the day. The shillings in the lyric was him to put in the electric meter and get the electric fire. You have to imagine what Ian was going through during that rough period. It’s such a wonderful song and dealing with the hardships of struggling to make it big.

The bonus tracks contain the original 1969 mono single mixes, 1969 stereo single mixes, and new stereo mixes done by Steven Wilson who has done the new remix of the entire album, the singles Living in the Past and Driving Song. And it includes the studio in which the band were recording in Morgan Studios of doing a different version of Bouree. And BBC Sessions they did for John Peel who would later turn his back on Tull. Not to mention two radio spots for the second album.

The second CD contains a live performance they did on January 9^, 1969 at the Stockholm Konserthuset in which they were a supporting act for The Jimi Hendrix Experience. This contains the second show and you can close your eyes and be at the concert and witnessing this band giving the Blues Rocking powerhouse and knowing that they would get the audience’s stamp of approval.

Including different lyrics for the first show on To Be Sad is a Mad Way to Be. On Martin’s Tune, it is an incredible composition on the live performance of the second set. Both Ian and Martin are on fire and it’s almost as if they are taking turns between each other on who would do some improvisations between wood and guitar as it goes up higher and higher.

There is a calming moment in the last 3-minutes before descending into a climatic end with audience’s applauding at the right moment.  Now with To Be Sad is a Mad Way to Be, features Glenn’s walking Bass lines along with the harmonica as the song they would take notes from Howlin’ Wolf or Willie Dixon as if they could have written this song for themselves or for Muddy Waters on the blues label, Checker Records.

Steven himself has done an amazing job capturing the spirit of the album with the new mix. He knew that the tracks had to be cleaned up and improved and bringing the vocals in front. For example on the single, Living in the Past, there was an Organ track which was issued in the 1972 issue irreversible of removing the flute track. But what Steven did was that he contained both the original and later mix and combined it into one.

The DVD contains both the new stereo mix, the original mix in a flat transfer, 5.1 mix, and concert footage of Tull at the Stockholm Konserthuset of the two clips containing To Be Sad is a Mad Way to Be and Back into the Family. The 112 booklet contains Nick Logan’s original report he wrote for the NME when he was on the road with Tull in 1969, Ian Anderson’s annotation of the album, Extensive article by Martin Webb about the making of Stand Up, a tribute to Glenn Cornick including his selected discography alongside Tull with Wild Turkey, The John Evan Band, The Executives, Karthago, and Paris. 

An interview with James “Jimmy” Grashow, photos of the band, Remembering Andy Johns with an interview assistant Engineer, John Burns, and the full chronological 1969 tour dates and recording. This is a must have set if you are a Tull fan and for me, it’s one of my favorite albums that I highly recommend for either Christmas or Hanukkah that you need to have Santa to write that you want as a gift. 

I would like to close out a small quote from Jack Kerouac’s novel, Desolation Angels; “Hope is a word like a snow-drift. This is the Great Knowing, this is the Awakening, this is Voidness. So shut up, live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry.”

Eye - Vision and Ageless Light

One of the most mind-blowing bands to come out of Columbus, Ohio is a group called Eye. They have released their third album entitled, Vision and Ageless Light. This was an album I was really excited for because I have almost forgotten about them since hearing their debut in 2011, Center of the Sun. With two albums in the can and a live album, and different line-up changes, Eye are back in action and being signed to The Laser’s Edge label, it shows there’s no stopping them.

When it was announced this year they were releasing the new album and coming in November before Thanksgiving, I went ahead and pre-ordered the album from The Laser’s Edge website. With five tracks including one clocking in at 27 minutes, the new line-up which Eye drummer Brandon Smith who’s played on the first two albums, he still has the goods.

Vision and Ageless Light considers alongside Brandon Smith, Lisa Bella Donna on Keyboards, 6 and 12-string Guitar, and Vocals; Michael Slicien, Bass Guitar, Upright Bass, Percussion and Vocals; and Jon Finley on Electric/Acoustic Guitar. It is a sonic voyage combined with psychedelic, progressive, and doom metal with essence of Black Sabbath, ASTRA, and Pink Floyd showing a return to form.

Opener, Book of the Dead features the Mellotron going through the strings and cello sections between the mind of Eloy and King Crimson’s Lizard-era before Brandon’s drums open the floodgates as the electronic synths kick in by Lisa herself as she delves into the mode of the late, great Edgar Froese. Michael and Jon do some rumbling rhythms in a fuzz tone/dooming sound on the Guitar and Bass before Jon and Lisa head into a jazzier section as they Kill the Slavemaster.

The arrangements are staggering and almost as if Lisa is conducting and writing a story in the styles of both Richard Corben and Michael Moorcock and doing something straight out of the adult illustrated fantasy comic-book, Heavy Metal. What I also love about Eye, is they pay homage to not just the late ‘60s and early ‘70s of psychedelic and progressive music, but doing in the styles of a band.

With Searching, they do the song in the styles of East of Eden’s Northern Hemisphere and my eye-brows went up right from the moment they head back into the milky way as they hurl through the cosmic voyages of Space Rock. They take their ship with a roaring sound to get ready for action to search for new life. And then Brandon goes into the drumming techniques of Mitch Mitchell in the Hendrix-sque groove.

Eye really gives listeners some unexpected twists and turns. And they do! The band switch from Space into Psych-Acoustic-Folk music with the mood melodies of insanity into the space-like sky with double-tracked vocal effects with the delay/reverb sounds with mid-tempo rhythms to meet the Dweller of the Twilight Void. The finale which clocks in at 27 minutes and 11 seconds is, As Sure as the Sun.

With the acoustic guitars coming in and mellotron’s galore, Lisa takes her keyboards into the styles of the Krautock scene. All of a sudden it transforms to a heavy, swirling, militant, and dynamic format of Rush’s A Farewell to Kings-era meets Nektar’s A Tab in the Ocean-era. It feels as if a story is taking place as this character is going on a suicidal mission going to sacrifice his life by heading towards the heart of the sun and knowing he will be at peace instead of living like a manic depressive.

Lisa is very much in the haywire modes on her keyboards as Brandon goes a bit all over the place on the drums. There are some driving sections a-la ASTRA style with chugging grooves as guitars with the lead and rhythm sections blare out of the soaring tunnels as it changes into atmospheric haunting melodies from the minds of Annot Rhul and Van Der Graaf Generator and of course, Nektar.

Vision and Ageless Light is a welcome back for the band. It is weird, mind-boggling, and out of this world, but it is an accomplishment. This is one of the most powerful journey's I’ve listened to and I hope they will do more for the next years to come. If you are new to the band’s music, this is worth recommending.

Zombie Picnic - A Suburb of Earth

It’s been two weeks since I’ve done a review lately. Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up very soon, so it’s to do a review for some albums. This afternoon, I received a package in the mail of a band that just completely took me off the edge of my seat. It was this cross between Progressive, Post, Kraut, and Space Rock. A four-piece from Limerick, Ireland called Zombie Picnic.

They have released their debut album entitled, A Suburb of Earth. The band considers Brian Fitzgerald on Bass, James Griffin on Guitar, Dave Tobin on Guitar, and Brendan Miller on Drums. It is a journey to the infinite worlds inspired by the beat poets of the 1950s and the classic of science fiction who is known for his work on 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke.

The music is very mysterious, cosmic, and exaggerating. I can hear the influences between The Fierce and The Dead, CAN, NEU!, Radiohead, Hawkwind, Mogwai, and Elephant9 with Reine Fiske. They know their influences well to the spot on here. The six-string textures of the duo between Griffin and Tobin, is the “Holy Shit!” momentum. It’s almost as if they are new captains along with Fitzgerald and Miller’s incredible rhythm section on both Bass and Drums.

I love how they would use reverb/delay effects of the tone setting of going into the outer limits of space, time, and poetry combined. It is a real treat for what the four-piece have brought. It feels as if you are in hyper-space with a blaring soundtrack inside your mind with four instrumental pieces that clock in 7, 8, 10, and 11-minutes. It was for me a real surprise.

Not just because it’s an awesome debut, but the way the four-piece have worked really hard and made sure note-by-note, space-by-space Zombie Picnic took some baby steps to create an outer space/milky way adventure. With creativity, cosmic, and thumping rhythmic adventures, A Suburb of Earth is the album I recommend. And to close out in the words of the episode, Space Madness from The Ren & Stimpy Show, “All right Space Cadets! Prepare to hurtle through the cosmos!” 

Hedvig Mollestad Trio - Black Stabat Mater

I first became aware of Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen’s music when I first heard about her on Sid Smith’s blog, Postcards from the Yellow Room. As I’ve mentioned in one of my reviews, whenever Sid plays or writes about something on his blog, podcasts, or on PROG Magazine, that would make my ears light up, I know I have to put that on my wish list. The Rune Grammofon label is one of my favorites. It's up there with MoonJune, Cunieform, AltrOck, Esoteric Recordings, Laser’s Edge, Rise Above Records, and the Svart label.

They always release something special and mind-blowing albums from the label. Whether it would be Fire! Orchestra, Motorpsycho, Grand General, Elephant9, or the Hedvig Mollestad Trio, they know my ears would perk up to some amazing bands from the label. Back two years ago, I went and bought Hedvig Mollestad Trio’s Enfant Terrible on Wayside Music and it completely knocked me out of my socks off. This year, she’s released her new album entitled, Black Stabat Mater.

When it was shown on one of the new arrivals on The Laser’s Edge website, I bought straight away. Listening to this album, Hedvig’s guitar playing is like a menacing forceful eruptive explosion that is waiting to happen at the right moment. With the textures of Jazz, Space Rock, Doom Metal, and Post-Rock voyages through the outer limits, she creates this tension. Not only her playing is out of this world, but Ellen Brekken’s Bass, and Ivar Loe Bjornstad’s drumming set the engines engaged to hyper-speed.

There is some elements between early Hawkwind, Black Sabbath, Ash Ra Tempel, and King Crimson. She really takes the listener to those voyages and there’s no stopping her now along with her fellow comrades to keep the fuzzing sound thanks to Ellen and intense drumming techniques by Ivar. She is the new commander-in-chief on the metallic spaceship and the new captain of extra mind-blowing adventures through the five compositions.

With riffs, chord changes, and insane moments, you baldly need to turn this volume all the way up to kingdom come. She’s a very busy person. Mind you, the trio really get down into some space voyage business. It’s also my third time listening to Black Stabat Mater. And I was blown away right from the get-go and knowing she is a damn good and excellent guitar player.

I’ve mentioned a quick second ago, she’s a very busy person. She collaborated with bands/artists such as the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Hilde Marie Kjersem, The Cumshots, and El Doom and the Born Electric. And now she is going to be on the new White Willow album released next year. To me, it’s a stamp of approval and a perfect combination for her to work with some of these bands/artists and of course White Willow.

Who says women can’t play an instrument? They can. And they can kick some gigantic ass with it. Hedvig herself will blow you away for the space madness adventure she will take you on with the Black Stabat Mater.