This excellent album was released in 1972 on Atlantic Records and was the one and only release from a fusion band from Philadelphia. Mainly instrumental (with some vocal accents) Good God's record contains tightly arranged and very original dose of energeticjazz rock with some progressive and even hard rock influences. The songs showed the instrumental virtuosity and imaginative approach with strong guitar parts leading the way. The group did a fantastic job on Frank Zappa's ‘King Kong’ and John McLaughlin's ‘Dragon Song’, although other four compositions were no less memorable. Most probably it was the greatest 'forgotten' progressive-fussion album ever! Unfortunately, the band sunk without a trace.

Few bands in the history of the heavy metal underground have a story as remarkable, improbable, or uplifting as that of Cirith Ungol. Formed in Ventura, California, in the early 1970s, Cirith Ungol created a sound the world had never experienced before. Wasting no time to ride their molten wave they started with their 2020 studio comeback Forever Black, Cirith Ungol started writing songs for Dark Parade as soon as Forever Black was released. Then, like everyone else, Cirith Ungol were hamstrung by the global pandemic, struggling through illness, seclusion, grief, and depression in their quest to create dark, vibrant art. And like the greatest warriors, they persevered, working on one song at a time - distractions be damned. The first track composed was the crushing "Relentless," which reinforced their confidence and clarity of vision. The rest of the album came naturally, fueled by personal misery and the tragedy of worldwide collapse.

Restrained, passionate, and absolutely beautiful.
"Forbidden Colours" is a 1983 song by David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The song is the vocal version of the theme from the Nagisa Oshima film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. It appears on the film's soundtrack album and was released as a single on Virgin Records in 1983 (the second collaborative single release by Sylvian and Sakamoto, following 1982's "Bamboo Houses").

Herb Ellis is known primarily for playing with small ensembles, so this recording as part of an octet is a departure for the great guitarist. This "all-star" combo includes trumpeter Roy Eldridge in a sublimated role, while tenor saxophonist Buddy Tate is featured a bit more, and pianist Ray Bryant solidifies the nucleus of a very talented band of old pros and unsung heroes. Trumpeter Frank Assunto may not be a common garden-variety name to most, but he asserts himself quite well during this session. Twin bass underpinnings from Israel Crosby and Jimmy Rowser add heft to the rhythm section, while always reliable drummer Gus Johnson shows his mettle as a solidly swinging timekeeper. The fare is split between standards, originals, and favorites, including Duke Ellington's rousing "It Don't Mean a Thing" with the jamming Eldridge leading the charge, and "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" as everyone joins in and Assunto takes a fine, distinctive solo…

Here we have Canadian musician Rick Miller back with his sixteenth studio album, for which he has kept the same line-up as he had for 2020's "Unstuck In Time".
Pink Floyd has always been an influence, but there is also much on here that one could relate back to early Barclay James Harvest while Alan Parsons Project is also involved somewhere along the line. Miller is crossover in its truest sense in that he has no boundaries and instead goes where ethe muse takes him, so we can be symphonic in some places and folk in others, always with his emotional and haunting vocals bringing the listener deep inside. While many of his influences do reach back in time, this never feels like an album from nearly 50 years ago but instead is fresh and new.

The 1988 album of the best blues harmonica player of his time, who was also a distinctive singer. This was the first brand new studio blues album to be issued on CD only, no vinyl issue at all. This was ahead of its time slightly.

Fracture (2007). Ian Boddy & Mark Shreeve have been at the centre of the UK Electronic Music scene since the late seventies and have known each other since they both appeared at the very first UK Electronica festival in 1983. "Fracture" is ARC's fifth album release and their fourth on the DiN label. It features their fabled retro style sequencing, courtesy of Shreeve's giant Moog modular system, coupled with a heady mix of quirky melodic lines and spacy atmospheres. The album is wholly instrumental and the first four tracks constantly morph and evolve with a set of chilled out grooves and sublime melodic themes. The fifth track, "Rapture", is an epic in every sense. Nearly 23 minutes in length it features a central, pounding sequencer riff section cocooned within truly awe inspiring deep space ambiences for a truly memorable track…

In some way Birth are a follower music entity to the band Astra from San Diego, California. Thus the new band features former members Brian Ellis (guitar, keys) and Conor Riley (guitar, keys, vocals), as well as Trevor Mast (bass) and drummer Paul Marrone completing the line up. All four already had worked together on several other occasions.
In "Born" their debut for Bad Omen Records, the listener is invited on a magic-eye journey through a Castenadean realm in which colours and sounds warp into kaleidoscopic dimensions. Yet far from the trappings of retro chic and fashion-aligned classicism, these five celestial serenades stake their claim in a different headspace to most other exponents of the form. Certainly it’s true that many of the audial shapes manifesting themselves here - the exploratory jazz-rock diversions, Mellotron and Hammond-abetted textures and the rich melancholia of the song-writing…

It was confusing enough that Willis Jackson, with Jack McDuff as sidekick, recorded first an album titled Together Again!, and then a different album with the similar title Together Again, Again. Combining both of these on a single-CD reissue, and titling the whole caboodle Together Again!, is downright pitiless. But to preface appraisal of the music with a gotta-make-this-clear explanation, this 2003 reissue, though titled Together Again!, is not the same as the original album Together Again!, though it contains every track from that LP. Instead, it collects every track from Together Again! and Together Again, Again, though not presented in their original running orders. Rather, the 13 tracks are sequenced in the chronological order in which they were recorded, from May 1959 to December 1961…

Making Shore is the third album by a prog collective founded in 2016 by British singer/songwriter and composer Guy Manning, in collaboration with other musicians such as Southern Empire's saxophonist Marek Arnold and keyboards player Sean Timms who appear with him here.
Making Shore is another winner from Damanek - once again Sean Timms production lends a touch of class to the overall sound of this impressive third album. Those who are fans of longer tracks will love Oculus which weighs in at over 30, minutes long closing a truly magnificent album.

A lesser known act among the Italian prog bands of the 70's and formed in early 1972 in Turin, Procession were an idea of singer Gianfranco Gaza. In April 1972 the band started to perform in local base, but the next month, with the help of artistic director Tuccimei Pino, they found themselves unsigned but performing before 50000 people at the biggest rock event of Italy, the Villa Pamphili Festival. In October Procession move to Rome and record their debut ''Procession'' within a week, distributed by the smaller label of RCA, Help.
This is a great find for lovers of guitar-driven hard prog, as the band features two talented guitarists (Roby Munciguerra, Marcelo Capra), though it contains a few suprises as well. Plenty of hard guitar breaks, some nice soloing but also a few dual guitar attacks makes ''Frontiera'' a classic rock release presented under a progressive scope…

Shore-to-shore etheric dub techno bliss by Italian pioneer Gigi Masin and Detroit’s Rod Modell of DeepChord, beautifully consolidating their respective aesthetics on two durational trips.
For many listeners of a sanguine disposition, ‘Red Hair Girl At Lighthouse Beach’ is a marriage made in ambient heaven. The two pieces find them at a certain position in their career arcs where both are particularly porous to collaborative energies, and are now understandably brought together by Silentes’ 13 series. With Gigi beaming from the shores of the Venetian lagoon, and Modell transmitting from the lakes of Michigan, they arrive at a sympathetic union of floating choral castles in the sky buoyed by systolic subbass thrum and bathed in moonlight…

Joe Louis Walker can play guitar and that’s the truth. The Chicago-based blues singer has been a presence on that city’s music scene for decades now, releasing albums on an almost annual basis since the late 1980s. Alibums such as 1990’s Gift and 2003’s Between a Rock and the Blues reveal a musician with serious guitar chops as well as a gospel-tinged megaphone of a voice. Never a purist, Walker is unafraid to incorporate plenty of rock and roll and even a little funk into his arrangements. Hellfire is Walker’s first album for the blues standard-bearers over at Alligator Records, and the set is a knockout, showcasing a wide variety of approaches unified by his incendiary guitar throttling and those expressive, angst-ridden vocals.

The eponymous album of this long-forgotten US band was originally released in 1970 on Specialty label (home of Little Richard and Sam Cooke). The music on this excellent, but rather unknown LP is best described as very energetic early heavy rock music (with some British progressive rock influences) full of powerful riffings, spontaneous guitar solos, inventive Hammond organ passages, fine melodies and numerous rhythm changes. The most notable influences were Led Zeppelin, Cream, Steppenwolf, Mountain and Buffalo Springfield. This is necessary listening for all early heavy rock fans! This CD was carefully remastered from the original, analogue source and sounds really great!

Guitarist Herb Ellis was the leader of six of the first dozen Concord releases. This lesser-known set has some fine playing from Ellis, trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison, tenor saxophonist Plas Johnson, bassist Ray Brown, drummer Jake Hanna and keyboardist Mike Melvoin although Melvoin's electric piano sounds a bit dated today. As usual the music is uncomplicated, straightahead, swinging and tasteful. Six of the songs are originals by group members which are performed along with Johnny Hodges' "Squatty Roo" and the ballad "But Beautiful."