MuzikMan's Reviews And News

5/11/2020

Ex-HAWKWIND Bassist ALAN DAVEY Releases 4CD Box Set Of Home Demos Including Early HAWKWIND Songs!

Los Angeles, CA - Alan Davey, the brilliantly creative musician/songwriter/producer perhaps best known for being the protégé of Motörhead’s Lemmy as well as filling Lemmy’s leather boots as the bassist for space rock icons Hawkwind, is an astoundingly exhaustive artist. Just this year, Davey has overseen the release of new singles by his superstar project Hawkestrel that featured Rick Wakeman, Pat Travers and electronic violinist Shankar (Peter Gabriel, Frank Zappa) as well as the release of a 3-album set from his side project Pre-Med. And now comes the release of a 4CD collection of home studio recordings, awesomely dubbed Four-Track Mind. With recordings that date back to the mid-‘80s all the way up to this decade, Four-Track Mind will give the listener a glimpse into the creative evolution of this amazingly adventurous artist. Packaged in a deluxe clamshell box with individual wallets for each disc along with a 12-page booklet with detailed liner notes and vintage photos, this is a box set that no Alan Davey fan should be without!

Davey has this to say about the collection: “Rarely do musicians ever release their learning curves of writing, mixing, and production skills, with all the clicks and pops and unedited flaws, but I thought people would find it interesting to see how I evolved my style and sound over the years. From a 4-track cassette machine, here are 60+ demos of many of my songs and some not yet used!”

Four-Track Mind will be available on both CD and digital everywhere starting May 22!

To purchase: https://orcd.co/alan-davey-four-track-mind

Tracks:
DISC 1
1. Spiritual Modulator (1986)
2. R.E.M. Time (1986)
3. Chinese Whispers (1986)
4. Transient (1986)
5. Slumber Head (1986)
6. Dragon Chaser (1986)
7. Hypno Trip (1986)
8. In A Sphere (1986)
9. E-On Strings (1986)
10. Wind Of Ghosts (1987)
11. Dark Light (1987)
12. Moody Motion (1987)
13. Flight To Andromeda (1987)
14. Sunrise Assassins (1988)
15. Moonstone (1988)
16. Dragon Chaser (1988)
17. Sword Of The East (1988)
18. A Shot In The Dark (Motor Pink Head) (1988)

DISC 2
1. Spiritual Modulator
2. The Call
3. Fire Tribe
4. Return To...
5. Simulator
6. Chased
7. Dragon Chaser
8. Drive
9. On Acid Bass!
10. Hitze Seeker V
11. Of Wings
12. Out Of My Box
13. Robby's Rap
14. Jigging
15. The Noise
16. Abab Fed
17. Backwards Thru Water
18. Tribal Daze

DISC 3
1. Lost In The Smoke
2. Snake Charmer
3. Up And Up
4. The Animal
5. Deep Space Rock
6. Don't Fret
7. From The Deep
8. Blue Shift
9. OSC Squared
10. Stan's Middle 8
11. Astron Belt
12. Special Place
13. Received
14. Fear At Night
15. Endoparasitoid
16. Wave Upon Wave
17. Space To Go

DISC 4
1. Greenback Massacre
2. Shahadah
3. Many Voices
4. Bird Nebula
5. Creamy
6. Holosuite Program
7. Assimilation
8. Alien Fingers
9. The Wind
10. Be Still
11. Magic B
12. LGM
13. In The Game
14. Reality Foil

Press inquiries:
Glass Onyon PR
Billy James
PH: 828-350-8158
glassonyonpr@gmail.com

CLEOPATRA RECORDS, Inc.
11041 Santa Monica Blvd #703
Los Angeles CA 90025
www.CleopatraRecords.com

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Ex-HAWKWIND Bassist ALAN DAVEY Releases 4CD Box Set Of Home Demos Including Early HAWKWIND Songs!

5/10/2020

Alt-Blues Review: Mark Lanegan - Straight Songs of Sorrow

Release Date: May 8, 2020

Label: Heavenly

Web Site

Mark Lanegan comes right out and says it, so don't say you weren't warned. These are Straight Songs of Sorrow. The deep lyrics riding upon guttural resonance evokes a cathartic empathy for the state of the world and the people inhabiting it which is nothing short of beautiful. It may not be the artist's desired effect, but after I put my headphones down, I feel a whole lot better about my own personal lot in life and the future of humankind. I suppose in this respect one could call this a blues album, but the blood mixed in makes it more purple.

Founder of grunge pioneers and extremely underrated Screaming Trees, Lanagan rides the tailwind of his recent soul-bearing memoir, Sing Backwards and Weep. His book details the youthful search for "decadence, depravity, anything, everything." In it, Lanagan reveals the guilt he feels to this day about the death of his friend, Kurt Cobain. The vocals are reminiscent of classic blues singers yet bent with a blend of dark Iggy Pop mixed with Leonard Cohen, and infused with a twist of Nick Cave.

The distressed sonic texture strikes a chord from which the lyrics jump off and strike a nerve with tales of heartache and sorrow and warning signs of the hard road ahead. The album begins with Lanegan warning listeners not to take his advice. "Suddenly, everything I ever had is on ice. All those who tried to help me scattered like mice. No, I wouldn't want to say."

"Bleed All Over," the song with the most velocity in the collection, still reverberates with a vengeful sorry. "Don't you say it's over… I never wanted to… I'm a bleed all over." On "Skeleton Key," Lannegan laments, "I'm ugly inside and out… Love me, why would you ever love me? No one has ever loved me yet, pretty baby."

On Straight Songs of Sorrow, slow and soulful guitar travels on a gravel road of heavy bass and subdued drums. In the driver's seat, Lanegan couldn't care less what his passengers think. Unburdened by obligation and pretension, the artist is free to express his true self and travel wherever he wants. That is precisely what Lanegan has done, and we're all the wiser for coming along for the ride.

- Tom Endyke | Guitar & Pen

5/09/2020

Rock Review: Eric Burdon & The Animals-When I Was Young – The MGM Recordings 1967-1968

Release Date: February 28, 2020

Label: Esoteric

Website

When I Was Young – The MGM Recordings 1967-1968 is a 5-disc set covering Eric Burdon & The Animals. Each of these discs shows a pattern. As you stream through the music, the tone and themes overall go from disc one, and five shapes themselves up to be more of a darker sound than that of the other three discs. In ascending order, discs two through four increasingly become a bit lighter with the themes surrounding them. Minus a few extra tracks and one being formatted in stereo and one for mono, the two bookend discs play out similarly. It’s well worth playing on a day of reminiscing or if you might have a grey feeling throughout your day.

Eric Burdon & The Animals came about in 1966 when the actual band The Animals abruptly parted ways, he formed a similar but newer version of the group. It took hold of a Psychedelic rock type of influence rather than that of its former R&B stylings. He possessed a particular skill few in the Rock world could bring to life and not have the message and sound overdone or duplicated.

Disc two still carries a bit of a darker undertone but, generally, The Twain Shall Meet is an album of eventfulness and storytelling. You can feel a sense of wonder and awe in songs like “All Is One,” and “Just The Thought.” The album is rightly titled because it comes off very poetically. However, it also speaks to songs of war and unfortunate sorrow in the song “Sky Pilot.” You get an action-packed album amid this packaged deal.

Everyone Of Us is a blend of items. It contains an instrumental piece, “Serenade to A Sweet Lady,” along with a spoken-word track of “The Immigrant Lad.” It also includes a short story-styled song of “New York 1963 – America 1968.” You can tell by the titles of the tracks, that a lot of historical context surrounds the entirety of this album, and while it may be for a select group of ears (as many may not find the album impactful), it does carry an impressive framework about it.

Think of disc four as the icing on the cake, or the joy and celebration of light after a series of unfortunate events. There’s a common theme of love and its lasting effects both good and bad. “River Deep, Mountain High,” is that excitement burst of how much intensity one’s love could be another while, “Ring Of Fire,” represents how much power and heat can be put into love itself and loving someone, who may or may not return the same feeling.

This album certainly has an eclectic sense of emotion and lessons to be learned. Moreover, it is a great representation of laid back, mellow vibes to give younger listeners a sense of how music can captivate both a message and create an endless earworm to soothe the mind after an eventful day or stimulate the mind to think more introspectively.

Key Tracks: “Monterey,” “A Girl Named Sandoz,” “Year of the Guru,” “Gemini,” “Ring of Fire.”

Gregg Keniston- MuzikMan.net Staff
May 8, 2020

Reviews Provided By:

New Age Music Reviews

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Track Listing:

Disc One: Winds Of Change (Re-Mastered Stereo Mix)

01.    Winds Of Change
02.    Poem By The Sea
03.    Paint It Black
04.    The Black Plague
05.    Yes, I Am Experienced
06.    San Franciscan Nights
07.    Man – Woman
08.    Hotel Hell
09.    Good Times
10.    Anything
11.    It’s All Meat
12.    When I Was Young
13.    A Girl Named Sandoz
14.    Ain’t That So
15.    Gratefully Dead
16.    Anything (Single Version)

Disc Two: The Twain Shall Meet

01.    Monterey
02.    Just The Thought
03.    Closer to The Truth
04.    No Self Pity
05.    Orange and Red Beams
06.    Sky Pilot
07.    We Love You Lil
08.    All Is One
09.    Sky Pilot (Part One) (Mono Single)
10.    Sky Pilot (Part Two) (Mono Single)
11.    Monterey (Mono Single Version)

Disc Three: Everyone Of Us

01.    White Houses
02.    Uppers and Downers
03.    Serenade to a Sweet Lady
04.    The Immigrant Lad
05.    Year of the Guru
06.    St. James Infirmary
07.    New York 1963 – America 1968
08.    White Houses (Single Version)

Disc Four: Love Is

01.    River Deep, Mountain High
02.    I’m An Animal
03.    I’m Dying, or Am I?
04.    Ring Of Fire
05.    Coloured Rain
06.    To Love Somebody
07.    As The Years Go Passing By
08.    Gemini
09.    The Madman (Running Through the Fields)
10.    River Deep, Mountain High (Single Version)

Disc Five: Winds Of Change (Re-Mastered Mono Mix)

01.    Winds of Change
02.    Poem By the Sea
03.    Paint It Black
04.    The Black Plague
05.    Yes, I Am Experienced
06.    San Franciscan Nights
07.    Man – Woman
08.    Hotel Hell
09.    Good Times
10.    Anything
11.    It’s All Meat

5/08/2020

Contemporary Instrumental Review: Yurina Shin-Connections

Release Date: May, 7, 2020

Label: Independent

Website

Yurina Shin is a classically trained composer who blends the richness of the classical tradition with the fast-paced, moving rhythms of today. This is on her “About” page on her website. I find this kind of info is simple and straightforward. It creates a clear picture of who the artist is. Yurina has created a lot of music for very successful video games and is very well educated in music, holding an M.A in Music Composition, and a B.A. in Music Education.

That kind of combination is an excellent core to work from for any performing artists as far as I am concerned. I have found the educated musicians are always drawn to the classical genre. This makes total sense as that is where everything else comes from one way or another, it all started there.

Connections is her latest release, which combines her two EP’s Memory Lane and Reflection. This encompasses eight tracks of contemporary instrumental that shines the light upon Yurina’s education and previous experiences as a recording artist.

I do believe as well that many listeners would put this music into the new age instrumental genre. For the sake of brevity, I will call it contemporary instrumental, which does have a strong crossover tendency to new age classifications. The music is very relaxing and beautiful. Piano based music such as this can serve many purposes for personal use, movie soundtracks, and documentaries. However, that is not the intent of presenting this encapsulation of the two EPs. This brings attention to her all-around talents and abilities and hopefully to a wider distribution of listeners and potential record labels.

Because of the changing tides of the music, it makes for a more diverse listening experience. The pace and length of the tracks are just right and Yurina uses all of her talents to make each one a singular work of art. The addition of a violin only accentuates her efforts through the ivory keys. The addition of that instrument is always is well suited for the piano accompaniment that I have heard with so many artists.

Yurina desires to reach a larger audience and the uses of her music will certainly follow once that happens. Connections will be an introduction for many potential listeners and I believe will be the springboard to more opportunities and much larger fan base than she already has.

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck
April 25, 2020

Founder of:

New Age Music Reviews

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