Category Archives: Rock
CULT CLASSIC: JADE WARRIOR-FLOATING WORLD.
Cult Classic: Jade Warrior-Floating World. All too often, musical innovators don’t get the credit they deserve. That was the case with Jade Warrior. Their fourth studio album, Floating World was released in 1974, and pioneered both ambient and world music. Floating World was the most ambitious album of Jade Warrior’s career and almost wasn’t released. …
CULT CLASSIC: THE SEEDS-FUTURE.
Cult Classic: The Seeds-Future. For any band with what might be described as a “generous” recording budget, the temptation to experiment and push musical boundaries must be tantalizing. Especially back in 1967, at the dawn of the psychedelic era. For The Seeds, resisting temptation was impossible. The Seeds can’t be criticised for this. They had …
PACIFIC BREEZE 2: JAPANESE CITY POP AOR AND BOOGIE 1972-1986.
Pacific Breeze 2: Japanese City Pop AOR and Boogie 1972-1986. Label: Light In The Attic Records. Release Date: ‘15th’ of May 2020. In May 2019, Seattle-based Light In The Attic Records released Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR and Boogie 1976-1986 to widespread critical acclaim. This lovingly curated compilation was what many music fans had …
ISLANDMAN-KAYBOLA.
Islandman-Kaybola. Label: Music For Dreams. Three years ago in 2017, Islandman released their debut album Rest In Space to widespread critical acclaim. Since then, the Turkish trio have been busy, and have crisscrossed the globe playing gigs in clubs and at festivals. They’ve also spent the best part of two years recording their much-anticipated sophomore …
ROY BUDD-THE INTERNECINE PROJECT.
Roy Budd-The Internecine Project. Label: Trunk Records. By 1974, London born jazz pianist, arranger, bandleader and composer Roy Budd was twenty-seven, and had been performing professionally since the age of fifteen. A year later, he formed his own quartet, and in 1967, released his debut album Roy Budd At Newport. The young pianist was a …
CULT CLASSIC: ISAAC HAYES MOVEMENT-DISCO CONNECTION.
Cult Classic: Isaac Hayes Movement-Disco Connection. Disco. Never has a musical genre divided opinion like the D word. It’s been described as musical Marmite. People either love disco, or they loathe it. There’s no in-between. However, forty years ago, in 1976, disco’s star was in the ascendancy. Artists were jumping onto the disco bandwagon. …
CULT CLASSIC: BOB FRANK-BOB FRANK.
Cult Classic: Bob Frank-Bob Frank. In 2007, Jim Dickinson described Bob Frank as: “the best songwriter you never heard.” By then, he had known Bob Frank for forty-five years. Jim Dickinson first met Bob Frank way back in the summer of 1963. Back then, he was part of a group of singers and songwriters hanging out …
CULT CLASSIC: PYRAMID-PYRAMID.
Cult Classic: Pyramid-Pyramid. Although Winston Churchill’s said: “it is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” in the context of Russia, what’s become one of his most famous quotations can just as easily be applied to Robin Page’s Pyramid Records which has been the source of heated debate for over twenty years. This …
HERBIE HANCOCK-THE PRISONER.
Herbie Hancock-The Prisoner. Label: Blue Note Records. In the summer of 1968 Herbie Hancock left Miles Davis Quintet to form his own group. This was a risky move, but one he felt he had to make to develop as a composer, bandleader and pianist. During the summer of 1968 Herbie Hancock also released his …
DANIEL HAAKSMAN-BLACK ATLANTICA EDITS.
Daniel Haaksman-Black Atlantica Edits. Label: BBE Music. Release Date: ’24th’ of April 2020. Over the last few years, Berlin-based DJ, producer and record label owner Daniel Haaksman has been reworking tracks by everyone from CK Mann + Carousel 7 and Soul Brothers to Francis Bebey, Bonde Do Rôlé and Kaba Blon and these edits have become favourites …
DR JOHN THE NIGHT TRIPPER-THE SUN, MOON AND HERBS.
Dr John The Night Tripper-The Sun, Moon and Herbs. Label: Speaker’s Corner. By July 1970, twenty-nine year old Dr John was about to begin recording his fourth album for Atco which eventually became The Sun, Moon and Herbs which has just been reissued on vinyl by Speaker’s Corner. Dr John had written six new track …
JOHN MARTYN-THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A MUSICAL MAVERICK.
John Martyn-The Life and Times Of A Musical Maverick. It’s no exaggeration to say that the late, great John Martyn’s life revolved around music. His career began in 1967, when he was just seventeen. Back then, John Martyn was a folk singer. However, over the next forty-two years, John Martyn continually reinvented his music flitting between folk and folk rock to …
CULT CLASSIC: THE DAMNED-MACHINE GUN ETIQUETTE.
Cult Classic: The Damned-Machine Gun Etiquette. Nowadays, there aren’t many bands that are still going strong after forty-four years. Especially punk bands. They were mostly short-lived affairs, who released one or two singles, before calling it a day. However, one band is still going strong after forty-four year years, The Damned. Their third album Machine Gun Etiquette was …
CULT CLASSIC: LEE HAZLEWOOD-COWBOY IN SWEDEN.
Cult Classic: Lee Hazlewood-Cowboy In Sweden. By 1969, Lee Hazlewood’s career was no longer going to plan. The man who had been around since the birth of rock ‘n’ roll was suddenly regarded as yesterday’s man. Suddenly, he was no longer in demand as a producer. Especially by a new generation of up-and-coming musicians. A few …
CULT CLASSIC: THE INCREDIBLE STRNG BAND-CHANGING HORSES.
Cult Classic: The Incredible String Band-Changing Horses. When The Incredible String Band released their fifth album, Changing Horses in November 1969, much had changed within the group that had formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, six years earlier in 1963. The Incredible String Band was one of the biggest, and most successful folk bands in the world, …
dereksmusicblog
dereksmusicblog 