Yuka & Chronoship ~ SHIP

 

Man, did this album take me by surprise. This almost instrumental prog band is FANTASTIC! The musicianship is tight, perfectly so. The only thing that I could say about this band, if I could say anything bad about this band, is that I’d like some vocals to go along with the great music. This band could be the next YES, if they had some vocals for people to get ahold of that they might like to sing along. There are a couple of songs with vocals sung by Sonja Kristina of CURVED AIR, & also Hiroyuki Tzuta, which I enjoyed a bit more. The band is Yuka Funakoshi on piano, keyboards & vocal (??), Shun Taguchi on bass & chorus, Takashi Miyazawa on guitars, & Ikko Tanaka on drums. There aren’t many bands who take me by surprise, but Yuka & Chronoship do. This band definately rocks & I highly recommend that you give this a listen. I give this 5 out of 5 Music Guru Stars.

Advertisements

Martin Turner ~ Ex Wishbone Ash ~ The Beauty In Chaos Live at the Citadel CD & DVD Set

 

Wishbone Ash were big back in the 70s. Unfortunately, they broke up. Now there are 2 bands with Wishbone Ash’s name attached to it. One by Andy Powell, & this one by Martin Turner. Now that I’ve watched this DVD, I can tell you that both of these bands are great. Since this is about Martin Turner, let me get to this one. First off, he plays his brand new album “The Beauty Of Chaos” in it’s entirety LIVE. After that, he goes on to play some of the great Wishbone Ash songs that he wrote & made famous. The band on this CD/DVD set are wonderful. The band consists of 4 musicians made up of Martin Turner on bass & vocals, Danny Willson on guitars & vocals, Misha Nikolic on guitars, & Tim Brown on drums. As Martin keeps the rhythm rolling with Tim, Misha & Danny are doing dueling guitar solos all while harmonizing on said guitar solo. This is a great show to watch. The only thing that I would like to say is I wish Martin & Andy (Powell) would get together with all of their bands for an even more amazing show. The DVD did seem to give me more pleasure than the CD, as I felt that I heard more & saw things that I may not have understood on the CD. Still a great set Highly recommended. I give this 5 out of 5 Music Guru Stars.

Fernando Perdomo ~ Out To Sea

 

Ok, guitar fans are really going to like this album. The first song “The Architect (Tribute To Peter Banks)” is a fast moving spectacular song which gets you into some great guitar playing as well as some keyboard drumming & more. Each song has it’s own elegance as well as some other tributes by Fernando. Included are “De Boerderij (Tribute To Focus)”, “The Future According To Roye (Tribute To Roye Albrighton and Nektar)”, “Sonja (Tribute To Sonja Kristina and Curved Air)” and finishing off the album with King Crimson’s “Starless (For John Wetton) ” which is a bonus track. The other tracks are extremely well played & played with some real soul, similar to Jeff Beck but with a more progressive rock sound. The 8th song “Dreaming In Stereo Suite” is a great epic track, with many changes throughout the song. I highly recommend this album & give it 5 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Big Little Lions ~ Alive And Well

 

This album opens up with a song titled “Find Your Tribe” which made me feel as if I had stepped back into the 1960’s, listening to the Cowsills. The 2nd song had a similar feel to it as did the rest of the album. While this doesn’t seem to be an album that I would constantly listen to, I would listen to it enough, as I do enjoy it. There are multiple vocalists (Helen  Austin & Paul Otten) on most of the songs, just like the Cowsills. The negative parts of the story behind the songs are turned into a positive with a great poppy sound throughout the album.  Paul Otten here in the United States, & Helen Austin in British Columbia make great music together. I think you may like it. Let me know.  I rate this 4 out of 5 Music Guru Stars.

Jordsjo ~ Jord

 

Jordsjo is a symphonic progressive rock band from the netherlands. This album, while at first, threw me off with the first track, the second track brought me right back to where I belong. With a mixture of music stemming from Marillion or Genesis to Jethro Tull & the precision of Renaissance, & a tinge of Procol Harum, really made me groove with this album. The only problem that I had was that I couldn’t understand a single word that they sang, being that it was not in English. This did not stop me from enjoying the music however. The music had a feeling of the 70’s, with the slight nuance of the 2010’s. The organ was the instrument that stood out the most to me. I would rate this 4 out 5 Music Guru stars.

Percy Sledge ~ LIVE

 

This live compilation from Percy Sledge is very good & satisfying to listen to. He sings songs like “Whiter Shade Of Pale” by Procol Harum, “My Girl”, “Bring It On Home To Me”, “When A Man Loves A Woman” & of course “Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay” with 2 versions of this song. His voice was wonderful, powerful, & very clear. The band was right on cue. I would rate this 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Kino ~ Radio Voltaire

 

This Power Prog Pop Super-group gives a thrilling sophomore release 13 years after their Debut album. I guess getting Pete Trawavas (Marillion), John Mitchell (It Bites, Frost*), John Beck (Keyboardist for It Bites & Fish), who is listed as special guest  & Craig Blundell (Steven Wilson, Frost*), sitting in for Chris Maitland, now an official member together at the same time, must be hard for these musicians who are on the road all of the time. The first album (Picture) was a rare hit for a new band, soi much so, that they made a Remastered re-release of Picture. This new album (Radio Voltaire) certainly has that same great power prog pop feel to it & I think that you’ll really enjoy it. I’m guessing that the voices splattering throughout the album are supposed to be radio ramblings, but, I couldn’t really hear what was being said. The opening song, “Radio Voltaire”, definately gives you that proggy feel . While “I Don’t Know Why” is a throwback to some classic rock greats, it is definately Kino in some of their best form. I would rate this 4 out of 5 Music Guru Stars. There are moments that didn’t move me as much as others, but, with a few more listens, it may creep up to a 5. Listen to this & tell me your take.