Quicksilver Messenger Service arose in the heady days of San Francisco’s magical 1960s golden era. The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Santana and Steve Miller Band were all making inroads into the local music scene before entering the national (and, eventually,…
View More Quicksilver Messenger Service – Who Do You Love? The Recordings 1967-1972
One of the greater joys of being a TPA reviewer is discovering bands who might otherwise have flown under the radar. General Purpose, a young band from Greensboro, North Carolina in the US is one such band. One Last Word,…
View More General Purpose – One Last Word
On last March’s Cruise To The Edge, one of the buzzier bands performing was Canada’s Crown Lands. Both my friends with whom I travelled were excited to see them, and as a result, so was I. While this was to…
View More Crown Lands – Apocalypse
The late seventies and, in particular, the eighties, were heady days for American college radio stations. While most could not broadcast beyond the confines of the campus, there were a healthy number with a broader reach. Even with this limited…
View More Various Artists – This Can’t Be Today: American Psychedelia And The Paisley Underground 1977-1988
You can call Clive Nolan many things, but one of them would not be a one trick pony. Playing for bands as diverse as Pendragon, Arena, Shadowland, Caamora and Strangers On A Train, Nolan fits seamlessly into whatever role he…
View More Clive Nolan – The Mortal Light
Rafael Pacha first came to my attention as part of The Samurai Of Prog universe, collaborating with such acts as Kimmo Pörsti, Guildmaster and Inner Prospekt. His exceptional talents on a huge variety of instruments have lifted all the music…
View More Rafael Pacha With The Friends of (Con)Fusion – Not Normal After Music
Synth pop has been the soundtrack for much of my adult life. From electronic beats underlying the dance clubs of the eighties to the current day output of Taylor Swift, synthesizers have been an inescapable part of the music scene.…
View More Various Artists – Musik Music Musique 1979: The Roots Of Synth Pop
CBGB, located in what was at the time one of the least desirable parts of New York City, could barely aspire to divedom. It was a sleazy, tiny and filthy bar in a city that was spiraling down the toilet.…
View More Various Artists – CBGB & OMFUG: A New York City Soundtrack 1975-1986
Nearly twenty years after the release of his superb first solo album (Four O’Clock And Hysteria), Spock’s Beard guitarist Alan Morse releases another fine record with So Many Words. Whereas the debut was largely jazz fusion, the new record opens…
View More Alan Morse – So Many Words
The second collaboration between Snarky Puppy and Metropole Orkest, Somni (Catalan for “dream”), is an introspective tour de force that leaves the listener breathless. Watch the companion video, and you can see that even the musicians themselves look on in…
View More Snarky Puppy – Somni