With "Flying To The Stars", the Berlin/Leipzig quintet Coogans Bluff has released a new studio album, which is retro in an excellent and unusual way, but does not swim on the current retro wave.
eclipsed: To fall right into the house with the door: Is the new album "Flying To The Stars" your best album so far? If so, why? If not, why not?
The George Hotel in Hamburg. The lobby exudes the flair of the British Empire, a London club in Victorian times. Bruce Soord, mastermind of The Pineapple Thief, is ready for an interview a few days after the Brexit referendum and just before the England vs Iceland European Championship round of sixteen. There is a lot to tell about the new album "Your Wilderness" - and about football and the Brexit.
eclipsed: Are you a football fan?
The definition of what a rock anthem is should be clear - but in fact it's not always. Sometimes rock anthem and rock ballad overlap. But the unmistakable thing about the rock anthem - the name says it all - is its hymnal, often solemn character.
Years later Brian May once declared: "I think 'Hyde Park' was one of the most important concerts in our career. There was a lot of confirmation at that time, because we had made it in many countries at that time. But in England we were still not really sure that we were accepted. So it was wonderful to come back, see this crowd and feel this reaction." Steve Hillage, who was on that memorable day in the lead-up to the event among others, confirms May's assessment: "The Hyde Park event has cemented Queen's status as a truly great star.
When Ryley Walker lifted the demarcation line between jazz and folk with his CD "Primrose Green" last year, it was not only the experts who listened. There came a young Schlaks across the pond, who seemed more like a Eurorail tourist with a backpack and a travelling guitar than a visionary who uncovers the hidden synapses of global musical memory.
Originally, there were no plans to reposition Fripps Prog dinosaurs at all. Demos were created under the logo Projekct 7, joint plans were discussed and more musicians were added to the band core. But when Fripp told the rest of the participants in 2014 that he wanted to go on tour as a septet under the name King Crimson, the language was lost. "That was a shock for all of us," says singer and guitarist Jakko Jakszyk. "In 2012 he had announced his withdrawal from music. But even more surprising was the concept with the three drummers."
eclipsed catches Monkey3 guitarist Boris on the highway. He is on his way from the Swiss "Out In The Green" festival to the "festival cult" in Veltheim, Westphalia. "Yesterday Switzerland, today Germany, no problem, we live for music," he says in a relaxed manner. "We're just near Würzburg. I know there are some great psychedelic festivals there. We've been there before." And the journey continues, during which he now answers our questions.
eclipsed: The new album "Astra Symmetry" is in the box. How does it feel after work?
As usual, Justin Sullivan gives the friendly and intelligent conversation partner in the Cologne hotel where he receives interviews. But already after two questions the 60 year old singer and guitarist has little desire to talk about the new record "Winter". He prefers to be echauffiert about his government, neoliberalism and right-wing populists. Which makes the conversation even more interesting.
eclipsed: The new album sounds more boisterous than its predecessor "Between Dog And Wolf", which was dominated by archaic drums. One step back?
If the floodgates of memory are opened, what escapes them can no longer be stopped. The US band Gov't Mule has been releasing a whole series of archive recordings of special programs with music by Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones or together with jazz guitarist John Scofield for two years. The release of her furious Doors tribute from 2014 with Robbie Krieger is only a matter of time. The provisional conclusion of the series, however, is a tribute by Gov't Mule to himself. The "Tel-Star Sessions" of 1994 are the very first recordings the band ever made.
Nobody knows which louse Geoffrey Arnold Beck ran into his liver. The fact is that the old master released "Loud Hailer" in mid-July, his first studio album in six years, and received euphoric reviews. But he doesn't want to talk about it. And he only wants to present it live in the USA, where he has been touring with Buddy Guy since the beginning of August - in casinos, provincial nests and monumental venues like the Hollywood Bowl. A finger exercise for ego and pension funds - while he cancelled all activities in Europe.
