The Georgia Thunderbolts- "Can we get a witness"

From LYNYRD SKYNYRD to SMALL FACES/FACES/HUMBLE PIE "Be good to yourself", TGT are a real Southern band with guts.Honky tonk piano, battered ,fuzzed guitars and a singer that knows how to use his voice. Dirty, ballsy rock n roll base don boogie, blues, Soul and with the Southern twist we all love. Yet the band is more on the classic rock side of the road and although you can listen to pre 76 SKYNYRD you can listen to BOA,ALLMAN,CREAM, Clapton and most of all Delta blues burning their soul and letting music pour out like hot water from a gazer well. If LED ZEPPELIN were Southerns instead of UK hippies they might have tried to sound like TGT. Hard rocking anthems like "Helpless woman' give their place to Southern boogie  like "Dancin with the devil" making "Can we get a witness" a joy for the ears. Traditional, yes, obsolete no, check them out and we may have here BLACKSTONE CHERRY successors. 

 

From the opener "Take it slow" the beat and the groove are ever present, manly,Southern hard rock with dizzy,screaming guitars and a singer somewhere between the Marlboro man and the Jack Daniels commercials oozing whiskey and old time manhood. 'Lend a hand" has the kind of groove we love at BLACKFOOT and MOLLY HATCHET with a new generation Southern harmonies at the chorus (BLACKBERRY SMOKE, CADILLAC THREE, MOLLY HATCHET, BLACKSTONE CHERRY). At songs like "Looking for an old friend" are the closest i have heard to SKYNYRD for years and you must take this as a compliment. 

 

 

 

THE GEORGIA THUNDERBOLTS is a band who loves their musical tradition and at the same time tries to differentiate themselves by writing damn good, groovy, Southern hard rock songs. Raise the confederate flag and listen to them, or bury yourself in the political correct shit of the middle class /left wing losers.

7,5

 

Great Ad-"Deep Down Death"

Sweden really retro rock from the 70s and not another BLUES PILLS, cause i know what you think of. GREAT AD are far  70s and more into the psychedelic side of music. From the hard rock opener ``Got the fire" to the instrumental with obvious influences by bands like THE SHADOWS "Borne,Andy, Mountain" to the more bluesy, abstract "You ll never believe' everyone is here mostly from the San Francisco scene. Joplin,Santana, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE but also BLUE CHEER, AMBOY DUKES, MOUNTAIN, jamming at the beautiful instrumentals of the album or building the climax in edge hard rock songs. The album is 37 minutes in length and has a number of songs that the instrumentals (who are easily could be among the best moments of the album) are adding extra depth. GREAT AD are not another revivalist band, they are the real deal. GREAD AD Are stuck in the crack of time and their music  aims straight to the heart and the stoned mind. "Fast love" is like MOTORHEAD would jam with BLACK SABBATH leaving vocals out of the picture. 

 

 

 

The album is raw, proto metal, vintage rock with enough dirt like they have just finished the Paris Dakar race on camels. Whiskey soaked  vocals that are equally occult and retro are spicing the songs, that have the folk/melodic feeling of LED ZEPPELIN filtered through the BLACK SABBATH distortion, all together praising the American proto metal scene.The band recorded and released two private press singles in 1975 and 1976 respectively. Both were done in micro pressings of 100 copies each making them very rare and sought after. We follow the band from their first incarnation as a killer heavy power trio and then expanding into a massive 5-piece powerhouse and until the military draft put an end to their teenage hard rock dreams. So this is a reissue worth every penny and every minute of your time.

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Song of the week Midnight Oil - Rising Seas (Official Video)

 Song of the week

Midnight Oil - Rising Seas (Official Video)

 Midnight Oil – Rising Seas (Official Video) ‘Rising Seas’ Available Now: https://MidnightOil.lnk.to/RisingSeas

Χάβιερ Θέρκας- «Ο απατεώνας» (Πατάκης)

Ένα μυθιστόρημα, αυτοβιογραφία του Ενρίκ Μάρκος. Ενός Ισπανού αντιστασιακού, αντιφασίστα, με δράση που θυμίζει αυτή των δικών μας εκατοντάδων χιλιάδων «αντιστασιακών». Σχεδόν ανύπαρκτη, αλλά με τον ήρωα, πραγματική προσωπικότητα, να εκμεταλλεύεται , συγκυρίες και καταστάσεις, (), για να τραβήξει τα φώτα της δημοσιότητας επάνω του. Ο Ενρίκ Μάρκος, διογκώνει την πραγματικότητα, για να χωρέσει τις μισές αλήθειες του. Βρίσκεται να πολεμά ηρωικά στον Ισπανικό εμφύλιο, να γνωρίζεται με τις προσωπικότητες του αναρχικού χώρου. Βρίσκεται φυγάς, να οδεύει ως εξόριστος στην Ναζιστική Γερμανία και να φυλακίζεται για αντικαθεστωτική /αντιναζιστική δράση και τελικά να περνά και από τα στρατόπεδα συγκέντρωσης. Γυρνώντας στην Ισπανία, ως γνήσιος Ισπανός , Καταλανός αναρχικός «ζει» σε καθεστώς ημιπαρανομίας στα χρόνια του Φράνκο και τον «υπονομεύει». Με την έλευση της Δημοκρατίας, αναλαμβάνει ηγετικές θέσεις πρώτα στους Ισπανούς Αναρχικούς στη συνέχεια στα συνδικάτα, στην Οργάνωση επιζώντων των εκτοπισθέντων σε στρατόπεδα συγκέντρωσης και στον Σύλλογο για την Δημόσια παιδεία. Σε κάθε έκφανση των δραστηριοτήτων του επικαλείται το αντιστασιακό παρελθόν του, ώσπου αυτό αποκαλύπτεται, αλλιώτικο, μικρότερο σε διαστάσεις από όσα δήλωνε έως και ανύπαρκτο.

Αυτή την αληθινή προσωπικότητα που έφτασε να μιλήσει στην Ισπανική βουλή, μέσα σε θύελλα χειροκροτημάτων, αναλαμβάνει να διαιωνίσει ο Θέρκας, με μια αντιστοιχία τουλάχιστον έξυπνη. Ιδαλγός όσων δεν τον άφησε η πραγματική ζωή του να ζήσει όπως ο Δον Κιχώτης ή απλά υπερφίαλος απατεώνας. Χαρισματικός απατεώνας και παθολογικός ψεύτης ή ένας άνθρωπος που επιζητούσε την δόξα και απλώς εκμεταλλεύτηκε την ανάγκη του κόσμου για ήρωες, μεγαλοποιώντας αλλά ελάχιστα παραποιώντας την αλήθεια.

Ένα βιβλίο, βιογραφία αλλά και φιλοσοφική πραγματεία, γύρω από την ανάγκη της αυτοπραγμάτωσης, του ανεπίτευκτου ονείρου, του κυνηγιού του τέλειου. Η υπεραξία της φήμης σε ένα κόσμο που ζει για τα μίντια, μέσα από την ιστορία ενός απλού ανθρώπου, που «ξεγέλασε» με την συνενοχή τους, αν θέλετε αλλά σίγουρα με την σιωπή τους, ένα ολόκληρο έθνος. Ο ίδιος δεν μετανιώνει ουσιαστικά, ακόμη και όταν αποδομείται. Ζητά από τον «βιογράφο» του να του αφήσει κάτι…κάτι να κρατηθεί.

Γλυκόπικρο, σε ταλανίζει ανάμεσα στην πλήρη απέχθεια και την συμπάθεια για έναν ήρωα ταινιών του Ντε Σίκα, που απολαμβάνει την πλαστοπροσωπία, όσο μπορεί, όπως μπορεί, ελπίζοντας να μην τελειώσει το όνειρο… Όταν έρθει η ώρα της αποκάλυψης, χαμογελά σαν τον Φερναντέλ και γαντζώνεται στα ψήγματα αλήθειας, μιας εικονικής ζωής ,που δημιούργησε και εν τέλει, καταβρόχθισε την πραγματική του, σε προσωπικό και δημόσιο επίπεδο, με το ψέμα και την ασάφεια κύρια όπλα, ενός κλασικού «επαναστάτη» των σαλονιών. Βιβλίο που αξίζει να διαβαστεί ειδικά στην Ελλάδα, που όλοι πάντα σε κάθε ιστορική περίοδο έκαναν αντίσταση.

Ο Θέρκας θέτει ερωτήματα ,όχι μόνο για τον πλαστογράφο, αλλά και τα εκούσια και ακούσια θύματα του και την διάθεση μας να πιστέψουμε σε ιππότες και δράκους, για να ξεπλύνουμε ομαδικά, τα χρόνια λήθης και συνενοχής. Απολαυστικά άμεσο και ιδιοφυώς αποδομητικό, στην εποχή των μίντια, των θρύλων και του «λευκού» ψέματος.

Διαβάζεται με συνοδεία το Scenes from a memory των Dream Theater

DANG!!!- "Sociopathfinder"

What an album, what a debut !!! From the 70s blues propelled intro "Preludium desperado" to "Long gone misery" , DEEP PURPLE, URIAH HEEP and 60s psychedelia join forces to create an amalgam of delightful music. Much more innovators than revivalists, Norwegian musical collective of DANG!!! they use the essence of classic 70s hard rock and 60s psychedelia, along with some surf and pop elements to create immensely dynamic music. Norwegian rockers DANG!!! is a seven-headed monster on a mission to create a new world post-pandemic rock n roll order with their debut album “Socipathfinder” The band is formed around the core duo of Arne Thelin (ex Lust-O-Rama) and Stig Amundsen (ex Gluecifer) and.feat. members from Kvelertak, Mork, Giuda, The Cynics, and ex-members from, Motorpsycho, Nashville Pussy and more.

 

 The  good vibrations of the music are all over the place ,as are the references to 60s TV show music themes. Imagine FUZZTONES, CRAMPS and HELLACOPTERS jamming at the same room with MK II DEEP PURPLE and yet i'm not sure if i can describe in its entity the result. So I'm closing this small presentation just saying that DANG!!! nail it from the first time and the result is a diverse, full of sonic surprises album.

 

8,5

 

 Joanna Connor- "4801 South Indiana Avenue"

Sometimes you need Joe Bonamassa to get in touch with an artist like Joanna Connor. Her "4801 South Indiana Avenue" is a great Chicago blues album and her 14th. Bonamassa produced the album and more. From the opener "Destination" with Jimmy Hall, the honky tonk piano and the venomous blues /slide guitar are ever present. "Come back home" is a traditional blues boogie that drags listeners to its rhythm with the slide guitar driving the joint  crazy. "Bad news" is in the classic form of the slow ,painful twelve bars blues with some great guitar and even more soulful vocals, reminiscent of George Benson."I feel so good" is a great boogie song, in the Bo Diddley vein.'For the love of a man" is a great Chicago blues, with thrilling guitar, horns and some breathtaking performance."Please help" is a twelve bar barnstormer, ready to set the joint on fire. 

 

 

 

"4801 South Indiana Avenue" is a soulful, blues album, filled with originals, that is based on the tradition, the fire in Connors heart and her great ability to raise hell with her guitar/slide guitar  playing and voice. For those who are stuck at the details, Bonamassa takes part in "Part time love'  and "In my time" a slow, blues/rap composition, with a hypnotic beta/background making this great blues album even better. An album for purists and more, polishing the old blues sound making them shine again.

 

 

8

 

Santana-"Blessings and miracles"

The return with another album full of famous collaborators and also of inspiration. Carlos Santana has nothing to prove to anyone. He likes his spiritual,new age approach to music ,blended with Latin and rock overtones, groovy and smooth "Break" with Ally Brooke, old timer with deep emotions "Whiter shade of pale" with Steve Wintwood, modern, rap and beat "She's fire" a modern  Mexican FM approach. He brings the man who saves other musicians and we speak about Chris Stapleton who resurrected METALLICA, Tom Morello and his collaboration with Santana will be discussed and the soul of the song, the emotion burden and his vol=cal delivery make  the "Joy" one of the most successful songs Santana ever released in collaboration with another artist. 

 

But Santana is also a man of his time and he has political views, opinions and says it openly and loud. "America for sale" with Kirk Hammet (METALLICA) and Mark Osequeda (DEATH ANGEL) is an a example what happens when Carlos gets angry, a masterpiece of aggression full of riffs that METALLICA would kill to have (probably the collaboration on Cindy Blackmans album ignite this one). A modern funk rock song with Corey Glover ``Peace power" is another example of how Santant speaks for the minorities and stays on the forefront of music, with some great 70s, wah wah guitar work.

 

At “Song for Cindy”, Santana pays his guitar tribute to his current spouse, the jazz drummer and percussionist Cindy Blackman. He shows his love to Jazz  at “Angel Choir/All Together”. a song with special guests the former Mahavishnu Orchestra member Gayle Moran Corea, and  recently deceased piano jazz legend Chick Corea.While the family participation (Blackman, Santana son Salvador Santana-vocals and keyboards , ) continues with “Breathing Underwater,” which features Santana’s daughter Stella Santana as vocalist and songwriter, an ethereal, easy listening pop song. Soul, funk, reggae, rock are all here in a mix that smooths the soul and shakes the booty. Listen to the funky, guitar driven `Mother yes' and get a grip on good music, still mind blowing from a man who seems never tired to put the groove back in its place in rock music.
 

So the recipe may be the same, Rob Thomas is once again here at the excellent but the inspiration takes the album to the next level as Santana is charged with positivity and social awareness and delivers it with groove, power and some excellent guitar work as always. A reborn artist, who knows? He is definitely on fire and positively charged, a man blessed who creates miracles with his guitar work and the choices he makes regarding his music collaborators.

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