Praying Mantis: Defiance (2024)

Praying Mantis: Defiance (2024)

Back in 1979 NWOBHM was in full swing in the UK, the year I became 16, so I was very much the target market and I was doing whatever I could to discover the music and soon had quite a collection of singles and albums from the likes of Samson, Raven, Iron Maiden,...
John Paul McGee: A Gospejazzical Christmas (2023)

John Paul McGee: A Gospejazzical Christmas (2023)

I’d rather not think of myself as being so far behind on reviewing that this is for a Christmas record which should have been written about in 2023, but rather that I am eight months early for 2024. Here we find John Paul McGee (or should I say Dr. McGee given he is...
Gridfailure:  Shards In The Wire (2023)

Gridfailure: Shards In The Wire (2023)

I’ve lost track of how many of Dave Brenner’s releases I have reviewed, but it must be most of them (at least in recent years) yet I still find myself stupidly excited when there is a new one to delve into. This 7-track release (currently available on Bandcamp for...
Grant Haua: Mana Blues (2023)

Grant Haua: Mana Blues (2023)

A few years ago I came across Grant Haua and I was blown away by the Maori bluesman who for me is the living epitome of the classic style. His last album, the mighty ‘Tahanga’ found Grant with his trusty acoustic as he recorded a livestream for Rolling Stone France....