In 2014 Graves put out their next release, a split cassette with Dunedin-based Conniption. The latter were a raw d-beat band, for whom this was their final recording with bass, drums and guitars originally […]

2015 saw Graves release their next, and currently latest, EP, ‘Fides Ad Nauseam’. Nine songs somehow stretch to some 12 minutes in total length, due primarily to “Suffer” having an epic length of 3:31. Here wa […]

Kiwis are renowned for having a can-do attitude, which probably stems from being at the end of the world in a country the size of the UK yet with a population of just 5 million. We even have a description for it, […]

I was talking with Ben Ruegg the other day and realised I couldn’t think how long we had known each other and was somewhat in shock when he told me it was just two months. The reason I was that surprised is that s […]

A few months ago I was lucky enough to be in the studio with the wonderful Lee Martin, who was up in Auckland working with TeMatera Smith on her new album. She had of course brought with her Chris Ward, who plays […]

When it comes to absolutely classic killer Alice Cooper there is no doubt that the most important period was when that was the name of the band and not just the person. The drummer on all those albums was of […]

There is no doubt that one of the most readable and enjoyable musical biographies released in the last 10 years has to be Young’s ‘Waging Heavy Peace’. In many ways it reminds me of Bill Bruford’s excelle […]

Young’s second album from 2014 could not have been more different to the first. Whereas that was fractured, this was far more of an aural and sonic extravaganza as here his ten new songs feature support from a 9 […]

This album is taken from Young’s 2015 tour with The Promise Of The Real, fronted by Lukas Nelson (vocals/guitar) and Micah Nelson (guitar, vocals) – Willie Nelson’s sons. Added to this were musical overdubs, as […]

This 2016 album features all new songs written by Young following on the from the release of ‘Earth’ and shows him back with a very different approach from ‘Storytone’ with a far more stripped approach. It was rec […]

This 2017 release, while being a brand-new album, was also a very old one in that this acoustic solo album was recorded in a single session in Malibu, CA at Indigo Studio in 1976. Chronologically this sits between […]

This 2020 release is one which has been sought after by fans for many years, as it was originally recorded between June 1974 and January 1975. ‘Homegrown’ was intended to come out in 1975 before Young can […]

In recent months I have heard quite a few different releases by bassist and songwriter Bob Madsen but must confess this one totally threw me as I never expected to hear something quite like this. The demos were […]

James Christian may have been fronting this band for more than 30 years, but neither he nor the rest of the guys are showing any sign whatsoever of slowing down. There have been a few different periods of the band […]

Something guaranteed to bring a smile to the face and to wash away any winter blues is the new release of a seasonal album by The Guv’nor himself, here accompanied by Becky Mills and son Blair Dunlop. Recorded b […]

This year found Katharine Blake living in Glastonbury, an incredibly spiritual place which has an incredible history (and will always be important to me, as it is where I took my wife on our first ever date well […]

This is Wexler’s fifth album, and for this release she made the decision to seek out modern jazz compositions written by contemporary songwriters. As part of this journey she brought on board pianist and a […]

This 2015 release was a comeback album for Lamb of God, as in 2012 singer Randy Blythe was arrested by Czech police for his actions which resulted in the death of a fan after Blythe had pushed him off stage at a […]

It is unusual for a band that has been around as Lamb of God to release a self-titled album, but it is possible this is for a few different reasons. The last release by the band was not actually the previous Lamb […]

In 1996 Led Zeppelin released ‘BBC Sessions’, a two-disc set of live recordings selected from the band’s appearances on BBC radio between 1969 and 1971. This was then revised and updated in 2016 as ‘The Complet […]