I will be the first person to admit that I like his music. Toke (as his friends, including his mother call him) is quite the character. The perfect entertainer, great music combined with great storytelling. These are must have qualities for the touring troubadour. Today marks the release of Tokyo’s fifth CD in six years, [...]

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It was with great delight that I opened a UPS package yesterday and discovered it contained a copy of Chipmunks Christmas. Who doesn’t love Alvin, Simon and Theodore? What started as a musical prank in 1958 by Rostom Sipan “Ross” Bagdasarian, better known by his stage name David Seville has grown into a music, TV, [...]

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Adam Young recently released his third CD, "The Midsummer Station", with a whirlwind tour of media appearances, including "America’s Got Talent" and the Today show. Taking on the band name "Owl City", this one-man band has already hit it big a couple of times now. You may have heard this on the radio. And, if [...]

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I am a believer that newer is not always better. American Reel was put in the can in 2003. It is an odd twist of fate that American Reel languished, unnoticed. David Carradine is hardly a name unknown in the movie and TV world. But, languish it did. What makes American Reel different from the [...]

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I had heard that Tommy Roe had ‘un-retired’. With a bunch of top 10 hits back in the 60’s I assumed that his ‘un-retirement’ signaled the fact that he would once again be wowing the crowds with Sweet Pea and Dizzy. Tommy was the king of Bubblegum Pop, the young girls of the time loved [...]

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The late 60’s and 70’s ushered in a brief yet enduring music style, the rock opera. The concept was to create a cohesive musical story. For some reason the genre with a few exceptions seemed to mainly live in the world of Prog Rock. Maybe the best known Rock Opera is ‘Tommy’ by The Who, [...]

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Released in 1971 Aqualung proved to be turning point for the band Jethro Tull. It took them relative obscurity to a powerhouse of the popular music world. It is estimated that over the years some 7 million copies of the album have been sold. The band has been headed by front man Ian Anderson since [...]

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It is the subtitle on this 2011 release that really says it all ‘The Best Of And Then Some’. Without doubt it was the ‘then some’ that caught my eye. Of course I like the ‘best of’ aspect, new treatments of old songs is always a great adventure. But new, and unusual material always gets [...]

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Sure this CD came out a few years ago, so some might think me a little slow on posting a review. My defense is that it’s my damn ears, so I review whatever I want! And quite frankly I have reached the stage where very little brand new stuff grabs my attention. I’d rather disembowel [...]

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One of the great pleasures in being an independent reviewer is that no-one tells me what to review, or when. I get to pick and choose my targets. I have recently been writing a series of articles about the great Brit band, The Strawbs. I was delighted when the original bass player for The Strawbs [...]

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In Part one I looked at the album Antiques and Curios, it was a very fine album, but it was obvious that the band were still  trying to find their feet. From The Witchwood fixed that problem, but created many others. I was lucky to have had the opportunity to have interviewed both Dave Cousins [...]

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 This is a guest article by author John Cherry. He is the author of two books, Better Than Lennon and Paul McCartney’s Solo Music Career 1970-2010 he can be found at Betterthanlennon.com – Simon The advertised start time for the Zac Brown Band (ZBB) show at Germain Arena in Naples, FL was 7 PM. I [...]

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This is a guest article by author John Cherry. He is the author of two books, Better Than Lennon and Paul McCartney’s Solo Music Career 1970-2010 he can be found at Betterthanlennon.com – Simon I had heard the music from James McCartney’s first release, an EP titled “Available Light.” This CD has all of the [...]

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This is a guest article by author John Cherry. He is the author of two books, Better Than Lennon and Paul McCartney’s Solo Music Career 1970-2010 he can be found at Betterthanlennon.com – Simon JULIAN LENNON-“EVERYTHING CHANGES” I was pleased to learn that Julian Lennon had returned to the recording studio after an extended absence. [...]

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For the past few years I have compiled a list of my favorite books read. It was a surprisingly difficult task, the caliber of new authors is so high that to chose one over another is next to impossible. 2011 was no exception, time and time again wonderful books crossed my desk. It makes me [...]

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Sometimes a reworking of a piece of composition feels like a genuinely new piece of work and a brilliant idea (see Howard Shores’ The Lord of the Rings Symphony) and sometimes it feels like a record company repeatedly milking a cash cow (see TWO “Star Trek” albums by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra – [...]

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From the opening notes of the first track (“Spy Mom”) it’s clear that there’s not much nuance here. But you knew that from watching the trailer right? Launching the fourth entry in his profitable Spy Kids franchise, maverick director Robert Rodriguez seems out just to have a good time. Imagine the most obvious “spy” music [...]

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Working from the original 12 hours of music he wrote for The Lord of the Rings trilogy, composer Howard Shore created this roughly two hour, six movement symphony. Conducted by Swiss Maestro Ludwig Wicki, who in 1999 founded the 21st Century Orchestra (the performers here) specifically to specialize in film scores. For those that originally [...]

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With such memorable small release titles under his belt as The Conspirator, The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans, and Reservation Road, along with the recent surprise hit Dolphin Tale, composer Mark Isham has been been slowly building relationships with directors of small films that make a big impact. Director Gavin O’Connor’s Warrior, [...]

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As a follow up to the underrated Valhalla Rising, Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn has stepped up his game with the Ryan Gosling vehicle (no pun intended) Drive, earning himself a Best Director award at Cannes and solid reviews from critics and viewers alike. The impressive thriller benefits from taut action and tight performances by [...]

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In the world of Prog Rock there is a founding member, genealogy searches take you to one place ELP. Keith Emerson, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer. Each brings something unique to the  table. Being part of a band in someways akin to being in a marriage, there are up’s and down’s. The founding members of [...]

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This is a guest article By John Cherry When someone to whom I feel very close suggested that I listen to the song “Knee Deep,” by the Zac Brown Band, I ended up on YouTube and watched a beautiful pictorial that accompanied the song. Today, I have seen that the song was #1 last week [...]

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This is a guest article by John Cherry, author-“Better Than Lennon-The Music and Talent of Paul McCartney and “Paul McCartney’s Solo Music Career 1970-2010”  Visit betterthanlennon.com for special offers As I headed to Wrigley Field for the second of two nights of seeing Paul McCartney in concert, I knew that I would be sitting much [...]

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This is a guest article by author John Cherry. The last time I was in Chicago to see Paul McCartney in concert was for his return to touring in 1989. This was 13 years after my first, and, at that time, only attendance of a McCartney concert. That was during his first U.S. tour after [...]

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This is a guest article by author John Cherry. Since Paul McCartney is my favorite musical artist, I sometimes encounter a bit of mixed feelings upon his release of new material. This is due to the fact that I retain such high expectations for his work that I set myself up for a disappointment. When [...]

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Mark Ruffalo won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance last year for his directorial debut about a Los Angeles DJ who unexpectedly finds himself drawn into the world of faith healing after an unfortunate accident. Having not seen the movie I have no idea if Ruffalo knows his way around the back of a camera [...]

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Though this four disc box set has the wink-wink subtitle “Volume One,” it contains music from all nine seasons of the paradigmatic supernatural series “The X-Files.” With 94 tracks clocking in over five hours of music this is more than just a “best of” collection, this is a catalog. With extensive liner notes describing the [...]

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CD:  Class Is Now In Session   Artist:  Farnell Newton   Label: FNMUSICWEB   If you haven’t heard the name Farnell Newton I’m not surprised because this is a musician that is more concerned with the music then accolades from fame. He is the classic model of strive for perfection and you just might achieve [...]

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There’s not much to say about Bear McCreary that I haven’t already said here, here, here or here among other places. The young composer made his name scoring the hugely popular Battlestar Gallactica series, and has since scored Eureka, Human Target, Caprica, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and The Walking Dead. He’s the kind of [...]

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From The Music of Batman to The Music of Star Trek, The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra is certainly a compilation-producing bunch. This latest album, released by Silva Screen Music, is no exception. Grouping an hour of music from various well-known films throughout the decades, this is a compilation of Celtic pieces – the go-to [...]

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