Born in Catford, London, England in 1945, Robin Trower is an iconic guitarist whose career began six decades ago when he formed The Paramounts in 1962. Also featuring vocalist Gary Brooker, the Paramounts split up in 1966, and Trower formed a short-lived group by the name of The Jam (not to be confused with the British Mod trio led by Paul Weller). He reunited with his former Paramounts bandmate Brooker and joined Procol Harum, who then scored an international hit with their single “Whiter Shade of Pale.” Suddenly thrust into the spotlight, Robin made the best of it and recorded five albums with Procol Harum and touring the world before leaving the group in 1971…

After forming his own group – the Robin Trower Band – he began the next phase of his career as one of the most beloved guitarists of his generation. With the release of his 1973 debut album, TWICE REMOVED FROM YESTERDAY, Trower became a ‘guitar hero’. With the success of albums such as BRIDGE OF SIGHS (1974), FOR EARTH BELOW (1975), LONG MISTY DAYS (1976), IN CITY DREAMS (1977), CARAVAN TO MIDNIGHT (1978), and VICTIMS OF THE FURY (1980), Robin Trower inspired listeners to turn up their FM radios and play air guitar as if their lives depended on it. In the 1980s, audiences began to play air keyboards and the Classic Rock artists were sidelined for a brief time. Robin Trower weathered the storm and continued to release a series of critically acclaimed albums and remained connected to his dedicated fanbase.

With 2022’s NO MORE WORLDS TO CONQUER, Robin Trower continues to look forward but doesn’t sacrifice his past in the process. While not a full-frontal Blues album, this release uses Blues as a launch pad that sends Trower into different musical universes. Sounding fresh and exciting, NO MORE WORLDS TO CONQUER offers new twists to Trower’s signature sound. This is an updated take on Classic Rock without having to resort to retro tropes. Completely Robin Trower to the core, some songs travel down the same musical path that made pre-MTV Dire Straits so exciting. With a foundation in British and American Blues Rock., NO MORE WORLDS TO CONQUER is an album with great hooks, great playing, great vocals, and an obvious passion and love for creating music. Songs like “The Razor’s Edge,” “Ball Of Fire,” “Losing You,” and the title track are prime Trower at his best. “Waiting For The Rain To Fall” could easily be a hit single… that is, if radio existed like it did a few decades ago. Robin Trower may not feel that he has no more worlds to conquer, but he continues to take his listeners to new places. And isn’t that really what it is all about?

Bonnie Raitt has absolutely nothing to prove. More than 50 years since the release of her 1971 self-titled debut, she remains one of America’s greatest musical treasures. A critically acclaimed singer and guitarist, she has blended blues, rock, pop, and R&B into an original roots-based sound that is distinctly American and uniquely Bonnie Raitt. Throughout the course of her career, she has won 10 Grammy Awards and one Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, yet she had to wait nearly two decades before finally achieving commercial success in 1989. However, between her debut album and her breakthrough, she had released a series of critically adored albums, built up a large fanbase, and used her platform to campaign for causes she believed in. With the support of fans and fellow musicians, she stayed the course and maneuvered her way through the chilly waters of the music business. She had experienced many highs and lows, but as the 1980s were coming to a close, she was dropped by her record label and faced an uncertain future. And then came NICK OF TIME…

Bonnie Raitt first collaborated with producer Don Was on a track for the STAY AWAKE compilation in 1988. She had already left Warner Bros. Records and nearly signed with Prince’s Paisley Park Records, but after a skiing accident and leaving alcohol behind, everything fell into place. After being turned down by over a dozen labels, she signed with Capitol Records and the rest is history. 1989’s NICK OF TIME went to #1 on the Billboard 200 and she scored with hit singles such as “Thing Called Love”. The album won three Grammy Awards and paved the way for further success with albums such as LUCK OF THE DRAW (1991), LONGING IN THEIR HEARTS (1994), FUNDAMENTAL (1998), SILVER LINING (2002), SOULS ALIKE (2005), SLIPSTREAM (2012), and DIG IN DEEP (2016). Selling over fourteen million physical units over her career, she has also been inducted in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (2000), The Blues Hall Of Fame (2010), and the Hollywood Bowl Hall Of Fame (2001). And now, six years after the release of her previous studio album, Bonnie Raitt is set to release her 21st studio album and the third on her own Redwing Records label.

2022’s JUST LIKE THAT… features all the great hallmarks of a Bonnie Raita album. From her passionate vocals and emotional guitar playing to the tight grooves, instantly lovable melodies, and warm production, the album is both an extension of her past work and an intimate glance at where Bonnie Raita is now. And as usual, she is an expert at blending genres, creating something feels fresh and exciting. More importantly, the album feels natural and alive. Raitt could do this music in her sleep if she wanted, but JUST LIKE THAT… is an album of connection: between the artist and the music and between the music and the listener. There is no flashy playing, no over-produced gloss to attract the pop-living teens, and absolutely no pretension. This is an album as honest as it is comforting. Bonnie Raitt is an artist that works on emotion and exceptional talent. On songs like “Made Up Mind,” “Something’s Got A Hold Of My Heart,” “Love So Strong,” and the title track, she is not pretending to be the sprightly 20-something singer/guitarist she was on her debut album – she is completely in tune with who she is today. And that makes JUST LIKE THAT… a wonder to behold.

Like the Rock ‘n’ Roll revolution in the 1950s and the British Invasion of the 1960s, Punk Rock changed everything when it kicked down the doors in 1976. Within a year, the musical landscape had been uprooted and replanted with a crop of new groups, new ideals, new energy, and new sounds. In the U.S., the Punk movement was about art, attitude, and teenage rebellion. However, in England, Punk was a way of life. It was about survival. It was an uprising. The British teens weren’t rebelling against their parents and demanding later curfews on date nights – they were lashing out at the upper class and privileged elite who were holding them down. It was a class war, and the younger generation demanded to be heard. Thankfully, many of them chose to express themselves through music instead of violence. And in the process, Punk changed music history, creating new sub-genres such as Post-Punk, New Wave, and more. And now, four decades on, we look back with reverence at the music that was created during those tumultuous years.

While many of the British groups gained a lot of commercial attention in the US – Sex Pistols, The Clash, Buzzcocks, The Jam, etc. – there was a crop of equally exciting bands that didn’t gain as much press but managed to build up a following in the States regardless. Bands like UK Subs, 999, Angelic Upstarts, Chelsea, Sham 69, and others built their American audiences via college radio play, fanzine coverage, and word of mouth. However, UK Subs’ relentless live performances and prolific output stood out amongst their contemporaries. Fronted by former Rhythm & Blues singer Charlie Harper (the only mainstay in their 46-year career) and guitarist Nicky Garratt, the group charted their own course and vowed to release 26 albums with the titles beginning with a different letter in the alphabet. The first batch of albums – A to D – included ANOTHER KIND OF BLUES (1979), BRAND NEW AGE (1980), CRASH COURSE (1980), and DIMINISHED RESPONSIBILITIES (1981), etc.  Their next album, 1982’s ENGANGERED SPECIES, featured Charlie and Nicky joined by bassist Alvin Gibbs and drummer Steve Roberts. This groundbreaking Punk classic has remained a firm fan favorite since its original release.

Celebrating it’s 40^th Anniversary, ENDANGERED SPECIES receives the Deluxe treatment and is now available in a two CD set that contains 32 bonus tracks including non-album B-sides, EP tracks, demos, outtakes, and live recordings. The album itself finds the band in their prime, mixing the energy of Punk with a slight Metal edge that incorporates influences from the burgeoning New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. While Charlie and the boys didn’t set out to write catchy little ditties like Buzzcocks or The Ramones, their songs are still melodic and instantly memorable. Raw, primal, and full of vim and vigor, the album is filled with classics such as the single “Countdown” and “Down on the Farm”, a track that Guns N’ Roses later covered on their 1993 album SPAGHETTI INCIDENT? Alongside the album and a host of non-album tracks and demos, this two CD set also contains 16 live tracks from 1982 including Subs classics such as “Stranglehold”, “C.I.D.”, “Tomorrow’s Girls”, and “Police State”. Housed in a six-panel digipak, this release is essential to UK Subs fans and can easily serve as a perfect gateway into the UK Subs universe. This is music that remains timeless and vital four decades on.

Acclaimed Indie Folk singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Josh Tillman – born in Rockville, Maryland in 1981 – is better known by his stage name Father John Misty. His early solo career began in 2003 with the release of several self-produced CD-Rs including 2004’s I WILL RETURN and LONG MAY YOU RUN, J. TILLMAN (2006). His album MINOR WORKS was Tillman’s first nationally distributed album and was closely followed by a two CD set that combined the previously mentioned albums. While he continued to release solo albums – including CANCER AND DELIRIUM (2007), VACILANDO TERRITORY BLUES (2009), YEAR IN THE KINGDOM (2009), and SINGING AX (2010) – he joined acclaimed Indie Folk band Fleet Foxes in 2008 and occupied the drum stool in that band on tour as well as on the album HELPLESSNESS BLUES (2011) before leaving in 2012. At that point in his career, Josh Tillman decided it was time to reinvent himself…

Relocating to Los Angeles, he changed his musical direction, began performing under the moniker Father John Misty and signed to Sub Pop Records. The album FEAR FUN was released in 2012 and achieved critical acclaim and caught the attention of music fans previously unfamiliar with his work under his own name. By the time he released the album I LOVE YOU HONEYBEAR in early 2015, he had become an Indie Folk sensation. With critical praise across the board and a higher commercial profile, Father John Misty became one of the most popular artists in Americana music.  He followed the success of that album with two more critically acclaimed albums – PURE COMEDY (2017) and GOD’S FAVORITE CUSTOMER (2018) – both of which reached the Top 20 in the US as well as fitting comfortably in the Top 40 in many other countries including the UK, Australia, Belgium, Ireland, and Sweden.  In 2020, he released the ANTHEMS + 3 EP and the limited live album OFF-KEY IN HAMBURG while he spent time writing and prepping for his next studio opus.

Four years after the release of his last studio album, Father John Misty returns with 2022’S CHLOE AND THE NEXT 20TH CENTURY, a delightful collection of songs that solidifies his reputation as one of America’s finest songwriters. The album begins with “Chloe”, the best Harry Nilsson song that Harry Nilsson never wrote. In fact, Nilsson’s ghost inhabits many of these songs although they remain classic Father John Misty songs. While sounding completely modern, this album is a callback to classic singer/songwriter albums of the 1970s. There is a lot of emotional depth throughout the album, but the album is far from depressing and somber. There are gentle moments that are reflective, but they are balanced by a lighthearted flair that you don’t find on many these days. From straight acoustic Folk and Pop to jazz-influenced gems, this album defies categorization and falls somewhere between the playful joy of Harry Nilsson and the hook-filled melodicism of Neil Finn. Highlights include “Kiss Me (I Loved You)”, “(Everything But) Her Love”, “Q4”, “Goodbye Mr. Blue”, “Only A Fool”, and “Funny Girl”.  CHLOE AND THE NEXT 20TH CENTURY is proof that there are modern artists that are more than capable of making classic albums today that can easily be compared to the albums that we cherish from our youth. A true gem, this is.

Founded in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Beirut originally started as a solo project by singer/songwriter Zach Condon.  Influenced by the music he heard while working in a cinema that showed international films, he decided to create his own music that incorporated elements of those worldly cinematic sounds that inspired him. Condon was also influenced by experiencing this music first-hand while traveling Europe when he was 17 years old, planting even more ideas into his creative mind. After returning to the U.S., he attended the University of New Mexico and began recording music at home. Collaborating with Jeremy Barnes (Neutral Milk Hotel / A Hawk and a Hacksaw) and Heather Trost (A Hawk and a Hacksaw), the album was finished in the studio and Condon and Beirut released their full-length debut, GULAG ORKESTAR, in 2006.

Met with rave reviews, GULAG ORKESTAR revealed a unique musical project that was embraced by Alt-Rock, Indie, Americana, and World music fans. Slightly altering their sound for THE FLYING CLUB CUP (2007), Condon and Co. revealed a love for French chanson. With each subsequent release, Beirut became more than just Condon’ solo project. As the line-up grew, different influences made their way onto the group’s albums such as THE RIP TIDE (2011), NO NO NO (2015), and GOLLIPOLI (2019). Beirut became a band that evolved and grew while also maintaining their distinct sound. During the group’s run of albums, Condon also worked with other artists including A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Blondie, Grizzly Bear, Sharon Van Etten, the New Pornographers, Mouse on Mars, and others. However, Beirut has always been Zach Condon’s focus and while the group has not finished a new album, he’s been working behind the scenes and going through their archives…

Like Beirut’s music, 2022’s ARTIFACTS is a collection that evolved and changed over time. The original intention for the release was to collect a few early EPs together and release them on a compilation. When Condon started going through hard drives to find a few bonus tracks to the release, he re-discovered so much bonus material that they had to expand the collection to two discs (both on CD and LP). While ARTIFACTS is not a ‘best of’, anyone that is new to the music of Beirut would think otherwise. An incredibly diverse release, the album mixes the warm acoustic based side of the group with their atmospheric electronica-influenced recordings to great effect. With melodies that sound both refreshingly original and oddly familiar and comforting, ARTIFACTS is an incredible musical journey that blends so many musical styles together that it is even hard to classify Beirut as anything but ‘wholly original’. Highlights include “Carousels”, “Fryodor Dormant”, “Elephant Gun”, “Napoleon on the Bellerphon”, and “Le Phare Du Cap Bon”. ARTIFACTS is both a fine reminder of Condon and Beirut’s talents and serves as a great gateway release for anyone wishing to dive into their catalog for the first time.