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UFO - Essential UFO

Anybody heard the album from 'The Last Dinner Party' yet?

Seems intriguing.

Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline

Black Sabbath - Best Of

Klaus Schulze - La Vie Electronique 15

Fretless wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 10:08 pm Djabe & Steve Hackett 'Life is a journey' (2016)



'Exquisite!' was the first word that entered my head after the opening seconds of this album. Djabe are my discovery of 2024 and already I'm a fan

This Hungarian group have been around for more than 25 years and play an energetic, atmospheric brand of Jazz-Rock not dissimilar to the Pat Metheny Group (fans of that outfit should be kicking themselves that they haven't found this record yet).

After regularly gigging together, Djabe along with Steve Hackett hid themselves away in a 1000-year-old church on Sardinia and jammed for a few days whilst enjoying the Mediterranean island.

There was enough material for an album and this is it. Outstanding playing - no, make that incredible playing - coupled with phenomenal recording quality make this an album you really need to hear.

Track 7 ''Building a Nuraghe' is a funky take on Steve Reich's 'Electric Counterpoint', originally written for Pat Metheny. Just amazing.

Go buy this now! You won't regret it.

CD or LP?

CD + DVD

Boston - Greatest Hits

Talking of drumming, which we weren't, I know Mark Knopfler gets all the plaudits, but I think this is a brilliant piece of drumming from the underrated Pick Withers. I'm sure Stu could tell me what Pick is doing "technically" but "playing his heart out" will have to suffice for now. Listen to the drums for change, as well as Mark's guitar.

Toyah 'The Changeling' (1982)



It was difficult to take Toyah seriously back then, a tiny, flame-haired imp full of boundless energy and providing bouncy post-punk power-pop that regularly hit the charts.

Then she became Mrs. Robert Fripp and I began to gain a growing respect for her.

The one LP of hers I did have was 'The Changeling' and this has recently been reissued in a remastered/expanded edition. Time for a fresh look. To my surprise, it is an excellent slice of dark, powerful Goth-Rock that sits very close to what the mighty Siouxsie & The Banshees were doing at the same time - and Toyah actually has a far more versatile voice than Siouxsie.

The remastering brings out an intelligent, layered production along with great performances from a very talented band including Simon Philips on drums. Lyrically it can be a bit somber and the additional DVD contains new interviews with Toyah where she explains that this was a difficult time in her life and the album was a cathartic release of those troubles. Actually the album picks up at the end with a couple of uplifting, optimistic songs.

An interesting visit back to a record that I had completely forgotten about, but it's well worth the effort.
I will be giving this one a lot of airtime.