2019 Covers

Storyteller is the first new studio album in over five years from Norwegian/Irish duo Secret Garden.
On the day of release (26 April 2019), Fionnuala Sherry and Rolf Løvland have this to say in their newsletter:
“Even though we had great success and response to our “Just the Two of US” album (one of our favourites ), “Live at Kilden” and “You Raise Me Up: The Collection”; “Storyteller” is very special and means so much to us both. From the initial concept of the album to the final mix, its been a truly wonderful journey of writing, arranging, recording, producing and working with some of the most wonderful incredible artists including the incredible Czech National Symphony Orchestra. We have traveled between Norway, Ireland, the UK and the Czech Republic to produce “Storyteller”…

After a ten year hiatus, original Boytronic vocalist and songwriter Holger Wobker (Kamerata/Beachead), return with former Boytronic frontman James Knights to release the new Boytronic album The Robot Treatment. Never before in the history of pop music has a predecessor collaborated with their replacement to make a new album. It's very much a thing of legend. And perhaps it's hard for some to understand why two singers occupying the same position would make a new album together. The answer is simply Boytronic! Despite critically acclaimed performances surrounding the release of the Jewel album in 2017, differences of opinion over the musical direction of the band saw James leave the line-up in January 2018. Holger and James decided to meet in Berlin. They soon realised they had far more in common musically than they'd realised…

With a career spanning over 40 years and over 30 million album sales, Chris Rea’s distinctive husky-gravel vocal and incredible body of work has seen him become one of the most loved solo artists the UK have ever produced. Each set of reissues comes with the original album fully remastered alongside a second disc of live performances, b-sides and previously unreleased versions of tracks from the accompanying album.

This 18 track collection brings together live broadcast recordings of tracks performed by Nirvana but on which none of the band members get a credit. Featuring the good, the bad and – on occasion – the ugly, these recordings nevertheless reveal a little more about Nirvana than one would attain from listening only to their studio albums.

Esoteric Recordings is pleased to announce the release of “The Albums 1969 - 1972” by the Climax Blues Band; a 5 CD set comprising the band’s first five albums, originally issued on EMI’s Parlophone and Harvest labels between 1969 and 1972, namely The Climax Chicago Blues Band, Plays On, A Lot of Bottle, Tightly Knit and Rich Man.
Formed in Stafford in 1968 by Colin Cooper, the band (originally known as The Climax Chicago Blues Band) recorded their debut album in September & November 1968. Issued early the following year on EMI’s Parlophone label, the album saw the band gain a wider audience. Shortening their name to the Climax Blues Band, the group recorded and released their excellent follow-up album, Plays On, later that year. By 1970 the band had moved to EMI’s “progressive” label, Harvest, and issued their third album A Lot of Bottle later that year…

Sharing the Covers is a clever title from a clever band - a band clever enough to not allow themselves to succumb to their wittiness anywhere on this light and lively collection of other people's songs. Casting their net wide, the quartet cover contemporaries and classics, modern and vintage tunes in equal measure, their choices continually telegraphing their good taste. Happily, their execution demonstrates their skill. Although Chatham County Line doesn't reinterpret many of the songs - even a nimble reading of the Ventures' "Walk-Don't Run" doesn't turn the tune inside-out - they nevertheless imprint these largely familiar tunes with their personality. Witness their version of Tom Petty's "You Don't Know How It Feels"…

Blank Manuskript is an ArtRock project from Salzburg, Austria. Typical long songs ornamented with a high level of symphonic density and elaborate polyphonic structures as well as extended improvised sections lead their audience through an entire musical adventure. Their compositional approach seeks to combine all sorts of different styles and traditions needed to serve the initial concept of their works. Hence, the arrangements are carefully structured with complex rhythmical patterns and establish a sound-scape that can hardly be found in music nowadays. The lyrical elements are picturesque with a worked out mystic touch and though at a first glance arcane, they always address current social issues in an implicit way. As the music always follows the narrated concept, one might label it contemporary rock program music.