Bjorn Lynne Colony

Bjorn Lynne has gained much admiration among both the EM & symphonic/progrock crowds for the way he has mastered the unifying of these differing musical styles. While the music on this album seems to have been influenced by his work in these areas, it reveals a new variation on Bjorn's hybrid of styles by introducing some exciting funk, jazz & even soul stylings. This is immediately obvious once the opening tracks "Turbo Grid" & "Play Dirty" get into their stride. The scorching rhythms are full of good old-fashioned funk while the guitars of Bjorn & guest axe man Marc Pattison lay down some red hot licks & grinding rhythm patterns that should keep the rockers amongst you happy, there's even the unmistakeable sound of the Minimoog in there, too, what more could you possibly ask for?

'Revive' sees Bjorn move away from his recent epic albums to an album that appears much more influenced by bands such as Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream. It quite a shift away from his more recent albums, and one that may well ostracise some of his fans as he has moved away from the progressive feel into an area that is much more in the vein of Krautrock. There are places, such as in "Moongazer", when the guitar makes an appearance but for the most part this is very highly keyboard dominated.

Bjorn Lynne claims he only makes his CD albums for his personal satisfaction; you'd therefore expect them to be self-indulgent, whimsical, and full of flaws. The opposite is true. Bjorn manages to be exciting and original without ever alienating the listener. He has tunes in abundance - even the guitar lines are singable. 'Wolves' is probably his best album so far. A heady mixture of ambient moods, cinematic soundscapes, and heavy metal. If you like none of these styles, you still may love this album, for there is no simple way to describe Bjorn's music.

The inspiration for writing this music came about from reading Allan Cole's fantasy novel "The Gods Awaken". It is a dark story, but Bjorn always aimed to make this album a positive one - one that can lift spirits and spread positive vibes, so he took the positive angle on much of the story. Bjorn himself plays acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, bass guitar and percussion. In addition, there are guest appearances by many other musicians who contributed to this album over the approx. 18 months that it took to write and record.

Montage was Bjorn Lynne’s second CD, self-financed and self-published in January 1994. Stylewise, ”Montage” is a slightly more daring album than the previous ”Hobbits & Spaceships”. Tracks contain a wide mixture of styles and sounds, and although the album was produced entirely on synthesizers and effects, it is easy to hear Bjorn Lynne’s love for symphonic rock starting to shine through, especially on songs like ”Montage” and "Communion”; both of which are long tracks moving through several stages of ever changing moods. There are also some more down-to-earth simply melodic pieces like ”Head Held High” and ”Fantastic Voyage ’94”. And, there are some slightly more experimental pieces like the futuristic and very cyber-oriented ”The Spirit of Mechanica” as well as the symphonically ambient ”Enlightenment Through Fear”.

Grammy-winning Alabama singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne has given fans a taste of her “most revealing album to date,” due out in April. The self-titled project, her first solo album since 2015, will be released April 17, according to an announcement made Tuesday morning. Many of the songs on it come from an unreleased independent film by lyricist/director/screenwriter Cynthia Mort titled “When We Kill the Creators,” in which Lynne stars as “a deeply conflicted artist struggling at the intersection of art and commerce.”