Bling Bang Bang Born Creepy Nuts

Deluxe six CD box, boasting the entire recorded output of Biff Bang Pow! With the bonus of everything issued by The Laughing Apple. Curated with the full support of Alan McGee and other band members, the clamshell set also adds a raft of previously unissued demos and live material. Plus tracks from an abandoned album, Sixteen Velvet Fridays and a handful of previously undocumented songs. And a Laughing Apple CD also adds some hitherto unheard demos by Alan with the band Newspeak (pre-Laughing Apple). This is the ultimate tribute to one of the unsung talents of the C86 generation of indie bands. Biff Bang Pow! Were formed by Alan McGee around the same time he founded Creation Records in 1983. Biff Bang Pow! Made seven albums and a handful of singles - many of which were indie hits - before they finally dissolved in 1992.

Surely one of the most unsung bands in the history of American hard rock music, BANG released three full-length albums for Capitol Records in the early 70’s, that criminally sank without a trace. Capitol artist development at the time just did not know what to do with the band that was often called America’s answer to Black Sabbath. BANG‛s first significant break came when the Philadelphia band gate-crashed a Rod Stewart show in Orlando in 1971 convincing promoters to put them on as the warm up act. With the interest of the major concert promoters of the day, East Coast Concerts and Concerts West, the band soon became major contenders in the hard rock arena.

Beth Hart received a considerable boost from her collaboration with guitarist Joe Bonamassa, but her 2013 album, Bang Bang Boom Boom, finds the blues-rock belter returning to her comfort zone, working with producer Kevin Shirley and running through a selection of songs that are originals; songs that emphasize Hart's range and power. In some ways, this is the purest record Hart has yet recorded; there is a real sense of what she can sing and how she lays back, waiting for the moment when her wailing would create the strongest disruption. That means Bang Bang Boom Boom feels familiar without being complacent: there is no surprise in style but rather in attack, how Hart waits for the precise moment to unleash her fury. Sometimes, it seems that Hart would be well-served by stretching herself just a bit, but Bang Bang Boom Boom isn't an album that's meant to surprise…

Billy Bang long ago earned his reputation as an engaging leader and violin soloist in avant-garde circles. Luckily that has not stifled his abilities and ambition to play in more straight-ahead settings as he does on Big Bang Theory…

Billy Bang - Bang On! (1997) {Justin Time JUST105-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 415 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 148 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1997 Justin Time Records | JUST 105-2
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Modern Creative / Violin

Bang is well-regarded as one of the premier progressive jazz violinists, and this recording, not surprisingly, shows him balancing music both inside and out. Pianist D.D. Jackson follows these modern traditionalist lines, while unheralded bassist Akira Ando holds up things nicely, and drummer Ronnie Burrage constructs and deconstructs rhythms in rapid-fire fashion. Of the standards, played within the tradition, all are easily identifiable and enjoyable. "Sweet Georgia Brown" is a most vibrant rendition of the other side of Stephane Grappelli – straight, swinging, and yes, incorporating some low-atmosphere blasts and scrapings.