Deeper Well: Deeper Into The Well

Graced with cover art of a grotesque gorilla sporting the Stones' trademark leering lips, GRRR! doesn't quite have the classy veneer usually associated with a 50th anniversary collection. Frankly, that's a good sign for the Rolling Stones: they're celebrating their half-century together but refusing to take themselves too seriously, even when they're assembling a mammoth retrospective that's available in two wildly different incarnations…

Arguably the most radical album of their career to date, Nell' Ora Blu stands out like a blood-soaked beacon in the sterile desert of rock 'n' roll in 2024. What this dazzling detour tells us about the future of Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats remains a mystery, but after such a rich and fruitful artistic indulgence, Starr's reputation as one of heavy music's most distinctive voices can only grow. An eccentric tour-de-force, Nell' Ora Blu is the band's magnum opus. You will have nightmares. Trust no one. Watch your back. Let the blood flow…

Trails to the Cosmic Vibrations is a split LP that brings together two bands from Asia with outwardly contrasting dispositions, while sharing sympathetic resonances.

Graced with cover art of a grotesque gorilla sporting the Stones' trademark leering lips, GRRR! doesn't quite have the classy veneer usually associated with a 50th anniversary collection. Frankly, that's a good sign for the Rolling Stones: they're celebrating their half-century together but refusing to take themselves too seriously, even when they're assembling a mammoth retrospective that's available in three different incarnations…

The album "Duck" by Aristocrats was released by Boing Music / Cargo. This highly anticipated album showcases the incredible talent and musical prowess of the band, consisting of Guthrie Govan on guitar, Bryan Beller on bass, and Marco Minnemann on drums.

McMafia charts the journey of Alex Godman (James Norton) as he is drawn deeper and deeper into the world of organised crime.
Russian crime boss Vadim Kalyagin (Merab Ninidze) meets with his Indian associate Benny Chopra (Atul Kale) to discuss their control of Mumbai’s main port. As Vadim leaves the meeting, his vehicle is blown up by a car bomb. It's not long before his allies have the name of the man believed to be behind the assassination attempt… (amazon)

The Book of Knots' self-titled metal opus is a concept album about the sea. But don't expect any prog rock opera cheese. Book of Knots is a noisy, bludgeoning rock record, full of feedback, improvisation and bitter currents – like Mike Watt's Contemplating the Engine Room played by Queens of the Stone Age. The tumultuous record ranges from the oddly Björk-ish "Tugboat" to the psych, hesher rock of "Crumble" and Jon Langford's downright catchy piece of slithering melancholia "Back on Dry Land"." It's a demented and expansive narrative that takes at least multiple listens to make sense of, but the cinematic scope is apparent from the beginning. While Book of Knots is a bit too difficult for everyone, those who enjoy digging deeper into the layers of an epic rock album will be more than satisfied.

Like the first volume of this series, this gathers rare recordings from throughout the bulk of Greg Lake's career, spanning the late '60s to the mid-'90s. Lake might be one of the most famous musicians associated with progressive rock, but you'd have a hard time taking that impression away from this CD if it was the first or only sampling of his music you heard. Rarities collections can't serve as a fair career retrospective, of course…