Machine Dreams

Supersonic Blues Machine have the form of a supergroup, but only their drummer, Kenny Aronoff, is well known. The other two members – bassist/producer Fabrizio Grossi and guitarist/vocalist Lance Lopez – are behind-the-scenes musicians but they're all united by a love of classic blues and classic rock. The latter is what initially brought Aronoff and Grossi together. The two musicians were playing in Goodfellas, a side project from Toto guitarist Steve Lukather. Not long afterward, Grossi was working with Lopez on an album by the guitarist and that turned into the band that became Supersonic Blues Machine. Several guests visited the studio during the recording of the band's debut – the biggest being Billy Gibbons, Warren Haynes, and Robben Ford – and the subsequent West of Flushing South of Frisco saw release in early 2016. The band's sophomore effort, 2017's Californisoul, featured guest spots from Gibbons, Steve Lukather, Eric Gales, and Walter Trout.

Most well-known for his work in the duo No-Man, his long-running partnership with Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Bass Communion), Englishman Tim Bowness established himself throughout the '90s as a singer and musician with an ear for passionate and passionately wry music. His variety and range of musical interests, similar in scope to Wilson's own various explorations, resulted in a series of bands and joint efforts with friends covering everything from experimental, cutting-edge dance music to torch songs and progressive rock.

"Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity."

Sun Ra - Media Dreams, Complete Concert Milan 1978 (2008) {2CD Set ART YARD CD 002}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 582 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 231 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 34 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1978, 2008 El Saturn Records / Enterplanetary Koncepts / Art Yard | ART YARD CD 002
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Progressive Jazz

This is the companion to Disco 3000, made on the same classic Italian quartet tour with John Gilmore, Michael Ray (trumpet) and the minimal but perfect Luqman Ali (drums). Ra himself plays piano and electronic keyboards, including the mysterious Crumar Mainman, which Ra describes as like a piano, organ, clavichord, cello, violin and brass instruments and which also, importantly, has a facility for pre-programmed bass-lines and electronic percussion, which Ra uses constantly and to great effect in this small ensemble setting and seldom, if ever, elsewhere. The best of this collection (most of CD1) is luminous: very electronic, often rhythmical and melodic, always economical and making every sound count.