Motown Anthems

In a career spanning four decades Steveland Judkins Morris has been many things: child star, funk hero, political chronicler, the saviour of Motown Records and depressingly, the instigator of the painfully schmaltzy R&B ballad. Thankfully, this exhaustive "Best Of…", timed to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his first appearance as Little Stevie Wonder, focuses mainly on the 1966-1980 glory years and his transition from incendiary soul man to voice of the 70s. The jackhammer beats, shout-along choruses and wailing harmonica peg "Uptight", "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" and "I Was Made To Love Her" as three of the finest anthems of the Motown era, and "My Cherie Amour" as one of its sweetest love songs. But it was when he turned his attention to grinding keyboard grooves and social concerns that Wonder really came into his own

Once Upon a Time in the West is the second studio album by English indie rock band Hard-Fi. It was released on 3 September 2007 on Necessary/Atlantic and Warner Music UK. It reached #1 in the UK Album Chart in the first week of its release, unlike its predecessor Stars of CCTV, which took around five months to do so. It also reached #5 in the European Top Albums.

Few bands in the history of rock & roll were riddled with as many contradictions as the Who. All four members had wildly different personalities, as their notoriously intense live performances demonstrated. The group was a whirlwind of activity, as the wild Keith Moon fell over his drum kit and Pete Townshend leaped into the air with his guitar, spinning his right hand in exaggerated windmills. Vocalist Roger Daltrey strutted across the stage with a thuggish menace, as bassist John Entwistle stood silent, functioning as the eye of the hurricane.

During times of extreme political and social change, Stevie Wonder's voice and songwriting served as cultural and spiritual guideposts to many a listener, often lending insight and a barometer with which to measure the ways of the world. But that was largely during the golden phase of his career, generally regarded as being the late '60s through 1980's Hotter Than July. His work in the mid-'80s through the '90s was marginal in comparison, only hinting at glimpses of former brilliance, sugar-coated by over-polished production and radio-friendly content.

For two decades, Will Hoge has carried the torch for American rock & roll, carving out his own blue-collar sound rooted in amplified guitars, melodic hooks, southern soul, and rootsy stomp. It's a sound that nods to the best moments of the past - the punch of Tom Petty's anthems; the countrified twang of Buck Owens' singing; the raw, greasy cool of the Rolling Stones -while still pushing forward into new territory with Hoge's storytelling and larger-than-life voice leading the charge on his new self-produced album, Tiny Little Movies, out today via Thirty Tigers.

Mick Karn - Three Part Species (2006) {2016 Kscope label digipak CD edition KSCOPE415}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 396 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 156 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 285 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2006, 2016 Kscope / Mick Karn | KSCOPE415
Rock / Experimental / Art Rock / Electronic

2016 release from the former Japan, Rain Tree Crow and Dalis Car bassist, his seventh solo album, Three Part Species, illustrates more than any other, how completely in command of musical composition he has become. A mixture of so many diverse types of music that, somehow never, even for a second, sound confused in direction. It's impossible with each piece to predict which genre will come next, as the listener is guided through Mick Karn's unique world. At times, there are elements of Motown rhythms and gospel choirs, classical arrangements and Rock guitars, passing through Hip Hop and Jazz Fusion, ethnic traditions and Pop songs.