Soaring June 2019

As City and Colour, Canadian songsmith and reformed screamer Dallas Green has enjoyed an impressive run of success over the previous decade. Initially launched in the mid-2000s as a quiet, acoustic rebuttal to his post-hardcore band, Alexisonfire, the project gained new layers around the turn of the decade, resulting in a trio of dreamy, deeply introspective folk-pop albums, each of which topped the Canadian charts. 2015's soulful If I Should Go Before You was a warmly crafted gem that utilized Green's tight-knit live band and featured some of his sharpest writing to date. Arriving four years later, A Pill for Loneliness is an altogether lusher affair, which seems to sever ties with Green's more organic tendencies in favor of ethereal synths, textured guitar washes, and a sort of orange-hued, melancholic dream pop.

On 2016's Delirium, Italian goth metal outfit Lacuna Coil hit a peak in their catalog with that album's psych-ward sideshow flourish and some of the catchiest songwriting in their careers. With their follow-up, Black Anima, they shed the theatrics and face the sobering reality that plagues us on a deeper, human level, revealing a harder-edged but equally grand version of themselves that mines vulnerability for maximum effect. In Italian, "anima" means soul, and the band bare theirs fully by processing personal growth, coming to grips with hardened adult perspectives, and struggling with real-life problems like loss and self-doubt.

All good things must come to an end, and if we are to hold this understanding as true then there is no reason not to ensure that the finale is massive, glorious and affirming. Such is the scenario we find with UK legends Her Name Is Calla as we witness their final musical statement, the diverse and persistently riveting double album Animal Choir. This is one of those rare and exciting albums that feels like art clicking on all cylinders; no rules, no boundaries, nothing holding the performers back from doing exactly what is in their hearts, watching as every stroke lands just right on the canvas.

Lonnie Smith - Funk Reaction (1977) {Groove Merchant–Solid Records Japan CDSOL-45955 rel 2019}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 279 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 94 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 33 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1977, 2019 Groove Merchant / Ultra-Vibe / Solid Records Japan | CDSOL-45955
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Soul Jazz / Keyboards

A sweet 70s groover from the great Lonnie Smith – a soulful little session that has the keyboardist really stretching out in some great ways! At the time, Smith fares a lot better than some of his late 60s jazz organ contemporaries – as he's got a great lean style, perfect for the decade's increasing use of electric keyboards and larger backings! This set's a great example of that style – as Smith moves way from his 60s soul jazz roots, into the soaring blend of jazz, funk, and soul that you'd also hear on Johnny Hammond albums of the time – almost more soul than jazz, given the presence of vocals on some cuts – but still always with more than enough room for the leader to stretch out and solo. Backings are nice and tight – and handled by Brad Baker (of B Baker Chocolate Company fame).

Signs, the fourth studio album by the Tedeschi Trucks Band, poignantly addresses some of the major changes this 12-piece group has been through over the last couple of years. That said, it's hardly steeped in sadness, but acknowledges reckoning and acceptance while leaning on hope. In November 2016, longtime friend Leon Russell died. In January, Derek's uncle Butch Trucks committed suicide. In May, mentor Col. Bruce Hampton (to whom Signs is dedicated) suffered a fatal coronary on-stage during his 70th birthday celebration (which Trucks and Tedeschi witnessed). The same month, Gregg Allman died after a years-long battle with liver cancer. And in June, keyboardist Kofi Burbridge suffered a heart attack that required emergency surgery.

For Denmark's Volbeat, the truly classic rock era existed from 1953 to about 1986: from Chuck Berry and Elvis to the heyday of punk rock and thrash metal, with periods in between where rockabilly, surf, glam, and hard rock flourished. Volbeat possess the chops, imagination, and swagger to carry it off in front of 50,000 European fans. Rewind, Replay, Rebound is the band's seventh album; it's appreciably different from what they've done before, but not completely. Volbeat, led by songwriter, guitarist, and lead vocalist Michael Poulson, have brought in even more hooks and sophisticated melodies without losing their ability to riff and roar with the best of the metal pack, thanks in no small part to ex-Anthrax lead guitarist Rob Caggiano.

Evolution is the sixth studio album from Canadian heavy metal band Kobra and the Lotus. The work was released on 20 September 2019 via Napalm Records. Blabbermouth.net states that "The upcoming LP sees the band imbued with a new fire that comes through by way of undeniable hooks, soaring guitar riffs, marching drum beats, and the soulful, bombastic vocal delivery of lead singer Kobra Paige" going on to say that "No longer bound by old formulas and expectations from the past, "Evolution" comes through with a sound that is expansive and, at times, borders on outright swagger" and that "Each song feels like an Active Rock hit in the making, while still having the grit and feverish intensity that longtime fans have come to admire from KOBRA AND THE LOTUS."