The East Pointers

Abolition of the Royal Familia is 17th album from Alex Paterson and his rotating roster of collaborative cohorts. It forms part two of of pair, and a continuation No Sounds Are Out Of Bounds. It’s also the first with Paterson and Michael Rendall as main writing partners, with Rendall having risen-up-the-ranks from a member of The Orb’s touring band. The album features guest turns from Youth, Roger Eno, Steve Hillage, Miquette Giraudy, and a whole lot more.

Jimi Hendrix's second album followed up his groundbreaking debut effort with a solid collection of great tunes and great interactive playing between himself, Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell, and the recording studio itself. Wisely retaining manager Chas Chandler to produce the album and Eddie Kramer as engineer, Hendrix stretched further musically than the first album, but even more so as a songwriter. He was still quite capable of coming up with spacy rockers like "You Got Me Floating," "Up from the Skies," and "Little Miss Lover," radio-ready to follow on the commercial heels of "Foxey Lady" and "Purple Haze." But the beautiful, wistful ballads "Little Wing," "Castles Made of Sand," "One Rainy Wish," and the title track set closer show remarkable growth and depth as a tunesmith, harnessing Curtis Mayfield soul guitar to Dylanesque lyrical imagery and Fuzz Face hyperactivity to produce yet another side to his grand psychedelic musical vision…

The First Ever Boxed Set Celebrating The Work Of Stomu Yamashta For Island Records Between 1972 And 1976. Remastered Set Including The Albums 'Floating Music', 'The Man From The East', 'Freedom Is Frightening', 'One By One', 'Raindog', 'Go' And 'Go… Live From Paris'. Featuring Steve Winwood, Klaus Schulze, Michael Shrieve, Al Di Meola, Hugh Hopper, Gary Boyle, Morris Pert And More. Born in Kyoto, Japan, Yamashta studied music at Kyoto University and Berklee College of Music. His athletic and virtuoso percussion style came to prominence in the early 1970s when his work with the Red Buddha Theatre brought him to Europe. He teamed up with percussionist Morris Pert and members of his band Come To The Edge to record the album 'Floating Music' for Island Records in 1972. This was followed in 1973 by the release of the soundtrack album 'The Man From The East', which also featured Morris Pert and keyboard player Peter Robinson. Later the same year Yamashta formed the band East Wind with Gary Boyle (guitar), Hugh Hopper (bass) and Brian Gascoigne (keyboards) and recorded the excellent jazz rock album 'Freedom Is Frightening'.

Head East went through several lineups and musical approaches before consolidating in St. Louis in the early '70s as a hard rock quintet consisting of John Schlitt (vocals), Mike Somerville (guitar), Roger Boyd (keyboards), Dan Birney (bass), and Steve Huston (drums), all alumni of the University of Illinois. They recorded their debut album, Flat as a Pancake, independently and released it on their own Pyramid Records label in early 1975…

Though it appears in the aftermath of their dissolution in 2014, and the deaths of both actual Allman brothers, Duane and Gregg, this 50th anniversary retrospective box set is arguably the only career overview of the band one can call representative. Arranged over ten LPs or five compact discs, Trouble No More examines in depth each incarnation and stage of the pioneering rockers. It convincingly formulates the argument that no other American band accomplished more musically (especially live) by seamlessly marrying rock, blues, jazz, and R&B to each other and to extended improvisation. This set compiles 61 Allman Brothers Band classics, live performances, and rarities – including seven previously unreleased tracks – all painstakingly remastered, with and a hefty 88-page book full of photos and a lengthy historical essay by ABB historian John Lynskey that recaps all 13 incarnations of the band's lineup.

East is one of the most beloved prog acts from Hungary (if not the most). While the rest of the world was into New Wave, Marillion carried the prog torch for Great Britain and points west. Guitarist János Varga, keyboardist Géza Pálvölgyi, singer Miklós Zareczky, bassist Péter Móczán and percussionist István Király decided to pick up the prog banner for Eastern Europe. In 1981, they released their debut album "Játékok (Games). It was a well-received debut, and is still highly regarded. However, it is the sophomore effort, 1982's "Hüség" (Faith), that seems to capture more hearts. The first two albums were more symphonic inspired, but they felt the need (or perhaps pressure) to pursue a more mainstream approach. This led to replacing lead singer Miklós Zareczky, with József Tisla on "Rések a Falon" (Cracks in the Wall). While the third album is not the darling of prog fans, it was a great commercial success.