Blood

Thriller! – Cold Blood's fourth LP – is a continuation on the brass-intensive funky R&B that drove their previous efforts. In contrast to those discs, however, there is very little in the way of original material here, the singular exception being Max Haskett's rollicking "Live Your Dream," which features the Pointer Sisters on backing vocals…

Sisyphus – Cold Blood's second release for Bill Graham's San Francisco label – was a shift to a more aggressive and decidedly funkier sound. Taking their cues as much from James Brown's J.B.'s as from their Bay Area contemporaries and labelmates Tower of Power, Sisyphus is a much more cohesive and concentrated effort compared to their 1969 eponymous debut…

Founding guitarist Larry Field left before this album was recorded, resulting in an emphasis on keyboardist Raul Matute and sax player Danny Hull. The result is, surprisingly, somewhat tighter playing by the band, with the horn section reined in to provide percussive punches on guitar- and keyboard-driven songs…

Brand New Day is the tenth album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in November 1977. This was the band's only release on ABC Records. Brand New Day was produced by Roy Halee and former BS&T drummer Bobby Colomby. Colomby and Halee had also co-produced the group's fourth album, Blood, Sweat & Tears 4 in 1971…

Self-awareness is a beautiful thing. Think about this for a moment. You’re a death metal band at the top of your game. Your last record, Hidden History of the Human Race was lauded to the genre’s loftier heights; transcending critical reception and launching the band’s name well past the limits of that said genre. What do you do? Well if you’re Blood Incantation (lucky you!), you do exactly whatever you desire. Naturally, that means this death metal juggernaut is prime to release a completely ambient record, purple smoke and airy mysticism…

Since the end of the last decade, James Blood Ulmer has been involved in a conscious investigation of the blues as a force for reinvention. On various labels and with a varying group of musicians, Blood has fused, melded, and strained the genre through everything from funk to psychedelic rock and jazz with mixed but always provocative results. Guitarist and producer Vernon Reid has been a constant on Ulmer's last two offerings: 2001's Memphis Blood: The Sun Sessions and 2003's No Escape from the Blues: The Electric Ladyland Sessions. The quest continues on Birthright, and in some senses the stakes are even higher because this is a completely solo recording. Reid produces but doesn't perform. Ulmer is the only musician on the entire record. He plays guitars and flute, and he sings…

This effort from controversial guitarist James "Blood" Ulmer sticks to a harsh blues-rock groove, with many of the one-chord vamps sounding like they are leftovers from John Lee Hooker's repertoire. There are no harmolodics (and little jazz) to be heard on the CD, and this music is to be recommended only to fans of Ulmer's shouting vocals.