Magenta Flac

By 1981, Frank Zappa’s Halloween shows in New York were already legendary – a rock and roll bacchanalia of jaw-dropping musicianship, costume-clad revelry, spontaneous theatrical hijinks and of course a heavy dose of Zappa’s signature virtuosic guitar workouts. Eagerly anticipated every year, fans never knew exactly what was in store but knew it would be of epic proportions and one-of-a-kind experience that only Zappa and his skilled group of musicians could provide. When Zappa returned to The Palladium in NYC in 1981 for a five-show four-night run from October 29 to November 1, the nearly-annual tradition was even more anticipated than usual as the 1980 concerts were cut short due to Zappa falling ill. Curiously there was no fall tour the previous year and thus no Halloween shows.

The new solo album from Rob Reed (Magenta/Cyan/Sanctuary), the follow-up to the successful Sanctuary series. Again, Rob has collaborated with Tubular Bells producer Tom Newman and multi-instrumentalist Les Penning on the album, along with drummer Simon Phillips and multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley. The Ringmaster albums will be released in two parts, with the second instalment coming in early 2022.

Disky boils down the wild and varied career of Willy DeVille and concentrates on his legendary New York band, Mink DeVille, and their brand of no-nonsense, razor-blade Spanish stroll Jersey soul; it was a musical blend that had more in common with Phil Spector's 1960s than the CBGB '70s, but that's where it came from and it connected with the punks big time. This is roots rock with soul, swagger, and slither; it's a combination of catchy hooks, sweeping early rock crescendos, and DeVille's in-the-cut vocals that could melt the pants off a teenage girl at 50 paces – well, at least back in the day they could…

The C-Sides were formed in 2007 by Magenta band members Martin Rosser (guitars, keyboards, voices), Allan Mason-Jones (drums, percussion) and Dan Fry (bass, voices). Taking a modern rock element and weaving it with the classic early 1970's Rush sound, they made the C-Sides (aka The C Sides Project). The music industry is a strange business and it is ultimately music lovers who triumph over the machine. The internet has liberated music from the grip of the record industry and this has made it possible for those of us passionate about our chosen genera to find the sounds we love amidst the plethora of plastic pop being peddled by commercial radio. A thorough search on the internet, Band Camp, Reverb Nation or other similar platform will often be rewarded with great new music.