Mustang Tiretaine, Amen

Amen Corner were a Welsh R&B-tinged pop band of the late '60s featuring singer Andy Fairweather-Low, organist Blue Weaver, guitarist Neil Jones, bassist Clive Taylor, saxophonists Allen Jones and Mike Smith, and drummer Dennis Bryon. They scored the first of their six British chart hits with "Gin House" in the summer of 1967. "(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice" went to number one in early 1969. By then, Fairweather-Low had become a teenage heartthrob and the band had switched management and record companies, but they split up by the end of the year.

Steven Osborne continues his enthralling performances of Messiaen's piano works, with Martin Roscoe joining him for the two-piano Visions de l'Amen. The two of them are flawlessly matched in their strength, control, and range of expression, even though for much of the work the two piano parts are largely independent. They move together from twinkling, distant starlight passages to powerful, brilliant solar flare-like passages. Osborne and Roscoe, although painting large pictures in the seven movements, demand that attention be paid to the details in the music.

Salif Keita - Amen (1991) {Mango–Island Records 261 694}
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© 1991 Mango Records / Island Records | 261 694
Afro-Pop / World Funk / World Fusion / West African

An early-'90s album from the great Salif Keita. This one pulls out all the stops to appeal to a Western audience at some level. Keita's vocals are, as always, outstanding. On top of this, though, a slew of performers make appearances and/or help out on production. Former bandmate Kante Manfila provides the primary guitar work for the album and master keyboardist Joe Zawinul both plays keyboards throughout and provides the production work.

The Heavy return in 2023 with their sixth album Amen, an exhilarating maelstrom of ‘60s R&B riffs, horns, and gospel harmonies, which is set to be the freshest and most revitalised record in their canon yet. Their corrupted R&B power is unstoppable and, revived to full blast from the pandemic lull, they’re hurtling into 2023, whipping and writhing with seditious blues drama, soul and gospel passion, the crunch of prime hip-hop and garage punk’s visceral electricity pulsating through Amen. The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios, produced with Tchad Blake (The Black Keys, U2) and engineered with Real World Studios’ Joe Jones. The songs were written during sessions in Florida at the end of their 2019 US tour and demoed when Kelvin visited the UK in February 2020.