Petter Kraft and Per Borten were asked to do work on commission for Jazzfest Trondheim in 2022. Already long-time friends, they gathered yet others to form Cobra Kraft consisting of Petter Kraft (Tenor sax), Per Borten (Guitars), Vegard Bjerkan (Keyboards), Eirik Øien (Bass) and Kenneth Kapstad (Drums).
A live recording from the Generation Axe tour, featuring Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi, will be released on June 28. Titled Generation Axe—The Guitars That Destroyed the World: Live In China, the collection culls performances from the tour’s 11-city run in Asia in 2017. The album will be released via earMUSIC as a CD digipak, limited colored 2LP+download and digital.
Sinéad O'Connor's debut, The Lion and the Cobra, was a sensation upon its 1987 release, and it remains a distinctive record, finding a major talent striving to achieve her own voice. Like many debuts, it's entirely possible to hear her influences, from Peter Gabriel to Prince and contemporary rap, but what's striking about the record is how she synthesizes these into her own sound – an eerie, expansive sound heavy on atmosphere and tortured passion. If the album occasionally sinks into its own atmospheric murk a little too often, she pulls everything back into focus with songs as bracing as the hard-rocking "Mandinka" or the sexy hip-hop of "I Want Your (Hands on Me)." Still, those ethereal soundscapes are every bit as enticing as the direct material, since "Troy," "Jackie," and "Jerusalem" are compelling because of their hushed, quiet intensity. It's not a perfect album, since it can succumb to uneven pacing, but it's a thoroughly impressive debut – and it's all the more impressive when you realize she only topped it with its immediate successor, before losing all focus.
May 3, 2019 sees the start of Stereolab's seven album reissue campaign via Warp Records and Duophonic UHF Disks, as expanded and re-mastered editions on vinyl and compact disc. Each album has been re-mastered from the original 1/2'' tapes by Bo Kondren at Calyx Mastering and overseen by Tim Gane. Bonus material will include alternate takes, demos and unreleased mixes. Stereolab have attracted one of the most loyal audiences in modern pop, with every album outselling it's predecessor. On their new Elektra album, Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night, Stereolab expand upon the music explorations that have made them one of modern music's most influential bands.
Recorded during twelve separate performances of John Zorn's "Cobra" during 1992, "John Zorn's Cobra: Live at the Knitting Factory" presents an extraordinary mix of performances, with different stagings by different groups and an absolutely stunning array of performers and environments.