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Rock LP Review: The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet 50th Anniversary Deluxe LP Set (Ltd. Edition)

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Release Date: November 16, 2018 Label: ABKCO Website
The limited-edition vinyl release of The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet 50th Anniversary Deluxe LP set features a gatefold jacket, 180-gram stereo vinyl, a bonus vinyl 12" "Sympathy For the Devil" single in mono (backed with an etching of the original release's "toilet" cover), and a replica of the Japanese bonus flexi disc featuring a 1968 phone interview with Mick Jagger is also included. This edition is wrapped in the "RSVP" cover art.How is that for music fans, especially Stones enthusiast? It is quite a beautiful package to enjoy.

The thing bands like the Stones and Zeppelin did with the blues is what made them so popular. Taking rudimentary blues songs and turning them into delicious morsels of rock, literally owning the song within their own framework and interpretation. This is something that is still going on to this day but not at that level. For the Stones, how could they possibly top th…
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Classical-New Age Review: Samer Fanek-Guide Me

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Release Date: December 11, 2018 Label: Independent Website
Samer Fanek is a talented keyboard player. I covered his debut WishfulThinking two years ago. I gave it a 5-star rating and I have no reason to believe things would be different with his new offering Guide Me. This is an instrumental recording filled with classical and contemporary music with a new age feel.

According to the artist, the first track “Grand Opening,” is intended to be exactly what it says it is. The curtain opener is an exciting burst of colors and energy that has you envisioning a scene in an action movie or an emotional still picture with a soundtrack to make it come alive. It is an amazing song but it does not set the tone for the album that most opening tracks do because of the eclectic nature of the overall presentation. “Chasing Time” is similar to the high level of energy and general pace.

What you will discover while listening are different moods, a story being told through the fingers and ivory keys. There i…
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O.R.k. Announce Details of New Album Ramagehead Set For Release Through Kscope on February 22, 2019

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Highly accomplished band includes award-winning composer /vocalist Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari, King Crimson's Pat Mastelotto and Porcupine Tree's Colin Edwin
Album features special guest vocalist System Of A Down's Serj Tankian 
Confirmed live headline shows throughout Europe & UK for early 2019 + support to The Pineapple Thief
O.R.k., comprising some of contemporary music's most revered artists, have combined their creative forces once again for a new studio album; their first for the ground-breaking UK label Kscope; O.R.k's Ramagehead will be released on 22nd February 2019.

The band feature Italy's celebrated vocalist, producer and award-winning film score composer Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari a.k.a LEF (lead vocals), King Crimson's Pat Mastelotto (drums), Porcupine Tree's Colin Edwin (bass), Marta Sui Tubi's Carmelo Pipitone (guitars); Ramagehead also features a superstar collaboration in the form of Grammy Award-winner Serj Tankian of System of a…
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Holiday Review: Dan Blanchard-The Spirit of Christmas

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Release Date: December 7, 2018
Label: Peaceful Vibes
Website
Dan Blanchard has created one of the more unique Christmas albums I have ever heard. The Spirit of Christmas is the title, which is about as generic and traditional as you can get but don’t let that simple title fool you. This is a significant music project and a tremendous accomplishment for the artists involved.

Dan has some incredibly talented people join him on this release and since there is the song “Twelve Days of Christmas,” he gives us 12 tracks to enjoy and guess what the twelfth track is? Everything seems to fall in line so far…just wait.
What Daniel sought to create was a musical holiday adventure that was steeped in traditional Christmas Carols and Indian Classical Music. This, of course, provided the opportunity to combine these elements with some improvisation. The cross-section of instruments included on this recording includes Sitar, Santoor, Harmonium, Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Tanpura, Tabla, Percu…
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Guitar Legend Scott Henderson Offers 10-Week Course Teaching Basic Steps to Improvisation and General Organization on the Guitar

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Legendary guitarist Scott Henderson will take you through the basic steps to improvisation and general organization on the guitar. Over 10 weeks, you’ll learn to use scales and their modes, chord tones, rhythmic ideas, motifs, and chord voicings, all with the focus on musicianship and artistry.

Hi Friends,

I’m happy to announce that I’m teaching an online class at Musicians Institute. Stig Mathisen, head of the guitar department, help me put this course together which we’re really proud of. This is how it works:

It’s a 10-week course which starts every January, April, July, and October. You get 10 videos which are uploaded weekly, and remain active for a year after the 10-week course is over. You also get an online session with me every Tuesday afternoon at 12PM Pacific Time. You can text me questions about that week’s video, or whatever’s on your mind, and see me talking, playing, and giving musical examples over backing tracks. These online lectures are also available for one year aft…
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Todd Rundgren Announces "The Individualist" World Tour Presented By SiriusXM

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PHOTO: © 2018 Lynn Goldsmith
Tickets On Sale December 10, 2018 at 10AM Local Time Citi Presale Begins December 04, 2018 at 10AM Local Time
Los Angeles - Current Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee Todd Rundgren will be embarking on the world’s first hybrid concert/book tour this spring, highlighting both his hits as well as “deep tracks” spanning his 50-year career.

Produced by Live Nation and presented by SiriusXM, the North American leg of the tour starts in Atlanta, GA and hits major markets before wrapping in San Francisco, CA. The North American dates will be preceded by dates in Europe/UK and followed by dates in Japan. Full itinerary is below.

Rundgren’s long-awaited autobiography, The Individualist: digressions, dreams and dissertations, is being released by Cleopatra Press on December 21, documenting his life through his 50th birthday. The concert set list will mirror that time period, consisting of song selections from the inception of his musical career through 1996, with …
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Heavy Metal Legends BAD NEWS! Release 32nd Anniversary Box Set & more

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The Comic Strip Presents...BAD NEWS!


VIM, DEN, COLIN and SPIDER are BAD NEWS!

The Comic Strip Presents... BAD NEWS! Four hairy muisos with a dream to be the next Motorhead. Sure they have musical differences – all great bands do. But with Colin's PA ,Vim's old transit van and the entire back line stacked on HP, what could possibly go wrong ?…. Chart success, adoring fans and excess all areas, it can only be GOOD News surely! Then the unexpected happens.

BAD NEWS get picked by Channel 4 television for a fly on the wall documentary about a metal band's quest to make the big time. The film when first broadcast caused immediate outrage not just with metal fans who thought it was “far too heavy”, but the band got condemned by the music press who declared them: “the worst thing since Shawaddywaddy” or as one smart arse critic wrote “this isn't Metal, it's Heavy Lead”.

The documentary ends with the band in a sprawling fist fight and falling apart as they head for obscurit…
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Rock Review: Jason Becker-Triumphant Hearts

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Release Date: December 7, 2018 Label: Music Theory Recordings Website Jason Becker suffers from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). A fatal condition with a life expectancy of maybe five years. He was diagnosed in 1989 at 19 years old. He is still cranking out music to this day! He was and still is a six-string slinger with plenty of energy to create music, his personal testament to the power of music and positive thinking. He never stopped working. I think that is the reason he is still with us today, he never gave up and feels empowered to make music on a very high level regardless of physical limitations.

The man also has a great sense of humor, he released a documentary on his life in 2017 titled I’m Not Dead Yet.In the video I have provided, which runs over 9 minutes, gives a good overview of how people in the music business feel about Becker. Everyone is filled with respect and admiration for this man and for good reason. I actually interviewed Jason in 2001 in regards to the tribut…
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