REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: July 26, 2023

SNARKY PUPPY – We Like It Here

Hopefully most of you will have at least heard of this jazz fusion collective. They are one of the best live experiences on the planet. I first heard this through a DVD I purchased and was so blown away that I just had to have a vinyl copy of it.

Believe it or not, this is a live album that was recorded and filmed in Holland. A very unique set up as the audience was mostly in the middle and the band around the edge in what was a quite a small space, considering how many musicians there were. I think there are 20 musicians so you get an idea how cramped it was.

I will give special mention to two of them however, Larnell Lewis on drums who I have to say is other worldly as he keeps the beat and groove going when every one around him is improvising, plus his solo in What About Me is absolutely amazing. Also a mention to Cory Henry on keys whose solo in Lingus is incredible and I’m not sure I have seen anyone improv as awesome as this anywhere.

In short, I implore all of you to beg, borrow, or steal a copy either on vinyl or the DVD/CD package as you will NOT be disappointed. Killer stuff!

10/10 from The Grooveman.

LILLIAN AXE – Sad Day On Planet Earth

This is album number seven for the band and it was released back in 2009, twenty one years after their debut. They have kept banging away through a vastly changing musical landscape and indeed released their latest just album last year. I know the metal sound spreads far and wide and it’s very hard to lay down your own individual footprint, but Lillian Axe are one of the bands that have managed to do just that.

This is an album you won’t be able to digest in one sitting, concept albums rarely are, you have to return again and again for it to sink in. Tracks that really do it for me are Jesus Wept, the title track, Down Below The Ocean, and my favourite Blood Raining Down On Her Wings. Not the most metal track in the album but one that emphasizes the band’s great sense of melody.

Cool record.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.