A Minute Jack Forum

Neatly assembled among bickering riffs, crackling beats and enigmatic lyrics, “Traction Blip,” swings from old school guitar duels to post-ironic wordplay to serve up richly literate, alt-rock honky-tonk decked out in strangled twang, syncopated jangle and barbed harmonies. A fairly recent band bolstered by years of collective experience, gallant mavericks A Minute Jack Forum beautifully brew a broiling stew of bronco blues and rousing frontier rock, shape-shifting earnest uncertainty and insatiable hungers between surfing turbulence, ballerina ballistics and cunning, coyote counsel. Motoring through finely-tuned grooves intercepting scrambled frequencies, the coiled quartet straddle savvy maps; charting cagey chords, howling catharsis and casual swagger in a welcome storm of

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New Czars

The New Czars are a heavy prog Euro-American rock group assembling the talents of singer/songwriter/guitarist Greg Hampton and drummer David Moreno, with former Pink and Juliette & The Licks bass player Paul Ill. Rounding out the sound are sonic contributions by sax/keyboardist Steffen Presley, and King Crimson guitar whiz Adrian Belew.

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Various Artists

At the time of Tommy Bolin’s tragic late 1976 drug overdose, the musician had a large cache of new songs recorded as demos. The new “Mister Bolin’s Late Night Revival” compilation asks “What If”… The concept is: “What if the guitar hotshot sought help for his addictions, and lived to release this material in full ensemble album form?” Not coincidentally, some of the proceeds from this project will go to Jackson Recovery Center, a rehab facility in Bolin’s hometown of Sioux City, Iowa.

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Emerson, Lake and Palmer

With a debut at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, ELP (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer) cemented the start of their legacy and disposition for adapting classical pieces, with a dizzying version of Mussorgsy’s “Pictures At an Exhibition.” A live album was quickly released, along with a video filmed at London’s Lyceum in December 1970. The film has gone through several incarnations including a road show movie “Rock n’ Roll Your Eyes” as part of a drive-in double bill in the 1980’s.

This special edition of “Pictures at an Exhibition” brings to DVD the most complete version of the concert possible, a tremendous upgrade from collectors’ version, which have been floating around for years. although, it does lack the opening tune, “The Barbarian,” the rest is mint picture and sound. Eagle rock entertainment has been releasing ELP material over the last year, and this is truly an exception for classic rock history. The picture of “Pictures” is stunning.but the original 1970’s special effects does distract with its cartoon superheroes pages and effects from whatever was being smoked in the control room that was felt to add to the music…(it’s minimal, though.)

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Murderdolls

Imagine yourself stuck in the middle of a fiery hell on earth. The zombie apocalypse is upon us and the world has lost all its order. Your friends and family are no where to be found, so you can only assume they’re one of the infected thousands that are chasing you, trying to make you into their next delectable treat. There is no way out. There is no hope. And you love every minute of it. This, in a rotten nutshell, is exactly the type of twisted, guilty pleasure that Murderdolls brings to you in their latest release Women and Children Last.

The Death Valley Superstars kick your ass from the hellish opening “Chapel of Blood” to the appropriately titled closer “Hell, Goodbye, Die”, and you find yourself asking

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