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Featured New Releases: Camel: A Nod And A Wink (Camel Productions) and King Crimson: Level Five (Japanese Import, Pony Canyon PCCY-01576).
Our good friends Camel are back with A Nod And A Wink, their first studio effort since 1999's extremely satisfying Rajaz. The band from last year's live set The Paris Collection returns here: Andrew Latimer (guitars, flute, keyboards, vocals), Colin Bass (bass guitar, backing vocals), Guy LeBlanc (keyboards, backing vocals), and Denis Clement (drums). Latimer acknowledges 30 years of Camel history in the liner notes, offering thanks to band members past and present (including the sadly departed founding member Peter Bardens). While all of the tracks on this CD are solid, three extended tunes are the ones that will keep you coming back for more: the title track, "Fox Hill," and "For Today." For Camel, especially over the course of their last few albums, the longer tracks are critical because the band's forte lies in finding a groove and riding it into the sunset. Latimer has perfected his own distinctive style of the the "loud, sweet, aching" extended guitar solo, and the band effortlessly moves from mood to mood, tempo to tempo. If you like classic Prog, this one's for you.
Meanwhile, the "off again, on again" release of King Crimson's Level Five is on in Japan...the Pony Canyon label offers the Crim disc that has been bumped from USA shelves several times in the last year. The reason for owning this one is the title track...a big, ominous, stomping "Red"-style instrumental taken at the tempo of the Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)." The disc is short (45 minutes), the songs are live, and while many would not find the 8-1/2 minute track "Level Five" worth the cost of admission, there are many more who would. There are three new tracks ("Dangerous Curves," "Level Five," "Virtuous Circle") and new versions of "The ConstruKction Of Light" and "The Deception Of The Thrush."
August 13th: Mary J. Blige - Dance For Me, Marianne Faithfull - Kissin' Time, Russ Freeman - Drive (solo album from the Rippingtons' front man), Hawkwind - Space Ritual Sundown Deluxe Edition, Aimee Mann - Lost In Space, Roy Rogers & Norton Buffalo - Roots Of Our Nature.
August 20th: Black Sabbath - Past Lives, Marc Bolan & T. Rex - 20th Century Boy: The Ultimate Collection, Miles Davis: The Last Word: The Warner Bros. Years (4-CD box set), Motorhead - Keep Us On The Road: Live 1977 and Tear Ya Down: The Rarities, The Ramones - Remastered and expanded editions of End Of The Century, Pleasant Dreams, Subterranean Jungle and Too Tough To Die, The Rolling Stones - all of the London Records stuff (pre-Sticky Fingers) reissued.
August 27th: The Black Crowes - Live (2 CDs), Al DiMeola - Inamorata, Jimmy Fallon - The Bathroom Wall, Bob Geldof - Sex, Age & Death, Grand Funk Railroad - reissued / remastered versions of On Time, Closer To Home, Grand Funk ("The Red Album") and Live Album, Al Green & The Othello Anderson Quintet - Mister Lucky, Jason & The Scorchers - Still Standing, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers - Stories, Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf, Lee Ritenour - Rit's House, Derek Trucks Band - Joyful Noise, The Who - My Generation (remastered and expanded to a "Deluxe" 2 CDs), Peter Wolf - Sleepless.