Steve Howe’s Latest

As some of you know, I've been calling Yes guitarist Steve Howe the most underrated guitarist in rock. The man has some serious chops, and he's as comfortable jamming on an extended rock solo as he is caressing a flamenco styled tune from an acoustic. Well, he has a new album out, called "Spectrum," It's not his best work-the best way I can describe the overall feel of this atmospheric album with slightly jazzy overtones is "pleasant"-but there is still enough of Howe's brilliance peppered throughout to hold your attention. What's most interesting about this album is the backup band. In addition to the legendary bassist Tony Levin of King Crimson (as well as a guy who has played with hundreds of other acts-check out the "worked with" section on his AMG All Music Guide entry if you have a couple of hours to set aside), he not only has his sons, Dylan and Virgil, playing with him, but he has Oliver Wakeman, son of keyboard god Rick Wakeman, playing-what else-keyboards on this thing.

It caused me to do a little search on the Wakeman the younger, and apparently him and Steve Howe put an album out together in 2003. I'm gonna have to check it out...

Coverville

I just found this great podcast site today called Coverville which is just what the title implies...Covers.

I've already listened to 4 of them here at work and they are great fun. The very first show Brian (the shows creator) did in Sept 2004 started with "Hold your head Up/Hello" by you know who. This guy is a big power pop fan and you can tell by the covers he unearths.

Give a listen while idling the day away, it's fun I tell ya.

Abandoned Pools

Though I have had it for a few years now, I was just really giving Abandoned Pools "Humanistic" a good listen yesterday. Now I remember why I got! What a fantastic album. Abandoned Pools is simple Tommy Walter formerly of the Eels. You can check out his latest EP at Abandoned Pools. A full LP to come this fall.

Redwalls

So Heather turned me onto this band named Redwalls a little while ago, and they are pretty good. Their first album, 2003's "Universal Blues" sounds like it would have been at home coming out in the '60s, with its Beatlesque music fused with rootsy blues and Dylanesque folksiness. (Before you Dylan haters scoff, remember some of John Lennon's best stuff was inspired by Dylan's style). Their latest album, this year's "De Nova," has a more sophisticated sound to it, with the addition of such elements as horns and synth, but they do not lose any of their pop sensibilities-critics like to compare these guys to Oasis, but they're probably much more tolerable than the Gallagher brothers. It's at least worth a listen or two.

Anyone See Pink Floyd?

Last night on Channel 7 (ABC) was the Live 8 concert/Africa awareness show. Pink Floyd took the stage with Roger Waters on bass...first time in some 20+ years. Right next to RW was David Gilmour. They didn't seem to look at each other during their set, but they wern't throwing things at each other, so I guess it was a success.

I actually didn't know the concert would be on last night, but by chance my wife turned it on right in the middle of the PF set. Thank you, Ericka. They sounded quite good in my opinion. I would have liked to hear their introduction, and if any words were exchanged on stage. So, did anyone else see it? What did I miss, and what are your thoughts on the performace (and are you pissed that ABC cut off the end of "Money")?