Jann Klose has seen more of the world before he was of voting age than most people will ever see in their entire lifetimes. From the time he was less than a year old, the songwriter/guitarist has lived in his native country of Germany, Kenya, South Africa, Cleveland, OH, and New York. Currently living in the Bronx, Jann has taken all of the musical influences of these lands and combined them all into his version of pop music. In his music, you’ll find large traces of jazz, blues, reggae, and of course, rock.
It’s these styles that are evident in Jann’s newest release, entitled Reverie. The new album stays fresh by changing direction throughout the CDs 12 tracks. From the opening track of “Beautiful Dream” to the final track of “The Beginning,” you’ll hear all sorts of combinations of styles that help make Jann’s music unique. The most interesting tracks on Jann’s Reverie are “Doing Time”; “Clouds”; “Mother Said, Father Said”; along with “Beautiful Dream” and “Hold Me Down”, the 2 tracks that were put on a single previous to the album being released.
Reverie is Jann Klose’s newest album in his long line of self releases and compilations that he has been featured on. This marks the fourth release by Jann, following up his Enough Said, The Strangest Thing and Black Box CDs. Jann’s music has also been featured in the DEAD BROKE movie from Warner Bros Home DVD, the PRAMBORS HITS 3 in Indonesia, and on car maker SAAB’s 60th Anniversay CD in France. He even had a song included on the SERENITY HOUSE CD, a compilation that was put together to benefit the building of the Serenity House Hospice in Doylestown, PA.
But it’s Jann Klose’s Reverie CD that is the focus of this review. Along with Klose and his bandmates (who play bass, keys, drums and violin on the CD), other musicians on the recording lend a hand on oboe, trumpet and flugelhorn, and percussion. With that blend of instumentation, Jann Klose has produced a solid pop effort that has a very worldy feel to it.
Take equal parts hard rock and prog-metal and you get a feel for what Italy’s Twinspirits sounds like. This five-piece outfit came together when Daniele Liverani was looking for the next phase of his career as a musician.
Throughout his years of playing music, Daniele has become a virtuoso on both the guitar and the piano. With Twinspirits, he has taken his experience as a keyboard player and has written some of the best melodic metal to be released in a long time.
Although Daniele is the songwriter of the band, he is not the only piece to the puzzle. To fill the part of guitarist, Daniele called upon 20 year old Tommy Ermolli to be the behind the six-string. Tommy has made the most of the 8 years he’s been playing and has more than mastered the instrument. For bassist, Alberto Rigoni fills the part. While being the perfect choice to provide the bass part for the band, Alberto is also a composer in his own right. He has just released an album of his own music. Finding a drummer was a no-brainer. Dario Ciccioni has been playing with Daniele for a decade. When the idea of the band was thought up, Dario was the only choice. The role of vocalist was the one piece to the band that took the most time to fill. But when all was said and done, Danish vocalist Soren Adamsen was the final piece to the puzzle.
It is this group of musicians that have recorded the band’s 2007 release entitled The Music That Will Heal the World. Though it is not one, The Music That Will Heal The World can be interpreted as being a “concept album” as the songs seem to tell a story.
Some of the songs follow a common thread of war and battle. One of the songs that really follow this theme is ‘Fire,’ a song that has to do with an American soldier that died in battle. Other songs on the album seemed to be tied together with an almost similar theme.
Italy’s Twinspirits has created one of the best albums of hard rock/prog-metal. If you like that style of music, take the time to check out the band The Music That Will Heal The World.
Fresh Pair of Eyes is the debut release by Brooke Waggoner, who was born in Houston, Texas, but was raised in the coastal town of Morgan City, Louisiana. While living in Louisiana, Brooke began taking piano lessons at the early age of 4 and didn’t finish her training until she turned 21 during her senior year at Louisiana State University.
Although she made it into the Top 10 in MTVU’s Best Music on Campus Competition as part of a Christian rock group, Brooke has since changed her musical direction. Her current style has only a few religious overtones, giving way to a more contemporary pop sound.
It is that style that was shaped while Brooke was in college. Brooke has received her degree in composition and orchestration. With that education, she has started writing music that has a style that is a cross between Tori Amos, Electric Light Orchestra, Rodgers + Hammerstein, and Chopin, among others. To say that Brooke’s style of writing is complex would be an understatement; however, it is still very listener-friendly.
One of the most entertaining songs on the 6-song EP is “So-So,†a fictional look at a moving day. Each line in the song ends in a word that has a long O sound. Some of the rhymes are a little far-fetched, but that just adds to the lightheartedness of the song.
Having been trained to be a composer and arranger has really given Brooke a leg up on her contemporaries. While most of the musicians out there today would have to ask someone to write arrangements for them, Brooke can simply write out the arrangements to fill out her sound.
Currently, Brooke Waggoner calls Nashville, Tennessee home as she is focused on the task at hand of promoting her new CD, Fresh Pair of Eyes. Download the entire EP straight from Brooke’s website for absolutely NOTHING. This the time to check out one of America’s most talented up-and-coming artists and see what you could have missed.
Like a sugar-coated razor blade, Rochester, New York’s The Meddling Kids offer up a great mix of finely crafted hard pop songs that hide behind those sweet vocal harmonies some pretty biting lyrics.
I came across the band early last year when I was sent a copy of a pre-release version of their great lead off track Let Her Go which has since been honed to a biting sharpness which brings the guitar even more to the forefront. Their self-titled CD is resplendid with hooks galore, both of the guitar and vocal variety. Whether on Goodbye, 7 More Days or one of my favoutites Guilloteenager, these guys know how to draw you in and hold you from beginning to end.
I like all kinds of rock and roll but I have always especially enjoyed well-crafted rock songs laden with hooks. Some may call it commercial, I just call it rock and roll fun of the highest order. Great stuff.
From Warrington, Northwest United Kingdom swaggers Exile Parade, a band I only recently discovered but have since played on Rock and Roll Report Radio. Heavy but with a strong sense for “the hook,” my favourite comment made about them was a review by Jed the Fish at KROQ in LA who said “They sound like Oasis but with bigger testicles.”
Absolutely love Still Number One and Fire Walk With Me but Superstars is growing on me as well. This is one of those bands that you know will just grow from strength to strength so it should be fun following their progress. Have a listen to the 5 tracks they posted to their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/exileparade and enjoy the tunes. Check out the video for Fire Walk With Me posted here as well!
I just played Badmouth for the first time on Rock and Roll Report Radio on the January, 14th show and I was quite impressed on first listen to this Stockholm, Sweden-based band. Although I played Super-Sassy Glossy Lips which was their first song ever released, they have a brand new EP set for release on January 22nd, 2008 featuring a bunch of killer tracks including Kick It Up a Notch, Cocaine Girl and my favourite Last Train.
I swear I don’t know what is in the water in Sweden but that country’s rock and roll continues to impress me…
Check out their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/badmouthswe and have a listen and I’ll post a link to buy their new EP as soon as it is available.
In this “singles generation” where it seems that the music industry is ruled by one hit wonders and we seem to have gone back in time where records were merely the latest single surrounded by filler, it’s nice to listen to a CD where you literally cannot make up your mind as to which song is your favourite. Such is my dilemma with the new CD Blinded By Sound by Tampa, Florida band Tenspoke Indies.
I was immediately floored by opening track Blinded By Sound and things continued to build with Give To Get (which reminds me a bit of the groove from Cold Heart Bitch by Jet). But the song that really got my rock and roll heart beating was the opening bass line to Lights Out, a phenomenal track which has been playing on my iPod nonstop since I got the CD. Throw in some absolutely first rate ballads including the beautiful Over Your Shoulder and you have a high energy rock and roll classic. Highly recommended. Listen for them on the next Rock and Roll Report Radio on January 14, 2008 and an upcoming Rock and Roll Report Podcast.
I was recently in Burlington, Vermont (a seriously cool little town) and as I was walking back to my hotel late on a Saturday night when I heard some amazing blues harp emanating from this little bar on the Church Street Marketplace. Unfortunately I couldn’t stick around but I finally tracked down the band and it turns out that it was Avi and Celia, a duo who split their time between Burlington and Boston.
Now what do they sound like? iTunes on my laptop pegged them as unclassifiable which is one way yo look at them. I suppose you can say that they take bits and pieces from the blues, bluegrass, folk, Americana and rock and roll but that’s beside the point in my book. You can tell that this music comes from the very fiber of their souls and it is absolutely spellbinding to listen to.
Check out some of their stuff on their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/aviandcelia and get ready for something a bit different but man the groove on “Soak Her In” is addicting! I’m a fan.
From Lexington, Kentucky I present Nine Pound Hammer, a kick ass rock and roll band if I ever heard one!
With songs like Drunk Tired and Mean I think you know where they are coming from with their particular brand of rock and roll. If images of shitty road houses on a blue highway somewhere down south come to mind you are not alone. “Out of my way I’m as drunk as hell” is how 12oz Mouse Theme kicks off and things go pleasantly downhill from there.
Check out their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/ninepoundhammered for a taste of what they sound like. And pour yourself a shot of red eye to get into the proper frame of mind!
Following in the stiletto heels of such glam drag rock and roll sensations as the New York Dolls, the Toilet Boys bring their full-bore makeup and fireworks arsenal to the rock and roll stage and they are certainly a sleazy breath of fresh air. With equal parts punk guts, glam glitter and rock and roll swagger, the Toilet Boys manage to make great, trashy rock and roll on tracks like the Debbie Harry into’d “Sex Music” to the full out assault of “Gimme Everything” and a cover of the Ramones classic “Carbona not Glue.”
Check out their MySpace page at http://myspace.com/toiletboysnyc and in the meantime have a look at their video for Living Like a Millionaire:
Take equal parts hard rock and prog-metal and you get a feel for what Italy’s Twinspirits sounds like. This five-piece outfit came together when Daniele Liverani was looking for the next phase of his career as a musician.
I just played Badmouth for the first time on Rock and Roll Report Radio on the 
From Lexington, Kentucky I present 
