At long last the first show on May 30 at the Berkeley Community Theatre in Berkeley, CA by The Jimi Hendrix Experience will be released in full (well, almost, because Foxy Lady is missing). Magic Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Experience Live At Berkeley (First Show) is the long overdue companion piece for the Jimi Plays Berkeley DVD and the Live At Berkeley album (which only covered the second show).
Can you hold a grudge for a couple of decades? Amelia Fletcher can, getting even with an unnamed critic who wrote an unfavourable review about Heavenly, the band she was in back then. Now a member of jangling pop quintet Swansea Sound she came up with Mean To Be Mean, an upbeat put down song with appropriate swearing when you enjoy the album version that will be included on their new album Pre-post-truth. The radio-friendly version has to make do without them, which is a bit lame, but hey, it might improve their changes to get some well-deserved airplay.
The subject of her wrath is most likely long gone, but Heavenly made a comeback with an ace album, Highway To Heavenly, this year. Patience pays off in the long run.
French pop trio Feutre have released the title track from their forthcoming new album Les grands ensembles album, a happy sad song pushed forward by a smooth Fender Rhodes and chopped guitar notes, giving way to George Harrison's signature tone. Singer Elsa Leroyer is a pensive mood, on the fence between jazz and pop.
Guitarist Mike Keneally will be busy over the next few months, playing shows with his own bands Beer For Dolphins and The Mike Keneally Report as well as replacing Robert Martin when he reunites with Scott Tunes and Chad Wackerman for a bunch dates with Zappa-alumni band Banned From Utopia. It has been 38 years since he last played with them on Frank Zappa's final tour. He is working on a new solo album as well, so some fresh tunes might be part of the gigs with Beer For Dolphins.
Dez Dare filmed himself in his home studio for the video for I Need Your Fire, an utterly danceable track from his These Days Are Wild & Blind album: "Darren Smallman keeps it a bit closer to home and more personal on (...) the latest album by his one-man trash punk band Dez Dare. That doesn't mean that he is no longer shouting at the heavens (and for good reason), but a bit of introspection has found its way into his music - some of it is even played on acoustic instruments."
HCTF review of These Days Are Wild & Blind
