Universal Hippies – Evolution of Karma (CD)

Imagine if you throw a portion of well cooked vintage Wishbone Ash into a blender and then sprinkle a bit of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai on top. You then sift the brew to get rid of all unnecessary shredding. Throw the shredding away and keep all that good tasty stuff. Pour it into a mold and make a nice CD of it. Voila! You’ve got the "Evolution of Karma"! This is the second CD by Greek instrumental rockers Universal Hippies and even though I really enjoyed their debut, “Mother Nature Blues”, this one takes it a step further in terms of tasteful melodies and great song material. There’s not a weak moment on this album and it has a great flow. This is definitely an album album, an album you listen to from beginning to end. The flow from one song to another is just sublime and Stavros Papadopoulos’ guitar playing is nothing short of phenomenal. His feel and tone are just awesome. Not forgetting the highly tasteful rhythm section featuring bass player Jim Petridis and drummer Chris Lagios, who really lay down the perfect grooves for the brew. The mix, also by Stavros, is crisp and clear with a lot of nice ambience. Very analogue and very live sounding. This is an outstanding album, indeed and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s into the melodic instrumental side of Wishbone Ash or Satch, when he slows it down and get his melodic mojo working.

Janne Stark

Country: Greece

Year: 2018

Label: Grooveyard Records

Link: www.grooveyardrecords.com

Jimmy Ryan – 21st Century Riffology (CD)

Remember the days of shredders and instrumental guitar albums? Shrapnel Records? Back when Yngwie Malmsteen still could record an album that actually sounded good (and long before he thought he could sing). I was a huge fan of that genre and I had them all. Well, as time went by, I kinda lost interest as a lot of the albums were more about the actually shredding ability (aka guitar wanking) that about the song. Then came the drum machine/programmed drums and any natural feel in the song was just lost. Well, in later years there has popped up an instrumental album or two, that has caught my attention. Grooveyard Records and Shredguy Records are two labels that have released some really interesting stuff in that category. In my hand I have the solo release by Jimmy Ryan of The Flying Ryan Brothers, who have put out some great instrumental stuff. After a first listen, I do have to admit that Jimmy’s solo album is even more up my alley. 21 songs in 50 minutes may sound like a classic hardcore or punk album, but of course it’s not. What is good about it is that there are no songs where there are dragged out solo sections that go on forever without leading anywhere. These are actual songs, with melodies and structures. Short melodic movies. Even though the riff is in center throughout the album, the style ranges from softer, melodic songs, such as “Ad Astra”, “Stardust” and finisher “Zenology”, through straight ahead rock ‘n blues such as “Slipstream” to drop-D riff rockers that really groove. The eight heavy hitters in a row: “Thor’s Hammer”, “Stompbox”, “Mazerunner”, “Hammerhead”, “Untamed”, “Superchunk”, “Piledriver” and “X Factor” are prime examples of songs that are in a similar vein, yet quite different. I really love Jimmy’s melodic feel, the bluesy touch and his strong, determined tone. He really plays it like he means it. An excellent album, indeed!

Janne Stark

Label: Grooveyard Records

Country: USA

Year: 2017

Link: www.grooveyardrecords.com

Dirty Dave Osti - Rare Tracks (CD)

Dirty Dave has previously released a couple of really great blues rock albums, so what good would actually a "rare tracks" compilation do? Well, quite a lot it seems. Rare Tracks proves to be a damn fine "could easily have been a legit" album. Consistent in both sound and style. It kicks off with the instrumental blues rocker Grooveyard Ride followed by the southern rock sounding Louisiana Outlaw with a bunch of cool slide licks and fitting raspy vocals. Blur The Lines kicks it into riff mode, with some cool bluesy sections. In The Wind kicks it up a notch in tempo, but both the riffs and the blues are still there. A cool instrumental tune, where my only critique would be that it actually does lack some vocals in the empty spots. Bastard is a cool acoustic number leading into another cool bluesy melodic semi-ballad. Up next is a kick-ass cover of ZZ Top's El Diablo, from the sadly overlooked Tejas album. Without going into each track, let me just say, even though this is "just" a compilation of leftover tracks, it's a damn good one!
Janne Stark

Label: Grooveyard Records
Country: USA
Year: 2017