CD + Vinyl:
The Abigails – Tundra CD/LP/Cassette (Burger)
Killer satanic outlaw acid country in the vein of Lee Hazlewood, Gun Club, and Country Teasers.
Adrenaline Rush – Adrenaline Rush CD (Frontiers)
Fronted by vocalist Tåve Wanning (formerly part of the teen-pop duo, Peaches), Adrenaline Rush lights up the hard rock scene with a lethal dose of heavy guitars, infectious hooks and full blown rock & roll attitude.
Noel Akchote – Madrigals For Five Guitars CD (Blue Chopsticks)
The polyphonic music of late Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613) still fascinates for its forward-looking chromaticism and its stark, unpredictable shifts in character. His fifth and sixth Books Of Madrigals from 1611 construct a world of their own – a distinctive body of work that has found adherents as diverse as Igor Stravinsky (who orchestrated Gesualdo madrigals in his 1960 Momentum Pro Gesualdo), Werner Herzog (who directed the macabre, fanciful 1995 Gesualdo documentary Death For Five Voices), and now the French guitarist Noel Akchote.
Ashrae Fax – Never Really Been Into It CD/LP (Mexican Summer)
The legacy of North Carolina’s Ashrae Fax seems destined to be appreciated in retrospect, in no small part given to the tremendous power of the group’s 2003 release Static Crash!, reissued twice from its initial CD-R run before appearing on Mexican Summer last year. The goth/ethereal duo of vocalist Renee Mendoza and producer/guitarist Alex Chesney had built a long, strange and mostly undocumented legacy prior to that release, and Never Really Been Into It extends the tale back even further.
Asia – High Voltage CD+DVD (Frontiers)
Recorded July 24, 2010 at the inaugural High Voltage Festival in Victoria Park, London, this live CD+DVD captures Asia, with the original line-up, performing classic material from the ’80s, plus songs from the first two albums of their reunion, Phoenix and Omega.
Avenged Sevenfold – Waking The Fallen: Resurrected 2xCD+DVD/4xLP+DVD (Hopeless)
This expanded version of Avenged Sevenfold’s 2003 album includes a disc of rare demos and live tracks, new artwork, the music video for “Unholy Confessions,” and a 30 minute film featuring the present day band.
