This is one of those rare times when you can almost judge a record by its' cover. From the title, Cosmic Connection, and the band's psychedelic logo, to the moody front cover depicting Stoney Curtis in the cosmos, acid blues fans will know to expect something great. Stoney Curtis is no stranger to psychedelic imagery. One of his albums was titled Acid Blues Experience, and the Los Angeles resident/Chicago native has an equally psychedelic-sounding title in Cosmic Conn3ction, which also has psychedelic art work and some psychedelic musical influences to go with that psychedelic-sounding title. But Cosmic Conn3ction isn't psychedelic in a poppy way.

Thanks to a roster including Cocteau Twins and Pixies, UK imprint 4AD has maintained its status as a force in independent music for more than 30 years. Author Martin Aston talks about his exhaustive new history of the label.

Like their countrymen Entombed, In Flames add the familiar influence (and sense of groove) of classic heavy metal to their extreme death metal sounds, as well as progressive instrumental interludes that help lend a feel of epic drama to their music. Colony's arrangements experiment with sound effects, melodic guitar leads, varied textures, and Hammond organ, adding more detail, contrast, and dramatic structure to the rush of their onslaught and making it a definite step forward for the group.

As a drummer for a Dutch infantry regiment, German born Friedrich Hartmann Graf (1727-1795) was captured during the War of the Austrian Succession. Upon his release, he took up the flute and became a traveling virtuoso. After a stint in The Hague with his older brother Christian Ernst (1723-1805), he accepted a position in Augsburg where he composed most of his 46 flute concertos. All four on this disc follow the standard format of ‘fast-slow-fast’, and were probably composed in the 1770’s, the first 2 likely near the end of the decade. Written in C Major, the opening ‘Allegro’ of the first concerto is thoroughly engaging.

How many Jamaican-born bluesmen recorded with John Lee Hooker and toured with Otis Redding? It's a safe bet there was only one: Eddie Kirkland, who engaged in some astonishing on-stage acrobatics over the decades (like standing on his head while playing guitar on TV's Don Kirshner's Rock Concert). But you would never find any ersatz reggae grooves cluttering Kirkland's work. He was brought up around Dothan, Alabama before heading north to Detroit in 1943. There he hooked up with Hooker five years later, recording with him for several labels as well as under his own name for RPM in 1952, King in 1953, and Fortune in 1959. Tru-Sound Records, a Prestige subsidiary, invited Kirkland to Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey in 1961-1962 to wax his first album, It's the Blues Man! The polished R&B band of saxophonist King Curtis intersected with Kirkland's intense vocals, raucous guitar, and harmonica throughout the exciting set.

Cody Carpenter is a third generation musician. His father, John Carpenter, is a director and composer and his mother, Adrienne Barbeau, is a star of film, television and in Broadway Stage. His grandfather, Howard Carpenter, was a founding member of the Nashville Strings. His Album, "Cody Carpenter’s Interdependence", culminates the creative DNA of his past with a focus bent towards his future.
"Interdependence" is an album crackling with energy and fit to bursting with top notch musicianship. That it is also possibly the best way to slap a smile on your chops this side of winning the lottery, really is the keyboard infused, foot stomping, melody making cherry on top. Let the good times roll and roll and roll!