Another quality L&R Records production that has been saved by a reissue on Evidence Music. Originally recorded in 1982, Chicago's Young Blues Generation features the raw, frantic work of guitarist Lurrie Bell and harp blower Billy Branch, who remain the closest the blues scene has to a modern-day Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. Back in 1982, Bell and Branch were still carving out a sound of their own - an amalgam of Rice Miller, the West Side guitar slingers (namely Guy and Magic Sam), and the funkier Stax and Hi Records hitmakers. This album consists entirely of reworked blues and R&B covers, each one drawn out by lengthy, tag-team soloing - sometimes derivative, but more often wildly inspired and unpredictable. Bell, in particular, goes for broke on almost every note, from his manic vocal inflections to the smallest guitar fill…

Framus Five (also known as Framus 5; Michal Prokop & Framus Five) were formed in the early sixties; Michal Prokop (vocals, guitar) was one of co-founders and later the spiritus movens of the band. Up to this day the band had constant shifting in the line-up, and more than thirty musicians went through it, but the most significant ones are Lubos Andrst, a renowned Czech blues guitarist, and Jan Hrubý on violin. Their first album, 'Blues In Soul' (1968) is exactly what its name suggests. However, a 1971 'Mesto Er', probably the most interesting point of their career for a prog enthusiast, with a prog rock that combined many elements, including blues, jazz big band, and poetry.

Django Reinhardt was the first hugely influential jazz figure to emerge from Europe - and he remains the most influential European to this day, with possible competition from Joe Zawinul, George Shearing, John McLaughlin, his old cohort Stephane Grappelli and a bare handful of others. A free-spirited gypsy, Reinhardt wasn't the most reliable person in the world, frequently wandering off into the countryside on a whim. Yet Reinhardt came up with a unique way of propelling the humble acoustic guitar into the front line of a jazz combo in the days before amplification became widespread. He would spin joyous, arcing, marvelously inflected solos above the thrumming base of two rhythm guitars and a bass, with Grappelli's elegantly gliding violin serving as the perfect foil…

From a logical viewpoint "Sensor" was bound to be the electropop masterpiece that it is, given the patented "experimental" phase most bands go through before deciding to go back to what they do best. Following hit parade "Voices & Images" and the under rated follow-up "Methods of Silence" (perhaps due to the band including acoustic instrumentation) was "Meanwhile", an album few bothered with. And, granted, it sounded way too "ordinary" with its traditional rock setting and much of the Camouflage aura had gone missing. Oliver Kreyssig, who left the band after "Methods of Silence", decided to join the band again during the recording sessions for "Sensor", and it makes sense, as this new album shows a back-to-basics approach in terms of the song writing. The music, however, sounds remarkably fresh and modern…