Heavy Sun will not be to everyone’s liking to be sure. It is heavy on the gospel and thick in places where the sound probably didn’t need to always be. But this is great stuff, rendered by a modern master.

Daniel Lanois is certainly the real deal.

Noisy guitar riffs, bass growl, and a sly beat make up, what for me, is the best tune here, “Let Burn.” All the high-end guitar screaming and crunching makes for a wonderfully tight killer little epic. While, “The Mist,” ending Magic Beans, gives us a truly romantic read from Marnerides’ vocal and the band easing in sweetly behind him…until the inevitable bombast. Still, they do allow for enough guitar noodling space.

NYC “experimental” rock & roll/electronic artist max lee has released his 18-song collection Colors of Noise. And there is certainly lots of both…color and noise delivered here.

“Not Alone” is a big guitar, straight ahead blues rock number, with “Yeah yeah” call and response vocal from J.C. but truly this is the Uptown Sound’s tune. “River” is a big torchy ballad, showing off J.C.’s Sam Cook-sims, some superb backing vocals from Tina M. Howell, but here Rosenstein steels the show with his expert ivory tinkling. And “Control” is another thickly layered piece of funk with a David Bowie in his Station-to-Station period vibe to it.

Ken Fury Flowers Fall Asleep (Inerus Music) Some crunchy back beat and loud cymbal programming provide the bed of “Beside Her,” the […]