Astra - The Black Chord

Astra does a fantastic job of delivering that old school, analog, progressive rock. Get your mind right, and reach for those headphones.Progressive music, in general, occupies a funny space in rock and roll. It just seems to mean so many different things to different people. Not that I mind – I mean, I don’t have a stake in it or anything. But, no other genre (or subgenre) seems to get such varied understanding in the minds of the public at large – at least when they think about it at all. It can fall anywhere along the spectrum from the spaced out music of old Yes and Genesis, to the energetic thrill of heavier bands like Rush, all the way to genre heavies, Dream Theater and Symphony X.

Astra’s The Black Chord is somewhere between the beginning and the middle of the spectrum, as indicated by extended jams replete with psychedelic guitar solos and exotic scalar runs like on the title track (2:13). Put another way, if you’re a The Mars Volta fan, but find them "a little too ethnic”, you may want to tune in to these cats from the West coast. Their analog machinations (Mellotron/Moog fans will plotz) blend together beautifully into an old school tapestry of mellow jams that tend to appeal to fans of Pink Floyd-style trips like myself (particulary Barefoot In The Head). Even their look is perfected with appropriately spacey covers and one of the coolest logos in decades.

The Bottom Line: Fans of old school progressive rock, with its Mellotrons and Moog synthesizers, will get enjoyably lost in the space that Astra creates. More than just another stoner metal band, they have an appreciation of 70s era, nascent prog that satisfies such fans nicely.

Tracks to Provide a Soundtrack to your Black Light Posters: The Black Chord, Drift, Barefoot in the Head

- Genghis needs another hit - and some potato chips would be killer...

Lance Lopez - Handmade Music

Lance may be one of the best kept secrets in the Texas blues scene. If that's your bag, you must check this guy out live.Texas is known for a lot of things, but the one of which we're likely most proud (from a musical standpoint) is our wealth of great blues players - enough to have our own subgenre like Chicago, or [Mississippi] Delta blues. Legends such as Lightnin' Hopkins, Albert Collins, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Billy Gibbons are just a few that come to mind, but the list goes on, with new bluesmen steadily coming along.

Enter Lance Lopez. Technically, he's not from Texas, but his sound is well-grounded in the kind of blues that Texas is known for; traditional blues themes and progressions covered in a thick layer of fiery rock bravado. When you see him, he's a formidible person, but hearing him is even more impressive, as his blues chops are undeniable, and they come with an equally energizing voice and personality - seriously, you could power a dozen Chevy Volts on this guy's energy. And being that his strength is as a live performer, it's natural that the production on the album tried to capture that feeling to reasonable success.

But the guitar work on the album is what a lot of people are likely to be drawn to, and while it's good, when it comes to legends like Stevie Ray Vaughan, there is a restraint that adds to the performance that Lopez doesn't always manage here. The album actually starts out with the most blistering solo work on the ZZ Top-flavored Come Back Home (1:21) that's simply too much too fast (particularly for a guy that's been playing live since he was 14), followed by the Eric Gales-ish Hard Time where it seems to fit better. As the album goes on, the soloing becomes more tasteful in places and it's then that you can tell this guy could be the next big thing for Texas blues. If Lance can contain himself a bit - something that perhaps comes with age - he could really be a star.

The Bottom Line: Lance Lopez is poised to be another in a long, proud line of estimable Texas bluesmen with more talent than the state has highways. If you haven't heard of him by now, you need to check out this album and get on the bandwagon.

Tracks to Enjoy While Ordering a Few Ice-cold Longnecks: Get Out and Walk, Your Love, Black Cat Moan, Lowdown Ways 

- Genghis really wants to plug in to his Stratocaster and let 'er rip...

Patrick Hemer - More Than Meets The Eye

The obvious Transformers jokes have no place here; there is just some seriously great metal waiting for you on this CD.One of the reasons you get into the metals is for the incredible guitar, right? Well, that's one of my reasons anyway. A big part of what got me into metal in my earlier years was listening to various guitarists putting out their stuff in the 90s (and thank you, Mike Varney) So, I'm always down with a good guitar-based album to jam to while I take care of whatever I gotta take care of during my day. It just makes the menial things of the day easier to tolerate.

So, here we are with one Patrick Hemer, guitarist extrodinaire. I mused recently about who is in the new guard of master studio musicians, and apparently, Patrick is one of those guys. What is it about session guitarists that seem to end up as lead singer and guitarist for their own awesome metal bands? Like Dan Huff and Michael Thompson before him, Patrick Hemer has released his own CD, More Than Meets The Eye, and the simple fact is this is a great guitar album. Hemer's gots chops for days, and it's good to say that he displays them tastefully within the context of well-written, meat and potatoes metal (as Rags would say), with glorious nods to the progressive and power metal stylings of bands like Symphony X or Malmsteen. With the majority of the album's tracks going over the five minute mark, you get a healthy dose of Patrick's 7-string fretboard wizardry (beautiful overdriven tone, by the way), including some Bettencourtesque riffage on Edge of Insanity (3:30) and Legend In Your Own Mind, some killer harmonized runs on the intro to For All Eternity (0:14) and Firelight, the grand scale (a la Blue Murder's Valley of the Kings) of Panem Et Circenses - the list goes on for the ingredients of a satisfying metal meal. Holy shit, this album kicks ass, with some very respectable vocals from Patrick and a great rhythm section in Tom Wagner (drums) and David Casanova (keyboards). Crank this one up.

The Bottom Line: I don't know what's in the water over at Studio Musician University, but more people need to go there and put out albums like this one. Patrick Hemer has been a well-kept guitar secret for far too long. All I can say is MORE, MORE, MORE!

Tracks That Make You Look At Your Neglected Guitar Shamefully: Firelight and Terra Incognita (the two instrumentals on this CD are fucking awesome) - and the entire rest of the album.

- Genghis had everybody looking funny at him while air guitaring to Firelight like a man possessed...

The Magnificent (self-titled)

These guys have earned their name. Their Scandinavian brand of guitar-driven melodic rock is...well, you know.Man, I love me some melodic rock bands. And I mean like old school stuff, with lush choruses and sweet, shredding solos - and hair teased up bigger than a Texas debutante. I'm not saying it's Beethoven or anything, but like your favorite dessert, you don't question the intellectual merits of it, you just savor it with a satisfied smile.

The Magnificent is a Scandinavian band (with members from Norway to Finland) made up of two talented dudes with a common love of this genre of music. Michael Eriksen (vocalist for Circus Maximus) and Torsti Spoof (guitarist/producer for Leverage) have made a damn fine album of melodic rock tunes that evoke the best of bands like Nation, Harem Scarem, or even Joe Lynn Turner-led Malmsteen (Cheated By Love especially evokes some Yngwie-esque riffage).

The Bottom Line: European bands know how to make some kick ass melodic rock, so put on your spandex, unbutton your pirate shirt, and get ready to air guitar your ass off with The Magnificent.

Aquanet-soaked Tracks: Satin & Lace, Love's On The Line, Cheated By Love and Tired of Dreaming (holy shit this song is good!)

- Genghis has never needed hair spray to get his hair all big...

Sep7ember - Strange Ways of Going Home

Hailing from Germany, Sep7ember is the type of band that should do well on radio and the club circuit, where their alternative rock music will likely keep a new generation of disaffected youth bouncing. The music is fine for what it is, being well-written and produced.

The problem here is that the band sounds like it came out of the 90s. And I have a hard time getting excited about a new band making music that sounds almost 20 years old (which doesn't explain the career of The Foo Fighters, I know). Don't get me wrong, they do it well. They're not phoning it in, putting on any sort of cheesy act, or otherwise not taking their craft seriously, that much is clear.

I don't necessarily know the current state of alternative music in Europe, so I can't say whether Sep7ember is standing out from the crowd or blending in with it. But if you like the kind of straight ahead, non-threatening, alt-rock they make, you'd do well to pick this disc up and throw it into your dorm room party rotation.

The Bottom Line: As if stepping out of a time portal from the mid 90s, Sep7ember delivers a well-produced brand of inoffensive, alternative rock for a new generation of listeners looking for music to pass the time.

Future WB Series Background Music: I Hate NY, Gods Are Laughing, So (unplugged)

- Genghis may not hate NY, but he sure ain't fond of Boston...