Vinyl Connection’s love of live albums is well known. They’ve been written about frequently (the series on triple live albums, for example) but not recently (Back Live goes way back). Not through waning interest nor fears of retribution from the unconverted but simply because there just so much music to enjoy and so little time. […]
There have been occasions when Vinyl Connection has grouched about how much stuff is required to step outside the house. We have been heard to talk movingly of those long gone, halcyon days when a chap simply strolled breezily out the front door unencumbered by anything other than his thoughts. Nowadays it requires a hold-all […]
Rock and roll will never last, you know. Gone in a couple of years. That’s what they said back in the early 60s. Yet not only has the beast survived, some of its protagonists have notched up multiple decades in the biz, inviting today’s extraordinary mission: Reviewing two albums by the same artist, released four […]
* Learn more about artist Roger Dean at his official website. The ‘feature image’ is the cover of the Ilex publications book “Roger Dean: Dragon’s Dream” published in 2008. According to the Ilex website, the book “encompasses album covers, paintings, and stage designs; logos and icons produced for computer game companies (such as Psygnosis, Bullet Proof […]
The Melbourne International Jazz Festival began in 1998, co-incidentally the year that the Ms Connection/Vinyl Connection international festival kicked off too. Seventeen years on, both are still going strong though artists in both arenas seem to be a touch more, er, mature. Seasoned. Venerable. Ah shit. We’re all older. Nevertheless, when we noticed that the […]
Debut albums are a bit special. Often the result of a long gestation period that may well have begun in someone’s teenage bedroom, there is an exuberance and excitement to a first offering that combines confidence (“Look at me! Listen to my music!”) and nervousness (“Is it OK? Will anyone like me?”). Over the life of […]
The passing of Tangerine Dream founder Edgar Froese in January 2015 was a shock. That he died in his seventieth year, so soon after taking the Phaedra Farewell Tour around the world adds to the sense of loss. Herr Froese left behind a massive body of work spread over five decades. Fans will have their […]
One of the energising aspects of supporting a large – many would say excessive – music collection involves those moments when something crops up on the turntable (or, whisper it, in the CD player) that provides an unexpected thrill. It might be something from years past whose charms have faded from memory, leading to a mild shock […]
Named after one of the most odious characters in literature, Britain’s Uriah Heep have been churning out records and touring relentlessly for over forty years. The Allmusic guide lists more than three dozen albums and informs us that there have been over 30 members of the band formed by the wonderfully monikered Mick Box and […]
Who am I? I was born in London in 1951. My Father was a diplomat. As a result, I grew up all over Latin America. Guitar is my instrument. The first band I was in was called Pooh And The Ostrich Feathers. For the world of performance I chose my Columbian Mother’s surname over my […]
May 10th marks the second anniversary of Vinyl Connection. Two years of weekly long-form posts with a second mid-week item more often than not. Over 180 posts in all; some 140,000 words. The statistics page reveals that there have been over 28,000 page views and greater than 1,000 ‘Likes’. So roughly every thirty-or-so ‘looks’ produces […]
There was a moment during the Year 12 English exam, the one taken by every final year high school student in the State, that hinted at what was to come in the life of a young Vinyl Connection. English is traditionally first off the blocks in the ‘This Is It!’ series of examinations that decide […]
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