Mama Tokus & The Sons Of Bitches (UK)
On The Ragtime

CD PRICE: £9.99

Expect cheeky rhythm’n’blues, new-gospel, saucy swing, fruity funk and rude blues from the ladies’ perspective from this electrifying debut. Original songs penned by Mama Tokus tackle eye-rolling subject matter including: love for older men, a celebration of bigger butts, wifebeating and on the plus-points of choosing a child-free lifestyle. Ingenious covers are dotted throughout, including a blues mash-up of a Sex Pistols number, a reheating of 1937’s If It Don’t Fit Don’t Force It, plus a beatbox-boosted version of the Pointer Sisters’ classic Yes We Can Can. Mama’s memorable songs are presented with great vocals and musicianship from an ensemble cast of superlative musicians.

Ian Parker (UK)
Official Bootleg

CD PRICE: £9.99

The Official Bootleg' captures some of the highlights of Parker's 2007 UK tour. Ian and his band were touring his Where I Belong album, a blues project inspired by a working visit to Mississippi in 2005 which re-ignited his passion for this charming art form. As such the material on this album is more blues-rock than his early releases or indeed his latest more roots singer-songwriter material, a career pattern somewhat akin to his US counterpart John Mayer.

That said, the album is characteristically varied and showcases his writing as well as his emotive playing and bitter-sweet singing style. The album received high critical acclaim at the time of release, and undoubtedly captures a band at the top of their game. Don't let the title worry you, it is merely a tongue in cheek response to the numerous Ian Parker bootlegs doing the rounds on the internet, there is nothing 'bootleg-ish' about this wonderfully produced album.

Gary Primich, Honey B & The T-Bones, Wentus Blues Band, Esa Kuloniemi, Jimmie "Bluesman" Lawson (USA / FINLAND)
Gary, Indiana

CD PRICE: £9.99

Gary Primich, one of the world's finest modern blues harmonica players. Like many musicians who tour a lot (Gary played over 200 gigs per year) he found it difficult to find a balance between family life and his career. Being away from the family caused him bad conscience and made the hotel rooms feel like empty, lonely places. Gary Primich honored the blues tradition like Paul Butterfield had done before him. Gary was a strong personality, always in search for a style of his own which he then never hesitated to follow. Unfortunately, it all ended much too soon. He died at the age of 49 in September 2007.

Gary Primich had numerous loyal friends in Finland. This CD contains some excellent sessions that Gary recorded live and in the studio with the Finnish bands, Honey B & the T-Bones and Wentus Blues Band. This CD also features an interview with Gary, talking about harmonica playing. I recommend you to listen to other Gary Primich recordings: Mr. Freeze, Company Man, Dog House Music and Riding The Dark Horse. Don’t forget his many session recordings with Candye Kane, Omar & The Howlers, Nick Curran, Steve James, Tish Hinojosa, Doyle Bramhall and Esa Kuloniemi.
With this tribute CD let’s toast to the great Gary Primich!

Mud Morganfield & The Dirty Aces (USA / UK)
LIVE

CD PRICE: £9.99

More than a pastiche.... a genuine artist who just happens to sound like his daddy.... Muddy Waters. Mud Morganfield is a natural performer, at ease and full of fun."
Fred Rothwell, Blues and Rhythm magazine (UK)
With one sold out UK tour under his belt, Mud Morganfield the eldest son of Muddy Waters perhaps the most famous blues legend of them all, flew into Jersey from Chicago for a series of four exclusive gigs in May 2008. After three sell out shows at some of the island's premier music venues, Mud Morganfield then performed his fourth and final show at The Drift Bar in the new multi-million pound Royal Yacht Hotel. That amazing audience reaction and the red hot blues played that night are captured on this new nine track album.

L.R. Phoenix & Mr Mo' Hell (FINLAND)
Wrecked

CD PRICE: £9.99

Influenced by the ghosts of R.L.Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, and a host of other Mississippi Hill Country Blues players, or by the funny little yellow mushrooms they had eaten earlier.

In his late 20's L.R.Phoenix made the move on the back of a Valkyrie to North Karelia in the east of Finland, near the Russian border. Here by the side of a lake he met Mr.Mo'Hell who was bashing a drum made from the skin of a reindeer and the skull of a moose. Asked from whom he learnt the drums, he replied, 'Late one night around the witching hour, I came and sat beside this spot where four great lakes meet. There sitting upon the ground I started to bash my drum with the paws of a fallen wolf. Soon through the mist of the lake came a strange boat carrying a lone figure. As it came closer I saw it was an old man with a beard as long as the world is old. Fright filled me, but I was unable to move. The boat reached the shore with a dull thud upon the bank not two feet from where I was sitted. The man made no sound only reached down and drew the drum from clasping hands. The old man lifted the drum up to his ear and lightly tapped it. Humming to himself, he produced a small bone from the inside of his long gown, and started to tune the drum. After a timeless moment he handed it back to me, and still humming slipped back into the embrace of the misty lake. And ever since then I can play the drums like a motherfucker.'

L.R. Phoenix & Mr Mo' Hell (FINLAND)
Jumper On The Line

CD PRICE: £9.99

Just over a year ago I reviewed “Wrecked” the first CD that I’d heard from these guys – and I loved it, and I’ve been playing it constantly ever since. Here we are 15 months later with the follow up “Jumper On The Line”, which will tell you that they are still very much influenced by R.L.Burnside, and that influence extends to cover a lot of Mississippi hill country musicians too.
This CD is a very good follow up, equally as good as the last album, if not a little bit better. I made the comment when I reviewed the last CD that Finland isn’t a place that immediately springs to mind when you think of blues. If these guys carry on like this, then that could change over time. L.R.Phoenix is originally from England, but now lives and makes music in Finland together with Mr. Mo’Hell – usually Phoenix handles guitar and vocals, while Mo’Hell provides drum backing, but on 3 tracks of this album, they are joined by Honey Lake – playing violin on two tracks and providing some vocals on another – it makes a refreshing combination!
If you like the feel of hill country blues, then this album is a must for your collection – it’s also a giant leap forward from the last excellent CD – it makes me wonder what they will do next! By Terry Clear

L.R. Phoenix (FINLAND)
The Hollow Log Of Capt. Richard Wolfe

CD PRICE: £9.99

L.R.Phoenix / Guitar/Harmonica/Vocals

13 Brand new tracks from LR Phoenix and guests.

Influenced by the ghosts of R.L.Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, and a host of other Mississippi Hill Country Blues players,

Peter Nande (DENMARK)
Jelly Bean Baby - California Sessions Vol. 2

CD PRICE: £9.99

Jelly Bean Baby and Other Stories from Peter Nande. Peter Nande is back from another sojourn to Southern California, U.S.A., with a brand new batch of stories to tell on his new CD, Jelly Bean Baby: California Sessions Vol. II.
Jelly Bean Baby is Nande’s second CD recording in three years under the guidance of California-based producer and blues artist James Harman. Like its predecessor, Big Boy Boogie: California Sessions Vol. I (2006), it features original, danceable tunes based in the propulsive rhythms and tonal vocabulary of American blues and Caribbean music, with some jazzy touches added for good measure.

Peter Nande (DENMARK)
Big Boy Boogie - California Sessions Vol.1

CD PRICE: £9.99

When his band, Nande & the Big Difference, disbanded in 2005, Nande turned his attention to fulfilling his dream of recording in the U.S. with American musicians he’d backed when those musicians toured Europe.

Thus began a year of planning and collaboration with James Harman that culminated in May 2006 with Nande and ace guitarist Ronni Busack-Boysen flying to California to record. With Harman as producer, the project took shape in the laid-back Oceanside, Calif. home studio of Harman’s guitarist, Nathan James, who served as engineer and who also added guitar on three tracks. Guitarist Junior Watson contributed his wickedly inventive axe work to four tracks, and Harman co-wrote and sang a couple of tracks.

Tim Lothar & Peter Nande (DENMARK)
Two For The Road

CD PRICE: £9.99

Two for the Road finds Tim Lothar and Peter Nande, two of Denmark’s finest roots music artists, traveling back in time to capture the essence of pre-WWII American acoustic country blues.

This is foot-stompin’, front porch stuff, featuring nine original tunes and three tasty covers that showcase each man’s gift for capturing the currency of a vintage musical style.

Two for the Road finds Lothar and Nande wielding primal tools of the trade – the human voice, guitar, harmonica, washtub bass, and feet, made for stomping – to craft music that is true to another time and place, but also true to human experiences that are timeless.

Produced by and featuring California Blues Artist James Harman!

Tim Lothar Petersen (DENMARK)
Cut To The Bone

CD PRICE: £9.99

...A CD to classify in your acoustic blues collection next to the big ones, very big ones... (****) Blues Magazine, France. Mississippi delta blues at its finest.

Evocative guitar and haunting vocals grace this impressive collection of Delta Blues.

Petersen understands that the first Delta blues artists were creators. One cannot emulate them through imitation, but only through innovation. By taking the Blues forward he honours its past. Tim Lothar Petersen is an artist from whom we can expect a lot. M.D. Spencer, Blues Matters!

Tim Lothar (DENMARK)
In It For The Ride

CD PRICE: £9.99

In It For The Ride" is the title of Tim Lothar's second cd release (June 2008).

This is what Blues Matters Magazine wrote of his first cd "Cut To The Bone":
"Tim Lothar is an artist from whom we can expect a lot."

Evocative guitar and haunting vocals grace this impressive collection of Delta Blues.

Mr Mojo (BRAZIL)
Mr Mojo

CD PRICE: £9.99

From Chico Blues records, Brazil. Cool electric blues recorded at Sao Paulo, Brazil. Harmonica, vocals, slide guitar, hammond organ, bass & drums. Includes lots of original tunes.

Ivan Marcio - Chicago Blues Session Vol.1 (BRAZIL)
Mr Mojo

CD PRICE: £9.99

New from Chico Blues records, Brazil. Inspired blues harp from Ivan Marcio and his great band. Recorded in a live session at Riverside Studios, Chicago, Illinois, 2008.

"Yeah! That's really hot! Great tongue blocking and very precise bends. Fat tone and great groove!"
Joe Filisko
"Ivan shows with his recorded work that he is a worthy disciple of the blues and that this music has no borders, play on Ivan!"
Bob Corritore