Classic Rock 411 Items

Wizrd is a Norwegian rock band that dips its toes in all kinds of genres. From rock and indie to jazz and prog, Wizrd knows all the rules but deliberately break them.

Formed at the Jazz Conservatory in Trondheim, Wizrd's four-piece line-up consists of Hallvard Gaardløs (Spidergawd, Draken and more) on bass and lead vocals, Karl Bjorå (Megalodon Collective and more) on guitar and vocals, Vegard Lien Bjerkan (Soft Ffog and more) on keyboards and vocals, Axel Skalstad (Krokofant, Soft Ffog and more) on drums.

Since 2020 the band has been working on their debut album, produced by Norwegian film score composer and Jaga Jazzist drummer Martin Horntveth. The album was recorded in Studio Paradiso in Oslo by Marcus Forsgren (Bror Forsgren, Jaga Jazzist) and Horntveth. Bergen based musician and producer Matias Tellez (Young Dreams, Girl in Red) has mixed the album.

“Seasons” is a groovy, catchy and progressive masterclass, with beautiful vocal harmonies, awesome melodies, quirky jazz grooves and a rock’n’roll drive to die for.

1. Lessons

As our forthcoming record, we knew we had to go big on Vulture’s Paradise. These songs found the perfect balance of a raw, live sound and psychedelia. Though the lyrical themes revolve around death and destruction, the music is more alive and creative than ever.

Warlung is a Texas rock band formed by longtime friends and brothers in 2016. Inspired by the sounds of old, they wrote heavy, catchy songs with a psychedelic twist. By February 2017, they recorded their debut album, Sleepwalker, which was self-released the following fall. Playing festivals such as End Hip End It Fest and opening for acts like Wo Fat and Dead Meadow, they quickly gained a cult following around Texas.

“They raise the bar for some metal bands, and definitely anyone who's making their blend of metal and psych. The band seems to accept that they don't have to stick to traditional themes and goes for more epic storytelling, helping to further expand their sound.” – David Garrick (Houston Press) Less than a year later, they entered the studio to record their second album, released in February 2019. Immortal Portal went on to hit #14 on Doom Charts and was included on Weedian’s first artist compilation. They continued to host various breweries and festivals like Sxsw, and quickly became a fan favorite within the local rock community. Their audience grew as they opened for bands such as High Reeper, Forming the Void and King Buffalo. “Warlung gasp the airwaves with pneumonic rage, utilizing elements of true doom, heavy metal, stoner rock, psychedelic and occult driven blues. The wicked riffs, dreamlike vocals and sinful solos subdue the listener deep into a deep state of Sabbath fantasia.” – Bucky Brown (The Ripple Effect)

As our forthcoming record, we knew we had to go big on Vulture’s Paradise. These songs found the perfect balance of a raw, live sound and psychedelia. Though the lyrical themes revolve around death and destruction, the music is more alive and creative than ever.

Warlung is a Texas rock band formed by longtime friends and brothers in 2016. Inspired by the sounds of old, they wrote heavy, catchy songs with a psychedelic twist. By February 2017, they recorded their debut album, Sleepwalker, which was self-released the following fall. Playing festivals such as End Hip End It Fest and opening for acts like Wo Fat and Dead Meadow, they quickly gained a cult following around Texas.

“They raise the bar for some metal bands, and definitely anyone who's making their blend of metal and psych. The band seems to accept that they don't have to stick to traditional themes and goes for more epic storytelling, helping to further expand their sound.” – David Garrick (Houston Press) Less than a year later, they entered the studio to record their second album, released in February 2019. Immortal Portal went on to hit #14 on Doom Charts and was included on Weedian’s first artist compilation. They continued to host various breweries and festivals like Sxsw, and quickly became a fan favorite within the local rock community. Their audience grew as they opened for bands such as High Reeper, Forming the Void and King Buffalo. “Warlung gasp the airwaves with pneumonic rage, utilizing elements of true doom, heavy metal, stoner rock, psychedelic and occult driven blues. The wicked riffs, dreamlike vocals and sinful solos subdue the listener deep into a deep state of Sabbath fantasia.” – Bucky Brown (The Ripple Effect)

Svart Records set to release the 10 year anniversary edition of Voivod's Target Earth. 2LP edition, including a booklet with photos and extra graphics. The limited Svart exclusive colorway comes with a slipmat.

Target Earth is the thirteenth studio album, and the sixteenth release overall, by the Canadian heavy metal band Voivod, which was originally released in 2013. This is the first Voivod studio album to feature Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain on guitar (replacing the late Denis "Piggy" D'Amour) and the only one since 1991's Angel Rat with Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault on bass.

The main songwriters on Target Earth were Jean-Yves "Blacky" Theriault, in his first songwriting credit with Voivod since 1991, and Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain, who replaced Piggy. As Michel "Away" Langevin explained, Mongrain's role was both challenging and natural: "He had to think from his point of view how Voivod should sound like nowadays...He learned to play guitar listening to Voivod, and he knows all the albums, he's a fan of all the eras, so it feels very natural for him to write Voivodian material."

"Target Earth is somehow, against all odds, the best Voivod album since probably The Outer Limits. It’s super-prog, plenty heavy, and pretty damn weird. And it has something to offer fans of any era of Voivod’s past, while also having its own identity and direction. Welcome back, guys." - The Angry Metal Guy

"For this, VOIVOD's thirteenth studio album, ever present drummer Michel "Away" Langevin and long reinstated vocalist Denis "Snake" Belanger managed the coup of dragging founding bassist, Jean-Yves "Blacky" Theriault out of retirement, making it three-out-of-four original VOIVOD-ers - the better to facilitate new guitarist Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain's unenviable task of filling Piggy's space boots. To his credit, Mongrain blends right in, and so too does "Target Earth" blend in with numerous portions of VOIVOD's itinerant musical past, arguably making it the band's first truly "regressive" - not "progressive" - album, and, as such, likely good news for the band's oldest fans." - Blabbermouth

Svart Records set to release the 10 year anniversary edition of Voivod's Target Earth. 2LP edition, including a booklet with photos and extra graphics. The limited Svart exclusive colorway comes with a slipmat.

Target Earth is the thirteenth studio album, and the sixteenth release overall, by the Canadian heavy metal band Voivod, which was originally released in 2013. This is the first Voivod studio album to feature Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain on guitar (replacing the late Denis "Piggy" D'Amour) and the only one since 1991's Angel Rat with Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault on bass.

The main songwriters on Target Earth were Jean-Yves "Blacky" Theriault, in his first songwriting credit with Voivod since 1991, and Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain, who replaced Piggy. As Michel "Away" Langevin explained, Mongrain's role was both challenging and natural: "He had to think from his point of view how Voivod should sound like nowadays...He learned to play guitar listening to Voivod, and he knows all the albums, he's a fan of all the eras, so it feels very natural for him to write Voivodian material."

"Target Earth is somehow, against all odds, the best Voivod album since probably The Outer Limits. It’s super-prog, plenty heavy, and pretty damn weird. And it has something to offer fans of any era of Voivod’s past, while also having its own identity and direction. Welcome back, guys." - The Angry Metal Guy

"For this, VOIVOD's thirteenth studio album, ever present drummer Michel "Away" Langevin and long reinstated vocalist Denis "Snake" Belanger managed the coup of dragging founding bassist, Jean-Yves "Blacky" Theriault out of retirement, making it three-out-of-four original VOIVOD-ers - the better to facilitate new guitarist Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain's unenviable task of filling Piggy's space boots. To his credit, Mongrain blends right in, and so too does "Target Earth" blend in with numerous portions of VOIVOD's itinerant musical past, arguably making it the band's first truly "regressive" - not "progressive" - album, and, as such, likely good news for the band's oldest fans." - Blabbermouth

An explosive compilation of Finnish underground rock from the late 1960's and early 70's.

Here's a collection of rare psychedelic/freakbeat tracks from such bands like The Kinetic, The Factory, Steerpike, State of Micky & Tommy, Cain, Nimrod and more. This is for fans of these 80s and 90s cult psych comps like the ones on Tiny Alice Records, the Justafixation series, Voyage Through the Sugarcube etc.

The Psychedelic Side of Kosmische Musik Fellow humans, Bureau B invite you on an expedition to Silberland, a singular span of spacetime created by Germany's sonic futurists of the seventies and eighties. Embracing the early electronics and tape experiments of the sixties' avant-garde, these artists aimed to boldly go, eschewing small steps for giant leaps into a nebulous and novel sound.

Outro Tempo II: Electronic and Contemporary Music from Brazil, 1984-1996 is the second installment of Music From Memory’s Brazilian series. This volume picks up where the first Outro Tempo left off, shedding light on a new wave of experimentalism that emerged in Brazil in the late 1980s and 1990s. The twenty tracks collected uncover another area of Brazilian music that looked to the future for inspiration. This time it drifts beyond the rainforest and into the pulsating heart of Brazil’s great cities, where it meets a generation of young artists eager to radically change the face of contemporary Brazilian music. In Outro Tempo II the avant garde and pop worlds meld in a haze of percussion and electronics. It presents another uncompromising and magnetic reinterpretation of the limits of Brazilian music. Outro Tempo II is compiled again by John Gómez and features original artwork by Alice Quaresma. The CD version also includes the 2 tracks 'Bruhahá' & 'Eyes' which were released as a separate single on vinyl and were not included in the 2xLP version.

The first in a series of mini compilations exploring instrumental Dub versions of sought after and long out of print titles from the world of Reggae, Disco, Boogie and House. Many of these versions still contain vocals, snippets here and there drenched in delay or reverb, a style you’ll recognise from many of the Jura Soundsystem edits on the label. The late Glen Adams & Finesse open proceedings with their Island Disco cover of Marvin Gaye’s classic, followed on the A2 by a super rare UK Boogie/Brit Funk mix of Tippa Irie’s ‘Panic Panic’ (shouts to Tippa for personally helping to push through the license) and the A side closes with the 80’s leaning ‘Yes I Do’ from Belgium’s Special Occasion. The first half of the B side comes from Carol Williams with the Special Club Dub mix of ‘Can’t Get Away’, originally a one sided promo only 10” from 1983 complete with spoken word intro from Carol thanking New York’s Metro DJs for their support of the song. The LP closes with a Jura Soundsystem Dubby Edit of La Palace De Beaute’s ‘Sin’ pulling back on the vocal and going heavy on the delay.

60s hard-to-find garage classics from the Downey label!

All tracks previously unreleased including unheard recordings from Daryl Hall and John Oates, David Johansen (New York Dolls), Terry Allen, Delbert McClinton, Andy Warhol’s Superstar Ultra Violet, Norma Jean Bell, and The Jim Carroll Band Restored and remastered audio by GRAMMY®-nominated engineer, John Baldwin Extensive booklet featuring unseen archive photos, ephemera and label history (LP: 20-pgs, CD: 40-pgs) Liner notes by journalist Joe Hagan with exclusive interviews Double LP pressed on 180-gram vinyl and housed in a gatefold jacket ‘Cocktail Party’ Vinyl Color Edition pressed on Clear Wax “Earl was a wonderful man with a great eye for new and innovative art. And such an amusing companion, too.” – Mick Jagger

Earl McGrath was the ultimate ’70s jet setter, an art collector and comic bon vivant who stumbled into the record business between legendary parties in New York and LA and discovered Daryl Hall and John Oates and then Jim Carroll. Atlantic founder Ahmet Ertegun gave Earl his own label, Clean Records, in 1970; Mick Jagger hired him to run Rolling Stones Records in 1977.

Friend to Joan Didion, Andy Warhol, and a galaxy of luminaries, Earl was an inveterate tastemaker. Actor Harrison Ford, who before Star Wars fame was Earl’s handyman and pot dealer, called him “the last of a breed, one of the last great gentlemen and bohemians.”

After Earl died in 2016, journalist Joe Hagan, author of the critically-acclaimed Sticky Fingers, the biography of Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner, discovered a trove of rare and unheard tapes in Earl’s apartment in New York—literally inside his closet. “I asked for a step ladder and the first box I pulled off the shelf was a master tape of Some Girls, the Stones album,” says Hagan.

Now Light in the Attic Records proudly presents Earl’s Closet, a double album of the treasures discovered inside, including unheard music by Daryl Hall and John Oates, David Johansen, Terry Allen, Delbert McClinton, Warhol “Superstar” Ultra Violet, Detroit sax legend Norma Jean Bell, Jim Carroll and an eclectic cast of undiscovered artists who once vied for fame and glory—folk, rock, country, funk and R&B gems that virtually no one has heard in decades. Whether it’s the almost-famous power pop of Shadow from Detroit, or the Delfonics-style soul of the Blood Brothers Six, Earl’s Closet retraces the dreams of artists who once sent demos to Earl McGrath. Longtime Light in the Attic-affiliated reissue producer Pat Thomas assisted Hagan in tracking down the artists and finalizing the paperwork.

At once an archival mixtape, a secret history and a journey into the heart of an era, Earl’s Closet features a deep booklet of documents, images and ephemera from Earl’s archive, expansive liner notes by Joe Hagan, who tracked down and interviewed the artists, and astonishing photographs by Earl’s late wife, the Italian countess Camilla Pecci-Blunt McGrath.

All tracks previously unreleased including unheard recordings from Daryl Hall and John Oates, David Johansen (New York Dolls), Terry Allen, Delbert McClinton, Andy Warhol’s Superstar Ultra Violet, Norma Jean Bell, and The Jim Carroll Band Restored and remastered audio by GRAMMY®-nominated engineer, John Baldwin Extensive booklet featuring unseen archive photos, ephemera and label history (LP: 20-pgs, CD: 40-pgs) Liner notes by journalist Joe Hagan with exclusive interviews Double LP pressed on 180-gram vinyl and housed in a gatefold jacket ‘Cocktail Party’ Vinyl Color Edition pressed on Clear Wax “Earl was a wonderful man with a great eye for new and innovative art. And such an amusing companion, too.” – Mick Jagger

Earl McGrath was the ultimate ’70s jet setter, an art collector and comic bon vivant who stumbled into the record business between legendary parties in New York and LA and discovered Daryl Hall and John Oates and then Jim Carroll. Atlantic founder Ahmet Ertegun gave Earl his own label, Clean Records, in 1970; Mick Jagger hired him to run Rolling Stones Records in 1977.

Friend to Joan Didion, Andy Warhol, and a galaxy of luminaries, Earl was an inveterate tastemaker. Actor Harrison Ford, who before Star Wars fame was Earl’s handyman and pot dealer, called him “the last of a breed, one of the last great gentlemen and bohemians.”

After Earl died in 2016, journalist Joe Hagan, author of the critically-acclaimed Sticky Fingers, the biography of Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner, discovered a trove of rare and unheard tapes in Earl’s apartment in New York—literally inside his closet. “I asked for a step ladder and the first box I pulled off the shelf was a master tape of Some Girls, the Stones album,” says Hagan.

Now Light in the Attic Records proudly presents Earl’s Closet, a double album of the treasures discovered inside, including unheard music by Daryl Hall and John Oates, David Johansen, Terry Allen, Delbert McClinton, Warhol “Superstar” Ultra Violet, Detroit sax legend Norma Jean Bell, Jim Carroll and an eclectic cast of undiscovered artists who once vied for fame and glory—folk, rock, country, funk and R&B gems that virtually no one has heard in decades. Whether it’s the almost-famous power pop of Shadow from Detroit, or the Delfonics-style soul of the Blood Brothers Six, Earl’s Closet retraces the dreams of artists who once sent demos to Earl McGrath. Longtime Light in the Attic-affiliated reissue producer Pat Thomas assisted Hagan in tracking down the artists and finalizing the paperwork.

At once an archival mixtape, a secret history and a journey into the heart of an era, Earl’s Closet features a deep booklet of documents, images and ephemera from Earl’s archive, expansive liner notes by Joe Hagan, who tracked down and interviewed the artists, and astonishing photographs by Earl’s late wife, the Italian countess Camilla Pecci-Blunt McGrath.

All tracks previously unreleased including unheard recordings from Daryl Hall and John Oates, David Johansen (New York Dolls), Terry Allen, Delbert McClinton, Andy Warhol’s Superstar Ultra Violet, Norma Jean Bell, and The Jim Carroll Band Restored and remastered audio by GRAMMY®-nominated engineer, John Baldwin Extensive booklet featuring unseen archive photos, ephemera and label history (LP: 20-pgs, CD: 40-pgs) Liner notes by journalist Joe Hagan with exclusive interviews Double LP pressed on 180-gram vinyl and housed in a gatefold jacket ‘Cocktail Party’ Vinyl Color Edition pressed on Clear Wax “Earl was a wonderful man with a great eye for new and innovative art. And such an amusing companion, too.” – Mick Jagger

Earl McGrath was the ultimate ’70s jet setter, an art collector and comic bon vivant who stumbled into the record business between legendary parties in New York and LA and discovered Daryl Hall and John Oates and then Jim Carroll. Atlantic founder Ahmet Ertegun gave Earl his own label, Clean Records, in 1970; Mick Jagger hired him to run Rolling Stones Records in 1977.

Friend to Joan Didion, Andy Warhol, and a galaxy of luminaries, Earl was an inveterate tastemaker. Actor Harrison Ford, who before Star Wars fame was Earl’s handyman and pot dealer, called him “the last of a breed, one of the last great gentlemen and bohemians.”

After Earl died in 2016, journalist Joe Hagan, author of the critically-acclaimed Sticky Fingers, the biography of Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner, discovered a trove of rare and unheard tapes in Earl’s apartment in New York—literally inside his closet. “I asked for a step ladder and the first box I pulled off the shelf was a master tape of Some Girls, the Stones album,” says Hagan.

Now Light in the Attic Records proudly presents Earl’s Closet, a double album of the treasures discovered inside, including unheard music by Daryl Hall and John Oates, David Johansen, Terry Allen, Delbert McClinton, Warhol “Superstar” Ultra Violet, Detroit sax legend Norma Jean Bell, Jim Carroll and an eclectic cast of undiscovered artists who once vied for fame and glory—folk, rock, country, funk and R&B gems that virtually no one has heard in decades. Whether it’s the almost-famous power pop of Shadow from Detroit, or the Delfonics-style soul of the Blood Brothers Six, Earl’s Closet retraces the dreams of artists who once sent demos to Earl McGrath. Longtime Light in the Attic-affiliated reissue producer Pat Thomas assisted Hagan in tracking down the artists and finalizing the paperwork.

At once an archival mixtape, a secret history and a journey into the heart of an era, Earl’s Closet features a deep booklet of documents, images and ephemera from Earl’s archive, expansive liner notes by Joe Hagan, who tracked down and interviewed the artists, and astonishing photographs by Earl’s late wife, the Italian countess Camilla Pecci-Blunt McGrath.

Altın Mikrofon (Golden Microphone) is a music contest organized in 1965 by "Hürriyet", one of the biggest newspapers of the time. The first Golden Microphone contest was organized in 1965. The qualifiers of the 2nd Competition organized in 1966 were held in 9 hours in front of a jury including the famous artist Zeki Müren. This time 7 finalists were selected and their contest tracks were released as 45 rpm singles. They gave concerts in Izmir, Ankara, Istanbul, Bursa, Bursa, Eskişehir, Samsun and Konya. The last concert was again held in Istanbul. Silhouettes won the contest with 4563 votes. Second place was Blue Lights with 2850 votes, just like last year. The third with 2382 votes was Selçuk Alagöz. The finalists Kent Yedilisi, T.P.A.O.Batman Orkestrası, Cahit Oben, Siluetler, Ali Atasagun, Mavi Işıklar and Selçuk Alagöz Orkestrası shaped the Turkish Pop Music and Anatolian Rock movement

Altın Mikrofon (Golden Microphone) is a music contest organized in 1965 by "Hürriyet", one of the biggest newspapers of the time. The first Golden Microphone contest was organized in 1965. The goal with this competition was to support Turkish Light Western Music, which is just beginning to emerge. Hürriyet explained the purpose of the contest by saying, "The Golden Microphone Gift Contest is designed to give a new direction to Turkish music by utilizing the rich techniques and forms of western music and playing it with western instruments." 78 artists participated in the first competition, which was a record among the competitions of the period. The first prize for the winning artist was to be made into a record and to play in a music hall on a regular basis. Forty-one artists submitted their works to the competition and these songs were evaluated by a jury of 80 people. Of the artists who participated, 10 made it to the finals. These 2 albums were originally released as single 45 rpm in 1965. Many of the artists featured on the album later became famous and shaped Turkish Pop Music. Among the artists featured on the album are Cahit Oben Orchestra, Silüetler, Mavi Işıklar Orchestra and the Selçuk Alagöz Orchestra became the pioneering representatives of the movement later called "anatolian Rock"