Not every two-year period measures out the same, noted Brendan Benson, the 51-year old Grammy- nominated singer-songwriter and co-founder of The Raconteurs. Benson had just finished his well- received seventh album, "Dear Life" in 2019 when his world came to a stop. "I was rehearsing for South-By-Southwest and gearing up for a tour and had a band ready and then, of course, the world shut down," he said in a recent interview. The lockdown then began to reroute lives, societies and ambitions worldwide. "Everything changed," Benson said. "I went to work on some songs so I'd have new material when things opened up." Over months with minimal interactions, those songs coal- esced and took on lives of their own, he said. Two years of semi-isolation, of fading relationships, of the natural inward turn that comes with less human contact unexpectedly pushed Benson's song- writing into new places.

Instead of being an afterthought, Benson's solitude evolved into, "Low Key" the eighth album by the idiosyncratic songwriter who has enjoyed both world-wide popularity with the Raconteurs and a devoted cult following for his numerous solo projects. Low Key, the Nashville-based artist said, was his chance to explore how lives and relationships changed during the lengthy isolation from the normal interactions of everyday life. Benson might not have written songs such as "People Grow Apart" and "Whole Lotta Nothing" prior to 2019, he said. "The lockdown afforded people the opportunity to cut ties - or maybe it caused people to do that," he said. "Whatever the case may be, a lot of people fell out. But then relationships ending is one of my favourite topics for song writing," he said with a laugh.

This isn't to say that the 8-track effort recorded in Benson's own Readymade Studio in Nashville is a grim look at the state of human condition. Just the opposite. The catchy, upbeat lead track "Ain't No Good," pokes fun at destructive self-absorption while the guitar-heavy "Whatever's On My Mind" skewers Benson's own hyperkinetic, stream-of-consciousness thinking. And then there's the most unlikely track of all: A cover of Gerry Rafferty's smooth 1978 hit, "Right Down the Line." The cover was suggested by a friend. "She's always been saying I should do that song. I don't normally pay attention when people say that stuff. But then I happened to hear it one day and I said, 'Dang. This is good.' "

Greg Calbi, the album's mastering engineer at Sterling Sound says: "Brendan combines the classic 80's style song-writing in the Squeeze, Crowded House vein with some incredible contemporary sonic magic, the kind of album which entices the listener to get tickets to a live show immediately."

The lockdown that left him mostly with himself, professionally speaking. Confined to his Nashville studio, Benson played every instrument on Low Key and handled all of the initial production. The end result was exactly what Benson had been searching for - even if he didn't know it at the time. Those years spent honing his craft as a songwriter, producer and touring musician, turned what could have been a liability of isolation into something far deeper, a body of work he described as the best of his career.

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
Aint' No Good
I Missed The Plane
People Grow Apart
Right Down The Line
Side B:
Whole Lotta Nothin
Whatever's On My Mind
All In
Something A Little Like Home

Guitarist Earl Slick never had a Plan B. Still doesn't. In fact, he doesn't believe in backup plans. "If you have a backup plan," said the guitarist who for decades worked alongside rock royalty including David Bowie and John Lennon among others, "then eventually you become the backup plan."

Which explains -- and fuels -- Slick's new album, "Fistful of Devils." Harnessing his musical roots as a child of the 60s when blues-based rock pushed its way to the front of the line and incorporating his decades as one of the most sought-after touring musicians in the business, Fistful is Slick as he's been from the start: an artist who fully mines the depths of the blues and guitar by drawing on a toolkit assembled from blues to glam to punk to rockabilly.

The 11-track album is no retread retrospective of Slick's run of 40 years as a professional guitarist; it's an audible demonstration of a virtuoso still pushing deep into rock and roll's blues roots. The instrumental album, Slick says, is acrobatics without a net.

Some of the tracks on Fistful were ideas that had been rattling around in his hear for decades. Some were wholly new. The sinister "Black," for example, seemed to flow up from the ground when they entered studio, he said. It was written, "in maybe 10 minutes," he said. "It's dark."

Contrast that with the soaring, diving number "Vanishing Point." That was born in a lick he'd saved nearly 30 years ago and only recently rediscovered in a sound file. He didn't know what do with it when he wrote it, so he tucked it away. But now, "all of these years later I came at it with a different head than I had then."

And this is what people are going hear in "Fist Full Of Devils" he said: That lifelong journey from Brooklyn didn't leave him empty handed; he brought back the prizes, the tricks, the scars, the influences and the tools from a road that never presented a detour. Or an end.

He's a man, after all, who knows a thing or two about persevering, about longshots and locked-in trajectories. Perseverance also had no backup plan when it was launched. It had to get there.

"I am," Slick said. "Exactly where I should be."

TRACK LISTING

Side A: 1.Bad Brew 2.Black 3.Far Away

Side B: 1.J.W.L 2.Vanishing Point 3.Lost*

Side C: 1.Fist Full Of Devils 2.One Arm Straight Jacket 3.Emerald

Side D: 1.The Lantern 2.Dr. Winston O'Boogie

Delaware Valley's psychedelic funkateers Solid Bronze are releasing their debut album The Fruit Basket in the summer of 2019. The first single "The Invisible Man" is being released as a limited edition 7" vinyl including a Lee "Scratch" Perry remix before the album drops. The album was recorded at a relaxed pace by Mickey Melchiondo (Ween, Dean Ween Group, Moistboyz) at his studio in Lambertville, NJ with, produced by Dean Ween along with singer/songwriter Chris Harford.

Solid Bronze's founding members are Ian Everett and George Miller, who composed these songs as bass and drums duo, using naked rhythm as the focus and cornerstone in the recording process. Miller provided all the drums and percussion and Everett was responsible for bass, guitar and lead vocals. "The Invisible Man" single features Music Hall of Fame guitarist Michael "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton (Parliament, Funkadelic), and Atlanta-based hip hop artist CLEW on vocals.

TRACK LISTING

A-Side "The Invisible Man"
B-Side "Lee "Scratch Perry" Remix The Invisible Man"

Dean Ween - aka The Deaner - recorded the rock2 album at his dedicated studio facility in Lambertville, NJ, across the river from his native New Hope, PA. Here's how the Deaner describes the genesis of this new body of work: "These were written for this sole purpose and recorded with the entire lineup: the best band in the world, Ween -- Claude Coleman Jr., Dave Dreiwitz, and Glenn McClelland, also the other best band in the world, the lineup of the DWG -- Mike Dillon, Bill Fowler, Ray Kubian, Scott Rednor, and the other 50 members and usual suspects.

TRACK LISTING

1 Showstopper
2 Fingerbangin
3 Don't LetThe Moon Catch You Cryin
4 Waste Station 9
5 Love Theme From Skinheads Kicking Your Ass
6 Someone Greased The Fatman
7 The Ritz Carlton
8 This Heart Of Palm
9 Yellow Pontiac
10 Pussy On My Pillow
11 Sunset Over Belmar

Taken from their new album 'Mindwaves', 'Body Snatchers' is big, brash and tuneful with thunderous drums and a kaleidoscopic driving beat at its core. An escapade into classic science fiction B-movie territory, the seductive track combines haunting and flamboyant electronics which compliments the rhythm section.

Bringing plenty of vigour, the exuberant and infectious pop/rock n roll tune flaunts their versatile and rousing nature for writing vibrant songs. Limited stock! B-side Everybody's Happy Nowadays (Buzzcocks cover)

Dean Fertita is a workhorse; a mainstay of the Detroit underground scene since the early 90s. From his years of relentless touring as front-man of the criminally under appreciated Waxwings, to his able-bodied accompaniment to friend/cohort Brendan Benson, Fertita has been laying the groundwork for his current prominence. And as if that isn't enough, Fertita was also the invaluable utility-man (keys, guitar, harmonies) on the worldwide touring for the Raconteurs debut album of 2006. Such flexibility and skill made him the first choice for the same position in Queens of the Stone Age in 2007 and led to him being welcomed by Josh Homme into the band as a permanent member. Now, Fertita appears at the forefront of the Dead Weather, the dark rock and roll super-group with Jack White. A lesser soul would blanch at the task of playing guitar in a band with that guy, but Fertita's work on "Horehound" shows he can hold his own, thank you very much. With that, Dean Fertita's first dedicated solo album, "Hello=Fire" is a remarkable example of what the man can do when in full-charge of the ship. Moving from the darkly devil rock "Horehound" to the spacey melodic vein of "Hello=Fire" is part of Fertita's signature versatility, both as a writer and player. With song-writing collaboration from Brendan Benson on half the disc's tracks, the songs brim with insightful lyrics, cunning arrangements and powerful production. That being said, "Hello=Fire" is a rock record through and through.