Music Reviews

Nils Lofgren, "Blue With Lou" (Wienerworld)-There was a period during the mid seventies when Chicago born Nils Lofgren seemed destined for a glittering solo career on the strength of the string of superlative recordings that he made for the A&M label, including a 1975 debut set which was widely hailed as one of the year's finest rock offerings. The all important commercial breakthrough sadly never arrived however,and Nils has been content with a supporting role as a key member of Springsteen's E Street Band since 1984. The singer-guitarist's first studio album since 2011's "Old School" is a typically tuneful and compelling affair which juxtaposes no less than six songs co-composed with the late great Lou Reed and the bittersweet self-penned balladry of "Pretty Soon" and "Remember You."

Johnny Thunders,"Madrid Memory" (Wienerworld)- This CD/DVD set captures a recently discovered recording of Johnny Thunders' typically shambolic and untogether performance at an obscure Madrid venue in June 1984. Thunders Joined forces with former New York Dolls cohorts Jerry Nolan and Sylvain Sylvain to deliver a set list which drew on some choice extracts from his highly influential back catalogue led by "Born Too Loose" and "Personality Crisis" along with a fractured revamp of PF Sloan's apocalyptic sixties anthem "Eve of Destruction," featuring an uncredited and seemingly unrehearsed flamenco guitarist.

Jefferson Starship, "Across The Expanded Sea of Suns" (Floating World)- The contents of this inexpensive live package were captured for posterity at New York's Bottom Line in 2001, along with a bonus disc reprising their concert at Amsterdam's Melkweg the previous year.The San Franciscan masters of psychedelia went through more than their fair share of line-up changes over the years but Jefferson Airplane founder members Paul Kantner and Marty Balin were still at the helm during this period ,regaling their highly receptive audiences with a panoply of bona fide rock classics including "Volunteers," "Miracles" and "Somebody To Love" to name but a few.

Damien Jurado,"In the Shape of a Storm" (Loose)- This gloriously unadorned album was recorded in the space of just two hours one Californian afternoon, and must rank as Damien Jurado's most sparse and introspective collection to date. The Seattle balladeer has brought together a batch of disparate songs which he'd penned over the years but never formally recorded and shaped them into a surprisingly coherent whole whose eerie charms reveal themselves more and more fully with each repeated exposure. "South" and "The Shape of the Storm" are the best of an atmospheric bunch.