Record Shops Of Santiago de Compostela

Santiago Mist

Pulpo a la Gallega

Galician Bagpipes

I  recently had the chance to visit Santiago De Compostella in Galicia, at Northwestern Spain, with friends - a mixed company of Greek and Spanish expats from the Netherlands. Santiago is a beautiful Medieval city, made all the more atmospheric by the kind of misty weather we don't usually relate to Spain. Probably because of all the famous Spanish sea resorts, which are at the Mediterranean coast, while Galicia lies by the Atlantic Ocean. We were lucky enough to have a local among us, so we knew in which bars to drink, where to eat tapas, and where to find the delicious seafood which is the region's specialty. Do indulge when you're over there, certainly don't leave before you try the famous Galician octopus. The region has its own cuisine, traditions, dialect and culture, rich in Celtic influences. This is most evident in the local music scene, which is distinctly Celtic and often features bagpipes. You'll be sure to find some bagpipe players under the arc of the city's impressive Cathedral, which (ostensibly) hosts the holy relics of St. James, the city's biggest draw since the Middle Ages. You see, this has been for centuries the destination of the famous Camino De Santiago, a medieval pilgrim's trail which is nowadays at least as popular with hiking enthousiasts as it is with devout Catholics. You'll find a multitude of Camino-related items at the souvenir shops there, but if you're a vinyl junkie you'll want another kind of souvenir: the kind that is round and black with a hole in the middle, give or take 30cm (that's 12 inches for you Americans) in diameter. Thankfully, I know exactly where you can find it.

The city has 2 record shops, plus a third place which sells vinyl in addition to vintage clothing, books and comics. I'll start with that one, it's called A Reixa Tenda (Rúa do Hórreo 46). It carries very few records, all sealed or new (€12-25), mostly 60's mod and some Spanish indie pop, unknown to me but likely also mod-influenced judging from the album covers. I haven't asked, but it's probably related to the A Reixa Bar in downtown, a cool underground place with good rock music and posters of garage bands. A bit down the road on Rúa do Hórreo 80, you can find Discos Fans, which is apparently one of the oldest record shops in Galicia (since the 70's). It's rather small and has a random selection of CD's (2nd hand €3-7, new around €12) and LP's. Vinyl is rather overpriced, expect to pay about €15 for a good classic rock album in acceptable condition, almost twice of what you'd pay online. The last one, Disco Precio, is also in the same neighborhood (Rúa de Santiago de Chile 13). This one is a proper record store, where you can find a good sized selection of new and second-hand records and CD's. Albums are catalogued by artist and genre or by decade. Prices are usually €10-15 (used) and €15-25 (new), with many offers €5-6. There was a surprising variety of garage rock, as well as a lot of classic rock, alternative/punk, Spanish rock, and folk. It's also the only place I found Galician (Celtic) folk records, with the exception of some CD's in souvenir shops. There's also a good but random selection of used CD's, around €6.

Lastly, during my visit to the city, I chanced upon a feria del disco (record fair) at the back room of a local club. There were a few sellers with crates of goodies. CD's cost mostly €5-8, some interesting LP's both used and new reissues for €15-25. Anything below that was either in bad condition or just not interesting. I generally didn't find many good buying opportunities in Santiago, but I guess that's normal for a medium-sized town. If I expected better, it's because of the large student population, which supports a vibrant night life and a multitude of bars many of which play great rock music - not much of that going on in The Netherlands.

Bob Dylan "Daddy Rolling Stone" rec.1961-1969 (bootleg 1970)****

I got this 1969 or 1970 Bob Dylan bootleg from a record shop in Leiden. It's a great copy with very few hairline marks, and includes the original artwork by Dutch cartoonist and illustrator Peter Pontiac and original lyric booklet. All housed in an unmarked white sleeve, as can be expected for an illegally marketed product (even now, it's banned from sale in discogs). It's a collector's item, even though the contents are not the valuable rarities they once were: Dylan has recently been making his legendary archive of unreleased recordings available at an incredible rate: his official Bootleg Series is reaching now number 14, not mentioning unnumbered releases like Live At The Gaslight 1962 and various other copyright-free demos and live recordings from 1961-1962, all now available in superior quality. No, I bought it thinking about what it represented at the time of its release. Remember, Dylan retired from the public eye after his motorcycle accident in 1966. Up to then, people were looking forward to his next record as if he was a prophet pointing the way. When the psychedelic revolution came, instead of leading, he disappeared into a cabin with The Hawks (later renamed The Band) to make a bunch of recordings he initially left on the shelf, while the two albums he released in 1967 (John Wesley Harding) and 1969 (Nashville Skyline) were acoustic folk and country in stark contrast to what he had been doing before his accident and what his fans expected (and wanted) to hear. Which is when, in July 1969, rock's very first bootleg album appeared. It became known as the Great White Wonder because it was released in an unmarked white sleeve. Later editions came stamped with the title but still no artist name on. About half of it consisted of acoustic demos and solo recordings made in a Minnesota hotel room in December 1961. But what really blew people's minds were the new songs he had recorded with The Band at the Woodstock cabin in '67, and which were arguably superior to his recent LP's. Immediately other artists fell on this songwriting treasure trove: The Byrds, Jullie Driscoll, Joan Baez, Manfred Mann, and -of course- his co-conspirators The Band recorded their own hit versions many years before Dylan's own emerged (as The Basement Tapes, in 1975). GWW was quickly followed by other Dylan bootlegs, including Stealin', John Birch Society Blues and Isle of Wight Live. Drawing from all of these sources and released almost simultaneously, albeit in The Netherlands only, Daddy Rolling Stone must have been Europe's first introduction not only to these songs, but to music bootlegs in general.

LP1 contains Dylan solo acoustic demos and live recordings, while LP2 features The Band. No information is given other than the titles, but by comparing with what has been released elsewhere one can make an educated guess about the origin of these recordings. For example "Rocks & Gravel" (heavily borrowed from bluesman Mance Lipscomb) and "Let Me Die in My Footsteps" are known to have been recorded during the Freewheelin' sessions (1962) but left out of the album at the last moment. The former has officialy resurfaced in the True Detective series soundtrack, and the latter in Dylan's Bootleg Series Volumes 1 - 3, as has the talking blues "John Birch Society Blues", recorded live at Carnegie Hall at 1963 - provided of course it's the same version. A lot of the other acoustic tunes on LP1 come from the heavily bootlegged Minneapolis Party Tape, recorded in 1961 at the apartment of his activist/actress friend, Bonnie Beecher. These include the traditional "Wade in the Water" and "Stealin'", Brownie Mc Ghee's "In The Evening", Woody Guthrie's "Ramblin' 'Round", and the wonderful "I Was Young When I Left Home" (later included in The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack). Revd. Gary Davies' "Cocaine", Lord Buckley's "Black Cross" and the talking blues "Hezekiah Jones" were probably recorded at The Gaslight café in 1962 (the whole concert was officially released in 2005, initially only available to buy at... Starbucks). Two songs ("Cocaine","New Orleans Rag") are cut short, signifying that they have been lifted off another bootleg, Stealin', where they were also edited. Unlike the stark solo performances on disc 1, the songs on disc 2 are very familiar: recorded with the help of The Band at that Woodstock cabin, they include some of Dylan's best known songs, then appearing for the first time. 

The lyric booklet

The poetry is as excellent as ever, while the music draws from all kinds of American tradition: folk, blues, soul, country and rock. The performances here may not be as fleshed out as the ones appearing in the official release but they still sound full, with The Band all playing with gusto and singing together with Dylan. His great song of hope and redemption "I Shall Be Released", sung from a prisoner's perspective, has a gospel feel. "Open The Door Homer" is warm folk rock, "Tears Of Rage" a soulful ballad, and "Please Mrs. Henry" a drunken bawdy tune. "Nothing Was Delivered" sports some bluesy piano and guitar, while the mystical "This Wheel's on Fire" is dominated by Garth Hudson's churchy organ. All of the songs have a singalong campfire quality to them, which is even more evident in the more country-ish "You Ain't Going Nowhere" and "Too Much of Nothing". The sound quality is generally below par, but otherwise the versions here do not depart too much from the ones officially released later. Three songs probably come from Dylan and The Band's live appearence in the Isle Of Wight festival in '69: the traditional ballads "Wild Mountain Thyme" and "Minstrel Boy", and a band version of Dylan's "To Ramona", originally a solo number from his '64 album Another Side Of Bob Dylan. Such was the quality of these unreleased songs that they were immediately snatched by other artists who had hits with them, but the importance of them appearing out of nowhere in an unmarked sleeve to be sold under the counter in '69 is easy to forget now that they've been available in better form for decades. As a testament to that age, bootlegs like this and Great White Wonder remain valuable and worth spending the extra penny to add in one's collection.

***** for I Shall Be Released
**** for Let Me Die in My Footsteps, I Was Young When I Left Home, Tears of Rage, Please Mrs. Henry, Open the Door Homer, Nothing Was Delivered, This Wheel's on Fire, You Ain't Going Nowhere, Wild Mountain Thyme, Minstrel Boy
*** for Rocks & Gravel, John Birch Society Blues, Stealin', Wade in the Water, In the Evening, Cocaine, Ramblin' 'Round, Black Cross, To Ramona
** for Hezekiah Jones, New Orleans Rag

R.I.P. 2018

Another year gone by, another hard list of rock'n'roll deaths to compile: Aretha, post-punk pioneers Mark E. Smith and Pete Shelley, the unexpected demise of still-young Dolores O'Riordan, the last surviving member of the original Motörhead, and many beloved rock, jazz and soul musicians. But who knows? Maybe in the future we'll remember 2018 as the year our favourite rock star was born. No matter how heavy the losses, rock and roll will never die - or so Neil Young has promised us...

Thanks for the music,

Aretha Franklin (Queen Of Soul)

Mark E. Smith (Singer, leader of The Fall)

Dolores O'Riordan (Singer, The Cranberries)

Pete Shelley (singer/guitarist, The Buzzcocks)

Ray Thomas (Singer/flautist, Moody Blues)

Tony Joe White (US South Singer "the swamp fox")

Marty Balin (Singer, Jefferson Airplane)

Jimmy Farrar (Singer, Molly Hatchet)

Dennis Edwards (Singer, The Temptations)

Jon Hiseman (jazz rock drummer, Colosseum)

Ed King (guitarist, Lynyrd Skynyrd)

Uli Jon Roth (Scorpions 70's guitarist)

Conway Savage (Keyboardist, Nick Cave's Bad Seeds)

Hugh Masekela (jazz trumpeter)

Mike Harrison (Spooky Tooth)

"Fast" Eddie Clarke (Motörhead guitarist)

Dave Holland (drummer, Trapeze/Judas Priest)

Danny Kirwan (guitarist, Fleetwood Mac)

Cecil Taylor (Jazz pianist)

Yvonne Staples (The Staple Singers)

Charles Neville (The Neville Brothers)

Chas Hodges (Singer, Chas & Dave)

Otis Rush (Blues singer/guitarist)

France Gall (French 60's yé-yé singer)

Denise LaSalle (Soul singer)

Jim Rodford (Argent, The Kinks)
Vince Martin (folk singer)

Buzz Clifford (60's pop singer)

Pat Torpey (drummer, Mr. Big)

Lazy Lester (Blues singer/harmonica player)
Josh Fauver (bassist, Deerhunter)
Glenn Schwartz (guitarist, James Gang)
Hugh McDowell (cellist, Electric Light Orchestra)

Vic Damone (big band singer)

Barbara Alston (Singer, The Crystals)

Craig MacGregor (bassist, Foghat)
Nick Knox (drummer, The Cramps)
Steve Soto (bassist, Agent Orange)

Charlie Quintana (drummer, Social Distortion)

Hardy Fox (composer, avant guard collective The Residents)
Irvin Jarrett (reggae percussionist,Inner Circle/Third World)
Alec Finn (Irish folk band De Dannan)
Dražen Janković (Zabranjeno Pušenje/No Smoking Orchestra)
Victor Hayden a.k.a. Mascara Snake (Captain Beefheart's Magic Band)
Eddy Clearwater (Chicago Blues guitarist)
DJ Fontana (drummer, Elvis Presley)
Matt Guitar Murphy (Blues Brothers/Muddy Waters)
Randy Rampage (D.O.A./Annihilator)
Eddie Chunk Willis (Motown studio guitarist)
Spencer P Jones (singer/guitarist, Beasts Of Bourbon)
Neil Harris (guitarist, punk rockers Sham 69)
George Butler (drummer, Pink Fairies/Dirty Strangers)
Didier Lockwood (violinist, Magma/Gong)
Norm Rogers (drummer, The Jayhawks)
Dean Ford (Singer, 60's pop band Marmalade)
Glenn Branca (composer, pioneer of No Wave)
Pete Boot (drummer, Budgie)
Martin Cockerham (Singer, UK folk band Spirogyra)

Chris Tsangarides (Producer, Judas Priest/Depeche Mode)
Phil Emmanuel (guitarist, INXS)
Mick Fowler (singer, Overkill)
Roy Young (pianist, Chuck Berry/David Bowie)
Tim Calvert (guitarist, Forbidden/Nevermore)
Roy Hargrove (American jazz trumpeter)

Peter "Mars" Cowling (Pat Travers Band)

Jerry Williams  (Swedish rockabilly singer)

John "Jabo" Starks (James Brown, The J.B.'s)

Ralph Santolla (guitarist, Obituary/Deicide/Iced Earth)

Vinnie Paul Abbott (drummer, Pantera)

Alan Longmuir (Bay City Rollers)
Neil Jones (guitarist, Amen Corner)
Don Gardner (R&B Singer)

Michael Weiley (Singer/guitarist, Spy vs Spy)

Wah Wah Watson (studio guitarist, The Funk Brothers)
Sam Spoons (Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band)
Jill Janus (singer, Huntress)
Mark Shelton (guitarist, Manilla Road)
Mickey Jones (drummer, Bob Dylan/Kenny Rogers)

John Wicks (singer, The Records)

Al James (bassist, Showaddywaddy)

Trevor McNaughton (ska/reggae band The Melodians)
Deborah Coleman (Blues singer/guitarist)
James Calvin Wilsey (bassist, Avengers)

Nancy Wilson (jazz singer)

Joe Osborn (studio bassist, The Wrecking Crew)
Todd Youth (guitarist, Warzone/Danzig)

Honey Lantree (drummer, 60's pop band The Honeycombs)

2018 end-of-the-year retrospectives

Regular (lol) readers will know that I'm a sucker for lists, so I always buy end-of-the-year issues. This year I got Uncut, MOJO and Classic Rock and delved into their 2018 retrospectives. My first reaction was "Oh, I don't think I have a single album of these. That's a first!". Goes to show how far out of touch you can get, buried in your own record collection (not to mention work, work, work), though another factor may be my newly-rediscovered affection for ancient vinyl - more about that later. So let's see what can one surmise from these lists?

• UNCUT's No.1 is a big surprise. I mean, Low? They've been at the periphery of my vision for decades, I have some of their songs in compilations here and there. They may be a likeable indie band, but what is the chance that they'd suddenly release the Record Of The Year 25 years into their career? After hearing the samples on the free CD's, I'm still not convinced. Likeable indie tunes, for sure, but not that exciting. 
• At least MOJO went for a jazz album. That's some hard to argue with out-of-the-box thinking for you. Their track on the sampler CD was pretty good, but how to compare it to anything else in the list?
• Both publications rate new band Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever very high, and after hearing the songs on the free CD's, I'm inclined to agree. They remind me of some of my favourite 80's indie bands, but with a modern twist. 
• Young Fathers are another "new" (to me, at least) band worth checking out: Can't quite place them, they sound a bit like Tricky but have their own thing going. 
• Also, judging from the reviews, Janelle Mone must have made the R&B album of the year, easily. Will check it out, sometime, maybe - but don't expect too much. My taste for R&B is stuck in the 70's. 
• Fatoumata Diawara seems to have made the "World" album of the year, though I'm not sure she'd agree with that description. African album of the year, probably yes...
• New albums by Paul Weller and Elvis Costello hyped in British magazines: what else is new? I'll believe it when/if they cross over. The ocean or the channel, whichever comes first.
• Speaking of the Channel, French artist Héloïse Létissier (AKA Christine And The Queens) may have made the best pop around for 2018. The new Lana Del Ray? Or someone even better?
• 90's favourites making welcome comebacks include: The Breeders, Spiritualized and... Go-Kart Mozart?
• I was surprised by relatively low placings by former press darlings like The Gorillaz, Bjork, Beach House and John Grant. Even Jack White appears to have lost his mojo.
• I've learned that not only is Eleanor Friedberger (ex-Fiery Furnaces) part Greek, she's apparently lately been living in Athens, and even conceived her new album Rebound in the goth club of the same name which miraculously still exists, even though the last time I set a foot in it was when Siouxsie was still making records with The Banshees.

MOJO MAGAZINE: 1. Kamasi Washington - Heaven And Earth 2. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquillity Base Hotel & Casino 3. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs 4. Janelle Mone - Dirty Computer 5. Christine And The Queens - Chris 6. Idels - Joy As An Act Of Resistance 7. Ryley Walker - Defman Glance 8. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel 9. Spritualized - And Nothing Hurt 10. Breeders - All Nerve 11. Fatoumata Diawara - Fenfo 12. Pusha T - Daytona 13. Kurt Vile - Bottle It In 14. Paul Weller - True Meanings 15. Tracy Thorn - Record 16. Cypress Hill - Elephants On Acid 17. Gaz Coombes - World's Strongest Man 18. Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar 19. Low - Double Negative 20. Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears 21. Parquet Courts - Wide Awake! 22. Field Music - Open Here 23. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour 24. Oh Sees - Smote Reverser 25. Cat Power - Wanderer  26. Elvis Costello - Look Now 27. Paul McCartney - Egypt Station 28. Eleanor Friedberger - Rebound 29. Gwenno - Le Kov 30. Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo 31. Anna Calvi - Hunter 32. Gruff Rhys - Babelsberg 33. Ry Cooder - The Prodigal Son  34. Insecure Men - Insecure Men 35. Suede - The Blue Hour 36. Sleep - The Sciences 37. The Goon Sax - We're Not Talking 38. Ty Segall - Freedom's Goblin 39. Stephen Malkmus - Sparkle Hard 40. Maisha - There Is A Place 41. Richard Thompson - 13 Rivers 42. Prince - Piano And A Microphone 1983 43. Chris Carter - Chris Carter's Chemistry Lessons Volume 1 44. Yo La Tengo - There's A Riot Going On 45. Wye Oak - The Louder I Call, The Faster I Run 46. Binker & Moses - Alive In The East? 47. Imarhan - Temet 48. Phosphorecent - C'est La Vie 49. Villagers - The Art Of Pretending To Swim 50. Hookworms - Microshift 51. Belle & Sebastian - How To Solve Our Human Condition 52. Confidence Man - Confident Music For Confident People 53. Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain  54. Go-Cart Mozart - Mozart's Mini Mart 55. Mudhoney - Digital Garbage 56. Swamp Dog - Love, Loss And Auto Tune 57. John Grant - Love Is Magic 58. Laura Veirs - The Lookout 59. Cedric Burnside - Benton County Relic 60. Jon Hassell - Listening To Pictures 61. Jon Hopkins - Singularity 62. Mitski - Be The Cowboy 63. Sons Of Kemit - Your Queen Is A Reptile 64. Jim James - Uniform Distortion 65. Bjork - Utopia 66. Lump - Lump 67. Willie Nelson - Last Man Standing 68. Johnny Marr - Call The Comet 69. Jungle - For Ever 70. Neil Young & Promise Of The Real - The Visitor 71. Shame - Songs Of Praise 72. Hailu Mergia - Laal Belu 73. Jack White - Boarding House  74. Candi Staton - Unstoppable 75. Gorillaz - The Now Now

UNCUT: 1. Low - Double Negative 2. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs 3. Ty Segall - Freedom's Goblin 4. Spritualized - And Nothing Hurt 5. You La Tengo - There's A Riot Going On 6. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer 7. Gruff Rhys - Babelsberg  8. Beak> - Invada  9. Christine And The Queens - Chris 10. Sons Of Kemet - Your Queen Is A Reptile 11. Richard Thompson - 13 Rivers 12. Neko Case - Hell-On 13. Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar 14. Ry Cooder - The Prodigal Son 15. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Look Now  16. Ezra Furman - Transangelic Exodus 17. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel 18. The Breeders - All Nerve 19. Cowboy Junkies - All That 20. Jack White - Boarding House Ranch 21. Kamasi Washington - Heaven And Hell 22. Father John Misty - God's Favourite Customer 23. Kurt Vile - Bottle It In 24. Paul Weller - True Meanings 25. Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain 26. John Prine - The Tree Of Forgiveness 27. Idles - Joy As An Act Of Resistance 28. Dirty Projectors - Lamp Lit Prose 29. Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears 30. Melissa Laveaux - Radyo Siwel 31. Gazelle Twin - Pastoral 32. Gwenno - Le Kov 33. Connan Mockasin - Jassbusters 34. Hookworms - Microshift 35. Go Kart Mozart - Mozart's Mini Mart 36. The Lemon Twigs - Go To School 37. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Sparkle Hard 38. Calexico - The Thread That Keeps Us 39. Eleanor Friedberger - Rebound 40. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquillity Base Hotel + Casino 41. Cat Power - Wanderer 42. Melody's Echo Chamber - Bon Voyage 43. Tracy Thorn - Record 44. Ryley Walker - Deafman Glances 45. Anna Calvi - Hunter 46. Kathryn - From When I Wake The Want Is 47. Julian Holter - Aviary 48. Laura Veirs - The Lookout 49. Mary Lattimore - Hundreds Of Days 50. The Necks - Body 51. Gwenifer Raymond - You Never Were Much Of A Dancer 52. Willie Nelson - Last Man Standing 53. David Byrne - American Utopia 54. Tune-Yards - I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life 55. Jess Williamson - Cosmic Wink 56. Dawn Landis - Meet Me At The River 57. Elephant Micah - Geneicana 58. Mary Gauthier - Rifles And Rosary Beads 59. Stick In The Wheel - Follow Them True 60. Us Girls - In A Poem Unlimited 61. Laurie Anderson & The Kronos Quartet - Landfall 62. Angelque Kid Joe - Remain In Light 63. Israel Nash - Lifted 64. Suede - The Blue Hour 65. Blood Orange - Negro Swan 66. Arve Henriksen - The Hight Of The Reeds 67. Phosphorescent - C'est La Vie 68. Richard Swift - The Hex 69. Natalie Prass - The Future And The Past 70. Harmony Rockets - Lochesis/Clotha/Atropos 71. Jon Hopkins - Singularity 72. Oliva Chaney - Shelter 73. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour 74. Beach House - 7 75. Fatoumata Diawara - Fenfo

CLASSIC ROCK seems to go way out of its way to distinguish itself from the "mainstream" magazines. I mean, sure, one doesn't expect them to include indie pop, R&B or world music albums, but for heavens' sake one would think they'd find a place for veterans like Ry Cooder, Paul McCartney, Richard Thompson, Willie Nelson, or Neil Young, all of which are listed by the other magazines. Instead we get David Crosby and half-forgotten hard rockers like Saxon and Uriah Heep. Another interesting aspect is which former indie groups have graduated to the "Classic Rock" category: Ash, Reef, Manic Street Preachers, Andrew W.K, and The Damned are in the Top 50, but not Paul Weller, Elvis Costello or Suede. Grunge is alive and well with Stone Temple Pilots and Alice In Chains, even though their original singers are dead. Clutch see themselves rise to No.1 after decades in the shadows, and they even do it by singing a recipe for crab cakes. See? Perseverence does pay out! Other 90's stalwarts like Corrosion Of Conformity, Nine Inch Nails, Nashville Pussy, Monster Magnet, A Perfect Circle etc. gain a place on the list on the merit of their heaviness alone. Of course the magazine can't ignore an ancient juggernaut like Judas Priest, and even acknowledges solo albums from old favourites: former Guns N Roses (Slash), ZZ Top (Billy Gibbons), Kiss (Ace Frehley), Journey (Steve Perry), and Motorhead (Phil Campbell). Judging from the samples on the CD, Fantastic Negrito is the new band to watch, although I also hear good things about  Greta Van Fleet and The Struts.

50. Vega: Only Human 49. Tax The Heat: Change Your Position 48. Monster Truck: True Rockers 47. Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons: The Age Of Absurdity 46. Black Stone Cherry: Family Tree 45. Vōdūn: Ascend 44. Corrosion Of Conformity: No Cross No Crown 43. Turbowolf: The Free Life 42. Uriah Heep: Living The Dream 41. Brothers Osborne: Port Saint Joe 40. Reef: Revelation 39. Ace Frehley: Spaceman 38. Howlin Rain: The Alligator Bride 37. Massive Wagons: Full Nelson 36. The Record Company: All Of This Life 35. David Crosby & The Lighthouse Band: Here If You Listen 34. Manic Street Preachers: Resistance Is Futile 33. Blackberry Smoke: Find A Light 32. Andrew W.K.: You’re Not Alone 31. Ash: Islands 30. Joe Bonamassa: Redemption 29. FM: Atomic Generation 28. DeWolff: Thrust 27. A Perfect Circle: Eat The Elephant 26. Ginger Wildheart: Ghost In The Tanglewood 25. Nine Inch Nails: Bad Witch 24. Nashville Pussy: Pleased To Eat You 23. Myles Kennedy: Year Of the Tiger 22. Walking Papers: WP2 21. Monster Magnet: Mindfucker 20. Low Cut Connie: Dirty Pictures (Part 2) 19. Orange Goblin: The Wolf Bites Back 18. The Sheepdogs: Changing Colours 17. The Damned: Evil Spirits 16. Saxon: Thunderbolt 15. The Temperance Movement: A Deeper Cut 14. Greta Van Fleet: Anthem Of The Peaceful Army 13. Billy F. Gibbons: The Big Bad Blues 12. Stone Temple Pilots: S.T.P 11. Steve Perry: Traces 10. Idles: Joy As An Act Of Resistance 9. Alice In Chains: Rainier Fog 8. Fantastic Negrito: Please Don't Be Dead 7. The Magpie Salute: High Water 6. Slash feat Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators: Living The Dream 5. Halestorm: Vicious 4. Judas Priest: Firepower 3. Ghost: Prequelle 2. The Struts: Young And Dangerous 1. Clutch: Book of Bad Decisions