SEVENTH STAR Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi (Warner Music) *****
According to Tony Iomm’s Facebook page, “for the first time since its original release in 1986, Black Sabbath’s Seventh Star is available on vinyl again.” This was been remastered and made available on red & black splatter vinyl for “Record Store Day” 2026, with a bonus track; a remixed version of No Stranger To Love. Despite having 2 vinyl copies of the original release plus the cd, I was at Ditch Records in downtown Victoria at 10:05am on April 18th to make sure I got a copy. To be honest, this vinyl reissue sounds even better than the cd.
Fans will remember that this was never supposed to be a Black Sabbath record, intended instead as guitarist Tony Iommi’s first solo album. Pressure from management and the label is to blame for the awkward ‘featuring’ label. If you’re familiar with Seventh Star then you’ve noticed that, with the possible exception of Angry Heart/ In Memory, these are hardly Sabbath songs. Thanks to that and the commercial freefall the band was in with Iommi being the sole original member the album did not do well, only going as high as #78 on US charts before disappearing.
Seventh Star had a deliberately more commercial sound for its time which no doubt alienated some fans, but I saw it more as an attempt to break out from the heavy metal hamster wheel Iommi had been on and appreciated it as such. Oh sure the splatter vinyl of this 2026 reissue is a gimmick, but as I listen I’m finding the sound clearer with Eric Singer’s drums in particular much sharper in the mix, Iommi’s guitar feels more vibrant and even Glenn Hughes’s vocals don’t feel as buried in the mix as they did previously, which easily justifies this purchase.
Listening to Seventh Star again after who knows how long feels like getting reacquainted with an old friend, and having it sound markedly better is gratifying.
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=TONY%20IOMMI
HOT TRACKS: In For The Kill, Danger Zone, Angry Heart/ In Memory
NIGHT MAGIC Max’s Night Magic Orchestra (Wow Media) ****+
This is the debut for Max’s Night Magic Orchestra. Shimmering production and soulful playing make Night Magic a welcome jazz/ R&B voice for those intimate hours after midnight. The rich textures of smooth jazz with the emotional heft of R&B are a great combination.
Under the considered direction of Max McGill, this feels like early 80’s pop/jazz similar to George Benson with the R&B sensibility of Earth, Wind & Fire. According to the liner notes Night Magic’s vision was “to create music that exists in that magical liminal space between midnight and dawn, where melodies drift like smoke through dimly lit rooms, where every note carries the weight of unspoken stories”, and that’s how it feels. McGill is the architect here, serving as producer and keyboard player and he’s chosen the players well, including bassist Rosetta Dahl along with the smooth and soulful voices of D’Jon Jackson, Benny Richards and Bobby Beck.
Max’s acknowledged influences include Maurice White and Sheldon Reynolds of Earth, Wind & Fire along with smooth jazz pioneer Jeff Lorber as well as the sax playing of Gerald Albright plus Keith Harrison of The Dazz Band. McGill’s sophisticated production along with making Night Magic essentially an independent release is proof positive that a mature musical statement like this can exist outside of the traditional major label system. Capturing both the intimacy of a small combo in action with the grandeur of orchestral arrangements is something we don’t hear much of these days, which makes this a refreshing blast of fresh air.
If Night Magic’s purpose is to exist as a background for late night reflection, then I say mission accomplished. By reflecting the jazz/ R&B feel of the early 80’s this album is also suggesting a way forward to a place where music can have depth and meaning. The liner notes suggest that this disc “arrives in a world desperately in need of its gifts; beauty, craft, emotional honesty and the profound human connection that only great music can provide”, and I second that observation. Night Music is available across all major streaming platforms; iHeart, Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music and Amazon Music amongst others. Now excuse me while I sail away into the night on these righteous and cool waves.
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Max%27s%20Night%20Magic%20Orchestra
HOT TRACKS; Queen Of Lost Causes, Starry Night On The Rhone, Night Magic
MMM MMM/ BLACKFINGER BLUES GeminiiDragon & Santiago Ortega (Nepotism Recordings) *****
This is the new double-sided single from Nepotism Records. Side one is one of my favorite blues belters GeminiiDragon. I have 3 of her albums and a number of singles in my collection, but this may well be the best of the lot. Side 2 is Santiago Ortega playing some serious blues.
These songs are lessons in groove, tone and feel. GD has one of those rare voices that captures your ear and your heart right away, and Christian Simeon’s guitar work is soulful and groovy, not unlike early Carlos Santana. MMM MMM MMM is deeply soulful, powered by a laid back acoustic feel and inspired backup harmony vocals. Blackfinger Blues sounds pretty much how you think a song with a name like that would sound with searing, eloquent solo guitar by Ortega throughout and telling a story that those of us who have struggled and seen the bottom know well. As a singer GeminiiDragon is equal to Shemekia Copeland- you need to add these songs to your playlist, and you can feel Santiago Ortega’s soul in every note he plays. GREAT stuff.
IF WE COULD, WOULD WE Gracie & Rachel (Righteous Babe Records) ****
Gracie & Rachel are an indie pop duo from New York and this is their third album. If We Could Would We is a gentle meditation on themes that touch us all with an emotional honesty that is hard to miss. NPR Music says they “mix pop and classical in stark, infectious ways and make unforgettable, surprising music”, and who are we to argue with NPR?
The gentle textures and delicate, gauzy vocals by Gracie and Rachel really lend themselves to taking you in for some serious navel gazing. The overall messages are of independence and togetherness, and these songs also reflect on the decisions we make and those we don’t. The album title itself is the question you can feel under each song. “It carries this mix of wonder, regret and longing, of wondering what might happen if we actually let ourselves step into a different kind of partnership” the girls say, “(to) leave something that’s no longer working, or say the thing we’re afraid to say.” That is some very heavily emotional stuff.
If We Could Would We is 12 songs- 4 solo tracks from each plus 4 co-written numbers that capture the duo at their most exposed. There’s also a clean edit of Undertow included as well. The producer is Benjamin Lazar Davis, brought in to enhance their songs sonically and emotionally, but I’m not completely sold on the results. Maybe I’m just used to more traditional pop music sonics. It feels kind of lo-fi with the drums sounding particularly trashy, and the mix of keyboard textures and classical elements might benefit from a sharper sound… but then part of Davis’s intent is to make the listener dig deeper to find what these songs really have to offer.
This record’s core truth is “transformation is forged in the solitude of standing alone”, and my life experiences have taught me that this is true. There’s no flying down the highway and pounding on the steering wheel with If We Could Would We blasting from the stereo. This is an album that asks you to slow down, take a deep breath and listen. Are you game?
HOT TRACKS: Myself Again, Undertow, Leaving Home Is Going Home
UNWANTED Dale Watson (Forty Below Records) ****+
I quack incessantly about modern country not being true country, but if you like the traditional stuff from the 60’s and 70’s like I do- Waylon, Willie, Merle- crack yourself a tall boy and give a listen here. Unwanted is the latest example of what he calls ‘Ameripolitan’- his own brand of honky-tonk, outlaw country, western swing and rockabilly.
Unwanted is like traveling back to a time when men were men and sheep were nervous. This is a blast of country twang and honky-tonk bang with plenty of stories that will have grown men and women crying in their beer. More than 30 albums (!) stand between Watson’s teenage years in Texas and today, and he’s shared stages with many of his heroes; Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson. As a singer I’d say he sounds closest to Waylon Jennings. The press info states that he “has spent his career standing where real country exists; outside the mainstream, inside the song, and answerable only to the tradition that raised him.”
To fans of modern country, the kind of music you hear on the radio nowadays, Unwanted will sound dated and old-fashioned… but therein lies its considerable charm. This disc has plenty of twang to be sure, enough to make the honkies go tonkin’, and if it sounds like it exists outside the mainstream, that’s the whole point. Dale Watson has been at this for 4 decades; he’s a rule-breaking traditionalist in the modern world. I don’t have any production notes for this but his band swings and lays down the grooves like nobody’s business. Appearances on Austin City Limits as well as Kimmel and Letterman are proof that there is an audience hungry for the real thing as Watson operates outside the commercial country system.
It has been said that “outlaw country isn’t a moment in time, but rather a living tradition that’s still being written, recorded and played out loud”, and that’s exactly what’s happening here. If you want to hear the real thing, you need to hear Dale Watson’s Unwanted.
HOT TRACKS: Willie Waylon & Whiskey, Never Mend The Broken Spoke, What The Hell Happened To The Cadillac
STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL Betty Moon (independent) *****
A new 6 song EP here from Moon, her first since 2021’s Cosmicoma. Strangely Beautiful is another alt pop gem from this LA-based artist, songwriter and producer. If you were to browse through my record collection there is little to suggest that this is my kind of thing, but since first hearing her in 2018 with Chrome I’ve been enthralled; that goes for this new EP too.
There’s a fearlessness to Strangely Beautiful that is hard to miss as Betty blends alt pop energy with electronic textures and soulful undertones. It’s hardly surprising that her songs are regularly placed in TV shows, you may have even heard some of her stuff without even realizing it. I may consider myself a rock guy but there’s something about her willingness to mix elements without regard to whether or not it’s permissible that draws me in, and of course she’s a hell of a songwriter too.
On Strangely Beautiful Betty Moon “explores themes of change, vulnerability and reinvention while maintaining the fearless spirit that has defined her career” the press sheet says, and I mention it here because it rings true. If electronic textures and deeply personal lyrics sound like something you could get into, you need to add SB to your playlist. I was surprised to find her music working its way in to where I live, but here we are. It’s the 5th Betty Moon release to join my collection, and I hope there’ll be many more. I’m loving it!
HOT TRACKS: Last Night, Hunger Pain
