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CD/DVD Releases: Three New Releases From Escape Music

Posted on Saturday, August 01 @ 21:00:00 UTC by nightowl

Escape Music announced the release of three more titles, starting with Radio Silence's Whose Skin Are You Under Now, which was released on July 24, 2009.

The talent behind Radio Silence is an extraordinary man called Alistair Gordon who recorded three albums with Mike Rutherford of Genesis and 10cc, Sad Cafe, and also collaborations with the late Paul Young. Alistair can be heard singing backing vocals on many contemporary Rock and Pop albums, such as Eric Clapton, The Who (Symphonic), Labi Siffre, The Choir Boys and Kevin Kennedy. Radio Silence blends pop and rock in a seamless manner, a hybrid of Mike & the Mechanix and Foreigner is a great way to describe the material found on the [self-titled] debut album [from 1997]. In short, a benchmark in pop rock, an album to set the standard for others to follow ... Whose Skin Are?? is a wonderful recording and Alistair has matured into a fine singer/songwriter that will appeal to all types of musical audiences.



More about Alistair Gordon: Alistair was born in Manchester, England and his writing and production talents have not just been confined to his own "artist" recording projects, he has worked with many successful bands, songwriters and film producers in his career to date [as mentioned above.]

After recording his debut album with Scott & Batische for Polydor he decided to join forces with Richard Darbyshire (Living in a Box) and Gary Tibbs (ex-Adam & The Ants and Roxy Music) in the band Zu Zu Sharks. They recorded an album for EMI and toured Britain and Europe and attained the number one single spot in Spain.

Alistair has also released a two further solo singles for EMI, UK and has previously signed a solo deal with Atlantic Records in New York. Whilst recording in the States he worked with Mick Jones of Foreigner and co-wrote and recorded three songs with Alan Gorrie of the Average White Band. He also co-wrote the title track of Sad Cafe?s album Whatever It Takes[...]. Earlier in the 90s Alistair was invited by Genesis keyboard superstar Tony Banks to be front man of his new band Bank Statement recording and releasing an album on Virgin Records. The album had huge success in Germany.

That brings us to the debut album Radio Silence (1997 ESM 018) which has been a huge success and exemplifies Alistair?s talents in a major way, both playing and composing. In short, a benchmark in pop rock, an album to set the standard for others to follow... it would be difficult to better this unblemished performance, but Alistair has did just that with Sirens (2001 ESM067) the second album from Radio Silence, and it is a huge leap forward in pop- based rock. The tunes are so catchy that it is so hard to pick a favourite; the album is just chock full of memorable hooks, beats and choruses.

It is some 8 years since Sirens was released and Alistair has been busy writing songs for this third CD Whose Skin Are You Under Now?. His songs are driven along by infectious rhythms and precision drumming, topped with effortless vocals. The vocal range of Alistair Gordon is so inspiring; the way that he can alter his range to suit the needs of the song is a strongpoint of his talent. Alistair flew to Sweden this time around to record the CD with multi talented producer Martin Kronlund (Gypsy Rose) and the quality of the sound has gone up another level. The sound is so crisp and is a pleasure to listen to. Songs like "Hand To Mouth," "Somethin Going On" and "Shotgun Love" are great rock numbers, whilst "When The Lights Go Down" and "One Day At A Time" are the best ballads you are likely to hear in a long while. Alistair has a knack of penning songs with great choruses that will have you singing along at the first opportunity, the infectious "Mosquito" being a great example.

Radio Silence are: Alistair Gordon - lead and backing vocals; Martin Kronlund - acoustic and electric guitars; Imre Daun - drums and percussion; and Mats Olausson - keyboards.

Tracklisting: Hand To Mouth / Mosquito / Wall Of Silence / Staring At The sun / When The Lights Go Down / Somethin Going On / One Day At A Time / Another World / Shotgun Love / Heart Of Hearts / Anyway The Wind Blows / Hide Your Love Away

[Hear here]

The second release from Escape Music is Altaria's Unholy, which is due out August 28, 2009.

Altaria's story begun in Finland in the year 2000 as a project of drummer Tony S. and now former bass player Marko Pukkila writing music together just for the sake of it. In 2001 that project turned in to a real band as the name Altaria was taken and the first line-up was complete. The first live shows and studio recordings were also made the same year. Altaria's second demo already awoke interest among record companies and the band was signed in 2002. Between 2003 and 2007 Altaria recorded three studio albums and a compilation album was also released. After Altaria's third album The Fallen Empire in 2006, the band did it's first major tour all over Europe supporting "The Metal Queen" Doro and Sonata Arctica.

The name Unholy was decided to be suitable for the new album, which will be more guitar-based and "dirty" than earlier Altaria releases. Still Altaria has always been about creating very melodic and heavy rock with memorable choruses and Unholy is no exeption, as the force of Marco Luponero, Petri Aho, J-P Alanen along with founding member Tony S. lays it all on the line.

Altaria are: Marco Luponero - vocals & bass; Tony S. - drums; J-P Alanen - guitar; and Petri Aho - guitar

Tracklisting: Alterior Motive / Warrior / Unholy Invasion / Pride & Desire / The Lake / Danger Zone / Steal Your Thunder / Wind Beneath My Wings / We Own The Fire / Ready! / Never Wonder Why / Underdog

Thirdly, AOR release Journey To LA on August 28, 2009. The new Fr?d?ric Slama's AOR CD Journey To L.A, the fourth album under this monicker from the French musician, features an incredible cast of musicians & singers (including Steve Overland (FM), Dane Donohue, Bill Champlin (Chicago), Fergie Frederiksen & Steve Lukather (Toto) & Philip Bardowell (The Beach Boys, Places Of Power)). Journey To LA is co-produced by Tommy Denander! A must for all West Coast and AOR fans a l? Toto/Chicago/Journey.

More About Slama/AOR: Fr?d?ric Slama was born in Paris, France but lived in L.A. for more than 10 years where he became friend with many famous artists & studio players. After releasing a couple of solo albums in the 80s and producing some French and American artists, Fr?d?ric decided to start a "one man band." This marked the birth of his project AOR, always using the cream of U.S session players.

In 2000, the first album L.A Concession was released and gave Fr?d?ric a big respect in the West Coast / AOR music scene.

The second album Next Stop L.A. was released one year later and again featured the help of several top session players such as Richard Page, Tony Franklin, Michael Thompson, Steve George & Carlos Vega.

It was in 2002 that Fr?d?ric Slama took AOR to a new dimension with the critically acclaimed third album L.A Reflection, which was considered to be the best West Coast CD of the year by many journalists and fans alike. It featured all the big names in the music industry including Steve Lukather, Mike Porcaro, Jeff Porcaro, David Paich (all Toto members) and a line up of stars like Tommy Denander, G?ran Edman, Michael Landau, Vinnie Colaiuta, Michael Ruff, Bruce Gaitsch, Rick Riso and lots of other top L.A. artists. The album became a huge success and was co-produced by AOR-legend Tommy Denander and world famous L.A. producer David Diggs.

In 2003, Fr?d?ric Slama was back with an even greater CD, which again featured the best musicians any West Coast and melodic rock fan could possibly imagine: Bill Champlin (Chicago), Steve Overland (FM), Steve Lukather (Toto), Michael Landau, Bruce Gaitch, and Brandon Fields among many others, and two West Coast legends who hadn't recorded anything for over 20 years: David Roberts & Dane Donohue! This album was called Dreaming Of L.A. and again was co-produced by Tommy Denander and David Diggs.

In 2004, Fr?d?ric released Nothing But The Best an album featuring the best songs from his previous CDs, fully remastered by Tommy Denander, plus 3 brand new unreleased tracks featuring Fergie Frederiksen (Toto) and Dane Donohue on lead vocals.

In 2006 AOR released a new CD called L.A. Attraction, once again featuring the talents of many great AOR / West Coast stars including Philip Bardowell (The Beach Boys, Places Of Power), Steve Lukather (Toto), Tommy Denander, Dane Donohue, Michael Landau, Peter Friedstedt and Rick Riso, among others. This time, AOR developed a slightly different musical approach and moved into a more rock-oriented direction: L.A. Attraction sounded like a mix between Toto, Radioactive and Richard Marx and was a real feast for all AOR and melodic rock aficionados! The same year Fr?d?ric re-released officialy his 1st album L.A Concession fully remastered with 4 bonus tracks and a list of impressive guests again.

Now in 2009, the magic trio is back: Fr?d?ric Slama, Tommy Denander & Philip Bardowell have teamed up again for a new album Journey To LA, taking West Coast and AOR music to a new level of perfection. With the help of top session players [...], Fr?d?ric delivers by far his most impressive and melodic work in the vein of Toto, Foreigner or Survivor, mixing elements of West Coast with more AOR rock oriented songs. Classic West Coast lovers won?t be disappointed too with several songs taking you back to the L.A. music scene of the early 80?s. Tommy Denander?s production on Journey To LA is without a doubt one of his finest and the melodies and the solos will haunt you thru this incredible AOR journey.

AOR are: Fr?d?ric Slama - guitars & keyboards; Tommy Denander - all instruments; and Philip Bardowell - lead & backing vocals with guests Steve Overland - lead & backing vocals; Fergie Frederiksen - lead & backing vocals; Bill Champlin - lead & backing vocals; Dane Donohue - lead & backing vocals; Steve Lukather - guitars; David Williams - guitars; Eric Barkdull - guitars; Bruno Levesque - guitars & keyboards; David Diggs - keyboards & bass; David Getrau - keyboards & bass; Joey Heredia - drums and Johan Sahlen - backing vocals

Tracklisting: Waiting In The Darkness / Don't Turn Back / Love Remains The Same / Read The Signs / Just For Love / Desperate Dreams / Never Surrender / The View Of You / Heartless / West Into The Sun / Lost In Your Eyes / You're My Obsession

Also coming Soon from Escape Music: Salute - Toy Soldier (September 25) and Kings Of Modesty - Hell Or Highwater (September 25)

[Source: Connecting Music PR and Escape Music website]

Posted in Album Release News