MTM are proud to announce the signing of a new high class AOR band: NOTHERN LIGHT feat. Tor Talle!!

Northern Light is a new super project from the Norwegian guitarplayer / songwriter Tor Talle. After being a session player and writing music for television, documentary, webmovies and other artists, Tor felt the need to go back to his melodic rock roots.

For the moment Tor is in studio recording songs for his first AOR album of NORTHERN LIGHT with well known singers as Fergie Frederiksen (x-TOTO, MECCA), Tony Mills (SHY), Peter Sundell (GRAND ILLUSION) and Kimmo Blom (URBAN TALE, HEARTPLAY).

Tor has written some awesome songs in the melodic rock style, some by his own and some together with Fredrik Bergh (STREET TALK), Jorn Lande (MASTERPLAN), Terje Eide (ON THE RISE), Peter Sundell and Kimmo Blom.
Releasedate for the Northern light album will be spring 2005.

Fergie has picked a song called "Eye To Eye". Tor: "Today I have been in studio recorded the backing and I will send Fergie a CD tommorow. Peter Sundell is in studio recording a new song. Kimmo Blom is also working with a song written by me, Fredrik Bergh and Kimmo Blom and two songs written by myself where Kimmo will finish the lyrics. Terje Eide and myself has just written a song together."

Tor Talle is following his comments: "Hello, first of all I will give Mario and Sebastian at MTM a big thanks for signing my new project "NORTHERN LIGHT", I`m really glad you liked my music and gave me the chance to realize my dream."

"I`m so excited about this project and I can`t wait to release the album. I`m really happy with the songs and I got some amazing singers with me on this album. It`s an honor and a privledge to work with Fergie Frederiksen, Tony Mills, Peter Sundell and Kimmo Blom."

"I have written most of the songs myself, but some are co-written with Jorn Lande, Fredrik Bergh, Terje Eide, Peter Sundell and Kimmo Blom. So all of you AOR-lovers, I hope you are ready for some classic melodic AOR from Norway!"

On this album "I'll Be Around" Ole Kibsgaard takes the listener on a musical trip to the American landscape of music. He visit some of his musical heroes, James Taylor, Garth Brooks, Doobie Brothers, Stevie Wonder...

The CD contains 12 self written songs. This is the first time as a solo artist. But he is not a first timer as a vocalist.

He has performed with Shubidua and as a background vocalist for artists as Kaya, Peaches & Bobo, Majbritte Ulrikkeholm, Søren Sko, Det Brune Punktum... etc. You can listen to some samples from "I'll Be Around" on the official website: http://www.olekibsgaard.dk

Tommy writes...

I'M NAMED STUDIO MANAGER OF HYPERSONIC STUDIOS

One of the biggest dreams of my life has been to own or at least be in charge of a major studio with all the latest equipment. Who among us musicians doesn't share this dream? Well, my good friend Sven Gomer (Jet Circus) is the proud owner of Hypersonic Studios in Gothenburg, one of the finest studios in Sweden.

He's been asking me for a long time if I was interested in running the place, but at first I wasn't well enough and then there was the trouble with living too far away. Well, I'm back on my feet and we have plans to move to Gothenburg and until then I've found a way to spend enough time there a month to make it work.

Picture from: www.tommy-denander.com

TIME TO TAKE A TIME OUT!
With the new work situation in Hypersonic plus some new and very interesting offers to work on major pop projects and the simple fact that I've done so many AOR albums in the last 5-6 years that people must be very tired of my name by now, I've decided to take 1 or maybe even 2 years off from the AOR scene. I will not be completely gone, cause there's 5-6 very cool albums coming out between now and next spring, plus I will do a few guest solos plus most likely 1 or 2 big producing gigs per year, but not the 70-80 albums I've done per year now. I know that my reputation in this small but cool community is solid and that the albums I release or produce like Radioactive, Sayit, Jim Jidhed, Spin Gallery, Deacon Street etc all receive the highest praise and I couldn't be more proud in my heart for it, but it's better to leave while you're on top and stand a chance to come back later.

Source: RockReport.be

Alessi Brothers have just put together a collection of 20 of their favorite recordings, plus a personal message on a CD titled “Alessi Brothers, Our Best of."

It is available in their
online store.

Check Out!
Alessi Bros Blue Skies Tour

The track listing is as follows:
Oh Lori, Seabird, All for a Reason, Sad Songs, Driftin, London, Joanna, Don't Hold Back, Avalon, You got the Way, I was so Sure, Do you feel it, You can have it back, Forever, What a way to go, Tell Her Tonight, Words and Music, As Long As I Still Have You, Make It Last, Farewell, and Personal message.

Steve Dorff, one of the most highly regarded composers of our day, will be releasing a new album, entitled Original Demos, due out on October 15th 2004. The brand new record label Contante & Sonante will be handling this release, an album that showcases Dorff's outstanding melodic diversity as a songwriter.

More info...>>>

Don't miss this wonderful event that will take place at the Blue Moon Bar in Stockholm at the 8th of June. There will be performances by fantastic guests both from US and Sweden and the rythm section will feature some of Swedens finest musicians! Click here for pressrelease!

Also there will be a Westcoast DJ and records for sale. This arrangement was made possible by Warner/Chappell Sweden.

Robert Lamm had an active solo career with FOUR well received albums: "SKINNY BOY" (Columbia) "LIFE IS GOOD IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD" (Warner) "IN MY HEAD" (Blue Infinity Music)"SUBTLETY&PASSION" (Blue Infinity Music) Roberts' solo activities have brought interaction with a wide range of other musicians, an experience which he treasures.

Stylistically, his music is in the domain of Urban Pop / Art Pop / World Music, which reflect his openness to all music. He has a worldwide fan-base. Robert recently performed a live concert in Auckland, New Zealand which was filmed and recorded for a DVD release in the coming year. This new release "TOO MANY VOICES" is actually a re-working of "IN MY HEAD" which had received "4-Star" reviews when initially issued in 1999. But this new CD includes no fewer than 6 additional tracks, featuring guest artists Phoebe Snow and Smoothjazz Trumpter Chris Botti. www.robertlamm.org

Alessi Brothers are happy to announce that their new CD “Hello Everyone” has just gone wood! It has been well received by Alessi fans all over the world and the reviews have all been great! They are very excited about going to promote our new CD in Europe this Spring.

They will be in Amsterdam in the end of April doing radio and press, maybe some TV appearances. THEY can't wait to see all of their friends and fans in Holland. 2freeeurope is planning some concerts for them this Summer and a tour in October/November.

Lars Hallbäck:
"CROSSFADE stands for TRANSITION. Transition through all the inspiration and heritage we carry and have gathered through the years. You can hear influences from the, 60´s, 70´s, 80´s up till modern days transform into the sound of CROSSFADE. Of course we lean toward the music one might call West Coast/AOR but we have tried to take it a bit further.

You can hear vocal arrangement sounds from the 60´s as well as the 70´s ,80´s and with a production that transforms it into the 21 century. We tried to bring a mix of songs that crossfades/transforms into something new and fresh and not like a remix of something previously done. The fans of Toto, Foster, Sting, Graydon, Pages, Michael McDonald, Steely Dan, Don Henley and Mr Mister will hopefully find their appetite satisfied here."

The songs:

1. The day the music died- 9/11. (7:33)
A song about Sept 11 2001 NYC. We wrote this song shortly after the terrorist attack on the twin towers. Like everybody else we where shaken by this horrible act, and the way it changed our lives. The song starts with a drumloop that evolves as the drums and percussion takes on. It sets the mood for the album.

2. Did you really (5:41)
About a relationship which is over-and it´s all for the best. A jolly tune with dark lyrics. "Manhattan transfer" big vocal arrangements on the verses moving into rockier courses, with a great lead guitar and a smokin´ synth lead at the end, you can also hear the horn moving in on the bridge.

3. Vanity Fair (5:03)
About stardom/fame, a variation of the old blues theme: Nobody knows you when you're down and out. Fame at any price. A cool smooth song with Per playing along the synth drum all trough the song - amazing. Nina joins on background vocals. Could be a single.

4. Flying (5:56)
A song about letting go, daring to take chances. You have only got one life so you had better do something with it since there's no dress rehearsal. A smooth jazzier east coast song. Very cleanly instrumented laid back with a great sax solo in the end by Wojtek. A favorite.

5. A deeper shade of love (4:22)
About a close person who's passed away. A sad song filled with love. A piano ballad with fantastic performances by Göran and Richard. Göran added some nice gospel arrangements. Normally such a song would have been placed last but we liked it so much that we thought it was a good idea to put it in the middle.

6. Thorns of life (5:00)
No matter what you do or who you are- in the end you are all alone. A song in a slightly more progressive style. A reflection on loneliness.

7. Loving eyes (6:33)
Remembering old love. A traditional southwest song with a "hit potential". Possible single.

8. Time (5:30)
Time will heal and time will tell. A ballad with great vocals from Göran and lots of "wire" guitars and choirs.

9. Don't really matter (4:53)
Is there such a thing as perfect love? A small epic from your next-door bar. 70´s groove.

10. You (5:41)
Traditional rocker and yet a love song. We wanted the traditional rocker that everyone is familiar with including speedier solo to finish up the album.

Brenda Russell's eighth studio album, "Between the Sun and the Moon", is finished and will be released by Dome Records this spring beginning with Japan on March 31. The CD will be out in the UK and select countries in continental Europe in May and in the U.S. in June.

Recorded both in London and on the West Coast, "Between the Sun and the Moon" is a typically eclectic Brenda Russell offering featuring classic ballads, soulful grooves and world music rhythms. Brenda wrote or co-wrote eleven of the twelve songs on the album and co-produced two-thirds of it. Her collaborators included Bluey of Incognito, Simon Law and Lee Hamblin of Soul II Soul fame, Victor Redwood-Sawyerr (Hil St. Soul), Patti Austin, Lee Ritenour, Stephen Bray, and Stephan Oberhoff.

Brenda called on her friends to help her. "Between the Sun and the Moon" features performances by Nathan East, Jimmy Haslip and Russell Ferrante, Hamish Stuart, Bluey, Lee Ritenour, Scott Mayo (Tower of Power), Luis Conte, and a duet with Patti Austin on the CD's title track.

Brenda will be touring Japan, Europe and the U.S. to support the release begining in May.

In a few weeks Jay Graydon will release the second PLANET 3 album. It is called GEMS UNEARTHED and it is an album that indeed lives up to its title! The music style is adult contemporary pop with many strong melodies - power ballads mixed with tough 80s synth rock, in the spirit of Toto, Chicago and the like.

There are fun and raw uncut diamonds with major energy like PUSH IT IN, blended with glowing precious stones like the beautiful ballad TONIGHT YOU'RE MINE. "Old" Planet 3 fans will love it and be happy that the second Planet 3 album is finally to be released and "new" Planet 3 fans will find this album to be a rare gem to discover. This second Planet 3 album opens up a jewel case of treasures in the shape of many previously unreleased songs. Jay says in the liner notes...

"We simply had too many songs to choose from so these were most likely for a follow up album so about 15 years later, here is the follow up album!"

This is ear candy for quality music lovers, so stay tuned for upcoming details on how to get this must-have jewel!

We like to inform you that the new AOR cd will be released on april 10th in japan on COOL SOUND. "NOTHING BUT THE BEST" is a "best of" cd fully remastered by  TOMMY DENANDER with 3 great new tracks sung by aor legends DANE DONOHUE (on 2 SONGS) & FERGIE FREDERIKSEN. The cd features alternate versions & different mixes of several songs that were in the previous albums.

There's a line up of 40 top musicians on this cd produced by
TOMMY DENANDER & DAVID DIGGS!

Dakota has released its sixth studio recording, Deep 6 (DAK Records). The album contains 13 tracks, and features guest vocals by Bill Champlin (of the band Chicago) and Bill Kelly, a Dakota co-founder who last recorded with the band in 1984. Read more...>>>

AOR Heaven has proudly announced to release a new Tommy Denander's related project "DEACON STREET PROJECT" CD on March 29, 2004. Sometimes it's fun to just write and record good music with good friends for the fun of it and not be so pretentious about it.This project started with well known Swedish guitarist/song writer/producer Tommy Denander.

When Tommy and his partner Chris Demming (AOR, SPIN GALLERY) had written a lot of cool songs for various artists and found themselves with a lot of very good but unused AOR songs. They decided to make an album with those songs featuring many familiar names such as Jan Johansen (IGNITION), Jamie Meyer (Popstars), Bruce Gaitsch. The songs are classic melodic rock in the style of JOURNEY, GIANT, TOTO etc. and the performances really show the fun everybody had while recording them.

Major record company BMG Sweden will re-relaese The LA Project CD this spring. It will be printed in Germany and available for all territories around the world!!! The CD will have new artwork and logotype.

For more than fifteen years Billy Greer has definitely been the Seventh Key in the ongoing success of the classic rock band Kansas. With his unique voice and bass style, Billy has elegantly carved his own distinctive sound with one of rock's finest bands.

This one of a kind artist has just completed the second album from his solo project ironically called Seventh Key. Once again, following the great critical and public acclaim that blessed his first album released in May 2001 on Frontiers Records, he decided to team up with former Streets bandmate and guitar player Mike Slamer to write and produce the new album aptly entitled “The Raging Fire”.

With a voice lead singers truly envy, Billy pushes the envelope once more with this newly completed record.

“The Raging Fire” represents another great release from one of rock's finest progressive musicians. With straight-ahead rockers, exceptional ballads, soaring vocals and ripping guitar solos, “The Raging Fire” flows like a river – allowing the listener to taste different musical flavours along the way. This is thanks to "Guitar God" Mike Slamer who produced, engineered and mixed this album, played most of the guitar and co-wrote all the songs. Mike shows once more what musical excellence is all about, thoroughly complimenting everything Billy sets out to do.

Whether you have heard Billy sing and play with QB1, Streets, pick the notes to "Dust in the Wind" at a Kansas concert, or play and sing on Seventh Key, Billy Greer’s effortless singing and genuine songwriting is something you will not soon forget. Fortunately Billy Greer is one of the few musicians whose musical influences actually show through in his music, but with his own delicate signature – each bass line, each vocal note, each carefully placed lyric unlocks the mystery to what great rock and roll is all about.

If what they say is true: "You can truly see a man’s soul when he sings and plays", then this man’s soul is shining at its brightest! This kid can play!

Tracklisting: The Sun Will Rise; Always From The Heart; You Cross The Line; An Ocean Away; The Raging Fire; Sin City; It Should Have Been You; Run; Pyramid Princess; Winds of War – Always From The Heart (video)

MTM MUSIC is proud to announce the signing of CROSSFADE. The album ”White On Blue” is supposed to be one of the most wonderful westcoast albums ever recorded! The swedish band consists of well known and experienced musicians and producers and the album sounds like a monster production!

First of all there is Göran Edman on vocals (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, STREET TALK, KHARMA, MADISON), Per Lindval on drums and percussion played with everyone that´s something in Scandinavia and is considered to be the best drummer up there. He works with everybody from ABBA to Michael Ruff, singer songwriters to Big Band and he´s been touring lately with A-HA. Sven Lindvall on Bass also a session player and producer, also tours with A-HA at the moment.

Lars Hallbäck on guitars has played in bands since the 70`s when he was in Hard Rock acts, during the 80´s AOR type band and founder of CROSSFADE together with Richard. Also worked in studios, as producer and engineer and engineered and Produced the ”White On Blue” album together with Richard. Richard Stenström on keyboards is one of the best keyboardplayers and he has also played in a lot of sessions. There are a lot of more musicians (vocals, horn section) involved into CROSSFADE which will be introduced later. CROSSFADE is a absolute highlight and the release is scheduled for early April!

FERGIE FREDERIKSEN (ex. TOTO) has just completed a brand new track for FREDERIC SLAMA 's new AOR CD due for 2004.

DANE DONOHUE also recently completed 2 of his best tracks ever with moving vocals in the tradition of his 1st solo album in 1978.

The new AOR CD will feature the most incredible cast ever seen on a westcoast cd including BILL CHAMPLIN, DAVID ROBERTS, RICK RISO, MICHAEL RUFF, RICHARD PAGE, STEVE LUKATHER , MICHAEL LANDAU, TOMMY DENANDER , DAVID DIGGS,MICHAEL THOMPSON, BRANDON FIELDS, VINNIE COLAIUTA, ED GREENE ,BRUCE GAITSCH, JANEY CLEWER & tons more with lots of great surprises...

We are happy to inform you that Allessi Brothers latest release, Hello Everyone, is available for sale at there online store.


The tracklisting is: All My Life, Hello Everyone, I Like Your Smile, A Little Sorry, Love's Insane, Loosin You, Forever Together, Standin Tall, Under Blue Skies, The Only One, Little One, Looking Thru Your Eyes, You're My World, 99 Reasons, and It's Your Birthday.