ALBUM REVIEW: Wino – Forever Gone


As much as Wino deserves his doom godfather status for fronting groups like The Obsessed and Saint Vitus, there’s something to be said for his more recent singer/songwriter excursions. Whether going it alone or with such collaborators as Conny Ochs, the acoustic style suits him surprisingly well and the volume contrast brings a fuller perspective to his haggard lifer persona. This is especially true for his third album, Forever Gone (Ripple Music), which may be his most low-key effort to date.Continue reading


Conny Ochs – Black Happy


After a successful collaboration with Scott ‘Wino’ Weinrich for 2012’s Heavy Kingdom, Conny Ochs is back with his follow-up to pick-up from his 2011 debut solo album Raw Love. After a decade’s worth of time spent in various bands in one capacity or another he certainly has his songwriting craft down to something more than just the usual insipid formula spewed out by the modern charts. Taking in elements of folk, blues, country and Americana and yet sounding like none of these Conny Ochs, like his countryman Shino, is admirably walking the same path as the greats but refreshingly, is not simply reproducing their work.Continue reading