1998 Rca

Irish family group, started as folk/folk-rock/folk fusion in the early 70s, but with their 1982 album, moved to an unusual style of folk-based music typically involves much use of synthesisers and electronic production techniques. Fronted by Maire Ni Bhraonain AKA Maire Brennan, who recreated her vocals from "Theme From Harry's Game" for Chicane's hit "Saltwater"…

American popular culture became an international trendsetter with the emergence of jazz at the end of World War I. Spread through the new medium of recordings, improvised jazz was America's first successful musical export and the first viable challenge to the supremacy of Europe's notation-based classical music. Its rhythmic vitality and freedom of interpretation were immediately recognizable as a contrast to traditional European music.
Many American and European classical composers have attempted to reconcile the seemingly-opposed interpretational aesthetics of jazz and the classics by incorporating jazz rhythms and timbres into their compositions. Jazz pioneers from Duke Ellington to Charles Mingus also created larger scale works with classical sensibilities. Three of the eight composers featured here were Europeans, but all three eventually emigrated to America.

Frank J. Oteri (from the attached booklet)

Spanish flamenco artists Mayte Mateus and Maria Mendiolo were already performing together in 1977 for tourists when they were snapped up by RCA exec Leon Deane. Named Baccara, the duo partnered with Rolf Soja, who penned their debut, "Yes Sir I Can Boogie." Released in the middle of 1977, the song rocketed up the U.K. charts, scoring the band a number one in September. On the strength of that song, their self-titled debut album was an instant success, and a further follow-up single, "Sorry I'm a Lady," gave the duo another U.K. hit in early 1978. Touring Europe brought Baccara a larger fan base and even wider audience for their follow-up albums. Light My Fire was released in 1978 and spun off several singles, including "La Bamba" and "Parlez-Vous Français?"

The King’s Singers join forces with percussion Evelyn Glennie on this disc, with commissions from composers based in Johannesburg and the Western Cape alongside Steve Martland’s Street Songs, diverse settings of English children’s rhymes. The recording of the disc was accompanied by a major international tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ensemble.

The first point to note is how much more comprehensive this is than previous cycles, even the outstanding RCA set of period performances from Roy Goodman and the Hanover Band. Gardiner offers both versions of Symphony No 4, 1841 and 1851, and his performances of them are very well geared to bringing out the contrasts.

Robert Hazard - Robert Hazard EP
FLAC | Artwork | 24Bit 96kHz: 498 MB | 16Bit 44.1kHz: 180 MB
Cat#: RCA Victor PG 18500 | Country/Year: Germany 1982
Genre: Rock, New Wave | Hoster: Uploaded/Filesonic

Robert Hazard didn't even sing on his biggest hit. In 1982, Cyndi Lauper covered Hazard's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," a track that he originally wrote and recorded on a 1979 demo. Hazard's version was never released. Hazard's follow-up, the 1981 new wave classic "Escalator of Life," became a radio favorite in Philadelphia, Hazard's hometown. Combining David Bowie's deep, brooding vocals with Gary Numan's futuristic synthesizers, "Escalator of Life" was tailor-made for the "rock of the '80s" radio format gaining steam at the time. Hazard and his group, the Heroes, then recorded a self-titled EP, selling over 100,000 copies in the Philadelphia area.

Bellini only wrote 11 operas and died at an early age tragically.Good quality live performances of Bellini's lesser known operas like Capuleti are rare and it was only internet extracts of Kasarova singing in the Capuleti production in Paris that set me off looking for a complete studio recording of her in this opera.Forget all the scientific "guff" you read in any other review about this recording.If you buy this recording then buy it only for one reason…
By Ashley Easter (London UK)

Michala Petri is one of few recorder players in the world to manage making a highly successful career as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber player. She often appears in concert with her husband, Lars Hannibal, a guitarist and lutenist. Petri's repertory is extensive, especially in the Baroque realm with works by J.S. Bach, Telemann, Vivaldi, Handel, Corelli, Sammartini, and many others.

The Dave Matthews Band made their reputation through touring, spending endless nights on the road improvising. Often, their records hinted at the eclecticism and adventure inherent in those improvisation, but Before These Crowded Streets is the first album to fully capture that adventurous spirit. Not coincidentally, it's their least accessible record, even if it's more of a consolidation than it is a step forward. Early Dave Matthews albums were devoted to the worldbeat fusions of Graceland and Sting, but his RCA efforts incorporated these influences into a smoother, pop-oriented style. Here, everything hangs out…