65 Days Of Static

Richard Wagner - Tristan & Isolde
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Rundfunkchor Berlin / Marek Janowski
3x SACD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 934 MB | Full Artwork: 890 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Pentatone # PTC 5186 404 | Country/Year: Netherlands 2012
Genre: Classical | Style: Opera, Romantic

"…Thanks to Marek Janowski's inspiring direction, the singers' commitment and the peerless sound quality, this recording sets a new benchmark for Tristan und Isolde in the 21st century and undoubtedly it is one that all Wagnerites will wish to investigate. Unreservedly and enthusiastically recommended." ~SA-CD.net

One of the main protagonists of the Italian dance music scene, Planet Funk emerged in 1999 as the fusion of two successful club music outfits, Souled Out (formed by Neapolitan producers Alessandro Sommella, Domenico "GG" Canu, and Sergio Della Monica) and Kamasutra (Florence's keyboard player Marco Baroni and DJ Alex Neri). The name Planet Funk was taken from an old Alex Neri track. English vocalists Auli Kokko and Dan Black were asked to join, and the ensemble mixed the track "Chase the Sun" for the summer of 2000. The song became an unexpected hit in Ibiza, prompting Verve's discoverer David Boyd to sign the group with Virgin Records. The first album, 2002's Non Zero Sumness, went gold and was also crowned at the Italian Music Awards. A remixed version Non Zero Sumness Plus One appeared toward the end of the year, followed by The Illogical Consequence in 2005 and Static in 2006. Other vocalists featured in the albums include Raiss, Sally Doherty, John Graham, and Luke Allen. Planet Funk have been invited to collaborate with Simple Minds, and to remix tracks by New Order and Faithless, among others.

Planet Jazz gives the impression that guitarist/keyboardist Ed Hamilton has sublimated more adventurous instincts to stay on target with his handlers' bid for mass appeal. Only occasionally does he hint at having a voice of his own: for example, when executing an unexpected turn of phrase in a high-speed run up the neck or in moments when his jazz, rock, and pop confections coalesce into glimmerings of a direction worthy of further exploration. Overall, though, the focus on this 1996 release is on sweet, hummable hooks rather than swinging improvisation. Still, on a couple of the 12 Hamilton originals here, the young Philadelphian impresses with some nice Wes Montgomery-inspired work.

After two live dates cut for the long-suffering faithful, Fink – comprising singer/songwriter/guitarist Fin Greenall, bassist Guy Whittaker, and drummer Tim Thornton – offer their first new studio material in three years. Hard Believer is, for the most part, a slow burner; one that employs a more varied, albeit moodier set of textures and sounds than its predecessor, 2011's Perfect Darkness. Recorded at Hollywood Sound with producer/engineer Billy Bush (Garbage, Foster the People), the pace here is generally slow – even dirge-like in places – but the timbral palette that illustrates these melancholy songs puts them across in often unexpected ways. The opening title track begins on the blues tip (with Greenall once more revealing his great debt to guitarist Davy Graham). Spare, gently reverbed acoustic guitar and stomp box initiate, but at a tad over a minute in, a multi-tracked vocal chorus subtly enters, followed shortly thereafter by kick drum, skeletal bassline, electric guitar, more echo, piano, and more lathered-on effects to erect a stoned crescendo inside the repetitive-to-the-point-of-hypnosis groove.

Future Memories is compiled by Interchill label DJ/A&R Nathalie Edell and features 10 previously unreleased tracks by top ambient and downtempo producers. With hypnotic beats, sublime atmospherics and delicate ambient textures this compilation reaches forward into uncharted realms while stirring up ephemeral recollections of days gone by. A perfect blend of chilled-out rhythms and open spaces, Future Memories offers the listener plenty of room to drift and groove. Unfolding in its own time, this stellar collection of tunes represents the sound of the ever-present moment. There are Eat Static, Tripswitch, Solar Fields, Carbon Based Lifeforms, Cell and others.

’Heroic hymns of battle’ was how the American critic James Huneker visualized Chopin’s polonaises. ‘In them’, Liszt wrote evocatively in his Life of Chopin, ‘are to be found embodied the noblest traditional feelings of the Poland of a bygone age; through them breathe the stern resolve and the reflective gravity of the Poles of other days. Usually of a warlike character, bravery and valour are in these polonaises rendered with a simplicity of expression which was a distinctive characteristic of this warlike people. They bring before the imagination with vivid intensity the ancient Poles as they are described in their chronicles.’