Ab’s Ab’s

What can anyone add to the praise that has deservedly been heaped on Robert King and the King's Consort's 11 discs of the complete sacred music of Vivaldi? Can one add that every single performance is first class – wonderfully musical, deeply dedicated, and profoundly spiritual? Can one add that every single performer is first class – absolutely in-tune, entirely in-sync, and totally committed? Can one add that every single recording is first class – amazingly clean, astoundingly clear, and astonishingly warm? One can because it's all true and it's all been said before by critics and listeners across the globe.

When King’s College, Cambridge was founded by King Henry VI in 1441, careful provision was made for a choral foundation of sixteen men and sixteen choristers to sing daily services in the Chapel. English worshippers of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries were generous when it came to music, making regular donations and bequests to churches and monasteries, so that masses could be sung for the salvation of their souls. It is no coincidence that the music of this era should therefore have reached new heights of richness and complexity; indeed, England was home to some of the most elaborate polyphony composed anywhere in Europe.

ABBA (/ˈæbə/ AB-ə, Swedish: [ˈâbːa]) are a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's name is an acronym of the first letters of their first names. They became one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide from 1974 to 1983. In 1974 ABBA were Sweden's first winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Waterloo", which in 2005 was chosen as the best song in the competition's history as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the contest…

Esbjorn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.) - Leucocyte (2008) {ACT 9018-2}
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© 2008 ACT Music | ACT 9018-2
Jazz / Modern Jazz / Post Bop / Progressive Jazz / Piano Trio

It's a damn shame that Leucocyte is the final studio album by the Esbjörn Svensson Trio. Svensson died in a tragic diving accident in June of 2008, shortly after this set was finished. More than any other recording issued by this excellent band, Leucocyte captures the art of music making at the moment of conception; it was recorded as live-in-the-studio improvisation over two days in an Australian studio. It was completely finished, post-production and all, with a release date before Svensson's death. The words "post-production" mean plenty when it comes to E.S.T.'s music. The trio often recorded and added sonic effects to their structured, composed pieces. It underscored their hip sophistication and accessibility. It made them a hit with both jazz fans and younger audiences who listen to Radiohead, Sigur Rós, and even heavy metal more than jazz.

For more than three decades, Nalle Påhlsson has been one of Sweden's leading rock bassists, providing reliable backing vocals along the way. September sees the release of Nalle Påhlsson's Royal Mess. An album where Nalle finally steps out as a lead singer, songwriter and versatile musician (providing rhythm guitars and keyboards, as well as bass). Royal Mess reflects a big part of Nalle's musical tastes. Crunchy riffs, high energy playing, and catchy melodies. Timeless and melodic hard rock/AOR, as opposed to metal. Elements of prog can be detected, too, but he has chosen to save most of that side for another time. The list of musicians credited on the album reads like a who's who of the Swedish hard rock community. How about Kee Marcello (Easy Action/Europe), Love Magnusson (Dynazty), Pontus Norgren (Hammerfall), Micke Hujanen (AB/CD), Stefan Lindholm (Vindictiv), Henrik Bergqvist (The Poodles), and Kristian Niemann (Therion)…

Finally here we are! Today is the day! We are proud to present Cristiano Filippini’s FLAMES OF HEAVEN debut album “The Force Within”, a record full of epicness, power, romanticism, as well as vintage and modern feeling at the same time. The metal and hard rock side is the core of the sound, but the keyboards and an orchestra, used with mastery and class, give the music an unique mix.A perfect balance between furious drums, virtuose guitar solos, epic and powerful vocals, sweet and dramatic strings, majestic horns… – all these elements will bring you to another world. And when you see three guardian angels with flaming swords over the city, that will be the time to discover “The Force Within”.n dark times, epic music is needed to get people in a positive mood again. On the surface, “The Force Within” belongs to the genre of Epic Symphonic Power Metal, yet there is more behind Cristiano Filippini’s FLAMES OF HEAVEN than just trying to deliver a strong all-star album. This project brings together the most talented group of Italian metal musicians to deliver a creative powerhouse album. The ideas of composer, producer, and guitarist Cristiano Filippini have developed into a real spectacle, which will win over fans of the genre in no time.

Czech-born Jan Dismas Zelenka was by all accounts one of Baroque music’s trickier customers—fervently religious but completely lacking in courtly graces. Combine this with a tendency to throw out the rulebook when it came to harmonic convention and it’s hardly surprising that he was underappreciated in his lifetime. Yet here is some of the most pungently exciting writing of the Baroque, as individual as that of his near-contemporary, Johann Sebastian Bach. The very opening of Zelenka’s Litaniae sets out his stall and Robert King and his eponymous Consort make the most of its startling qualities. But he is a composer to tug at the heartstrings too, nowhere more so than in the Salve regina, ravishingly sung by a young Carolyn Sampson.

The much anticipated "Fall From Grace" is Lion's Share's third album, and after some difficulties regarding labels, the new CD has finally hit the streets. "Fall From Grace" is the most powerful, technical and interesting Lion's Share album so far. The band has without doubt grown and the new material is both more mature, well structured and worked through. Adding more progressive elements, variation and various arrangements was a very smart move and sees the band taking one step further in the right direction. The production is excellent, powerful and brings every instrument to its right. The band is technically brilliant and the vocals of Andy Engberg are as good as it gets.