Between Heaven

"It began in Big Sur. Fred Frith and I, sitting naked on two small wooden blocks, legs crossed, hands resting on our knees. A small clearing on a rise above the Pacific Ocean, waves pounding a steady beat against the rocks far below. I had arrived at the Zen retreat the previous afternoon and Fred was one of the first people I ran into. I’d met him in more formal situations at Ralph Records, but we had not previously hung out socially. Fred was the current artist-in-residence at Esalen, and had been there nearly six weeks. He’d invited me to join him in an "air bath" the next morning and so here we sat, bathing in the morning sea air. The glow of Fred's skin made me sadly aware of how much time I spent in a windowless studio. I could easily pass for an albino. Fred was not big on talking, so we sat in quiet contemplation. But soon I became aware of a humming sound and realized Fred was singing quietly to himself accompanied by the rhythm of the waves."

Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth is a heart-rendered requiem for Bullens' young daughter who died of cancer in 1996, though it's largely about hope for the living. The singer/songwriter, who debuted in 1979 with Desire Wire, recorded this tribute with the help of a few friends. Bonnie Raitt and Beth Nielsen Chapman sing along on the soulful anthem "Gotta Believe in Something," and Bryan Adams guests on the title track; Lucinda Williams, Benmont Tench, and Rodney Crowell also contribute. Bullens' voice and guitar simply chime with hope throughout the album. She has never sounded better.

Mistic was founded in 2005, inspired by a series of albums "Gregorian - Masters of Chant," which results released in 2006 album "Mistic - Polish biggest hits in the style of Gregorian chant" released by Warner Music.

French soprano Sandrine Piau, despite her frequent appearances on Baroque recordings, may not seem a first choice for the sheer athleticism of Handel, but wait until you hear her. Piau substitutes grace, precision, and sheer beauty for brawn, and the results are astonishing. She chooses arias ideally suited to her talents. "Rejoice greatly," from Messiah, is full of spiky flash, and lengthy pieces like "Prophetic raptures swell my breast" (track 12), from Joseph and His Brethren, are beautifully developed, with Piau sliding with impossible smoothness into high notes in the later stages. Passagework in faster pieces is a shower of bright sparks, while in "Sweet bird," from L'allegro, il penseroso, ed il moderato (track 16), you will become deliciously disoriented after a while as to whether it is Piau or one of the instruments providing the bird effects.