Brain

Brain Echoes is a progressive/art/jazz rock music project from Switzerland founded by pianist, keyboarder and composer Mischa Podstransky.
Blackbird (On A White Oak Tree) explores different sound territories, ranging from progressive rock, art rock and jazz rock to even classical music. Songs and instrumentals are part of the palette as well as different voices and a variety of pianos and synthesizers.

This CD from EMI features Dennis Brain, in my opinion the greatest horn player who ever lived. In his tragically brief life Brain recorded the definitive versions of numerous works, and although his Mozart horn concertos are my favorites, his treatment of Strauss is a close runner up. Despite these recordings being from the mid-1950s, the musicianship of Brain still makes these the best available. While I like Strauss, I find Hindemith a bit derivative and monotonous, although with Brain's treatment still a delight.

Curzon record is of high quality, and it is good to have this example of his superlative artistry in the music of Mozart, a composer who was particularly close to his heart. Indeed, Curzon's stylistic perfection in Mozart was formed at a time when this composer was often much less well served than he is now. Curzon and the Amadeus Quartet were old friends, and in these versions there is clearly a close rapport between all four players, though [Norbert] Brainin's distinctive, slowish, wide vibrato was already very noticeable in September 1952, when the recordings were made, and seems out of style in Mozart. In every other respect these are superlative, beautifully poised performances.

One of the first of the blissed-out rave acts to storm the charts, and also one of the longest lasting, the Future Sound of London deserved a good singles compilation, and fortunately they get one with the Virgin retrospective Teachings from the Electronic Brain. Their highest moments were virtually always their singles, and short-form tracks offer a much easier path to understanding the music of Brian Dougans and Garry Cobain than their occasionally bloated LPs. Teachings from the Electronic Brain neglects nothing of real value, beginning with their first chart hit ("Papua New Guinea") and grabbing the best tracks from their albums Accelerator ("Expander"), Lifeforms (the title track), the live-in-the-studio ISDN ("Far-Out Son of Lung and the Ramblings of a Madman," "Smokin' Japanese Babe"), and Dead Cities ("We Have Explosive"). Best of all, licensing requirements prevented the addition of material from 2002's half-baked The Isness.

Trumpeter Toshinori Kondo has achieved the most impressive blend of yesterday and tomorrow. Since his decision to apply his study of computer technology to culture in the early 70s, he has worked on diverse projects. Kondo’s work as a film and theater actor, author, and performance organizer have complemented each other to create a very personal mosaic of expression, whose pivot point has always been his music. In 1978 he went to New York, partly out of curiosity and partly to make international contacts, and stayed for five years. He quickly got into the music scene there and played with Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell, John Zorn, Eugene Chadbourne, Fred Firth, and others.

Various Artists - The Brain Box: Cerebral Sounds of Brain Records 1972-1979 (2017) {8CD Box Set Universal Music}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 4.07 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.39 Gb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 14 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1972-79, 2017 Vertigo / Capitol / Universal Music | 00600753695647
Rock / Krautrock / Psychedelic / Progressive Rock

The Brain Box is the first deluxe collection celebrating the Hamburg based label who paved the way for many Krautrock and German Psych artists. Limited to 3300 units worldwide, and containing 83 tracks on 8 cd's, a 74 page hardcover book, a Brain records tote bag, and all housed in a green linen wrapped box. CD's 1-6 feature artists like Guru Guru, Cluster, Jane, Embryo, Harmonia and more. CD's 7-8 contain music the from Brain Festivals in Essen during 1977 and 1978.

The fifth "Switched On" volume from Stereolab yet again sweeps up a bunch of their rarest releases, throwing them together with a few unreleased tracks for good measure. This one's especially worth a peek, including Autechre's genius remix of 'Refractions in the Plastic Pulse' and Stereolab's second lengthy collab with Nurse With Wound.