Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited have returned with their sixth Dionysus album, "Spooky Sound Sessions," a collection of 14 brand new songs recorded entirely at the legendary Spooky Sound Record Store in Zurich, Switzerland. The elusive duo consisting of Ernest Maeschi and Karen Simpson have once more worked their magic and created a series of instrumentals which will take you onto a journey into The Great Unknown. Guitars, organs, sitars, Indian banjos, Moogs, bongos, and sounds of obscure electronic equipment exclusively available to the Spooky Sound Lab have been woven into the unique Sound experience that is Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited.
Well, it does exactly what it says on the box. The 57 tracks on this 'Magic Bus' compilation run from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, but, with remarkable perspicacity, the compiler has mixed them up very cleverly. The CDs are called 'Turn On', 'Tune In' and 'Drop Out' and the songs on each one reflect, more or less, their monikers. Thus, on CD1 Scott McKenzie rubs shoulders with Barry McGuire, CD2 is full of singer-songwriters; Dylan, Cat Stevens and the like; whilst CD3 rocks it up with Steppenwolf and Cream. What this collection is selling is nostalgia and it does it very, very well. Anyone who grew up through the years in question will remember every one of these songs and probably sing along with them too. It has to be said that there are two major omissions though, there is nothing by either The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. Down to licensing presumably. That said, this is an absolutely classic collection that has been selected with extreme care and, dare it be said, love.
John Baldwin was a lay clerk at St George’s Chapel, Windsor in 1575 and became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1598. The so-called ‘Baldwin Partbooks’, held at Christ Church, Oxford, were his creation – a very personal collection, representing his individual tastes and interests from a wealth of English and Continental polyphony and consort music.
As in their previous collaboration, an exploration of the similarly conceived partbooks of Robert Dow, the Marian Consort and Rose Consort of Viols have kept faith with Baldwin’s own intentions, bringing to light some of the rarer gems preserved by this great advocate and music-lover and providing the listener with ‘such sweete musicke: as dothe much delite yeelde’.
A cinematic instrumental journey for the mind featuring elements of classic progressive rock. With his seventh full-length release in six years, The Man From RavCon (a.k.a. Charlotte, NC USA based multi-instrumentalist Mike Brown) invites you along for another journey… this time, the search for a sonic solution. Following the 2013 album, Skyscraper, which was well reviewed by a wide range of websites, blogs, and publications, including the UK’s PROG Magazine, The Puzzle Master further expands The Man From RavCon’s seductively atmospheric brand of instrumental rock.