Dramatis

Composer Anthony Cheung releases All Roads, a follow up to FCR215 Cycles and Arrows. Featuring performances by the Escher Quartet, violinist Miranda Cuckson, soprano Paulina Swierczek, and pianists Jacob Greenberg, Gilles Vonsattel, and Cheung himself, All Roads encapsulates Cheung's penchant for drawing on broad sources of inspiration and filtering them through an incisive and discriminating compositional process to produce substantial, structurally airtight works.

Three CD set. Following 2021's Musik Music Musique 2. 0 set, the third volume in the series looks at the electronic pop scene as it came to dominate the airwaves. A period which saw the 1980's credible musical landscape evolve from gritty post-punk to shamelessly aspirational polished pop. Featuring countless artists who would become household names (many of which remain active today) alongside lesser-known scene mainstays, independent innovators and novelty opportunists, Musik Music Musique 3. 0 explores the evolution of synth pop from anything resembling a 'scene' into the standard musical form of the day, soon to be embraced by everybody from power balladeers to quasi-rock stadium acts. From chart staples and nightclub anthems to rarities, curios and collectables, this set gives equal airtime to all, basking in the breadth of ideas and innovation being explored as the musical world moved towards the mid-80s.

Featuring Ultravox, Duran Duran, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Devo, Yello, Peter Baumann, Richard Bone, Japan and many others.
Following 2020’s ‘Musik Music Musique’ set, we present the sequel, this time looking at the electronic pop scene as it evolved from curio and novelty into a major movement and began to dominate the airwaves. Featuring a plethora of acts who would quickly become household names (many of which endure today) and exploring the wide variety of directions electronic instruments took both the mainstream and independent music in. ‘Musik Music Musique 2.0’ embraces both the pure pop aesthetic of a new generation of aspirational, defiantly polished artists and those who embraced electronic music in the aftermath of the post-punk explosion…

'The Early Years 1965 1972' is a comprehensive 28-disc box set that sees Pink Floyd delve into their vast music archive to produce a deluxe package that includes 7 individual book-style volumes, featuring much previously unreleased material. The Early Years box set contains unreleased tracks, BBC Radio Sessions, remixes, outtakes, and alternative versions over an incredible 11 hours, 45 mins of audio (made up of 130+ tracks), live and TV performance in over 14 hours of audio-visual material.

Although Druid's future seemed promising, the band failed to record more than two albums, leaving only 1975's Toward the Sun and 1976's Fluid Druid to their name. In 1995, BGO packaged both albums as a two-disc set, saving fans the hassle of locating each album separately. Druid is guided by lead vocalist Dane, who harbors a voice that is both high and sharp, but manages to customize it with the surrounding instruments. Both albums contain lush, relaxing harmonies with simple articulation and a free flowing folk-infused style that's illuminated by the keyboard and Mellotron applications. With parallels arising to that of Yes in Druid's musical composition, the songwriting isn't as intricate or as sensational, but it is delicately poetic and even romantic at times…

Most of us come to the Saint John Passion knowing the Saint Matthew Passion first. The bigger and more elaborate Saint Matthew, which came along three, or possibly five years later (there is controversy about the date), has tended to cast a shadow in which the earlier work is swallowed up, and this has been so ever since Mendelssohn's Saint Matthew performance in 1829 marked the beginning of the public rediscovery of J.S. Bach. (The professionals had never forgotten.) But if the Saint John is smaller in scale than the Saint Matthew, it is hardly the lesser work in quality, though it would of course be silly to claim that the master of the Saint Matthew Passion had not learned from the experience of setting Saint John. But the most interesting differences between these two towering attestations of faith are differences in intention. Read Matthew 26-27, Mark 14-15, Luke 22-23, and John 18-19, and you get four tellings of the last days in the life of Jesus that differ in tone, emphasis, and detail…

"Miracles do happen, it seems. Three weeks after Rossini's La pietra del paragone received its first DVD incarnation on Opus Arte, the French Naïve label released this alternative. Remarkably, both DVDs document excellent, entertaining performances, both are extremely well filmed, both come with generous extras and both are brilliantly packaged. Yet each performance offers a different approach – musically and production-wise – so both are worthy of consideration…
– Dominic McHugh, MusicalCriticism.com

Variants of Perception was originally released on Carpe Sonum Records in Spring of 2022. Comprising of tracks recorded between 2019 & 2020 the album sees me returning to my trademark mixture of deep Ambient tones & atmospheres with a mix of various electronic music influences with moments of Intricate IDM beats, Dub & downtempo breakbeat etc but with a generous sprinkling of improvised leads and emotive melodic flourishes. Resulting in a rather personal exploration of what it is to be human and triggers memories, feelings & emotions through contemporary & sometimes experimental electronic sound.

Pergolesi’s comic opera Lo frate ’nnamorato (The Brother in Love) from 1732 was his ticket to the Royal Chapel in Naples. Its huge success was due to the beautiful score, showing Pergolesi’s talent for opera compositions, and the exquisite Libretto by Gennarantonio Federico. Lo frate ‘nnamorato especially owes its wit and exuberance to the comic resources of improvisational theatre, which is refl ected in the narrative structure and relationships between the dramatis personae. Love triangles, marriage plans that come to nothing, intrigues and more lead the opera along to the unsuspected outcome.