I Ching

Pianist Charlotte Hu (formerly known as Ching-Yun Hu) presents Liszt: Metamorphosis, her debut album for PENTATONE. On it, Charlotte explores Hungarian composer and virtuoso pianist Franz Liszt’s chameleonic and evolving approach to composing – the metamorphosis of his music spanning from his early works inspired by Beethoven to the abstract tonality of his later works, as well as his incredible ability to transcribe and transform the music of other composers he admired.

Though he possesses one of the most instantly recognizable singing voices in music, Serj Tankian has still spent the last five years finding his musical "voice" as a solo artist, steadily working his way out of the shadow of his work fronting nü-prog rockers System of a Down. After taking his sound in an increasingly grand direction, an idea that culminated in the singer recasting his debut album with a symphony on Elect the Dead Symphony, Tankian returns to a more direct rock sound with his third album, Harakiri. Filled with political angst, this album feels the most lyrically similar to SOAD, with lines like "sucking seeds is pastime" even serving as direct references to "Toxicity" ("eating seeds is a pastime activity").

Dream Journal - Four works commissioned by the Network for New Music (2002)
Classical | EAC: FLAC+Cue+Log | 1 Cd, Covers | 295 Mb
Label: Albany - Date: 2002

Presented on this release are four pieces commissioned by the Philadelphia-based Network for New Music Ensemble. All prove to be worthy listens by composers of much ability…

2010 release from the Danish Heavy Metal band. Pretty Maids are the finest Melodic Metal band from Denmark with over 25 years of history behind them. Produced by Jacob Hansen (who has also worked with Volbeat, Rob Rock and Beyond Twilight), Pandemonium, with its melodic approach, is a definite return to the Future World/Red Hot And Heavy era of the '80s, but with an updated sound and freshness that consolidates that Pretty Maids are as strong as ever.

The group SamulNori, which takes its name from the selfsame style of Korean folk music and was founded in 1978 by Kim Duk Soo as a means of expanding the music’s compass of awareness, combines its namesake’s balance of ritual and humble beginnings with contemporary leanings. Samul nori is at heart a percussive genre. Its four instruments are the jing (large gong), the kkwaenghwari (small gong), the janggu (hour-glass drum), and the buk (barrel drum). Each is its own element—wind, thunder, rain, and clouds, respectively—and brings a fertile sound to bear upon a range of ecologically minded texts, both recited and sung. SamulNori members have worked with, among others, Bill Laswell and Kodo, but perhaps most notably with Red Sun.