Joakim Milder Fredrik Ljungkvist Mathias Landraeus Filip Augustson Fredrik Rundkvist: The Music of Anders Garstedt (

From the Green Hill is Tomasz Stanko's ECM follow-up to the deservedly acclaimed Litania - The Music of Kryzsztof Komeda. The Polish composer and trumpeter (and former Komeda sideman) teams up with countrywoman Michelle Makarski, ECM stalwarts saxophonist John Surman, bandoneon king Dino Saluzzi, drum god Jon Christensen, and bassist Anders Jormin. The set is comprised mainly of Stanko originals, but there are also compositions by Surman, and two by Komeda, including "Litania." This chamber jazz sextet draws heavily on European jazz influences naturally, but also from Eastern Europe's folk traditions. In this way, Komeda's influence is clearly felt throughout the recording, even on Surman's "Domino"…

On Sounds of a Playground Fading, the band’s tenth studio album, In Flames officially complete their transition from Swedish melodic death metal pioneers to unpredictable Swedish progressive pop/rock/neo-classical metal innovators. Their first outing without founding member and chief songwriter Jesper Strömblad (the 13 tracks rely solely on the music of Björn Gelotte and the lyrics of Anders Fridén), Playground Fading's technical acumen and slick infusion of modern rock dazzles for the most part, especially on stand-out tracks like “A New Dawn,” “Fear Is the Weakness,” and the soaring title cut, all of which, in true In Flames fashion, aim for the bleachers and end up exploding into the night sky, but for all of the bells and whistles, there’s not a whole lot of variety to be had here…

For roughly half a decade, from 1968 through 1975, the Band was one of the most popular and influential rock groups in the world, their music embraced by critics (and, to a somewhat lesser degree, the public) as seriously as the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Their albums were analyzed and reviewed as intensely as any records by their one-time employer and sometime mentor Bob Dylan.