Lady Ninja Kasumi Sanada Kunoichi Ninpô Den: Kasumi (2005)

This epic opera inspired by Shakespeare's tragic masterpiece was written in 1847, but did not receive its British premiere until 1938 when it was presented for the first time at Glyndebourne. The tragedy is a penetrating, concentrated, and harrowing study of the ambition of Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth. In the end both seem to verge on hallucination and madness as they recoil from the mayhem they have created around them. The production features an outstanding international cast, with the Greek baritone Kostas Paskalis in the title role and British star Josephine Barstow making an exciting debut as Lady Macbeth. Proceedings are conducted by the sympathetic baton of John Prithard.

Kevin Ayers is one of Rock's most important innovators, helping to launch Soft Machine, as their original bassist/vocalist, and later working with noted progressive musicians like Mike Oldfield and Steve Hillage. This 2 CD set of BBC radio sessions, compiled with the help of Kevin Ayers, tracks Kevin's discography from 1970 (when his band included his former Soft Machine friends) through to 1976. Featured here are several previously unissued recordings, including the earliest surviving example of Kevin's post-Soft Machine output. Among the musicians featured with Ayers on this compilation include Robert Wyatt, Mike Oldfield, Mike Ratledge, Andy Summers, Hugh Hopper, Lol Coxhill, David Bedford, Elton Dean, Archie Leggett, Ollie Halsall & Zoot Money.

Eric Malmberg is a musician from Sweden. Previously a member of the duo Sagor & Swing, in 2005 he released solo album,"Den gåtfulla människan" ("The Enigmatic Human"). This is a modern artist who can be considered as a true successor of the German Berlin vintage electronic underground with obvious reminiscences from Kratwerk, Asmus Tietchens, late Cluster. Repetition, sound inovations and melancholic emotions are the best words to describe Malmberg's original musical universe. His first effort is largely made of strangely mesmersing & warm immersive organs punctuated by efficient minimal melodies, motifs (closed to Philip Glass and others accessible, popular minimalist artists), discreet repetitive hypnotic pulses.

Daniel Taylor is a Canadian countertenor, one of a group that has come on the scene in recent years and given promise that soon the countertenor voice will be considered less an exotic specialty and more a generally cultivated voice type. Taylor, perhaps more than other countertenors active today, sounds as though he is engaging in a natural kind of voice production rather than channeling his voice into circuitous channels. His sound is quite awesomely smooth, little touched by vibrato or strong passion, restrained, extremely elegant, and modest in dimension – perfect, in short, for the Dowland songs and mostly smaller Purcell airs that make up the bulk of this two-CD compilation, drawn from a pair of earlier releases.

Throughout its nearly decade-long run, the G3 series of tours has always featured guitar wizards Satriani and Vai at the helm, with a mystery third guest always in the rotation to contrast against the mentor-and-student duo. Sometimes the results are complementary (Eric Johnson), and other times they're mildy theatrical and amusing (Yngwie Malmsteen). This time around the special guest star, Dream Theater's John Petrucci, finds himself in the middle of Tokyo and starting off the two-disc session. His "Glasgow Kiss" and "Damage Control" are both presented with great skill and technical precision, sometimes hitting too close to the mark, making his accuracy and his performance seem cold and calculated.