Lord Sitar

Italian Prog band Le Orme were one of the most important representatives of the genre in the early 1970s and recorded several classic albums, which are considered some of the best to come out of this country. The band shared the fate of most of the other Prog bands slowly disappearing from the scene by the end of the 1970s, when the popularity of Prog genre suffered a serious decline. They recorded and performed sporadically over the years, and by the mid 1990s, when Prog was back on the scene, the band formally reformed and recorded their comeback album "Il Fume" in 1996. But it took them another five years to come up with an album, which was a true reflection of their abilities and a formidable companion of their 1970s achievements - "Elementi". This beauty as a concept album, full of great melodies and excellent instrumental work, in the best tradition of the Italian Prog…

This 40th anniversary box set, lavishly illustrated and exhaustively annotated, features the best of their album tracks, singles and b-sides. All newly re-mastered, achieving the best sound to date - alongside no less than 30 previously unreleased live, broadcast and studio tracks. Among these lost gems are: their very first recording session from 1967; outtakes from The Pentangle (1968) and Reflection (1971); three 1968 BBC radio session tracks newly in stereo; live concert and television tracks spanning 1968- 73; and rare film soundtrack contributions.

Although Charnett Moffett has considerable potential as a musician and a composer, he hasn't always lived up to it. The acoustic/electric bassist has recorded some excellent albums (including Planet Home and Still Life, both on Evidence), but he has come out with some weak, forgettable ones as well; Beauty Within is arguably the worst offender. Moffett can be great as a post-bop, fusion, or avant-garde player, although some of his contributions to smooth jazz in the late '80s and early '90s were downright embarrassing. For the Love of Peace, thankfully, is among his more noteworthy efforts. Most of this 2003 date falls into the acoustic post-bop category, and Moffett (who wrote all of the material himself) brings a highly spiritual outlook to this project.

The instrumentation on this album is heavy on the analog synths and the dreamy, soft soundscapes that would not be out of place on a Tangerine Dream or (especially) Vangelis album from 1977-1979 are everywhere on Tun Huang (aka Silk Road 3). The analog synthesizers used by Kitaro include instruments by Roland, Prophet (Prophet V), and Moog (mostly mini-moog), along with the mellotron - everything sounds incredibly warm and organic. Kitaro is also quite the multi-instrumentalist and plays a full drum kit and percussion on a few tracks, along with the sitar (on Lord of the Sand only), tabra, acoustic guitar, chanting bell, and wind chime. Joining Kitaro on this album is violinist Yasuo Kojima - he contributes some excellent playing.

Before T. Rex assaulted the world with their glam rock party in the early '70s, there was the folk duo Tyrannosaurus Rex. Although both bands were fronted by flamboyant singer/guitarist/songwriter Marc Bolan, the earlier outfit was the polar opposite of the style of music that would later become synonymous with Bolan. Tyrannosaurus Rex originally formed in September of 1967 as a duo after Bolan split from his previous band, John's Children. Joining Bolan in the band was percussionist/bongo player Steve Peregrin Took, a gentleman that Bolan named after a character in The Lord of the Rings novel series.

With his fourth album Gandalf continues the same formula of the previous "To Another Horizon" record. A whole instrumental opus based on spiritual or phylosophical reflection. The sense of loss and the chance to get up of each single man and woman is what he's trying to explain in music. So the nine tracks are put in a precise order that goes from desperation to real joy. His visionary and fertile imagination builds up the scene of a magic theatre in front of which the listener comes, alone. When he enters in, through the main door that stands in front, he is at the beginning of a long corridor with seven doors.

A 19-CD box set? Twenty one and a half hours of music? A 72-page book? Artefacts that include a receipt for her first piano? Who said the music industry no longer had money to burn?
For anybody unfamiliar with Sandy Denny’s yearning, evocative songs, her teeteringly vulnerable vocal style and the erratic contours of a career that ended shockingly in a fall downstairs in 1978 when she was 31, this eye-watering project may seem like ludicrous indulgence.

DEVA, the new release from Deva Premal, is a calling – beyond the chattering mind, the heaviness of the heart and the numerous distractions of life, into a place of refuge and conscious relaxation.

Hands down, this epochal concert at New York's Madison Square Garden – first issued on three LPs in a handsome orange-colored box – was the crowning event of George Harrison's public life, a gesture of great goodwill that captured the moment in history and, not incidentally, produced some rousing music as a permanent legacy…