One Way Glass

UK three CD set. One Way Glass is a very different kind of RPM compilation. Instead of the usual cross-section of '60s collectables, this unique release takes a fresh look at British music from the late '60s through to the mid-'70s, with an eye on overlooked dancefloor-friendly finds. The rhythmic backbone of One Way Glass lies in progressive rock outfits who - every so often - would emulate their jazz heroes and record funky sides tucked away on albums or B-sides. Many of these tracks (Jonesy, Hardin & York) have been known to collectors of Funky Breaks for years. In addition, One Way Glass boasts some excellent funky Folk tracks which lighten the load for the listener - tracks by Alan James Eastwood, Bridget St. John, Dana Gillespie, Joan Armatrading and Melanie, for example. More typical funk rock selections come from Hanson (featuring future Bob Marley & The Wailers mainstay Junior Marvin on guitar) and Curtis Knight Zeus (fronted by Jimi Hendrix's old bandmate and featuring future Motorhead guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke). Maybe it all started - in terms of breaks and hip hop culture, at least - with DJ Kool Herc, who would spin key segments from old rock records to create the funky break.

Koyaanisqatsi is a contemporary masterpiece. The film has had a significant impact on the media arts, music and popular culture since its release in 1983. This version is the original soundtrack including the sound effects used in the film.

The last days of the American icon Walt Disney form a powerful and poignant subject for Philip Glass's latest opera, which was filmed at its first performances in Madrid in January 2013. Phelim McDermott's spectacular production is worthy of Disney's own visual imagination and its definitive influence on American culture, while in the pit is the conductor Dennis Russell Davies, an experienced and authoritative champion of the composer's hypnotically beautiful music, which gives wings to Rudy Wurlitzer's operatic transformation of Peter Stephan Jungk's novel, using both fact and fiction to peer into Disney's troubled psyche as illness forces him to confront his mortality.

The Concerto Project Vol. II is the second release in Orange Mountain Music’s Concerto Project series and features two world premiere recordings of works by composer Philip Glass. Pianist Paul Barnes performs Piano Concerto No. 2 “After Lewis and Clark” with the Northwest Chamber Orchestra conducted by Ralph Gothóni. The concerto was commissioned in part by the Nebraska Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission in celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the explorers’ journey across the American continent. The three movements are titled “The Vision”, “Sacagawea” and “The Land.” The first and third movements bookend an intimate middle movement that features a traditional Shoshone Indian theme performed on the Native American flute by R. Carlos Nakai. The dynamic flare of the first concerto is contrasted by the album’s second work, Philip Glass’s beautiful Concerto for Harpsichord and Orchestra. The three movement concerto is performed by harpsichordist Jillon Stoppels Dupree and the Northwest Chamber Orchestra conducted by Ralph Gothóni.

Orange Mountain Music presents the world premiere recording of Philip Glass' The Passion of Ramakrishna. Commissioned by the Pacific Symphony and premiered in 2006 during the opening of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County, Glass' 45 minute oratorio, written for soloists, chorus and large orchestra, is a passion play and a tribute to 19th Century Indian spiritual leader Sri Ramakrishna. The work portrays his death with the chorus taking up the voice of Ramakrishna himself and the soloists are those of his loved ones, doctor and disciples. Maestro Carl St.Clair, a longtime champion of the music of Philip Glass, leads the Pacific Symphony, Pacific Chorale and soloists Christopheren Numura, Janice Chandler Eteme, Kevin Deas, I-Chin Feinblatt and Nicholas Preston.

"Radio Days & Rarities" is the third volume in the series of Manfred Mann BBC recordings highlighting the radio appearances of Manfred Mann Chapter Three and numerous film soundtrack recordings, commercial jingles and various studio rarities. When pop group Manfred Mann broke up while near the top of the UK charts, Manfred Mann and Mike Hugg were quietly assembling Manfred Mann Chapter Three - a free-form group aimed at the growing album market. In addition to Mann and Hugg, the core of Chapter Three included sax/flute player Bernie Living, bassist Steve York, and drummer Craig Collinge.