Blast First Petite’s new publication gathers text, images and live music about the late Finnish musician, including Wire contributor Jennifer Lucy Allan's Invisible Jukebox transcript. Blast First Petite have published a book and CD package in memory of the late Mika Vainio. Produced in a limited edition of 1000, the 260 page MTV 15.05.63–12.04.2017 isn’t so much a biography or monograph as a “psychopomp” for Mika Tapio Vainio, declares the label – psychopomp meaning “a guide of souls”.
Gunar Letzbor and his ensemble Ars Antiqua Austria are proven specialists for Austrian baroque music. During recent years, they have rediscovered, performed and recorded polychoral Festive Masses by Weichlein, Ramhaufsky and Hochreither and thus Georg Muffat's magnificent 'Missa in labore requies' is a logical choice of repertoire. This work is the only surviving church music by Georg Muffat and is overwhelming in sonic impact and profundity but also a richness of melodic invention. In its polychoral design, the work is in the tradition of Salzburg Festive Masses, reflecting in their extraordinary musical opulence, the almost boundless material wealth of the prince bishops who commissioned them.
Shadowy and menacing like an impending tornado, One Shot is one hell of a heavy prog nightmare, reminding us that King Crimson's "Red" was pretty close to zeuhl and that a fantastic foursome can still be the finest sonic orgy ever…