Ralf Siedhoff Worldbeat (2002)

After the success of Gladiator, it wasn't unusual to see director Ridley Scott turn to Hans Zimmer again for the score to Black Hawk Down, his fierce adaptation of Mark Bowden's account of the tragic 1993 American military intervention in Somalia. What was more surprising was the schedule Scott imposed on the German-born composer: 15 days to write, arrange, and record the film's nearly two hours of music. The results of Zimmer's miraculous two-week musical campaign not only belie those constraints; they instantly take their place alongside The Thin Red Line as some of the most compelling music he's produced. The gambit here is simple–portray the combatants as two warring tribes, with their native musics locked in a tense dance for domination.

Thievery Corporation's Eric Hilton and Rob Garza have always treated the line between acoustic and electronic music as a drunken sailor might, unpredictably falling on one side or the other with equal frequency. By this measure, The Richest Man in Babylon is their soberest effort to date, striding confidently into jazz, soul, world beat, and other styles with a direct, reverential approach. The band's last record, Sounds from the Verve Hi-Fi, featured a set of classic jazz tunes unadorned with remixes or reinterpretation. But the songs on Babylon are originals, incorporating not just jazz but Afro-beat, Brazilian dance, Persian and Indian music, reggae, and psychedelia, all while making expert use of new and old collaborators like Sleepy Wonder, Lou Lou, and Shinehead. Icelandic singer Emiliana Torrini makes an instant impression on the first track, "Heaven's Gonna Burn Your Eyes," her voice freeing the song's melody and structure with just a few hypnotic bars. It's hard to call this an electronic record at all; even their dub-influenced tracks miss a certain studio sheen, as if Hilton and Garza simply waded into a sweltering Jamaican beach party and hit record. But while it misses the ambient, ethereal edge that made The Mirror Conspiracy a downtempo classic, Babylon satisfies with organic energy and tasteful eclecticism.

At their best, cover albums have a strange way of galvanizing an artist by returning to the songs that inspired them; the artists can find the reason why they made music in the first place, perhaps finding a new reason to make music. Robert Plant's Dreamland – his first solo album in nearly ten years and one of the best records he's ever done, either as a solo artist or as a member of Led Zeppelin – fulfills that simple definition of a covers album and goes beyond it, finding Plant sounding reinvigorated and as restless as a new artist. Part of the reason why this album works so well is that he has a new band – not a group of supporting musicians, but a real band whose members can challenge him because they tap into the same eerie, post-folk mysticism that fueled Led Zeppelin III, among other haunting moments in the Zep catalog.

At their best, cover albums have a strange way of galvanizing an artist by returning to the songs that inspired them; the artists can find the reason why they made music in the first place, perhaps finding a new reason to make music. Robert Plant's Dreamland - his first solo album in nearly ten years and one of the best records he's ever done, either as a solo artist or as a member of Led Zeppelin - fulfills that simple definition of a covers album and goes beyond it, finding Plant sounding reinvigorated and as restless as a new artist. Part of the reason why this album works so well is that he has a new band – not a group of supporting musicians, but a real band whose members can challenge him because they tap into the same eerie, post-folk mysticism that fueled Led Zeppelin III, among other haunting moments in the Zep catalog…

10th album for an incredible deep ambient-electronic trip by Ralf Knappe-Heinbockel and Thorsten Reinhardt. Their music is so various and intense, warm and rich of atmosphere, that the listener is among different realities of sounds and effects… Passages so dark and slow, for then to show a track full of rhythm and magic. Their imaginations goes ahead from "Point One" to "Point Fourteen", giving deep vibrations in the air, and continues even when music is finished. In all these tracks Hemisphere show their different faces. An album really great, all to discover till the last note. Composed between 1995 and 2001, it was recorded in 2002.

At their best, cover albums have a strange way of galvanizing an artist by returning to the songs that inspired them; the artists can find the reason why they made music in the first place, perhaps finding a new reason to make music. Robert Plant's Dreamland - his first solo album in nearly ten years and one of the best records he's ever done, either as a solo artist or as a member of Led Zeppelin - fulfills that simple definition of a covers album and goes beyond it, finding Plant sounding reinvigorated and as restless as a new artist. Part of the reason why this album works so well is that he has a new band – not a group of supporting musicians, but a real band whose members can challenge him because they tap into the same eerie, post-folk mysticism that fueled Led Zeppelin III, among other haunting moments in the Zep catalog…

In 2010 the world is celebrating the 300th anniversary of the birth of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, whose music – for the most disparate reasons – was for a long time shrouded in oblivion. Many of his works disappeared completely after the Second World War, and it was not until 1999 that they were rediscovered in Kiev. The present world-première recording of four of his cantatas grants us a fascinating insight into the composer’s output and invites us to join him on a musical voyage of discovery. These ambitious works, which were written for Christmas and Ascension, attest to the technical and musical virtuosity of Johann Sebastian Bach’s eldest son.

Original award winning score (Golden Medal, New York Festivals 1996 a.o.) from the acclaimed awarded movie by Ralf Schmerberg.
Ralf Hildenbeutel (born March 6, 1969 in Frankfurt am Main) is a German composer and producer. He was decisive role in the formation of musical style trance. Together with A.C. Boutsen (Matthias Hoffmann) and Stevie B-Zet (Steffen Britzke) he belonged to the permanent staff of the record label Eye Q Records. The Scene Magazine Front Page wrote in 1995, about 90% of all trance releases have the typical Q-Eye style as a template. Between 1991 and 1998 produced Ralf Hildenbeutel all publications of the star DJs Sven Väth…