Renaissance Project

The Dowland Project, established by ECM's Manfred Eicher, would not please musical purists; in this installment, Romaria, it brings together an assortment of old and new instruments, including violin, viola, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, tenor and bass recorders, Baroque guitar, and vihuela, performing music spanning nearly a millennium, most of it written before most of these instruments had been developed. The producer and performers may have deliberately chosen to ignore the principle of authentic performance practice, duplicating as closely as possible the sound of the music at the time it was created, but they are principled in the aesthetic decisions they have made.

In the wake of the Yardbirds’ demise, Jim McCarty and Keith Relf reconvened in the late 60s and devised a fresh musical concept that flourished within the creative spirit of new project Renaissance. Imaginative songs and ambitious arrangements blossomed with the assistance of singer Jane Relf, classically trained pianist John Hawken and virtuoso bassist Louis Cennamo. This important new multi-disc and DVD collection casts a spotlight on the evolutionary period of a now-legendary band. It is packed with fascinating, historic performances from their appearances on BBC radio and top German TV show Beat-Club, as well as rare demo’s, instrumentals, European radio broadcasts and a mini documentary. Painstakingly restored and remastered in conjunction with Louis Cennamo and Jim McCarty, this superb release includes extensive liner notes and memorabilia – an unmissable package for both collectors and Prog Rock devotees.

Planet P Project, known originally as simply Planet P, is the studio brainchild of producer Peter Hauke, and an American expatriate living in Germany, Tony Carey, who had played for a while with Rainbow. Carey wrote all of the songs and played various instruments on the band's 1983 debut album Planet P Project. The music is layered in synthesizers and has a decidedly dated feel to it, while Carey's lyrics tend toward bleak expressions of isolation…

Still a one-man show, Tony Carey, under the banner of Planet P Project, again teamed with producer Peter Hauke for this 1984 follow-up to the self-titled debut of the prior year. It's a sprawling, ambitious double album with a sketchy plot line revolving around Artimus, a boy who doesn't speak, and a Cold War-inspired Armageddon. Like it's predecessor, the music features a heavy emphasis on synthesizers, although there's also a good dose of guitar, giving it appeal to rock fans…

Following a stint playing keyboards for Rainbow in the '70s, Californian Tony Carey relocated to Germany, continuing his musical career as a solo artist. He managed to achieve some chart success in the early '80s with songs like "I Won't Be Home Tonight," "A Fine, Fine Day," and "The First Day of Summer." Carey had also formed a creative union with German producer Peter Hauke under the moniker Planet P Project, with Carey handling all of the writing and most of the instrumental duties…