Sentou Yousei Yukikaze (2002 2005)

The Guiding Light (2002). Originated by a life-long passion for celtic heritage and music, renowned producer John Deere founded the group Llynya as a vehicle to take the journey back into time and unveil the relation between ancient celtic traditions and the mantra poems of hindu culture.
Journey To Your Heart (2003). Extraordinary vocals combined with modern arrangements create a mystical celtic mood. Llynya again take the listener on a journey deep to the heart.
Tales Of Time (2005). Tales of Time is the continuation of Llynya's amazing success. Mystic harp, gentle violin and celtic vocals will take you into a magical world of beauty and clarity. Enjoy the beautiful melodies and experience the mysterious time of the Celts.

As a two-CD overview of the career of Peter Bardens, Write My Name in the Dust: Anthology manages to fit in a lot of material and display his work in different contexts, but also suffers from some problems that might prevent it from being wholly satisfying to some fans of his music. Despite the 40-year time span of the title, it's not a chronologically balanced selection by any means; 23 of the 29 tracks predate 1972, only three postdate the mid-'70s, and those three are all from his 2002 album The Art of Levitation. Too, there are just three cuts from Camel, which to art rock listeners might be the most familiar of the groups in which Bardens played.

The members of this Russian duo, Max K. (keyboards, music, sampling, market rituals) and Leonid M. (drums, programming, sound engineering, electronic manipulations) reside in Moscow and have been involved in electronic music since 1997. They met in 1998 and formed Cyclotimia shortly thereafter with the purpose of making experimental music together. They have subsequently become one of the most respected and well-known Russian projects in the electronic scene today. Cyclotimia's trademark sound proceeds from using a mix of the state-of-the-art synthesis technologies and vintage analog / Soviet machines. Their inspiration in global, free market aesthetics and using of religious samples makes Cyclotimia's message quite disturbing.

CANTINA SOCIALE is a new Italian group. The line-up is: Rosalba Gentile (keyboards), Elio Sesia (guitars, bass, violin), Iano Nicolo (vocals), Gianni Grasso (bass, saxophones), Carla Viarengo (saxophones, background vocals), Marina Gentile (guitars) and Graziano Viola (drums). The music is mostly similar to the seventies groups but there are some modern influences as well. They have more Mediterranean feel in the music than an average Italian symphonic group…

Oscar Peterson augmented his regular working trio of the time (bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes) with Henley Gibson on congas, Marshall Thompson on timbales, and Harold Jones as an added percussionist for this release, which focuses mostly on the music of Brazilian composers (so the title Soul Espanõl is a bit misleading). With the surge of interest in bossa nova and samba, Peterson's interpretations of songs like "Manha de Carnaval," "How Insensitive," "Meditation," and "Samba de Orfeo" have stood up very well against similar jazz recordings of the mid-'60s. Peterson's "Soulville Samba" has a gospel flavor, while his "Sensitive Samba" is more laid-back; Vincent Youmans' decades-old "Carioca" also fit in nicely. This is an enjoyable, if not essential, part of Oscar Peterson's considerable discography.

It is virtually impossible to write a review which does justice to this impressive release. No less than 4 CD’s at a time of one of the best dark ambient acts around, which has always stood more for quality than quantity. Since the early 90′s this German project, consisting of René Lehmann & Knut Enderlei, only released three albums, plus a couple of hard to obtain vinyl and tape releases and compilation appearances. All the material included in this boxset was recorded during live performances and rehearsal sessions. The recordings span almost their entire career, from 1995 to 2002, at appearances in Germany, France, Russia, Prague, the UK, the USA and Canada. While listening you will hardly notice that these are live recordings, since they were edited and mastered to create the highest possible sound quality…