Shadow Land

According to the press biography disseminated with advance copies of Gato Barbieri's Peak Records debut, The Shadow of the Cat, he was nearing 70 at the time of this release (previous published accounts would have put him at only 67) and this is the 50th album on which he is either featured or is the leader. One cannot, then, reasonably expect the old cat to have learned new tricks. Nor has his new label required him to; the company, run by contemporary jazz guitarist Russ Freeman, specializes in a melodic, commercial style of jazz. Producer Jason Miles (whose previous clients include Miles Davis and Luther Vandross) seems to have aimed at re-creating the sound of Barbieri's mid-'70s albums for A&M Records…

The regime of Queen Elizabeth I dealt harshly with supporters of the old Catholic religion. Torn between obedience and conscience, some of England’s most talented musicians - Philips, Dering and Dowland - chose a life of exile abroad. Others chose to remain in spiritual isolation in England, comparing themselves to the exiled Israelites in Babylon.

Brian Eno - Ambient 4, On Land (1982) {2009 Virgin DSD Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 192 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 106 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 28 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Remaster
© 1982, 2009 Virgin Records / Astralwerks | 50999 6 84530 2 2
Ambient / Electronic / Avant-Garde / Experimental

On Land represented a significant move away from the strategies Brian Eno had employed in earlier ambient releases such as Discreet Music and Music for Airports. Instead of using a specific process to generate music with minimal interference from the composer, he here opts for a more gestural and intuitive approach, creating dreamy pictures of some specific geographical points or evocative memories of them. It's quite easy to imagine these works as soundtracks to mysterious footage of imprecisely glimpsed landscapes.

Don Ellis & Brad Fiedel - The French Connection Collection (2016) {2CD La-La Land LLLCD1408 Limited Collector's Edition rec 1971, 1975}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 766 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 354 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 186 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1971, 1975, 2016 La-La Land Records | LLLCD 1408 | Limited Collector's Edition of 2000 units
Jazz / Stage & Screen / Soundtrack / Avant-Garde Jazz

Great thriller soundtracks back to back on one CD – the soundtracks for both French Connection films, both handled by funky jazzman Don Ellis – plus the even rarer score for the later Popeye Doyle film, by Brad Fiedel – packaged here with other rare bonus tracks too! The music by Don Ellis is really incredible – a real cut above other 70s cop and action soundtracks, with a dark edge that shows that Ellis had been listening to some of the hipper European soundtrack composers of the time, but was still also cool enough to kick in with a badass kind of groove whenever he could! The instrumentation on the tunes is very odd – familiar, yet askew – as trumpet, guitar, and keyboard bits come off with some very weird effects. The sound of Popeye Doyle is a bit different – given that the film was an 80s TV addition to the French Connection narrative – with Ed O'Neil in the lead role that was previously handled by Gene Hackman. But Brad Fiedel's score is still pretty nice – definitely more 80s in its instrumentation, but handled with a mode that echoes the Ellis years, with the flavor of a decade later. This 2CD package has way more material than the previous issue – with a total of 48 tracks from the first two films – and 29 more from Popeye Doyle – a whopping 77 tracks in all, with some great notes too!

Shadow King was a hard rock supergroup. Formed by former Foreigner lead singer Lou Gramm, Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell, Foreigner bass player Bruce Turgon, and drummer Kevin Valentine. They released a self-titled album in 1991. Although plans were made for a tour, they performed only once, at the Astoria Theatre in London, England, on December 13, 1991. Rick Seratte (Whitesnake, Foreigner, Poco, Rick Springfield) joined the band for this performance with backup vocals and playing keyboards. Shortly afterward, Vivian Campbell announced he was leaving Shadow King to join Def Leppard. Although replacements were considered, the band members eventually went their separate ways, with Gramm and Turgon rejoining Foreigner in 1992.

The album continues deliciously the musical flavour created on Antony's earlier acclaimed work in 2021 'Chameleon Shapeshifter' as always no musical boundaries exist with his writing and his production skills are now envied by his musician peers 'Land Of Chameleons' is sure to be one of the most important album releases of 2024 as usual with Antony's music to appear in our genres bible site 'prog archives' top prog albums list at the end of this year.