Silent 国分友里恵

This album is a bit of a departure for Paul Ellis, as well as for sequencer EM in general. In addition to synthesizers it features a nice use of guitar, bass, voice and some other acoustic and electric instruments. That doesn't mean, however that Paul's style is unnoticeable, because there are still plenty of rhythmic sequencer tracks done in the typical Paul Ellis manner. On some tracks, Paul is helped by friends Steve Roach, Jeffrey Koepper, Otso Pakarinen and others. So, strictly speaking, some of the tracks on "Silent Conversations" are actually collaborations with other artists.

Silent Voices was founded in 1995 by guitarist Timo Kauppinen, bassist Pasi Kauppinen, drummer Jukka-Pekka Koivisto and keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg. At the time their main influences were Dream Theater and Rush…

Who says you can't ever find your way home again? Finland's Amorphis started testing the veracity of that age-old maxim in 2005, when their Eclipse album interrupted years of ruthless genre-hopping evolution, took stock of a bevy of styles from all eras of the group's long career, and stewed them into a single, mostly satisfying mélange. Amorphis' peacemaking experiment with their past also coincided with the introduction of new vocalist Tomi Joutsen, leading some to speculate that the departed Pasi Koskinen had much to do with their prior direction, and perhaps proving the point when their subsequent outing, 2007's Silent Waters, found the band pursuing the all-inclusive philosophy once again…

The first lady of jazz piano, Marian McPartland, is spotlighted in her dream recording project. Her first recording with string orchestra, Silent Pool, captures Marian’s distinctive, encyclopedic jazz piano playing and her lyrical, original compositions - many of them now jazz standards - in a truly mesmerizing setting. Wrapped in lush and inventive string orchestrations from the pen of acclaimed arranger Alan Broadbent, Silent Pool stands out as a landmark recordings in Marian's long and distinguished career in music.

Emmens & Heij team up for a fourth time on Silent Witnesses of Industrial Landscapes, and they just keep the Berlin train rolling right along. Fans of retro EM should once again be in analog heaven. As usual, this is improv-based synthesizer music with an equipment list a mile long.