Som Persona

Influential South American psychedelic rock sextet Som Imaginário (Imaginary Sound) formed in 1970 as the backing band behind legendary Minas Gerais singer/songwriter/composer Milton Nascimento. Like Nascimento, the collective shared a fondness for mainstream rock & roll acts like the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, crafting sonic freestyle tapestries that had as much to do with early Pink Floyd and Miles Davis as they did with the tropicalia and MPB movement. Matanca Do Porco (their debut recording) is a not so subtle blend of all three of those sounds, chock-full of humor, super-amplified decadence, and haunting melodies…

One of the most personal of the Brazilian drummers, Wilson das Neves has also been celebrated as a composer since 1997, having received the Sharp prize for his album O Som Sagrado de Wilson das Neves. Wilson das Neves took the drums at 14, initiated by Bituca, who, later, took him to the Flor do Ritmo school in the Carioca suburb Méier. At 21 das Neves debuted as a drummer at the Orquestra de Permínio Gonçalves. From 1957 to 1958 he backed up the pianist Carolina Cardoso de Meneses, and in 1958 he joined the Ubirajara Silva group. In 1959 he recorded for the first time as a session man. In that period he was a member of several groups like Steve Bernard's, the Orquestra de Astor Silva, the Conjunto de Ed Lincoln, the Orquestra da TV Globo do Rio de Janeiro and the Orquestra da TV Excelsior de São Paulo. In the decade of 1960 he became a busy session man and sideman, having worked for Copinha, Elza Soares, Elis Regina…

I en tid som vår (In a time like ours) is the fifth album from Swedish pop singer and songwriter Marie Fredriksson. Recorded by and co-produced with her husband Mikael Bolyos at their home studio in Djursholm, Sweden…

One of the most personal of the Brazilian drummers, Wilson das Neves has also been celebrated as a composer since 1997, having received the Sharp prize for his album O Som Sagrado de Wilson das Neves. Wilson das Neves took the drums at 14, initiated by Bituca, who, later, took him to the Flor do Ritmo school in the Carioca suburb Méier. At 21 das Neves debuted as a drummer at the Orquestra de Permínio Gonçalves. From 1957 to 1958 he backed up the pianist Carolina Cardoso de Meneses, and in 1958 he joined the Ubirajara Silva group. In 1959 he recorded for the first time as a session man. In that period he was a member of several groups like Steve Bernard's, the Orquestra de Astor Silva, the Conjunto de Ed Lincoln, the Orquestra da TV Globo do Rio de Janeiro and the Orquestra da TV Excelsior de São Paulo. In the decade of 1960 he became a busy session man and sideman, having worked for Copinha, Elza Soares, Elis Regina…

Pianist Ketil Bjornstad interprets poems by critically accliamed author Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold's collection "Litt trist matematikk" and performs them together with the vocalist Eva Bjerga Haugen. Transforming poetry and other writings into music is an important part of musician, composer and writer Ketil Bjornstad's work. Most well-known among his works are the interpretations of Harry Martinsson, Knut Hamsun, John Donne and Edvard Munch. Earlier this year he released the critically acclaimed album, "A Suite of Poems" with Anneli Drecker on ECM, where poems by Lars Saabye Christensen was the source of inspiration.

The final Som Imaginario album sees the group transform from a psychedelic band to a tight fusion unit, with enough classical, symphonic and psychedelic influences to give them a sound which will appeal to a broad range of prog listeners. Showing a great increase in the group's technical proficiency, the album title means "The Killing of the Pig" - not an outrageous anti- police statement, but a reference to a tradition from an old Portuguese town where a slaughter of swine at the height of winter is the centrepiece of an annual celebration. In this case, there's plenty of reason to celebrate, because having fattened up their musical capabilities Som Imaginario serve a delicious feast here.

This progressive rock group has been formed in São Paulo in 1970 by multi-instrumentalist Manito (former The Clevers and Os Incríveis), Pedrinho Batera (drums/vocals) and bass player Pedrão Baldanza. With this formation they released their excellent debut "Snegs" in 1974. The music presented here is actually a kind of mixture of Italian symphonic prog and (south)-american jazz with some influences by English space rock.