Sunflowers Windowhead

Sunflowers return with their third LP, 'Endless Voyage'. A conceptual sci-fi record about the end of the world, the rise of the machine, doubt about one's individuality and the acceptance of chaos.

The eighth installment in Marsalis' exhaustive series of 1999 releases, this disc was originally offered as a freebie in the mail only if you bought the previous seven, and it didn't appear in the shops on its own until 2000. It was a strange marketing scheme, and one that unnecessarily muted the fanfare for the most artistically successful of Marsalis' original works in his 1999 series. Marciac, a small town in France, hosts an internationally renowned jazz festival and even erected a statue of Marsalis, which moved the composer/trumpeter to conceive this 76-minute suite for his favorite septet lineup.

The History of Rock and Roll is a mammoth and, when considered on its own terms, frequently successful undertaking. The series, which was first presented in 1995, consumes some 578 minutes, with 10 episodes (there are no bonus features) spread out over five discs. Its pedigree is impressive, as is its scope, beginning in the pre-rock days of bluesman Muddy Waters and boogie woogie master Louis Jordan and continuing through the death of Kurt Cobain and the birth of the Lollapalooza festival in the mid-1990s. Along the way, dozens of big-name performers (with the notable exception of the Beatles) are on hand to lead us through the story.

Country-folk singer/songwriter Fred J. Eaglesmith was one of nine children born to a farming family in rural southern Ontario. Often employing his difficult upbringing as raw material for his heartland narratives, he issued his self-titled debut LP in 1980. He recorded infrequently throughout the remainder of the decade, releasing only two more albums, The Boy That Just Went Wrong and Indiana Road.

Sine Music is releasing the fourth edition of their succesful compilation series "Cosmic Chill Lounge". The Cosmic Chill Lounge Vol. 4 "Relax" edition concentrates on the softer, slower tones of finest Chillout, Lounge and Downtempo. Various well-known producers have contributed brand new, never before released tracks. Sometimes more acoustic, sometimes more electronic, some tracks with vocals, others just instrumental: exacltly this mix transports the listener out to the wide ocean and deep blue sky. The every day stress dissapears and the listener feels warm and light. Relaxation pure!