The 39 Steps (2008)

Returning to Gentle Giant's fourth album after any kind of lengthy absence, it's astonishing just how little Octopus has dated. Often written off at the time as a pale reflection of the truly gargantuan steps being taken by the likes of Jethro Tull and Barclay James Harvest, the band's closest relatives in the tangled skein of period prog, Gentle Giant often seemed more notable for its album art than its music. Octopus, however, marries the two seamlessly, with the cover speaking for itself, of course…

John Adams - Fellow Traveler: The Complete String Quartet Works of John Adams - Attacca Quartet (2013) {Azica ACD-71280}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 337 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 163 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 178 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2013 Azica Records | ACD-71280
Classical / Modern Classical / Chamber Music / Post Minimalism

When it comes to composers broadly categorized under the heading of minimalism, it's rare to find works grouped by genre in the conventional way. But the Attacca Quartet, a young group out of New York's Juilliard School, shows what can be done with this set of three pieces by John Adams, entirely different in tone but clearly the products of the same composer. The best-known work on the program, John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994), has been recorded several times.

The 90-strong City Light Symphony Orchestra is celebrating its Spotify debut with the massive, 4-part “Suite for Orchestra” from John Williams’ rousing film music for “Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens”.

We often cite the Reunion tour as a demarcation between the “classic” and “modern” Springsteen eras. Yet this April already marks 23 years since the start of the Reunion tour in Barcelona. Do the math, and the E Street Band’s return in 1999 is inching ever closer to being the midpoint of their overall career—a line to be reached in 2026, at which point it will have been 27 years from the start of Reunion; and Reunion itself was 27 years after the band formed in 1972. Time flies.