The Apple II Age

GRAMMY-winning new-age artist White Sun return with their third album, an epic double release with 23 new songs. "White Sun II… was a breakout New Age hit in 2016, where it was a top-charter at both Apple and iTunes."

In sailing terms, a 'broad reach' is achieved when the wind is nearly full in the sails and this album encapsulates that feeling. It features both a hi and lo-fi approach with studio takes blended with potent ‘in the moment’ performances. The backbone of the album uses both crunchy electric and driving acoustic guitars, including Spencer’s inimitable cross-flat-picking. There are two different bass players who find endless inspiration within Lewis' minimalist sound structures; full out organ and wild synthesizer passages, biting mandolin, and finally drums both steady or hanging by a thread. Soaring over the top is Lewis’ iconic violin, cutting through like the bow of a boat in high seas. A very different album for longtime fans of Lewis' work.

Hans August Alexander Bronsart von Schellendorf (generally known as Hans von Bronsart), once a force to be reckoned with in the musical life of his native Germany, is now hardly a footnote in most reference books. Record collectors of a certain vintage will have bought Michael Ponti playing the same F sharp minor concerto presented here, a recording made back in 1973 for the Vox Candide label with the Westphalian Symphony Orchestra under Richard Kapp, one of very few recordings of any of Bronsart’s work. Otherwise, it is probably only keen Lisztians who will know that having revised his piano concerto No 2 in 1856, Liszt chose Bronsart to give the premiere (Weimar, 7 January 1857) with himself as conductor. When the final version was published in 1863, Bronsart was the dedicatee. These were significant gestures. Immediately, one is intrigued. Who was this Bronsart of whom Liszt thought so highly?

Yundi’s new album, recorded in Salzburg, features Mozart’s Piano Sonatas K. 310, K. 475, K. 457, and K. 331. The pianist, a Steinway Artist, was propelled into the international spotlight when he won first prize at the XIV Chopin International Piano Competition at the age of 18, becoming the youngest and first Chinese winner in the history of the renowned competition. “Yundi Li’s direct, sharply etched, upbeat account of Mozart’s wonderful C major K. 330 sonata would do any pianist proud.” – Jed Distler from Classics Today.