The Dragon And The Stone

The Heart of the Dragon ensemble and Chinese composer Jiang Li present this elegant union of 'East meets West'. Featuring the sophisticated Chinese xiao and the Dai nation's joyous hulusi, they seamlessly blend a range of traditional Chinese music with western drums, bass, guitar, piano and strings. The result is a beautiful amalgamation of classic Chinese heritage, Dai nation folk history and western influence.

Dragon’s Domain Records presents the soundtrack release of SECOND TIME LUCKY, featuring music composed by Garry McDonald and Laurie Stone (ROBBERY UNDER ARMS, THE FLYING DOCTORS, OCEAN GIRL, SAHARA) for the 1984 comedy directed by Michael Anderson (THE DAM BUSTERS, LOGAN’S RUN, AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS), written by Allan Burns (GET SMART), D. Howard Grigsby, David Sigmund and Ross Dimsey, starring Diane Franklin (BETTER OFF DEAD, LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN), Roger Wilson, Jon Gadsby (A WEEK OF IT), Robert Helpmann (THE RED SHOES, PATRICK), Robert Morley (TOPKAPI, THEATRE OF BLOOD) and John Michael Howson.

This exhaustive, six-part, Parlophone-issued box set collects all three of the British cult folktronica pioneers' studio albums (The Beta Band[1999], Hot Shots II[2001], and Heroes to Zeros[2004]), complete with bonus cuts, 1998's Three E.P.'s collection, and two discs of supplemental material, one with live BBC sessions and the other with unreleased demos and live performances. Beginning the band's signature tune, "Dry the Rain," and ending with a live rendition at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire of the Hip-Hop-fueled "House Song," The Regal Years 1997-2004 leaves no stone unturned, providing longtime fans and the newly converted with all the Beta Band that they will likely ever get.

People of Celtic culture all over ancient Europe were fascinated by lip reed instruments, and made great horns and trumpets in many forms including the carnyx, a two-metre-long bronze trumpet surmounted by a stylised animal head. One of these was found at Deskford, Scotland, in 1816 and reconstructed in the early 1990s; it is joined here by the magnificent Tintignac carnyx, discovered in southern France in 2004 and reconstructed specially for the current project. A new reconstruction has also been made of the Loughnashade horn from Ireland, with its exquisite decorated bell disc. Recent developments in music archaeology have vastly increased our knowledge and understanding of both the physical construction of these instruments and their likely playing techniques. John Kenny has specialised in their performance for a quarter of a century, and his newly created music explores the voices of these instruments in solo, duo and ensemble textures, drawing upon Celtic mythical characters, echoes of ancient ritual in modern society, and impressions of real places in Ireland, Scotland and France.

When Hammerfall released its debut album, "Glory To The Brave", twenty years ago, the five Swedes launched a true heavy metal revival overnight. While the mainstream still concentrated on grunge and the metal scene was dominated by especially black and gothic acts, this traditional metal record was like a godsend and heralded a new era. "For us, the immense success was a real shock in the beginning," singer Joacim Cans remembers, because suddenly, Hammerfall were considered to be the saviors of true metal. They received countless rave reviews from magazines, Wacken Open Air booked the band at prime time on the main stage, Kai Hansen invited the band personally to join as support on the GAMMA RAY tour and the CD entered the German album chart at the amazing position of No. 38 - an unbelievable achievement during this time.