The Mathematician's Air Display

In September 1925, seven students gathered in Brussels to form the first composers’ collective in Belgian music history – Les Synthetistes – who sought to distinguish themselves from late Romantic style by connecting with contemporary music. A lack of symphony orchestras in Belgium at the time saw them composing and transcribing original works for wind band, and through their collaboration with Arthur Prevost and the Band of the Belgian Guides, a unique canon of original, modern music could be heard on the Brussels concert stages during the interwar period. This recording provides a resounding response to the injustice of this repertoire’s complete neglect today.

Curved Air are an English progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classical, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band is a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fusion with classical elements…

Pekka Pohjola was bass guitarist in the Finnish Progressive outfit Wigwam, but departed the band in 1975 to embark on a solo career. Mike Oldfield was a huge admirer of his work to the extent that he produced and performed on Pohjola's third album, The Mathematician's Air Display. The five tracks on the album are a splendid combination of Pohjola's musical vision and Mike Oldfield's unique production and musical skills. Pohjola was later to perform on the Mike Oldfield Exposed tour and album. Never before issued on CD in the UK, this Esoteric release is newly re-mastered and restores the original British album artwork.

First among many ensembles in different genres that have chosen the name Air, this trio specializing in collective improvisation grew directly from the membership of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Throughout 11 albums that appeared over a span of one dozen years this group operated in modes comparable to that of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and at times some of Albert Ayler's early trio realizations. Its inception occurred in 1971, when saxophonist Henry Threadgill agreed to fulfill a request from the theater department at Chicago's Columbia College to devise modern arrangements based upon ragtime compositions of Scott Joplin (a concept borne to fruition by Anthony Braxton and Muhal Richard Abrams in 1976). Threadgill joined forces with bassist Fred Hopkins and drummer Steve McCall, and named the trio Reflection…

Jephtha was the last full-length composition that Handel wrote. (The Triumph of Time and Truth of 1757 was almost entirely made up of pre-existing music.) Given this fact, and also that the actual writing of it was an inordinately laborious task for Handel as he fought with rapidly failing eyesight, it's incomparable depth of expression and personal commitment make the whole work a profound and magnificent conclusion to his life's output. Based on a story from Judges XI, it tells of Jephtha leading the Israelites against the Ammonites and his ultimate sacrifice.

A fabulous collection of rock numbers from Eddie Cochran to Wheatus by way of Status Quo and Black Sabbath that will appeal not only to the air guitarists among us, but to everyone who finds great rock music exhilarating and enjoyable. Whether you're giving the grand solo performance in the privacy of you own home or hammering down the motorway with the wind in your (remaining) hair this double album hits the spot. The exhausted will feel reinvigorated and the depressed can hardly fail to feel somewhat more cheerful after sampling a few of these tracks. A second volume is promised and I will be one of the first in line when it is released. A treat - don't miss it!

Midas and its singer-violinist Eigo Utoh perform a melodic and elaborated symphonic Progressive rock, typical of the prestigious Japanese School of the Eighties. "Beyond The Clear Air" (1988) is often regarded as one of the landmarks of the genre. Included here are four long tracks with some energic rhythms, evoking Curved Air or Outer Limits, peaceful and atmospheric Pageant-styled ballads with flying violin chords and precious guitar solos. Various styles are showcased here, from Rock In Opposition to folk-rock, not to mention Neo-Progressive. This major opus has been jointly reissued by the Musea and Poseidon labels, with a bonus-track, called "Green Forest". Dissolved after this sole album, Midas reformed during the Nineties, and continues to publish albums since.

For part of Air's Pocket Symphony tour, Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Nicolas Godin played shows with only drummer Joey Waronker as support, forcing the band to strip its songs down to their essences. They stick with that lineup on Love 2, which delivers some of the most Air-like music to the band's name, and with good reason: this is the first time Dunckel and Godin have produced their own album. The duo tends to follow its more ambitious work with more accessible material and Love 2 is no exception, replacing Pocket Symphony's exotic, experimental bent with a renewed emphasis on the pair's quintessential sound. Godin and Dunckel dig deep into their arsenal of vintage electronic gear, topping those burbles, buzzes, and whooshes with some strings here and a few fuzzed-out guitars and basslines there…

Another epic release from Virgin in the Best of Series. This release containing 3CD of classic Air Guitar tracks from Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody, Boston – More Than a Feeling, 52 Tracks in all.

Glenn Miller's reign as the most popular bandleader in the U.S. came relatively late in his career and was relatively brief, lasting only about three and a half years, from the spring of 1939 to the fall of 1942. But during that period he utterly dominated popular music, and over time he has proven the most enduring figure of the swing era, with reissues of his recordings achieving gold record status 40 years after his death. Miller developed a distinctive sound in which a high-pitched clarinet carried the melody, doubled by a saxophone section playing an octave lower, and he used that sound to produce a series of hits that remain definitive examples of swing music…