The Vhb

This long-awaited disc by The Concussions is here! A dozen raw, twangy surf and guitar instrumental tunes, delivered by guys that are masters of their instruments and know their way around a recording studio. Hailing from Grand Rapids, Michigan, this combo is led by Dick Chiclet on lead guitar, who also produced recorded and mixed this release. His production style, which favors the use of vintage gear and is inspired by Joe Meek and others in the past and present that have stuck to analog recording techniques. This all goes towards delivering a disc that will appeal to surf and vintage instrumental rock n' roll aficionados, as well as those that are just looking to move and groove on the dance floor.

An appropriate title for an utterly charming set from the Three Sounds. The trio works familiar territory on Feelin' Good, playing a set of swinging hard bop and classy soul-jazz, but there's a definite spark in the air. Working from a diverse set of standards, originals, contemporary jazz, and blues, the Three Sounds created a cheerful, up-tempo record. Its very ease is deceptive - the music is so accessible and entertaining, it's easy to overlook the sheer musical mastery of the group, which performs at something of a peak on this record. Gene Harris sounds better than ever, turning in an elegant interpretation of "It Could Happen to You," but he's just as able to inject "When I Fall in Love" with unexpectedly vigorous swing and make Monk's "Straight No Chaser" a foot-tapping, danceable delight…

During pre-production of his studio album in 1991, Richards released Live At The Hollywood Palladium, December 15, 1988, a live set recorded during the Talk Is Cheap Tour. Featuring performances with his band the X-Pensive Winos, the album includes a collection of songs from Talk Is Cheap and several of his Rolling Stones vocal highlights. It features the solo hit Take It So Hard, Richards-led Stones classic Happy and previously unreleased performances of You Don’t Move Me, Little T&A and the Lennon / McCartney penned I Wanna Be Your Man. The remastered album on features 3 unreleased bonus tracks (I Wanna Be Your Man, Little T&A, You Don't Move Me).

The Lindsays offer strong, eloquent versions of the three Op. 55 quartets. Their playing is full of vigour yet alive to the nuances and felicities of a composer near the height of his powers – perhaps already there in the splendidly volatile F minor Quartet. The Kodály Quartet on Naxos provide an assured rival performance at bargain price, but the Lindsays’ attractive blend of exuberance and poise gives them the edge.

The re-master of a 1974 Decca Record recording is excellent in execution and style. Neveille Marriner and St. Martin-in-the-Fields perform in their typical excellent manner.

In their survey of Haydn's string quartets for ASV, the Lindsays have set about the business of restoring these Classical masterpieces to their proper place in the repertoire, with all their brilliant wit and brusqueness intact, and without undue sweetening or romanticizing. The point, it seems clear, is to bring Haydn out from under the familiar shadows of Mozart and Beethoven, and to render his quartets as the true models of quartet writing, not as light Rococo divertissements or tamer antecedents of greater works. The Lindsays are sharp in their characterizations of Op. 33, Nos. 3, 5, and 6, and their lean textures, crisp articulation, transparent repartee, and pungent attacks distinguish these performances from more commercially pretty or polished versions.

Features two live performances, one a twenty-three song long complete concert, the other the highlights of an acoustic show at the Buxton Opera House where they were joined by Maddy Prior, Nick Burbridge, Rev Hammer and Nick Harper.

Brahms composed his two published String Quintets amid the rural tranquillity of Bad Ischl in Upper Austria and the works can almost be seen as an expression of escape from the 'urban stress' of nineteenth-century Vienna. The Quintets show Brahms standing at the pinnacle of the composition of chamber music, their gentle pastoral character being subtly shaded by a profoundly melancholy introspection.