This Is Awkward

Daniil Trifonov is a Russian pianist who won one of the prizes at the 2010 International Chopin Competition when he was only 19. This CD was recorded back then. He has had a burgeoning career since then and he has recorded two previously released Chopin CDs: Daniil Trifonov Plays Frederic Chopin &Mazurkas Op 56 / Nocturne in B Major to general praise.

Just when I thought that folk metal didn’t really do it for me anymore; I came across the new album For Battles Once Fought from the Israelian band Arafel. Partly because the former singer from my used-to-be-number-one-band-Equilibrium, Helge Stang, became frontman of this band in 2008, I decided to give it a try. And I must say that I am happily surprised. Arafel was formed in 1997 in Israel by a few musicians who found their origins in the Soviet Union. The band started off as a black metal band, but on this new album they take a turn more towards death metal. A turn that was already noticeable in their former album, Through The Flame Of Ages. The folk influences are there, and especially the violin lines give this band a typical sound. For Battles Once Fought is also the first cd recording for the ‘new’ violin player Nasha, and she did a great job.

Although she had made a name for herself as a solo artist in Sweden, Agnetha Fältskog will always be best known as one-fourth of ABBA, one of the most commercially successful and internationally beloved pop acts of all time. Born on April 5, 1950, Fältskog was encouraged to pursue her love of music from an early age and was already performing with two school friends as the Cambers by the time she was a teen…

Waylon Jennings spent 20 years with RCA Records, signing with the label in 1965 and remaining with them until 1985, when he moved on to record for MCA Records. Needless to say, his key creative years were with RCA, particularly after 1972, when Jennings renegotiated his deal to give him more artistic control over what he produced. This box set package includes five of the resulting RCA albums that Jennings produced between 1973 and 1978, including 1973's Lonesome, On'ry and Mean, 1974's This Time and The Ramblin' Man, 1977's Ol' Waylon, and 1978's Waylon & Willie (with Willie Nelson), with whatever bonus tracks that were included on RCA's individual CD reissues of each album. It's a whole lot of Waylon, probably more than the casual listener would need and serious fans would most likely already have all of, but a big chunk of Jennings' legacy is here, so it makes an easy way to connect with his most creative period as an artist in one simple swoop.