Triple X From Issue 52

Julian Bream is, without a doubt, one of the premiere classical guitarists of the modern recording era. Comparisons between great guitarists is often unfair and misleading as they each have their own styles - and each musician and his/her style tends to be particularly well suited to certain types of music. For example, Andres Segovia's style, cultivated by self-teaching throughout his now ended life, concentrated on flowing legatto smoothness and flowing melodies. Bream's, on the other hand, while equally masterful, is better characterized as emphasizing the precision and crispness of each and every individual note. What better composer to focus on to show this particular proclivity that J. S. Bach, whose work, having been written largely for the keyboards (harpsichord) but also for the lute and triple harp, tends to emphasize the kinds of music Bream excels at. Stacatto phrasings, each written to be played with crystalline exactness, are the types of pieces wherein Bream's magnificence is conspicuous and best showcased. Thus, the special relevance of this particular compilation of some of his best Bach work on this CD.

Best Of 3CD (The Platinum Collection on the first 2009 issue) is a triple-disc set that contains one disc of Enigma’s greatest hits, one disc of remixes, and one disc of “The Lost Ones,” brief instrumental snippets that were used as source material and ideas for full-length tracks. Naturally, this last disc is what’s interesting for the hardcore fan which, unlike the rest, consists of unreleased material - but even the hardcore may find this slightly ephemeral; after all, these were designed as something like work tapes, not for release. The rest of the set is a good overview of basics, but it’s still unclear exactly who this is for, as this recycles too much for the hardcore, and it’s too lengthy for the casual fan.

Zappa ’80: Mudd Club/Munich combines two historical performances from the spring/summer 1980 band. The first is from a set at FZ’s favorite NYC nightclub – the famous Mudd Club. Presented from a hi-res transfer of the original master tape. The second, from Olympiahalle in Munich, is the first ever live direct to digital stereo recording of Zappa. Mastering by Bernie Grundman, 2022.

This stunning box set was released by Julia Fordham, strictly limited to 500 pieces, to be ordered at her website only, already sold out, no re-release… Julia Fordham will, later this month, issue Lock & Key, a special six-CD box set that collects some of her more recent studio albums (with extra tracks) and offers her new record Cutting Room Floor.
This collection features China Blue (2008), Unusual Suspects (with Paul Reiser – 2010), Under The Rainbow (2013), the first UK release of 2014’s The Language of Love, last year’s Magic and Julia’s brand new album Cutting Room Floor. All of the albums offer exclusive bonus tracks, which 14 in total across the six CDs.

Kscope will later this year issue Closed For Business an enormous Mansun box set to mark 25 years since the band emerged onto the UK rock/pop scene. The 24CD+DVD collection features an enormous amount of audio/video content and comes with three books, art prints, postcards and a lyric sheet SIGNED by frontman Paul Draper.

Epic/Legacy reissued the Clash's classic third album, London Calling, in 2000, remastering the album and restoring the original artwork, much of which didn't make the original CD issue. No bonus material was added to this or any of the other Clash reissues of 2000, largely because nearly all of the B-sides and useable rare material had already appeared on compilations ranging from Super Black Market Clash to the box set Clash on Broadway…

Notable modern American prog-rock band Glass Hammer have decided to mark time in-between their grander symphonic works with `Untold Tales', their second collection of rarities after the little-known `The Compilations' collection from 2006. Covering 1993 through to now, it contains several instrumental sketches, a recent live adaption, all-new exclusive pieces, contributions to various-artist sets and a couple of covers, and it makes for a lovely stop-gap release that will especially hold great appeal to long term fans of the band…