2011 DGG released a spectacular 10-CD anthology on Archiv Produktion with Ensemble Plus Ultra (EPU), the finest British early music singers (Early Music Today), commemorating the 400th anniversary of Tomas de Victoria s death. This box won a Gramophone award.
The Genuine Pig's "Ultra Rare Trax" series offers a fair sample of Pink Floyd's BBC sessions and unreleased material…
Picking up where DMX Krew left off, Mount Sims' debut record paints a picture of the new wave renaissance with tongue planted firmly in cheek. Appearing to be a mildly fetish-oriented trio consisting of two girls and a pompous male lead singer, the band is actually the studio creation of sonic explorer Matt Sims. Does it work? The answer is a resounding yes; he manages to capture all the glorious excess and studio trickery of the genre's early-'80s heyday and inject soulful singing and hip-hop beats into the mix. Sims affects a voice that turns from an erotic groan to a falsetto croon in a heartbeat, but his straightforward delivery makes the moments of levity that much funnier.
Ultra-Lounge is a series of compilation CDs released by Capitol Records, featuring music predominantly from the 1950s and 1960s in genres such as exotica, space age pop, mambo, television theme songs, and lounge. Many of the volumes have since been made available for purchase via digital download. Each CD featured detailed liner notes along with two related drink recipes, tips on how to serve drinks to guests, and often photographs of sculptures made out of bartender items and other objects.
The Ultra Vivid Lament’ is the 14th studio album from Manic Street Preachers. It is both reflection and reaction; a record that gazes in isolation across a cluttered room, fogged by often painful memories, to focus on an open window framing a gleaming vista of land melting into sea and endless sky. Musically, ‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’ is inspired by a formative years record box (ABBA, post-Eno Roxy, the Bunnymen, Fables-era REM, Lodger) though the end result could only be the unique union of James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire and Sean Moore, collectively one of the UK’s most consistently brilliant rock’n’roll bands for over three decades.
Revered producer and composer Daniel Avery releases his most ambitious and accomplished studio album to date, Ultra Truth, via Phantasy Sound.