Venus 30

Three albums in the novelty has worn off, but Dengue Fever has smartly chosen to keep evolving. While that means their unquestionably unique offering no longer startles, it's no less riveting – Venus on Earth is at once the band's most accessible and most varied release. A recap: when first heard from in 2003 on their self-titled debut, Dengue Fever was like no other band, a bunch of L.A. hipsters fronted by a Cambodian-born woman, Chhom Nimol, who paid homage to that Asian nation's pre-Pol Pot cheesy psychedelic-cum-lounge-surf-garage pop sound of the '60s/early '70s, music obscure enough that only a tiny handful of Americans could honestly claim to have known the first thing about it – certainly, the source material spun outside of the orbit of the so-called core world music audience.

Another French baroque opera composer, Henry Desmarest, resurfaces after centuries of obscurity. Vénus & Adonis, first seen in 1697 in Paris, was composed in the midst of a scandal, when Desmarest eloped with a young singer who was the daughter of a powerful official. In his absence, he was sentenced to death and thus effectively exiled until his pardon in 1720. The opera’s theme of illicit love seems to have fired Desmarest’s imagination, and the stylish cast, headed by Karine Deshayes and Sébastien Droy, responds in kind. One senses, too, rare involvement in the playing of Les Talens Lyriques. More Desmarest operas await.

In 1990 Neil Hannon started recording and releasing under the name The Divine Comedy. Thirty years and twelve great albums later, Hannon is rightly adjudged one of the finest singer songwriters of his generation. To celebrate, Divine Comedy Records are remastering and reissuing nine of the band's classic albums.

The German-born English transplant Johann Christoph Pepusch was an older contemporary and colleague of George Frederick Handel, and he is best remembered for arranging the music of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. His involvement in London's music scene also led him to compose his own works for the stage, such as the masque Venus and Adonis, a vehicle for two of the leading sopranos of the day, Jane Barbier and Margarita de L'Epine.

Venus and Mars, originally released in 1975, is the fourth album by Wings. The album was recorded primarily at Sea-Saint Studios in New Orleans and at Abbey Road Studios in London. The album topped US and UK charts reaching #1 on both, spearheaded by the success of lead single “Listen to What the Man Said.”…

Written at the request of Louis XIV in honor of his sister-in-law, Henrietta of England, Lully's Le Ballet royal de la naissance de Vénus was performed in 1665 with Henrietta herself as the goddess of love and youth. This grandiose spectacle combining dancing, music and poetry, served the power of the king, while attesting to the magnificence of his court. Musically very inventive, it shows the culmination of the ballet genre. The recording, from Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques is completed by excerpts from Les Amours déguisés, Psyché, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme and Le Carnaval.

Enrico Rava - Italian Ballads (1996){Venus Japan TKCV 35002 rel 2007}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 421 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 172 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 40 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1996, 2007 Venus Records Japan | TKCV 35002
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Post Bop / Trumpet

On this CD, the lyrical trumpeter Enrico Rava performs themes from Fellini movies, operas and classical music, along with three originals by band members. Despite its title, not all of the selections are taken at slower tempos, but there is an emphasis on memorable and haunting melodies. The results, which do not quite fit in as avant-garde or world music, are certainly jazz. Rava, guitarists Domenico Carliri and Roberto Cecchetto, and guest Richard Galliano on accordion get some individual improvisations, generally remaining within the mood of each piece while stretching its boundaries a bit. Barbara Casini's occasional vocals in Italian are a strong asset, and she comes across much closer to a bossa nova singer than to an opera star. Definitely an intriguing set.

19 cover songs spanning Mr. Bowie's career from "Space Oddity" to "Heathen," performed by such diverse acts as Tegan and Sara, The Switchblade Kittens, Shesus, Astrid Young (of Neil Young's band), and Essra Mohawk, whose 1970 release "Primordial Lovers" was cited in a 1977 Rolling Stone review as one of the "25 all-time best albums." The compilation also features the band Lunasect, whose contribution to the "Anyone Can Play Radiohead" tribute CD was singled out in another Rolling Stone review (July 11, 2001) out as the only "track which shows a glimpse of the promise this album might have had." The CD's cover art features a classic 1972 photo of David Bowie from legendary rock photographer Mick Rock.

Written at the request of Louis XIV in honour of his sisterin- law, Henrietta of England, Le Ballet royal de la naissance de Vénus was performed in 1665 with Henrietta herself as the goddess of love and youth. In twelve entrées, this grandiose spectacle, combining dancing, music and poetry, served the power of the king, while attesting to the magnificence of his court. Musically very inventive, it shows the culmination of the ballet genre, on which Lully was to draw in creating the tragédie en musique. To complete the programme, excerpts from Les Amours déguisés (Armida’s famous lament “Ah! Rinaldo, e dove sei?”), Psyché, Le Bourgeois gentil homme and Le Carnaval - from the latter, a piece recycled from Les Noces de village, a burlesque aria sung by the boastful village schoolmaster Barbacola, a basso buffo role that Lully wrote for himself.