Delmark recording artist Rockin' Johnny Burgin is the new modern king of Chicago West Side blues. He recorded "Greetings from Greaseland" with the cream of the crop of the San Francisco Bay blues scene at California's funkiest studio, Greaseland. This CD, his sixth, features Aki Kumar on harp, Kid Andersen on gtr, Vance Ehlers on bass and June Core on drums. It also features the first recordings of Johnny on harp. There's some great chemistry and blues feeling on display on his first ever California recording with these great Bay area blues players.
Max Richter’s landmark 8.5 hour work SLEEP in an abrdiged 90 min. version. The SLEEP project explores new ways for music and consciousness to interact, a “personal lullaby for a frenetic world…a manifesto for a slower pace of existence.”
Robin Taylor is quite a prolific Danish guitarist, recording and performing both as a solo artist and also leader of Taylor’s Universe since the mid 80s. Each new release contains new compositions bringing some familiarity with things past and surprises of new things to come. For this outing, From Scratch, the Universe is Robin (electric and bass guitars, keyboards, percussion, etc.), Karsten Vogel (sax and bass clarinet), Claus Bøhling (electric guitar), Thomas Thor Viderøulstrup (miniMoog), and Klaus Thrane (drums). Guests include Finn Olafsson (electric guitar), Jakob Mygind (sax), Carsten Sindvald (sax), and the voices of Jytte Lindberg, Louise Nipper, and Jan Fischer…
Lindsey Stirling brings her futurist world of electronic big beats fused with violin, dance, and animation to London s Forum Theatre. Filmed live during her Shatter Me World Tour, the 90 minute live show features her smash single Shatter Me along with several other tracks from her sophomore album which debuted at #2 on Billboard s Top 200 album chart.
Leap Day was founded on the 29th of February 2008. This Dutch sympho outfit has members of wellknown bands from the world of progressive rock, such as Flamborough Head, King Eider, Nice Beaver, Trion and Pink Floyd Project. In 2008 they released their demo cd containing three songs, including Awaking The Muse which is the title of their first full-length studio album released through Oskar music in 2009. In terms of musical style we're treated to neo-prog of the vintage variety here, with nods in the directions of Camel and Genesis as far as possible influences go. Lush sonic tapestries with multiple keyboard layers and melodic, gentle guitar soloing will be found aplenty on this album, and the lead vocals calm and soothing with a few subtle dramatic flairs on select occasions. Melody and harmony are keywords for this production though, and if that sounds enticing you'll most probably enjoy this effort…
Remastered Deluxe Edition with bonus disc includes B-sides, rare mixes and 5 previously unreleased tracks.
Smarting from Dazzle Ships' commercial failure, the band had a bit of a rethink when it came to their fifth album - happily, the end result showed that the group was still firing on all fours. While very much a pop-oriented album and a clear retreat from the exploratory reaches of previous work, Junk Culture was no sacrifice of ideals in pursuit of cash. In comparison to the group's late-'80s work, when it seemed commercial success was all that mattered, Junk Culture exhibits all the best qualities of OMD at their most accessible - instantly memorable melodies and McCluskey's distinct singing voice, clever but emotional lyrics, and fine playing all around…