Forrest Gump (1994) is one of the most successful films ever made, winning Tom Hanks his second successive Best Actor Oscar (he won the previous year for Philadelphia) as well as claiming the Best Picture Oscar and many other awards and nominations, including several for music. A unique fable of American life from the 1950s to the 80s, the film blends comedy, drama, war, romance and groundbreaking special effects into a social and political portrait of the passing years, all seen through the eyes of the intellectually challenged but immensely likeable Forrest Gump. The soundtrack is a double album featuring 31 classic pop tunes plus a suite from Alan Silvestri's rich orchestral music, represented more completely on the companion score album.
Another band that has benefitted big time from joining the PPR label, a band we at Caerllysi Music have championed from it's birth with One in Every Crowd some 15 years ago, album number 5 has all the bombastic trademarks we have come to treasure and they are destined to elevate themselves to a higher plain with this very strong concept offering which will touch a few nerves with most of us. Cracking Stuff!
Issued in 1997 on PSF, the live album by the Poly Breath Percussion Band is an exercise in skronk, rhythm, and groove. Featuring Shoji Hano on traps and talking drums; Megumu Nishino on an elaborate array of electronic drums, electronics, and traditional Japanese percussion instruments; Tetsu Yamachi on electric bass; and the totally amazing alto talents of veteran improviser and free jazzer Keizo Inoue (electronica pioneer Tetsu's father), this band in a live setting is just plain dangerous…
The series now takes a trip to the US of A, sixties style for its latest theme. Reflecting the way todays 60’s centric DJs / Mod Clubs weave a patchwork of musical styles from the 60’s in their 360 degree playlists of the period, so the latest Looking set travels from uptempo R&B and Early Soul to Garage Punk, Northern, Frat Rock, Proto-Psych and wild instro’s. PayIng homage to American Mod music from the Sixties.
The line dividing black gospel and so-called secular music has always been a thin one, and musicians have rarely been afraid to step over it. In the 1920s, the blind singer “Arizona” Juanita Dranes wed ragtime and boogie—rhythms associated with saloons and barrelhouses—to Holiness movement hymns. Later, Mahalia Jackson, who refused to record secular records, nonetheless achieved massive popularity outside the sanctified confines of the gospel scene. A true pioneer, Sister Rosetta Tharpe scandalized the church by performing in nightclubs, practically inventing rock & roll in the process. By the early 1970s, blockbuster Stax singles by the Staple Singers proved artists could exist comfortably in both worlds, or suggested that perhaps these distinct spheres actually overlapped.