Cocoon Parallel Lines

The New Grove Dictionary has entries on 10 musically active members of the Couperin dynasty, of whom Armand-Louis is, chronologically speaking, the eighth. Born in 1725, he was the son of one of the great François Couperin’s cousins, and held a number of organ posts in Paris, including the virtually family-owned one of St Gervais, on the way to Vespers at which he was killed in a road accident just a few months before the Revolution. According to accounts he was a likeable man whose life was led free from strife and uncorrupted by ambition, and it is not fanciful to say that such are the qualities which inform his harpsichord music. Mostly rather rangy character pieces, though with a sprinkling of dances, they show the bold textural richness of the later French harpsichordist-composers, if without the galloping imagination of figures such as Rameau, Balbastre or Royer. Instead, they prefer to inhabit a contented rococo world, into which they bring considerable professional polish. If that makes the pieces sound predominantly ‘pleasant’, well, so they are… as agreeable a body of solo harpsichord music as any. But they are not vapid and neither are they easy, and we can be grateful that this selection has fallen to a player as technically assured and as musically sympathetic as Sophie Yates.

Wah Wah 45s are very proud to announce the release of Kalba, the first album from Ghanaian xylophone master Isaac Birituro and Leeds-based producer and singer- songwriter Sonny Johns AKA The Rail Abandon.

The careers of singer Nancy Wilson and pianist Ramsey Lewis have followed parallel lines since the early 1960s. Although both began as jazz artists, they soon found greater fame and fortune in contemporary pop and have rarely looked back since. In 1982, Mr. Lewis and Ms. Wilson teamed up for a vapid, forgettable collection of smooth jazz/contemporary pop called The Two of Us. For jazz fans, the record represented all the wrong turns taken by these two obviously talented musicians.

The name Mark Baker may not be immediately recognizable to many, but for liner note/album credits junkies, it signifies top shelf AOR songwriting. Whether it be anthems or ballads, a Mark Baker song means memorable hooks and a big chorus. Mark Baker is the man behind the iconic Signal "Loud & Clear" album as well as many other songs, including tracks for .38 Special, Paris Black, Triumph and Boulevard. He was also the main co-writer on House Of Lords' acclaimed "Demons Down" record, rejoining as co-writer on some of the band's more recent albums too.

Spirogyra - St. Radigunds (1971). Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a newly remastered edition of the classic album "St. Radigunds” by Spirogyra. Initially formed by duo Martin Cockerham and Mark Francis in Bolton in 1968, the band expanded when Cockerham was a student in Canterbury at the end of 1969. The expanded line-up featured Martin Cockerham (guitar, vocals), Barbara Gaskin (lead vocals), Steve Borrill (bass) and Julian Cusack (violin, keyboards) and secured a contract with B&C Records in 1970. The band’s debut album, "St. Radigunds” was issued in 1971 and featured guest drummer Dave Mattacks and Tony Cox on VCS 3 Synthesiser. "St. Radigunds” is rightly hailed as a classic of the era and this Esoteric Recordings newly remastered edition celebrates this legendary album, featuring a booklet with new essay…

Blondie is an American rock band founded by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American new wave and punk scenes of the mid-late 1970s. Its first two albums contained strong elements of these genres, and although successful in the United Kingdom and Australia, Blondie was regarded as an underground band in the United States until the release of Parallel Lines in 1978. Over the next three years, the band achieved several hit singles including "Heart of Glass", "Call Me", "Rapture" and "The Tide Is High" and became noted for its eclectic mix of musical styles incorporating elements of disco, pop, reggae, and early rap music.