Duo Biao 2008

Max Melvin is a duo formed in Hamburg, Germany consisting of Andreas Bruhn and Stefan Rekittke. The pair mostly produce electronica, and in particular downtempo music.
Satellite (2003). It is not very often that the massive lounge and chill-out scene produces artists that are able to develop the potential and qualities to make an album. This is definitely true of Max Melvin, however. Max Melvin are back with their second long player “Satellite”. And, when you hear this excellent eleven-track course in relaxation therapy, you will probably think the producers Andreas Bruhn and Stefan Rekittke are the most relaxed people in the world. The two guys from Hamburg don’t seem to know the meaning of rush and stress…

The piano works with which the multi-award-winning duo Yaara Tal & Andreas Groethuysen once again underline their flair for rarities that are absolutely worth hearing come from the Francophone world of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For the program "Avec esprit" the duo has selected pieces mainly by unknown composers, which were written between 1874 and 1910, and thus show a wide range of French high and late romantic music.

The paths of cellist Nargiza Yusupova and pianist Polina Spirina crossed for the first time in 2016, but not, as one might expect, in the corridors of music academies – curiously enough, in a children's playground. Since then, this Munich duo has attracted attention with its brilliant and sensitive, transparent sound. They also create unique and intimate moments with their charming storytelling and poignant anecdotes from their lives. The listeners and spectators are glued to their lips, their ears follow the passionate and sensual playing of this chamber music fusion. It is the very special closeness to the selected audience, personal and approachable. Nargiza Yusupova & Polina Spirina combine their music with a direct mouthpiece to the audience. The press agrees that "the harmony of their virtuoso interplay" makes every concert an "experience of dynamic contrasts and floating sounds". They are the first and so far the only chamber music duo of its kind to bring to life rare or never before performed masterpieces such as those also part of this CD by Camillo Schumann and Alexander Borodin. Thanks to their fine chamber music artistry, outstanding commitment and unique programme selection, Duo Rubikon received funding from the Deutscher Musikrat in 2021 as part of the NEUSTART KULTUR programme "Preserving and Strengthening the Infrastructure for Culture in Germany", which brought this CD to life.

Charlotte Schneider and Guy-Baptiste Jaccottet have been exploring since 2017 the multiple sounds offered by their combined instruments. These curious and playful musicians explore a repertoire stretching from the 16th to the 18th century, transcribing and arranging pieces for their duo. As a result, their music lies at the crossroads of historically informed performance practice and the concrete reality of instruments and places.

Robert Schumann knew his way around the piano like hardly any other composer. During his constant quest for new sound, it must have been a real experience for him and his wife Clara when a pedal – as on an organ – was added to their grand piano. The Amsterdam Piano Duo has set out to relive this revelation on this recording of the Studien für den Pedalflügel on an Erard grand piano from 1837 in a version for piano four hands by Georges Bizet.

With only two albums and a handful of singles released before they broke up, the '80s synth pop duo Yazoo - or Yaz if you're outside the United States - are in the "all or nothing" category when it comes to box sets. Save a couple remixes, Mute's 2008 set In Your Room is everything the duo - instrumentalist and former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke along with the as yet unheard of vocalist Alison Moyet - released in its short career, and then some. Disc one of this set features their debut 1982 album, Upstairs at Eric's, while disc two features the follow-up, You and Me Both, from a year later. Both are remastered splendidly - giving the albums more depth and punch in the bass - as are the remixes and B-sides that occupy disc three. The non-album tracks "State Farm" and "The Other Side of Love" both get a proper home on the third disc and sit next to a wealth of desirable extended mixes of club hits like "Situation" and "Don't Go."