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A riddle wrapped in an enigma dressed up in leather and studs, Germany's Mekong Delta perplexed the heavy metal world both by playing an unconventional brand of progressive thrash and by keeping the identities of the bandmembers secret for the first five years of a career starting in 1987…

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds is the eponymous release from the solo project of the former Oasis legend, and the first after his acrimonious split from the aforementioned band. Working in both London and Los Angeles between 2010 and 2011, with frequent collaborator Dave Sardy serving as co-producer, Gallagher utilized the talents of now bandmates Jeremy Stacey (drums), Lenny Castro (percussion) and Mike Rowe (keyboards) for the album.

The S1 Sessions is the brand new Solo album from Peter Cox. The fourth album of his solo career 'The S1 Sessions' sees Peter Cox doing what he does best: challenging himself by turning his attention to a very different genre of music and at the same time creating a sumptuous album full of his incredible vocals that fans and music lovers alike will love.

Tchaikovsky wrote four works for piano and orchestra: the three concertos, and the Concert Fantasy in G Op.56 (1884). The First Concerto ranks today as possibly the most famous piano concerto ever composed. Its entry into the world was, however, far from easy. Dismissed by critics as a flop, and by its dedicatee Nikolai Rubinstein as unplayable – which caused a rift between Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky, the concerto was premiered in Boston in the USA in 1875, and the dedicatee was Hans von Bülow, who conducted the performance with Benjamin Johnson Lang as soloist. Its success was never in doubt from then on. Rubinstein relented and undertook to champion the concerto. It is a large, dramatic work with its roots firmly in the Chopin/Mendelssohn school.

Saul is one of Handel's most action-filled, fast-moving oratorios; an opera in everything but name only. It has been lucky on disc–both Paul McCreesh (Archiv) and John Eliot Gardiner (Philips) have led superb readings, and Joachim Carlos Martini leads a good performance on Naxos, which is a bargain. Now René Jacobs and his remarkable Concerto Köln come along and offer a truly majestic reading, filled with real drama and beautiful, precise singing and playing. Tenor Jeremy Ovenden sings Jonathan with nobility and faces down Saul in Act II with style and power. David is sung by countertenor Lawrence Zazzo, and he's as good as the best-recorded competition (Andreas Scholl, Derek Lee Ragin). Emma Bell is ravishing as Merab; Rosemary Joshua makes a fine Joshua.

Bartok - Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 - Pollini, CSO, Abbado (1979) {Deutsche Grammophon 415 371-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 211 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 119 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 79 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1979 Polydor / Deutsche Grammophon | 415 371-2
Classical / Concertos

Bartók's Piano Concertos are among the most difficult ever written; only a piano virtuoso of amazing dexterity, along with a virtuoso orchestra, can play them. Maurizio Pollini is that pianist, and the Chicago Symphony is that orchestra. The pianist's command of the music is consistently impressive, and Claudio Abbado leads the orchestra in extremely close sympathy with the pianist. The result is a set of performances that would be ideal except for two factors. One is that this LP reissue contains only two Concertos, when all three can fit on one CD. The other is that the recording balance so undervalues the orchestra that you can't hear everything. I'd love to hear these artists rerecord the same music with better engineering. –Leslie Gerber