Feast of Love 2007

Aztec Camera were a Scottish pop/new wave band formed by Roddy Frame, the group's singer, songwriter, and only consistent member. Formed in 1980, Aztec Camera released a total of six albums: High Land, Hard Rain (1983), Knife (1984), Love (1987), Stray (1990), Dreamland (1993) and Frestonia (1995). The band garnered popular success for the songs "Oblivious", "Somewhere in My Heart" and "Good Morning Britain" (a duet with former Clash guitarist Mick Jones).

To be sure, there are some great performances in this 10-disc set, André Previn: The Great Recordings. Previn's insouciant wit is evident in his effervescent reading of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, and there is deep affection in his sensuous account of highlights from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. His explosive rendering of Orff's Carmina Burana has barbaric splendor, and there is thrilling excitement in his orgasmic interpretation of Rachmaninov's Second Symphony. But it can't be denied that Previn's superficial readings of Holst's The Planets and Debussy's Images are little more than musical travelogs, and that his dreary accounts of Shostakovich's Eighth and Elgar's Enigma Variations are musty musical picture galleries. His extravagantly colorful renderings of Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony and Walton's Belshazzar's Feast come across as lurid musical history lessons.

Sunchild is yet another prog project from talented and prolific Ukrainian musician Antony Kalugin. Kalugin currently records under three band names, Karfagen, Hoggwash and Sunchild. Under the Sunchild name, he brought together a plethora of other Ukranian musicians to supplement his impressive keyboard and writing talents. The music is an all out prog feast with many varied tempos and loads of keyboards washing over everything. A wide array of horns and woodwinds are used to great extent as well. Kalugin does the bulk of the singing (in English) with perhaps a slight accent. He also brings in guest vocalists, both male and female to add even more dimensions to the proceedings.