Interesting Adventures

The Style Council's albums were always weighed down by their far-reaching musical ambitions, which meant that their ideas were usually best heard on their singles. And while this period of Paul Weller's career has been criticized heavily, he wrote several excellent songs during the Style Council, most of which are featured on the fine compilation The Singular Adventures of the Style Council. Not all of the 16 songs are first-rate, as it begins to lose steam toward the end of the band's life, but "My Ever Changing Moods," "You're the Best Thing," "Long Hot Summer," "Shout to the Top!," "A Solid Bond in Your Heart," "Money Go Round," "Walls Come Tumbling Down," and "Speak Like a Child" are terrific, and make the collection worthwhile for fans of the Jam and Weller's solo career, as well as fans of New Romantic new wave and jazzy sophisti-pop.

Not Missing Drums Project - Offline Adventures (1999) {Leo Lab CD 057}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 331 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 159 Mb
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© 1999 Leo Records | Leo Lab CD 057
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Modern Creative

It may not be completely unusual to record an ensemble without any drums, but what makes this live German project so interesting is its concept. Directed by cellist Thomas Böhm-Christl and saxophonist Joachim Gies, twenty musicians participated in three separate concerts of nine musicians each: four vocalists, seven wind players, seven string players, and two pianists. The emphasis is on variety, with some of twenty-three recorded pieces composed, others improvised, and the remainder somewhere in between. The size of the groups ranges from the duo to the nonet, with genres melding and melting. Some of the best solo work is from Gies, but there is plenty of competition, mostly from musicians not well known in the States. While some of the tracks seem like fragments, others are developed, but the excitement never wanes.

Polish band Tale Of Diffusion was formed in 2002 by Bartek Florczak (guitars), Tomek Pawlikowski (bass) and Radek Malinowski (drums). By 2006 they felt ready to start recording a debut album, and in 2009 their initial effort Adventures Of Mandorius (The Bird) was issued.
Evoking a diverse range of atmospheres from the whimsical to the spooky, the album features fine production and excellent performances, the compositions throw in a few nods to prog greats of the past but for the most part have a very individual sound. The contributions of guest keyboardists Pawel and Michal Marciniak and trumpeter Szymon Żmudzinski adds a sort of late-era Talk Talk texture to proceedings which is especially interesting. On the whole, a tale worth listening to.