Jared Thomas Cocka

Before he released 8 and 9 as two separate vinyl albums, Prins Thomas opined that it marked his best work to date. Gathered here for the first time on a single CD, it's hard to quibble with his assessment. For starters, the collected tracks arguably offer the strongest fusion yet of the various musical threads that have long been present in his work - think sun-soaked Balearica, synthesizer-driven krautrock, dub disco, punk-funk, cosmic rock, loose-limbed grooves and wide-eyed, sunrise-ready electronic psychedelia. Highlights include the acoustic-meets-acid wonder of 'Cala Lunga', the sun-bright, slowly rising rush of 'Evig Ung', the rubbery and cosmic chug of 'Earthbound' and the heavily electronic bliss of 'I Love U'.

A pupil of Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky, and a teacher of Rachmaninov and Scriabin, Sergey Taneyev was a monumental figure in Russian music of the second half of the nineteenth century. Although highly independent as a mature artist, Taneyev was understandably under Tchaikovsky's influence during the early years of his career. His First Symphony, which can be compared to Tchaikovsky's Second, impresses with its seriousness, skilful orchestration, and a complete absence of virtuosity for its own sake. Written ten years later, the Third Symphony is a large four movement cycle. Its crowning glory, a scintillating Finale, shows Taneyev's contrapuntal prowess at it best.

Ten years after the formation of his supergroup Supersonic, orbiting in Sun Ra's orbit, saxophonist-singer Thomas de Pourquery takes over the controls of the flagship, of which Back to the Moon marks the third take-off. Where we meet Mingus, a love story, E.T., Caetano Veloso in Kikongo, a robot and epic songs. Aim for the moon.

Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, singer and producer. His hit singles include "She Blinded Me with Science" from 1982 and the 1984 single "Hyperactive!". He has also worked in production and as a session musician, as a technology entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, and as the Music Director for the TED Conference…

Known to Tchaikovsky as the ‘Russian Brahms’ and to Rachmaninov as ‘a master composer [and] a pinnacle of musical Moscow’, Sergey Taneyev was one of the most highly regarded and influential musical figures of his time. His unfinished Symphony No. 2, begun while Taneyev was a student at the Moscow Conservatoire, was recognised by his teacher, Tchaikovsky, as a work of considerable promise. It is heard here in Vladimir Blok’s edition, first performed in 1977. Taneyev’s Symphony No. 4, composed twenty years later, is a large-scale masterpiece considered by many to be his finest orchestral work.