To this day, Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor continues to be the least frequently performed of all his symphonies. Not as revolutionary as the first, or as brutally reckless as the third, Bruckner’s core ambition with his Second is a constant testing, exploration, and expansion of the possibilities of the symphony. Conductor Marek Janowski and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande succeed in doing justice to the work, and the recording is clear proof of Janowski’s brilliance when it comes to conducting Bruckner. In reviewing the recording, Gramophone declared: “There’s more than a touch of the great Eugen Jochum in Janowski’s approach.”
In the 1960s and 1970s Bollywood composers adventurously adopted the trippy guitars, spiralling synthesizers and ethereal vocals of psychedelia and mixed it with lusciously over-the-top Indian orchestrations. Jewels included feature songs by Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar, Usha Iyer and yodeller Kishore Kumar. Bonus CD: The Rough Guide To R.D. Burman - This hand-picked bonus album spotlights the work of seminal composer R.D. Burman. He scored for over 300 movies over the years 1960 to 1990 and was the son of illustrious composer S.D. Burman, whose compositions are also heard on here.
During the final week of 1971, The Band played four legendary concerts at New York City's Academy Of Music, ushering in the New Year with electrifying performances, including new horn arrangements by Allen Toussaint and a surprise guest appearance by Bob Dylan for a New Year's Eve encore. Select highlights from the concerts were compiled for The Band's classic 1972 double LP, Rock Of Ages, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and remains a core album in the trailblazing group's storied Capitol Records catalog.
This two-disc set from ex-Procol Harum member and pioneering English guitar player Robin Trower features a collection of highlights from his post-Chrysalis Records period. Boasting 35 tracks culled from the albums Passion (1987), Take What You Need (1988), In the Line of Fire (1990), 20th Century Blues (1994), Go My Way (2000), Living Out of Time (2003), Another Day's Blues (2005), Seven Moons (2008), What Lies Beneath (2009), The Playful Heart (2011), and Roots and Branches (2013), Compendium 1987-2013 offers up a solid overview of Trower's later works, and would pair nicely with 2012's Farther On Up the Road: The Chrysalis Years (1977-1983).
More than the compilation series, more than the lovingly organised events, more than the radio shows: "Le Café Abstrait" is a philosophy of lifestyle: relaxed and culturally open-minded.
It was "Le Café Abstrait" and its mastermind, Raphaël Marionneau, who pioneered chill-out culture at Hamburg's internationally renown Mojo club in 1996: "Le Café Abstrait" reinvented nightclubbing in a new relaxing way. Once a month, stylish sofa installations and light projections transformed Mojo's dancefloor into a gigantic living room. There, up to 400 laid-back nightlife connoisseurs indulged in relaxation and Raphaël Marionneau's very special downtempo music selections. A new lifestyle was born: the couch culture…