Rachel's Birthday are a German, Stuttgart-based quintet, working together since 1997. Their line-up are Alfred Müller (keyboards), Michael Six (bass), Jürgen Hägele (drums), Bernd Müller (guitars) and Ralf Glasbrenner (vocals). They shifted their style from the more "straightforward prog rock" in the early days to the more original approach blending various elements, including new-wave, symphonic prog, neo prog and folk. After stabilizing their musical style, they started touring and soon gained a significant success: they won the "Battle Of The Bands" contest in Stuttgart in 1998, where they achieved a second place, and the first place on SDR3 festival. In the meantine they released their first and to day only CD "An Invitation To Rachel's Birthday", highly prized by both audience and the critics.
When Angels Speak of Love, released in 1966 on Sun Ra's Saturn label, is a rarity, there having been limited pressings (150 copies, by one estimate), which were sold thru the mail and at concerts and club dates. The tracks were taped in New York during two 1963 sessions at the Choreographer's Workshop, a rehearsal space/recording den with warehouse acoustics. Ra spent countless hours at the CW from 1961 to 1964 sharpening the Arkestra during exhaustive musical huddles. John Corbett calls this "one of the most continuous, best-documented periods of Ra's work"; much tape from these seminal sessions has survived and been issued on LP, CD and digitally.
“The night is short. It weighs heavy, but the light always awaits us.” Diamonds, the new album by The Birthday Massacre, contains an exploration of darkness as well as light, poison as well as its antidote. Within the songwriting, one can sense the passing of time, and the conflicts and resolutions that we can all feel. Nights end, and days resolve. If we look inside, we can find these precious emotions and conflicts. Every single one of them is valuable. Like the diamonds in the dark. And thus, we have "Diamonds" by the Birthday Massacre. The distinctive soaring synths and guitars, paired with our Chibi's beautiful familiar and reassuring voice, guides us all into the darkness as well as out to the light - guides us to mourn and to look inside, but also take our hand and invite us to dance, and remember - the night is short. It weighs heavy, but the light always awaits us.
At first glance, this looks like the perfect Christmas present for Cuban music enthusiasts: a finely packaged box set that includes three CDs, released to mark what would have been the 100th birthday last month of the great singer and guitarist who became best known for his work with the Buena Vista Social Club, and who enjoyed worldwide success until his death in 2003 at the age of 95. But it's not quite what it seems. It's described as an "exhaustive overview" of Segundo's work, but it only covers his final recordings from 1996-2003. Which is unfortunate, for this is surely the right time to release a comprehensive retrospective of his extraordinary career.
These two discs from Sun Ra and his Solar Myth Arkestra are not, as their title suggests, parts of a singular or continuous work. They were initially issued as two separate titles – similar to the two-part Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra – by the Belgian BYG Actuel label in 1971. Both volumes consist of mid-fidelity and primarily self-realized and -produced recordings. Despite the claim that these sides were taped in New York City at Sun Studios, Ra discographer Robert L. Campbell notes that by the time these tracks were documented, the Arkestra had ended its N.Y.C. residency and returned to Philadelphia.
The album Happy Birthday bears little resemblance to the cute and bubbly new wave pop of the title track, for which they're best remembered. Instead of capitalizing on the brightness of the obvious hit single, producer Steven Severin (of Siouxsie & the Banshees) pushed the band into moodier post-punk territory with minimalist arrangements and simple, driving rhythms. Clair Grogan's little-girl voice was probably better suited to pop, but the combination of the two extremes is certainly interesting, if not as fun and engaging as "Happy Birthday".
Original album remastered plus never before issued alternate mixes! Initially released in 1972 ‘Demons And Wizards’ is the fifth album by British rock band Uriah Heep. Fast forward 46 years it still remains a timeless classic. Painstakingly remastered by Andy Pearce this 2CD set also includes previously unreleased alternative mixes that excite, reignite and rejuvenate. Following the meteoric success of their previous release ‘Demons And Wizards’ that firmly cemented Heep’s legendary status ‘The Magician’s Birthday’ did not disappoint. In fact, it carried on from where the previous album left off. Selling 2.5 million copies worldwide and once again easily reaching the Top 50 in the UK, US, Australia and topping the charts in Finland.
Biffy Clyro release the surprise new project The Myth of the Happily Ever After. The record is a homegrown project that represents a reaction to their #1 album A Celebration of Endings and a rapid emotional response to the turmoil of the past year. It is the ying to the yang of A Celebration, the other-side-of-a-coin, a before-and-after comparison: their early optimism of 2020 having been brought back to earth with a resounding thud. It’s the product of a strange and cruel time in our lives, but one that ultimately reinvigorated Biffy Clyro.
Double CD version of Ginger Wildheart’s Birthday Bash 2018 show, including an incredible rendition of The Wildhearts’ classic ‘Mondo Akimbo A-Go-Go’ EP, with Bam on drums!