Neo 6.54

2020 was a terrible year for gardening. It was terrible for peppers, it was terrible for tomatoes, it was terrible for the condition of the soul. But Chad VanGaalen somehow raised a garden all the same: carrots and sprouts and broccoli and a revivifying new album, all of them grown at home. He likes to eat directly off the plant, he says—"I get down on my knees and graze. It's nice to feel the vegetables in your face"—and the 13 songs on World's Most Stressed Out Gardener were harvested with just such a spirit: in their raw state, young and vegetal, at the very moment, they were made.

Here is a collection of familiar classical music adagios given new interpretations by Windham Hill artists. Although most of the tracks do have synthesizer harmonies and embellishments, there are some that do not. The Brahms Intermezzo contains its own intermezzo in the form of a jazz piano trio improvisation. Edgar Meyer on double bass and Mike Marshall on mandolin perform a nice, straightforward transcription of the Prelude in C sharp minor from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, with no synthesized embellishments.

From classical cover band devoted exclusively to performing Metallica's symphony-friendly epics to all purpose string ensemble interpreters of other heavy metal bands' music for the cello, to composers of original material fit to mingle with even more metallic translations, Finland's Apocalyptica had come a long way in the span of their first three albums. And, naturally, there were bound to be further innovations lined up for the band's fourth opus, Reflections, which arrived in 2003 bearing not a single heavy metal cover, and introducing several unexpected innovations into Apocalyptica's m.o., to boot. Chief among these was the addition of a drummer behind the group (recently paired down from quartet to trio), and since Apocalyptica's virtuosos would hardly stand for anything short of brilliance for such an assignment, that percussionist wound up being none other than Slayer legend Dave Lombardo…

The Appointment was a 1969 drama starring Omar Sharif as a lonely Italian attorney who romances and weds a beautiful model (Anouk Aimee)—all the while suspecting that she is a highly priced prostitute. Although directed by Sidney Lumet, The Appointment was a troubled production that led to its receiving three fully recorded scores by four composers. FSM's premiere release of the original soundtrack features selections from each—making for a rare and fascinating look at three different approaches for a single film.

The Great Adventure album ended up getting many mentions when the best albums of 2019 were being discussed. 2020 brings us the live representation of that album, filmed and recorded in Brno, in the Czech Republic…

Created in 1992 in Antwerp, Belguim, the group of four consisted of two brothers, Buni Lenski (violin) and Simon Lenski (cello) and Han Stubbe (clarinet) and Roel van Camp (accordion). They garnered much attention and enthusiasm around them in their many live shows and even grabbed the attention of dEUS and even played on a track in their second album, Suds & Soda. Their name (Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung) comes from the novel "Der Steppenwolf" by Herman Hesse. Having come out of the conservatory, they went on to create their music: their music is almost entirely instrumental (depending on the album), classical instruments are their "weapons" of choice and thus their music could be described as neo-classical, with eastern folk influences, some klezmer touches, jazz and with each album they venture with different experiments…

Special Edition 8-CD album set comprised of the albums In The Garden, Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), Touch, Be Yourself, Revenge, Savage, We Two Are One and Peace, painstakingly digitally remastered from original master tapes with the supervision of Dave Stewart and featuring 43 bonus tracks including live, extended & acoustic versions, remixes and previously unreleased recordings.

Appearing near the dawn of the 21st century, Atlanta's Mastodon established themselves as one of the most original and influential American metal bands. Their wide-angle progressive approach encompasses stoner and sludge metal, punishing hardcore and metalcore, neo-psych, death metal, and more - sometimes in the span of a single song. The group's playing style incorporates heavy, technically complex guitar riffs, lyric hooks, long, melodic instrumental passages, and intricate, jazz-influenced drumming with syncopated time signatures. Their second album, 2004's Leviathan, was a concept offering based on Moby Dick, Herman Melville's iconic novel of whaling and obsession, and proved the band's commercial and critical breakthrough. Since its release, the record has attained status as one of the most important albums in heavy metal's history…