P.g.r.

Volume Two 1966 - 1970 (2016 UK Motown 96-track 8-CD box set of remastered albums, originally released between 1966 and 1970. Compising Moods Of Marvin Gaye, Take Two, United, In The Groove, You're All I Need, M.P.G, Easy and That's The Way Love Is.

Chiplandschaften (2005). More than two and a half years of work have been invested into this debut and a great deal of this time, producer Harald Karla has put into the breathtaking production technique of his music: all tracks are based on 8-bit sounds only which the computer fetishist has exclusively created with an Commodore Amiga 1200. Step by step, the Amiga sounds then have been recorded manually with an Yamaha A5000 sampler and in another step have been further worked on. In this very rangy kind of work process, Jonson has produced all thirteen tracks plus two bonus tracks of his debut. Not surprisingly, the album shows an incredibly unique sound. On "Chiplandschaften", quiet, harmonic tracks are being mixed with subtle grooving beats ("Autumnbits"), weightless worlds of sound ("Tiefszene", "R.E.S.A.M.P.L.E.", "Prozessordenken") invite you to float thoughtlessly…

There are a multitude of options open to the modern rock star wishing to announce to the world that they have embarked on a new album. You can give interviews, allow webcams into your studio, offer a free download as a taster. Or you can appear on Andrew Marr's Sunday morning politics show in a feathered headdress, playing the autoharp over an incessant, off-key sample of the Four Lads' 1953 hit Istanbul (Not Constantinople), while a nonplussed Gordon Brown looks on….

The twenty sonatas on this recording show Handel writing for the professional musicians of his London opera orchestra; they demand considerable skill and stamina both from the soloist and the continuo. Prominent bass parts give the sonatas a contrapuntal strength and vitality, and Handel keeps the elements of display and purely musical argument in admirable balance in these works. For this reason, they are among the most attractive Baroque solo sonatas and deserve their lasting popularity.

Royal PO's performance is outstanding in many ways. Menuhin has deep understanding of Elgar's music and its innermost yearning. Every movement displays his genuine affinity with the inspiration and characterisation of the music. Tempi are perfectly judged throughout, the famous 9th variation Nimrod, for example, is neither too fast nor too slow, achieving maximum grandeur and dramatic effect without losing forward momentum. The fast variations are bursting with energy and verve, the slow variations are played with amazing subtlely and heart warming intimacy. The additional organ in the last variation amplifies the scale of the monumental finale.