Between 2003 and 2010, Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) released six CD singles, each featuring a cover version backed with a new original song. Titled, appropriately enough, Cover I through Cover VI, the first of these singles was significant because it was the first release issued under his own name. All of these were almost ridiculously limited. The titles were all compiled before - when Cover VI was released, the other singles were included in a lavishly designed box - but this marks the first time all 12 tracks have been widely available. The music presented here is performed completely solo save for chamber and orchestral elements on some tracks that were added on later, and showcases a different, more intimate side of Wilson…
The sophomore release for this melodic duo (actually a five-piece band, but the leads are Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree and Aviv Geffen) based to some degree on the progressive bent of Porcupine Tree covers much of the same ground as their debut. The sound is still firmly in the realm of progressive rock, with hints of Radiohead and Oasis. Unlike Blackfield's previous album which was recorded off and on over a two-year span, this one was recorded in one short stretch, and shows somewhat more consistency in tone as a result. The album-opening "Once" has a particularly Radiohead-like vibe and a bit of heaviness, but the development of the album works into other veins as well, with large string movements, light piano accompaniment, and a generally melodic guitar approach…
It's hard to believe that it's been more than five years since Ralph Towner issued his last solo guitar album, or any album under his own name, for that matter. Anthem was issued in 2000. Time Line is a return to the stark, spacious and lyrical explorations of that set. That's not to say this is any kind of direct replica. Towner's a restless artist, he pushes his boundaries on the classical and 12-string guitars. The set contains 14 new compositions and two fine covers that provide the real reason for Towner's not-so-secret inspiration here: George Gershwin's "My Man's Gone Now," and Harold Arlen's "Come Rain or Come Shine." The muse, of course, is Bill Evans. Evans has been forever associated with the former tune since his 1961 trio performance of it at the Village Vanguard; the latter is a tune he played live fairly often in the '60s and even the '70s.
Unlike Razor & Tie's 1997 double-disc collection She Thinks I Still Care: The George Jones Collection (The United Artists Years), Omnivore's 2013 set The Complete United Artists Solo Singles focuses directly on the 45s George Jones released for United Artists between the years 1962 and 1966 (he was only with the label until 1964 but they churned out singles for another two years after his departure). This is a bigger difference than it may initially seem. The 40-track She Thinks I Still Care sampled generously from Jones' duets with Melba Montgomery, his tributes to Bob Wills and Hank Williams, his bluegrass and gospel LPs, which meant there were several singles absent from its track listing.
2009 two CD set. Joe Jackson was one of the pioneers of the leading British-based artists that brought a New Wave sound to the world in the late '70s. This compilation of recordings is taken from the BBC s archives, who caught a snapshot of the artist at the start of his career and charted his phenomenal rise to success. Recorded between 1979 and 1983, this collection contains 32 live recordings including Is She Really Going Out With Him Steppin Out , Real Men , Breaking Us In Two and It s Different For Girls . Certainly, Joe Jackson in his prime! Universal.
It’s been ten years since the last Future Bible Heroes album, but for those in the know, it's hardly felt like a drought, as the group is merely a re-skinned version of ultra-prolific songwriter Stephin Merritt's myriad other outlets, which include Magnetic Fields, Gothic Archies, and the 6ths. Originally conceived as a one-off collaboration between Merritt and popular DJ and ex-Figures on a Beach keyboardist Christopher Ewen, the addition of longtime Magnetic Fields collaborator Claudia Gonson in 2002 officially brought the group into Merritt's indie pop empire, and with their heady blend of kitschy electro-pop and darkly funny, Brill Building-inspired tales of heartbreak, the trio really began to cook.