Reason Lite

Most anyone still doubting Coroner's merits as anything but "the band formed by Celtic Frost's old roadies" was likely silenced by their very impressive second album, 1988's Punishment for Decadence. Though not nearly as adventurous as their previous employers early on, the members of Coroner had the clear advantage of being incredibly gifted musicians from day one; and aesthetically, they evidently already aspired to become the thrash metal power trio equivalent of Rush by splitting songwriting duties between guitarist Tommy T. Baron and bassist/singer Ron Royce, while drummer Marquis Marky handled the lyric-writing…

This 5xCD box set from Cherry Red offers a compelling look at shoegaze's prime era. Still in a Dream takes a wide trawl approach to its genre, which has upsides and downsides. As with Rhino’s goth box A Life Less Lived, shoegaze is generously interpreted to include antecedents and formative influences, which bulks up the quality.

801 & Phil Manzanera - 801 Live (1976) {2CD Set, Expression Records EXPCD3R, Collector's Edition rel 2009}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 786 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 274 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 115 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1976, 2009 Expression Records | EXPCD3R
Rock / Prog Rock / Art Rock / Electronic / Experimental Rock

801 provided Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera with one of his most intriguing side projects. Although the band only played three gigs in August and September 1976, this album captures a night when everything fell right into place musically. That should only be expected with names like Eno and Simon Phillips in the lineup. (Still, the lesser-known players – bassist Bill MacCormick, keyboardist Francis Monkman, and slide guitarist Lloyd Watson – are in exemplary form, too.) The repertoire is boldly diverse, opening with "Lagrima," a crunchy solo guitar piece from Manzanera.

1947 (1998). Bucking the tide while beginning to surf on a wave of increasingly mannered modernity, Stan Kenton's orchestra maintained its popularity during the post-WWII decline of the big bands. Volume four in the Classics Stan Kenton chronology presents all of his Capitol recordings made between January 2 and September 24, 1947. June Christy continued to be the featured vocalist, often backed by Kenton's newly formed vocal group, the Pastels. Dave Lambert was the director of this ensemble and sang with them on at least the first three tracks heard here. Noteworthy instrumentalists present in Kenton's 19-piece band during 1947 were drummer Shelly Manne, trombonists Kai Winding and Eddie Bert, as well as saxophonists Vido Musso, Boots Mussulli…