Reason Lite

Cressida was known as a British progressive rock group for the obvious reason that this is exactly what they were, but this album shows what set them apart from most of the competition – they were fun. The songs may have been serious and complex, and the mix of organ and Mellotron with classical-style acoustic guitar and melodies derived from classical and folk traditions may have intersected with the Moody Blues and King Crimson. But their approach was so upbeat and cheerful (even songs with titles like "Depression") that the stuff had the ambience of finely crafted pop/rock – a lot like the first Bee Gees album, which is not surprising since Ossie Byrne, who produced that record, also produced this one.

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.

Emiliana Torrini - Tookah (2013) {Rough Trade RTRADCD685}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 228 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 92 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 194 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2013 Rough Trade Records | RTRADCD685
Indie Pop / Indie Folk / Adult Alternative Pop

The fourth long-player from mercurial Icelandic singer/songwriter Emiliana Torrini, arrives five years after 2008's well-received Me and Armini. The extended break afforded Torrini the time to tour, write, and become a parent, the latter of which casts a warm and wistful patina over the nine-track Tookah (a made up word that, according to its author, means "the inner good and bad balanced"). Collaborating once again with producer Dan Carey, who brought along a significant arsenal of vintage synths and analog equipment, Torrini follows no clear musical path on Tookah, yet it all feels effortless, nuanced, and connected.

Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, and during World War II he conducted at the Berlin State Opera. Generally regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, he was a controversial but dominant figure in European classical music from the mid-1950s until his death. Part of the reason for this was the large number of recordings he made and their prominence during his lifetime. By one estimate, he was the top-selling classical music recording artist of all time, having sold an estimated 200 million records.

Duran Duran personified new wave for much of the mainstream audience. And for good reason. Duran Duran's reputation was built through music videos, which accentuated their fashion-model looks and glamorous sense of style. Without music videos, it's likely that their pop-funk – described by the group as the Sex Pistols-meet-Chic – would never have made them international pop stars…

Still rather wrong-headedly regarded as a ‘guilty pleasure’ (thanks Sean Rowley), Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra were quite simply a gigantic pop hit machine. Oft-derided as a mere Beatles copyist, Lynne’s genius was to take his earliest ambition of recreating the rush felt when first hearing ‘’I Am The Walrus’’ and achieve it, again and again.