Solstice

Formed in 1980, English band Solstice is first and foremost the band project of Andy Glass (guitar), the only musician participating on all the band's productions and the main composer for the band in it's various guises. Similar in style to such bands as Marillion, Twelfth Night, Pendragon, and IQ, they released five studio albums. Their first three studio albums were remastered and reissued with bonus tracks as ‘Definitive Editions’ in 2007.
Still fronted by guitarist Andy Glass, and also featuring Steve McDaniel (keyboards), Robin Phillips (bass), Pete Hemsley (drums), Jenny Newman (violin) and Emma Brown (vocals), the band’s iconic blend of soaring violin and guitar weaving around delicately passionate female vocals, underpinned by driving rhythmic complexity remains true and is much in force on "Prophecy” (2013), their latest studio offering.

Solstice celebrate their fortieth anniversary in 2020 and, to commemorate the occasion, are releasing only their sixth studio album, though there have been a couple of ‘live’ albums as well to boost the numbers. They’re also marking the occasion by introducing a new vocalist, Jess Holland, who has really made her presence felt on the new album and, with all respect to the previous incumbent, Emma Brown, Jess is a far superior vocalist and her presence here has really re-energised the band, resulting in Sia ( Gaelic for ‘six’ ) being amongst the best work Solstice has ever done. Earlier in 2020, in an interview with VT, Solstice mainman Andy Glass, now the only member of the original line-up still with the band, stated he thought the forthcoming album would be Solstice’s finest, and he certainly has a point…

Summer Solstice: Bee Stings is part two of the four part Seasons collective created by Coil.
With guest electric viola from William Breeze adding to the unearthly strangeness of the release as a whole, Summer Solstice continues the seasonal series of EPs from 1998 in fine style. John Balance is in excellently haunting voice throughout, and on the opening title track his mysterious, husked singing, sometimes slightly overdubbed or echoed, blends perfectly with Breeze's work and the clipped percussion making a slow pace. "Summer Substructures" contains more of the chaotic side of Coil, Balance repeating a series of questions and statements over a backwards-run rhythm loop that rises and fades along with any number of other drones and strange noises…

The conclusion to the 1998 season series (actually released in January 1999) certainly lives up to the title billing, in that things do sound awfully cold and gloomy this time around. Opening track "A White Rainbow" does it brilliantly, though Balance's upfront, softly echoed vocal backed by viola from William Breeze and buried background chants result in an unstable, fascinating blend. Enough randomly crazed distortion comes in at the end to send everything just enough over the top…

Ralph Towner - Solstice (1975) {ECM 1060}
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© 1975 ECM Records | ECM 1060 / 825 458-2
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Post Bop / Folk Jazz / Guitar

This is arguably the first recording to fully flesh out the aural expanse for which ECM has come to be known. Although I am well aware of the immense groundswell of musical activity that was the 1970s, certainly an album like this was a refreshing and altogether mind-altering experience for those fortunate enough to be young musical explorers at the time. Featuring a lineup of musicians who would go on to weave ECM’s significance into the fabric of time, Solstice is a tour de force of musicianship, writing, arrangement, and recording.

Upon The Winter Solstice is a compilation album that was released exclusively at Kohl’s Department Stores during the 2013 holiday season. 100% of the proceeds go to the Kohl’s Cares charity to support kids’ health and education. This is not to be confused with the recently released Tales of Winter: Selections from the TSO Rock Operas compilation which covers all five TSO albums and one EP. So far, that’s an album that’s only been released in Europe anyway. Upon The Winter Solstice focuses solely on the group’s first three Christmas releases (known as the Christmas Trilogy): Christmas Eve and Other Stories, The Christmas Attic and The Lost Christmas.

Azar Lawrence - Summer Solstice (1975) {2014 Japan Rare Groove Funk Best Collection 1000 Series UCCO-90360}
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© 1975, 2014 Prestige / Concord / Universal Music Japan | UCCO-90360
Jazz / Post Bop / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Afro-Cuban Jazz / Spiritual Jazz / Saxophone

A beautiful album of spiritual soul and Brazilian influenced jazz from Azar Lawrence – and a pretty rare one we're thrilled to have! Lawrence is a stellar sax player with a sound that's a bit like Gary Bartz, which means that he fits in perfectly with the Fantasy-era Prestige Records sound – but the sounds on this set are uncommonly rich and globally influenced. The set's predominantly acoustic, with lots of modal grooves in kind of a Strata East vein – and angular post-Coltrane playing that's very similar to Bartz's work on the Libra album from his early days. Players include Raul De Souza on trombone, Ron Carter on bass, Billy Hart on drums, Dom Salvador, who is really allowed to shine on piano on a few tracks, and drummer & percussionist Guilherme Franco, who brings a world of wonderful percussion on a couple of numbers.