Tagada Jones

The Goldies label is dependable for one thing: you never know what you're going to get. This compilation by Tom Jones is a case in point. While there are some of his classic songs here such as "Delilah" and "She's a Lady," they are not the original versions. They're recorded with a big studio band with a funked up bassline and some cheesy keyboards with a bigger than God horn section and a doubled up female backing chorus. But those aren't the biggest surprises. Those come later, making this an almost indispensable collection.

Blank & Jones present the fifth installment of this ambitious and exceptional musical journey. Beside some wonderful own new compositions the curators introduce us to artists like Troels Hammer, Marc-George (Ex-Bliss), Antonymes or I Will, I Swear. Blank & Jones also managed to include a super rare mix of the Visage classic Fade To Grey which is truly astonishing and was crafted by original member Rusty Egan. Another exclusive premiere on CD is the Drumless Version of Lady by The Chromatics, who are well known for their amazing Soundtrack contribution of Drive. This album should be enjoyed as a complete work in one go, like a classical composition.

"Silent Piano - Songs for Sleeping 2" is the second collection of pieces composed by Blank and Jones and performed by pianist Marcus Loeber. The album consists of thirteen very quiet and calming piano solos played with delicate perfection by Loeber. For this album, Blank & Jones worked with soundtrack expert Marcus Loeber and created very intimate arrangements of their own classic compositions from the last decade. "Silent Piano - Songs for Sleeping 2" provides more than an hour of a calming, soothing solo piano music and as well as a respite from our crazy, noisy world.

No doubt to the consternation of Warner Bros. Records, Rickie Lee Jones took more than three years to follow up her second (and second Top Five, gold-selling) album, Pirates (1981) with The Magazine. (In the interim, the label issued the mini-album of live tracks and outtakes Girl at Her Volcano [1983].) But from the evidence of the finished product, she might have been better advised to take a little longer. Her self-titled first album was a delightful collection of folk-jazz-pop, sparked by the hit single "Chuck E.'s in Love," but it also pointed toward the moodier and more ambitious Pirates. On The Magazine, Jones seems to be rewriting both albums at once…

German duo Blank & Jones make the kind of dance music that never seems to get any critical respect - widely popular, very straightforward, guaranteed to soundtrack anything anywhere with the word "trance" in it and not name-dropped by hip DJs in general as a result. Which is an incredible pity, because as The Singles demonstrates, the duo clearly aren't out to push back frontiers but just to make people dance and have a good time, and more to the point, to do so with a heavy undercurrent of the kind of classic dark disco and proto-industrial beats they clearly grew up on…

It's a good classical piano version of 13 racks from various Blank & Jones Relax album tracks. The piano and interpretations are by Marcus Loeber. If you are looking for some modern, classic piano based on tunes you are familiar with from the Blank & Jones German production duo, this is the CD for you.

Over 13 years ago the DJ duo from Cologne (Blank & Jones) decided to strike quieter, more relaxed tones. From the passion for Ambient, Chill Out, Downbeat, Lounge Music, Beach House, Bar Grooves and Co. was created the idea of ​​Milchbar Seaside Season - a summer soundtrack for the cult Norderneyer Location milk bar. On the first compilation followed in recent years regularly further new Chillout compilation.

The Goldies label is dependable for one thing: you never know what you're going to get. This compilation by Tom Jones is a case in point. While there are some of his classic songs here such as "Delilah" and "She's a Lady," they are not the original versions. They're recorded with a big studio band with a funked up bassline and some cheesy keyboards with a bigger than God horn section and a doubled up female backing chorus. But those aren't the biggest surprises. Those come later, making this an almost indispensable collection.

What can you expect but good things from a date featuring three players of such high pedigree. With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones representing the steadfast rhythm sections of old, and with Frisell's post-modern tones being among the finest voices moving jazz forward, a date like this should easily yield some classic moments. But Frisell comes up with only partial melodies and bare bones sketches for the band to play. Jones sounds at times utterly bored with his rhythm duties, desperate for a chance to stretch out. Frisell himself is often hesitant. Henry Mancini's "Moon River" and Stephen Foster's century-and-a-half old "Hard Times" together offer brief glimpses of levity, but cannot save the set entirely.