Peripheral Vision is one of the most exciting and innovative jazz quartets to have recently appeared on the international jazz scene. Based in Toronto, the creative leaders of the group are long time musical collaborators, guitarist Don Scott and bassist Michael Herring. They have assembled a synergistic musical unit designed to push the boundaries of jazz while engaging the listener with a grooving, toe-tapping immediacy. Their distinctive musical voice bridges tradition and innovation, with deeply felt influences ranging from jazz, rock, classical, and improv, with a focus on dynamic group interaction. Sheer Tyranny Of Will - nominated for 2016 JUNO Award for Jazz Album of the Year: Group. Fearlessly creative Canadian jazz quartet, Peripheral Vision is launching their third album, Sheer Tyranny Of Will on September 23rd, 2014.
Tyranny of Beauty is one of Tangerine Dream's best CDs of the early and mid-'90s. That's not saying a lot. The group's albums from that period - and even back into the late '80s - are relatively weak. And, to be sure, this disc has its weaknesses. However, they are overshadowed by its strengths, and the disc earns high praise. The TD lineup for this CD is Edgar Froese, Linda Spa, and Jerome Froese. Mark Horn and Gerald Gradwohl contribute various guitar performances. Those performances are the keys to this disc's merit. Gradwohl's lead guitar spots play off and to Edgar Froese's lead guitar. The sparring adds clout to the atmospheres. The atmospheres, in turn, build upon each other and create a grand soundscape. The strongest track is "Stratosfear 1995," a redesign of the Virgin era standard. This CD is a return to the basics with polish and tact. It is essential Berlin school electronica.
The Best of Tanita Tikaram sums up the singer/songwriter's first five albums, with a little too much emphasis on material from Lovers in the City and Eleven Kinds of Loneliness, and not enough from Everybody's Angel and Sweet Keeper (only one song from each album made it onto this set). Still, this is a lovely collection from start to finish, and showcases Tanita Tikaram as a singer who deserves much more attention than she has received. The album contains all of her U.K. hit singles, including four from her stellar debut, Ancient Heart, among those the sublime "Twist in My Sobriety," easily one of the greatest songs to have come out of the 1980s (an additional dance remix of that song closes out the album). Other highlights include the astounding, heartbreaking "Only the Ones We Love" (quite possibly the best song on this collection), the Phil Spector-ish "You Make the Whole World Cry," and the haunting "I Might Be Crying." Another definite standout is this album's only new recording (and the only cover), which is her version of "And I Think of You" (originally titled "E Penso a Te").
Led by Kai Hansen, one of the most loved metal icons of the last 30 years, GammaRay are becoming year after year one of the most solid flagships in Classic and Power Heavy Metal…