After parting ways with Transatlantic Records and signing on with Pye subsidiary Dawn in 1975, English heavy prog veterans Stray briefly expanded from a quartet to a five-piece with the addition of rhythm guitarist Pete Dyer – a move which had been intended to allow vocalist Steve Gadd the chance to focus on his frontman duties, but wound up driving the already disgruntled singer out of the band for good, instead. Into the breach stepped the already present Dyer, who proceeded to share vocals with lead guitarist and longtime band architect Del Bromham on the band's sixth long player – and Pye debut – Stand Up and Be Counted. Ironically, the album was composed predominantly of tracks originally slated for Bromham's first solo record, but when faced with Gadd's departure, he decided to re-purpose them for what proved to be a typically eclectic, if slightly chaotic-sounding LP.

Though it's not obvious from the cover, this 22-track CD compilation is basically a reissue of the New Colony Six's third and fourth LPs (1968's Revelations and 1969's Attacking a Straw Man), presenting the albums one after the other with their original track sequences. This was the era in which the Chicago band, which started off with a rawer garage pop sound, softened its approach considerably and found some modest national commercial success. Those who swear by the group's earlier work (particularly the excellent 1966 debut, Breakthrough) are likely to be disappointed by the far more mainstream harmony pop/rock of these records, though on the other hand, fans of groups like the Association might favor this era more than the previous one…

This popular Spanish band from Cordoba was founded in the late Seventies. In 1979 Medina Azahara released their debut album "Paseando Por La Mezquita" (aka "Medina Azahara"). This album contains the exciting Andalusian rock and earned a double-platinum status.
On their debut album Medina Azahara delivers a very pleasant blend of melodic rock (mid-tempo songs like En La Manana and Se), neo prog in the vein of Marillion (lots of Mark Kelly-like synthesizer flights) and Prog Andaluz (mainly ballads and slow rhythms) with strong hints from Triana like in the exciting titletrack (a flamenco rhythm with heavy guitar riffs, howling guitar and emotional vocals) and En La Manana and Busco (parts with flamenco guitar)…

Sergio Mendes took a deep breath, expanded his sound to include strings lavishly arranged by the young Dave Grusin and Dick Hazard, went further into Brazil, and out came a gorgeous record of Brasil '66 at the peak of its form. Here Mendes released himself from any reliance upon Antonio Carlos Jobim and rounded up a wealth of truly great material from Brazilian fellow travelers: Gilberto Gil's jet-propelled "Roda" and Joao Donato's clever "The Frog," Dori Caymmi's stunningly beautiful "Like a Lover," Harold Lobo's carnival-esque "Tristeza," and Mendes himself (the haunting "So Many Stars" and the title track). Mendes was also hip enough to include "With a Little Help From My Friends" from the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper LP…

Boddy has often used concert appearances to test out new material and indeed some of the tracks on "Aurora" were first aired at his solo performance as part of the DiN series of concerts at the Buddle Arts Centre in his native north-east England.
"Aurora" sees Boddy creating a seamless mix between the 6 tracks, which covers an enormous amount of sonic territory in its 67 minute running time. The music runs the full gamut from purely abstract, impressionistic pieces such as the darkly oppressive textures of "Gravity Well" to the analogue sequencer driven track "Escape Velocity". Boddy has created a work with an almost orchestral sense of dynamics despite the resolutely electronic nature of its voicings…