Continuum is a double CD edited down from one seven hour live concert (15 June 1996 Newcastle UK) performed by Ian Boddy. On the CD we are given two very lengthy tracks: Alpha and Beta (one on each CD), each coming in at over 70 minutes. Each CD is broken down into several parts (tracks) but the music flows constantly from beginning to end and is best experienced that way, all at once. Credit must be given to Ian for being able to take such a long span of time and fill it with a slowly evolving composition of sounds and atmosphere. Nowhere along the journey will the listener become disinterested.
Although Ian does provide the listener with a rich atmosphere of original timbres and floating soundscapes, please don't think that Continuum is all drones and swirlies, not at all…

Chronicles repackages three remastered titles from John Hiatt's A&M years. Bring the Family, Slow Turning, and Stolen Moments. The latter two recordings are arguably Hiatt's best. Bring the Family hosts a fine band that includes what was to become the criminally short-lived Little Village and includes Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe, and Jim Keltner. Slow Turning with the Goners features Sonny Landreth, Kenny Blevins, and David Ranson. Songs on the first two records are ubiquitous in his live set, including "Memphis in the Meantime," "Drive South," "Have a Little Faith in Me," and "Feels Like Rain." By contrast, Stolen Moments feels rushed, and incomplete. Produced by Glyn Johns, it's more raucous sound stands as a juxtaposition to some of the material. It's not that it's a bad record; in fact, it's a very good one. It just feels out of place next to the two masterpieces that are its mates in this box set.

Tomorrow Today (1969). Hardin & York's debut album was quite competent yet derivative early progressive rock, and derivative of Traffic in particular. At least, however, it came by its influences quite honestly, Pete York having drummed behind Steve Winwood in the Spencer Davis Group, and Eddie Hardin having joined the Spencer Davis Group after Winwood left. And the duo does get quite a lot of sound out of their keyboards and drums, although they had plenty of backup from some session musicians. Hardin sings and writes uncannily like Winwood circa Traffic's "Forty Thousand Headmen" period, but while that's a good standard to shoot for, therein also lies the problem: it's not quite as good as the Winwood-paced Traffic, and certainly not as original…

Mathias Eick follows up his melodically charged leader debut, 2008’s The Door, with something delectable. This time he fronts an expanded, smoother band that includes saxophonist Tore Brunborg within a nest of Scandinavian talent. Ever at their center is Eick, whose threefold role as composer, performer, and arranger takes on fuller idiomatic body.
Skala shares key aspects with its predecessor. It is another set of eight originals, which too can be divided into three acts of two, three, and three scenes, respectively. Act I likewise opens with the title track and, like its earlier counterpart, only seems to grow more translucent as instruments are added. Yet the similarities end there, for the music is something else entirely. Here is a musician who not only has listened deeply to others on the path to enriching his compositional breadth…

The sly, insinuating vocals and chunky piano style of Willie Mabon won the heart of many an R&B fan during the early '50s. His salty Chess waxings "I Don't Know," "I'm Mad," and "Poison Ivy" established the pianist as a genuine Chicago blues force, but he faded as an R&B hitmaker at the dawn of rock & roll. Mabon was already well-grounded in blues tradition from his Memphis upbringing when he hit Chicago in 1942. Schooled in jazz as well as blues, Mabon found the latter his ticket to stardom. His first sides were a 1949 78 for Apollo as Big Willie and some 1950 outings for Aristocrat and Chess with guitarist Earl Dranes as the Blues Rockers.
But Mabon's asking price for a night's work rose dramatically when his 1952 debut release on powerful Windy City DJ Al Benson's Parrot logo, "I Don't Know," topped the R&B charts for eight weeks after being sold to Chess…

The Byrds' second album, Turn! Turn! Turn!, was only a disappointment in comparison with Mr. Tambourine Man. They couldn't maintain such a level of consistent magnificence, and the follow-up was not quite as powerful or impressive. It was still quite good, however, particularly the ringing number one title cut, a classic on par with the "Mr. Tambourine Man" single. Elsewhere, they concentrated more on original material, Gene Clark in particular offering some strong compositions with "Set You Free This Time," "The World Turns All Around Her," and "If You're Gone." A couple more Bob Dylan covers were included, as well, and "Satisfied Mind" was their first foray into country-rock, a direction they would explore in much greater depth throughout the rest of the '60s.

Vox Archangeli combines original Gregorian chants from early medieval times with modern electronic sounds. The inspiration comes from a wide range of musical influences, from classical and folk music, through to pop and rock. In recent years Vox Archangeli have gained attention both internationally and in their native Sweden. Besides having had all their three full length releases placed in the official Swedish album charts, they have performed several times on Swedish television, at numerous festivals as well as prestigious awards shows.
Vox Archangeli’s big Sanctus project is based upon the three archangels: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael - each holding the theme for one full length album. In the musical fusion between Gregorian chanting and electronic soundscapes, the group manages to capture the qualities that characterize the four archangels…

In this their third volume of orchestral works of Antheil, John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic present a collection of scores spanning the whole of Antheil’s compositional life. Written in the early 1920s, the First Symphony is full of Antheil’s enthusiasm for the mechanical, and takes strong leads from the prevailing sound of the jazz era as well as a nostalgic look back to its predecessor, ragtime. His ballet score Capital of the World dates from the mid-1950s, and was based on a short story by Hemingway.

Baroque flautist Hugo Reyne’s period band La Simphonie du Marais have been up and running since 1987, based in the charmingly-named La Chabotterie in Vendée, western France. They've built up a sizeable discography but remain little-known in the UK. Hopefully these vibrant, entertaining performances of baroque blockbusters will change that. This Handel disc had me beaming like a toddler gorging on chocolate. Reyne's irreverent-but-respectful approach is signalled by the first track, a collage of nautical sound effects capped by a a trumpet fanfare and a few spoken words. Dive into the “Overture” to Handel's Water Music and relish the mixture of spikiness and warmth, the dotted rhythms suitably incisive. Faster movements have exhilarating bounce and joie de vivre. Horns and trumpets are just raucous enough, and there's some lovely flute and oboe work from Reyne and Christian Moreaux.

Alan Curtis has done more than most to prove that many of Handel's 42 operas are first-rate music dramas – his Admeto, from 1977, was one of the first complete recordings of a Handel opera to feature period instruments and all voices at correct pitch without transpositions – but it is surprising to note that this is his first recording of an undisputed popular masterpiece. Rodelinda, first performed in February 1725, is a stunning work dominated by a title-heroine who remains devoted to her supposedly dead husband Bertarido and scorns the advances of his usurper Grimoaldo.

One Grass Skirt To London is an 8,200-kilometer journey from Malawi to London, where the singer emigrated to as a teenager. Not only was it a geographical and temporal journey but also a musical one. Though most of all, it was a sentimental one, since the 14 songs carefully chosen for this album are so precious to her because of the memories they contain. Almost all are taken from film soundtracks, from “Everybody’s Talkin’” from Midnight Cowboy to “Take My Breath Away” from Top Gun, you find “Pure Imagination” from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as well as “Here On My Own” from Fame. All of them possess an unique power to evoke an emotion through their music that has shaped her identity, helped overcome trials, and bloom as an artist…

From the sixteenth century to the present day, fantasias have developed from improvisatory and virtuosic works for lute, to extended and elaborate works for ensembles, solo keyboard instruments and full orchestra. The dazzling array of works featured in this album showcases how composers have delighted in allowing their creativity and imagination to take precedence over conventional styles and forms.

Werner Haas was a German pianist especially known for his interpretations of French repertory, particularly the works of Debussy and Ravel. But his performances of music by Chopin and Beethoven were also highly praised and his repertory was quite broad, extending to Prokofiev and Kabalevsky. He was better known in Europe than in the Americas, where he never concertized. His many admirers assert that had his life not been tragically cut short, he would likely have achieved recognition as one of the finest pianists of his time. Haas was born in Stuttgart on March 3, 1931. He exhibited unusual talent as a young child, though the pianist himself was reluctant to claim he was extraordinarily gifted. Still, he might have developed even sooner but for the exigencies brought on by the war in his homeland. He enrolled at the Stuttgart Academy of Music in 1947, where he took instruction on piano from Lilli Kröber-Asche, who was known for her Mozart interpretations. Shortly after leaving the Stuttgart Academy in 1954, he traveled to Saarbrücken for two years of study with Walter Gieseking, whose interest in the music of Debussy may well have steered Haas toward the French master's works. It was during this time that he launched his career with a critically well-received recital (1955) in his native Stuttgart.

Musica Antiqua Köln Reinhard Goebel founded Musica Antiqua Köln in 1973. The ensemble devoted itself to playing Baroque music on period instruments, with a particular penchant for playing neglected or overlooked repertoire. Many of their best albums have sold well without featuring music by well-known composers.

Stephen Kovacevich A highly regarded pianist featured in the Philips label's Great Pianists of the 20th Century series, Stephen Kovacevich is particularly known for his original approach to the standard classical repertoire. Prominent in his repertoire is the music of such composers as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Grieg, Brahms, and Bartók, but he is also an acclaimed interpreter of contemporary music, including Tippett's Piano Concerto and Richard Rodney Bennett's concerto (which was dedicated to Kovacevich).