Relative loudness
- selected discs -
The
essential collection
Relative loudness
- selected discs -
The
essential collection
Progressive bands.
Fantastic, mesmerizing sound.
Alternative and classic music.
.........
From "M" to
"R"
Madredeus: O Espirito De Paz
Wynton Marsalis: Blood On The Fields The best big band jazz since Ellington. This is a fantastic album that I seem incapable of growing tired of. Marsalis' best work to date.
Massive Attack: Mezzanine 
Mezzanine shows that Massive Attack's creative edge is far from dulled....
The record is a richly eclectic, unpigeonholeable artifact - kingdubby meets the rockers
up-town, with funk and jazz and hip-hop and even kraut rock all showing up for the party.
(Rolling Stone)
Lorena McKennit: The Book Of Secrets
Like her previous recordings, The Book of Secrets starts and ends as
a journey for one's Celtic roots and a journey for one's soul. This is a common theme in
most of her earlier albums, but with this latest, the songs themselves tell of wayfarers
and searchers through history seeking peace, refuge and solitude. Her immense popularity
could be a reflection of our desire to reconcile our high-tech, business-like existence
with our need for spiritual fulfillment. The Book of Secrets is a lovely, thought-provoking album that requires repeated listenings to
catch the subtle nuances, brief musical phrases that appear amid songs, and gorgeous
lyrics that put McKennitt wannabes to shame. Recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World
Studios, the sound is sharp and clear. Her harp work is always present, though mixed a
little lower than usual, but the talents of her touring band, Brian Hughes (guitar,
mandolin), Donald Quan (keyboards, hammer dulcimer), Rick Lazar (percussion), Hugh Marsh
(violin) and Anne Bourne (cello), make up for this minor complaint. Marsh is the highlight
on "La Serenissima," echoing the rich, opulent past of Venice. Other artists
appearing are David Rhodes and the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir on "Dante's
Prayer," Danny Thompson (bass), Caroline Lavelle (cello), Manu Katche (percussion)
and Nigel Eaton (hurdy-gurdy). (James Morman -- © Dirty Linen, Ltd.)
Meat Puppets
- "Monsters" Three tracks have been added for this reissue of a classic Puppets' album, bringing the running time to almost an hour. Along with two completely different versions of "Flight of the Fire Weasel," you'll also find the never before heard "Wish Upon a Storm" plus an enhanced portion featuring the video for "Light."Charles Mingus: Ah Uhm Bassist Charles Mingus was one of the great figures in modern jazz. Raised in Los Angeles, he was a devotee of Duke Ellington, whose compositional style had an unsurpassed effect on the young composer. As a player, however, Mingus was drawn to his contemporaries, who included Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Charlie Parker, and Max Roach (Roach and Mingus co-owned their own Debut Records during the '50s). Perhaps his greatest contribution was bridging the gap between those two generations: in Mingus's music, one could always explicitly hear the continuity between the big bands and the bebop era, the affinity between the romantic and the modern. Mingus Ah Um is perhaps the best introduction to his work as a soloist and composer ("Better Git It in Your Soul", "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", "Fables of Faubus", "Self-Portrait in Three Colors"...)
Charles Mingus: Pithecanthropus Erectus 1955-57
Joni Mitchell: Taming The Tiger
Thelonius Monk: Epistrophy, Vol. 2
Morcheeba: Big Calm 
Masterfully
crafted songs with diverse musical textures and the incredible voice of Skye Edwards. Sound quality is superb with a
touch of analogue like distortion on some tracks which is quite pleasant.
Wistful loops, palliative beats, intimate vocals, B-movie strings and underwater guitars
point Portisheadwards but, thankfully, Morcheeba's recipe serves up some refreshingly
un-Bristolian flavours. The Sea - liquid wah-wah guitar, icy violins and raindrop piano -
opens proceedings, a delicious setting interrupted only by Edwards's over-earnest
mockneyisms. (David Sheppard -- © Emap Consumer Magazines Limited)
Alanis Morisette
- Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
Youssou N'Dour: Immigres
Randy Newman: Good Old Boys
New Trolls: Concerto Grosso
Nothing To Lose - The original soundtrack of the funny action comedy featuring Tim
Robbins. Rock, rap, hip hop.
Charlie Parker: Best Of The Bird
Charlie Parker: Bird Is Free
Tom Petty: Into The Great Wide Open
Tom Petty
- "Echo" The first song from "Echo"downloaded on MP3 became a smash hit all over the world. Now you can hear what the fuss was all about with this hard-rocking new release from Tom and the boys. Take off your shoes, crack open a cold one and groove to soon-to-be-classic tracks like "Room at the Top," "Swingin"and "Won't Last Long."Pink Floyd: Atom Heart Mother
Pink Floyd: Ummagumma
Pink Floyd: Animals 
Inspired in part by George Orwell's classic novel Animal Farm, An
imals divides humans into three categories - dogs, pigs and sheep - and features each classification in song. The dogs are merciless opportunists, grasping for success at any price; the pigs are pathetic, self-righteous tyrants; and the sheep are the mindless followers, being used by the dogs and pigs. This anthropomorphizing was Waters' view of the dehumanizing side of capitalism. And befitting such a lofty theme was the length of the album's three main pieces--none shorter than ten minutes.
Pizzicato Five
- "Playboy and Playgirl" Pizzicato 5 defies all attempts at categorization or convention. This Japanese outfit does trippy - retro electronica that somehow transcends lounge, trip-hop, and commercial quirkiness, forming its own parallel dimension of sound and style. Standouts: "La Depression" - "Rolls Royce" - "Week-End."
Popol Vuh: In The Gardens Of
Pharao / Aguirre
Elf Power -"A Dream In Sound" Elf Power's debut, "When the Red King Comes," was a clever send up of prog-rock bands who took J.R.R. Tolkien a bit too seriously. On "A Dream In Sound," they continue to refine their low-fi meets psychedelic meets new alt-rock sound, and the results are like nothing you've ever heard.
Portishead: Portishead
Like every brilliantly dismal act from Screamin' Jay Hawkins to the Wu-Tang Clan, Portishead
tiptop across a ledge where utter seriousness is one false move away from tragic
self-parody. They manage the high-wire act with brittle grace, bitter poise. And they
sound as if they could break at any second... (Spin, 11/97)
Prodigy
- "Prodigy Presents...The Dirtchamber Sessions Vol 1" Love them or hate them, electronic rock outfit the Prodigy understands better than anyone else the elements shared in common by hip-hop, punk rock and dance music. And not only is main Prodigy producer Liam Howlett able to bring them together successfully in his own music, he's also able to do it using other people's records on "The Dirtchamber Sessions," his first DJ mix release.The Rentals
-"Seven More Minutes" Former Weezer bassist Matt Sharp comes up with the second album from what was at one time supposed to be a one-off project and now is his full-time job. "Seven More Minutes" takes much more of a Brit-pop feel and even includes the work of Damon from Blur.
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