ALANIS MORISSETTE: Interview

Seventeen years after Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette has shaken off the title of pop’s queen of angst. Her new album, Havoc and Bright Lights, is a thing of joy, writes Mark Sutherland. “I remember touring America in a van and I’d be fielding all these calls,” Alanis Morissette says. “‘They want you on the […]

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Mariss Jansons / Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Mahler: Symphony No. 7 – AllMusic Review by Blair Sanderson

  For well over a decade, Mariss Jansons has been recording Gustav Mahler’s symphonies in two separate cycles, one with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on its RCO Live label, and the other with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on BR Klassik. He recorded this RCO performance of the Symphony No. 7 in E minor in […]

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TUBBY HAYES: Dancing in the Dark – review by John Fordham

  The Savage-Solveig label devotes itself to the archive of previously unreleased live material by the dazzling British sax star of the 50s and 60s, Edward Brian “Tubby” Hayes. This session finds the bop virtuoso at Nottingham’s Dancing Slipper club (a favourite haunt of a jazz-loving teenager who would become Kenneth Clarke MP) on 12 […]

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Quill

LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS: His Blues (2CD)

Sam “Lightnin’” Hopkins’ career stretched across five decades and some 40 plus labels, not counting subsidiaries, though he seemed to settle for long periods with particular producers, burning out many along the way. When the 34 year-old Sam Hopkins entered Radio Recorders Studio in November of 1946 he probably had no idea of that it […]

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JOSEPHINE FOSTER: I’m a Dreamer

Originally published 2013 Nick Coleman writes: This Spain and Colorado-based singer-songwriter’s wavering ethereal voice hangs in the air like cigar smoke and is curiously reminiscent of the theremin. It’s the perfect vehicle for carrying her timeless songs, which mix Tin Pan Alley jauntiness with New Orleans swing, then throws in a dash of ….. Continues […]

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SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No 15, CD review Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, cond Bernard Haitink.

    Geoffrey Norris of The Daily Telegraph:   “This performance of Shostakovich’s final symphony testifies both to Bernard Haitink’s searching way of interpreting the Russian composer and to the orchestra’s ready appreciation of the emotional range that the Fifteenth embraces. We might not fully understand the allusions that Shostakovich weaves in, but, when it […]

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JIMI HENDRIX: People, Hell and Angels (CD)

They tell us….. People, Hell & Angels is a new album of twelve never before released Jimi Hendrix studio recordings. This special album showcases the legendary guitarist working outside of the original Jimi Hendrix Experience trio. Beginning in 1968, Jimi Hendrix grew restless, eager to develop new material with old friends and new ensembles. Outside […]

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OPINIONS DIFFER: Trying to decouple speakers from the room

 Just wondering if anyone else has suspended their speakers. My first attempt was with an old pair of infinity’s which I placed on top of a bicycle tube. I was wondering if manufacturers would design a speaker with this in mind? My main purpose is to keep the floor from resonating, IMHO it works well […]

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