"Scattering Light, Scattering Flowers", the third release by composer Marty Regan (b.1972) in the Selected Works for Japanese Instruments series was recorded in Japan, and features large ensemble works for traditional Japanese instruments, including two concertos. Composed for female voice, shakuhachi, and the relatively rare 25-string koto, the title track is based on a deeply poetic text written by Japanese poet Haruka Nakanashi that echoes with references to traditional Japanese noh theater.

Chicago jazz vocalist Solitaire Miles captivates the seasoned jazz veteran with mesmeric tone, conversational phrasing, and a sinuous sense of swing. Her unaffected delivery never draws attention to itself, allowing the lyrics to shine through. She presents each song in a sincere manner, intimating a supple delivery so the patois of each arrangement has a lasting effect on the listener. Her timing and style impressed Chautauqua Symphony Bassist Harry Jacobson enough to label her as "Billie Holiday with sunshine and air"…

From the clean, rapid-fire soloing of the opening track, to the edgy guitar sounds of Sideways, guitarist Corey Christiansen exploits the nuances of the instrument, while showcasing an expansive compositional palette on Roll With It, his third recording as a leader. Christiansen explores a set of originals firmly planted in the soul-jazz tradition yet with a modern improvisational group aesthetic. Featuring NY-based organist Pat Bianchi, Seattle drummer Matt Jorgensen, and tenor saxophonist David Halliday.

History will show that Frank Zappa (1940-1993) was one of the greatest American composers of the 20th century in any musical form, and this superb episode of the Classic Albums series offers ample proof of Zappa's genius…

Ancient Ascendant are a British based quartet pioneering a unique brand of song writing based on a solid foundation of black and death metal, whilst injecting eclectic ideas from a wide range of fine metal traditions.Echoes and Cinder continues the slow-burning evolution of the band, excavating the bare bones of their thrashy roots and welding them to a titanic engine of primal death metal force, before coating the whole thing in a choking layer of blackened intensity.

ncarnate is the 4th album from the Welsh Band, Panic Room, since their formation back in 2007. The band was formed by former members of the band Karnataka and released the debut album, Visionary Position in 2008, followed at regular intervals by Satellite (2010), Skin (2012) and now Incarnate (2014).The best description of the music of Panic Room is probably under the umbrella of crossover prog or a female fronted progressively influenced band in the vein of Magenta and The Reasoning.

Schumann’s affection for the cello ran deep. It was an instrument he had played in his youth, and considered taking up again when, at the age of twenty-two, an accident to his hand forced him to relinquish his dream of being a virtuoso pianist. ‘I want to take up the violoncello again (one needs only the left hand for this) and it will be very useful to me in composing symphonies’, he wrote to his mother. The sound of the cello played without the right hand would have been somewhat minimalist; but his love for the instrument is clearly demonstrated by the cello parts in all four of his symphonies, as well as in the concertos for piano and violin, and of course throughout his chamber music. As the great musicologist Donald Francis Tovey put it: ‘The qualities of the violoncello are exactly those of the beloved dreamer whom we know as Schumann.’

Gustavo Dudamel, the “energetic ambassador for classical music” (Vanity Fair), conducts symphonic pieces derived from Shakespeare as re-imagined in music by Tchaikovsky. In every case, Dudamel elicits the most appropriate interpretations imaginable from his electrifying Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. He conclusively demonstrates that in addition to being able to generate excitement, he is a sophisticated musical thinker.

Better than a mere tribute album, this compilation is actually Pink Floyd's legendary album covered in its entirety and original playing order by Shadow Gallery, Enchant, Cairo, Magellan and other masters of today's progressive music.

Junkie XL - 300: Rise Of An Empire (OST) 2014
MP3 320 kbps | Tracks: 16 | 01:07:58 | 165 Mb
Genre: Original Score, Soundtrack | Label: WaterTower Music

The sequel to 2007's high-octane, Persian war fantasy action film/comic book adaptation 300, 2014's 300: Rise of an Empire picks right up after the bloody Battle of Thermopylae. Composer Tom Holkenborg, better known as Junkie XL, a Dutch multi-instrumentalist, producer, and engineer, takes the place of the previous film's composer Tyler Bates, and his highly percussive style, which he honed in part working with Hanz Zimmer on the soundtrack to 2013's like-minded Man of Steel, complements the film's highly stylized look and over-the-op violence.