While trying to form their identity on their Secretly Canadian debut, Suuns get a little lost among their influences. “Marauder” emulates Deerhoof successfully, “Sweet Nothing” is a dedication to Beck that sounds a lot like the man himself (circa The Information), and "Up Past the Nursery" is a dead ringer for a Clinic song complete with Ben Shemie singing through clenched jaw to get that surgical mask effect. Their full-length even ends with a cover (of Tyrannosaurus Rex, which to be fair, is pretty good). Even if the newly formed Canadian quartet is still searching for its individuality, when Suuns' strengths come together – as they often do on Zeroes QC – the mix of sparse beats, razor-wire guitar, and downer melodies can be compelling. The minor-key-inflected “PVC” and “Gaze” are among their most gleaming and rocking songs. Notably, the group thrives in a sparse environment, and the simple, open-aired electric guitar and vocal wash of “Fear” is surprisingly lovely.

These guys really shine! Each of them is a master of his own instrument. Randy Coven has a bass that kills and Al Pitrelli is really a great guy with a lot of solos, with some "liquid guitar" solos that resembles in some cases Steve Morse and Steve Howe, while O'Reilly makes a background of technical hard drums, as well as a host of special guests - Zakk Wylde, Vito Bratta, and Steve Morse…

Shadows of a past life creep into Mike Tramp’s lyrics on ‘Museum’ the second solo album that sees him explore more singer-songwriter oriented material like he did on last year’s ‘Cobblestone Street’, as he casually mentions the ‘Rainbow parking lot’ that well known haunt of rock and roll debauchers in the late eighties in the opening track.

German rockers KISSIN’ DYNAMITE have just released their brand new album “Megalomania”. Their music is simultaneously inadvertently droll and undeniably catchy.

The leading Ukrainian composer of today, Myroslav Skoryk (born in Lwów, now Lviv, in 1938) grew up in Siberia, where his family was deported after the Second World War, and he began to write music under the tutelage of other political prisoners there. He later studied with Kabalevsky in Moscow before settling back in his native city, where he soon became an important teacher and is now a major figure in Ukrainian cultural life. His music is direct and forthright, with echoes of Prokofiev: there are passages of driving energy and power and a keen sense of drama – and Skoryk, too, is not afraid of writing a glorious tune when he wants to.

Swedish composer Michael Andresen aka Healer - who has also made banging psytrance under the name 12 Moons - produces exquisite, gently psychedelic chillout tracks that suggests a modern take on classic German ambient trance ala Ashra and Tangerine Dream, as well as echoing the clean, gleaming synthetic surfaces of Jean-Michel Jarre. The DNA of such artists is certainly there in those rich synthetic chords and steadily spinning loops of melody, right down to the whistling melotron-like phrases on "Three" from Higher Grounds. And, from the same album, the chugging, intense sequencer-driven groove of early Berlin ambient being channeled to perfection on "Art Of Translucency".

All of these are live recordings so the sound is quite variable. The standard square box contains separate soft plastic sleeves in which the cds are inserted. The advantage is that the cds are well protected (minor risk for scrapes compared to cardboard), but there is no information printed on the sleeve since it is made of plastic. There is some basic information printed on each cd (name, composer, cd #, the act/s and the date of the recording). There is also a small 24pg booklet that introduces the box including some photos as well as content description for each disc (opera, singers, time and location as well as a list of the separate tracks). I have been collecting these boxes for a while and always find it worthwhile as there are gems nicely interspersed in these collections. By Moonfish

Frank Zappa - Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger (1984) {1995 Ryko Remaster Complete Series}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 176 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 88 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 23 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1995 Rykodisc / The Zappa Family Trust | RCD 10542
Classical / Avant-Garde / Modern Composition / Experimental Rock

Having recorded some works with a large orchestra in January 1983, in January 1984, Frank Zappa arranged for some of his chamber works to be performed by Pierre Boulez's Ensemble InterContemporain, a 16-piece group. "The Perfect Stranger," "Naval Aviation In Art?," and "Dupree's Paradise" were given this treatment, and the four remaining tracks are the product of Zappa's music synthesizer, the Synclavier. As usual, Zappa's "serious" works are rhythmically interesting and make for challenging listening.