Orpheus in the Underworld
Don Shirley
This recording stands for the classical talent of the man whose story inspired Green Book, «piano jazz legend» Don Shirley. In the Greek myth, Orpheus marries Eurydice who dies of a snake bite on her wedding night. Orpheus follows her to the netherworld to win her back, and because he is a great musician (Orphic harp), Persephone & Hades, rulers over the realm of the dead, relent and let her go, provided Orpheus does not look back. In the movie, Don Shirley visits the hell of the segregated Deep South and escapes by the skin of his teeth. Unlike Orpheus, he does not look back, and Eurydice stands for his own integrity. The movie has provoked criticism from Don Shirley’s family, complaining that is it is a white man’s version of an essentially black story. However that may be, Shirley’s musical talent is not diminished, and it is a film full of love and laughter. (sgs)
Dixie Ragtime, 1956
By The Way, I Forgive You
Brandi Carlile
This is the sixth studio album by folk singer-songwriter and producer Brandi Carlile, born 1981, in Ravensdale, Washington, a small town not far from Seattle. She started singing country songs on stage when she was eight years old, and her music reaches across a wide range of styles, including pop, blues and R&B. It won a Grammy Award for Best Americana Album 2019 and highlights Brandi’s distinctive voice. She dropped out of high school to pursue a career in music, teaching herself piano and guitar. About her songs, she says: «I stand firm behind the belief that, for me, songwriting isn’t something that I do or command, it happens to me» and «No matter what I do, I just can’t get the country and western out of my voice». She has been an advocate for causes ranging from spreading awareness for health issues to empowerment of women. (Wikipedia)
Columbia Records, February 2018
Legends & Tales of Dolphins & Whales
The Sounding: Delphic
The Sounding are Dave Grier (Engineer, Producer, DJ), Kevin Lloyd (Producer, DJ), Ian Middleton (Producer, DJ), Max Middleton (Music Director, Keyboards) and Napier Marten (Producer, Creator), a group of friends who wish to share the stories of man’s long and intimate relationship with aquatic mammals. Their mutual admiration, love and commitments towards cetaceans is reflected is the musical rendition of myths, legends and stories old and new about whales, dolphins and porpoises from all over the world. Creation and other stories of many ancient peoples, such as the Dogon in Mali or the ancient Greeks, speak of cetaceans as human ancestors, saviours of mariners and swimmers, of their amazing sensuality and playfulness, and their surprising friendship for us. They stand for «our most potent archetypical connection with Nature, our Creator». (Eco Hustler)
Miracle Meditation Music, February 2019
Data Mirage Tangram
The Young Gods: Figure sans nom
The Swiss group Young Gods has finally released a new album. Under lead singer Franz Treichler’s wings, huge, breathtaking panoramas unfurl like beautiful dreamscapes on the edge of sleep. Eight years without a studio album! The gods may have eternity on their side but it was about time they followed up on Everybody Knows and the period of artistic confusion – in Treichler’s own words – that followed Al Comet’s departure and his replacement with the original god, Cesare Pizzi. Rock and electro avant-gardists are not known for their backward-looking attitude. Still, thirty years of uninterrupted activity, celebrated with the publication of an 800 page book in 2017, could only strengthen the gods’ will to write a new chapter to their already impressive history. (Rough Trade)
Two Gentlemen, February 2019
Hüh
Stephan Eicher & Trakorkestar
Stephan Eicher is a Swiss singer. The son of a French mother and Yenishe (Swiss gypsy) father, his songs are sung in a variety of languages, including French, German, English, Italian, Swiss German, and Rumansh. Sometimes he even uses different languages in the same piece. Next to his success in Switzerland, mostly with songs sung in our Swiss dialect, he is a superstar in France, where his audiences touchingly even sing along his Swiss texts. Here he pairs up with the Swiss fanfare and burlesque Trakorkestar. The songs on his latest album are not new but Trakorkestar gives them a completely new twist as well as a Balkan type sound. Stephan is know for being easily bored, and he reinvents himself every few years. Here we have the result of his latest transformation. (sgs)
Universal Music, February 2019