Record Reviews

📝 2096 reviews
Artist Title Review
Various Piece Of Cake - Twenty Years Of Ryko
Various Uncut - Strange Brew Uncut collection compiled by Eric Clapton. Good selection of blues but also includes classical and jazz influences.
Various Music Live From The Panel Volume 4 <p>In a small Network TEN studio better known as "Studio Bert", in front of a live audience of 53 people and a national audience of 1.5 million people, some of the finest names in music today sat behind a big blue desk and created magic. The music you hear on THE PANEL CDs is exactly as it was captured live on the night, no safety nets, no ropes and nothing up their sleeves!</p><p>When inviting musicians to perform on THE PANEL, there is only one rule: that their song be played at the desk and played acoustically - okay that's two rules but they were both important. No other locally produced programme has ever continually drawn out of musicians such intimate, occasionally raw, yet always unique performances.</p><p>These performances covering a diverse range of both local and international musicians and musical styles- What other album would have the biggest Australian band in the world today - Jet, alongside one of Australia's great Indie talents John Butler Trio and internationally acclaimed David Gray, Jamie Cullum and Joe Cocker!</p><p>What is the common thread that links all these performances together? - THE PANEL's Rob Sitch says. "I think all performers like the chance to be "Unplugged". Occasionally this happened mid-song and against their will and for that we apologise. We'll gaffer tape the cables next year.".</p><p>TV being a technical medium so many variables can come into play to sabotage a performance no matter how well rehearsed and prepared it may be! Maybe it was the vibe emanating from The Panel regulars whose respect for all of their guests puts them at ease, or the intimate set where the studio audience is almost within touching distance. Maybe it was the policy that absolutely no compromises would be made when providing each of the musicians with the best possible sound. Whatever the reason, the many acts who appear on The Panel, without exception, turn in outstanding performances on the night, and have preserved for us on this 4th CD, indelible moments of their musical talent.</p>
Various Bach, Vivaldi, Marcello - Concerti Italiani <P><SPAN class=BouPrimaryBody>As an astute businessman, Antonio Vivaldi wanted to ensure he got the best possible quality of printing and the highest circualtion for the works he decided to publish. So he naturally turned to the extremely efficient publishing houses of Amsterdam for his collections of concertos opus 3 (<I>L'estro armonico</I>, 1711) and 4 (<I>La stravaganza</I>, 1714), among others. Success was not long in coming - both he and the Venetian concerto of which he was the mosy brilliant representative quickly achieved fame all over Europe. To such an extent that very soon, at the little German court of Saxe-Weimar, a young <I>Kapellmeister</I> by the name of Johan Sebastian Bach studied them carefully, even transcribing for harpsichord some of the finest specimens, which were to inspire him in his own compositions... The scene is set for this appealing new CD by Rinaldo Alessandrini, whose Vivaldian and Bachian credentials need no underlining: one need only recall his splendid recital of Bach's harpsichord music "<I>all'italiana</I>". Here, with his ensemble Concerto Italiano (which celebrates its twentieth anniversary in 2005), not content with presenting the original versions of four magnificent concertos that attracted the attention of Bach the transcriber (two of them composed by talented Marcello brothers), not to mention the celebrated flute concerto <I>La notte</I>,&nbsp;Alessandrini offers us the added bonus of his own reconstruction of Bach's "Italian Concerto" in what may have been its first version, now lost. Thus the masterpiece for solo harpsichord here becomes a "real" concerto for violon and strings, whose leaping vigour and exemplary transparency are totally convincing. Here is the transcriber transcribed - with delightful results!</SPAN></P><P><HR><BR>The Baroque era? Just a bunch of dead guys' dead music. It was three centuries ago, for example, that Bach transcribed some Venetian violin concertos into works for solo harpsichord. (Big deal.) But what if you reversed the process? What if you turned Bach's harpsichord piece "after the Italian taste" into a violin concerto and restored the lost violin parts of some of Bach's transcriptions? Presto, you'd have some brand-new Baroque music, thematically arranged.<BR>Concerto Italiano and its director, Rinaldo Alessandrini, have done just that -- and created marvels. Listen for the use of staccato and silence in the two slow movements of Benedetto Marcello's second Concerti a cinque; the contrast between the serene Adagio and the festive Presto in his brother Alessandro's exquisite oboe concerto; and the second of Vivaldi's amazingly innovative flute concertos, with its creepy "Night" and hypnotic "Sleep" sections.<BR>In 2003, Gramophone declared that Concerto Italiano's version of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons was the finest ever recorded. The pristine Naive Classique recording of Concerti Italiani will similarly raise your spirits -- along with those of a few dead guys.<BR>-Michael Bowen<BR><I>The Inlander</I>, Spokane, Washington - November 2004 (USA)<BR><BR><HR>&nbsp;<BR><P><B><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=composer&amp;iConcPeopleID=1767&amp;vFirstName=Benedetto&amp;vLastName=Marcello&amp;vSection=Benedetto%20Marcello"><FONT color=#000000>Benedetto Marcello</FONT></A></B><BR>1-4 Concerto in mi minore per violino obligato, violoncello, archi e basso continuo (<I>concerti a cinque</I>, op.I, Venezia, 1708) 10:18 <BR><P>-ricostruzione della parte di violino obbligato a cura di Rinaldo Alessandrini -</P><BR>Recorded in September 2000 in Chiesa della SS. Trinità dei Pellegrini in Rome (Italy) <P></P><BLOCKQUOTE><P>1&nbsp;Adagio e staccato 2:09<BR>2&nbsp;Vivace 1:42<BR>3&nbsp;Adagio e staccato 2:44<BR>4&nbsp;Prestissimo 3:43<BR></P></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=1096&amp;vFirstName=Luca&amp;vLastName=Peverini&amp;vSection=Luca%20Peverini"><FONT color=#000000>Luca Peverini</FONT></A> (Violoncello)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=1768&amp;vFirstName=Riccardo&amp;vLastName=Minasi&amp;vSection=Riccardo%20Minasi"><FONT color=#000000>Riccardo Minasi</FONT></A> (Violino principale)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=617&amp;vFirstName=Rinaldo&amp;vLastName=Alessandrini&amp;vSection=Rinaldo%20Alessandrini"><FONT color=#000000>Rinaldo Alessandrini</FONT></A> (Conductor)<BR><BR></P><P><B><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=composer&amp;iConcPeopleID=80&amp;vFirstName=Antonio&amp;vLastName=Vivaldi&amp;vSection=Antonio%20Vivaldi"><FONT color=#000000>Antonio Vivaldi</FONT></A></B><BR>5-7 Concerto in re minore per due violini, violoncello, archi e basso continuo op. III (<I>L'Estro armonico</I>) n.11 RV 565 9:09 <BR>Recorded in September 2000 in Chiesa della SS. Trinità dei Pellegrini in Rome (Italy) </P><BLOCKQUOTE><P>5&nbsp;Allegro. Adagio e spiccato. Allegro 3:44<BR>6&nbsp;Largo e spiccato 3:06<BR>7&nbsp;Allegro 2:19<BR></P></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=1096&amp;vFirstName=Luca&amp;vLastName=Peverini&amp;vSection=Luca%20Peverini"><FONT color=#000000>Luca Peverini</FONT></A> (violoncello)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=1004&amp;vFirstName=Antonio&amp;vLastName=de%20Secondi&amp;vSection=Antonio%20de%20Secondi"><FONT color=#000000>Antonio de Secondi</FONT></A> (violino principale)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=1768&amp;vFirstName=Riccardo&amp;vLastName=Minasi&amp;vSection=Riccardo%20Minasi"><FONT color=#000000>Riccardo Minasi</FONT></A> (Violino principale)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=617&amp;vFirstName=Rinaldo&amp;vLastName=Alessandrini&amp;vSection=Rinaldo%20Alessandrini"><FONT color=#000000>Rinaldo Alessandrini</FONT></A> (conductor)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=ensemble&amp;iConcPeopleID=&amp;vFirstName=&amp;vLastName=Concerto%20Italiano&amp;vSection=Concerto%20Italiano"><FONT color=#000000>Concerto Italiano</FONT></A> <BR></P><P><B><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=composer&amp;iConcPeopleID=1769&amp;vFirstName=Alessandro&amp;vLastName=Marcello&amp;vSection=Alessandro%20Marcello"><FONT color=#000000>Alessandro Marcello</FONT></A></B><BR>8-10 Concerto in re minore per oboe, archi e basso continuo (<I>concerti a cinque</I>, Amsterdam, ca. 1716) 10:57 <BR>Recorded in September 2000 in Chiesa della SS. Trinità dei Pellegrini in Rome (Italy) </P><BLOCKQUOTE><P>8&nbsp;Andante e spiccato 3:22<BR>9&nbsp;Adagio 3:59<BR>10&nbsp;Presto 3:36<BR></P></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=1006&amp;vFirstName=Andrea&amp;vLastName=Mion&amp;vSection=Andrea%20Mion"><FONT color=#000000>Andrea Mion</FONT></A> (Oboe)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=617&amp;vFirstName=Rinaldo&amp;vLastName=Alessandrini&amp;vSection=Rinaldo%20Alessandrini"><FONT color=#000000>Rinaldo Alessandrini</FONT></A> (Conductor)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=ensemble&amp;iConcPeopleID=&amp;vFirstName=&amp;vLastName=Concerto%20Italiano&amp;vSection=Concerto%20Italiano"><FONT color=#000000>Concerto Italiano</FONT></A> <BR></P><P><B><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=composer&amp;iConcPeopleID=78&amp;vFirstName=Johann%20Sebastian&amp;vLastName=Bach&amp;vSection=Johann%20Sebastian%20Bach"><FONT color=#000000>Johann Sebastian Bach</FONT></A></B><BR>11-13 Concerto nach italiänischen Gusto BWV 971 (<I>Clavier-Ubung II</I>, Leipzig, 1735) 12:27 <BR><P>Recorded in September 2000 in Chiesa della SS. Trinità dei Pellegrini in Rome (Italy) </P><P>Ricostruzione per violino obligato, archi e basso continuo di Rinaldo Alessandrini</P><P></P><BLOCKQUOTE><P>11&nbsp;Allegro 3:51<BR>12&nbsp;Andante 4:32<BR>13&nbsp;Presto 4:04<BR></P></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=1002&amp;vFirstName=Francesca&amp;vLastName=Vicari&amp;vSection=Francesca%20Vicari"><FONT color=#000000>Francesca Vicari</FONT></A> (Violino principale)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=617&amp;vFirstName=Rinaldo&amp;vLastName=Alessandrini&amp;vSection=Rinaldo%20Alessandrini"><FONT color=#000000>Rinaldo Alessandrini</FONT></A> (Conductor)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=ensemble&amp;iConcPeopleID=&amp;vFirstName=&amp;vLastName=Concerto%20Italiano&amp;vSection=Concerto%20Italiano"><FONT color=#000000>Concerto Italiano</FONT></A> <BR></P><P><B><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=composer&amp;iConcPeopleID=80&amp;vFirstName=Antonio&amp;vLastName=Vivaldi&amp;vSection=Antonio%20Vivaldi"><FONT color=#000000>Antonio Vivaldi</FONT></A></B><BR>14-16 Concerto in sol minore per violino, archi e basso continuo op.IV (<I>La Stravaganza</I>) n.6 RV316a 9:07 <BR><P>&nbsp;</P><P></P><BLOCKQUOTE><P>14&nbsp;Allegro 2:32<BR>15&nbsp;Largo 2:52<BR>16&nbsp;Allegro 3:43<BR></P></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=1004&amp;vFirstName=Antonio&amp;vLastName=de%20Secondi&amp;vSection=Antonio%20de%20Secondi"><FONT color=#000000>Antonio de Secondi</FONT></A> (Violino principale)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=617&amp;vFirstName=Rinaldo&amp;vLastName=Alessandrini&amp;vSection=Rinaldo%20Alessandrini"><FONT color=#000000>Rinaldo Alessandrini</FONT></A> (Conductor)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=ensemble&amp;iConcPeopleID=&amp;vFirstName=&amp;vLastName=Concerto%20Italiano&amp;vSection=Concerto%20Italiano"><FONT color=#000000>Concerto Italiano</FONT></A> <BR></P><P><B><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=composer&amp;iConcPeopleID=80&amp;vFirstName=Antonio&amp;vLastName=Vivaldi&amp;vSection=Antonio%20Vivaldi"><FONT color=#000000>Antonio Vivaldi</FONT></A></B><BR>17-20 Concerto in sol minore "La Notte" per traverso, archi e basso contniuo op.X n.2 RV 439 11:01 <BR>Recorded in the Scala Academica del Pontifico Istituto di Musica </P><BLOCKQUOTE><P>17&nbsp;Largo. Fantasmi - Presto. Largo 5:37<BR>18&nbsp;Presto 1:03<BR>19&nbsp;II Sonno - Largo 2:15<BR>20&nbsp;Allegro 2:06<BR></P></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=1096&amp;vFirstName=Luca&amp;vLastName=Peverini&amp;vSection=Luca%20Peverini"><FONT color=#000000>Luca Peverini</FONT></A> (Violoncello)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=1002&amp;vFirstName=Francesca&amp;vLastName=Vicari&amp;vSection=Francesca%20Vicari"><FONT color=#000000>Francesca Vicari</FONT></A> (Violin)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=1008&amp;vFirstName=Mauro&amp;vLastName=Lopes%20Ferreira&amp;vSection=Mauro%20Lopes%20Ferreira"><FONT color=#000000>Mauro Lopes Ferreira</FONT></A> (Violin)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=1009&amp;vFirstName=Ettore&amp;vLastName=Belli&amp;vSection=Ettore%20Belli"><FONT color=#000000>Ettore Belli</FONT></A> (Viola)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=1770&amp;vFirstName=Laura&amp;vLastName=Pontecorvo&amp;vSection=Laura%20Pontecorvo"><FONT color=#000000>Laura Pontecorvo</FONT></A> (Traverso)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=617&amp;vFirstName=Rinaldo&amp;vLastName=Alessandrini&amp;vSection=Rinaldo%20Alessandrini"><FONT color=#000000>Rinaldo Alessandrini</FONT></A> (Conductor)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=performer&amp;iConcPeopleID=617&amp;vFirstName=Rinaldo&amp;vLastName=Alessandrini&amp;vSection=Rinaldo%20Alessandrini"><FONT color=#000000>Rinaldo Alessandrini</FONT></A> (Clavicembalo)<BR><A href="http://www.andante.com/boutique/shop/index.cfm?action=displaycatalog&amp;iProductLabelID=&amp;by=ensemble&amp;iConcPeopleID=&amp;vFirstName=&amp;vLastName=Concerto%20Italiano&amp;vSection=Concerto%20Italiano"><FONT color=#000000>Concerto Italiano</FONT></A> <BR></P><P>&nbsp;</P>
Various Bach For Meditation
Various Concert For Jim Capaldi
Various The Strat Pack Concert
Various Uncut: Fill Your Head With Prog
Various 100 Best Baroque
Various Punk Goes Acoustic Volume 2 <P>Acoustic songs are the kind of things an emo kid's wet dreams are made of, which probably explains Fearless Records' decision to pump out a second edition of Punk Goes Acoustic for their Punk Goes Everything series. The kitsch factor dominating the rest of said series is basically gone with all the bands here simply doing unplugged versions of fan's favorite songs, and the record is the predictable result of pop-punkers turning off their amps and adding in the occasional piano and handclap for good measure. Fans of acts like Silverstein and the Audition will be smitten all the way through, though really, some songs work much better than others, stripped down and without the driving chords to cover up oft-nasal vocals. Jack's Mannequin's "Bruised" is unsurprisingly a standout, since Andrew McMahon is heads above his peers anyways, but newcomers All Time Low bring an unexpectedly solid performance by doing, well, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Mixing up the emo-heavy crowd a bit, Set Your Goals' great "Echoes" stands tall as a punchy little melodic hardcore number that recalls early New Found Glory, while vets Anti-Flag can barely contain their anger at the Bush administration over the strummed notes of "Welcome to 1984." These songs — along with a rather whimsical version of Say Anything's "Woe" and a laid-back, barebones All-American Rejects number — are welcome respite from the album's generally consistent nature, not to mention the grating screamo-lite of Alesana and a rather boring cut from Sherwood. Perfectly inoffensive and agreeable "punk" ready for late-night make-out sessions between a boy and girl most likely wearing the same sized jeans.</P><P>— <B>Corey Apar</B></P>
Various Lovers Adagios
Various MOJO: The Roots Of Led Zepplin
Various Uncut: Bring It On Home
Various Uncut: Across The Great Divide
Various Life Is Beautiful: Music For A Relaxing Weekend
Various Life Is Beautiful: Music For Dinner Parties
Various Peace On Earth
Various The Old Grey Whistle Test Volume 1 <p>Between 1971 and 1987, BBC television's The Old Grey Whistle Test was crucial viewing for any "serious" rock fan, a weekly digest of live performance, concert footage, interviews, and news, presented for most of that run by the gently bearded whisper of DJ Bob Harris. It was never a show that chased headlines -- although Whistle Test can claim to have launched some of the most incandescent talents of the early '70s, from Alice Cooper, who made his first U.K. TV appearance on the show, to Focus, hitherto an unknown Dutch prog act, it was just as notable for the acts it didn't feature as for those it did. No "pop" groups, no Top 40 hypes, nothing that at least one member of the production team wouldn't trust with his life. The result, though the show itself drifted in and out of critical and public favor throughout its 16-year run, is today regarded among the most crucial British rock archives in existence, and the two DVDs that comprise this package highlight at least a fraction of the jewels therein. The 45 exclusive performances stretching across the show's entire run do indeed include the most epochal showings, with the first disc traveling through the first half of the 1970s, a gold mine of thinking man's rock -- Focus, of course, whipping up a frenzied (and festive) "Hocus Pocus," show favorites the Sensational Alex Harvey Band hamming it up with "Give My Compliments to the Chef," the Wailers' spellbinding romp through "Stir It Up," and an absolutely epic rendition of "Frankenstein" from the Edgar Winter Group.</p> <p>There's room, too, for a couple of the bands that Harris himself furiously fought against including on the show, only to be outvoted by his teammates -- nobody who saw them will ever forget the scorn and disgust with which the staid and serious Harris introduced the decidedly glamorous novelty of Roxy Music and the New York Dolls, and there's a school of thought that actually credits his outrage with laying the foundations of punk rock a few years later. Harris represented the establishment; Roxy (and the Dolls) were the future. If you liked one, you couldn't trust the other. Harris himself had departed Whistle Test by the time the show itself was ready to embrace punk -- he presided over a handful more begrudging nods in that direction, including the blistering performances from Dr. Feelgood and Otway & Barrett that appear here, but it was with the arrival of hostess Annie Nightingale that the show (and this collection) moved into the new age. Talking Heads, XTC, Blondie, the Damned, Public Image, and the Teardrop Explodes all highlight disc two, although there's still room for the traditional Whistle Test audience. Meat Loaf turned in a phenomenal "Paradise By the Dashboard Lights," there's some stunning footage of Bruce Springsteen, Robert Wyatt turns in a heartbreaking "Shipbuilding," and R.E.M. -- possibly the one band in the '80s that wholly epitomized the spirit of the show in the '70s -- takes a suitably po-faced trip down "Moon River." Bonus material includes personal recollections from the show's hosts (a wealth of entertaining trivia) and a clutch of interviews from the show's golden years: Lennon, Led Zeppelin, Keith Richard, Elton John. In addition, producer Mike Appleton delivers a vastly enjoyable audio commentary, while there's also a smattering of still-photo features. At the end of the day, though, it's the music that made The Old Grey Whistle Test what it was, and the music -- close to five hours of it -- that renders this collection such an essential document.</p>&mdash; <b>Dave Thompson</b>
Various Life Is Beautiful
Various Experience Hendrix
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