Live recording of SEPTICFLESH’s once in a lifetime 2019 show accompanied by the Toluca Philharmonica Orchestra in Mexico.

Serge Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto might never have seen the light of day had it not been for hypnosis: before the twenty-seven-year-old composer began work on it, he was on his last legs – financially, artistically and psychologically. Dr Nikolay Dahl hypnotised his patient every day, whispering to him: ‘You will write your concerto. You will work with great fluency. The concerto will be of excellent quality.’ The creative block disappeared, and the concerto’s premiere in Moscow in 1901 was a triumph for Rachmaninov, who played the solo part himself. Anna Vinnitskaya says she feels ‘a spring-like atmosphere’ in this work: throughout there is a sense of movement, of awakening. The music passes through the most contrasting psychological landscapes, but moves towards clarity and light. Rachmaninov composed the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in 1934, ten years before his death. Brahms, Liszt, Lutosławski and Andrew Lloyd Webber are among the remarkable roll call of composers inspired by Paganini’s theme.

Jekabs Jancevskis is a young Latvian composer and an exponent of that thrilling, accessible brand of choral writing which ourishes in the Baltic States as nowhere else, and which has become something of an established Hyperion enthusiasm. ‘On the evidence of this recording, [Jančevskis] has found subtle and authentic ways of furthering the distinctive sound of Latvian choral music established in the last century… few more beautiful realisations of Latvia’s choral language have come my way in the past decade… one wonders where that Latvian sound can go and what events will shape it. There’s plenty of time for Jančevskis, still in his twenties, to think on that’ (Gramophone)

When this album was released in 1994, it shocked casual, and even some hardcore, Metheny fans. Recorded in one day, Zero Tolerance for Silence can best be described as semi-organized noise…

The Nerve Institute is the current incarnation of a one-man project that's been active in some form for nearly a decade now. Architects of Flesh-Density (2011). This is the first official Nerve Institute album although M. Judge (who is Nerve Institute) has released other albums under different names. He wrote, played, produced, etc. just about everything on this album himself, with maybe a little bit of help here and there. The music is generally hard to describe as there is so much going on in every song. The use of many different instruments makes for a full sound. The guitars and drums are sometimes very jazzy. Sometimes the guitars are more metal sounding and electric pianos are used often…

New York session great and longtime Harry Belafonte percussionist Ralph MacDonald made his solo debut with Sound of a Drum, successfully fusing the strong Latin flavor of his previous work with the funk and disco sounds dominating clubs in bicentennial America. The title is no misnomer - each song is a showcase for MacDonald's blistering percussion talents, but he never loses the humility and instincts of a sideman, allowing an expert cast including Grover Washington, Jr., Bob James, and Toots Thielemans their own turns in the spotlight as well. The eight-minute "Calypso Breakdown" is by far the best-known cut here, thanks to its inclusion on the mega-selling Saturday Night Fever soundtrack - it remains a monster groove that's dated much better than many disco-era instrumentals, thanks in large part to William Eaton's clever, jazz-inspired arrangement and Eric Gale's ferocious guitar solo.

Rebounding from the inconsistent Holidays in Eden, Marillion retreated to the studio for 15 months to write and record the concept album Brave. Telling the story of an abused girl wandering on Severn Bridge, the album is a solid mix of symphonic tracks with a pronounced rock edge…

"Often times, we end up with something really magical,” Anastasio says of working with his friends on his quarantine tracks. “I’m not going to say our songs are magical, but I often have an emotional agenda, and sometimes the combo of thoughts kind of merge together, and one-plus-one ends up making three.”