Conspirare - advena - liturgies for a broken world - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Album Tracks 1. XIV Cantica 2. Duo Cantus Mariani 3. Larghetto for Organ 4. Missa in Honorem Angelorum

On 21 August 2026, Divine Art is thrilled to the world premiere recording of Piedra de sol (Sunstone), acclaimed composer Joby Talbot's stunning choral setting of Mexican poet Octavio Paz's epic masterpiece, performed by GRAMMY Award-winning choir Conspirare and Artistic Director Craig Hella Johnson. Drawing on the symbolism of the Aztec calendar stone, Octavio Paz's poem Piedra de sol (1957) is like no other. It uses techniques of modern poetry, particularly surrealist imagery, to meditate on cyclical time and the possibility of breaking it's grip through poetry and love, as explained by Adela Pineda Franco of the University of Texas at Austin in her excellent booklet article. The poem had a profound emotional impact on Joby Talbot '..the hugeness of the poet's vision; the cosmic immensity of the imagery; the febrile surrealistic intensity of a sensory journey through space and time from reality to fantasy and back again; the sudden moments of heartfelt intimacy that never fail to surprise.' The seventy-minute-long musical structure mirrors the poem's narrative journey from ecstatic vision, through deep despair, to eventual enlightenment. It features a wide range of vocal textures, extended passages of complex rhythmic interplay, exposed solo passages for a single voice, and episodes where slabs of sound reflect the poem's terrifying images. Colouring much of the music is the marimba (superbly played by Thomas Burritt), which anchors the harmonies and rhythm and contributes to the otherworldly character of the musical palette. Piedra de sol invites listeners and performers alike on a journey of infinite dimensions - a voyage whose course bends, advances, recedes, comes full circle, and arrives forever. London-born Joby Talbot is a leading composer for concert, stage, and screen. He has written widely for voice and choir, setting poetry, sacred, and historical text

2013 sophomore album from the Oakland-based quartet. Discipline & Desire embodies a dark, full, twisted sound something that feels more appropriate to the foggy, damp British climate than that of sunny California. But that's Wax Idols - zigging where others might zag, and always going their own way. Compared to Wax Idols' debut LP, No Future (a raw, hook-heavy Punk effort), Discipline & Desire is more a group effort as the band contributed to the recording and writing process. Discipline & Desire was produced and engineered by Monte Vallier (of Half Church and Swell) and co-produced by band leader Hether Fortune. Mark Burgess (of the British outfit the Chameleons) worked alongside Wax Idols and Vallier as an extra pair of ears and even played bass on the album closer, 'Stay In.' Album Tracks 1. Stare Back 2. Sound of a Void 3. When It Happens 4. Formulae 5. The Scent of Love 6. Dethrone 7. Ad Re Ian 8. The Cartoonist 9. Elegua 10. Stay in