Graham Caskie - Piano Works - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Universally hailed as a thrilling new figure in music for his edgy, lo-fi debut, the Headphone Masterpiece, back in 2002, Cody ChesnuTT is a soul troubadour whose frank, socially conscious ruminations on life continue to challenge popular notions of what modern soul music can look and sound like A raw storyteller for the people wearing a guitar and a toothpick-chewing smirk; a wide-eyed, intense soul brother in a crazy-fly get-up singing about bedraggled love in the land of Lost Angeles - he's all of that, but wiser now while still wearing poetic license on his skin like a battle scar. The Atlanta native has always stood his own creative ground ever since he first holed himself up in his bedroom to record the Headphone Masterpiece, armed with his DIY musical arsenal A drum machine, an array of instruments, a dusty four-track cassette recorder and a giant pair of headphones to block out the world. The result was an unvarnished collection of songs - 36 in total, which alchemized his love of a multitude of styles classic rock, rhythm and blues, pop, punk and gospel music.

Piotr Anderszewski - Piano Works [COMPACT DISCS] date 03/08/2011

As a composer of art-song, Ian Venables is considered to be one of the most important writing today. The Songs of Ian Venables (8.572514), Volume 21 of Naxos' critically acclaimed English Song Series, was the first devoted to a living composer. This new recording introduces US to his music for solo piano and brings together works written between 1975 and 2001. It is Venables' singular melodic gift and highly inventive use of harmony that combine to give US works that range from the deeply reflective and wistful to those in a lighter vein, full of charm and joie de vivre.