Katia Labèque & Marielle Labèque - Sonic Wires - VINYL LP

Brute Force & His Drum - The Weird and Wonderful World Of Brute Force And His Drum [VINYL LP] date 07/04/2025

The name Vilém Veverka is familiar to everyone who has fallen for the enchanting tone of the oboe. His path to virtuosity commenced with accolades at international competitions, and continued with gaining experience with the Berliner Philharmoniker, performances with chamber formations (Ensemble Berlin Prag, PhiHarmonia Octet), and building up an extensive repertoire, ranging from Baroque to contemporary works, a number of which he himself has premiered. Yet Vilém's horizon is even wider - his ambition is to present the oboe in a context different from that which we are accustomed to. Following several InchclassicalInch summits (Telemann, Britten, Vivaldi, Zelenka, Bach, etc.), he has made another of his dreams come true in the form of this crossover album. It would seem that the need to transcend borders is deeply encoded in his DNA. And so you will find side by side Bach, the InchclassicsInch of the second half of the 20th century (Morricone, Piazzolla, Žbirka, etc.), and also compositions Martin Hybler wrote for the present album. Everything has been thought through, every single detail refined. As Vilém himself put it, the recording documents Inchthe compulsion of a performer to seek new paths unceasinglyInch, it is Incha report on a new beginning, on the next of a series of horizons beheld.Inch

Emma Ruth Rundle's These Killing Times is electrifying, emotional and charged with anti-patriarchal feminist rage. The sixth studio album from the multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and multi-disciplinary artist is a reactive anthology, bristling, full of life and full of resistance; it asks us questions of our intentions and of the roles we play in the communities we exist within, and how we choose to counter the chokehold of capitalism. Sleepless nights, moments of horror, and times of anguish could be overlaid atop a timeline of recent socio-political events to map the creation of These Killing Times; the rising power of Christian nationalism, the grotesque circus of political discourse, and related ontological discomfort. But there is also love - as a balm and a tonic, a means of escape. A desire for companionship and connection whilst being confronted by the most violent parts of humanity remains an unresolved tension.Written as she watched from afar the devastating effects of yet another climate disaster unfold in early 2025, Emma reflected on the roots of the systemic issues that filter directly into so many catastrophic global events, and made a conscious choice to reach towards making a hopeful record. Where outside forces tempted her to turn inwards, towards isolation and hopelessness, she instead reached outwards to create a record that acknowledges pain, but offers both community and resilience in response.