Portico - Living Fields - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Now that more than 40 years have passed since Mario del Monaco's death, and the venomous criticism of recent decades has dissipated, given his extensive and detailed discography, it can be established that the Italian tenor's voice was undoubtedly the most beautiful, powerful, and important of the last century, surpassing even that of Caruso or Pavarotti. These two CDs, which collect his most spectacular performances from his golden years, and meticulously recorded by Decca of London, are presented here in their entirety and in chronological order.

Vinyl LP pressing Reissue of this 1981 album from the R&B, funk, soul, and rock icon. Released in October 1981, Controversy captures Prince's evolving worldview, and brings his songs out of the bedroom and onto the dancefloor and into the streets to protest the political tension that would come to define the era. InchWe need a new breed - leaders, stand up, organize,Inch Prince proclaims on InchSexuality,Inch setting forth a new mission statement that the personal (and sexual) is also political, and that the quickest route to liberation is to Inchlet your body be free.Inch When Controversy was released, The New York Times declared that InchPrince's black-white synthesis isn't just a picture of what could be, it's a prophecy.Inch

Portico Quartet return with Memory Streams, their fifth studio album and one that continues the journey that first started with 2008's Mercury nominated debut Knee Deep in the North Sea. It's a creative path that has seen the band embrace new technology and explore ambient and electronic influences alongside minimalism, jazz and beyond. It is a process that has encouraged change. Each album has seen the band expand it's palate or explore new trajectories. From the gentle charm of their breakthrough's inimitable mix of jazz, world and minimalist influences, to the tight-knit brilliance of Isla, the electronic infused eponymous Portico Quartet to 2016's return Art in the Age of Automation, each record has been it's own world, it's own statement and offered it's own meaning. It's the mark of a band that has always both stood apart from any scene and been prepared to challenge it's self and find new things to say and to push the limits of what they could do.Memory Streams is part of the same continuum and yet, as the name hints, there is a sense here of a remembering, shards of past influences, hints of ideas re-forged. For Wyllie, Memory Streams Inchfeels in some ways about the identity of the band, about the records we've made before, and the memory of themInch whereas for Bellamy it suggests Incha torrent of imagery, accessing and reliving archived memories, perhaps not even your ownInch.Sonically, the album embraces the classic Portico Quartet sound pallet of drums, saxophone, bass and Hang-Drums, but nonetheless the sound has modulated, become more modern, whilst still channelling the beauty and mystery which has always marked the very best of Portico Quartet's music. It's the sound of a band at ease with it's self who after a dozen years of recording and playing together are able to simultaneously explore and embrace their own identity.InchPortico Quartet stake clai