Virginia Wing - Ecstatic Arrow - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Among slowly unravelling coils of oscillations and intermittent fragments of semi-formed loops, instruments both electronic and acoustic resonate gently against each other over an ever-evolving soundbed of textures. A meeting of minds and those exciting first sparks of inspiration soundtracked by celestial, otherworldly tones and free-flowing spoken word.This was how Virginia Wing and XAM Duo spent two cold days at the start of January 2017. A weekend escape in the frozen industrial district of Bradford became an archive of improvisations that were later sculpted into an all-encompassing full length.Within minutes of the four playing together for the very first time their ideas quickly grew into one single-minded theory; that of free-thinking, acting on instinct and each having the patience to allow even the smallest of initial ideas to grow organically into fully-formed pieces of music.Condensed from 48 hours down to 48 intense minutes the group's recordings create an all-encompassing new universe of sound with references from the mutated world percussion of Holger Czukay, the transportive saxophone of Pharoah Sanders, and the devotional music of Alice Coltrane.Over the course of the album's wide-eyed exploration, the group's first ever steps of creative collaboration unfold in unexpected ways, whether it be on the inhibition-free wonderment of lengthy opener 'Birch Polygon', or the hopeful, throbbing ambience of 'Good Roads Fair Weather', with it's minimalist piano and vapour trails of saxophone.1. Birch Polygon2. Yesterday's Guest3. Look Again4. Good Roads Fair5. Weather6. Person to Person7. A Tunnel

One of the year's most daring and true pop records, private LIFE comes as the result of Virginia Wing living through, and with, huge personal emotional and mental traumas. It is a document of how the very process of music creation in a group can be of huge therapeutic benefit to people. The three members of Virginia Wing have explored the depths of their creative and artistic inspirations within performance, production and composition, and have made a candid and brash pop record that speaks clearly about hope, desperation, impulse, addiction, urge and shame. More tumultuous than it's predecessor, private LIFE knocks hard. The evolution of Virginia Wing's sound continues to build on the broad creative flow of the last album whilst being another audacious contribution to contemporary pop. The drums are huge and playfully unquantized. Edits are both assured and heavy handed, the instrumentation lightly mediates the two and findsSide AA1 I'm Holding Out For SomethingA2 Moon Turn TidesA3 Soft FruitA4 Michael Returns To The GardenA5 99 NorthA6 Return To ViewSide BB1 St. Francis FountainB2 Private LifeB3 Half MourningB4 Lucky CoinB5 OBW SaintsB6 I Know About These Things

Impressions d'enfance, Ensemble Raro's and Gilles Apap's new recording, is dedicated to chamber music works of George Enescu. Piano Quintet in D is one of his earliest compositions. Written in 1896 at the age of fifteen during his studies at the Paris Conservatoire, it is certainly inspired by Brahms' chamber works. Enescu himself confessed about Brahms' enormous influence on his development Inchthe God of my youthful adoration is Brahms and I wrote my early works in the style of the immortal Johannes in an almost flagrant wayInch. The Quintet was premiered in 1897, in Enescu's first recital of his own works in Paris at the age of sixteen; Massenet and Cortot were in the audience. The two charming works for Piano and String Trio, Aubade and Serenade Lointaine, illustrate the point that Enescu's beloved teacher Gabriel Fauré expressed very beautifully Inchthe greatest technical ability is not worth anything without poetryInch. Even in the cleverly constructed short piece Hommage for Piano, which is based on a motive representing the letters of Fauré's name, the poetic, dreamy quality prevails. Enescu's late masterpiece Impressions d'enfance for Violin and Piano takes us back to the very first occasion when three year old George heard a street fiddler for the very first time. Impressions is an evocation of a childhood through a sequence of dreams, memories, imperceptible sensations and sounds. It results in one of Enescu's most glorious climaxes where the old fiddler's tune merges with cosmic piano harmony and the the noble, healing force of music triumphs over all. In Enescu's own words a man always Inchcarries the music in himself. In the loneliness of the mountains and plains, it is his comrade; it calms his fears, it helps him sing his dor, that inexpressible nostalgia that breaks his soulInch.