Prince
Sign "O" The Times

- The highly anticipated follow-up to Eastern Flowers and Wabi Sabi - The staff used on Natura Morta is the following: 9 violins, 4 violas, 3 cellos, 1 flute, 1 piano, 1 electric piano, 1 cembalo, 1 twelve-string guitar, 1 electric guitar, 1 trumpet, 1 flugelhorn, 1 tenor horn, 1 marimba, 1 electric bass, drums and percussions // On Natura Morta, Sven Wunder is exploring art as a bridge between nature and the human ability to judge and observe in eleven musical compositions with brightly colored textures and an emphasis on vibrant melodies. Throughout human history, we have depicted the world we live in through art. By reworking what we see in the world, the simplest things have helped us understand the beauty of nature and to evaluate the material world that we have created around us, as a window to a constantly changing reality, through our own perception. It is that absolute reality that appears in the seam of human and nature and that can be revealed through art. Still life painting, also referred to as Natura Morta ("dead nature") in Italian, stretches back to ancient times. Some of the earliest works, found in Pompeii, depict commonplace objects such as fresh autumn fruits alongside man-made objects such as a small amphora and a small terracotta heap with dried fruits. These two-thousand-year-old paintings give a snapshot of Roman life, and also creates a link to time and space. A slice of life has been created by binding the earth's pigments with extracts of oil, made from nuts and seeds, painted with brushes, made from a variety of fibers, such as trees and hair from animals. While life wanes with each brushstroke, by shifting reality into the past, art exists to make us come alive, being a living image of a dead thing, a surface and a symbol with symbolic powers of its own. Still life works celebrate material and ephemeral pleasures by returning to nature as the ultimate source for our standards in art as well as in life itself. Natura Morta collects pieces from a continuous variety of melodies - supported by a decisive rhythm section - creating a musical kaleidoscope of ever-changing colors. Sven Wunder brings life into this rich assortment of musical implications by fusing and combining melodic instruments with each other in a setting that spans from a classical to a modern idiom. The author evokes this panoramic portrait by articulating an instrumental dialog between a chamber orchestra and a jazz ensemble. The result is a musical celebration of material pleasures that also serves as a reminder of the brevity of human life. This album was produced with financial support from the Swedish Arts Council.

American Chocolate has but one solo entry on Discogs, and that is the 1974 EP M.I.A., which is the one and only release listed for the DTR label. It's the B-side from that two-track EP that is reissued here on its own 7", with an instrumental version on the flip. 'Don't Bug Me' is a gloriously sweet and heartwarming bit of soul-drenched boogie. The buttery smooth vocals make a deep impact, while the nimble disco-funk drums and rump-wiggling boogie bassline cannot fail to make you move. It's a warm, uplifting sound that will get any floor in a spin. The instrumental allows the chords and funky bass riffs a little more room to shine and make a different but just as strong impact.

Wewantsounds poursuit sa série de rééditions Akiko Yano avec l‘album culte Ai Ga Nakucha Ne enregistré en 1982 et coproduit par Ryuichi Sakamoto. L’album a été enregistré à Londres avec le groupe Japan et à Tokyo avec Yellow Magic Orchestra et a été mixé par Steve Nye et Shinichi Tanaka. Ai Ga Nakucha Ne (« Cela doit être l’amour » en japonais) est le sixième album studio d’Akiko Yano. Il succède à Tadaima sorti en 1981 et continue d’explorer la veine électro-pop de son prédécesseur, dans la foulée des tournées Yellow Magic Orchestra dont Akiko a fait partie entre 1979 et 1980. Pour ce nouvel album, elle tente une nouvelle approche et réunit ses amis anglais Mick Karn, Steve Jansen et David Sylvian du groupe Japan aux Studios Air à Londres sous la houlette de l’ingénieur du son Steve Nye. En deux semaines, les musiciens enregistrent une poignée de titres fascinants gorgés de pop synthétique, chantés en japonais et en anglais. Les onze morceaux présents sur l’album ont principalement été composés par Akiko et sont une superbe collection de hits en puissance mettant en valeur la voix si caractéristique de la chanteuse, accompagnée par les musiciens de Japan. Parmi les nombreux temps forts de l’album, on note la pop calibrée de « Aisuru Hito Yo » et l’avant-groove de « Another Wedding Song », ainsi que le superbe « Good Night » chanté par Akiko et David Sylvian et qui clôt l’album. Ai Ga Nakucha Ne qui sort pour la première fois en dehors du Japon a été remasterisé à partir des bandes originales par Mitsuo Koike et offre une nouvelle introduction écrite par Mac DeMarco.

Don't sleep on those contagious grooves!!!