Ambient Grooves - Various Artists

Advantages: A wonderful symphony
Disadvantages: None

...I must admit that I am a fan of ambient music. By this I mean music that employs the ambient sounds of nature, melding and mixing them with newly-composed pieces of music. This type of music has been around for many, many years. An early example which you might have heard is the Nightingale recorded by the BBC in 1920 when it sang along to the cello playing of Beatrice Harrison. It really is a delightful piece, still re-broadcast every-so-often by the BBC to this day. The CD Uninhabited, Ambient Sounds of Nature might not be in the same class as that tiny little Nightingale, but it is a really suburb CD. The tracks are Tempestuous, Turblent, Rolling booms, Passionate, Uninhabited (the title track) and Random Flashes. The performance is by Levantis. Each piece uses modern music combined with natural sounds (the voices of humans... Read review

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Advantages: Very relaxing
Disadvantages: None

...Expanse of Colour is another CD in the "ambient sounds of nature" series. There seems to be a minor error in the Ciao catalogue. It lists the artistes involved in the "ambient sounds of nature" series as being "various artists." The credits on the CDs in my collection show that the composer and performer on the CDs is Levantis. The tracks on this CD are: Past, The Womb of Mother Earth, Expanse of Colour (the title track of this CD) Density of Life, Preservation and Future. As with the other CDs in the series, Levantis takes some sounds from nature (ambient sounds) such as singing birds, crickets, and blends them into a perfect with some rather gorgeous and lush music. Unlike some of the so-called relaxing CDs that are on the market which rely on rather weedy electro-pap music created on ill-tuned synthesisers, the music... Read review

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Advantages: Fantastic Full-Length Dance Classics
Disadvantages: A few substandard fillers...

...of that whole "whoa - yeah" thing... 9. "Must bee the music" - King Bee Remarkably similar to their "Back by Dope Demand", with a little Monie Love sample... 10. "Got to be real" - Cheryl Lynn Cheryl Lynn won the US television "Pop Idol" stlye talent show The Gong Show in 1976. This song first came out in 1978, but this is a timeless classic. 11. "Roadblock" - Stock, Aitken and Waterman (Rare groove version) Remember everyone though this was sone "Rage Groove" classic ? And it turned out to be good old SAW ? Fantastic 12. "Why" - Carly Simon (extended version) This version of the1982 original was a real balearic anthem in those early ibiza days. Just imagine listening to this as the sun sets at Cafe Del Mar..... La de dah de dah... 13. "A little sensitivity" - Lavine Hudson They saved the best 'till last. Another fantastic... Read review

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