The Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines, ‘Ocean Wave’

Traditional, well drilled and extremely talented, the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines are held in high esteem the world over. It’s something of a musical niche, military bands, but wherever they go you can guarantee there will be people watching – a band who have been existence for hundreds of years, and continue to impress.

In fact, it’s their longevity which prompts this album, celebrating the 350th year of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines and a musical tradition that goes back to the very beginning. They’re a national institution, and this Sony Classical music release reflects that.

It collects together 14 recordings of the band playing various traditional tunes from the British Isles, alongside a host of guests, vocalists and soloists (including the slightly odd choice of ‘Richard and Adam’, a tenor duo came third in series seven of Britain’s Got Talent, to sing ‘We’ll Keep A Welcome’) who do well to keep up and in some cases augment the skill of the main attraction.

It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but those who appreciate a good uplifting, stomping march will love it.

Spirals set for self-titled debut mixtape this winter

Starting out on a brand new musical journey after some enforced time out of the industry due to illness, Spirals is the working title of excellent songwriter John Aziz.

His new mix tape (or mini-album) is a real statement of intent – self-written, recorded, produced and mastered. Written with the ambition of creating an epic, brilliant psych-rock album like classic Pink Floyd or Kraftwerk, Spirals draws from and blends together elements of classic song writing and musicianship with modern production techniques.

You can get a taste of what the self-titled debut release has to offer here:

https://soundcloud.com/spiralsssss/psychedelic-dove

In spite of his retro musical preferences, Spirals is heading down a modern route for the release, making the music available via BitTorrent Bundles in similar fashion to Thom Yorke’s recent surprise solo album.

So focussed on the music that he abandoned a job writing about economics and business to begin playing again after his enforced break, this release is the first in what looks likely to be a versatile string of music from the songwriter.

Not one to rest on his laurels, he already planning and writing his next release, an acoustic folk mixtape. Ambitious and innovative, this is the work and mind of a true music lover.

Links:

www.twitter.com/Spiralssss

https://www.facebook.com/pages/spirals/112477135447300

www.soundcloud.com/spiralsssss

http://spiralsssss.bandcamp.com/releases