Heimann - Tide

Artist: John Lakveet
P: 2004
Volume 2 starts strong with a slower-paced sequence in “Presbytery” that builds the song in just the right manner. “West Column” has a gentle but rapid musical phrase much like Rudy Adrian’s excellent Berlin school style, then shifts to a nearly silent section that works very well in contrast. The dreamy “Time Is Gone” is a wonderful floater.
The lead synth on “Cheer Up” is a little too cute, but is offset by the darkness that follows in “Crypt”. Another ambient track is “Sentry”, an effective experimental adventure by Lakveet that is really more sound collage than tune. It’s hard to cover all the ground here, but you will find the terrain well worth your time exploring.

Artist: Mike Oldfield
P: 1999
This is a great DVD of two live performances of Mike Oldfield. Side One is Tubular Bells II performed live at Edinburgh Castle. Mike and his other musicians, and the orchestra all play pretty close to the original album of Tubular Bells II. It's rather disappointing that the "Altered State" segment has to be a part of his most cherished album ever. I cringe every time I here the album go into that annoying "caveman-like" tangent. It follows "Tattoo" (with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards" on bagpipes) which is my favorite part of TB II.

On Side Two of the DVD, Mike and his fellow performers play his 1998 album Tubular Bells III at the Horse Guards Parade in London. If you already bought his DVD of "The Art in Heaven -Millennium Bell Concert", you will see many of his same performers are with him on this performance of Tubular Bells III.

The sound quality is excellent on both sides of this DVD.