AllMusic

Stephen Layton / Patricia Rozario / John Tavener

John Tavener: The Veil of the Temple

March 22, 2005

Choral

A large-scale choral work inspired by sacred music, it brings together ideas drawn mainly from Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity, embodied in rhythms and chants from those sources. This performance by the Choir of the Temple Church of London, the Holst Singers, and the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Stephen Layton, emphasizes the ethereal and otherworldly aspect of the score, and the resonant acoustics of the Temple Church give the singers and instrumentalists an aural halo that suggests the spirituality of the ancient texts and evokes their remoteness in time.

- Blair Sanderson

Kaizers Orchestra

Maestro

2005

Alternative/Indie Rock

Anybody wondering what happened to Tom Waits after Frank's Wild Years or Radiohead after OK Computer need look no further than Norway's Kaizers Orchestra. While they remain true to their penchant for Tin Pan Alley nightmare music, the 12 cuts that inhabit Maestro veer wildly from genre to genre, taking bits and pieces of punk, folk, funk, jazz, and rock and shredding them to bits.

- James Monger