There are two really famous Beethoven violin sonatas, the Kreutzer and the Spring. The Kreutzer Sonata inspired the story by Leo Tolstoy, which in turn became the subject of Janácek's First String Quartet, so if you're into comparative studies in the arts, there's a thesis topic for you! The Spring Sonata was featured in Woody Allen's Love and Death, among other places. And perhaps most intriguingly of all, the scherzo of the late sonata, Op. 96, turns up quite clearly in the third movement of Mahler's Second Symphony.

In 1999, the US broadcast commission (FCC) decided absurdly enough that a pro-women empowerment record (Your Revolution featuring Sarah Jones) was too ‘crude’ for radio whilst allowing countless records that promote negativity to go. The decision ended up in court several years later under appeal with several leading Ivy league English professors coming to the defense of freedom of speech, freedom of expression and to argue the double standards of the ban and fine.

Recorded over a series of live concerts in London, this double CD features an Acoustic Alchemy lineup of Greg Carmichael, Miles Gilderdale, Fred White, Greg Grainger, and Gary Grainger playing songs from 2011's Roseland as well as signature songs from the band's 16-album career, including "The Beautiful Game," "Jamaica Heartbeat," "One for Shorty," and "Lazeez."