Alpha (Asia album)

Alpha is the second studio album by British rock band Asia, released in 1983. It was certified Platinum in the United States, eventually selling close to two million copies.

Released one year before the departure of guitarist Steve Howe, Alpha was the last album with the band's original line-up until 2008's Phoenix, after the original members reunited in 2006, and the last album with Howe until Aqua in 1992.

Writing and recording

Alpha is dominated by the songwriting tandem of John Wetton and Geoff Downes. All the tracks on the album are written by Wetton/Downes, except for "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes", by Wetton only. Steve Howe, guitarist and a key songwriting contributor on the debut album, was left out due to reasons not entirely clear. His only songwriting credit was for "Lyin' to Yourself" (Wetton/Howe), the B-side of the single "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes".

Alpha was recorded during the spring of 1983 at Le Studio in Morin Heights, Quebec and Manta Sound in Toronto.

"@" (album)

"@" is a studio album by John Zorn and Thurston Moore. It is the first collaborative album by the duo and was recorded in New York City in February, 2013 and released by Tzadik Records in September 2013. The album consists of improvised music by Zorn and Moore that was recorded in the studio in real time with no edits or overdubs.

Reception

Allmusic said "@ finds two of New York City's longest-running fringe dwellers churning out sheets of collaborative sounds that conjoin their respective and distinct states of constant freak-out... These seven improvisations sound inspired without feeling at all heavy-handed or urgent. More so, @ succeeds with the type of conversational playing that could only be achieved by two masters so deep into their craft that it probably feels a lot like breathing to them by now".

Track listing

All compositions by John Zorn and Thurston Moore

?! (album)

?! is the third studio album by Italian rapper Caparezza, and his first release not to use the former stage name MikiMix.

Reception

Reviewing the album for Allmusic, Jason Birchmeier wrote, "The Italian rapper drops his rhymes with just as much fluency and dexterity as his American peers throughout the album. [...] Caparezza's mastery of the Italian dialect [makes] this album so stunning."

Track listing

References

Album (Land of the Lost)

"Album" is the seventh episode of the first season of the 1974 American television series Land of the Lost. Written by Dick Morgan and directed by Bob Lally, it first aired in the United States on October 19, 1974 on NBC. The episode guest stars Erica Hagen.

Plot

Will awakens in the early morning to a high-pitched whirring sound which fills the jungle, but eventually it goes away. Rick has Holly build a trap to catch whatever has been breaking into their stores, and Will goes to weed the garden. While outside, he again hears the sound and follows it to the Lost City. Within, he enters a chamber with a very crude-looking attempt to simulate a matrix table but filled with colored stones instead of crystals. On the ground is a pulsating blue crystal that attracts his attention. Picking it up, he sees his mother (Erica Hagen) materialize in a cloud of mist. Afterwards, he returns to High Bluff but doesn't speak of his encounter.

The next day Holly's trap has not worked, and Will again hears the sound. Holly hears it briefly as well, but dismisses it. Will returns to the Lost City and again witnesses his mother while holding a blue stone. His mother calls for him, but he is interrupted by Holly, who sees nothing until she touches the blue crystal as well. Holding it together, they are both beckoned by their mother to "come home," but then she quickly adds, "Too late. Come tomorrow. Don't tell." Will explains to Holly that he wants to tell Rick about his discovery but for some reason he is unable to. Holly replies that she will tell their father if he does not and Will sincerely hopes that she can. Will theorizes that they were looking through a time doorway that is open to a period when she was still alive. When Holly asks why her image is not very clear, her brother suggests that it might be because they do not remember her very well.

Alpha 606

Alpha 606, (born Armando Martinez on November 15, 1974 in Hialeah, Florida, U.S.), is an acoustic/electronic artist based out of Miami. The group was founded by Armando Martinez and Rey Rubio in 1998. Martinez is a programmer/composer and Rubio is a performing sound engineer. "Rubio and Martinez ensure that the drums don't 'sit on top' of the track, instead processing the rhythms so that they're subsumed into the rest of it, forming an elastic foundation." The group was joined by two percussionists in 2003, Marino Hernandez and Danny Chirino.

"The music itself... is a futuristic homage to Cuban culture, fusing warm machine tones and crisp bass notes with Afro-Cuban drums."

Their debut ep, Computer Controlled, was released on Dopamine Records in 2004. [Here] "US duo reveals there in three cuts its immoderate taste for a dancefloor minimal electro of a high quality, at once percussive, futuristic, heading and fresh." The group played a few live shows as four, but shortly thereafter parted ways.

Alpha 6

The Alpha 6 is a fake "molecular detector" which can, according to its manufacturer, detect various substances from a distance, including explosives and drugs. The device has come under scrutiny following revelations about two similar devices, the ADE 651, which has become the focus of a fraud investigation in the United Kingdom, and the GT200, which tests have determined to perform no better than random chance.

The UK Government has banned the export of such devices to Iraq and Afghanistan in an order brought into force in January 2010 under the Export Control Act 2002 and has warned foreign governments that the GT200 and ADE 651 are "wholly ineffective" at detecting bombs and explosives. The government of Thailand, a major user of the Alpha 6, has ordered double blind testing of the device to determine whether it is effective.

Description and background

The Alpha 6 is a hand-held device comprising a swivelling antenna mounted via a hinge to a plastic handset. Promotional literature claims that the device "is programmed to oscillate at the same frequency as that of the substance to be located." It is said to be powered by static electricity generated within the user's body "when breathing occurs". The device is claimed to be able to detect the "molecular signature" of various substances, including drugs, explosives and ammunition in quantities as small as 15 nanograms, from distances of up to 300 metres (980 ft) away, through walls and underwater. The "signature" of the substance to be detected is stored on a "recognition card" sealed inside the handset.

Alpha 5

Alpha 5 (α5), Alpha-5 (α-5) or Alpha Five may refer to:

Alpha V (αV) or Alpha-V (α-V) may refer to:

See also