Van der Graaf Generator's fourth album, Pawn Hearts was also their second most popular; at one time this record was a major King Crimson cult item due to the presence of Robert Fripp on guitar, but Pawn Hearts has more to offer than that. The opening track, "Lemmings," calls to mind early Gentle Giant, with its eerie vocal passages (including harmonies) set up against extended sax, keyboard, and guitar-driven instrumental passages, and also with its weird keyboard and percussion interlude, though this band is also much more contemporary in their focus than Gentle Giant. Peter Hammill vocalizes in a more traditional way on "Man-Erg," against shimmering organ swells and Guy Evans' very expressive drumming, before the song goes off on a tangent by way of David Jackson's saxes and some really weird time signatures - plus some very pretty acoustic and electric guitar work by Hammill himself and Fripp…

2 x CD in deluxe casebound packaging with 16 page booklet containing Eno writing and images from the period.
Reissue of Brian Eno’s critically acclaimed 1993 single-track album. Named after the precious sensual oil derived from the flowers of the Seville orange, Neroli is more than any other Eno work intrinsically linked with the idea of perfume and fragrance. The piece is formed from a single Phrygian mode melody which Eno constructs and deconstructs throughout the work with the subtle flair that has become his trademark.
A piece of pure atmosphere that is considered by many to be the ultimate realisation of Eno’s ‘mood music’, Neroli has been played in maternity wards for its soothing effect and organic, natural feel…

The most iconic band of the U.K. glam rock scene of the '70s, T. Rex were the creation of Marc Bolan, who started out as a cheerfully addled acolyte of psychedelia and folk-rock until he turned to swaggering rock & roll with boogie rhythm and a tricked-up fashion sense. For a couple years, T. Rex were the biggest band in England and a potent cult item in the United States. If their stardom didn't last, their influence did, and T. Rex's dirty but playful attitude and Bolan's sense of style and rock star moves would show their influence in metal, punk, new wave, and alternative rock; it's all but impossible to imagine the '80s new romantic scene existing without Bolan's influence. In 1977, Bolan was killed in a car accident, and the band disbanded.

Richard Perry's 1978 production of the self-titled Leo Sayer album is one of the artist's most serious and heartfelt, though it only generated a minor hit in the cover of the Boudleau Bryant/Felice Bryant tune "Raining in My Heart." With Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham on electric guitar, Waddy Wachtel on slide guitar, and Ben Benay on acoustic, the performance and production of that particular song offers much on an album that is equally impressive. James Brown/Russell Smith's "Dancing the Night Away," with David Lindley's important and unobtrusive fiddle and steel guitar, and "Stormy Weather," the Tom Snow/Leo Sayer collaboration which opens the album, all work in unison, providing evidence that Sayer had superstardom just within his grasp.

Rhino released a double-disc Foreigner anthology called Jukebox Heroes in 2000, so why did they release a double-disc anthology called No End in Sight: The Very Best of Foreigner a mere eight years later? Well, No End in Sight's release does tie into a new tour from Foreigner, but it also bears a significantly cheaper price point than Jukebox Heroes (the 2000 release retailed at $31.98; the 2008 release at $18.98). These are two good practical reasons for a new compilation, but there's another significant difference between the two sets: this new one focuses on Foreigner alone, cutting off the early Spooky Tooth tracks, Lou Gramm hits, and Mick Jones singles that made Jukebox Heroes comprehensive.

It's a delightfully weird-ass stream-of-consciousness creation, as much influenced by James Brown as Arthur Brown, with elements of Duncan Brown as well and the presence of longtime Bunn associate Pete Brown too, mixing soul horns, acid rock, freakbeat spaciness, jazz, and folk-pop (with elements of country and bluegrass showing up); or, sort of like Van Dyke Parks-meets-Donovan with a side-trip to the Kinks' Muswell Hillbillies sessions - it's not always easy to make out what he's singing, but it all sounds cool and so magnificently laid-back that it seems too easy, low-wattage psychedelia with folk and jazz strains flowing through it where the soul horns aren't honking away; in hindsight, it makes one think of what the Small Faces might've done had they ever finished an LP follow-up to their final completed single, "The Universal," and that's definitely a compliment for those unaware…

Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin really comes into his own with My Blues and My Guitar, his second album for Alligator Records. He still pays homage to his mentor, Muddy Waters, not only through covers but simply through his driving musical style. He blends the familiar ("Rip It Up," "Going Home," "The Same Thing") with unpredictable ("See Me in the Evening," "Drip Drop," "Peace of Mind") in his choice of covers, and he has written a set of originals that are sturdy and memorable. Furthermore, he has loosened up a little bit, bringing some jazzy flourishes to his solos and nuance to his vocals. The result is one of his strongest albums, one that is exciting upon the first listen and rewarding upon repeated plays.

The Tohoku Youth Orchestra, a mixed orchestra of elementary school to university students from Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures, was started by Ryuichi Sakamoto immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake. As a memorial performance for director Ryuichi Sakamoto, who passed away on March 28 of the previous year, performances in Iwate, March 23, 2024, Miyagi, March 30, and Tokyo on March 31 were held. In addition to Ryuichi Sakamoto’s signature songs “The Last Emperor,” “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence,” “Aqua,” and “The Sheltering Sky,” which were also performed in his last piano solo concert work “Opus,” he also performed at the opening of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Sakamoto wrote “El Mar” for the ceremony. This work is a complete recording of a concert composed entirely of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s songs, including “Mediterrani” and “Japanese Soccer Song”, which is known as one of the anthems of Japanese soccer. Sayuri Yoshinaga and Non participated in the reading corner.

Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock) is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. It emerged in the mid-1960s as artists pursued a majestic, orchestral sound[4] and is identifiable for its appropriation of Baroque compositional styles (contrapuntal melodies and functional harmony patterns) and dramatic or melancholic gestures. Harpsichords figure prominently, while oboes, French horns, and string quartets are also common.

The six sonatas for violin and obbligato harpsichord BWV 1014–1019 by Johann Sebastian Bach are works in trio sonata form, with the two upper parts in the harpsichord and violin over a bass line supplied by the harpsichord and an optional viola da gamba. Unlike baroque sonatas for solo instrument and continuo, where the realisation of the figured bass was left to the discretion of the performer, the keyboard part in the sonatas was almost entirely specified by Bach. They were probably mostly composed during Bach's final years in Cöthen between 1720 and 1723, before he moved to Leipzig. The extant sources for the collection span the whole of Bach's period in Leipzig, during which time he continued to make changes to the score.

If I don't make it, I love u is Still House Plants' third LP and the fullest embodiment of their sound to date. Where Fast Edit formed with quick attachment and jump cuts, If I don't make it is shaped by persistence - a commitment to the songs that makes the music solid, warmer, and accepted.

Ryuichi Sakamoto masterfully blends a luggage full of orchestrated poetic commentary and sound bits from the 20th century to create a trip of a lifetime. The skillful way he has constructed the methods to expose life's inter meanings and human existence is a huge task to say the least, however with ticket in hand this is one trip you won't forget! The intermingling of a variety of languages, express to the listener the urgency that we are all one planet. From the orchestrated cliffs to the lakeside poets brings a clashing of ideas that can only dissect and create a whirlpool of emotions that brings the listener to experience a total assault on the senses. The operatic and chamber vocals found though out weaves the catalyst to LIFE.

New album of unreleased works for piano and small ensemble, with a special 'gift' from Ryuichi Sakamoto. Pianist, composer, arranger (to cite one of her works among many, for Roberto Vecchioni on the album Chiamami Ancora Amore), conductor in the pop sphere (such as at Sanremo where she won with Marco Carta and Arisa), jazz player when necessary (as in the last tour held together with trumpeter Angelo Olivieri), a student of Einaudi and Piovani, an award-winning composer of soundtracks in Italy and abroad, and above all an eclectic, omnivorous, powerful and subtle musical personality, so much so that she convinced an absolute icon of cultured music, such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, to give her the song Asience, featured on the new album.

Three renowned bandleaders & solo artists of European jazz come together to form a very special trio. What unites them is the love for clear themes, melodies, harmonies, with a strong rhythmic grounding. Qualities that originate in the cool jazz of the 40s and 50s which philosophy the trio continues using the jazz vocabulary of today.

A more succinct and straightforward anthology of the Housemartins than 1988's Now That's What I Call Quite Good!, 2004's The Best of the Housemartins is a 14-track overview that sticks to the basics. While it does not contain the significant BBC sessions, B-sides, and album cuts featured on Quite Good!, it does feature superior sound and all the material (such as "Happy Hour," "Sheep," "The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death," and their cover of the Isley Brothers' "Caravan of Love") that casual fans truly need. Most of the band's biggest fans will tell you, of course, that the two studio albums are absolutely necessary.