Perhaps it was just their name, but the Peanut Butter Conspiracy somehow failed to reap due plaudits during their existence. From an early incarnation as the Ashes onwards, their story intertwines with those of several Californian contemporaries while, at its best, the band's music fused Bay Area-styled invention with '60s LA sunshine harmonies. They scored early on with the deathless "Turn On A Friend (To The Good Life)". By the time of their third album, released in 1969, they had begun moving into Rock and R&B territory whilst retaining those glorious harmonies and Alan Brackett's effortlessly commercial songwriting. For this special edition, Rev-Ola uncovered no less than six previously unreleased tracks which they think are so good they have decided to reconfigure the album in their honour.

The early 2000s was basically the zenith of the European power metal scene in a collective sense, seeing some of the most brilliant works coming out of a host of different bands from north to south. Two particular bands on the the northern end of things in particular were that of Nightwish and Sonata Arctica, the latter of which saw their magnum opus "Silence" released at around the time vocalist Tony Kakko made this one time studio collaboration with Nightwish. This is both bands before they abandoned their roots and saw key members of their lineups cut ties for greener (though not as green as the original) pastures, ergo this is both bands back when they were actually playing power metal rather than experimenting with mallcore and modern pop influences.
This EP basically centers around the Gary Moore cover that it's named after, which is both brilliantly innovative in its adaptation and also very faithful to the original…

Duke Ellington was the most important composer in the history of jazz as well as being a bandleader who held his large group together continuously for almost 50 years. The two aspects of his career were related; Ellington used his band as a musical laboratory for his new compositions and shaped his writing specifically to showcase the talents of his bandmembers, many of whom remained with him for long periods. Ellington also wrote film scores and stage musicals, and several of his instrumental works were adapted into songs that became standards. In addition to touring year in and year out, he recorded extensively, resulting in a gigantic body of work.

Tomas Bodin's regular job is to play the keyboards for The Flower Kings but as usual some of these musicians and especially if they are a member of The Flower Kings have too many ideas and one musical life doesn't satisfy them any longer. They need to have a solo project. And seemingly Tomas Bodin also has a lot of good ideas left over. But the music on his solo albums is quite different, it's a mix between Jazzrock/Fusion and Retro Prog, mostly instrumental. And of course the whole sound is keyboard dominated.

Artistic director Chris Zelov was in the audience at their Gatherings concert of 2007 in Philadelphia, & as a result of what he heard, commissioned the band to provide soundtrack music. Preparatory writing was undertaken, & these ideas were worked up alongside several improvisations at the recording sessions. They wrote to a series of specific scene lengths & briefs, with the idea that the music's presence would underscore the narrative. These pieces were then re-edited as the documentary entered its final cut. This album is a selection of music from the finished film, placed in this order for a coherent listening experience.

The Super Deluxe Edition includes three previously unreleased session outtakes (four in total) and two CDs are devoted to presenting the complete 14-track performance of the Hammersmith Odeon concert on 27 April 1977.
After the guest-star-drenched No Reason to Cry failed to make much of an impact commercially, Eric Clapton returned to using his own band for Slowhand. The difference is substantial - where No Reason to Cry struggled hard to find the right tone, Slowhand opens with the relaxed, bluesy shuffle of J.J. Cale's "Cocaine" and sustains it throughout the course of the album. Alternating between straight blues ("Mean Old Frisco"), country ("Lay Down Sally"), mainstream rock ("Cocaine," "The Core"), and pop ("Wonderful Tonight"), Slowhand doesn't sound schizophrenic because of the band's grasp of the material. This is laid-back virtuosity - although Clapton and his band are never flashy, their playing is masterful and assured…

In the '70s, harmonica man Billy Branch was one of the young upstarts helping to keep the Chicago blues sound alive; in the 21st century, he's matured into one of the Windy City's most venerable blues talents, and as a musician and educator, Branch has spread the word about the blues across the country and around the world. Branch has led the Sons of Blues, his backing band, since the mid-'70s, and despite numerous personnel changes, the SOBs have never wavered in their dedication to pure, unadulterated Chicago blues.

The 1958 version of the Jazz Messengers were widely recorded during their stay in Paris, but this LP does not duplicate any of the other recordings previously released. This band (with trumpeter Lee Morgan, Benny Golson on tenor, and pianist Bobby Timmons) was particularly strong, and it is quite enjoyable to hear them stretch out on such songs as "I Remember Clifford," "Moanin'," "Blues March," and "Whisper Not." Hard bop at its best, all of it propelled by the powerful drumming of Art Blakey.

German progressive rockers Grobschnitt took a major leap forward on their second album, 1974's "Ballermann". While the ambitious, double-length release featured a fair amount of eccentric drummer/ringmaster Eroc's trademark goofy, Monty Python-esque clowning, the Krautrockers also took a definitive leap from jammy rock to a full-blown symphonic-progressive style, with the 33 1/2-minute "Solar Music" suite, one of German prog's masterworks, which would also be memorably revisited on their 1978 Solar Music Live album.

You can expect a successful mix of great rock and pop hits in a new guise. Breathtaking! In Gregorian, everything fits together, forms a unity and abducts the listener with famous melodies in a completely new sound in the timeless world of Gregorian chant. Experience the audio-visual spectacle of your live shows now at home! The Platinum Collection by Gregorian featuring: Nothing Else Matters, Tears In Heaven, Close My Eyes Forever, Brothers In Arms, Blue Monday etc.

This was the third studio album released by the vastly underrated group Blue Mink.
Blue Mink was formed in fall 1969 by keyboard player Roger Coulam, around a nucleus of musicians based at London's Morgan Studios - bassist Herbie Flowers, guitarist Allan Parker, and drummer Barry Morgan were also involved. Having already recorded a number of backing tracks, Coulam then approached soul singer Madeline Bell and former David & Jonathan star Roger Greenaway as vocalists; Bell accepted, Greenaway declined but recommended his songwriting partner (and fellow David & Jonathan-er) Roger Cook in his stead.
With this lineup, Cook and Greenaway's "Melting Pot" was released as Blue Mink's debut single, a plea for multi-racial harmony that reached number three in the U.K. that November. An album of the same title was released in the new year.

Born Of Osiris have always skirted the knife-edge between chaos and precision, giving equal parts technical wizardry and full-throttle aggression. With Through Shadows, they’re giving us all that we’ve come to love and more, dancing between their classic sound and something modern with skill you’d expect from them.
This album moves like machinery possessed, with relentless riffs grinding beneath waves of synth-soaked atmosphere. The synths have grown bigger and bolder, dripping in sci-fi gloss that feels like Tron got stuck inside a pedalboard and decided to headline a tech-metal show. From the cinematic opening of Seppuku, where robotic vocals and layered synths set a futuristic tone, to the crushing heaviness of Inverno, which plunges headlong into brutal vocals and deathcore style blast beats, Born Of Osiris expertly balance precision with chaos…

If Melody Gardot's 2009 sophomore effort, My One and Only Thrill, sustained the sultry, atmospheric vibe of her critically acclaimed 2006 debut, her 2012 follow-up, The Absence, is a bit of a creative departure for the vocalist. Apparently inspired by her world travels, and specifically by a trip that brought her to the desert around the city of Marrakech, the album moves her away from smoky, small-group jazz and into a bright, if still bedroom-eyed, rhythmically exotic sound. Produced by guitarist/composer Heitor Pereira, the album is a lush, somewhat orchestral album that finds Gardot delving into various Brazilian, Spanish, and African-influenced sounds - including bits of samba, tango, bossa nova, and calypso - that evince her global journey…

Third album, dating from 1973, from this UK heavy prog band. Inevitable Jethro Tull comparisons, due to the inclusion of flute, shouldn't detract from the fact that this is a fine example of 70s British rock.
Second Birth is one of the more hard rocking albums on the legendary Dawn label - but a set that's also got all sorts of complexity and interesting moments that really keep things on edge throughout! There's tracks here that are almost screamingly sinister - but those are balanced by gentler moments that have more of a sense of harmony - and it's that contrast that really makes the record stand out, especially on tunes where the guitar might be playing all these really spooky lines, but an accompanying flute line graces things with a sense of innocence - one that might not even be present in the lyrics…

Danish electronic quartet Bliss create ambient soundscapes riddled with cinematic textures and downbeat bravado. Often compared to artists like Massive Attack and Sade, the group was the brainchild of writer/producers Marc-George Anderson and Steffen Aaskoven. Vocalists Tchando and Alexandra Hamnede provide Bliss with soulful performances that reflect their alternately African-tinged and jazz-based foundations, resulting in an ethereal stew of pan-global atmosphere.
"Quiet Letters" is music that certainly will envolve all your senses in one single harmony. Kind of easy-listening, chill-out music for having a moment of relax with captivating vocals and gentle percussion that will make you travel to faraway lands.