Music costs money and takes time, and the worlds of film, television, radio, and advertising need lots of music and they need it quickly. So, in the mid-20th century, "library music" emerged, allowing producers to license pre-recorded tracks, saving both hours and expenses. In Britain, the system flourished thanks to major publishers like De Wolfe, Chappell, KPM, and Bruton, each of which shaped the industry with a distinct approach. De Wolfe, often cited as the world's first library label (established in 1909), built a formidable reputation with orchestral recordings and, later, cutting-edge electronic scores. Chappell, launched in the 1940s, became synonymous with big-band energy and lush orchestral themes, releasing classic LPs in the 1960s and '70s by figures such as Keith Mansfield and Alan Hawkshaw. KPM, with its iconic green-sleeve LPs, offered a blend of polished jazz, funk, and pop cues that proved particularly adaptable for television themes and sports programming. Bruton, arriving in 1977, pushed the sound in a slicker, more contemporary direction, leaning heavily into disco, electronic textures, and commercial polish.

Since the turn of this century, perhaps no other modern composition has had a more resonant healing effect than The Disintegration Loops. Composer William Basinski’s deteriorating analog tape loops evolved from melodic symphonies to melancholic silence over a span of time that uncannily turned passing minutes into pensive lifetimes. In her foreword for the new box set reissue of The Disintegration Loops, the pioneering multimedia storyteller, Laurie Anderson, describes the impact of this transformation in poetic detail: “These dissolving sounds, this emptying space, has gained my complete confidence. They are taking me somewhere. I am willingly following these sounds, becoming more and more transparent.” The Disintegration Loops – Arcadia Archive Edition is an expansive new box set that includes the entire 5-hour suite of iconic work. Newly remastered from the original recordings by Josh Bonati, the hefty package includes eight vinyl records (or four CDs for the less analog-inclined) in sturdy full-color jackets featuring the restored original artwork, and a new 1000-word foreword by Laurie Anderson – all housed in a striking heavyweight, case-wrapped box. It is the ideal encapsulation of one of the 21st Century’s most truly transcendent works. As Anderson concludes in her foreword, “this music has created another world, a world to be carried away in.”

Released in May 1975, `Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy' is the ninth studio album by Elton John, which includes the single "Someone Saved My Life Tonight." The album tells the chronological story of the early years of Elton (Captain Fantastic) and Bernie's (the Brown Dirt Cowboy) musical careers in London as they struggled to break through. The 50th Anniversary Edition 2-CD set contains the original album, 6 previously unreleased session demos and 7 `Captain Fantastic Live 2005' performances, exclusive to this format.

Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the British rock band Queen, released worldwide on 26 October 1981. The album consisted of Queen's best-selling singles since their first chart appearance in 1974 with "Seven Seas of Rhye", up to their 1980 hit "Flash" (though in some countries "Under Pressure", the band's 1981 chart-topper with David Bowie, was included). There was no universal track listing or cover art for the album, and each territory's tracks were dependent on what singles had been released there and which were successful.

The debut international long-player by the Bee Gees may shock anyone who only remembers them for their mid- to late-'70s disco mega-hits, or their quirky early-'70s romantic balladry. Up until 1966, they'd shown a penchant for melodic songs and rich, high harmonies, in the process becoming Australia's answer to the Everly Brothers. When the Bee Gees arrived in London late in 1966, however, they proved quick studies in absorbing and assimilating the progressive pop and rock sounds around them. In one fell swoop, they became competitors with the likes of veteran rock bands such as the Hollies and the Tremeloes, and this long-player, Bee Gees' 1st, is more of a rock album than the group usually got credit for generating.

An excellent collection of some of the best tracks from Judy Collins' early Elektra albums, Colors of the Day will both entertain and leave you wanting more. Lovingly programmed (it leads off with her excellent country-pop hit "Someday Soon," an Ian Tyson classic), this is Collins at her finest. Earlier explorations into folk-pop ("Both Sides Now"), British folk ("Sunny Goodge Street," "In My Life"), and gospel ("Amazing Grace") clearly show her eclecticism. Some of the record's finest moments are from her exquisite 1968 album Who Knows Where the Time Goes (such as that album's title track and the aforementioned "Someday Soon"). This anthology brings the "best-of" collection to a new art form.

Redshark was founded in 2012 in Barcelona - Spain, by Philip Graves (guitar) with the aim of delivering Classic Pounding Heavy Speed Metal. Their traditional 80s metal influences may plunder the nostalgia circuit but Redshark are ruthlessly carrying the torch with great attitude, and powerful melodic songwriting. Their debut official release "Evil Realm" EP came out in 2019 and showed the band pushing the velocity further. Those intense five songs drew a roaring response and helped to spread Redshark name nationwide and abroad. Redshark have since honed their gloriously raw yet precisely incisive, dark, catchy and addictive speed heavy metal crunch staying faithful to their original influences taken from undisputed metal legends like Judas Priest, Savatage, Exciter and Metal Church…

Parking features two works recorded 14 years apart registering the behaviour and characteristics of environmental and instrumental sound resounding within multiple parking garages. The architectural form and function underpinning the parking garage demands a highly adaptive response to negotiate indeterminate conditions and hidden tensions generated by compressed space, reflective materiality, multipurpose infrastructure, and active thoroughfares. Rather than consider these as undesirable, situational practice offers an opportunity to be in the world, to observe and contest dominant narratives, and through improvised responses incorporate aleatory forces and spatial effects. (philip Samartzis)

Thomas Hardin Trio is a trio from Japan, performing jazz arrangements of compositions of various genres - from classical to Japanese pop music. The group's repertoire includes Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Kuwata Keisuke, Yosui Inoue, and Hikaru Utada. The name Thomas Hardin is fictitious, in fact the leader of the trio is Junichi Kamiyama - arranger and producer. The trio's main line-up includes pianist Haruki Mino, bassist Tohru Kase, drummers Milton Tomita and Yasushi Ichihara.

This 45-minute mini-set captures the quartet - Adrian Belew (guitar/vocals), Robert Fripp (guitar), Trey Gunn (Warr guitar), and Pat Mastelotto (percussion) - thrashing out some of the most intense and rhythmically diverse sounds to ever bear the King Crimson moniker. Likewise, Level Five reveals a band reaching for and obtaining new levels of soul - a quality sorely absent in the " alternative" rock of the early 21st century. A majority of the instrumental material makes its debut release on this disc. However, "The ConstruKction of Light" and "The Deception of the Thrush" date as far back as the ProjeKcts - five unique incarnations of King Crimson circa the mid-'90s. These various ProjeKcts toured, recorded, and rehearsed, finally settling into the reformed quartet heard here…

La Légende d'Eer (1977-1978) was composed when Iannis Xenakis was in the midst of his far-reaching explorations of mythology and philosophy. Variously inspired by Plato's myth of Er in The Republic, Pascal's Pensées, and even an article on supernovas in Scientific American, this piece transcends programmatic considerations and presents a strange, roiling soundscape that dwarfs Xenakis' earlier electro-acoustic efforts in scope and imagination. This astonishing piece begins with an extended passage of penetrating, shrill tones that break up into unevenly staggered and twittering pulses.

When Simple Minds released Black and White in 2005, it was obvious they'd been doing some creative soul searching in light of the success of bands clearly influenced by them, namely, the Killers and Manic Street Preachers. 2009's Graffiti Soul saw the return of drummer Mel Gaynor to the fold. He brought a familiar, tight, propulsive foundation to Charlie Burchill's guitar playing and Andy Gillespie's imaginative synths. Jim Kerr's alternately whispering and soaring vocals were still at the fore, but were showcased inside more economical songwriting, and Jez Coad's production celebrated the band's pop identity. Big Music finds Simple Minds coming full circle - going all the way back to 1979 for inspiration…

Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s much anticipated 8th studio album Perimenopop is a playful celebration of where Sophie is at in her life, knowing exactly who she is and embracing the joy and empowerment that brings. Featuring previously released tracks ‘Freedom of the Night’, ‘Relentless Love’ and ‘Vertigo’, it is the record Sophie was meant to make 7 studio albums into her 25-year career, seeing her confidently return to her iconic dance-pop sound.

The Media Champ presents "Legends of Rock - 90's" - 35 live radio broadcast recordings, including such bands as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Eric Clapton, Tool, AC/DC etc.

Joseph Haydn often said that he had enjoyed an “exem­plary destiny”: starting from nothing, he became one of the most celebrated composers of his time. He was born in Rohrau, some fifty kilometres east of Vienna, into a relatively modest family – his father was a wheelwright, a recognised and respected mas­ter craftsman.