Add 3121 to the mounting pile of evidence: Prince is the black Beck. He's a whole lot sexier, no doubt, but there's more to both musicians than image. All-out weirdness for one. Edginess for another. And a fine-tuned sense of how to combine the two to create some of the decade's most vital music for a third. Prince–looking ageless in videos for the first two singles, the controversy-courting "Black Sweat" and the sauna-steeped "Te Amo Corazon"–proves fearless as ever here, folding fat slabs of disco-funk into rock, heaping measured doses of hip-hop atop soul-tinted jazz supports, and slamming Latin rhythms against old-school R&B riffs. Nothing sounds as slinky-stylish-smart. And nobody delivers quite so deliciously, especially when what they're delivering is ultimately a madcap sonic mash. The usual hype surrounding a Prince release attended this one; over the long-term, expect a few standouts within a way worth-it set to emerge. They include the danceable "Love"; the gospel-lite falsetto feast "Satisfied"; and the summer-breezy "Beautiful, Loved & Blessed".

Ella Zonis Mahler’s compilation of these Iranian classical music performers was originally issued on Folkways Records in 1966. Ten of the twelve model melodic patterns (dastgahs) are represented here, in a variety of instrumental and vocal performances.

Son Seals in an experimental mood, utilizing chord progressions that occasionally don't quite fit together seamlessly (but give him an A for trying to expand the idiom's boundaries). Less innovative but perhaps more accessible are his smoking covers of Albert King's "Nobody Wants a Loser" and Junior Parker's "Goodbye Little Girl".

40 great tracks. The orchestras of Franck Pourcel, Ron Goodwin, Geoff Love, Manuel And The Music Of Mountains play 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', 'Never On A Sunday', 'Love Theme from 'The Godfather', 'Moon River from 'Breakfast At Tiffany's', 'Summertime from 'Porgy & Bess', 'Autumn Leaves', 'Thus Spake Zarathustra' from the '2001-a Space Odyssey', 'Chi Mai', 'Clair De Lune' and many more…

A&M's 32-track retrospective of eccentric singer/songwriter Cat Stevens manages to cram into two discs what 2001's On the Road to Find Out box set tried to accomplish over four. While not as informative or "rarities"-heavy, Gold tells the artist's story with utter succinctness, from earnest, post-counterculture semi-hedonist to Islamic recluse. All of the key tracks – digitally remastered from the original two-track masters – are here ("Wild World," "The Wind," "Another Saturday Night," "Moonshadow," "Where Do the Children Play?") as well as deeper cuts like "18th Avenue (Kansas City Nightmare)" and all 18 minutes of "Foreigner Suite." Also included is Stevens' most recent composition. Originally released as a digital download, the emotional and surprisingly rousing "Indian Ocean" was recorded for Stevens' Small Kindness charity to benefit children from the Aceh region who were affected by the December 2004 tsunami.

The album contains 2 CDs with twenty-seven songs including the previously unreleased track "Quale senso abbiamo noi", produced by Don Was and Zucchero and registered in August 2012, in Havana, during the preparation of the album "La Sesion Cubana" great success this year and now multiplatinum disc. The DVD includes the full recording of the concert, an exclusive documentary and 2 new videos. From "Guantanamera" with his big hits, the show documents the great triumph of the music of Zucchero.

Songs of Experience is the second studio album by American composer and producer David Axelrod, released in October 1969 by Capitol Records. It was composed, arranged, and produced by Axelrod, who worked with session musicians such as guitarist Al Casey, drummer Earl Palmer, and conductor Don Randi. As with his 1968 debut album Song of Innocence, Axelrod composed musical interpretations of English poet William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience, an 18th-century illustrated collection of poems. A jazz fusion album, Songs of Experience explores darker sounds than its predecessor, as the poems Axelrod drew on for inspiration dealt with the darker side of humanity. Its music was partly inspired by composer Gunther Schuller's Third Stream concept. Axelrod composed Baroque orchestrations with rock, R&B, pop, and folk music elements. Songs of Experience received retrospective acclaim from music critics, who found Axelrod's compositions musically varied and innovative. Contemporary musicians praised it as a source for sampling in hip hop production. Some of its songs have been sampled frequently by hip hop artists and producers. In 2000, the album was reissued by EMI.

This is the second recording by BIS of Sally Beamish’s music, and the four pieces it contains confirm utterly her high standing. Her work is thoughtfully lyrical, intense, individual, instinctively dramatic, in ways that remind me somewhat of Nicholas Mawmusic. Like him she has a particular gift for expressive harmony and timbre. The earliest piece here is No, I’m not afraid (1989), six poignant poems written from prison by Irina Ratushinskaya spoken – by Beamish herself – against sparse but hugely effective instrumental backgrounds and interspersed with five purely instrumental interludes. The disc opens with The Caledonian Road of 1997. The name of this piece refers not just to the north London thoroughfare remembered by Beamish from childhood but to her own pilgrimage northward to Scotland, where she now lives. The music resonates with a sense of ritual, of something inevitable. By contrast, the work that follows, the unabashedly poetic The Day Dawn (written for a summer school organised by Contemporary Music-making for Amateurs in 1997, and revised in 2000) derives from a Shetland fiddle tune, and is all about new beginnings.

As History: The Singles 85-91's title makes plain, this compilation bundles up all the group's singles released between these dates. 1985 was a turning point for the band, the year New Model Army relocated from the indie Abstract label to the majors and EMI. Thus fans will obviously have to look elsewhere for their earlier singles, particularly the ferocious "Vengeance," the best of their pre-EMI releases. But the six years bundled up here were just as stellar. The group released a dozen singles during this period, and the A-sides all appear here in chronological order, kicking off with the blind fury of "No Rest," down into the bitter irony of "51st State," through the desolation of science gone insane of "White Coats," across the outcasts' anthem of "Vagabonds," into the nostalgic valleys of "Green and Grey," diving into the barely suppressed rage of "Purity," and ending live in "Space." Americans may be surprised to find that every single one of New Model Army's singles charted in the U.K., albeit outside the Top 25. But that's a moot point; while Britain was in the midst of a Tory revolution that turned much of England's innate culture to dust (Scotland, Wales, and Ulster remained more immutable to their efforts), New Model Army soldiered on, a voice raging in the wilderness.

Vivaldi, Handel, Purcel, J.S. Bach and now Rameau: London Baroque is proceeding through the Baroque Masters at an impressive pace. After acclaimed recordings of the Fantazias of Purcell and Bach's trio sonatas the turn has come to Pièces de Clavecin en Concerts, Jean-Philippe Rameau's important collection of chamber music works. The title (Concert pieces for harpsichord) is actually misleading, for although the harpsichord does play an important role throughout, the violin and viola da gamba are indispensable. Here London Baroque members Ingrid Seifert, Charles Medlam and Terence Charlston again prove their almost uncanny ability to play as one. Being mainly famous for his operas and stage works, Rameau in his Pièces has created a series of character pieces of which many are portraits of friends and acquaintances of the composer. Among the titles are the names and colleagues such as Marais and Forqueray but there is also a delightful self-portrait in La Rameau. A kaleidoscopic journey through the artistic circles of Paris in 1740, which can only be recommended.

A very versatile and talented vocalist, Tracy Nelson is better known for her role as lead singer of Mother Earth. Collection includes four studio albums by Mother Earth feat. Tracy Nelson and nine solo studio albums by Tracy Nelson.

Born Again is the sixth album by American composer Randy Newman. Newman later said he thought the album, "was great and would create a big stir. I was looking forward to it coming out so much that I didn't fly any small planes before it was released. It's a weird album full of peculiar songs like the one about an ELO fan getting everything wrong. It's very idiosyncratic, with small subjects. If it had been a hit to follow it might have been different but I have always written the same way."

There has always been a piano at the heart of Irma Thomas's music, and she is accompanied here by twelve of the best pianists around, including Dr. John, Norah Jones, Randy Newman, and many more. The Grammyr-winning Soul Queen of New Orleans has never sounded better than in this all-acoustic setting. From the soul-searing passion of 'Cold Rain' to the bittersweet intimacy of 'This Bitter Earth,' Irma's enduring warmth and soulfulness prevail, never straying far from the blues. Included are many new songs (including one from Burt Bacharach and Steve Krikorian) and a previously unrecorded Doc Pomus-Dr. John composition.

2010 album from the veteran Rock/Soul vocalist and former member of Squeeze, Ace and Mike & The Mechanics. On Different Hat, Carrack has recorded some of his songs and classics by other artists with an orchestra. David Cullen arranged the music and conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Paul Carrack has always had the ability to combine the contemporary with the timeless classic effortlessly this album shows he is still able to challenge himself and create exceptional results.

The deep, soulful voice of the Doobie Brothers, and one of the most popular songwriters and solo artists of the rock era.