Continuing his impressive series of Anton Bruckner's symphonies on CPO, Mario Venzago leads the Bern Symphony Orchestra in period style performances of the Symphony No. 3 in D minor (1889 version) and the Symphony No. 6 in A major (1881 version), using scores edited by Leopold Nowak. Venzago strives for historically informed performances that give varying perspectives on Bruckner's development, employing different orchestras with each release to reveal important differences in the composer's orchestral conceptions and to show that there wasn't one prescription of how the symphonies should sound. Instead, Venzago rejects the massive and heavy-handed interpretations of the early 20th century and tries to re-create the 19th century sound world in all its variety and intimacy. The glistening, vibrato-less string tone, pungent woodwinds, and crisp brass and timpani are easily distinguished from the more homogenized tone colors of a modern symphony orchestra, and Venzago ensures that these distinctive timbres aren't obscured by keeping the orchestral sections lean and discrete.

The studio project of AC/DC producers and Easybeats songwriters Harry Vanda and George Young. Flash and the Pan's fourth album was released in 1984, and was another one that was popular all over Europe. Contemporary Swedish garage-rock outfit the Hives covered the title track in 2010 for a Virgin Mobile commercial, while single Midnight Man was a huge hit on the dance/rave scene. The instrumental version of the title track, which appeared on a Dutch Maxi single in 1985 is included here as a bonus track. Booklet with authoritative and extensive liner notes written by respected Record Collector journalist Michael Heatley. Expertly remastered superb sound - top quality reproduction.

Deluxe three disc (two CDs + DVD) edition of this 1985 album from the British Alt-Rock icons. This edition features all the non-album b-sides, as well as previously unreleased demos, rare outtakes including controversial early track 'Jesus Fuck', BBC Radio Sessions and much more. The DVD contains the promo videos for the singles released from the album alongside seminal and previously unreleased TV appearances, including their jaw-dropping live TV debut on the Old Grey Whistle Test, a performance of two songs on The Tube, a studio performance and interview from Belgian TV, and never before seen footage of the infamous riot at North London Polytechnic - this includes excerpts of the band's performance on the night, highly entertaining interviews with all four original members, and scenes of the crowd destroying the venue!

James Blunt may never live down the success of his first single, "You're Beautiful." It made him a star in 2004 yet it also pegged him as the kind of sad-sack singer/songwriter beloved of doctors' offices the world over, which may be enough to sustain a living but not a career. Blunt is savvy enough to realize this and he started to broaden and enliven his craft fairly quickly, abandoning the slow-footed ballads of Back to Bedlam for a richly textured pop that eventually gained some semblance of color by the time Some Kind of Trouble rolled around in 2010. Three years later, Moon Landing arrived and although its title suggest some kind of spectral scope, it's not quite as lively as its predecessor, preferring the exquisitely textured adult contemporary pop of Dido, but giving those intricately produced ballads insistent melodies and rhythms. Sometimes, Blunt's phrasing can lapse into solipsistic moans – this is especially true when the electronics are stripped away and the tempos slow – but when everything is relatively sprightly, the feel is surprisingly appealing, even though Blunt can't help but piggyback on styles that are a guaranteed rocket to the Top 40.

This disc continues Thomas Demenga's project of juxtaposing Bach cello suites with contemporary compositions—by Elliott Carter (12/90), Heinz Holliger, and now Sandor Veress, whose music we can hear growing out of, and away from, its neo-classical roots in Bach's polyphony.

Two CD compilation featuring the complete Capital Records recordings from this Bay Area band. Recorded between 1970-72, this set includes their three albums Joy Of Cooking, Closer To The Ground and Castles. Joy Of Cooking were formed in Berkeley (San Francisco Bay Area) during the hippie era (1967). Their fusion sound, incorporating folk, rock, jazz, gospel and blues, had little in common with acid-rock: it heralded a new era of "creativity" and of stylistic re-evalutation. One of the first bands led by female musicians, and one of the earliest to deal with feminist issues within popular music, the Joy Of Cooking were led by pianist Toni Brown (who had graduated in creative writing) and guitarist Terry Garthwaite (a folk-singer and an aspiring sociologist). The three-unit rhythm section, on the other hand, was entirely male.

Firma Melodiya presents a complete set of orchestral music by one of the most influential domestic composers of the 20th century Tikhon Khrennikov. The musician headed the USSR Union of Composers for more than fifty years combining crucial organizational activities with a busy creative and educational work. His compositions were performed by some of the leading orchestras, music theatres and best-known performers of the Soviet Union. Then, due to social and political rather than artistic reasons, many of his works were consigned to oblivion. Today, when time puts everything into place, the best qualities of Tikhon Khrennikov's music return it to the concert bills and listeners' hearts. The composer's bright, Prokofiev-like sunny melodies, simplicity and clarity of the musical language, harmonic originality, and heartwarming and optimistic spirit, which were typical of his style since he was a young man, remained intact in his latter works as well. Khrennikov's prowess of symphonic drama and exquisite understanding of the concert genre and nature of each of the soloing instruments (piano, violin and cello) are needless to mention.

2009 debut album from this band fronted by former New Order/Joy Division guitarist Bernard Sumner. Never Cry Another Tear rings with familiar joys: playing of beautifully observed minimalism and a voice of wonderfully understated north-western soul. But there's also a new voice to be heard, one again from England's north west. Singing alongside Bernard is Jake Evans, a talented musician from Macclesfield. The album also features Phil Cunningham, a man familiar from both Marion and the most recent incarnation of New Order. Perhaps Bad Lieutenant can be seen as a new vehicle from a celebrated manufacturer: previous technology has been incorporated, but the overall appearance is new and it'll take you where you want to go in novel and exhilarating style.

At first or second listen, this sounds unnervingly like a solo album that Ray Davies might have made circa the early 1970s. There's that same witty melodicism, and a similar resigned yet bemused air to Suggs' vocal delivery. It manages, though, not to sound like an inferior rewrite of Kinks cliches, and upon closer inspection, reveals Suggs to be more his own man than might initially be suspected. Suggs favors far more abstract lyrics, for one thing, imbued with rather creepy images of vultures, skeletons, and dreamy disorientation. In addition, the music is more speckled with Americana than what Davies and the Kinks played, as heard on the enchanting minor-keyed mandolin strums and desert guide slide that anchor "The Rambler Vs. the Vulture/Devils Dance," managing to strike a mood between Appalachia and Tex-Mex balladry. Like few other ambitious musicians, singer-songwriter-identified and otherwise, working in indie rock circa 2000, Suggs knows how to use understatement instead of trying too hard or opting for an in-your-face approach.

The Modey Lemon's Phil Boyd (guitars, Moogs, vocals) and Paul Quattrone (drums) invited Jason Kirker to join the band on bass and keys after he produced Thunder + Lightning. But that's not the only change on 2005's Curious City. In the band's earlier work, Boyd sang in a slithering rasp that matched Modey's blues-punk skuzz ably, if only satisfactorily. But on City his suddenly clearer vocals are the key hinge to mounting blasts of hellacious Moog noise and weird melodies that slink from under the belly of classic rock & roll. (On Curious they're weird even when quiet, as the downcast Animals redux "Countries" proves.) The background of "Fingers, Drains" warbles in heat and melting instrument noises, and Boyd's vocal on it is downright sultry. Meanwhile "Sleep Walkers" is some of the most efficient music Modey Lemon's ever made; it sounds like a lost Golden Earring B-side with its throbbing bass and insistent drum clap.

Rory Gallagher sounds inspired throughout JInx, gamely leading new drummer Brendan O'Neill and keyboardist Bob Andrews through the blues-rock paces, even though the guitarist's personal fortunes were on a downslide from which they would never recover. "Big Guns" and "Bourbon," the album's opening selections find Rory in full fiery form, tossing out muscular guitar lines and fiery solos with descriptive lyrics catering to his infatuation with American gangsters. The album also features two of his best, and least known, songs in the spooky, paranoid title track, complete with simmering sax section, boiling tom-tom drums as well as his own stealthy harmonica, and "Easy Come Easy Go," a beautiful, bluesy ballad where Rory double tracks his acoustic and electric guitars. Gallagher's tough vocals take on a new emotional depth not previously heard, and are particularly poignant throughout. Diving into the blues, Lightnin' Slims' "Nothin' but the Devil," one of the two songs added for this reissue, is an acoustic solo showpiece revealing Gallagher's delta roots and substantial slide abilities.

The Book of Genesis tells us that in the beginning was the Word and that the Word was sound. But what if it was music? What if God, in contemplating the creation of Creation, sang being into being? If so, it might have sounded something like the Sacred Songs of Valentin Silvestrov. In this seventh ECM album devoted to the Ukrainian composer’s music, we thusly encounter a sense of space unique to the Russian liturgy: the more the voices unify in movement, the more they lift from one another like temporary tattoos, leaving behind mirror images that wash away with baptism into infinite oneness with the Holy Spirit. Sin as sun. Firmament as fundament.

Judie Tzuke is an excellent English singer and songwriter whose talent has not been reflected by commercial success. Debut and second albums on one CD, 'Welcome To The Cruise' (1979) & 'Sportscar' (1980).

A year after its initial release, Olive's debut album, Extra Virgin, finally produced a number one British hit with "You're Not Alone," a low-key lite trip-hop number with a graceful melody. It's a strong single, and there are similarly strong moments on Extra Virgin, yet Olive don't stand out from the post-Portishead pack. Like Everything but the Girl, they are essentially a folky, pop-oriented group that uses the stoned rhythms of trip-hop as hip window-dressing. Since that rhythm is appealing on its own terms, it doesn't matter that Olive use it as ornamentation, especially since they use it well. What is a problem is their lack of consistent songwriting. Only a few songs match the singles "You're Not Alone" and "Miracle" in terms of memorable, melodic construction, and the weaker tracks tend to float by on their admittedly entrancing production. And that leaves Extra Virgin an intriguing debut, but not necessarily one that promises great things from Olive.

Kim Waters ninth album, Love's Melody was released in 1998 by Shanachie and dedicated to his twin girls. Self-produced with Chuck Loeb, Dino Esposito, Scot Rammer, and David Mann, the CD offers 11 sensitive and enchanting tracks with special guest performances by Chuck Loeb and James Lloyd. In a deviation from Waters' R&B-flavored background, Waters asserts his mastery of the soprano saxophone on this smooth collection of well-crafted tunes. Each composition adds a different dimension to his musical catalog. Lush, poetic rhythms combined with mid-tempo grooves and fresh melodies on songs such as "Nightfall" and "Possession," and assure his success in the contemporary jazz style. Waters' saxophone caters to the senses with the grace of a romantic on the beautiful title track "Love's Melody." His soprano saxophone speaks volumes with the mastery of tone and musicianship that defines the sensual nature of the saxophone. "Two Hearts of Mine," a ballad written for his twins, is compassionate and offers his most personal and intimate song to date. Other well-known works such as "Sunny" and "Midnight at the Oasis" are brilliantly distinct, with Waters lending former renditions fresh breath. The resulting creative ideas offer a splendid showcase of his eloquent, trademark saxophone voice.