Since Steve Albini gave Rid of Me such an uncompromisingly noisy finish, it may have made sense for Polly Harvey to release her original demos, augmented by several unreleased songs, six months later as an album. After all, the initial British pressings of Dry came with a bonus disc of her demos. Still, the official, independent release of 4-Track Demos suggests that Harvey wanted to give these songs another chance for listeners who found Rid of Me too abrasive…

I Solisti Italiani is a chamber string orchestra consisting of about 12 players, known particularly for their spirited readings of works from the Baroque and Classical periods. They have performed and recorded much Vivaldi over the years and have devoted nearly as much effort to the works of Handel, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Rossini…

Summer Solstice: Bee Stings is part two of the four part Seasons collective created by Coil.
With guest electric viola from William Breeze adding to the unearthly strangeness of the release as a whole, Summer Solstice continues the seasonal series of EPs from 1998 in fine style. John Balance is in excellently haunting voice throughout, and on the opening title track his mysterious, husked singing, sometimes slightly overdubbed or echoed, blends perfectly with Breeze's work and the clipped percussion making a slow pace. "Summer Substructures" contains more of the chaotic side of Coil, Balance repeating a series of questions and statements over a backwards-run rhythm loop that rises and fades along with any number of other drones and strange noises…

Edith Piaf is almost universally regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Still revered as an icon decades after her death, "the Sparrow" served as a touchstone for virtually every chansonnier, male or female, who followed her. Her greatest strength wasn't so much her technique, or the purity of her voice, but the raw, passionate power of her singing…

In 1993, the reunited "classic" lineup of Deep Purple toured just long enough to record this live album, before guitarist Ritchie Blackmore remembered why he hated the other members in the first place and bailed again…

Established in Miami, on life support in L.A., then finally burnished in New York City, the Konrad Paszkudzki Trio's aesthetic can be summed up in three words: mood, sizzle and swing. Their sound is classic yet timeless in its mode of expression, captivating ardent lovers of the jazz idiom and Tin Pan Alley tradition alike.
The focus is on standards - tunes collectively known as The Great American Song Book. Without imposing trite gimmicks or relying on overt displays of flash and technical wizardry, the trio stays true to the original musical and lyrical content of the material, with an emphasis on melodic elegance and swinging verve. The influence of Nelson Riddle, Oscar Peterson…