Released in 1972, a completely unknown formation from the underground of the Italian prog movement, Akarma believes that all of the musicians contained here are of Italian origin, but it is unclear. The liner notes on the cover don’t help either. The band was comprised of 7 members and they presented a sound comparable to British groups from the 70’s like Jethro Tull, Audience, or Family. In fact in one of the first tracks they play a cover of “Dharma For One”, plus they offer two other covers later on, “Eye To Eye” & “I Have A Dream”.

For listeners who prefer their Ravel lushly textured, luminously colored, and luxuriantly impressionistic, this four-disc set of his orchestral music performed by Charles Dutoit and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal will be just the thing. Recorded between 1981 and 1995 in warmly opulent Decca sound and including all the canonical works plus the two piano concerts and the opera L'Enfant et les sortiléges, Dutoit's approach to Ravel is decidedly sensual, even tactile. One can feel the excitement in the closing "Dance générale" of Daphnis et Chloé, sense the energy in La Valse, smell the sea in Une barque sur l'océan, and touch the dancer's flushed skin in Boléro. This is not to say that details are lost in Dutoit's performances – with the superlative playing of the Montreal orchestra, one can assuredly hear everything in the scores. Nor is this to say that Dutoit neglects the music's clear shapes and lucid forms – with a decisive beat and a clean technique, Dutoit's interpretations are models of clarity. But it is assuredly to assert that, for sheer aural beauty, these recordings cannot be beat. With the very virtuosic and very French playing of Pascal Rogé in the two piano concertos plus very characterful singing in L'Enfant, this set will be mandatory listening for all those who love Ravel.

In a neatly symmetrical fashion, Gramavision chose two tracks from each of Scofield's half-dozen albums for the label, sequenced them chronologically, cross-faded or ran many of them together, and ended up with an exciting hourlong summary of his mid-'80s output (would that more best-of albums be assembled with such consistency). After the jagged electric jazz-rock of the first two albums, Electric Outlet and Still Warm, "Make Me" and "The Nag" from Blue Matter inject a funk element into the Scofield bag, which becomes even nastier on "Wabash" (from Loud Jazz) before resolving into the potently jazzier direction of Flat Out ("The Boss's Car" is a gas). Amidst all of the electric bluster and energy, there is a dignified, quietly bluesy Scofield solo take on "Georgia on My Mind" (from Pick Hits Live) at the dead center of the CD…

This compilation of Ennio Morricone music features twelve re-recordings by the Solisti E Orchestre Del Cinema Italiano, all of which have appeared (in their original forms) in the Quentin Tarantino films Grindhouse: Deathproof, Kill Bill Vol. 2 and Inglorious Basterds. The renditions themselves are impeccable, utilizing the same analogue recording techniques that spawned the originals. While it was smart not to go with more recognizable fare like the vocal/electric guitar versions of Navajo Joe or The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (both are represented here by their quieter, more orchestral movements), the overall effect seems superfluous, as die-hard fans of both the composer and the director will likely seek out the real thing.

One song about preparing to exact bloody revenge begets another song about the act of exacting bloody revenge and then more songs about the causes and the aftermath of being driven to exact bloody revenge, each delivered with the urgency and desperation deserving of their narrators and circumstances. John Darnielle & the Mountain Goats present Bleed Out, a brand new collection arriving on August 19th.

Whilst the continents contribution to the global funk, boogie and disco canon has been well documented for decades, the strong presence of rock and psychedelia in 1970's African music has been a more slowly evolving story over the years.

Master of Time is a live performance commissioned for the exhibition of Bardo Now, The Second Buddha: Master of Time at the Tang Teaching Museum during a residency on April 16-18, 2019.

Led by Garth Watt-Roy and his younger brother (future Blockhead) Norman, five-piece Harlow band Living Daylights signed with Beatles publisher Dick James in 1967. Paired with a studio production team that included Caleb Quaye, the band were given a song that James published, 'Let's Live For Today', as their debut single. Released in April 1967, it entered Radio London's Fab Forty after being championed by the pirate station's DJ John Peel. Also issued in America, the song showed significant sales potential, and Dick James decided the band should record an album that would be rushed out if the single became a success. Unfortunately, 'Let's Live For Today' lost out to a cover version by American band The Grass Roots, who scored a US Top Ten hit. Without a hit to support it, the Living Daylights' album failed to appear, and the band split after a second single failed to find favour. 55 years later, that album finally gains a release, with mono and stereo mixes joined by their UK singles and American and Japanese versions. 'Let's Live For Today: The Complete Recordings' is a vital addition to the pantheon of British psychedelic pop albums from the epochal year of 1967.

A few months ago, we performed at a private party for a lovely group of people who asked us to play several sets of purely improvised instrumental music, accompanied by friends new and old on light projections and auxiliary sounds. This record is a collection of the best moments from that special night.

Triple CD box set that houses three studio albums from the Rock pioneer. From Bowie's more recent career this album collection features Outside 1995 (his reunion with Brian Eno), 1997s Earthling and Hours… from 1999. Includes the singles 'Hallo Spaceboy' and 'Little Wonder'.