Shocking Blue was a Netherlands rock band from The Hague formed in 1967. Their biggest hit, "Venus," went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970, and the band had sold 13.5 million discs by 1973, but the group disbanded in 1974. Before the breakthrough of "Venus," the group had a minor hit in 1968 with "Lucy Brown Is Back In Town". Once Mariska Veres took over the vocals bigger hits followed. The group charted a world-wide hit with the song "Venus," which reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970. Initially the disc was a big hit in the Netherlands, where it reached #3 in the summer of 1969.[1] It subsequently sold 350,000 copies in Germany, and topped the U.S. chart for three weeks, becoming the Netherlands' first American #1 hit.[1] It sold over one million copies there by January 1970, and received a gold disc awarded by the Recording Industry Association of America.[1] Global sales exceeded five million copies. compilation for the Dutch rock act contains 47 tracks culled from the A & B-sides of singles from 1969-1974, including their international hit 'Venus'.

Besides the wildly popular SONG FOR MY FATHER, the second most acclaimed Horace Silver disc is the endlessly enjoyable BLOWIN' THE BLUES AWAY. This 1959 Blue Note date features the pianist in full stride with a quintet that includes trumpeter Blue Mitchell and saxophonist Junior Cook, two fellow proponents of funky hard bop. The gospel and R&B influence in Silver's approach is evident as finger-snapping grooves support bouncing melodies that bubble and pop with every chorus. As the title suggests, this music is a celebratory fanfare that washes away the hardships of everyday life. The explosive title track opens the session with a bang as the group burns through the changes with tight precision and plenty of spirit. The jazzier "The St. Vitus Dance" is a swinging trio cut with hints of an Ellington influence among the bopping lines of Silver's solo. The most well known tunes here are the lush ballad "Peace," featuring outstanding work by Mitchell, and the classic "Sister Sadie," one of the most recorded Silver compositions in the jazz repertoire. Other highlights of this exemplary session are the bebop-flavored "Break City" and the aptly titled ballad "Melancholy Mood."

GRAMMY WINNER - Best Classical Performance – Orchestra; 1972 - 15th Annual GRAMMY Awards

Here's another rare album from Audiofidelity (made in Japan), now with 6 Max Roach / Clifford Brown recordings for Mainstream made in 1953/1954. As far as I can figure out this line of tracks was only available on Mainstream vinyl. I think it's a must have for any jazz collector.

Among recordings of Bach's monumental "Goldberg Variations" on the piano, András Schiff's 1982 set is justly famous. Unlike so many discs that have been issued in tired series designated "legendary recordings" or some other such term, this one fully lives up to the billing with its incredible delineation of Bach's contrapuntal lines. You hear every note, every hidden piece of the inner clockwork of each variation. Sample variation 14, with its trills erupting sharply from each line like spring flowers blooming with freakishly rapid intensity – nobody else has ever given this variation such a glittering quality. Even as Schiff uses the full resources of the piano, with lots of pedal and thoroughly unidiomatic crescendos, he articulates every note Bach wrote. Schiff sets himself technical challenges and then surmounts them. Beginning with the opening Aria he sets a blistering pace – one that may seem too fast, especially in the slow variations, to those raised on Glenn Gould's dreamy readings. But listen to the high-wire act Schiff performs in the canonic variation 21. The intensity is ramped up by the fact that Schiff often barely pauses between variations; one idea follows another, from both Bach and Schiff, with breakneck speed.

Alai Oli - group of Ekaterinburg. For 4 years of existence they had time to win love of listeners not only in all corners of Russia, but also in other countries. Warm, light reggae with a female vocal and gentle lyrics - cheerful, and at times sad, but nevertheless encouraging, expels melancholy from heart, even when a rain not behind a window, and inside.