This literary movement built itself around underground jazz culture, which expressed liberation of body and soul. Inspired by jazzmen and hep cats, the Beat Generation hipsters rejected traditional values, embraced African-American musics, travelling, drugs, a free sex lifestyle as well as spirituality. Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and On the Road author Jack Kerouac launched the radical American counterculture that thrived in the 1960s and 1970s, leaving a tremendous mark on lifestyles, and on the world of arts and opinions — hippies and punks alike. In partnership with the Centre Pompidou on the occasion of the “Beat Generation” exhibition in Paris, the story of the Beat Generation is told by Bruno Blum in a 32-page booklet. PATRICK FRÉMEAUX

The Definitive Collection Review by Mark Deming
Shelby Lynne started her career as a promising mainstream country singer and today she's a critically respected and genre-defying singer/songwriter; charting the trajectory of her career isn't a simple matter, and Lynne's installment in Hip-O's The Definitive Collection isn't entirely successful in doing so, though it's still an admirably thorough look at her work to date. The Definitive Collection starts out with five tunes from Lynne's years with Epic and Morgan Creek, and on these songs one can almost hear the strain as she struggles against the cookie-cutter production and cut-rate songwriting that Nashville was foisting upon her, though the strength of her voice and soulful touch of her phrasing still shines through. Seven of the ten songs from 2000's I Am Shelby Lynne follow, and the difference is like night and day – not only is the production far more imaginative and sympathetic, but the songs (all written or co-written by Lynne) are smart, heartfelt, and personal in a way her previous work had never been.

The Seminal 1986 Album Revisited And Expanded. Curated, Remastered And Re-Designed By The Laibach Organisation. Complete With 2 X Cds Of Live Versions Of 'Nova Akropola' Songs From The Band's Own Archive. Vital Sleevenotes By Alexei Monroe. Few bands stand apart from the crowd as distinctly as Laibach. Their idiosyncratic outlook and philosophy were formed against the backdrop of post-Soviet socialism in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and the band has continued to follow an individual, often controversial path for over forty years, taking them into places few other artists dare to go. Originally released by Cherry Red in 1986, 'Nova Akropola' ('The New Acropolis') remains a masterpiece of politically-informed industrial expression, and signalled the beginning of Laibach's breakthrough onto the international scene, at a time when restrictions imposed on them in their homeland were beginning to be lifted. Curated, remastered and designed by the band and their organisation, this new 3CD edition includes two discs of vital live recordings of 'Nova Akropola' songs spanning the years 1985 to 2021, captured in England, Slovenia, Serbia and Macedonia. Packaged in new artwork and accompanied by brilliant sleevenotes from cultural theorist Alexei Monroe, author of 'Interrogation Machine' and associate of the band, this new edition demonstrates the longevity of both the songs and the philosophy behind them, and is a vital new addition to Laibach's catalogue.

A triple box set sampler taking 50 tracks released by Polydor Records between the 1967 and 1974, including songs by by Audience, Arthur Brown, Jack Bruce, Cream, Pink Fairies, Soft Machine, The Who, Tony Williams' Lifetime, John McLaughlin and many more, including some early recordings by familiar names.

By the late 1960s, sales on the King label were so dominated by superstar James Brown that other releases by the company were overshadowed and underpromoted. What's more, Brown's success was so massive that, as the liner notes to this CD aptly state, "King's release schedules were dominated by records by Brown, his band, or records that seemed to sound as if they were made by Brown." Almost a couple dozen such tracks from obscure 1967-1973 singles (with the exception of a previously unissued take of Bill Doggett's "Wet and Satisfied") are on this compilation, stretching even past the point where Brown left King for Polydor. Most of the artists are as little known as the singles, with the exception of the Coasters, Hank Ballard, and Bill Doggett, all '50s rock stars who were long past their prime by the time these cuts emerged. Brown had direct or indirect connections to some (though not all) of these discs, sometimes in the production and songwriting departments.

David McVicar’s spellbinding production of Le nozze di Figaro is set in 1830s post-revolution France, where the inexorable unravelling of an old order has produced acute feelings of loss. In the relationship between Finley’s suave, dashingly self-absorbed Count and Röschmann’s passionately dignified Countess, which lies at the tragic heart of the opera, the sexy ease between a feisty Figaro (Erwin Schrott) and a sassy Susanna (Miah Persson) is starkly absent, the tenacious spark between Marcellina (Graciela Araya) and Bartolo (Jonathan Veira) suggesting what might be rekindled.

Shelby Lynne Celebrates 25th Anniversary Of 'I Am Shelby Lynne' With Reissue Led by co-presidents Shane McAnally and Jason Owens and GM Katie McCartney, Monument will reissue Lynne's landmark album, I Am Shelby Lynne, on April 5. GRAMMY Award-winning singer, songwriter and musician Shelby Lynne has signed with Monument Records and joined forces with GRAMMY Award-winning artist Karen Fairchild for the next phase of her renowned career.

The Broadsword and the Beast is the 14th studio album by Jethro Tull, released on 10 April 1982 and according to Ian Anderson in the liner notes of the remastered CD, contains some of Jethro Tull's best music. It mixes electronic sound, provided by Peter-John Vettese (a characteristic that would be explored further on the next album Under Wraps), with acoustic instruments. The album is a cross between the synthesiser sound of the 1980s and the folk-influenced style that Tull had in the previous decade. The Broadsword and the Beast is one of Steve Hackett's favorite albums.

SUN RA AT THE SHOWCASE: LIVE IN CHICAGO contains previously unissued live recordings of the legendary intergalactic composer/pianist Sun Ra captured live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase in Chicago, IL between November 4-10, 1977. This is an official release on producer Zev Feldman's Jazz Detective record label, in partnership with Elemental Music, and in cooperation with the Sun Ra Trust. Researched and compiled by longtime Sun Ra archivist Michael D. Anderson, and transferred from the original tape reels, includes an extensive insert with rarephotographs from the actual concerts byHal Rammel; liner notes by James Corbett, and interviews and statements from photographers Hal Rammel, Michael Weiss, Marshall Allen, Thurston Moore, Jack DeJohnette, David Murray, Dave Burrell, Matthew Shipp, AminaClaudine Myers, and Reggie Workman.

Secret Agent is the eleventh studio album by the British singer-songwriter Judie Tzuke, released in 1998.

A Night on the Town is Rod Stewart's seventh album, released in 1976. On 30 June 2009, Rhino reissued the album as a two-disc CD with bonus tracks. Stewart performed "Big Bayou" regularly with The Faces during their final US tour the previous year, although that version was based on the one Ronnie Wood released on his solo album, Now Look. A Night on the Town was Stewart's last UK number-one album until Time in 2013.

Whereas on 1993's Feels Like Rain Buddy Guy flirted with pop and R&B material, on Slippin' In, released one year later, he firmly reasserts his bluesness. From the very first track on, Guy lets his incomparable guitar loose. Throughout the album, he even experiments with Hendrix-esque effects on his guitar (perhaps at the prodding of producer/engineer Eddie Kramer), but the results never seem kitschy or gimmicky. Accompanied on half of the tracks by ex-Stevie Ray Vaughan associates Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton, the groove is deep and swinging. It makes you realize how much of Vaughan's signature sound lay in his rhythm section. There are only two original Guy compositions on Slippin' In, but since he has always been better as an interpreter than a writer, this is a non-complaint.

In the 1980s and early '90s, there was often a very fine line between "hard rock" and "heavy metal." But with Annihilator, there was never a question - this was most definitely a metal band to the core. Comparable to Metallica and Judas Priest at their heaviest, Never Neverland is a blistering gem that takes no prisoners either musically or lyrically. In fact, Annihilator's lyrics could be quite substantial, and the headbangers offer hard-hitting commentary on subjects on subjects ranging from drunken driving ("Road to Ruin") to religious fanaticism ("I Am in Command") to environmental destruction ("Stonewall"). More accessible than death/grindcore bands like Deicide, Cannibal Corpse and Hellwitch but certainly much heavier than the many pop/metal units flooding the market in the late '80s and early '90s, Never Neverland was one of 1990's strongest metal releases.

Fifty songs spread among two CDs, various attributed to Cher, Sonny & Cher, and even "Caesar & Cleo," through which we trace the evolution of this duo from a doo wop-influenced pop team into folk-rock and protest mavens, to the media's reigning early-'70s pop/rock team. The sound is very good, and the range of music is almost dizzying, as the influence of Phil Spector wafts in and out over the recordings, and the duo turns its talents toward just about every sound that was selling at the time. There's a huge amount of good music here, much of it familiar from other collections, including "Sunny," "I Feel Something in the Air," and "All I Really Want to Do" – other notable cuts, apart from such solo Sonny Bono stuff as "The Revolution Kind" and "Laugh at Me," include Cher's renditions of "Alfie" and "Needles and Pins" and her first, failed, "comeback" attempt, "Classified 1A."

Capturing all the intimacy and the amp-hum in its unfussy, impromptu recording sessions, Lemon Law is dripping with atmosphere. The buzzing of that cable, that weird phase-y sound from the un-gated mic. It's all here. The lack of overdubs might even make Neil Young jealous. The complexities and the intricate arrangements feel easy and natural, and naturally nostalgic. It's all vaguely familiar and new at the same time.