Deep Purple were bombastic as hell, but as a template for the next wave of hard rock bands, the group did a pretty good job of showing how it’s done, picking just the right song to cover and also writing one or two rock classics like “Smoke on the Water” to give it all credence. This two-disc set collects all the band’s singles and EPs released between 1968 and 1980, and while it thins out considerably toward the end of that run, the quality here is revealing – this band clearly bridges the British Invasion era with the harder-edged commercial rock era that came later.

Though he was not himself a violinist, Béla Bartók managed to compose two incredible violin concertos, the second of which is considered by some to be the most important violin concerto of the 20th century. The first concerto was written for the unrequited love of his youth, violinist Stefi Geyer, who never performed the work publicly and kept hold of the manuscript until her death in 1956. The two-movement work is filled with references to Bartók's relationship with her; the first movement luxuriously romantic and the second a pyrotechnic display of sheer virtuosity. The Second Concerto came about nearly two decades later from a commission.

Hélène Grimaud's 2010 album Resonances has a program with a unifying theme, though some explaining is needed to tease it out of the music. All of the works presented on this CD are notable products of the musical heritage of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and the connections Grimaud makes go backward in time to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, then pass through Franz Liszt to Alban Berg and Béla Bartók.

La Vie Electronique is a series of 3-disc CD releases by Klaus Schulze, reissuing material from his limited edition 50-disc CD box set The Ultimate Edition (2000), which itself collected the previously released limited edition multi-disc box sets Silver Edition (1993, 10 discs), Historic Edition (1995, 10 discs), and Jubilee Edition (1997, 25 discs), along with an additional 5 discs. The series began in 2009 with a plan to release all the music from The Ultimate Edition in chronological order. Four volumes were released in 2009, and four more were released in 2010. The next two volumes were released in 2011, with the next two following in 2012. The thirteenth volume was released in 2013, and the fourteenth and fifteenth volumes in 2014. The sixteenth and final volume, containing five CDs rather than the usual three, was released on May 29th, 2015.

For the third time, Blank & Jones take a journey to the depths of the archives of the '80 and offer up a tracklist full of surprises and exclusives. This triple CD deluxe set is a virtual non-stop mix featuring remastered and uncut rare mixes and extended versions. The booklet contains commentary from Blank & Jones on all of the tracks plus pictures of the original 12" single sleeves. Features tracks from INXS, Visage, Duran Duran, OMD, the Cure, Billy Idol, Simple Minds, Real Life and many others.

Henze recordings don’t come my way very often, but when they do I’m reminded of just how versatile a composer he is. There are also fine DVDs of his best stage works; L’Upupa und der Triumph des Sohnesliebe (Euroarts) is a treat for the eye and ear, and there’s an unmissable Ondine from Covent Garden, with Miyako Yoshida in the name part.

Finland-based Tempera Quartet is best known for its incisive interpretations of the complete string quartet oeuvre of Jean Sibelius. Tackling some 20 works, or 70-odd movements, that make up the Finnish master's output, is no small feat, and the Tempera Quartet received high praise from critics for its three-CD set on BIS, which contains this mostly neglected music.

Anathema are one of the select few bands that actually progress with each album, honing their songwriting skills to provide a better means for their musical message - but a six-year gap in the recording schedule that preceded We're Here Because We're Here still left many fans wondering, where do they go from here? Turns out, it was in the right direction. The most easily recognized change is the increased emphasis on piano, which is the leading instrument on most songs, but if this description brings the likes of Coldplay and Fray to mind, the music does not, for the simple reason that Chris Martin, let alone the horde of his mainstream rock imitators, can never rival the immense emotional charge of Anathema's music…

For the arch-Protestant Bach Family – as for German musicology in the 19th and early 20th centuries – through his conversion to Catholicism and his turning to Italian opera Johann Christian Bach was considerd the “black sheep” of the family. Prior to his brilliant career as an opera composer and impresario in London, from 1757 to 1760 he held the position of organist at the Milan Cathedral. During this period he composed numerous sacred works which are least well-known among the works of the youngest Bach son. Under the direction of Gerhard Jenemann, the renowned solo quartet centered around Joanne Lunn and Thomas E. Bauer, the Süddeutsche Kammerchor and Concerto Köln bring to light a completely unknown Johann Christian Bach and they make clear why the “London Bach” was also called the “Milan Bach.”

Yeah, Cassandra Wilson is a jazz singer, but she’s a 21st century jazz singer, mixing elements of jazz, pop, rock, Delta blues, and light funk into her performances, expanding what a jazz vocalist can be in a contemporary world with her horn player phrasing, smoky texture, and a voice that has matured into a haunting, sensual alto. She tackles some jazz standards, but she’s also adept at taking modern rock and old country-blues songs and finding a way to make them into new jazz standards, fully aware that she’s pushing boundaries in a genre that all too often plays it safe these days.

Listeners wouldn't think that after 40 years of the Baroque keyboard revival that there existed high-quality music that even Baroque specialists haven't heard of. But that's just what German harpsichordist Mitzi Meyerson, a specialist in neglected Baroque repertoire, has unearthed here. English composer Richard Jones has apparently suffered from an almost total lack of information about his life; just a few of his works other than these sets of harpsichord "lessons" have survived, and there is no biographical information to hang them on.

The second installment in the Blank & Jones So 80's series, this triple disc release includes a continuous mix CD followed by two CD's of unmixed rare extended versions of hits by some of the '80's biggest artists. Features tracks by New Order, Kajagoogoo, Billy Idol, Duran Duran, Fra Lippo Lippi, OMD, Howard Jones, a-Ha, Endgames, Simple Minds, Bronski Beat, Corey Hart, KTP and many others.

Matt Haimovitz’s Venetian cello was made by Matteo Gofriller in 1710, ten years before J. S. Bach put pen to paper for his six solo cello suites. Domenico Gabrielli’s seven Ricercari, the direct precursors to Bach’s masterpieces, may have been the first notes heard on this extraordinary instrument.

The name of Charles Tournemire is a minor one, even in the history of French music, and you won’t find much about him in the standard reference books. Nor are you likely to get a great deal of opportunity to hear his music: only two of the works on this disc have been published in printed form, and Sagesse is the only one to have been recorded before. The disc would thus be valuable for that reason alone.