"The Great Mass" is the 2011 symphonic masterpiece that constitutes a quantum leap in the art of amalgamating orchestral music with Heavy Metal. The songs are the audible evidence of guitarist Christos Antoniou finishing his studies of classical composition with academic honours and distinction. The Greeks take the next logical step in following the course they highly successfully set on their celebrated comeback-album "Communion" (2008). "The Great Mass" shows this band at the peak of their evolution over seven full-length releases since Septicflesh's founding in 1990, in which the band combines massive deadly guitars at the edge of blackness with haunting gothic melodies and cinematic symphonic arrangements…

FURYU, the band, was initially formed by Zappoli MICHELE (bass) and Matteo MIGLIORI (guitar/vocals) in Bologna Italy in 2000 but it took almost a decade and several lineup changes for FURYU to become a proper band. After several musical styles shifts, the band finally hit it off in mid 2009 when the drummer Riccardo GRECHI and the sampler Damiano STORELLI came aboard and the members began writing, recording and producing their first full length album. The album "Ciò Che l'Anima Non Dice" was released in 2011 and features a concept that circles around moods, feelings and human emotions. The synthetic phrases that characterize each song title is intended to narrate the experiences of the protagonist in his own journey. The idea was to create an ambitious album that would be taken as an artistic statement that could have an international bearing to it.

Since Charly Records began working with the catalog of the fabled Texas label International Artists Records, they've released a steady stream of material by Lone Star psychedelic pioneers the 13th Floor Elevators, beginning with the definitive 2009 box set Sign of the 3 Eyed Men. But while Charly's releases have been beautifully assembled and annotated, they've also been created with serious fans in mind, rather than someone looking for the band's basic oeuvre. While a four-disc box set might seem a bit much for someone who just wants the basics, The Albums Collection is a thorough but elegant collection that delivers the Elevators' essential repertoire in one package…

Konnecting… is a 15-track collection of electro-pop sings bringing together for the first time the works and three guises of electronic pioneers David Baker and Simon Leonard - I Start Counting, Fortran 5, Komputer.
Konnecting… tracks the duo's output from the first Mute release, Letters To A Friend (I Start Counting, 1984, produced by Daniel Miller), through to the club hit, Heart On The Line (Fortran 5, mixed by Vince Clarke), the Midnight Cowboy sampling Time To Dream (1993, Fortran 5) through to Komputer's paean to Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space (Valentina, 1997) to the very British electronic pop/folk music of Headphones And Ringtones and Like A Bird, from Komputer's 2007 release, Synthetik.

Music for the silent film 'Man With a Movie Camera' (1929 - USSR) by Dziga Vertov, followed by 'Petite collection de rêves étranges et pièces plaisantes'. French avant-prog unit Art Zoyd formed in 1969 around the core of bassist Thierry Zaboitzeff, percussionist Jean-Pierre Soarez, and violin player Gérard Hourbette, with guitarist Rocco Fernandez, pianist Patricia Dallio, percussionist Daniel Denis (who later formed Univers Zero), and a changing lineup of half-a-dozen additional instrumentalists. In 1975, Zaboitzeff took over the group and changed its musical direction. The personnel would be narrowed to include two violins, electric bass, and trumpet, as evidenced by their debut full-length, Symphonie Pour le Jour Ou Bruleront les Cités, self-released in 1976.

Husband and wife team violinist Thomas Zehetmair and violist Ruth Killius have divided their performing and recording careers between standard and contemporary repertoire. On this CD they tackle a diverse selection of 20th and 21st century repertoire for their instruments. Giacinto Scelsi's 1957 Manto for viola and female voice is in the three movements. The first two, for viola alone, betray little direction or focus and are relentlessly, gratingly dissonant. The third movement with voice is intriguing in its interweaving of the contrasting timbres and is altogether engaging.

Sanhedrin started out as far back as 1987 when bothers Sagi Barness (bass) and Aviv Barness (keyboards and saxophone) got exposed to the great progressive scene of the 70's. At first they were well known as a Camel cover band, but now the Israeli act is presenting their first album of original material. According to the Sanhedrin musicians, they are inspired by Pink Floyd, Camel, Gentle Giant, Van Der Graaf Generator, Jethro Tull and Genesis, which almost totally corresponds to the real state of affairs, even though, unlike any of those bands, they play all-instrumental music.

Adele's 2009 debut album, 19, was a Grammy-winning smash hit that revealed the British singer/songwriter's knack for bittersweet soul and folk-infused love songs that brought to mind an infectious mix of Dusty Springfield and Terry Callier. The album earned her a ton of fans, and interest was high for the inevitable follow-up. In many ways, her sophomore album, the similarly age-appropriate-titled 21, is a continuation of the sounds and themes Adele was working with on 19. She is still the bluesy pop diva with a singer/songwriter's soul and seemingly bottomless capacity for heartbreak. If the tastefully organic production and overabundance of well-known co-writers come off a bit too on-the-nose in terms of delivering to fan expectations, then the best thing the album does is to showcase Adele's titanic vocal ability, which – more than a few times on 21 – is simply spine-tingling.