Khruangbin have re-recorded their debut album, once a cult classic, now to be known as The Universe Smiles Upon You ii. The recording reinvents the familiar songs, bringing the band’s masterful live show and a decade of touring the world to this genre-defining work.

Yann Tiersen unveils his latest two-part album, Rathlin from a Distance | The Liquid Hour, released via Mute. Rathlin from a Distance | The Liquid Hour is an album divided into two distinct, interconnected parts, each with its own unique sonic characteristics: Rathlin from a Distance is eight tracks of introspective instrumental piano, The Liquid Hour is an expansive, genre-defying blend of electronic music and psychedelic rhythms.

With Songs of Passion, a collection of vocal and instrumental music by John Dowland and Henry Purcell – English composers born nearly a century apart – mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre, lutenist Thomas Dunford and Ensemble Jupiter have created a companion to their previous Erato albums, Eternal Heaven, Idylle and Amazone. Making guest appearances on Songs of Passion are four further singers of the rising generation: baritone (and Erato artist) Huw Montague Rendall, contralto Jess Dandy, tenor Laurence Kilsby and bass Alex Rosen.

A new classic of contemporary Japanese spiritual/modal jazz is born. Here unfolds a stunning soundscape painted with overflowing emotion and a quiet, powerful inner energy.

Brian Eno is a legendary musician, producer, visual artist and activist who first came to international prominence in the early ‘70s as a founding member of the British band Roxy Music, followed by a series of solo albums, collaborations, and production work with artists such as David Bowie, Talking Heads, Devo, U2, Coldplay, his brother Roger Eno, and most recently, fred again.

Initially the title must have sounded like an incredibly pretentious boast, except that Depeche Mode then went on to do a monstrous world tour, score even more hits in America and elsewhere than ever before, and pick up a large number of name checks from emerging house and techno artists on top of all that. As for the music the masses got this time around, the opening cut, "Never Let Me Down Again," started things off wonderfully: a compressed guitar riff suddenly slamming into a huge-sounding percussion/keyboard/piano combination, anchored to a constantly repeated melodic hook, ever-building synth/orchestral parts at the song's end, and one of David Gahan's best vocals (though admittedly singing one of Martin Gore's more pedestrian lyrics). It feels huge throughout, like they taped Depeche recording at the world's largest arena show instead of in a studio.

Arthur Jones had one of the warmer and more romantic styles in "energy music," making this, his debut as a leader, a highly enjoyable set. While the late-'60s avant-garde jazz scene is typically associated with heated and furious solo flights, Jones managed to fuse his love of older bop and blues players with the prevalent tendencies of the day. In this way, Jones was as adept at caressing a ballad as he was at shredding apart a fast one. Both of these sides are in evidence - quite literally - on this disc. The searing "C.R.M." opens the session with a relentless frenzy of notes; cutting and slashing everything in it's path. It is one of four Jones originals. The evocative and gritty ballad "Sad Eyes" begins the second on a much different note. This piece as well as the opening bars of the album's closer, "Brother B," provide a wonderful example of an avant-garde player digging into his blues roots…

The great jazz pianist, composer, and Blue Note legend Horace Silver only released one live album during his lifetime, but his quintets were always among the most reliably thrilling working bands in jazz, delivering high-energy, crowd-pleasing performances of Silver’s indelible compositions to fans around the world. In August 1965, Silver brought a powerhouse line-up to The Penthouse in Seattle with Woody Shaw on trumpet, Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone, Teddy Smith on bass, and Roger Humphries on drums. A newly discovered recording of those performances gets its first-ever release with Silver In Seattle: Live at the Penthouse featuring the band delivering uninhibited renditions of Silver classics including “Song For My Father,” “The Cape Verdean Blues,” “The Kicker,” and more.

This visit to Japan marks the 10th anniversary of the release of Julian Lage's debut solo album, *World's Fair*, recorded using a 1939 Martin 000-18, and is part of a solo acoustic tour commemorating the album's release. This album is a Japan-exclusive release produced to coincide with this solo tour, featuring live recordings from solo performances held in various locations across the UK and Ireland in November 2024, with all tracks being commercially released for the first time. The album includes a wide range of tracks, from numbers from his debut solo album *World's Fair* (2015) to popular tracks from his previous album *Speak To Me* (2024), and the standard "Say It," famously performed by John Coltrane. Despite the minimal setup of just a Collings acoustic guitar, the album showcases a profound world underpinned by solid technique and musicality.

Produced with Mark Ralph, who previously worked with them on their 2013 album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, the album showcases Franz at their most immediate, upbeat and life-affirming, unashamedly going for the pop-jugular in classic Franz style. Recorded at AYR studios in Scotland, the 11-songs on The Human Fear all allude to some deep-set human fears and how overcoming and accepting these fears drives and defines our lives.