Dire Straits is a British rock band formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler, David Knopfler, John Illsley and Pick Withers. Dire Straits’ sound draws from various influences including jazz, folk, country, and blues rock. The band won four Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and various other awards.

This carefully compiled, finely presented boxed set collects the output of Creedence Clearwater Revival, still one of America's most original-sounding rock bands approaching 50 years after their recordings were made. When you hear the combination of gritty blues, rockabilly and swampified boogie that CCR perfected, it's surprising to learn that the band formed in Northern California, far closer to Haight-Ashbury than Highway 61. Collected here is every studio-recorded album the band made – all within a four-year period – along with a bonus 45rpm disc that features special mixes of a couple of songs. Included are liner notes written by former Rolling Stone editor Ben Fong-Torres and period photos from Baron Wolman and Didi Zill, who documented CCR during the band's heyday. Each record comes in a glossy fold-over sleeve constructed of heavy stock, everything fitting into an attractive box.

Review by Scott Yanow Two of pianist Kenny Barron's earlier LPs (Sunset to Dawn and Golden Lotus) are reissued in full on this double CD from 1997. The 1973 date has its moments of interest, with Barron doubling on electric piano as part of a five-piece rhythm section, performing five of his originals and a song by drummer Freddie Waits. Those post-bop sides hint a bit at fusion and funk while still remaining reasonably creative. However, it is the later set (a quintet outing with John Stubblefield on tenor and soprano, vibraphonist Steve Nelson, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Ben Riley) that is of greatest interest; the group performs four Barron tunes, including "Golden Lotus," plus "Darn That Dream." Nelson's playing at that early stage showed great potential that he has since largely realized. An excellent two-fer.

Immerse yourself amongst legends and experience an incredible line-up of 32 chart-topping favourites from 4 decades on this brand-new 2LP. Opening with Elvis Presley’s biggest hit and one of the best-selling singles of all-time, ‘It’s Now Or Never’, the first side showcases the timeless and influential talent of the swinging 60s including, Roy Orbison’s, ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’, Tom Jones’, ‘It's Not Unusual’ and The Supremes with ‘Baby Love’… The second LP opens with a stella run of 80s anthems, kicking off with ‘Every Breath You Take’ from The Police, followed by ‘Brass In Pocket’ the decade’s first number one single from The Pretenders. UK pop legends Duran Duran and Culture club are included along with floor-fillers from Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Dead Or Alive… This quintessential number 1’s Vinyl, Compilation!

35th Anniversary Edition. Lush’s Gala was the band’s debut compilation album, comprising their earliest releases — Scar (1989), Mad Love (1990), and Sweetness and Light (1990) — in reverse chronological order, plus two additional tracks (a cover version of ABBA’s “Hey Hey Helen” and the extended Robin Guthrie mix of Scar track “Scarlet”). Originally released in 1990 as the band’s introduction to the US and Japanese markets, the compilation’s 35th anniversary is being celebrated with a 2025 reissue, formatted both on Standard LP/CD and as a Deluxe Edition Coloured Vinyl 3x12” and 7”, to be released November 14. Back in print for the first time since 1990, both the standard and deluxe editions are rounded out with 2025 Kevin Vanbergen remasters of the original tracklisting and deluxe edition artwork designed by Chris Bigg featuring original artwork by v23 (Vaughan Oliver and Chris Bigg). credits releases November 14, 2025

One year after …But Seriously, England's best-selling album in the year of its release, Phil Collins followed up with a live worldwide tour. The former Genesis drummer was at the height of his fame, and this Berlin concert on July 15th, 1990, perfectly documents his impressive performances from that time. Surrounded by four virtuosos (Leland Sklar on bass, Daryl Stuermer on guitar, Chester Thompson on drums and Brad Cole on keyboards), here Phil Collins reveals a kind of ‘best of’ album with the hits Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now), One More Night, In the Air Tonight as well as a rather muscular cover of You Can't Hurry Love by The Supremes. Everything here is XL! Brass, rhythm and melodies! And the remastered edition of this live album in 24-Bit Hi-Res quality makes the experience even more powerful. © Clotilde Maréchal

Metrik announces his fourth studio album Awake - a bold new chapter in drum & bass. London-based producer, vocalist and DJ Metrik returns in 2025 with Awake, a 12-track odyssey that pushes drum & bass into uncharted territory. Five years in the making, the album marks his most ambitious and personal work to date - a fusion of ferocious energy, immersive world-building and raw emotion. Fans have already had a taste: singles including Abyss, Immortal, Fall To The Dust, Overdrive (with Grafix) and the title track Awake have torn through clubs and festivals worldwide, while Hole - a collaboration with Enter Shikari’s Rou Reynolds - was crowned BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record in the World.

Bolted (Deconstructed)' is a new collection of reworkings from Forest Swords' (aka producer and composer Matthew Barnes) most recent album, released as a fundraiser for winter food banks in his home city of Liverpool. The ambient, improvised reinterpretations arrive during the first anniversary of the critically acclaimed album 'Bolted', an exploration of post-industrial electronica and foggy ambient recorded in a factory space in the city, with guests including Neneh Cherry. "I'm always interested in ways I can dismantle my work once it's done – Bolted was a heavy record both creatively and sonically, so as I finished up the live shows I wanted to revisit it, cracking it open to let some light in" says Barnes of the release. "The whole idea was to be loose with the source material, and these tracks are pieced together using a couple of pieces of hardware with random stems from the sessions". The hypnotic, beatless versions of the album pushes the sonic world from bleak, alien electronics to into fresh winter air: snippets of vocals and melodies placed into dubbed out organ and synths, musique concrète, brightly hissing tape loops and chamber reverb.

Japanese pressing features the high-fidelity SHM-SACD format (single layer). Cardboard sleeve packaging. Produced by Impulse! A&R director Bob Thiele in 1963, this recording is a major showcase of the talented Charles Mingus as a bassist, pianist and writer. In his 1963 original liner notes, critic-at-large Nat Hentoff said that of all the musicians, it is impossible to remain indifferent to Mingus. This recording more than any other testifies to Hentoff's claim. More so today than in 60's, there is truly only one Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus.

Suede have announced details of their 10th studio album ‘Antidepressants’. Due for release on 5th September via BMG, the album is a milestone achievement that sees the band at the top of their game. It follows the success of their critically-acclaimed ninth top 10 album ‘Autofiction’ released in September 2022, which charted at No.2 on the UK Albums Chart and was their highest-charting release in over 20 years. Suede will celebrate the release of ‘Antidepressants’ with a takeover of London’s Southbank Centre, through a series of exciting live performances kicking off in September, Suede’s four-night residency will commence with two consecutive nights at the Royal Festival Hall on September 13th and 14th, followed on September 17th by an intimate stripped-back performance at the Purcell Room, culminating in a collaboration with the Paraorchestra on September 19th at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Am I the Drama? is the second studio album by American rapper Cardi B. It was released on September 19, 2025, by Atlantic Records. It serves as the follow-up to her debut album, Invasion of Privacy (2018). The album, a hip-hop record, includes features from Summer Walker, Selena Gomez, Kehlani, Dougie F, Lizzo, Cash Cobain, Lourdiz, Janet Jackson, Tyla, and Megan Thee Stallion; Latto and Jeezy feature on bonus editions of the album. The album's production was handled by Ayo the Producer, Keyz, Charlie Heat, FnZ, London on da Track, TM88, and Vinylz, alongside others.

Released in 1970 during the stopgap between Stand! and There's a Riot Goin' On, Greatest Hits inadvertently arrived at precisely the right moment, summarizing Sly & the Family Stone's joyous hit-making run on the pop and R&B charts. Technically, only four songs here reached the Top Ten, with only two others hitting the Top 40, but judging this solely on charts is misleading, since this is simply a peerless singles collection. This summarizes their first four albums perfectly (almost all of Stand! outside of the two jams and "Somebody's Watching You" is here), adding the non-LP singles "Hot Fun in the Summertime," "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)," and "Everybody Is a Star," possibly the loveliest thing they ever recorded…

Keith Moon's (The Who) 1975 solo album Two Sides of the Moon has been described as "the most expensive karaoke album in history," and even as that, it was a colossal failure, the perfect expression of drunken self-indulgence, and it was so fascinatingly bad that it has assumed a certain cult status. But make no mistake, it was a horrible album on all counts made by a brilliant drummer who chose barely to play drums on it (he appears behind the kit on only three tracks) but instead chose to sing, even though he was tone deaf by his own admission. The presence of seemingly every musician then in L.A. at the sessions, an impressive list that included Dick Dale, Spencer Davis, Bobby Keys, Rick Nelson, Harry Nilsson, John Sebastian, Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, and countless rumored others, failed to redeem Two Sides of the Moon. Even taken as kitsch, it sucked.

Guitar-slinging progeny of the great Chicago bluesman Luther Allison, Bernard Allison has proved that great music runs in the blood with a series of high power urban blues albums. Beginning with the viciously funky title track, Chills & Thrills immediately kicks the party into overdrive, briefly letting up only to get a bit jammy (“So Devine”) or momentarily reflective (“Compromising for Your Needs”).

Billie Holiday's first recordings for Norman Granz' Clef Records present a vocalist truly at the top of her craft, although she would begin a rapid decline soon thereafter. This 1952 recording (originally issued as a 10" LP, Billie Holiday Sings) places Holiday in front of small piano and tenor saxophone-led groups including jazz luminaries such as Oscar Peterson and Charlie Shavers, where her gentle phrasing sets the tone for the sessions, evoking lazy evenings and dreamy afternoons. The alcoholism and heroin use that would be her downfall by the end of this decade seems to be almost unfathomable during these recordings since Holiday is in as fine a voice as her work in the '30s, and the musical environment seems ideal for these slow torch songs. Solitude runs as the common theme throughout these 16 tracks; the idle breathiness of "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" finds the vocalist casually reminiscing…