Thanks to its stripped-down, lean production, Vitalogy stands as Pearl Jam's most original and uncompromising album. While it isn't a concept album, Vitalogy sounds like one. Death and despair shroud the album, rendering even the explosive celebration of vinyl "Spin the Black Circle" somewhat muted. But that black cloud works to Pearl Jam's advantage, injecting a nervous tension to brittle rockers like "Last Exit" and "Not for You," and especially introspective ballads like "Corduroy" and "Better Man." In between the straight rock numbers and the searching slow songs, Pearl Jam contribute their strangest music – the mantrafunk of "Aye Davanita," the sub-Tom Waits accordion romp of "Bugs," and the chilling sonic collage "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me." Pearl Jam are at their best when they're fighting, whether it's Ticketmaster, fame, or their own personal demons.

For something less traditional but no less killing, try Melvin Taylor & The Slack Band’s Bang That Bell. A post-Hendrix exercise in funky-blue wah-wah wailing, this one has more allusions to Prince and the Isley Brothers than Muddy and the Wolf. In the course of a single tune (“Another Bad Day”) he can blend jazzy, Wes Montgomery-styled octaves with over-the-top wah-wah work and metalesque speed picking. But in spite of all the virtuosic six-string technique, Taylor can also get up into some nasty real-deal shuffles and earthy funk, as he proves so convincingly on “It’s Later than You Think,” which features some brilliant harmonica playing by Sugar Blue, and on a super-funky updating of the Earl King classic “Trick Bag.” And he digs into a slow blues, “A Quitter Never Wins,” with fangs bared. The closer, “Even Trolls Love Rock & Roll,” is a wild fretboard scorcher featuring guest guitar slinger Eric Gales. A tremendous guitarist and soulful singer, Taylor is a major versatile talent on the crossover blues-rock circuit that includes the likes of Robert Cray, Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

This collection features rare alternate Fleetwood Mac tracks from 1975 -1987. Previously released individually for Record Store Day events on vinyl, they will now be together in one set on colored vinyl or a 6 CD boxed set.

Creating sublime musical structures over the last five decades, where risk-taking, rhythmic rapport, and giving of oneself to the music are the essence, legendary bassist David Friesen's music continues to reach new pinnacles of profound expression. On disc one, his long-touring, closely knit trio with saxophonist Joe Manis and drummer Charlie Doggett went into a Portland studio to record 13 new works by Friesen. Disc Two, with Manis and Australia-based drummer, Reuben Bradley, is a bristling live performance from Vienna's Porgy & Bess jazz club during their Spring 2019 European tour. Thriving on selfless awareness and their uncanny compatibility, the trio's joyful interactions offer surprise, beauty, and depth at every turn.

The cheekiest band in the land is back with ROCKMAKER, The Dandy Warhols' 12th studio album. Produced and recorded by the band at their studio/funhouse The Odditorium in Portland, OR, ROCKMAKER sees the "Bohemian Like You" hitmakers celebrate their 30th year together with a sprinkle of glitter on their grime. Accompanied by guests Debbie Harry, Slash, and Pixies' Frank Black, The Dandy Warhols wrangle paranoia, untangle anxious discontent, and lust after life while the dance grooves go deeper, heady drones get weirder, and riffage fit for bong rips hammers. ROCKMAKER is the Dandy's clearest statement yet, at no sacrifice to their outré leanings. This is the sound of outsider alt-psych fixtures looking in as the walls come down.

The lute master Nicolas Vallet (c.1583–c.1642) lived and worked in a borderland between musical categories. The first three decades of his life were spent in France, then his musical career and published compositions unfolded in Amsterdam. Widely acknowledged as a lute and dance teacher in the Netherlands, he also won fame as one of the most important and prolific authors of sacred music for his instrument, making lute settings of the Calvinist psalms from the Genevan Psalter.

Broken China is a progressive rock solo album by Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard Wright. It was his second and final solo album. The album is a four-part concept album based on Wright's then-wife Mildred's battle with depression, and is very much like a classic Pink Floyd concept album in its structure and overall feel. Two songs, "Reaching for the Rail" and "Breakthrough" feature Sinéad O'Connor on lead vocals, with Wright singing elsewhere. The album was recorded in Wright's personal studio in France. Broken China was only Wright's second solo record after 1978's Wet Dream and the last to be released before his death in September 2008. Wright asked fellow Pink Floyd bandmate David Gilmour to perform on the album, and Gilmour agreed to play on "Breakthrough." However, the approach for the song was changed later on, and Gilmour's performance was not used on the finished release.

The Tikiyaki Orchestra exist in a class by themselves. There really is no other band quite like them on the planet. They take the Exotica tradition as established by pioneers Denny, Lyman and Baxter and bring it into the 21st century. Their unmistakable sound is a blend of the coolest retro styles–exotica, lounge, space-age bachelor pad, crime jazz, spy, surf, spaghetti western and more. They headline sold out shows, have appeared at the major Tiki festivals and have had their music featured in numerous television shows and Tiki documentaries.

2007 has been a banner year for Goldbergs; no less than five recorded versions of the piece had appeared by the end of July, including a digitally reinterpreted incarnation of Glenn Gould's famous 1955 recording and Wilhelm Middelschulte's bizarre, psychedelic 1924 transcription of the work for organ. In the face of such circumstances, no one would blame music critics for throwing up their hands and saying something like "enough already!" Nevertheless, thankfully the Goldberg Variations is not that kind of a piece, its appeal is both immutable and universal. Ultimately it comes down to the personality of the keyboard player to make something out of the Goldberg Variations that stands apart from the pack, and young pianist Simone Dinnerstein has managed to do that with her glorious rendering of Bach's cycle for Telarc. Her rendering of the Aria is slower than the norm and her approach to tempo throughout is very elastic; there is nothing rigid about her interpretation of the work. Dinnerstein's reading involves a great deal of give and take, seeking to deepen the expressive potential of Bach's music without losing sight of its basic shape.

Arriving at the twilight of the 1960s, Santana were psychedelic pioneers who ushered Latin rock into the mainstream with their first three albums: Santana, Abraxas, and Santana III. Thanks to their appearance at Woodstock, their eponymous album was a smash hit right out of the gate, with its single "Evil Ways" making it into the Billboard Top Ten in 1969. They remained at the top of the charts until 1973, when leader and namesake guitarist Carlos Santana began exploring esoteric, spiritual jazz fusion on his own.

The album "Krissy Matthews & Friends" is a captivating collection of blues and rock tracks by the talented musician Krissy Matthews. Released by Ruf Records, this album showcases Matthews' exceptional guitar skills and soulful vocals, as well as his ability to collaborate with other accomplished artists.

The 90 minute recording has twenty-one minutes from the November 27th, 1970 show in Hannover, thirty minutes from the November 14th show in Hamburg, and forty-one minutes from the Münster concert on February 24th, 1971.

Some bands turn into shorthand for a certain sound or style, and Pink Floyd belongs among that elite group. The very name connotes something specific: an elastic, echoing, mind-bending sound that evokes the chasms of space. Pink Floyd grounded that limitless sound with exacting explorations of mundane matters of ego, mind, memory, and heart, touching upon madness, alienation, narcissism, and society on their concept albums of the '70s. Of these concept albums, Dark Side of the Moon resonated strongest, earning new audiences year after year, decade after decade, and its longevity makes sense.

For over three decades, Tolis brothers Sakis and Themis have carved a blackened path through the metal world. Architects of the Hellenic black metal, ROTTING CHRIST have been blending histrionic atmospheres, mesmerizing choirs, and neo-classical arrangements for 35 years. Now, the Greek metal legends present their 14th studio album: ‘Pro Xristou’. Translating to “Before Christ” in Greek, this album is a fervent tribute to the last Pagan kings who stood resilient against the Christian tide, safeguarding ancient values and knowledge. Dive deep into the legacies of figures like Flavius Claudius Julianus and Nordic mythological kings through tracks such as "The Apostate" and "Ygdrassil". ‘Pro Xristou’ encapsulates the essence of Rotting Christ's signature style - a melodic symphony with moments of unyielding harshness. Artwork by Thomas Cole (1801-1848), the cover art is 'Destruction', which is part of the painting series 'The Course of Empire'.

Three CD set. First-ever complete anthology by the 'Beach Baby' harmony pop hitmakers. Featuring both First Class LPs, all singles, pseudonymous releases and numerous previously unreleased tracks including advertising jingles and songs from an aborted 1974 musical. Arguably the ultimate Beach Boys tribute, 'Beach Baby' introduced a new name, The First Class - actually veteran pop hitmaker and songwriter John Carter with the aid of Chas Mills and lead singer Tony Burrows. While other singers and musicians adopted the name to front their music in public, the Carter/Burrows/Mills combination continued to record new First Class material, including a self-titled LP that is quite possibly the finest, most ambitious British harmony pop album of the 70s. Beach Baby: The Complete Recordings is the definitive document of both The First Class and John Carter's myriad overlapping activities during the second half of the 70s. It contains an embarrassment of riches: both albums, all singles, out-takes, pseudonymous releases, a huge number of previously unissued TV/radio advertising jingles and, most fascinatingly of all, seven previously unheard 1974 demos for the musical Bobby Dazzler, abandoned when the single of the same name unfathomably failed to chart.