The BoDeans may have to play second-fiddles to guitar great Les Paul as Waukesha, Wisconsin's favorite musical sons, but their rootsy, unpretentious rock & roll carved them a comfortable niche and loyal following from the late 1980s on. This 17-track anthology spans a decade of the band's history, eschewing strict historical chronology for a running order that's both more artistically interesting and listener friendly. Indeed, fully a third of the tracks issue from the band's 1995 live album Joe Dirt Car, a gambit that helps underscore their spare, straightforward musical charms. The twin talents of singer-songwriters Sammy Llanas and Kurt Neumann form the band's core, and the close harmonies of early hits "She's a Runaway" and "Fadeaway" set the band's tone, recalling rough-hewn takes on a vocal tradition that stretches back to the Everlys and Lennon-McCartney. But it's a collection that also reveals the band's range, from the U2-like drama of "You Don't Get Much" to the pop-savvy Party of Five theme "Closer to Free" and a passionate live take of "Feed the Fire" that recalls John Mellencamp at his best. –Jerry McCulley

7 CDs will take listeners into the studio with Louis Armstrong in a way never previously imaginable
Over three hours of bonus material, including unissued takes, rehearsals and even studio discussions. Since George Avakian relied so much on editing and splicing, his albums contained very few complete, unedited takes.
Superior sound utilizing the original RCA Victor metal parts, and test pressings of the pre-tape material and for the Columbia sessions Mosaic Records had complete access to all the reel-to-reel tapes.

2014 three CD collection. For decades the DJ has been the pioneer of the dancefloor and is deemed as pop music's true revolutionary. So with this in mind Ministry of Sound has decided to bring you an album that takes you on a chronological journey through some of the most seminal club records of all time. Last Night a DJ Saved My Life is an epic collection starting from the late '70s Disco era and moving all the way through to the modern day resurgence of House. We have handpicked 60 Soul Dance grooves that have shaped the career of some of the most recognized artists. Includes tracks from Donna Summer, Chic, Chaka Khan, Marvin Gaye, Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Masters at Work and many others.

Blue & Sentimental is an album by American saxophonist Ike Quebec recorded in 1961 and released on the Blue Note label. The album features a sparse quartet of Quebec (occasionally doubling on piano), guitarist Grant Green, and a rhythm section of Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The album features some rare rhythm guitar accompaniment by Green, who was more typically a soloist. The Allmusic review by Steve Huey awarded the album 5 stars and calling it "a superbly sensuous blend of lusty blues swagger and achingly romantic ballads… a quiet, sorely underrated masterpiece".

Encompassing the very best of 80s pop & rock bands.
These are all artists that unquestionably defined the sound of a generation.
From the live music clubs of london to the miami coast, the synth and guitar based sound dominated the charts, and this album serves as a time capsule for that unforgettable era. Timeless classics from the likes of omd, simple minds, queen, abc, the human league, the cure & many more solidify just how iconic this music was.

The Past & Present label presents a new kind of psych-rock compilation: Mindrocker. With the vast amount of '60s garage and psych compilations that have appeared from around the world in the last few years, it's easy to understand why so many fans of the genre have felt overwhelmed by the deluge. There are, however, a select group of compilations that are widely regarded as genuine must-haves for collectors of '60s singles. Alongside Nuggets, Rubbles, Pebbles, Endless Journey, Chocolate Soup For Diabetics and the Perfumed Garden, Mindrocker stands out as a treasure trove of '60s U.S. psych and garage music. Widely applauded for its high sound quality and detailed liner notes, courtesy of Hans-Herman Pohle, Mindrocker is widely-regarded as the launching-point of many a U.S. psych collection as well as an affordable way to locate rare singles by bands which went on to record classic albums for major record companies.

The latest chapter in Columbia/Legacy's highly acclaimed Bob Dylan Bootleg Series takes a fresh look at Time Out of Mind, Dylan's mid-career masterpiece, celebrating the album and its enduring impact 25 years after its original release. This edition includes a new 2022 remix, by Michael H. Brauer, of the eleven original recordings on Time Out of Mind, sounding more like how the songs came across when the musicians originally played them in the room. Also included are 12 previously unreleased outtakes and alternate versions of songs written for Time Out of Mind, including such iconic tracks as “Love Sick”, “Not Dark Yet” and “Make You Feel My Love”.

Carl Stamitz’s Clarinet Quartets Op. 8 and Op. 19 are amongst the earliest compositions for clarinet and string trio and document the increasing significance of the clarinet in the second half of the 18th century. These quartets demonstrate Stamitz’s profound understanding of the instrument and also allow an illuminating insight into his idiom. With his sensitive interpretations, Arthur Campbell emphasises the cantabile quality of the clarinet, which dominates all the quartets recorded on this SACD.

Strong but delicate, deliberate but subtle, driven but supple, Masaaki Suzuki's 2005 recording of Bach's Italian Concerto and French Overture for harpsichord are quite convincing in their own distinctive way. In Suzuki's hands, the opening crash of the Italian Concerto is as instantly arresting as the powerful opening prelude and fugue from the French Overture is immediately appealing.

The Oasis Quartet, founded in 2006, is made up of four saxophones, and on its first release it includes works originally written for that ensemble, as well as a transcription of a string quartet. The transcription, Philip Glass' String Quartet No. 3 ("Mishima"), was in turn arranged from material from the composer's soundtrack to Paul Schrader's 1985 film biography of the Japanese writer and activist, originally written for and performed by the Kronos Quartet.

Listeners familiar with other recordings in Masaaki Suzuki's ongoing traversal of Bach's solo keyboard works may find his performances of the Partitas somewhat of an anomaly. For instance, the sharply delineated juxtapositions of tempos that made his Fantasias and Fugues program so thrilling (type Q3840 in Search Reviews) are nowhere to be heard here. The interpretive agenda this time is much subtler and decidedly more introverted.

It's curious why there are not more compositions for cello and guitar duo. The two overlap greatly in range, have wonderfully complementary timbres, and possess virtually none of the inherent balance problems encountered when pairing the cello with the more commonplace piano. The guitar is often thought of in term of Spanish or Latin-influenced music, and though there have been many compositions written for the cello by composers from these parts of the world, precious few have bothered to incorporate the guitar as a duo partner.

Italian ensemble Alter Ego have made their name playing the post-minimalism of composers as diverse as Louis Andriessen, David Lang and Frederic Rzewski. Now they turn their attention to pre-, or perhaps more accurately, prototype minimalism in this fine two-disc survey of early Philip Glass. Rejecting the seamless cross-stitching and salamander slither of Glass’s own ensemble, Alter Ego opt for a brassier and more strident approach. This strategy proposes a subtly alternative view about which the composer obviously approves – Orange Mountain Music is his own label.

Amazon Review by Gavin B.
The "Best of Ska" issued by the British import label Disky Records is a unique collection of Jamaican influenced ska. There are few collections of ska that include a good cross section of the earliest ska classics from Jamaica in the Sixties in the same collection as music of the Great Ska Revival in the United Kingdom in the Eighties.
The "Best of Ska" may disappoint the ska purists but the consistent quality of this massive 3 disc cd is the best argument for musical pluralism I've ever heard. Hard core music collectors often develop tunnel vision and dismiss innovation, simply on the basis of its "inauthenic" origins and end up missing a lot of great music in the process. As such, the music of younger generation of UK ska players should be judged on it's own merits, and not a set of "a priori" standards established by musical snobs.

The legendary jazz recordings made by Black Saint/Soul Note make a welcome return to the active catalog with this series of specially-priced boxed sets, which feature some of the label's finest artists. Sun Ra - the Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note features four albums in slipcases with original album artwork, housed in a sturdy box. The set includes the albums Reflections in Blue, Hours After, Mayan Temples and a Tribute to Stuff Smith.