Classical music for listening to alone in silence, 42 tracks / 3 hours 15 minutes.

Mercy is the seventeenth studio album by Welsh musician and composer John Cale. It was released on 20 January 2023 by Double Six Records, making it Cale's first album of new songs in over a decade. It features collaborations with Tony Allen, Laurel Halo, Weyes Blood, Tei Shi, Animal Collective's Avey Tare and Panda Bear, Dev Hynes, Sylvan Esso, Actress and Fat White Family. It was inspired by current events such as Donald Trump's presidency, Brexit, COVID-19, climate change, civil rights and right-wing extremism.

The mid-'80s proved to be a prolific and exploratory time for the producer/performer team of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who this time out take guitarist Michael Brook under their ambient wing to create an album of considerable beauty and restraint. Taking a "less is more" approach to the project, Brook adapts quite easily as a group member in co-creating these organic pieces (although composer credits go to him alone), and within a few minutes one forgets that he is a guitar player. Hybrid is not an especially dynamic or exciting album, but its depth is nonetheless rewarding. There is substance within the shadows, and the musicians take the necessary time to properly explore them. Highlights include the title cut, "Hybrid," which takes on the tone of a sleepy journey through underwater Morocco, plus "Pond Life," a barely audible meditation…

Outside of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lightnin' Hopkins may be Texas's most distinctive and influential blues export. His easy, fluid fingerpicking and witty, extemporaneous storytelling are always a delight, and his performances on Last Night Blues are no exception. The album is spare and acoustic, with Hopkins's voice and guitar accompanied by minimal percussion and Sonny Terry's harmonica. Terry's contributions really add a lot to these tunes, threading a high, lonesome whine on the downtempo tunes and a chugging, propulsive shuffle on the faster ones. Hopkins is, of course, one of the kings of the blues boogie, but he's equally compelling on the slow blues, and he never missteps throughout this fine set. All told, this dynamite disc represents what the blues should be: stripped-down, soulful, and full of truth.

Nick Drake’s debut album Five Leaves Left will be issued as a four-disc box set called The Making Of Five Leaves Left, in July. The album was released by Island Records in 1969 and was produced by Joe Boyd. The new box sets comes in 4CD and 4LP vinyl variants (identical tracklistings) and include unaccompanied demos, studio outtakes and previously unheard songs. There’s over 30 previously unheard outtakes, in total. The whole set has been mastered by John Wood.

Welsh cellist Steffan Morris is an acclaimed soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician who has performed internationally and held principal roles with major orchestras including the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Vienna Chamber Orchestra. Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson is a celebrated soloist, chamber musician, and teacher, known for his versatility on modern and historical instruments, adventurous programming, and collaborations with leading artists at major venues and festivals worldwide.

Featuring highly gifted vocalist Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford (acoustic guitars), John Tout (keyboards, vocals), Jon Camp (bass, vocals) and Terry Sullivan (drums, percussion), ‘Novella’ was issued in 1977 and was the band’s first album to be released on the Warner Bros. label in the UK. Featuring featured the epic ‘Can You Hear Me?’ along with the classic tracks ‘Midas Man’, ‘Touching Once (Is So Hard to Keep)’ and ‘The Sisters’, the album was a top 50 hit album in the USA and assisted in growing the band’s following in Britain.

"Stars of the Lid may have released two of the most important and influential ambient-drone albums of the 21st century, inspiring generations of musicians, authors, artists, and filmmakers, developing a cult following and near-mythic status, but back in 1995 they were nowhere. Well, not exactly nowhere, they were in Austin, Texas, to be precise, a city that Adam Wiltzie describes as a “rock and roll village, mostly… We were 100% in a vacuum and there was absolutely nobody that even remotely enjoyed what we were doing.”