Phaedra is one of the most important, artistic, and exciting works in the history of electronic music, a brilliant and compelling summation of Tangerine Dream's early avant-space direction balanced with the synthesizer/sequencer technology just beginning to gain a foothold in nonacademic circles. The result is best heard on the 15-minute title track, unparalleled before or since for its depth of sound and vision. Given focus by the arpeggiated trance that drifts in and out of the mix, the track progresses through several passages including a few surprisingly melodic keyboard lines and an assortment of eerie Moog and Mellotron effects, gaseous explosions, and windy sirens. Despite the impending chaos, the track sounds more like a carefully composed classical work than an unrestrained piece of noise…

Robert Randolph is one of the rare artists who's been able to convince a sizable audience that the pedal steel guitar has a place outside country music. This is partly due to his over-the-top skills on the instrument, but just as importantly, Randolph and his Family Band have consistently shown their ability to launch a soul shakedown party of major proportions whenever they take the stage or set up in the studio. 2017's Got Soul, Randolph's fifth studio album, seems designed to capture the energy and power of Randolph and his band in full flight, and producer Matt Pierson has gone out of his way to give this material a big, rollicking sound that makes the most of the muscle and sweat of this music. While the tough, funky report of the rhythm section and the call of the organ provide the backbone of these songs, it's Randolph's pedal steel that gives Got Soul its unique sound, as the wailing peals of his instrument tear through the mix and lend this as much of a vocal presence as any instrumentalist can provide. While vintage soul and funk figures play a big role in these arrangements, Randolph's background in gospel is never entirely out of the picture, and there's a churchy passion at the heart of this music that adds plenty to the emotional resonance, especially on tracks like "Be the Change" and "Heaven's Calling".

Teaming with legendary Beatles obsessive Jeff Lynne, George Harrison crafted a remarkably consistent and polished comeback effort with Cloud Nine. Lynne adds a glossy production, reminiscent of ELO, but what is even more noticeable is that he's reined in Harrison's indulgences, keeping the focus on a set of 11 snappy pop/rock numbers. The consistency of the songs remains uneven, but the best moments – "Devil's Radio," "Cloud 9," "Just for Today," "Got My Mind Set on You," and the tongue-in-cheek Beatles pastiche "When We Was Fab" – make Cloud Nine one of his very best albums.

The most beautiful arias from the Vivaldi Edition: Orlando Furioso, Atenaide, Farnace, Teuzzone, Armida, La Fida Ninfa, Orlando 1714, Griselda, Ottone in villa and much more. The album includes outstanding singers and arias that were sensational discoveries when first introduced in this series.

In 1680, Dietrich Buxtehude sent his friend Gustav Düben the score of Membra Jesu nostri. In this perfectly balanced work, he addresses the senses directly, immersing us in the sufferings of Christ: we feel the hammer blows, the heart that stops beating…

“What seems to me to be Mendelssohn’s principal quality is his crystalline clarity. (…) It makes him one of the great composers of religious music. In the direct line of the great predecessors he admired so much, it made it possible for him to efface himself before the divine word and to set it to music with all necessary humility. This is what constitutes the force of the music on this recording.” – Philippe Herreweghe

A Classic Case is an album by Jethro Tull, playing with the London Symphony Orchestra, released in 1985. The music was arranged and conducted by David Palmer, who had been a member of the group from 1976 to 1980. The album features band members Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, Dave Pegg and Peter-John Vettese. The album was recorded during the summer of 1984 at the CBS Studios in London. It was released on 31 December 1985 in the United States, where it reached #93 in the charts.

Treehouse 44 release the first known recordings by British folk guitar hero Michael Chapman. Previously unreleased, these are the earliest known recordings of this great British guitar hero, or as Michael Chapman calls it "The album I had no idea I had made!" This follows on the heels of Light in The Attic'c catalogue re-issue programme. TreeHouse44 has worked closely with Michael Chapman, being allowed full access to his private archive, to produce a unique album that captures the earliest stages in the career of this phenomenal artist.

Then & Now is a compilation album by British rock supergroup Asia, released on 14 August 1990 by Geffen Records. It consists of two parts titled as Then and Now. Then comprises songs from the band's first two albums, Asia and Alpha, which featured the band's original line-up of Geoff Downes, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer, and John Wetton. Now comprises songs recorded by the band after Howe's departure (including "Voice of America" from the band's third album, Astra).

Johnny Cash released more than half a dozen gospel albums during his career, beginning with 1959's Hymns by Johnny Cash, and he scattered gospel tunes throughout his other works as well. A deeply religious man, he sang his songs of praise with as much, or perhaps more, conviction as he did his secular material – even the most skeptical non-believer would have to appreciate the honesty and soul of Cash's gospel recordings. Cash: Ultimate Gospel collects 24 of his best, most drawn from his Columbia catalog with a pair ("I Was There When It Happened" and "Belshazzar") emanating from Cash's early Sun Records period, and two ("Oh Come, Angel Band" and "Children Go Where I Send Thee") originally on the Cachet label.