All albums in this CD box are the original Dutch Shocking Blue album releases from the sixties and seventies, housed in their original covers and with original artwork, representing the band at the time. For a long time Shocking Blue was believed only to be a hit singles band but their albums have well proven to stand the test of time, not only in the Netherlands but also internationally…

Post-modern ironists cloaked behind a veil of buoyantly melodic and lushly romantic synth pop confections, Pet Shop Boys offer wry yet strangely affecting cultural commentary communicated by the Morse code of synth washes and drum machine rhythms. After first emerging in the mid-'80s with "West End Girls" and "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)," Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe quickly established themselves as hitmaking singles artists who were also able to craft emotionally resonant albums, like 1988's Introspective and 1990's Behaviour. The duo navigated the constantly shifting landscape of modern dance-pop with grace and intelligence, moving easily from disco to house music to thoughtful synth pop without losing their distinctive style in the process…

After their acclaimed recording of Telemann’s Miriways, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin returns to PENTATONE with Joseph Haydn’s opera L’isola disabitata, together with an excellent quartet of vocalists. Officially called an azione teatrale, L’isola is a serious opera about love, loss and misunderstanding with a happy ending, set on an exotic deserted island. Special about this opera is that Haydn chose orchestral accompaniment for the entire work, with colourful and dramatic accompagnato recitatives. In Haydn’s printed score, many of the elaborate instrumental sections were deliberately cut, because he feared that they demanded too much from the players, and that some audiences may not have been cultured enough to fully appreciate them. Special about this recording is that these parts have all been reinstated, using a recent edition by Thomas Busse. The seasoned players of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, led by Bernhard Forck, play this lavish score with fervour and swing, while Anett Fritsch (Costanza), Sunhae Im (Silvia), Krystian Adam (Gernando) and André Morsch (Enrico) offer an equally virtuosic vocal delivery.

Leonard Bernstein was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Among the most important conductors of his time, he was also the first American conductor to receive international acclaim. According to music critic Donal Henahan, he was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history".

The first half of this album features a remarkable assembly of top flight players whose efforts are admirably anchored by the rock-solid drumming of another small group veteran, Panama Francis. The undeniable highlight is an eight minute tour de force entitled "Story Of The Jazz Trumpet," and it is difficult to imagine anyone else pulling it off as effectively as Shavers. His musical mimicry is dead on and infused with sly humor. The narration was provided by legendary disc jockey Al "Jazzbo" Collins, who invited his radio listeners to join him in a whimsical world he dubbed the "Purple Grotto." He retained a devoted following until his death in 1997. The album's second half shifts gears as the old Kirby sextet is recreated and the marvelous Maxine Sullivan is welcomed aboard to reprise two signature tunes…

regon, formed in 1970, comprised Ralph Towner (classical and 12-string guitars), Paul McCandless (oboe and English horn), Glen Moore (double bass) and Collin Walcott (sitar and tabla).

A band of musicians from the seventies to the present day, who escaped an unlikely plane crash awakened from a cryogenic sleep after being hibernated in an iceberg? "Sotto il segno della lampreda" is the name of the album proposed by the prog band Il Buco Del Baco, a concept that will lead us under the mysterious seabed, among anemones, corals and abyssal creatures in search of the "Great Lampreda". Between vintage and contemporary sounds and irreverent and self-ironic texts full of musical and non-musical quotes, a marine journey in the smell of a nostalgic past.

Indelibly Stamped, Supertramp's second album, was an improvement on their debut, although the group did have a tendency to indulge themselves in long-winded instrumental sections…

This impressive, impeccably packaged four-CD box set focuses solely on B.B. King's 1950s and 1960s recordings for the Modern family of labels. That was a period that basically encompassed the vast majority of his work prior to 1962, though he did a few non-Modern sides before signing with ABC Paramount in early 1962 and did a few other sides for Modern in the mid-'60s. So this is basically a box-set overview of King's early career, one that saw him score many R&B hits and build a career as a blues legend, even as the blues were falling out of fashion in favor of rock and soul. As many tracks as there are here - 106 in all, four of them previously unreleased - this isn't a catchall roundup of everything the prolific King did for the label…

Meditation, mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca's 2014 release on Deutsche Grammophon, is an album of serene vocal and choral works that express religious feelings with an operatic touch and showcase the Latvian singer's warm and radiant voice. Choosing pieces from the early Baroque era to contemporary works, Garanca presents a soothing program that is consistent in its comforting tone and gentle treatment, though as a purely musical consideration, it tends to flow a bit too evenly and predictably. Insofar as the selections represent the Christian tradition, including settings of the Ave Maria, the Salve Regina, the Sanctus, the Agnus Dei, and the Regina Coeli, the character of the collection admits little variety, except for the general alternation between penitential and quietly ecstatic moods.