The Rough Guide to the Music of Kenya and Tanzania is a world music compilation album originally released in 1996. Part of the World Music Network Rough Guides series, it focuses on the music of Kenya and Tanzania, two countries which share Swahili as a common language. The release was compiled by Phil Stanton, co-founder of the World Music Network. Artwork was designed by Impetus.

Evergreen is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Echo & the Bunnymen. It is their first album since reforming after they disbanded in 1993. Vocalist Ian McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant had previously worked together as Electrafixion before they were rejoined by bassist Les Pattinson under the name Echo & the Bunnymen in early 1997. The album was recorded at Doghouse Studios in Henley-on-Thames and was produced by McCulloch and the band's manager Paul Toogood but was credited to the whole band.

TRIPLE-DISC SET OF LIVE PERFORMANCES BY RY COODER FROM ACROSS HIS CAREER Featuring 3 superb live recordings by Ry Cooder, all from the peak of the great man s career, this triple disc set will prove a delight for fans of the master musician the world over. Kicking off on disc one with Ry s full show, broadcast live on 12th November 1972 from The Radio Ranch in Cleveland, Ohio, which finds Cooder in sublime form playing an acoustic, country blues set, with special emphasis on his blues hero of the day, Sleepy John Estes. Disc Two contains his gig from a couple of years later, recorded at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California on 7th July 1974, which features a fine selection of cuts from Cooder s early 1970s Reprise albums, records which still sound as fresh today as they ever did; as indeed does this performance. Concluding this boxed set is a recording made at the Montreux jazz festival in 1990 by Ry with long-time collaborator David Lindley, when the pair storm through a fabulous set featuring long-time Cooder classics and a great selection of numbers from his extensive film soundtrack catalogue With all recordings in near perfect quality and fully remastered, this collection is destines to become a must-have addition for every decent Ry Cooder collection in existence.

Big Bill Morganfield continues to forge his own sound with a delicate balancing act on this, his forth album. He pays tribute to his dad and the Chicago sound he helped create on the title track, but he has a jazzy side that keeps moving the blues in a more sophisticated direction as well. Al Duncan's "Too Late Brother" opens things with a juke-joint rocker in the style of Morganfield's dad, with Steve Guyger's harp tossing some fat on the fire. "High Gas Prices," a Morganfield original, gives the country blues an urban edge with a tune too many sang in the waning months of 2009. Morganfield sings Pearl Woods' "I Play Dirty" with a winning combination of humor and aggression, with Clark Stern's organ giving the tune a sanctified feel. "Who's the Fool," another original, is a shuffle on the familiar subject of a faithless woman, and Morganfield growls out the lyric with plenty of panache. What really distinguishes Morganfield from his dad is his way with love songs. Muddy always sounded dangerous, even when he was proclaiming his passion. Big Bill's voice is smoother and more mellow, and when he sings a soulful tune like Buddy Guy's neo-R&B ballad "My Love Is Real," his voice has a seductive power his dad lacked.

Midge Ure's career, as fans well know, did not begin or end with Ultravox, and so If I Was: The Very Best of Midge Ure & Ultravox attempts to give an overview of one of '80s' Britain's most popular singers. As a career retrospective goes, however, it's pretty spotty. The Scottish vocalist first found fame with the pop band Slik, who scored a chart topper with "Forever and Ever" in 1976. Unfortunately, you won't find that here, nor its hit follow-up, scored just as a car accident took the band out of the charts. Once recovered, Ure moved on. His first port of call, in 1978, was ex-Pistol Glen Matlock's punk/post-punk supergroup the Rich Kids, who released a single and album, although this compilation draws nothing from this period, either. The following year, with the Kids in disarray, Ure helped form the even more illustrious Visage. Joining him there was Ultravox's Billy Currie and, before the year was out, Ure was fronting two hit-bound bands. Visage gets short shrift here, with Ultravox invariably, if unfairly, better represented. But even this wasn't enough to keep the singer busy. In 1981, as both bands' albums and singles swept up the charts, Ure linked up with Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott for yet another hit, "Yellow Pearl".

Masters of synth pop, Wolfsheim's "Spectators" album cannot fail to please any fan of the genre. Smooth and sexy, Wolfsheim's mix of bittersweet electronic harmonies and intense vocal style pave the way for lyrics which serve more than the melody. Spectators hits a mark in the synth pop genre between the reflective intensity of acts such as Deine Lakaien and the more danceable influences artists such as Beborn Beton. From track to track, Wolfsheim go from strength to strength. The dancefloor beats of "Once in a Lifetime" contrast with the reflective romance of "Kunstliche Welten," with tracks like "Read the Lines" giving a jovial relief from the gravity of the rest of the album. The new romatic characteristics have receeded from Wolfsheim's "Sparrows and the Nightingales" days, and what remains is a sound that is more intense than before…

Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound from the original master tapes to vinyl and PCM. The very fact that America's biggest jazz label called one of their albums quite simply Ella and Louis indicates that we are talking about something very special here. And surely enough has been said - "Satchmo" and the grande dame of jazz certainly need no further introduction. In the '50s just the mere mention of their forenames was enough to light up the eyes of jazz fans. A glance at the track list reveals that tranquility rules the day: wild stomps and improvised scats will neither be sought nor missed. Of prime importance to the jazz ballad is a feeling of "letting oneself drift" in the inspiration which gushes forth from the minds of genial American songwriters. This is no contest - for the artists all pursue a common goal with extreme sensitiveness. The background combo, made up of first-class musicians and led by Oscar Peterson, performs with great concentration and almost obtrusive unobtrusiveness.

Steven Kamperman wrote a new soundtrack to Lotte Reiniger’s magical animated film “Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmeds” (1926), the first full-length animated film from the early years of cinema. Unlike Disney it was not drawn, but cut with dazzling detail! Kamperman and his fellowmen Hamid Reza Behzadian and Esat Ekincioğlu take you into the mysterious world of the Tales of 1001 Nights. With hauntingly beautiful melodies that evoke the allure of the Arabian desert to thunderous beats that accompany epic battles.

A sound alchemist, Maurice Ravel recreated his own works for piano in orchestral versions that soon brought them universal acclaim. Jean-François Heisser, a disciple of Vlado Perlemuter, is now part of a Ravelian genealogy imbued with elegance and emotion. Conducted from the piano, in collusion with the musicians of the Orchestre de Chambre Nouvelle-Aquitaine (OCNA), the Piano Concerto in G major revives the Mozartean tradition so dear to the composer.

Graham Ross and the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge celebrate the 500th anniversary of Palestrina's birth in style, recording for the very first time an album of outstanding works by the Roman master that are still little-known. To add resonance to their program, they pair settings of the same texts by three of Palestrina's English contemporaries: William Byrd, Robert White, and William Mundy.

Sounds like Can meets Hawkwind! Unbelievably killer and super, super heavy brand-new Cosmic Psyche/Krautrock album from Brown Spirits, new on Soul Jazz Records!

Blues with a Feeling is a two-CD, 40-track compilation which makes the perfect audio bookend to The Essential Little Walter (or the single disc The Best of Little Walter for those on a budget) by systematically combing the Chess vaults and rounding up the best stuff. No bottom-of-the-barrel scrapings here; this compilation effectively renders all '70s Euro vinyl bootlegs null and void, both from a sound and selection standpoint. While not as exhaustive as the European nine-CD retrospective (in and out of print as of this writing), there are still things on this compilation that are left off the box set on Charly. The rarities (including the low down "Tonight with a Fool," possibly the rarest Walter Checker single of all and one whose title never shows up in the lyrics) are all noteworthy by their inclusion…

Purely a touring ensemble by 1991 - their final studio album, 1989 s Built To Last was no classic - Grateful Dead were nevertheless as active as they d ever been, and indeed between 1990 and 1995 the band earned $285 million, second only to The Rolling Stones in tour revenue for the period. Their show at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena, on 27th October 91, featuring both Carlos Santana and Gary Duncan on a brace of tracks, was, as-almost-ever, considered extraordinary by fans. Emotional is indeed the word here to describe this show; there is a voodoo to a great many of these songs in terms of their placement and interpretation - Sugar Magnolia to open, a just-ironic-enough Touch of Grey to close the first set. 2nd set is top notch; Gary Duncan's playing is much more prominent than Santana's in the extended Mona-jam, which evokes some great multi-dueling-guitar moments.

Amherst Dislodged (2005) is a collaboration between Tim Crowther, Steve Franklin, and Tony Marsh, which blends elements of jazz, improvisation, and experimental music. The album likely features a unique combination of sounds, with Crowther and Franklin’s instrumental contributions, along with Marsh’s work on drums or percussion. Given the nature of these musicians, the music would appeal to listeners who appreciate jazz, avant-garde, and free improvisation, where the emphasis is often on spontaneous expression and interaction between musicians.

Graphic is a 2005 album by the band Altered, an alternative rock group known for blending elements of post-punk, indie rock, and experimental sounds. The album showcases a more aggressive, raw sound with driving rhythms, angular guitar riffs, and atmospheric textures. Graphic is characterized by its energetic approach to alternative rock, with a focus on powerful instrumental arrangements and introspective lyrics.