Hot on the heels of two successful albums (as leading member of Sonar w. David Torn), Swiss composer and guitarist Stephan Thelen presents his first named RareNoise release, World Dialogue. World Dialogue casts a light on Stephan Thelen's work as a contemporary classical composer. It features four works for String Quartet, composed over the last decade,performed by the Kronos Quartet and the Al Pari Quartet.'World Dialogue', 'Silesia' and 'Chaconne', composed between 2006 and 2018, were performed and recorded by the Al Pari Quartet in Berlin earlier this year. 'Circular Lines' was commissioned then performed in 2017 by the Kronos Quartet as part of their '50 For The Future: The KronosLearning Repertoire' series of commissions.

Throughout his life, from his very beginnings right up to the end, Telemann wrote for the basse de viole (as the French called it) and especially in chamber music. Of course, the viola da gamba also plays an important role in works intended for larger formations, such as concertos and orchestral suites, church cantatas and, lastly, oratorios. According to the custom of the time, Telemann also used the viol in funeral cantatas. Furthermore, he wrote for it as a solo instrument: for example, the Sonata in D major, TWV 40:1, recorded here, or sonatas for two viols or for viol and basso continuo. The present recording brings together various works with solo viol, selected from different periods of the masters output. Here one will find a double concerto for recorder, viol, strings and continuo, two solos with basso continuo, a sonata for solo viol and two quartets.

Lars Vogts new solo piano release is dedicated to the piano works of Leos Janacek (18541928), one of the most original voices among the 20th century composers. This album includes three of the composers most well-known and most extensive solo piano works. These works by Janacek are marked by deep melancholy and passion. They manifest the composer's rich inner world through a musical language that remains to be timeless. Lars Vogt has established himself as one of the leading musicians of his generation. Born in the German town of Düren in 1970, he first came to public attention when he won second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Piano Competition and has enjoyed a varied career for over twenty-five years.

For once, no re-release of an old record from the 70s but a more recent band. The Crabs, from the northern edge of the Black Forest in the German region of Swabia, were founded in 1986 by former members of the group Otto Rhombisch and played psychedelic with a slight New Wave or Gothic touch, which is recognizable especially in the singing. In spring 1994 they recorded a couple of songs which were intended to form the material for their first LP. But the project was left un-finished since in the summer of that year the band broke up. It would have been a pity to let the tapes rot away unused, and so they were in the end released on CD after all. But be careful - to those who are totally dedicated to the 70s it will probably sound too new. The tasteful psychedelic cover artwork was created by singer Lea Bayer.

Tripping the Live Fantastic is Paul McCartney's first official live album and his first release of concert material since Wings' 1976 Wings over America live package. It was released in 1990 as triple LP, double cassette and double CD. Tripping the Live Fantastic reached number 17 in the UK and number 26 in the US. A document of the huge success of The Paul McCartney World Tour, Tripping the Live Fantastic encompasses McCartney's entire musical career from his famed Beatles hits to his recent hit album, Flowers in the Dirt, while also including some unique covers. Interspersed throughout the package are occasional soundcheck recordings as well. This album spawned a few singles which contained live B-sides from this tour. These B-sides were live songs that were not featured on the live album, which made the singles collectors items.

There's no denying Australian heavy rock trio Wolfmother has been raised on rock – specifically, raised on '70s rock. Problem is, from all appearances on their eponymous debut, they made their journey into the past via the twin gateway drugs of the White Stripes and Queens of the Stone Age, and once they dug back to the original Zeppelin and Sabbath texts (stopping along the way for some Soundgarden discs and maybe, for lyrical inspiration, Yes and Rush), they indulged so much it screwed with their sense of aesthetics. They threw everything and anything together, not bothering with minor problems like how their frenzied retro-rock doesn't quite support songs with titles like "The White Unicorn" and "Where Eagles Have Been" – Zeppelin drew inspiration from J.R.R. Tolkien and Sabbath certainly sang about fairies and gnomes, but neither band sounded as precious, inarticulate, or confused as Wolfmother does here.

The Gipsy Kings' main strength is their consistency. Throughout their career, they have managed to craft an accessible, pop-oriented version of flamenco and gypsy music that also pushes boundaries. During it all, they recorded classy, satisfying albums like Compas. There's not much different about Compas, but since the album is so well made and enchanting, that isn't a curse; it's a blessing.

Michael Schenker has never been one to compromise, and his new album Don’t Sell Your Soul is proof that his fire still burns at full intensity. From his first days as a teenage prodigy with Scorpions and his era-defining run with UFO, Schenker set a standard for hard rock guitarists that few have ever matched. When he formed the Michael Schenker Group in 1979, it gave him the freedom to shape heavy music on his own terms, and decades later MSG remains the canvas for his vision.
Don’t Sell Your Soul arrives as the second part of a trilogy Schenker began with My Years With UFO, which celebrated his deep history with the band that helped launch him to worldwide acclaim. That album was followed by a triumphant tour, and now this next chapter finds him pushing forward with just as much force…

Reduced to a quartet for the most part, with Barry Adamson joining Nick Cave, Blixa Bargeld, Mick Harvey and Thomas Wydler on only a couple of tracks, the Bad Seeds turn from the interpretive triumph of Kicking Against the Pricks to another strong high, the mostly-original Your Funeral…My Trial. The one cover is a sharp, unsurprisingly dramatic version of Tim Rose's "Long Time Man." As for the rest of the album, Trial shows the Seeds working as, again, a remarkably accomplished and varied act, ever available and ready to explore a wide range of musics distilled into Cave's often dark, always passionate vision. Arguably Cave and company have by now so clearly established their overall style that Your Funeral…My Trial is much more a refinement of the past than anything else, but so good is their work that resistance is near impossible. If anything, the brooding power of the Seeds is more restrained than ever, suggesting destructive endings and overwhelming love without directly playing it.

Before they were Fleetwood Mac, they were John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. In 1967, before there was a Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood were John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. The four musicians were only together for three months, which makes it even more remarkable that a staunch fan from Holland was able to sneak a one channel reel to reel tape recorder into five London clubs and capture this exciting glimpse into music history. For almost fifty years these tapes have remained unheard until John recently got them and began restoring them with the technical assistance of Eric Corne of Forty Below Records. Corne adds "While the source recording was very rough and the final result is certainly not hi-fidelity, it does succeed in allowing us to hear how spectacular these performances are."