The air on Mt. Olympus must have been something like that in Berlin’s Jesus-Christus-Kirche when, in September 1969, the threesome of Richter, Oistrakh and Rostropovich joined Herbert von Karajan for this majestic recording of Beethoven’s underrated Triple Concerto. That there could have been such a meeting of the minds in this gathering of greats is difficult to believe, until one remembers that the three soloists were frequent collaborators who all spoke the same musical language, and after years in the trenches knew each other and their conductor very well. As one would expect, the solo work of the three Russians is brilliant and deeply musical. But just as delightful is the way they adjust from solo to ensemble roles and play together, with perfect unanimity, in the duet and trio passages. Karajan and the Berliners provide a monumental accompaniment, weighty, powerful, and rich in tone. The recording, one of the best from EMI in this venue, has been remastered in exemplary fashion and is impressively detailed and vivid.

Although Jane's Addiction's 1987 self-titled debut was an intriguing release (few alternative bands at the time had the courage to mix modern rock, prog rock, and heavy metal together), it paled in comparison to their now classic major-label release one year later, Nothing's Shocking. Produced by Dave Jerden and Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell, the album was more focused and packed more of a sonic wallop than its predecessor; the fiery performances often create an amazing sense that it could all fall apart at any second, creating a fantastic musical tension. Such tracks as "Up the Beach," "Ocean Size," and one of alt-rock's greatest anthems, "Mountain Song," contain the spaciousness created by the band's two biggest influences, Led Zeppelin and the Cure…

B.B. King was the most successful and celebrated blues artist of his generation, a musician who came from humble roots in Mississippi and ended up taking his music to some of the most prestigious venues on Earth, giving the blues a level of respect and acceptance it had never enjoyed before. While King scored his first hits in the early '50s, it was in the mid-'60s that he first crossed over to the pop audience, and he cut his signature hit, "The Thrill Is Gone," in 1969. His Definitive Greatest Hits is a two-disc collection that brings together some of the best and most popular sides King recorded from the '60s onward, including "I Like to Live the Love," "Why I Sing the Blues," "Every Day I Have the Blues," "Into the Night," "My Lucille," "The Thrill Is Gone," and many more. The set also includes guest appearances by Robert Cray, Bobby Blue Bland, Gary Moore, and U2.

"Sweet Honey Wine" lives up to its title, it begins cool and melodic and makes you wish you were sipping piña coladas on an island. "I Need Your Love" opens softly before revving up, only to be drop kicked by a wimpish male vocal. Smith achieves a Latin feel on "What's Done Is Done," but once again an insipid vocal and weak lyrics render it unplayable; a shame because there's a striking guitar solo. Lonnie gets back on track with "Do It" - it isn't jazz, but it's a decent groove underscored by an incessant rhythm guitar and a spirited organ solo. "Journey to Within" is like the title implies, dark and moody, music to stroll graveyards by. You would expect a three-headed monster to jump out your speaker. It settles into a sweet petulant groove spearheaded by a tenor sax solo and Smith's deep, spacey keyboarding on the black keys. The last cut, "My Latin Sky," is light and bouncy, and the most traditional jazz offering.

The Roland Kovac New Set released several instrumental LPs on the Selected Sound label from Hamburg, the second and third of which, "The master said" (1971) and "Love that" (1972), are good progressive rock with a clear emphasis on jazz. The line-up on "The master said" consisted of top musicians: Master Roland Kovac himself had obtained his doctorate in music as early as 1952 and written numerous classical works and soundtracks. Guitarist Siegfried Schwab had just become famous at that time by working with Et Cetera and other groups and shows his brilliance on this LP with his fuzz guitar. Drummer Charly Antolini ("Knock out") had already been in business for many years and is still first choice on the jazz scene today. The fourth member was Franz Löffler on bass, who had already released several guitar LPs in the 1960s.

Featuring Ultravox, Duran Duran, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Devo, Yello, Peter Baumann, Richard Bone, Japan and many others.
Following 2020’s ‘Musik Music Musique’ set, we present the sequel, this time looking at the electronic pop scene as it evolved from curio and novelty into a major movement and began to dominate the airwaves. Featuring a plethora of acts who would quickly become household names (many of which endure today) and exploring the wide variety of directions electronic instruments took both the mainstream and independent music in. ‘Musik Music Musique 2.0’ embraces both the pure pop aesthetic of a new generation of aspirational, defiantly polished artists and those who embraced electronic music in the aftermath of the post-punk explosion…

Emboldened by the enthusiastic response to the muted Nothing Like the Sun and reeling from the loss of his parents, Sting constructed The Soul Cages as a hushed mediation on mortality, loss, grief, and father/son relationships (the album is dedicated, in part, to his father; its predecessor was dedicated to his mother). Using the same basic band as Nothing Like the Sun, the album has the same supple, luxurious tone, stretching out leisurely over nine tracks, almost all of them layered mid-tempo tunes (the exception being grinding guitars of the title track).

Beautiful Scars was born as a full-album concept during our European tour, inspired by the Japanese art of Kintsugi - the philosophy that we become more beautiful because we were broken. What began as an artistic vision soon became a lived experience, as Limberlost found itself shattered and rebuilt, transformed by the very message we set out to create. The journey begins with "Alien," a song capturing the weight of dysphoria and disconnection. "Playing Games" unleashes the aggression we all battle inside.