2015 five CD set. Creation Records was one of the most important, vital independent labels of the 80s and 90s, born in the post-punk era and progressing to define the Britpop generation. Creation Artifact is the first comprehensive box set devoted to the early years of Creation Records. The label was born from a hip London club night and won the plaudits with a string of limited edition 7" singles and a handful of albums - including the acclaimed debut 'Upside Down' by the Jesus & Mary Chain. During this period 1983-1985, the label also issued vinyl by Primal Scream (their debut 45), The Pastels, The Bodines, The Loft, The Membranes, The Jasmine Minks et al. Housed in a lavish 'book' set, Creation Artifact pays tribute to that seminal period with two discs comprising early A's and B's, a third CD of rarities and album tracks, another comprising previously unissued demos and a fifth disc of rare BBC sessions. Awash with rare memorabilia, a 12,000-word essay from journalist Neil Taylor, band biographies, personal reminiscences and numerous archive finds, Creation Artifact is the ultimate tribute to the dawn of Creation Records 1983-1985!

The musical genre known as World Music provides a characteristic sound from many different countries that reflects the diverse cultures and rituals of peoples around the world. World Music Trilogy is an unforgettable voyage around the globe. The three CD's provide classics from artists such as Camarón De La Isla, Atahualpa Yupanqui, Edith Piaf, Robert Johnson, Joao Gilberto, Compay Segundo and Jaime Torres. The sounds of folklore are complimented by new trends in World Music in the hands of artists such as Buika, Nitin Sawhney, Caetano Veloso, Papa Hamilton and Dissidenten. World Music Trilogy is a trip around the world on three CDs.

Metallica is continuing to release remasters of their catalog, with the latest being the 5x-platinum Load, available everywhere on June 13th. Produced by Bob Rock, Load is the follow-up to Metallica, the best-selling album of the Soundscan era. Load contains fan favorites including “Until It Sleeps,” “Hero of the Day,” “King Nothing,” and, for the first time ever, the original extended version of “The Outlaw Torn,” which was originally edited due to manufacturing limits.
The 3CD Expanded Edition includes 41 tracks across 3 CDs of the newly remastered album, previously unreleased, demos, rough mixes, & live tracks from their worldwide tour. The CDs are housed in a digipak with an embossed cover and includes a 36-page booklet.

No matter which edition one hears of the Great Jazz Trio, leader Hank Jones can be counted upon to deliver the goods. This live LP, originally recorded for the Japanese label East Wind and briefly available in the U.S. on Inner City prior to its premature demise, showcases excerpts from two evenings at the Village Vanguard. On this occasion, Jones is ably accompanied by Ron Carter and Tony Williams, so it is no surprise the fireworks begin right away with an exciting interpretation of Charlie Parker's "Moose the Mooche." Jones immediately cools the crowd with an expressive arrangement of John Coltrane's beautiful ballad "Naima." The pianist previously recorded Claus Ogerman's "Favors" two years earlier for his LP Hanky Panky, but this extended version proves to be an even better post-bop vehicle. Ron Carter's bluesy "12+12" proves to be a suitable closing number for this rewarding live date.

From the fertile San Francisco ballroom scene, the Sopwith Camel emerged in 1966 with a refreshingly melodic spin on the overamplified electric kool-aid coming from their psychedelic peers the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Quicksilver Messenger Service. The band's name was almost snatched by Bay Area concert impresario Chet Helms, who was looking for a catchy moniker to promote the new blues-based group being fronted by Janis Joplin and eventually settled on Big Brother & the Holding Company. Unfortunately, the band has suffered the double indignation of either being cast in the same lot as its trippy hippie counterparts or as sunshine pop lightweights – neither of which is wholly accurate. Their one hit - the title track, "Hello, Hello" - did reach the Top Ten…

Produced by the legendary T Bone Burnett, 'We Walk This Road' continues the Sacred Steel tradition for which Robert Randolph has earned wide praise, including the New York Times, which applauds 'his rip-roaring virtuosity and his gift for making his instrument sing without a word.' Throughout the recording of 'We Walk This Road,' Randolph and Burnett worked closely together as archivists, discovering songs-decade by decade-from the 20th century American music canon. The songs they uncovered, ranging from blues and rock to field recordings and gospel, serve as the inspiration for the 11 songs on 'We Walk This Road.' Recorded at the Village Recorders and Electro Magnetic Studio, the album includes 'If I Had My Way' (featuring Ben Harper), 'Salvation' (featuring Leon Russell), and reinterpretations of Prince's 'Walk Don't Walk,' Bob Dylan's 'Shot Of Love,' (featuring Jim Keltner, who played drums on the original version) and John Lennon's 'I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama' (featuring Doyle Bramhall II).

After parting ways with Elektra Records, Lonnie Mack left L.A. and returned home to Indiana, quickly passing into anonymity. For most of the 1970s he was heard of little, his most notable activities being an obscure bluegrass album recorded with Rusty York in 1973, and serving as lead guitarist for Dobie Gray throughout 1974. In 1977 he was given a new record contract with Capitol Records, and released his first solo album in six years - Home At Last. Like its predecessor back in 1971, the brilliant The Hills Of Indiana, it was a laid-back rootsy affair, eschewing electric guitar flash for more mellow acoustic textures and a heavy dose of country (with pedal steel, mandolin, banjo, and fiddle). It remains one of his most obscure albums today, only because he is best known as a rock guitarist, but Home At Last showed him to be capable of producing some brilliant, soulful country-rock.

Buckcherry's follow-up to their tenth album 'Vol. 10' (which made its mark across ten Official Charts listings, including a #4 spot in the UK Rock and Metal Album chart and #6 in the UK Independent Album chart), 'Roar Like Thunder', saw the band return to Sienna Recording Studios in Nashville with long-time writing collaborator and renowned producer Marti Frederiksen [Aerosmith, Mötley Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne] to record the album along with Marti's son Evan Frederiksen. The two-time GRAMMY-nominated band have created an album that's bursting at the seams with lightning-hot rock'n'roll. From the the horn-swelling swagger of “I Go Boom” and the honey-dripping riffs of “Blackout”, to the AC/DC stomp of “Come On” and the frantic runaway train rhythm of the title track, 'Roar Like Thunder' sees a band that bring live rock'n'roll to the stage more days a year than the sun is seen in Britain and set that energy off like a bottle rocket in the studio.

Todd Rundgren considered 1966 the beginning of his professional musical career, largely because the Nazz formed around that time. As a celebration, he recorded Faithful. Presumably, Faithful celebrates the past and the future by juxtaposing a side of original pop material with a side of covers. Actually, "covers" isn't accurate – the six oldies that comprise the entirety of side one are re-creations, with Rundgren "faithfully" replicating the sound and feel of the Yardbirds ("Happenings Ten Years Time Ago"), Bob Dylan ("Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine"), Jimi Hendrix ("If Six Was Nine"), the Beach Boys ("Good Vibrations") and the Beatles "("Rain," "Strawberry Fields Forever"). All of this is entertaining, to a certain extent, especially since it's remarkable how close Rundgren comes to duplicating the very feel of the originals.

Since the bulk of Jim Croce's discography consists of compilations that shuffle "You Don't Mess Around with Jim," "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," "Operator," "Time in a Bottle," and "I Got a Name" in a seemingly endless series of permutations, it's easy to be suspicious of another collection, particularly one bearing the nondescript title Classic Hits. But Classic Hits is from Rhino Records, not a budget label like Disky, and they have put together the first serious Croce hits compilation since 1992's double-disc The 50th Anniversary Collection. That collection, while comprehensive, had limited appeal since only hardcore fans need 49 Croce songs in one compilation, so this is the first noteworthy single-disc compilation since the first Croce hits album, the 1974 LP Photographs & Memories. Every one of the 14 songs on that album is here, but the "Classic Hits" billing doesn't mean all of his charting singles are here – posthumous minor hit "Chain Gang Medley" is absent.

Estonian composer Helena Tulve (born 1972) is one of the brightest musical lights to emerge around the turn of the millennium. The first collection of her work was a remarkable debut, and its centerpiece, the massive Sula, deserves to be counted among the most monumental and original orchestral works of the first decade of the 21st century. While none of the pieces on this album quite match the impact of that piece, they each reveal a very fine musical intelligence and imagination and an ability to evoke a sense of the unpredictable, primordial processes of nature, particularly in frozen and desolate landscapes. Her works unfold with an organic logic that defies easy analysis but that feels inexorable and true. Each of these pieces lasts about 10 minutes. À travers, for chamber ensemble, and abysses, for flutes and chamber ensemble, do not use large forces, but both conjure up a sense of immense space, and like Sula, sound very, very cold. Much the same is true of Lijnen, which adds voice to the ensemble with aphoristic texts by Belgian poet Roland Jooris that confirm the tone of nature's icy and impersonal power that is evident in the music.

If you view The Very Best of Yes as a singles sampler, not an attempt to offer a thorough overview of Yes' doggedly album-oriented career, this 11-track collection is actually quite successful, offering the bulk of the band's best-known songs, from "I've Seen All Good People," "Roundabout," and "Long Distance Runaround" to "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and "Leave It." It's sequenced chronologically, too, which gives some sense of the band's development. Therefore, for the curious, this offers a nice snapshot of what Yes did throughout the '70s and into the mid-'80s.

A monster album, the one that put them back in the spotlight and signaled that Norman Whitfield had saved the day. Damon Harris had replaced Eddie Kendricks, and there were many doubters convinced the band was finished. Instead, Whitfield revitalized them via the majestic single, "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone." Despite its length, Whitfield's decision to open with an extensive, multi-layered musical suite and tease listeners was a master stroke. By the time Dennis Edwards' voice came rushing in, no one would dare turn it off. The single, as well as "Law of the Land" and others, ended the funeral arrangements that had been prepared for the Temptations. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Slow Dazzle was the fifth album and the second for Island Records by former Velvet Underground member John Cale, released in 1975. The cover photography was by Keith Morris. It is also the second consecutive album to feature both Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music.

Issue 4 of the best summer chill hits from "Maretimo Chill Radio". Again finely selected by Michael Maretimo. Wave noise on, worries off. Enjoy the summer!