Karen Tanaka’s Children of Light is a set of twenty-five piano pieces composed for children to perform. Its theme is animals in danger – because of climate change, persecution by poaching or other man-made changes to their habitat. These beguiling pieces appeared on various exam board syllabuses over the years and continue to do so (ABRSM Grade 6). Each animal depicted appeared on the 1996 IUCN Red List of threatened species.

Founded in 1998 at Pro Corda, Suffolk, the multi-award-winning Doric String Quartet describes recording Brittens quartets as a significant milestone: In our recording we have endeavoured to tread a line that brings out the humanity in these works but also recognises the need for distance and fragility. This is very personal and intimate music, yet also world-encompassing and timeless. The Quartet continues: Another feature of this recording is that Hélène Clément, our violist, is playing on Benjamin Brittens own viola. This instrument (on loan from the Britten-Pears Foundation) was made in 1843 in Milan by Francesco Guissani. It was previously owned by the composer Frank Bridge who gave it to Britten, as a departure gift when Britten and Pears set sail for the USA in 1939. ​

Here is the work of a genius who died at the age of twenty-six: Pergolesi's Stabat Mater is one of the miracles of eighteenth-century sacred music. Nourished by their experience of ‘setting in resonance’ early and contemporary repertories, Riccardo Minasi and the Hamburg musicians shed an astonishingly modern light on these moving pieces, in which the voices of Giulia Semenzato and Lucile Richardot intertwine in the most sublime of communions. The Stabat is echoed by Joan Rossell’s poignant Salve Regina, long attributed to Pergolesi himself.

The large collection of antique instruments at Les Siècles' command makes its recordings more than just speculative period exercises, but something approaching musical time travel. Led since 2003 by its founder, François-Xavier Roth, this singular French orchestra has given thrilling historically-informed recreations of the repertoire of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries on vintage instruments that were available to the musicians of the time, crafted by hand, and possessing the unique sonorities and tunings of different regions.

With his latest album, "BOATS" (2021), the Irish-American singer and songwriter experienced the most successful years of his solo career. It turned out to be a veritable collection of hits (five top-5 radio hits, multiple #1 international singles, gold and platinum in several countries, 250+ million streams), as well as arena tours and headline slots at major festivals in front of a total of 500,000 audiences. The lead single, "The One," offers a first impression of the upcoming album. Like a promise, it captures the widespread longing for stability and permanence in a constantly changing world. With this single, Michael Patrick Kelly has chosen a perspective on relationships that differs from most love songs. Michael Patrick Kelly: "There are endless songs about the beginning and end of a love affair. But few celebrate the love that endures through the ups and downs, that fights for each other. 'The One' is about a one-life stand. It's a process, and—as the lyrics say—'forever in the making.'" “TRACES” by Michael Patrick Kelly will be released on October 31, 2025 via Sony Music Germany.

Bat For Lashes is the creation of Natasha Khan, a Pakistan-born, Brighton based songwriter. Her concept for Fur And Gold was to make something that started at dusk and finished up in the glorious sunlight. That gives you an idea of what this ethereal, cinematic album sounds like. Natasha's soaring howls, whispers and joyous singing are the main focus here. As beguiling as Bjork, as stunning as Sinead O'Connor and as dramatic as Kate Bush, it is her voice that dominates. The often minimal backdrop of haunting strings, unusual percussive instruments and drum machines provides the perfect accompaniment. Mature gothic sounds for those willing to be whisked off to beautiful faraway lands.

Cookin’ On 3 Burners return with 100% certified heat. Cookin’ The Books is the long-awaited album from Australia’s undisputed kings of Hammond soul. It’s their first studio LP in six years - and it’s all fire: deep funk grooves, sweet soul, cinematic vibes, and stacked with heavyweight guest features. From the break-heavy title track to the bounce of “No Bread For You” and the introspective soul of “Phoenix,” this record covers serious ground without losing the groove. Featuring powerhouse vocalist Stella Angelico, alt-soul luminary Natalie Slade, wordsmith Mantra alongside heartfelt singer Jane Tyrrell, rising voice Wilson Blackley, and a lush string arrangement from Tamil Rogeon, the album strikes a perfect balance between grit and grace. Captured live to tape with vintage gear at Soul Messin’ Studios, Cookin’ The Books oozes warmth and analog soul — the real deal. Whether you’re crate-digging, needle-dropping, or just vibing out, this is modern funk with old-school heat.

"Johnny Come Home" is a song by British band Fine Young Cannibals, released as the first single from their debut album, Fine Young Cannibals (1985). It is similar to the style of many other of the band's hits, a mixture of rock and ska with Roland Gift's distinctive vocals, as well as a jazz-type trumpet solo. It was released in May 1985 by London Records and was one of the group's most popular hits. The song tells the gritty realistic story of a runaway youth, and alternates from the first-person narrative, explaining how his arrival in the big city has not turned out as he expected, to the view of the parents in the chorus, expressing their wish that he would come home.

Total of 72 tracks, approximately 6 hours and 22 minutes. Includes Mendelssohn: On Wings of Song (Gautier Capuçon/cello, Jérôme Duclos/piano), Chopin: Prelude Op.24-4 (Julian Lloyd Webber/cello, John Lenehan/piano), Saint-Saëns: The Carnival of the Animals - The Swan (Jacqueline du Pré/cello, Ossian Ellis/piano), and more.

Fred Frith, the living legend at the crossroads of rock and jazz, improvisation and composition, meets Brazilian drummer, singer, and composer Mariá Portugal. Mariá Portugal has been active in the Brazilian music scene for over 20 years, now lives in Berlin, and has strong connections to European improvised music. Her deep roots in the Brazilian singing/songwriting tradition, coupled with a keen interest in electronic music, improvisation, and its use in song composition, make her an artist who moves in diverse musical contexts. This duo is a stroke of luck, because if contemporary European music has produced a truly legendary and globally significant figure in that exciting area where all stylistic boundaries are called into question, it is probably the guitarist Fred Frith. Mariá Portugal and Fred Frith come from two different continents, generations, and musical worlds, yet they have a lot in common: this fascinating debut album proves that impressively.

Some of the most revered Guided by Voices albums are the ones where songwriter Robert Pollard is able to balance his proclivities for strangeness with his gifts for melody and hooks. The reconfiguration of GbV that's been responsible for record after record (usually at least two a year) in the 2010s and 2020s has often leaned more toward the strange side of things, with a high number of the many tunes they churn out exploring prog rock or experimental song structures. Thick Rich and Delicious, the band's second full-length of 2025, is the album GbV fans who miss the band's more tuneful, pop-friendly days have been waiting for. These 15 songs are primarily energetic power pop, rich with catchy melodies, high-spirited vocal harmonies, and the type of sticky choruses Pollard has used sparingly on the albums directly preceding this. Songs like "A Tribute to Beatle Bob" or "Lucy's World" are almost too straightforwardly melodic, with huge, happy major-key chord progressions and hummable tunes. The band rocks out on riffy selections like the instrumental "Ozark Ivanho" and the garage punk of "Replay," and there's some woozy Who-like experimentalism on "Mother John," but by and large, Thick Rich and Delicious is all about pop. It's powerful power pop, too, with the band tracking the entire album live, with cranked amps direct to analog tape. The nostalgic effect of a Guided by Voices record this melodic seems not to be lost on the band

Where to begin with OutKast's boundlessly funky, futuristic magnum opus? Sure, plenty of heads prefer its downhome predecessor Aquemini, but that's the good kid, m.A.A.d city to Stankonia's To Pimp a Butterfly. That is, one might let its freak flag completely loose, but the greatness of either isn't mutually exclusive. OutKast were already showing a willingness to get weird on ATLiens' remarkably sparse, nearly trip-hop hit "Elevators (Me & You)," and by 1998's even bigger "Rosa Parks," they were experimenting with harmonica and acoustic guitar. And those regal horns on "SpottieOttieDopalicious?" Beyoncé sampled them not once (the "Flawless" remix) but twice (Lemonade's climactic "All Night"). Those advances were nearly conventional compared to the whole libraries of genre and sound that Stankonia exploded into utopian widescreen; "B.O.B." alone set André 3000 and Big Boi's twistiest double-speed flows against drum 'n' bass, swampy guitar soloing and massed choirs chanting slogans like "power music, electric revival."

Power to the People is a box set by John Lennon and Yoko Ono released on 10 October 2025 through Mercury Records. The box showcase Lennon and Ono’s historic 1972 One to One concerts at Madison Square Garden, New York City The project received general favorable reviews, although it was criticized for the absence of the song "Woman Is the Nigger of the World",contained in the original live album Some Time in New York City. Commercially the box charted in severals internationals charts, including top-ten debut on German Album Chart.

Do Frank Zappa and John Cage really belong on the classical piano album? To anyone who might be harbouring doubts, the answer is an emphatic ‘yes’, especially when the pianist is Marc-André Hamelin, whose own Hexensabbat brings to a riotous conclusion a programme of music—and instruments, in the case of Cage’s prepared piano—which radically disrupts Western traditions.

In keeping with previous Lennon box sets, the ‘Evolution’ mixes of New York City track the development of each of its nine songs using demos, rehearsals, snatches of dialogue, and early takes. It’s a thrill to hear these songs take shape and to hear an unguarded and uncompromising Lennon lead the sessions. “I know we’re gonna end up with that clean, clean recorded sound which I hate,” he frets before tearing into a ferocious version of the title track. We hear ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ transform from an eerie home demo to a rollicking boogie, with some choice Lennon witticisms along the way – “Of course, anyone daft enough to decide to play saxophone deserves torturing” and, when attempting to chivy things on, “C’mon, I want to get on to that female lib song before McCartney gets on to that!”. Meanwhile, the studio sessions for ‘Luck Of The Irish’ show Lennon’s softer side as he coaches Ono through her vocal.