Suffolk-based rustic psych-rockers The Future Kings Of England offer on their fourth album the soundtrack for a creepy ghost story written in 1904 by MR James, in which a sceptical professor has his certainties rattled when he finds a Bronze Age whistle and with it summons up… who knows what? A ghost? Evil spirit? Teasingly, the written extracts never fully explain, which is all to the good. Save for a few brief lines in two tracks, it's entirely instrumental, the band skilfully blending the bucolic with the eerily industrial into a vivid series of doomscapes. They stray at times into boggy progginess, but at their best ("The Globe Inn", "Convinced Disbeliever") they have the steady, unhurried manner of Pink Floyd en route to some grand epiphany.

Empire is an obscure early '90's progressive rock band from Italy, that featured the duo formation Syndone (drummer Sburlati and keyboard player Rogani) and female singer Rosanna De Luca. They release so far a single album in 1994 at Vinyl Magic named Back to Knowledge. They taken their influences from legendary ELP, the keyboards are sometimes one at one with the british, but always keeping the sound modern, that save them from bing a total clone band. Most of the nine compositions sound fluen and modern with varied keyboards that contain obvious hints from Eddie Jobson and Keith Emerson. If you like bands ELP, Monolith, Cairo, and those who are more in driven keyboards arrangements this is a good listen.

Surf, Soul, Spy, Spaghetti Western - instrumental moods and 1 freaky film theme with vocals. Our third release is a 7-song EP with 4 originals and 3 cover songs, featuring "Midnight Confessions" from Tarantino's "Jackie Brown". The 2 rockin' surf originals are "You're Gonna Lose That Curl" and "(Please Don't) Dead End"- (that title comes from a scene at the end of Tarantino's "Death Proof"). Then there's the epic "Shaken Not Stirred", in 9/8 time no less, with a 4/4 swing interlude. We do a version of Brian Wilson's "Pet Sounds" with a nice guitar solo over the end and our version of Link Wray's "The Shadow Knows" is more moody than comic book style. That's drummer Tony on the big laughs. Finally, we threw in a song we wrote for Michael Carr's mystery film "The Key".

"Sweet or Mean," the new raw blues-rock EP written by the Detroit born renegade 'Eliza Neals'… Enter, producer Ted Horowitz aka "Popa Chubby" the incendiary blues-rocker, together celebrating their true love of rock-blues. For Ted to produce + arrange was natural after meeting him a few times and sitting in with his Smokin band causing a real combustion on stage. Eliza admits that the drama on these tunes is 100% authentic; because truth is strangely more entertaining than fiction. “Sweet or Mean” is rootsy blues-rock bliss with no gimmicks or tricks from the first heavenly note to the last guitar riff. Popa Chubby’s tone is reminiscent of ZZ Top, Santana and other seasoned vintage guitarists who know how to knock audiences out.

When Boz Scaggs signed with Virgin Records after spending at least 17 years with Columbia, listeners had no idea what to expect. Some Change proved to be a pleasant surprise. Instead of going out of his way to be as slick and commercial as possible or offering something contrived and robotic, the singer-turned-restaurant-owner let his better instincts win out and delivered a very honest and natural-sounding collection of pop, pop/rock, and soul-influenced pop. On songs ranging from the smooth "I'll Be the One" (which has a slightly Average White Band-ish appeal) and the haunting "Sierra" to the ominous "Follow That Man," there's no question that Scaggs is coming from the heart. Arguably, Some Change is his best album since 1976's Silk Degrees.

XL1 is the second solo album by Buzzcocks frontman Pete Shelley. It reached number 42 in the UK Albums Chart, remaining in that listing for four weeks. The single "Telephone Operator" charted at #66 in the UK Singles Chart, making it his biggest single release there.

"Partners in Crime" is an album by British American singer-songwriter and musician Rupert Holmes. The album was Holmes's most commercially successful record and includes all three of Holmes's solo Top 40 hits: "Him," "Answering Machine" and "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)." "Escape" was the Billboard #1 hit of December 1979 and January 1980; it was the only single to hold the #1 position in both years and in different decades. The album itself reached #33 on the Billboard Album Charts. Although "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" was released as a single on Infinity Records, "Him" was released on MCA Records. The Infinity catalog had been absorbed by MCA at the time the latter single was released.

The Communiqué Tour was a 1979 concert tour of Europe and North American by the British rock band Dire Straits, supporting their second album, Communiqué, released in June 1979. The tour started on 11 February 1979 in Rotterdam and consisted of 116 concerts in Europe and North America, ending on 21 December 1979 in London. In the United States, 51 concerts were sold out during 38 days. All of the concerts in Europe were sold out as well. The tour lineup included Mark Knopfler (guitar, vocals), David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass), and Pick Withers (drums).

Highly acclaimed Seattle indie-folk artist Noah Gundersen has announced the release of his highly personal fourth full-length record Lover.

Hailing from Iceland, Svanfridur were a four-piece who in the summer of 1972 recorded a single album, titled "What's Hidden There?". The album, recorded in London, can be considered one of the most interesting examples of heavy progressive rock mixed with influences from local folk music. Svanfridur's compositions feature complex vocal harmonies and an original, inventive use of violin and Moog synthesizers, courtesy of guest musician and arranger Sigurdur Johnsson.

A two-CD survey of Winter's recordings for Columbia between 1969 and 1979, the era of his greatest commercial success. This collects many of his most popular tracks, though it doesn't do much to argue a case for artistic diversity. Includes two otherwise unavailable songs: an alternate take of "30 Days," and a previously unreleased 1973 cover of Robert Johnson's "Come on in My Kitchen."

Although she had earned worldwide fame in 1978 with "It's a Heartache," Bonnie Tyler had trouble building on that success looked as if she were doomed to one-hit wonder status by the early 1980s. However, she returned to prominence in 1983 with Faster Than Speed of the Night, a bombastic opus that took her gift for heartbroken balladry to epic heights. The key to the this album's success is the production and writing chops of Jim Steinman. He applies the same gothic operatic touch that made his work with Meat Loaf so captivating (and successful), wrapping the songs in atmospheric, all-stops-out arrangements that blend drama and power chords in equal measure. The combination of Steinman's cinematic production style with Tyler's smoky vocals made Faster Than the Speed of Night her most successful album. It also spawned a huge hit single in "Total Eclipse of the Heart," an epic ballad about longing for a lost love that starts as a quiet piano-led piece and builds into a gargantuan production built on an equal balance of power chords and thick choral vocals.

This mid period release by Norway's national progressive folk treasure was the first to include English vocals, including a few welcome guest spots by the bell-like Heidi Drengsrud Jahren. Moreover, it's the only entry in their discography with lighthearted, even humorous moments, while at the same time pushing the folk aspects to the fore. As a result, this is their most diverse effort, occupying new territories while remaining steadfast to their singular spirit and drive.

Firon is the first studio album by the heavy metal band Iceburn. It released in 1992 on Victory Records. Recorded at Sam Foster's in June-September of 1991. Douglas Wright actually played bass on this recording. Within the lyrics for "Winter", some pieces by classical composer Antonio Vivaldi are credited: "I intro from Vivaldi's 1'inverno (winter) THEME 1 II coldnessensues", "III scherzo and trio IV warmthscape", and "THEME 2 also from Vivaldi V reendtro". Track 11 is a bonus track that is not on the vinyl, only on the cd version.

It's tempting to call District Line a return to form for Bob Mould – tempting, but not quite accurate. Mould might have started to wander into the electronic wilderness after his 1998's The Last Dog and Pony Show, a self-conscious farewell to rock & roll, but he revived his roaring guitars on 2005's Body of Song, so calling District Line a return to rock isn't right, even if its release on the maverick label Anti- suggests that this album may hark back to his Hüsker Dü years. Quite the contrary, actually: while there are plenty of guitars and molten pop hooks, Mould has yet to shake his inexplicable fixation on vocoders, and "Shelter Me" is a straight-up disco track, elements that he picked up in the years since Sugar's disbandment. Such exploration is at the heart of Mould's restless artistic spirit, a restlessness he's possessed since Hüsker – never forget that Zen Arcade was a concept album – but what's striking about District Line is that Mould sounds calmer here, even relaxed. That's not to say that he sounds complacent or that the passion has drained from his music, but for the first time he's able to mesh all his disparate musical interests into one cohesive album, one that sounds diverse yet unified.