Singer and oud player Dhafer Youssef is one of the most appealing stars of world music, yet his music still resists categorisation within that vague genre. Last year we heard him in a "supergroup" with Omar Sosa and Anga Diaz, but he sounds more comfortable accompanied by the talented crop of Norwegian musicians loosely associated with "nu-jazz". This cool style of playing, loose-limbed and hard-edged, provides the perfect backdrop to the Mediterranean warmth of Youssef's compositions. The most significant collaborator is producer-guitarist Eivind Aarset, who supplies backdrops of wide-ranging style and density, while remaining empathetic to Youssef's musical personality. Youssef can be deep, light-hearted, complex, funky and achingly romantic, sometimes all within one song. The album's pace is leisurely, full of atmosphere, groove and great playing, but rarely self-indulgent; you never forget whose album it is. By taking the most positive aspects of nu-jazz, Aarset and Youssef have forged a thrilling new sound that could make Divine Shadows a crossover hit.

Whitesnake were lumped into the "hair metal" explosion of the 1980s, but they were a classier, more classic rock band than most of their peers. So the songs that populate this hits collection hold up better than the work of many of that era's MTV-boosted groups. Vocalist David Coverdale took flack for sounding like Robert Plant, but his booming, confident voice is more temperate than the Zep frontman's caterwaul. From roaring epics such as "Still of the Night" and "Here I Go Again" to the blatant, sexy "Slide It In" to the memorable power ballad "Love Ain't No Stranger," the expected hits from the band's commercial heyday are included in this comprehensive CD, which skips over Whitesnake's several hitless discs of the '70s. Three decent unreleased songs fill out this 14-cut collection, which, much like the band itself, is solid and timeless.

Master and pupil? A youthful venture on the part of the composer of Scheherazade while naval officer, this symphony of Rimsky-Korsakov deploys fine rhetoric worthy of Haydn’s ‘military’ model incorporating contemporary material. His ‘cadet’ applies himself studiously - Stravinsky’s approach is more casual although the da capo appear in their entirety. A mere ad libitum experiment, his Scherzo fantastique is disappointingly lacking in metronomic rigour but not in inventivity. These two pieces appear together for the first time in over a century and are showcased with consummate skill.

Emil Gilels was renowned for playing Beethoven, like his predecessors Artur Schnabel, Wilhelm Backhaus and Rudolf Serkin. He made his name in his native land as promoter of Russian music - that of Rachmaninov, of course (still revered despite his exile in America), Prokofiev, the prodigal son harshly punished on his return to the Soviet Union and Kabalevsky, the epitome of professionalism and popular music. Here you can enjoy a unique triptych, which studiedly sheers away from Svjastoslav Richter’s repertoire.

Bohemian composer, remarkable violinist, Josef Mysliveček (1737-1781) was born close to Prague. Son of a miller, destined to follow the destiny of his father, it is nevertheless towards music that he turns, trained in his native town and encouraged by the enthusiastic reception of his first symphonies. He obtained a scholarship to Venice and migrated to Italy where his fame grew (he was nicknamed Il divino Boemo - The divine Czech), notably thanks to the success of his first opera, Semiramide, in 1766.

Yann Tiersen, a star in his homeland of France, is best known to international audiences for his epic film soundtracks for Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie and Wolfgang Becker's Good Bye Lenin! A multi-instrumentalist composer of great whimsy and melancholy, Tiersen borrows from French folk music, chanson, musette waltz and street music, as well as rock, avant-garde, and classical and minimalist influences, and is revered for his moving performances.
On Tour is a live album by Yann Tiersen. It was originally released in 2006 and features songs from Tiersen's past albums as well as some previously unreleased compositions.

Guitar virtuoso Tim Sparks continues to explore music of the Jewish diaspora with Tanz, his second recording for John Zorn's Tzadik label. As opposed to Neshamah, which was strictly solo guitar, Sparks is aided this time by bassist Greg Cohen and percussionist Cyro Baptista. Sparks comes from a classical guitar background more than a fingerpicking folky background, and his virtuosic technique is incredible, but always in service to the music, not merely technique. Cohen's experience as bassist for Masada serves him well here, negotiating some odd time signatures with ease. Cyro Baptista's Brazilian-flavored percussion adds a Latin lilt to the proceedings on many cuts. There are several "traditional klezmer" tunes, written by Naftule Brandwein, but also songs from other areas of the Jewish music tradition…

Voice Mail continues John Wetton's career path over the preceding 15 years - there's more pop than prog in his prog pop, in other words. Basically indistinguishable from a late-period Asia album, the ten tracks on Voice Mail were mostly co-written by Wetton and keyboardist Bob Marlette; the combination of their less-than-memorable melodies and undistinguished lyrics with Ron Nevison's smooth-as-glass production makes Voice Mail an almost entirely forgettable album with little to recommend it for anyone but the most devoted members of Wetton's cult following. Only the opening "Right Where I Wanted to Be" and the spirited "Space and Time" feature particularly strong choruses, but both sound more like Chris de Burgh or Toto than the formerly much more interesting John Wetton.

Honey may have had the most controversial LP cover of 1975. Its erotic cover, which depicted a nude model covered in honey, was protested by feminists when it was alleged that the model had become stuck to the floor during the photo shoot. Some retailers, in fact, refused to carry it. All the controversy certainly didn't hurt the album commercially. In 1975, the Ohio Players were one of R&B's most successful acts, and were inescapable for anyone who listened to R&B/Soul radio at the time. The album kept the band's commercial momentum going thanks to such hard-driving funk as "Love Rollercoaster" (a song that was sampled to death by rappers in the '80s and '90s and covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1996), "Fopp," and the playfully jazz-influenced hit "Sweet Sticky Thing"…