Cieli di Toscana (Tuscan Skies) is Andrea Bocelli's eighth studio album, released in 2001. Cieli di Toscana sold millions of copies in a few weeks after its release, and quickly become the biggest selling album in the world in 2001, No. 1 on the CNN Worldbeat Global Album Chart. In the United States, the album peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 chart, with 85,000 units sold in its first week, and blew through 177,000 copies over Christmas week of 2001, Bocelli's best sales week in America, at the time. That record stood for the following 8 years, until My Christmas, Bocelli's first Holiday album, was released in late 2009 and achieved better sales weeks. The album topped the charts in Sweden and the Netherlands, and reached the top 3 in at least 8 other countries, including the UK, where it spent two weeks at No. 3 on the albums chart, Bocelli's highest chart position in the country to date, and the highest chart position ever for a foreign-language pop album.

The British singer-songwriter Sam Brown became famous with solo albums such as the unforgettable ,STOP' and recordings and gigs with Pink Floyd, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Jon Lord, Jools Holland and many many more. Together with the British singer Sam Brown the small but fine label Valle Venia has created into being a quite special project. Fragile is the sixth album by Sam Brown and is the eighth CD produced by Valle Venia, a label which combines music, art and science. It was released in 2002. Fragile is an album to dive into. It connects Sams sensory voice with different sound constellations under the most melodic aspect. Cello, piano, cembalo, loops, violins and percussion evoke the complete emotion spectrum of her voice. With its very special and unique instrumental constellation, deep lyrics and melancholy sounds, "Fragile" has no expiration date. Strongly recommended!

Chess Blues is a superlative four-CD box set featuring important tracks by all the main stars of the label (Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson), as well as much previously unreleased material. A well-done retrospective of Chicago blues in its heyday, as recorded by America's greatest blues label, Chess.

Fresh from his 1991 self-titled debut, Seal followed with another self-titled release. And true to form, it's another stunning work, although it becomes clear that a musical maturation has taken place. Produced by ex-Buggles frontman Trevor Horn (Pet Shop Boys, ABC, Yes, Frankie Goes to Hollywood), Seal is far more enchanting than his debut. True, Seal is a bit too relaxed at times, but aside from that criticism, the record is lush with harmonies and over-the-top melodies. "Don't Cry" flows with the luxuriant vibes of a hushed vocal and a bellowing string arrangement.

Marc Craig Cohn is an American folk rock singer-songwriter and musician. He won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1992. Cohn is best known for the song "Walking in Memphis" from his eponymous 1991 album; the song, which was a Top 40 hit, has been described as "an iconic part of the Great American Songbook. In early 1991, an Ohio-bred songwriter with a soulful voice and folk-infused piano pop sound emerged seemingly out of nowhere with "Walking in Memphis," a heartfelt tribute to the land of the Delta blues that climbed to number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned him three Grammy nominations, one of which he won.

While they never scored major commercial success in either the United States or the United Kingdom, the Creation inspired a cult following during their original 1966-1967 run that continues to grow with the passage of time, and with good reason. The Creation's pre-psychedelic fusion of mod style and freakbeat sound was intriguing enough, but the real key to their music was the guitar work of Eddie Phillips, who combined forceful, elemental picking with feedback and the use of a violin bow (years before Jimmy Page embraced the idea) that allowed him to conjure singular sounds from his axe. Combine that with the inspired crash-and-bash of bassist Bob Garner and drummer Jack Jones, and the soulful passion of vocalist Kenny Pickett, and the Creation produced a sound that was second only to the Who for sheer power and inventiveness during their brief, impressive heyday…

In 1969, the band performed at the jazz festival (actually called the New Jazz Meeting) in Altena (Sauerland). The festival organizer, dentist Heinz Bonsack, had almost all of the festival's performances, which not only featured Xhol Caravan, recorded directly from the mixing console, in astonishingly good quality. Only the vocals on the Freedom Opera sound slightly overdriven. The recordings resurfaced only a few years ago and, as far as they concerned Xhol Caravan, were sent to the producers of this CD (Garden of Delights). The producers then had the problem of creating a CD from more than two hours of concert time that would convey a representative cross-section of Xhol Caravan's music at that time. They succeeded quite successfully.

A record as fierce and blunt as its title portends, Who Is This Bitch, Anyway? vaults Marlena Shaw into a brave new world of feminism and funk, updating the sophisticated soul-jazz approach of her previous records to explore a fast-changing musical, political, and sexual landscape. Opening with "You, Me and Ethel," a hilarious satire of the singles bar culture, the album dissects modern romance with uncommon insight and candor, addressing lust ("Feel Like Makin' Love") and loss ("You Been Away Too Long") without pulling any punches. The music is similarly direct and progressive, running the gamut from luminous soul to scorching funk grooves. Not only Shaw's best-selling Blue Note release, Who Is This Bitch, Anyway? represents her creative apex as well.

Jon Hopkins is the creator and curator of sonic witchcraft. A musician skilled enough to create melodies that evoke images in the mind’s eye is a rare thing indeed, but to fully transport a listener’s consciousness into a dark, mystical dimension of other is nothing short of genius; borderline black magic. The audio warlock who conjures up these tangible fabrics of parallel lands brings forth his Midas touch in the score for independent low budget feature length horror Monsters. And if the film, for some, smacks somewhat of cheese, Hopkins’ soundtrack does not. Instead it draws listeners (and viewers) in as it does into an enhanced and lucid existence, opening portals into alternate worlds, stirring hearts and very souls…