On his second solo album, Barrett was joined by Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley and Pink Floyd members Rick Wright (organ) and David Gilmour (guitar). Gilmour and Wright acted as producers as well. Instrumentally, the result is a bit fuller and smoother than the first album, although it's since been revealed that Gilmour and Wright embellished these songs as best they could without much involvement from Barrett, who was often unable or unwilling to perfect his performance. The songs, however, are just as fractured as on his debut, if not more so. "Baby Lemonade," "Gigolo Aunt," and the nursery rhyming "Effervescing Elephant" rank among his peppiest and best-loved tunes. Elsewhere, the tone is darker and more meandering. It was regarded as something of a charming but unfocused throwaway at the time of its release, but Barrett's singularly whimsical and unsettling vision holds up well.

This is a specially priced, two-CDs-for-the-price-of-one photo-cube set, loaded with great stuff from Charlie Musselwhite, Koko Taylor, Lonnie Brooks, Johnny Winter, Billy Boy Arnold, Lonnie Mack, and a host of others who have trotted their wares on the label over the years. Besides giving the novice one great introduction to the label (as the music runs from traditional to modern), the big bonus here is a treasure trove of previously unissued tracks from Roy Buchanan (a chaotic version of Link Wray's "Jack the Ripper"); Floyd Dixon (a recut of his Blues Brothers-approved hit "Hey Bartender"); Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland in a marvelous outtake from the Showdown! album ("Something to Remember You By"); and the band that started it all, Hound Dog Taylor & the Houserockers, with a crazed version of Elmore James' "Look on Yonder's Wall," as sloppy as it is cool.

In the liner notes to this album, Stan Getz comments about how producer Herb Alpert showed him aspects of recording he had never experienced before. In this case, it's how to over-produce without overwhelming a lead soloist, as Alpert loads up this date with synthesizer players, electric instruments, and effects as a backdrop for the ultra-cool tenor of Getz. While not going overboard, it would have been nice to hear this music without the caramel-thick arrangements, leaving just Getz and a rhythm section to play sans the unnecessary sugarcoating. Initially released about a year before Getz passed away, the end result is a lazy and far too sweet group of pieces that muck up romance in a smothering fashion. Where string arrangements can sound beautiful, the sleepy synths on "Waltz for Stan" and echoplexed sax during "Madrugada" and especially the nine-minute ambling "Midnight Ride"…

The 40th Anniversary edition of Jethro Tull’s Minstrel In The Gallery. Original album plus seven bonus tracks (six previously unreleased) and all to stereo by Steven Wilson. The album has been expanded to include the b-side Summerday Sands, several studio outtakes, and alternate session material recorded for a BBC broadcast. The second disc features a live recording of Jethro Tull performing at the Olympia in Paris on July 5, 1975, a few months prior to the release of Minstrel In The Gallery. During the show, the band played songs from several of its albums, including War Child and Aqualung, as well as an early performance of Minstrel In The Gallery.
Minstrel in the Gallery was Tull's most artistically successful and elaborately produced album since Thick as a Brick and harked back to that album with the inclusion of a 17-minute extended piece ("Baker Street Muse")…

With this album from Thomas Köhler and Frank Rothe you get, what you can expect - and a little more. They wanted to "Look forward" and they did. One track with a more complex arrangement, a track in Berlin school style at his best, some sounds maybe coming thru a prisma and an energetic final, this is how the artists see their own album. Journey for more than an hour through epic soundscapes and chilling sequences.

The aim was to do for country what Saturday Night Fever did for disco. The result was that bars from Kona to Kalamazoo suddenly had mechanical bulls, and slickers walking around in cowboy hats. You might also pinpoint this as the moment in time when "country" music suddenly went cosmopolitan, paving the way for Garth Brooks. Johnny Lee's "Lookin' for Love" was one of the decade's biggest singles, and this album briefly made a star of Mickey Gilley (whose Texas club provided a home for that alpha bull). Fans of Bob Seger, Jimmy Buffet, the Eagles, Dan Fogelberg, and Bonnie Raitt may want this collection for the tunes they lack elsewhere. And it sure recalls an era. But please don't call it "country." –Bill Holdship

Founded by Frank Bornemann at the end of the 1960s, ELOY has released a total of 20 studio albums. Their breakthrough came in the mid-seventies, mostly with spectacular concept albums, which sold more and more worldwide. The breakthrough for ELOY came in the mid-seventies, mostly with spectacular concept albums that were sold worldwide, increasingly. This was not only rewarded with numerous high chart positions in Germany, honored with many awards but also brought Eloy a lot of international attention and a considerable fan base, which still exists and is constantly growing.When a fan club recently came up with the idea of bundling their own favorites from the band's extensive repertoire and producing their own compilations, we had the idea of offering this officially and releasing ELOY's highlights from different eras of the band's history on CD. We had Frank Bornemann and sound engineer Benjamin Schäfer edit the sound in such a way that they fit together perfectly and offer the listener a very individual listening experience. This is how Hidden Treasures came into being, offering ELOY fans a sound and song combination that has never been heard before.

Best of The Runaways live at The Agora, Cleveland, OH, USA, July 19, 1976."

Newly released live album featuring a collection of performances recorded during his 1993 concert in California.

Pianiste de jazz qui fit ses débuts aux côtés de Boris Vian et Serge Gainsbourg, arrangeur génial et fin compositeur de musiques de film, Alain Goraguer est une figure incontournable de la musique française de la seconde moitié du XXe siècle. Réalisée par Olivier Julien, cette rétrospective 3 CD revient sur les jeunes années du compositeur et met en lumière les premiers enregistrements parus sous son nom (ou pseudonyme) d’un monde libre de ses factures chansons et jazz. Patrick FRÉMEAUX.

"Beginnings" is Bonnie's thirteenth album but chronologically her first. Rich Warren recorded her in 1969 at the legendary Chicago folk club The Earl Of Old Town and at the University of Illinois, soon after Bonnie came to Chicago. She had quickly become the queen of the hot Chicago folk music scene with her clear powerful voice and her passionate performing style resulting in sold-out shows on a nightly basis, often several shows a night. "Beginnings" celebrates the forty-plus years of music comprising Bonnie's musical career to date with a selection of songs from those early recordings. The songs range from Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Steve Goodman and Eddie Holstein to Beatles, Gershwin and Billie Holliday, Bonnie's own song Rainy Day Lady, the rousing blues You've Been A Good Old Wagon and her version of Amelia Earhart's Last Flight. The accompaniments by Ray Frank on guitar and George Stevens on bass are outstanding throughout, at times enhanced by John Mathis on flute and the harmonica of Harmonica Bob, a fixture at The Earl Of Old Town. The CD graphic design features photos taken at the Earl in 1969 by Chuck Osgood. Other recent releases are "Here To Sing", a 2006 studio recording, "Timeless", a double CD of selected performances between 1970 and 1995, and "A Bestiary", an art book and accompanying CD of block prints and poems about farm animals set to music. All are available at cdbaby.

70s prog rockers Absolute Elsewhere finally release second album Playground. Absolute Elswhere recorded second album Playground in 1976 but the arrival of punk rock left it languishing in the vaults.Absolute Elsewhere, a mid-70s UK prog rock band who at various points featured both former King Crimson drummers Bill Bruford and Andrew McCulloch, have finally had their second album, Playground, released on Jambco Records. The band were originally signed to Warner Bros. by former Beatles publicist and manager of Apple Records, MD Derek Taylor, and recorded and released their 1976 debut album, the instrumental In Seach of Ancient Gods, which was inspired by the writings of Erich von Däniken, and featured Bruford on drums.

Giuseppe Porsile (1680-1750) was one of the very few representatives of the Neapolitan School at the otherwise rather conservative Imperial Court in Vienna. Inês d'Avena and the ensemble La Cicala continue their exploration of the Neapolitan repertoire, which had previously been ignored. The soprano Stefanie True lets several forgotten vocal jewels shine in first recordings featured on this disc.

Melancholia is Italian bass Andrea Mastroni's most recent recording project. Mastroni is a true custodian of this type of singing, and this release represents a journey of discovery of the work of Handel that was written especially for Antonio Montagnana, one of the most exceptional singers in England during the period the German composer was working there. Desperation, anger, incantations, warrior instincts and human passion are some of the diverse elements captured in these pieces. A worthy companion for this vocal marathon is the Accademia dell'Annunciata, a baroque orchestra of great quality, conducted by Riccardo Doni.

The fruitful partnership between the Alpha label, the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel and the Palazzetto Bru Zane continues with this set of chamber music by Anton Reicha, performed by the musicians of the Chapel, young talents of an exceptionally high standard, ready and willing to take up the challenge of this music. A key figure of the early nineteenth century, this Czech composer who became a naturalised French citizen did not leave his contemporaries indifferent. Both his music and his theoretical writings set zealous partisans against fierce detractors.