Consisting of Robert Fripp, Trey Gunn, Adrian Belew, and Pat Mastelotto, King Crimson embarked on a tour of Europe to promote its 2000 album The ConstruKction of Light. The limited-edition, three-disc live set Heavy ConstruKction was recorded at various points throughout that tour, and was intended to set the stage for the band's arrival in the U.S. that fall. The first two discs include a full set list encompassing both old and new Crimson compositions. The third disc culls 14 of the group's best improvisations from the tour.

Moby's most unified and understated album, and all the better for it, Wait for Me is a morose set of elegantly bleary material, quite a shift from the hedonistic club tracks of Last Night. Dominated by instrumentals, "Shot in the Back of the Head" is the most evocative of the bunch, seemingly pulled from an unreleased David Lynch film scored by the Afghan Whigs circa Gentlemen - a lament from a dustbowl, full of mournful slide guitar and dewy electric piano. Other than "Mistake" - a glum neo-post-punk rave-up that, despite its cathartic release, remains downcast - Moby leaves the vocals to a series of women (neighborhood chums, apparently) who each contribute to one song. The smoky 3-a.m. gospel whispers from throwback soul singer Leela James on "Walk with Me" steal the show.

One gets the feeling that, as 1966 drew to a close amid an incredible acceleration of innovations in the pop and rock world, the Hollies felt the need to prove themselves capable of artistic growth despite having established a very winning formula. For Certain Because… was their first album entirely composed of original material, and it echoed pop's increased sophistication with fuller, more adventurous arrangements and more personal, folk-rock-influenced compositions. Such was the intense competition of the time that this record couldn't hope to take on Revolver, Aftermath, or Face to Face, but it nevertheless remains an admirable effort that may stand as the group's most accomplished album (greatest-hits packages excepted) of the '60s. The Hollies were very much a pop group and didn't let their somewhat more sober and introspective compositions stand in the way of their glittering harmonies and jangling guitars…

Count Basie and an all-star band (including trumpeter Harry Edison, trombonist J.J. Johnson and the tenors of Eddie Davis and Zoot Sims) back up veteran Kansas City blues singer Big Joe Turner on one of his better later albums. The many fine solos inspire Turner, who is in top form on such tunes as "Night Time Is the Right Time," "Wee Baby Blues" and "Roll 'Em Pete."

Bill Evans' 1963 album Plays the Theme from The V.I.P.s and Other Great Songs features the legendary pianist eschewing his more introspective sound for a commercial pop approach. Working with an orchestral background courtesy of conductor/arranger Claus Ogerman (uncredited here), Evans delves into songs by such writers as Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer, Elmer Bernstein, Miklós Rózsa, and others. While the album has more to do with light easy listening than deep harmonic jazz exploration, there is much to enjoy here for fans of jazz-inflected '60s pop.

In 1968 the composer Antonio Bartoccetti founded the group Jacula, with a view to transform into music a series of theological-philosophical and esoteric observations.
From the inner search to the magic worlds. Classic versus progressive contaminations. First ecological document, church organ, harpsichord, bass, mini-moog, violins, flutes, celebrating voices.

The Swedish duo Carbon Based Lifeforms graces us with their fourth album Twentythree, an interpretation of sidereal music captured in and around layers of atmospheres. From wide and far reaching soundscapes, the hypnosis subtly builds up with washes of ethereal melodies while floating pads are brushed by reverberated organic and electric data or the distant echoes of life on a planet. The album Twentythree consists of 8 genuine and unrestrained tracks that will forever expand our visions of the open space. Authentic and vibrant, deeply emotive, the story unfolds.

The first in a series of career-spanning comprehensive box sets, Five Years 1969-1973 chronicles the beginning of David Bowie's legend by boxing all of his officially released music during those early years. This amounts to six studio albums - 1969's David Bowie (aka Space Oddity); 1970's The Man Who Sold the World; 1971's Hunky Dory; 1972's The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars; Aladdin Sane, and Pin Ups (both from 1973); a pair of live albums (Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture Soundtrack and Live in Santa Monica '72, both released long after these five years) and a two-CD collection of non-LP tracks called Re:Call, plus Ken Scott's 2003 mix of Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust. That list suggests how "officially released" is a guideline that's easily bent. Live in Santa Monica '72 is a bootleg that became canonical in 1995, and the soundtrack to Ziggy Stardust didn't appear until 1983…

If Richie Faulkner wasn’t busy enough with Judas Priest, he has Elegant Weapons to keep him on his toes. Elegant Weapons is a side project he put together a few years ago and they released their debut studio album, Horns for a Halo, in 2023. The first album features a star-studded lineup that consists of Faulkner on guitars, Ronnie Romero on lead vocals, Rex Brown on bass guitar, and Scott Travis on drums. The lineup for the second album, Evolution, is a little bit different with Dave Rimmer on bass guitar and Christopher Williams on drums. The current lineup already toured together previously promoting Horns for a Halo. Evolution is an excellent follow-up to Horns for a Halo. In fact, it further cements the strength and possible longevity of Elegant Weapons. They play old-school heavy metal with a modern twist, which probably sounds cliché, but it’s a formula that works because of the reliance on nostalgia and current music trends.

Dark Magus is a live recording of a very specific 1974 Carnegie Hall date that included most, but not all, of the members who recorded the classics Agharta and Pangaea. While drummer Al Foster, bassist Michael Henderson, percussionist James Mtume, and guitarists Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas were all present, the key element of Sonny Fortune was not yet in the band. Saxophonists David Liebman and Azar Lawrence were doubling in the saxophone chairs, while Dominique Gaumont, with his Jimi Hendrix-styled effects and riffs, was the band's third guitarist. The deep voodoo funk that gelled on the aforementioned recordings hadn't yet come together on this night at Carnegie, near the end of a tour. Featuring four titles, all of them Swahili names for the numbers one through four, Dark Magus is a jam record…

Ikarus played a very varied sound with complex arrangements and melancholic melodies inspired by early King Crimson and Van der Graaf Generator or reminding to German colleages Thirsty Moon and Os Mundi. The original album contains only 4 tracks (from 6 to 15 minutes) but plays over 40 minutes a rather uniquely spacious and dynamic sound, full of surprises. Their lyrics scrutinized the behaviour of mankind with a particular focus on our darker minds. CD contains 15 minutes bonus track "Sunwave" by pre-Ikarus band Beatiques In Corporation from compilation "Pop and Blues Festival", 1970. CD come with comprehensive band history by Ikarus bass player Wolfgang Kracht and a lot of unseen and rare photos from the band archive of drummer Bernd Schröder. Remastered from the master tape. A Krautrock Classic!

If you enjoy the electronic orchestrations of Vangelis or the refined Japanese sensibility of Kitaro, this album is a must. Sea and Sky is a masterpiece. Working with the brilliant arranger Paul Buckmaster, Stomu Yamashta brings together his virtuoso synthesizer and percussion playing with the richness and power of full symphonic orchestra. From the surging initial ascent to the spectacular final crescendo, Stomu brings you images of the sea and sky in all their grandeur, with echoes of Debussy's "La Mer," the passion of Berlioz and the lushness of the great film scores. With the exception of one inexplicable section of light jazz, every moment of this 1984 album shines with a special energy.

Universal’s 2011 Deluxe Edition of the Kinks’ second album, Kinda Kinks, finds the 12-track album supported by a 23-track collection of non-LP cuts, including both sides of the “Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy,” “Set Me Free,” “See My Friends,” and “Never Met a Girl Like You Before” singles; the Kwyet Kinks EP, which includes “A Well Respected Man”; no less than six demos, many of which are unreleased Ray Davies originals (“I Go to Sleep” saw the light of day on a previous CD reissue); alternate takes of “See My Friends” and “Come on Now”; and BBC sessions including the songs “This Strange Effect” and “Hide and Seek,” which never popped up on a Kinks LP. Like the group’s debut, Kinda Kinks is slightly uneven - Davies is showing strides as a songwriter and the band is tightening, but there are some slow patches - but adding all the bonus material to the album has the effect of strengthening the overall experience…

Earth, Wind & Fire has delivered more than its share of excellent albums, but if a person could own only one EWF release, the logical choice would be That's the Way of the World, which was the band's best album as well as its best-selling. Open Our Eyes had been a major hit and sold over half-a-million units, but it was World that established EWF as major-league, multi-platinum superstars. Fueled by gems ranging from the sweaty funk of "Shining Star" and "Yearnin' Learnin'" to the gorgeous ballad "Reasons" and the unforgettable title song, EWF's sixth album sold at least five-million units. And some of the tracks that weren't major hits, such as the exuberant "Happy Feelin'" and the gospel-influenced "See the Light," are equally powerful. There are no dull moments on World, one of the strongest albums of the '70s and EWF's crowning achievement.

Recorded at the start of Dinah Washington's climb to fame, 1954's Dinah Jams was taped live in front of a studio audience in Los Angeles. While Washington is in top form throughout, effortlessly working her powerful, blues-based voice on both ballads and swingers, the cast of star soloists almost steals the show. In addition to drummer Max Roach, trumpeter Clifford Brown, and other members of Brown and Roach's band at the time - tenor saxophonist Harold Land, pianist Richie Powell, and bassist George Morrow - trumpeters Maynard Ferguson and Clark Terry, alto saxophonist Herb Geller, and pianist Junior Mance also contribute to the session. Along with extended jams like "Lover Come Back to Me," "You Go to My Head," and "I'll Remember April" - all including a round of solos - there are shorter ballad numbers such as "There Is No Greater Love" and "No More," the last of which features excellent muted, obbligato work by Brown…