Zenzile Miriam Makeba, nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she was an advocate against apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa.

When it comes to holiday records emitted from the shadows of the mighty Motown hit factory on West Grand Boulevard, few could match the quality and quantity from one of their key artists. This collection from Mr. Wonder dates back to the first golden age of his catalog from the mid-'60s and relies on the successful stomping Motown formula from the first song to the last. A well-balanced mix of traditional and modern standards keeps the disc interesting, with the unquestionable highlight being "What Christmas Means to Me," a vibrant original tune that has undeniably become Motown's finest Christmas anthem and a holiday standard in its own right. Those looking to spice up their musical eggnog during the holiday season would be well served in giving this solid collection a few spins.

Tropicale is the explosion of joy of the Italian economic miracle, the promise of distant destinations becoming all of a sudden tangible, the illusion of a taboo world where everything seems possible. Through rare and unreleased cuts from the CAM Sugar archive, Tropicale traces the incendiary liaisons between Italian film music and tropical culture in the 1960s across bossa nova, samba, Latin jazz, exotica, calypso, mambo and other tropical rhythms.

After 10 years of releasing music, I decided it was time for a self-titled album. I’m so excited to finally announce that my new album “KYGO” will be out June 21st! I’ve worked really hard on this one the last 2 years and I can’t wait to share it all with you guys. - Kygo

The new album “Our Songs” combines interpretations of very different top hits from Germany, which Anastacia now wants to bring out into the world in English. For her fans here in Germany, it is both familiar and completely new.

Lauren Watkins is the real deal. Part of a new class of country that's not trying to be pop, along with artists like Megan Moroney and Hailey Whitters, the genre is ingrained in her soul. A Tennessee native discovered by songwriter Nicole Gallyon ("Tequila" by Dan + Shay, "Priscilla" by Miranda Lambert) after college, she shot out of the gate with the excellent single "Fine Country Line" in 2023. Watkins already has a signature: the well-worn gravel rasp that belies her 24 years. It works so well on songs like "Shirley Temple," a swaying country waltz written with Gallyon, about the type of girl who is "everything I'll never be": "She don't cause a scene/ She don't cry in bars/ She won't touch nicotine … and she kinda talks/ Just like your mama/ And that's the cherry on top." With the twang and steel guitar removed, "Leavers Leave"—recalling Deana Carter-era '90s country—could be a great pop hit.

Eight months after the release of Wake Of The Flood, the Grateful Dead followed up that masterpiece with the second album on their Grateful Dead Records label, From The Mars Hotel. To this day, most of the songs on From The Mars Hotel are played frequently by the band members as they continue to bring the music to the people, and during the Grateful Dead's touring career, more than half of the songs were important parts of their live repertoire. “Scarlet Begonias,” “Ship Of Fools,” and “U.S Blues” arrived on the scene in 1974, with “China Doll” and “Loose Lucy” coming a year earlier, and they all quickly became staples of Grateful Dead live sets for decades, although “Loose Lucy” had a 15 year hiatus 1975-1989. Phil's two songs on the album are often played live these days when Phil performs with his rotating cast of Friends, and these songs, “Pride Of Cucamonga” and “Unbroken Chain” are elicit ecstatic responses. These would be the final two Phil-sung songs on a Grateful Dead studio album. Peaking at #16 on the Billboard Top 200 chart in 1974, the album's terrific batch of new songs and exceptional production had Dead Heads scooping up the album 50 years ago upon its release.

Known for her ethereal voice and eclectic musical style, Torrini gained international recognition with her album Love in the Time of Science in 1999. One of Torrini's solo successes came with the release of Jungle Drum in 2009. The single gained widespread acclaim and reached the top of the charts in several European countries. 2024 sees Emiliana Torrini come back with her first studio album in nearly 10 years. The new album combines all of Emiliana`s strengths and marks a fulminant return.

The British guitar legend SNOWY WHITE releases a brand new album with "Unfinished Business". In 2022 he achieved the first German chart position in his career with "Driving on the 44" (#27 in the official German album charts).
With his previous albums, 'The Situation' and 'Driving On The 44', the former Thin Lizzy guitarist and Pink Floyd and Roger Waters touring guitarist has shown that he is one of the greats when it comes to soulful, nuanced Blues Rock. On the nine tracks of his new album we once again experience the blues master in great shape. The lively opener and namesake of the album offers a promising invitation, and also makes it clear that Snowy White has once again done a great job - contrary to what the title suggests. In his inimitably reserved "understated" style, Snowy illuminates a wide variety of situations in life on the following tracks, always accompanied and commented on by his distinctive guitar playing. The result is a mature, coherent and immensely satisfying album. Snowy White has developed his very own 'English' blues style, which is characterized by clear, straightforward blues phrases that he refines with harder riffs. The songs seem very direct, human and authentic - as if he wanted to address each listener personally. Few people have mastered this art as well as the British guitarist and singer.

The sixteenth-century madrigal, a deceptively simple, whimsical poetic form of no fixed structure, had an elusive quality that was to prove inspirational to generations of musicians; madrigal settings came to form the core of many composers’ outputs and quickly evolved a musical identity independent of their poetic origins.

Having plied his trade around the world for more than three decades, German guitarist, bandleader and musical explorer JJ Whitefield has always instilled in his craft a natural aesthetic of authenticity, a key component which has seen him amass a sizeable and varied catalogue of material which has remained timeless where some of his contemporaries have faded away.

Komitas was one of the first Armenian musicians to undergo classical Western musical training, in Berlin, in addition to music education in his own country. He published both folksong collections and writings on Armenian church melodies, and his work laid the foundations for the development of a clearly defined national musical style. The Seven Folk Dances evoke the specific timbres of Armenian instruments, the Seven Songs for Piano are fleeting and lyrical while the Twelve Children’s Pieces based on folk-themes are beautifully crisp.

Ukrainian violinist Bohdan Luts unveils his debut album in collaboration with the Odense Symphony Orchestra, recorded after winning first prize in the violin category of the Carl Nielsen International Competition in 2022 at just 17 years old. The new album features Antonin Dvorak's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A minor, Carl Nielsen's Op.2 Romance, and Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy-a collection of late romantic works that prominently showcase the violin. For his first major recording, Luts has chosen three works which feature wonderfully lyrical writing for his instrument, combined with passionate virtuosity.

The Accademia Arcadia was flourishing in Rome at the time Andrea Stefano Fiorè, one of Italy’s true child prodigies, was there. The wide variety of stylistic influences and superlative quality of his cantatas, from lyrical simplicity to daring harmonic experiment, are confirmation of Fiorè’s uniquely poetic talent. Giovanni Antonio Giay succeeded Fiorè in service at the royal court in Turin, and these world première recordings together reveal musical treasure of great value, sublimely documenting the extraordinary musical sensitivity of these rarely heard composers.

Versatile cellist Christoph Croise indulges in his passion for romantic Russian repertoire, coming together with close collaborators violinist Andrey Baranov and pianist Alexander Panfilov for a recording of works by a young Rachmaninoff. All of the works on this album were written before 1917, the year that the composer left Russia in the wake of the Revolution, and eventually emigrated to the United States.