Recordings act as sonic snapshots in time, individual chapters in the ongoing autobiographies musicians compose throughout their careers. Listening to albums has forever been one of the most accessible ways we relate with musicians, embracing any variety of creative efforts that shape the soundtracks of our lives. But even within the intimacy of the best examples of recorded music, a peculiar sense of distance exists. Most often it’s the length of space between a recording and its release date, but at times it’s also how removed listening to an album can feel from experiencing the music live.

In May 1747 Johann Sebastian Bach traveled to Potsdam to visit Frederick II of Prussia, whose son Carl Philipp Emanuel served as the Court’s first cembalo and his pupil Christoph Nichelmann as the second. This visit is well-documented, with a famous encounter between Frederick, a musically trained monarch, and Bach. Frederick invited Bach to test Gottfried Silbermann’s new fortepianos and demonstrate his organ-playing skills on various church organs. During this meeting, Frederick presented Bach with a musical challenge: he provided a theme in C minor and asked Bach to improvise a three-voice fugue based on it. Remarkably, Johann Sebastian did this on the spot, without any prior preparation. What follows is also fairly well known, but from this point onwards the interpretation of events becomes crucial.

On their last recording for Lawo Classics, the Oslo Philharmonic under the baton of Vasily Petrenko were described by The Guardian as 'an orchestra in fine form, with classy wind soloists and big-toned strings', so it was only natural that they should join forces again in this new recording of Prokofiev's 7th Symphony coupled with Myaskovsky's Sinfonietta, Op. 68 No. 2.

This album marks a significant achievement: the complete Schumann Symphony cycle from Kazufumi Yamashita, Music Director of the Aichi Chamber Orchestra since their 20th anniversary in 2022. This partnership has consistently garnered high praise for its meticulous refinement of ensemble playing and tonal quality. The performances on this recording radiate the profound unity forged between the two as they've progressed together.

Purity Ring's self-titled fourth album marks the beginning of a bold new chapter as the band's most immersive release to date. Long known for their fusion of body horror imagery and ethereal electronics, the duo now shift their focus from the physical to the fantastical, crafting a concept album that serves as the soundtrack to an imagined RPG. Inspired by games like Nier Automata and Final Fantasy X, the record tells the story of two hapless characters — embodiments of mj and Corin — on a journey to build a kinder world amid the ruins of a broken one. But this is no escapist fantasy: it is the first step of forbidden dreaming, of imagining a place where the vulnerable are heeded, where grief is spoken aloud and held collectively, where family is a verb rather than a noun, where hope and home can bloom together.

Actor/comedian/musician/producer/writer Fred Armisen has long been known as one of the most curious entertainers in the business, creating a wild variety of things for television, film, stage, records and other media. The latest proof of his inquiring imagination is here: 100 Sound Effects, out September 26! “Music Venues”, out today, collects the first 7 sound effects as one nifty pre-release single.

The Starting Line return with 'Eternal Youth' — their first full-length studio album in 18 years, a triumphant continuation of one of the most influential stories in emo and pop-punk, originally forged through classic releases on Drive‑Thru Records.

On September 26th, 2025, two decades into a boundary-pushing career, American musician, composer, and academic John Maus will release his most powerful work yet: Later Than You Think. Arriving via his new label Young (FKA twigs, The xx, Sampha), the album explores themes of justice, confession, rebirth, transformation, and spiritual warfare, further expanding the liminal space where outsider art collides with art-pop, raw emotion, and intellectual depth.

Sit at the Kids Table. Go to prom. Try a new SSRI. Deface a mural. Flip the mattress. Help a bird. Dissociate. Last vacation. These landmark occasions are inscribed on the board-game-inspired cover of the new Bright Eyes EP, Kids Table. And therein lies the chiaroscuro of Bright Eyes’ music, perpetually teetering between rogue optimism and pragmatic despair. Following the band’s 2024 visceral and hook-filled Five Dice, All Threes, the new EP exists as both a partner-in-crime to that album, and a self-contained world all of its own.

Here For It All, Mariah Carey's highly anticipated 16th studio album and her first since 2018’s Caution. Blending pop, R&B, gospel, and hip-hop, this bold new project celebrates every era of Mariah’s iconic sound while introducing fresh collaborations and modern influences. Featuring 11 brand-new tracks, Here For It All showcases Mariah’s unmatched talents as a singer, songwriter, and producer. The album includes special guest appearances by Anderson .Paak, and and the legendary Clark Sisters, plus production from top names like The Stereotypes and HARV, along with a cover of Paul McCartney’s classic “My Love,” and an exclusive Mariah-only version of "Sugar Sweet."

What is life but an endless series of “uh oh”s? From our earliest childhood accidents to our most overwhelming adult anxieties, it’s a little phrase that looms large throughout our existence. Just ask Montreal indie-pop maestro Patrick Watson who was recently faced with the biggest “uh oh” a professional singer could endure. One morning in the winter of 2023, Patrick woke up to discover that his voice—the angelic instrument that propelled 2006’s carnivalesque art-rock opus Close to Paradise to the Polaris Music Prize winner’s podium —had gone completely kaputt. “Obviously, I like singing for people, but I was really enjoying my Modular [synth] and diving into instrumental music”—a natural inclination for Patrick, who’s composed over 15 film scores to date. “But then I was like, ‘Oh, it’d be cool to write songs for all these different singers that I really want to hear sing—I’ll find my way out of this situation that way.’ Because my voice wasn’t supposed to come back. And when it did, I just thought having all these other singers was still a cooler idea for a record than me singing.”

20th Anniversary: To celebrate two decades since its initial release, King Creosote's landmark album, 'KC Rules OK,' will be reissued on September 26th, 2025.

Warren George Harding Lee (August 18, 1921 – July 1, 1979), known professionally as Lee Jackson, was an American Chicago blues guitarist, bass guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although he did release a number of recordings in his own name, such as Lonely Girl (1974), he is most known for his work on recordings with other blues musicians such as Johnny Shines, Willie Dixon, Jimmy Reed, J. B. Hutto, Sunnyland Slim, Lacy Gibson, and Little Walter. AllMusic noted that "the playing style of Jackson is vastly influential".

"Don't Look Back" is Mississippi Heat’s 14th album, produced by Chicago Blues Hall of Fame harmonica player PIERRE LACOCQUE and Grammy and Blues Music Award Winner Producer/Engineer MICHAEL FREEMAN. Freeman is the former Chair of the Board of Directors of the Blues Foundation. He returns at the helm for their 7th Mississippi Heat collaboration. The record was recorded and mixed at Chicago’s V.S.O.P studios and mastered by Paul Blakemore (Nashville, TN). Post-war Chicago Blues lovers will enjoy this vibrant recording.

Mettant un terme à trois ans de pause musicale, Cœur de pirate revient avec Cavale, son septième album dont elle signe paroles et musique. Sur des pistes pop tour à tour tonifiantes, exaltantes et déchirantes, elle met en scène des petites sagas où l’intime devient universel via des peurs, anxiétés et questionnements que chacun.e est susceptible de traverser. Toujours accompagnée de Renaud Bastien, son collaborateur des débuts, elle s’entoure aussi, cette fois de Nicolas Subrechicot, reconnu pour son travail avec Zaho de Sagazan : ensemble, ils ont façonné un album entre les deux pôles de vie de Cœur de pirate, soit Montréal et Paris.