Two welcome changes in style made Blue Valentine a fresh listening experience for Tom Waits fans. First, Waits alters the instrumentation, bringing in electric guitar and keyboards and largely dispensing with the strings for a more blues-oriented, hard-edged sound. Second, though his world view remains fixed on the lowlifes of the late night, he expands beyond the musings of the barstool philosopher who previously had acted as the first-person character of most of his songs. When Waits does use the first-person, it's to write a "Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis," not the figure most listeners had associated with the singer himself. The result is a broadening of subject matter, a narrative discipline that makes most of the tunes story songs, and a coherent framing for Waits' typically colorful and intriguing imagery…

A 1971 live recording, from when Ella Fitzgerald was still at the peak of her vocal powers, Ella à Nice isn't one of the vocalist's all-time greatest live recordings, but it's a very nice set placing her in the company in which she felt most comfortable, a simple piano/bass/drums trio led by her longtime musical partner, Tommy Flanagan. Most of the set list's time is taken up by themed medleys such as "Aspects of Duke," "The Bossa Scene," and "The Many Faces of Cole Porter" that are perfectly nice but, as medleys tend to be, a little disappointing. One would rather hear Ella work her magic on the entirety of "The Girl From Ipanema" or "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me" than be teased with a verse and chorus. On the other hand, the opening "Night and Day" is simply outstanding. Opening slowly with an extended vamp by Flanagan and bassist Frank DeLaRosa…

Founded in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1968 - Disbanded in 1981. Originally born as a German-British band, the music of Message oscillates between a substantial heavy rock and a nice folk rock articulated around a range of keyboards arrangements. With a combination of compelling rhythms, first rate compositions and strong playing, Message come up with a winner this time. Murdoch continues his quirky experiments with vibrato-tremolo heavy guitar sound. It adds much of the needed distinction to the whole affair. And there's a greater sense of exploration this time round, making it all feel more "progressive".

Konnecting… is a 15-track collection of electro-pop sings bringing together for the first time the works and three guises of electronic pioneers David Baker and Simon Leonard - I Start Counting, Fortran 5, Komputer.
Konnecting… tracks the duo's output from the first Mute release, Letters To A Friend (I Start Counting, 1984, produced by Daniel Miller), through to the club hit, Heart On The Line (Fortran 5, mixed by Vince Clarke), the Midnight Cowboy sampling Time To Dream (1993, Fortran 5) through to Komputer's paean to Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space (Valentina, 1997) to the very British electronic pop/folk music of Headphones And Ringtones and Like A Bird, from Komputer's 2007 release, Synthetik.

Everything that could be desired in a historically informed performance of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos is presented in Philip Pickett's brilliant set with the New London Consort, released in 1993 on L'Oiseau Lyre. This version with period instruments and an ensemble of a size according to Baroque norms is much more than a dry run-through of these beloved works. It is a clever and highly expressive re-creation of Bach's most popular concertos, re-imagined through the artistic and philosophical connections and conventions that likely were found in them by Bach's contemporaries, most probably by Bach and the Margrave of Brandenburg himself.

This release comprises both a symphony and rarely recorded opera overtures by Dvořák. The chief conductor of the orchestra, Finnish maestro Pietari Inkinen, continues the Dvořák Cycle begun under the baton of Karel Mark Chichon. The Second Symphony, composed when Dvořák was 24, was certainly no masterpiece, neither was its revised version. Nevertheless, it is an extraordinary testament to Dvořák’s talent since it clearly bears his stamp, even though it shows the influence of others. “This man has more ideas than all of us put together”, Brahms said in appreciation of Dvořák’s output. This is certainly borne out when listening to the Second Symphony.

‘A thoughtful, well-recorded performance of one of the great monuments of Western music, on an instrument for which the composer conceived it, played by a dexterous, sympathetic, and well-informed musician.’ – FANFARE
‘This set shines revitalizing light on music we may have thought we knew inside out, but which is always loaded with surprises.’ – SOUND STAGE

Those who became aware of Robert Randolph's considerable musical gifts on either the awesome Live at the Wetlands or on the underrated Unclassified are in for a surprise. Colorblind expands the Robert Randolph & the Family Band's palette – on tape anyway, they've been doing stuff like this on the stage for years – stretching out from the blues ledge into gospelized, gritty funk and soul, and expanding those genres in the process. Using a group of producers from cut to cut, the Family Band takes no prisoners in this wildly crazy and utterly joyous mix of musical forms and flavors. Sure, it's a bit slicker than Live at the Wetlands, but not in any detrimental way. This is what these cats have been laying down for awhile now. It's been their vision and they've finally brought it into the studio. The opening joint is a stomping wail called "Ain't Nothing Wrong with That" that features the Family Band chanting a refrain, handclaps, and killer female backing vocals as well as Jason Crosby's B-3, as Randolph's pedal steel hovers above before coming in for the killing groove.