Octopus's sole long-player Restless Night is something of a treasure among '60s Brit-psych fans due to its mixture of proto-progressive riffs, accomplished pop tunes and sparkling Beatlesque flourishes. The band evolved out of the thriving Hertfordshire beat scene that also gave us The Zombies, The Gods and those other cult pop-psych heroes Forever Amber. Octopus' music was coloured by the use of keyboards and layered vocal harmonies in much the same way. As The Cortinas they enjoyed several years of local success which culminated in the 1968 CBS single "Phoebe's Flower Shop". The single was pure pop confectionery and betrayed little of the band's tight, melodic brand of rock. By the time they'd been signed to Larry Page's Penny Farthing label in 1969, their sound had expanded to encompass the burgenoning progressive scene, the dawn of the solo troubadour and the omnipresent influence of The Beatles…

Rory Gallagher's most successful albums are his live ones. He was an artist that came alive when onstage and this album covers a previously undocumented live period. This barnstorming 20-song, previously unreleased set is culled from four shows (London, Brighton, Sheffield and Newcastle) which were part of a 1977 tour across the UK in support of Rory’s then latest album 'Calling Card'. Featuring fantastic live versions of tracks from that album as well as from 1975’s 'Against The Grain' and other live favourites, has been mixed from the original multitrack tapes from the official Rory Gallagher archive and mastered for this release at Abbey Road Studios. Cover art by Irish graffiti artist Vincent Zara.

Opening with Mike Hugg's title track, which builds on Mick Rogers' intense riffing and the killer vocals of Vicki Brown, Judith Powell, Liza Strike, and Ruby James, Messin' is pretty intense and involving from its very first bars. It's also damned topical and serious, for all of the free-wheeling rock & roll spirits and the progressive rock complexities that go into the playing. And the result is a spellbinding whole, featuring some astonishing keyboard flourishes by Manfred Mann himself (who ventures into Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson territory on "Buddah," even as the rest of the band seems to be emulating Deep Purple) and killer guitar from Mick Rogers, while Colin Pattenden and Chris Slade lay down the rhythm section like a pair of articulate pile-drivers.

From the Green Hill is Tomasz Stanko's ECM follow-up to the deservedly acclaimed Litania - The Music of Kryzsztof Komeda. The Polish composer and trumpeter (and former Komeda sideman) teams up with countrywoman Michelle Makarski, ECM stalwarts saxophonist John Surman, bandoneon king Dino Saluzzi, drum god Jon Christensen, and bassist Anders Jormin. The set is comprised mainly of Stanko originals, but there are also compositions by Surman, and two by Komeda, including "Litania." This chamber jazz sextet draws heavily on European jazz influences naturally, but also from Eastern Europe's folk traditions. In this way, Komeda's influence is clearly felt throughout the recording, even on Surman's "Domino"…

The first female Professor at the Paris Conservatoire, the first female player in the Queens Hall Orchestra and the first female American Symphonist to be published. The Neave Trio celebrate these three outstanding pioneers on this captivating album. Since forming in 2010, Neave Trio violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura has earned enormous praise for its engaging, cutting-edge performances. WQXR explains, ""'Neave' is actually a Gaelic name meaning 'bright' and 'radiant', both of which certainly apply to this trio's music making."" The Boston

Rarely have I read a sleeve-note that pleads so vehemently in support of the music it introduces as does the one for this collection of works by Henry Lawes. ''I wish this record well,'' writes Anthony rooley, ''for Harry's [Henry's] sake, so that our un-sung genius of song may occupy his rightful place in the halls of Fame, and the late 20th century adopt the same conclusions as his own time''. Certainly you may find it surprising that a composer whose music was praised by such towering contemporaries as Charles I, Milton and Locke should have been neglected so universally by today's champions of early music—surprising, that is, until you hear the music itself.

Almost forty years separate Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) from the Violin Concerto - the former still influenced by the idiom of Brahms and Wagner, the latter deriving from the richness of that later period when Schoenberg managed to combine a multiplicity of approaches within his twelve-note system. Between post-Romantic twilight and 'classical' rigor, Isabelle Faust and company offer us an extraordinarily lively interpretation of some of the most remarkable pages in twentieth-century musical literature.

During the eighteenth century the knowledge that the bassoon could very well rise up to the virtuosic spheres was reserved for only rather small circles of hearers. In April 1736 a new bassoon star in the person of Johann Christian Klotsch came from Zerbst to Darmstadt. Christoph Graupner must have been extremely delighted to work with this talented musician; Klotsch had only recently been under contract in Darmstadt when he was given multiple opportunities to demonstrate his bassoonist’s skill in the Sunday cantatas. Since Graupner loved to experiment with innovative tone colors, he increasingly placed the bassoon in the spotlight in his cantatas. This development reached its height in 1741 with bassoon parts of concerto character in sixteen different cantatas.