Vocalist Stacey Kent may or may not be "the greatest ballad singer in half a century," as her PR claims, but her straightforward renditions of these by-request ballads are not at all generic. What makes them consistently delightful is her unique sound and delivery. There's a certain brassiness, a trumpet-like pointedness, in her voice, as well as a host of endearing idiosyncrasies. Listen to her pronounce the word "idea" in George and Ira Gershwin's "Isn't It a Pity?" Or deliver these remarkable lyrics from the same song: "What joys untasted!/You, reading Heine/Me, somewhere in China." And later, "My nights were sour, spent with Schopenhauer." Kent knows how to make every tune fit her own musical persona. Dreamsville includes a number of seldom-heard gems, particularly "You Are There" by Johnny Mandel and Dave Frishberg, "You're Looking at Me" by Bobby Troup, and the ever-stunning title track by Henry Mancini…

This long sought-after release celebrates the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, by giving fans a front-row seat to relive CCR’s stirring, hour-long set as it was performed that historic night in August of 1969. Kicking off with “Born on the Bayou,” the album features the band’s biggest singles of the day, plus selections off their first three LPs, including “Commotion,” “Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won’t Do)” and “Bootleg.” Full of creative energy, John, Tom, Stu, and Doug delve deep into their music, playing extended improvisations of “I Put a Spell on You,” “Keep on Chooglin’” and “Suzie Q.”

Reload is a 1999 album by Tom Jones. It contains fifteen duets with a range of artists including Van Morrison, Cerys Matthews, Stereophonics, Robbie Williams and Portishead, recorded with their usual record producers and in their usual studios. The tracks are mainly cover versions, with a new version of one of his own songs, "Looking Out My Window" (1968), and one original track, "Sex Bomb". Reload became the highest seller of Jones' career, reaching number one on the British charts in 1999 and again in 2000. Its biggest single was the collaboration with Mousse T, "Sex Bomb", which reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart, and was later used in a 2003 episode of The Simpsons (a show Jones had guest starred on in 1992). The album has sold more than four million copies worldwide.

Since 2004 alone, some 12 new member states have joined the European Union within the enlargement process. Along with the new territory, the EU has also integrated the history, culture and tradition of each of these countries. A national anthem often reflects one of the most significant chapters in a country’s history and in some cases it refers to the very beginnings of its existence. This new recording of the national anthems of all current EU member states affords the listener the possibility of discovering the diversity concealed beneath the unifying blue flag. Besides possible use on international occasions and during state celebrations, our CD also provides an excursion into the history and traditions of each of the EU countries.

"From the Witchwood" marked the start of the Strawbs transition in earnest from a primarily acoustic folk based band, to a prog rock orientated band with strong folk influences. The album represents Rick Wakeman's last venture with the Strawbs, before he was headhunted by Yes. In retrospect, his keyboard skills whilst apparent, were somewhat suppressed in the Strawbs, with only brief displays of his virtuosity such as those on "Sheep" and "Glimpse of heaven". It was perhaps inevitable that when the opportunity arose, he would move on to a band where he would be afforded more room to exercise his skills. Rick Wakeman and Dave Cousins have however remained firm friends, collaborating more recently on the Strawbs flavoured "Hummingbird" album. In all, superb album, which finds the band exploring new pastures and starting their migration to a major prog folk band.

Strange Days 1967 - A Work In Progress is an album of early alternate mixes from the Strange Days sessions before the overdubs were complete. The recently unearthed tracks were mixed by Bruce Botnick back in '67, and feature new liners by him as well.

Perhaps Tom Waits' most cohesive album, Bone Machine is a morbid, sinister nightmare, one that applied the quirks of his experimental '80s classics to stunningly evocative - and often harrowing - effect. In keeping with the title's grotesque image of the human body, Bone Machine is obsessed with decay and mortality, the ease with which earthly existence can be destroyed. The arrangements are accordingly stripped of all excess flesh; the very few, often non-traditional instruments float in distinct separation over the clanking junkyard percussion that dominates the record. It's a chilling, primal sound made all the more otherworldly (or, perhaps, underworldly) by Waits' raspy falsetto and often-distorted roars and growls…

The common denominator of the recordings of these three virtuoso concertos is the name of the soloist. In 1932 František Hanták, still a student, was called up by Václav Talich to assume the post of first oboe of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Hanták was concurrently a member of Czech Nonet and later on also performed with the Czech Wind Quintet and the ground-breaking ensemble Ars rediviva. Following on from the previous CD comprising concertos by Mozart, Richard Strauss and Martinu (SU39552), this album features other gems from Hanták’s discography in Supraphon’s archives: the legendary 1951 recording of Kramár’s Concerto in F major, the “Haydn” concerto (with the yet to be clarified question of its authorship), with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and Mozart’s lovely Sinfonia concertante, K 297b, with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Václav Smetácek (1965).

Marilyn Manson is a perpetually controversial presence and one of the key figures in aggressive, boundary-challenging rock music. Manson became a mainstream antihero in the 1990s - much to the chagrin of conservative politicians, religious leaders, and concerned parents - ruffling feathers and shocking the masses with his dark brand of glam-influenced industrial metal, outspoken social commentary, and incendiary live shows. The self-proclaimed "Antichrist Superstar," he peddled a disquieting vision of society that focused on sex, drugs, violence, politics, and organized religion, which pushed many of his singles - including "The Dope Show," "The Beautiful People," and a cover of Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" - into the upper reaches of the modern rock charts during the late '90s and early 2000s…

Parlophone Records/ISO Records are proud to announce TOY:BOX. The previously unreleased TOY album will be released on 7th January 2022, the day before David Bowie’s birthday. Available in 3CD, TOY:BOX is a special edition of the TOY album. The ‘capture the moment’ approach of the recording sessions are extended to the sleeve artwork designed by Bowie featuring a photo of him as a baby with a contemporary face. The package also contains a 16-page full-colour book featuring previously unseen photographs by Frank Ockenfels 3.

The Genius of Ray Charles is a 1959 album by Ray Charles. In 2003, the album was ranked number 263 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Some players from Ray Charles' big band are joined by many ringers from the Count Basie and Duke Ellington bands for the first half of this program, featuring Charles belting out six songs arranged by Quincy Jones. "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Deed I Do" are highlights, and there are solos by tenorman David "Fathead" Newman, trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, and (on "Two Years of Torture") tenor Paul Gonsalves. The remaining six numbers are ballads, with Charles backed by a string orchestra arranged by Ralph Burns. Charles' voice is heard throughout in peak form, giving soul to even the veteran standards.

Best 80s Car Songs Sing Along Album In The World… Ever: Three CD set. Crammed with no fewer than 62 fabulous sing-a-long classics from the '80s (including a few forgotten gems), The Best 80s Car Songs Sing Along! Gets you behind the wheel and has you belting out some of the greatest songs by some of the biggest and best artists of the decade. From Wham! #and Culture Club to Blondie and UB40, this sensational collection is packed with household names and features some of the most well-loved 80s hits including Yazz's 'The Only Way Is Up', Survivor's 'Eye Of The Tiger', The Pointer Sisters' 'Jump (For My Love)' and many, many more. For the happiest journeys… The Best 80s Car Songs Sing Along Album in the World… Ever!

It can't come as a surprise that the Mars Volta's fourth album opens with a bang - sonic terrorism is one of the only things listeners can count on from the band - but it's genuinely novel that The Bedlam in Goliath never lets go of its momentum, not even after a full hour's worth of unrelenting war on silence, the wrapping paper for a concept album about the power of the occult. On their first three proper albums, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez played games of quiet-loud-quiet (or loud-quiet-loud), sneaking around stealthily for minutes at a time before detonating another blast of thrash metal riffing and piercing screams. The Bedlam in Goliath is simply loud-loud-loud, virtually every song played at maximum volume and tempo. But, in fact, instead of being wearisome or exhausting, it's an oddly refreshing album…

"Ferengistan" is a term used in Central Asia to denote an imaginary place that represents the superficiality and materialism that too often characterize Western culture. So there's no real secret to the message behind this album by Toby Marks, aka Banco de Gaia. While the music is (thankfully) free of didactic lyrics, its instrumental tracks were written with serious matters of geopolitics in mind: one track has reference to a law recently passed in Mongolia, reinstating the use of surnames (a practice previously forbidden under Communist rule); the ironically titled "Harmonious G8" consists of eight overdubbed vocals, each an improvisation by a singer from one of the G8 nations; "White Man's Burden" requires little amplification. If you're not interested in the politics, you can just relax and enjoy the variously danceable and relaxing moods that Marks creates…

Lizzie Douglas, otherwise known as Memphis Minnie, was a blues guitarist, singer and songwriter from Mississippi, born in 1897, who ran away from home when she was 13 to start playing on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. She started performing with her second husband Kansas Joe McCoy and they made their first records in 1929 – she remained active as a performer and recording artist until the 1950s. She was without doubt one of the true pioneers among female country blues artists. This 99-track 4-CD collection comprises selected A and B sides from her releases on the Columbia, Vocalion, Decca, Bluebird, Okeh, Regal, Checker and J.O.B. labels covering the spectrum of her career – she recorded over 200 titles, so this set offers a representative selection. It Includes classics like “Bumble Bee”, “When the Levee Breaks, “Me And My Chauffeur Blues”, Nothing in Rambling” and many more. Apart from the recordings with Kansas Joe McCoy, it also features performances with Casey Bill Weldon, Little Son Joe and others. Among the blues artists of her era, she was particularly influential, not least as her career spanned a crucial quarter century in the genre. This collection offers a substantial and nicely presentative showcase for her distinctive style of blues.