Eight songs played solo piano, alternative versions of some of the songs from Dardust's latest album of the same name, released in November, a work that challenges the conventions of neoclassical/contemporary music, breaking down the boundaries between the arts and uniting music and architecture. Urban Impressionism is the matching folio of the eponymous new recording project by Italian composer, producer and pianist Dardust. He once again challenges the conventions of neoclassical/contemporary music and does so, as is his wont, by breaking down the boundaries between the arts, uniting music and architecture, harmonising contrasts but starting from new sources of inspiration. On the one hand, the architectural geometries of urban suburbs, from brutalism to post-modernism, which in music are translated into genuine expressions, forged without recourse to embellishments or production artifices; on the other, the rapid brushstrokes of pictorial impressionism, reflected in his approach to composition. Dardust explores new urban scenarios through journeys and sound recordings in the suburbs of different cities and does so by modelling himself on the Impressionists' ability to paint scenes of modern life in the open air, depicting reality subjectively and emphasising personal and immediate perception rather than precision detail.

Overshadowed by his father, Johann Sebastian, and his brothers Carl Philipp Emanuel and Johann Christian, the music of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach provides a bridge between the high art of the first and expressive tendencies of Sturm und Drang. His Harpsichord Concertos, as performed here by Maude Gratton [of the Ricercar Consort] and Il Convito, offer a very successful synthesis of these two trends.

Arto Tunçboyacıyan is a Grammy winning American musician of Armenian descent. An avant-garde folk artist (singer, multi-instrumentalist), he appeared on more than 200 records in Europe before arriving in the United States, where he went to work with numerous jazz legends including Chet Baker, Marc Johnson, Al Di Meola, and Joe Zawinul as well as a semi-regular stint with Paul Winter and the Earth Band. Arto fronts his own group called the Armenian Navy Band. Tunçboyacıyan's 2001 album Aile Muhabbeti was used as soundtrack in two films: Hemşo (2001) and Mon père est ingénieur (2004).

It's been a long time since Marilyn Manson truly seemed like a transgressive force, but when you spend a lifetime crafting a persona as a rock & roll boogeyman, it's not only hard to shake that image, it's unlikely that you'd want to shake it. Manson has never shown any indication that he's wanted to change, which somehow came as a surprise to his betrothed, burlesque diva Dita Von Teese, who according to published reports in the wake of their divorce seemed shocked, shocked that Manson wanted to stay up late and take drugs, the kind of eternally adolescent behavior that only rock & roll stars can get away with as they approach 40. Better for Marilyn to sever that marriage and turn toward a true teenager: Evan Rachel Wood, the blandly pretty star of Thirteen who provided MM with a brand-new muse for Eat Me, Drink Me, his sixth studio album…

The Magic Time Machine of Love finds Nashville's Burrito Brothers-Chris P. James (vocals/keys), Bob Hatter (guitars), Tony Paoletta (pedal steel) and Peter Young (drums)-pushing cosmic-American music into tomorrow with eleven tracks that mingle fresh songwriting with daring reinventions: Gram Parsons' voice, isolated via the same AI technology used on the Beatles' "Now and Then," soars alongside the band on "Pride of Man" and "More and More," while Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" appears in a lush country-soul arrangement restoring Keith Reid's unused verses. Original Flying Burrito alumni Jon Corneal and Ian Dunlop swagger through "Used to Do," steel-guitar legend Al Perkins adds shimmer to "More and More," and the James Brothers lend harmonies to a twang-kissed cover of the Beatles' "What Goes On." From the progressive-country sweep of "Tales of Desire" to the vintage Bakersfield snap of "Love Blast," this limited-edition CD bridges past and present, expanding the Burrito legacy while honoring the genre's richest traditions.

Jackie Mittoo"s "Reggae Magic" is a new collection from the great Jackie Mittoo. The album features a mixture of classic tunes and rarities from the period 1967-74, when Mittoo was at the height of his musical powers.Mittoo"s solo career began after the end of The Skatalites in 1965. He began pushing new musical boundaries, creating a uniquely identifiable organ-led funky reggae sound that owed as much to Booker T and The MGs, Jimmy Smith, Stax and Motown as to the post-ska and emergent rocksteady island rhythms of Kingston, Jamaica.His solo work at the legendary Studio One spanned seven albums and hundreds of singles. Aside from producer and founder Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, it"s hard to think of anyone more central to the sound and success of Studio One than Mittoo; keyboard player extraordinaire, songwriter, arranger, musician, truly the Keyboard King at Studio One.

Everlasting was one of Natalie Cole's best '80s albums. The title track was written and produced by the hit production duo of Jerry Knight and Aaron Zigman. Produced by Reginald and Vincent Calloway (Midnight Star), the number two R&B hit "Jump Start" is a slab of slammin' squishy funk, with some parts sounding like "No Parking on the Dance Floor." Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager contribute the smooth "Split Decision," and the lightly swinging "In My Reality." Cole gives one of her best performances, covering one of her famous father's classics on the Marcus Miller-produced "When I Fall in Love." She also skillfully covers Bruce Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac." Cole co-wrote and co-produced the light, samba-tinged "More Than the Stars," which is in the same vein as "La Costa," from Thankful.

Loose and spontaneous, this (mainly) live album is a meeting of three of the greatest guitarists in the world for an acoustic summit the likes of which the guitar-playing community rarely sees. Broken up into three duo and two trio performances, Friday Night in San Francisco catches all three players at the peaks of their quite formidable powers.

In the wake of Madonna's success, many dance-pop divas filled the charts, but out of them all, Paula Abdul was the only one who sustained a career. The former L.A. Lakers cheerleader and choreographer scored her first hit in 1989, when "Straight Up" shot to Billboard's number one spot, becoming the first of four U.S. chart-toppers from her 1988 debut, Forever Your Girl; the others were "Forever Your Girl," "Cold Hearted," and "Opposites Attract," each earning a gold certification from the RIAA. This success laid the groundwork for her second act as a judge on American Idol, the televised singing competition that began in 2002 and kept Abdul in the spotlight throughout the decade.

Gary Rossington, a founding and current member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, consistently transcends genres and appeals to many generations of music fans. Gary’s last project outside of Lynyrd Skynyrd was Rossington Collins Band. The 1981 Gold album Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere yielded the rock hit “Don’t Misunderstand Me,” featuring Gary’s wife Dale Krantz-Rossington on lead vocals. Take It On Faith is the couple’s first recording together since then, the result is magical and timeless.

Rameau on the piano? It's not altogether unheard of – there were a handful of classic recordings made by Robert Casadesus back in 1952 – but, despite many recordings of Bach, Handel, and Scarlatti on the piano in the digital age, there's been precious little Rameau on the piano until this Angela Hewitt recording of three complete suites from 2006. By choosing the Suite in E minor from the Pièces de clavecin of 1731 plus the Suites in G minor and A minor from Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin, Hewitt has for the most part stayed away from the more evocatively titled works and stuck to the standard stylized Baroque dance forms of the allemande, courante, and gigue. Justly celebrated for her cool and clean Bach recordings, this strategy works well for Hewitt. Without seeming to resort to the sustain or the mute pedal, she floats Rameau's lines and melodies, and without seeming to exaggerate the accents or dynamics, she gives Rameau's rhythms a wonderful sense of lift. In the deliberately evocative movements from the G minor Suite – "La poule," "Les sauvages," and especially "L'egiptienne" – Hewitt seems to bring less to the music – her interpretations are remarkably straight – and to get less out of it – her performances are remarkably bland.

One of his finest '90s recordings, Chill Out balances the guitar-glitz of Carlos Santana's guest shot on the karmic title cut with a handful of profoundly deep Hooker solo performances. Among those are new versions of his standards "Tupelo" and "Annie Mae," and the soulful "If You've Never Been in Love," where expert slide-man Roy Rogers provides subtle accompaniment to Hooker's spontaneous storytelling. The band numbers that bookend the album are weak, relying on Hooker's strong vocal presence to overcome sketchy writing. Van Morrison, pianist Charles Brown, and M.G.'s leader Booker T. Jones also lend a hand. But Hooker doesn't need anybody's help to get to the passionate heart of his blues. One last note: Anton Corbijn's CD-booklet photographs of ol' Johnny Lee are terrific.

Included with the September 2025 issue of Uncut magazine (TAKE 342).

Originally released in 1975, follow up to Snowflakes are Dancing. Versions of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Carefully and painstakingly constructed with a bigger sound than before. Comes with bonus track of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade and J.S. Bach's The Sea Named Solaris.

Manhole was the last of the experimental Jefferson Airplane, and Grace Slick's first official solo album. While Bark and Long John Silver, the final stages of the original Airplane, displayed the excessive psychedelic nature of the musicians within the confines of their group format, Blows Against the Empire, Sunfighter, and Baron Von Tollbooth and the Chrome Nun allowed for total artistic expression. Manhole concluded this phase with 1974's other release, the Jefferson Starship's Dragonfly. By taking the name from Paul Kantner's Blows Against the Empire solo project, Dragonfly began the renewed focus on commercial FM which would turn into Top 40 airplay. Manhole is the antithesis of that aim, but is itself a striking picture of Grace Slick as the debutante turned hippy being as musically radical as possible…