"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.

Features Leeds based cult mod band The Outer Limits’ complete recordings. Including their rare, sought after pop soul singles ‘When The Work Is Through’ and ‘Just One More Chance’ plus freakbeat flip ‘Help Me Please’ and the psychedelic pop gem ‘Great Train Robbery’. Featuring 14 previously unreleased demos from the vaults of The Outer Limits’ singer songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist Jeff Christie who has compiled this set.

Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter. His integration of rock and pop elements into the country genre has earned him immense popularity in the United States. Brooks has had great success on the country single and album charts, with multi-platinum recordings and record-breaking live performances, while also crossing over into the mainstream pop arena.

It had to happen sometime, and after about 30 years of piecemeal Yardbirds compilations, here it is: a lengthy best-of anthology that manages to cross-license material from the Clapton, Beck, and Page eras.

Here is another collection of popular classical favourites interpreted by Sir Neville Marriner.

Teddy Wilson is often referred to as the definitive swing pianist, stylish, elegant and technically and artistically brilliant, and adept in any setting, be it solo, small bands or orchestras, as a leader or sideman, and renowned as one of the most sensitive and sought-after accompanists, especially by female vocalists of the day. He was especially celebrated for his work with Billie Holiday. In the era before the introduction of the Billboard charts in 1940, Joel Whitburn’s respected book “Pop Memories 1890-1954”, which lists artists hits based on various sources, and also the Your Hit Parade chart published by the popular radio show, are treated as the most reliable guides as to what were “hits”. This 46-track 2-CD collection comprises all Teddy Wilson’s 38 career hits based on those sources under his own name, along with selected A & B sides from this era. It Includes the No. 1 hits “Carelessly” and “You Can’t Stop Me From Dreaming”, and other Top 3 hits with “The Way You Look Tonight”, “Pennies From Heaven” “There’s A Lull In My Life” and “Remember Me”. It features performances by featured vocalists Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Helen Ward, Red Harper and others, and recordings with major jazz names likes Roy Eldridge, Lionel Hampton, Ben Webster, Cootie Williams, Harry Carney, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Cozy Cole, Harry James, Buck Clayton and more, featured in his ensembles. Looking at his career from a particular angle, his hits, it’s a great showcase for an important and influential artist.

Thomas Anders' viertes Remake-Album der Modern Talking-Reihe ist »In The Middle Of Nowhere« und soll Anfang August 2025 erscheinen.

When this came out in 2003, it marked the first studio release by the Yardbirds in 35 years. In that time, of course, the personnel had changed quite a bit. Even those inclined to get excited by reunions of great bands should know right off that it includes just two original members, drummer Jim McCarty and rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja (though Jeff Beck plays guest guitar on one number, "My Blind Life"). Rounded out by three "new" members (including bassist John Idan, whose lead singing sounds fairly close to original Yardbirds vocalist Keith Relf in style and tone), the record also features guest lead guitar cameos by Jeff Baxter, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Brian May, with Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls singing lead on "For Your Love"…

The name of Hiawatha's Wedding Feast cantata may not mean much to today's music lovers, apart from a few enthusiasts, but you have to imagine that up until the last war, before the work and its composer fell into oblivion, this superb score was one of the most famous and frequently performed choral pieces in the United Kingdom. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, then barely twenty-three, had suddenly burst onto the scene in a British musical milieu that was still somewhat conservative, and caused a sensation with this fresco inspired by the native American myths put into words by Longfellow (a poem that is said to have inspired Dvořák when writing his “Symphony from the New World”!) The first part, Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, is particularly famous, and was first recorded in 1930 under the baton of Sir Malcolm Sargent. The conductor, who was particularly fond of this work, repeated the experiment at the head of the Philharmonia Orchestra some thirty years later to give a reference version, made available for the first time for the celebrations around the composer’s 150th anniversary.

Claudio Arrau (1903-1991) is a pianist fully deserving of the epithet 'legendary'. His rigorous intellect and sense of the sublime found expression in his transcendent technique and sumptuous, yet lucid sonorities. The recordings in the recently released 24CD collection - made for Columbia Graphophone, Electrola, HMV, Parlophone and Telefunken between 1921 and 1962 - represent a significant portion of his legacy and are indispensable to his extensive discography. They can now be heard in their full glory, thanks to a process of restoration and HD remastering using the original tapes (for recordings from the LP era) or the best available source (for 78s). Among them are four world premiere releases: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 30 op. 109, a Chopin étude, and two pieces by Liszt.

The charming young soprano Martina Janková has amid fierce international competition established a firm position within her category. Since 1998 she has been a soloist of the Zurich Opera, working with conductors of such renown as Gardiner, Harnoncourt, Fedoseyev, Herreweghe and Rattle. Under Gardiner, she has also participated in recordings of Bach's cantatas. Yet, as in the case of this album, she keeps returning to the song repertoire, which simply suits her voice perfectly. Her Haydn is unpretentious, yet she captures all the nuances of expression and colour amid the spectrum of moods of individual songs.

The 2013 re-release features new keyboard arrangements and was completely remixed and remastered by David Castillo, as the band wasn't satisfied with the overall sound and production of the original release.
The Swedish kings of gloom and doom return with perhaps their mst balanced outing yet. Two years after Discouraged Ones marked a turn from the dark metallic mayhem of earlier records uch as Dance of December Souls and Brave Murder Day, it was 2000's Tonight's Decision and 2001's Last Fair Deal Gone Down that carved out the uniqueness in their sound. Here are equal parts dark gothic pop, crushing heavy rock, textured keyboards, lithe pop melodies, beautifully crafted songs with unique dynamics and sculpted sonic environments to surround them, and bleak, even morose subject matter. ..

Three works by three women composers from three different countries, each piece with its own original idiom, are performed here by the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra under the direction of its dynamic conductor and artistic director Malin Broman. Three works that assuredly deserve a wider audience! The Sea Sketches by Welsh composer Grace Williams open the programme. Inspired by the beaches of Glamorganshire and by its seascape, this five-movement work seems in constant motion and evolution. One can practically taste the salt spray and feel the power of the waves.

The CD’s contain rehearsal highlights from one of the most memorable periods in Elvis’ career - his captivating performances at The International Hotel Las Vegas in the summer of 1970. These truly historical recordings, remastered and restored capture the raw and early development of songs that were performed weeks later in Las Vegas. The accompanying 40-page booklet includes rare photographs taken at some of these rehearsal sessions.