The phrase 'Lovely Thunder' suggests a beautiful sound with an undertone of menace. One need go no farther than "Gypsy Violin," the last song and centerpiece of the album Lovely Thunder, to hear how Harold Budd takes the phrase and forges a musical equivalent. Underneath the plaintive melody of the synthesized violin and an occasional foghorn-reminiscent bass note lies a bed of synth chords that are present throughout, sometimes adding notes, sometimes dropping them, sometimes moving a chord up or down a key and into dissonance with the rest. The overall result is an undulating base that never quite lets the listener settle onto firm ground, giving the song a distinct edge. Drones do figure prominently as a musical base for many of the album's other songs, yet the music is generally more akin to the reverberated keyboard treatments Budd utilized to stunning effect on his two collaborations with Brian Eno. Those looking to explore beyond The Plateux of Mirror and The Pearl would do well to give this album a listen, as they will most likely be both challenged and satisfied.

With a vibrant, versatile voice (sounding at times like an inspired mix of Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt) capable of adding subtle emotional shifts to slow-burning ballads or rocking out with the big boys, Susan Tedeschi burst on the scene at the close of the 1990s like a breath of fresh air in an era of prefab MTV teen idols. Like Raitt, Tedeschi works from a blues base, but she mixes in a strong sense of R&B and gospel, and with Back to the River, her second release for Verve Forecast, she shows that she's really starting to find herself as a songwriter, as well. Tedeschi wrote or co-wrote all but one of the 11 tracks here, and while one could still say these songs are based in her beloved blues, like Raitt, she has branched out from there to become a solid pop artist with a real and accessible vision, and the blues is just the engine under the hood. There are some wonderful moments here, including the big and funky title track, "Back to the River," which Tedeschi co-wrote with swamp pop master Tony Joe White, the sincere and solid "Learning the Hard Way," co-written with Gary Louris of the Jayhawks, and the impressive "Butterfly," which Tedeschi' co-wrote with her husband, Derek Trucks.

There's something about a post-millennium album cover that features a giant blue-horned minion of Satan in pre-pounce with an illuminated crystal ball in its leathery hand that simply warms the soul, and the fact that it adorns a record called Master of the Moon can mean only one thing: Dio. Unlike many in the aging metal community, Ronnie James Dio still possesses the same powerful voice that fueled the genre through its late-'70s and '80s heydays, and the reigning dark prince of Elfdom and two-time Black Sabbath frontman is still capable of writing a killer song or two. MOTM resembles earlier works like Last in Line and Sacred Heart in its ability to buffer those one or two great tracks with seven or eight forgettable ones. Luckily, it's the first one out of the gate, "One More for the Road," that packs the biggest wallop…

This 2011 budget-priced U.K. collection offers up a nice balance between Thin Lizzy’s radio hits ( "Boys Are Back in Town", "Whiskey in the Jar", "Killer on the Loose", "Dancin’ in the Moonlight") and overlooked gems like "Soldier of Fortune", "Opium Trail", and "King’s Vengeance". Twenty tracks strong, Waiting For An Alibi: The Collection holds its own against other single-disc overviews like 2004’s Greatest Hits and 2006’s Definitive Collection (2002’s exhaustive box set Vagabonds Kings Warriors and Angels still provides the most bang for the buck) and provides the perfect gateway for listeners looking to get their first fix of Ireland’s first heavy rockers.

The group's fourth and final studio LP, Western Culture remained for a long time Henry Cow's hidden treasure. Two factors were instrumental to its occultation (and one more than the other): first, it was not released by Virgin like the other ones; second, it did not have the "sock" artwork common to its brothers. Obscurity aside, Western Culture remains one of the group's strongest efforts in the lines of composition, especially since the unit was literally torn apart at the time. Side one consists of a suite in three parts, "History & Prospects," written by Tim Hodgkinson. The opener, "Industry," stands as one of Henry Cow's finest achievements, the angular melody played on a cheap electric organ hitting you in the face so hard it makes an imprint in your brains…

Previously available only on a limited Japanese edition. These two sessions were produced by Lee Kraft in 1957 featuring the inimitable tenor saxophonist John Coltrane in two different formats; a quintet with Donald Byrd, Walter Bishop, Jr., Wendell Marshall and Art Blakey, and a 15-piece big band organized by Blakey. Coltrane was featured prominently in both settings and played exceptionally throughout. While the other soloists were all top-notch musicians, Coltranes compositions and performance clearly stole the show. His solos were powerful and confident, ripping out sequences of 16th note lines that soared over the full range of the horn with complete command.

Representing the sixth generation of a family of musicians and sarod masters and it's tradition known as the Senia Bangash Gharana, Ustad (maestro) Amjad Ali Khan is steeped in the classical Indian tradition of ragas and talas, which he learnt first from his father and guru Ustad Haafiz Ali Khan from the court of Gwalior, a true capital of North Indian classical music since the height of the Mughal Empire. In turn, Amjad Ali Khan has been guru to his two sons, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangaash, so the family tradition continues with a seventh generation and flourishes on the world stage as never before.