Last year, Vicky Leandros, one of the country's last great pop divas, declared her farewell to the stage. Versatile artists like her have become very rare. Since the sixties, Vicky, with her unmistakable voice and huge talent, was not only constantly at the top of the music business in Germany. She also made music history in international countries with over 55 million records sold worldwide and a total of 500 albums - dozens of which went gold and platinum

The magical world of the great Cuban-American woodwind master Paquito D’Rivera continues to expand. Over his seven decades in music, D’Rivera has become engaged with musicians hailing from locations all throughout the world. His most recent release, La Fleur de Cayenne, highlights his work with an ensemble of Cuban expatriates and a Colombian vibraphonist who call Madrid, Spain home with a group they call the Madrid-New York Connection Band.

Sinularia from Berlin are playing "Subwater Beats", their self- created genre. They combine Wonky Beats and Intelligent Dance Music inspired by Flying Lotus and Aphex Twin, Jazz and Improvisation, complexistic rhythms with floating melodies and chords out of the Electronica world. Jo Wespel (guitar, fx, composition), Felix Henkelhausen (double-bass, fx) and Max Santner (drums, fx) from Berlins young (post)contemporary scene are transforming their virtuosity to "refreshing and unpredictable colours" (Jazz'halo / Belgium).

"Phi-Psonics is a spiritual exploration of being together and connecting," says acoustic bassist Seth Ford-Young of the immersive project he initiated in East Los Angeles in 2016. For his third long-player under the Phi-Psonics banner, Ford-Young marshalled a series of live recordings at the Healing Force of the Universe record store in Pasadena, California, sculpting fourteen tracks, largely composed in the moment with a fluctuating cast of players, which wonderfully transmit his ideals of community and inner peace.

Saxophonist Chris Cheek's playing was once described by Steve Swallow and Carla Bley as "the very embodiment of gentle, graceful lyricism." They also referred to Cheek as "a master of the sucker punch." In this beautifully recorded session with the Bill Frisell Trio, Cheek opts for quiet jabbing, sedate tempos, and even outright accessibility over any sneaky wallops. Instead of igniting into an inferno that the instrumental power assembled would suggest, Keepers of the Eastern Door is content to simmer. The St. Louis, Missouri, native and Berklee graduate has always had a way with sentimental standards as he proved with the pair of live albums recorded at Barcelona's Jamboree Club in 2000.

In a world awash with superficial emotions and fleeting moments, Sophie Auster emerges with her fourth studio album, Milk for Ulcers, out via The Orchard. The album’s title stems from a candid dinner table discussion about outdated remedies: “Although milk may momentarily relieve ulcer pain, it can make it worse. It’s like putting butter on a burn,” Auster reflects. This striking irony encapsulates the spirit of the album—a deep exploration of healing and the complexities of emotional wounds.

A lot has happened in the miles and years we’ve covered together. Midnight at The Valencia is an honest account of some of the highs and lows we encountered and the stories we found along the way: ‘Ride Home’ unfolds a portrait of a boy we watched going off to war, only to see him return later a man; ‘Adeline’ is a melancholy love letter from a father to his daughter; ‘Morning Light’ follows a family man as he tries to rebuild his life after a divorce; ‘Breathe’ chronicles a tryst between illicit lovers fighting to slip the stranglehold of failing relationships; ‘Push/Pull’ is that plaintive rite of passage through loss and grief we all have to navigate; ‘Keep on Running’ is a cautionary tale of a friend’s brush with the unsolicited attentions of a stalker; and if ‘Holding my Breath’ is a confession to a partner of feeling trapped in a relationship, ‘Your Spark’ is the counterpoint finale: a thank you from one of us to his wife.

Instant Holograms On Metal Film is the first Stereolab album in 15 years, featuring 13 new studio recordings. Played by Laetitia Sadier, Tim Gane, Andy Ramsay, Joe Watson and Xavi Muñoz, with contributions from Cooper Crain and Rob Frye of Bitchin Bajas, Ben LaMar Gay (composer/jazz multi instrumentalist), Holger Zapf (Cavern of Anti Matter), Marie Merlet (Monade) and Molly Read among others. The groop will be playing live throughout 2025, with shows in Europe, North America, South America and the UK. The album follows Not Music released in 2010; remastered and expanded reissues of seven of their albums in 2019; and volumes 4 and 5 in the Switched On series appearing in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo', two generations of American blues masters, reunite to release their second album together, Room On The Porch, following their GRAMMY Award winning album, TajMo (2017). This historic collaboration between two blues giants, converges their extraordinary talents for an album of original songs and covers. In this 10-song set, the title track features award-winning singer-songwriter Ruby Amanfu.

When she was a child, Marc Ribot’s daughter drew a map of a city in deep, rich, vivid blue. When he praised her blue map, she corrected him: It's not a blue map, but a map of a blue city. That distinction stuck with him and eventually inspired a curious song called “Map of a Blue City. Map of a Blue City ruminates on what it means to be lost—the confusion and fear, of course, but also the excitement of so many undreamt-of possibilities. Its history is an odd map of its own, full of false starts, blind alleys, dead ends, and one inconceivable tragedy, all leading to what may be his definitive statement as an instrumentalist, as a songwriter, and even as a singer. While it’s not a singer-songwriter album, it is his first to center his plaintive, wise voice quite so prominently.

London-based trip-hop band Morcheeba left us floating in an ethereal haze on 2021's Blackest Blue, and this 11th album chases the same skies. On the aptly named Escape the Chaos, producer Ross Godfrey and singer Skye Edwards invite us on a journey into the above with the airy, acoustic textures of "Elephant Clouds" and "Far We Come," both of which lie in the same folk pop vein as the previous album, or on the excellent "Dead To Me" with its bossa nova guitar.

From the album opener, 'Move On', a song from 1974, to 'I Like the Things You Do', written as recently as 2023, 'The Vault' offers a comprehensive look at Felder's rich musical history. The album's title reflects this expansive journey through time, blending timeless rock anthems with heartfelt ballads in a way that only Felder can. What sets The Vault apart is the incredible roster of musical giants that have come together to lend their talents to the project. Felder is joined by true rock royalties including David Paich, Steve Lukather, Joseph 'Joe' Williams, and Greg Phillinganes of Toto, renowned drummers such as Greg Bissonette, Brian Tichy, Todd Sucherman, plus Timothy Drury, Nathan East, Nina Winter and Lenny Castro, among others.

With seven top 40 singles, six top 40 albums and over a million record sales worldwide, Turin Brakes return with a brand-new record - Spacehopper out 23rd May via Cooking Vinyl. Produced by the band alongside Grammy-winning Guy Massey (with credits such as Kylie Minogue, Ed Sheeran and Spiritualized), Spacehopper is their first new music in over three years and marks the 10th studio album from Turin Brakes, a big milestone for a band who released their debut album over 24 years ago - The Mercury Prize nominated The Optimist LP which catapulted them into the mainstream and achieved Gold status in the UK. They are a band that understands the art of longevity and Spacehopper promises to be a worthy edition to a rich and sonically diverse catalogue of albums, finding the South London 4-piece in a reflective mood…

Pop superstar Louise announces that her new album 'Confessions' will be released on May 23rd.

Agnes Giebel was a German classical soprano. She was born in Heerlen, in the Netherlands, where she lived the first years of her life. She studied at the Folkwangschule in Essen and made her first public appearance as a singer in 1947. Her career lasted until the 1990s during which she established a wide-ranging discography.