In January 2007 the New York Times took the bold step of printing an abridged lyric of a then-unreleased song as an “opinion editorial” piece. It was Randy Newman’s A Few Words In Defense Of Our Country (sic) and it became an internet sensation, with Newman’s caustic wit gaining an unlikely but appreciative audience. It set the scene for Newman’s first song-based record since 1999’s Bad Love. Harps & Angels is a tour de force of intellect and musicality. It has moments of hilarity (A Piece Of The Pie’s reference to Jackson Browne’s social conscience) that, like the most effective humour, deal with serious issues. Newman has never shied from confronting such matters, dealing with American identity, senile memory loss and foreign affairs with humour and a conversational ease, putting lesser songwriters to shame. A brace of ballads, Losing You and Feels Like Home, are tender moments reminding us of Newman’s way with bittersweet matters.

Debut album Knight In Shining Armour that will be released on Computer Science Records this month. It’s certainly a nu disco track, with its drawn-out, repetitive sections slowly ramping up to the chorus and back down again, serious bass grooves and fading filters. If it wasn’t already addictive enough, Yota presents some of her musical prowess and experience with expertly arranged singing and delicate melody. This one is sure to keep any house party going.

Two years ago, Avenged Sevenfold took everyone by surprise with The Stage, which showed the band elevating their ambitions and taking on board influences from Queen and Queensrÿche. In the process they came up with a brilliantly explosive and intelligent musical presentation.

Vicente Amigo returns to the roots. Flamenco is the place to which it belongs, the mythical terrain from which its art emerges, the one that so masterfully and on so many occasions has given it arguments for fusion: with jazz, with pop, with global music … It is not the case of Memory of the senses, which will be released on the street an album that oozes flamenco that purists like, that of authentic origins.

New album from Belgian jazz pianist Eric Legnini. A collection of short, pop and soul-oriented tracks, moving between acoustic and electronic music, and between yesterday and today. Eric Legnini has been serving jazz for twenty-five years; under his own name or as a special guest, the theme master has nothing much to prove. This particular chapter is not necessarily over, only this time he has decided to honour the raw material which fuels his work, the black wax in which his music has always dug deep for inspiration, and which has gradually shaped his style."Wax is my roots! Vinyl records, sampling, the seventies-all these are ingrained in my musical culture", says this record junkie who never misses an occasion to dig through a crate of LPs."This record contains all the kinds of music that nurtured me: from hip-hop to soul, from funk jazz to present-day r'n'b. I am not trying to hide the sources of my inspiration, I'm simply giving my own version of them."

Hadouk are back and this time as a quartet. A great new start and a complete success for this band that is constantly searching for new worlds. After more than 60,000 albums sold and many prestigious awards, Hadouk trio expands into a quartet for this new CD. Steve Shehan, who left to develop his own project playing the Hang has been replaced on drums by the great Jean-Luc Di Fraya. Eric Lohrer, who already played the guitar on a "Air Hadouk" piece, fully integrates the band. Their poetry and creativity takes them to new horizons, sometimes jazzier with Lohrer s guitar, or more imaginary with the voice of Jean-Luc Di Fraya which carries some tracks. Didier Malherbe on Doudouk and Loy Ehrlich on Gumbass are in great shape. As always. musicality and humor are in the air.

Progressive Metal titans Gojira will release their highly anticipated new album, 'Magma'. The follow up album to 2012’s L’Enfant Sauvage, Magma is heralded by the new single “Stranded”. Frontman Joe Duplantier commented, “We are very excited to release our new album Magma. We put everything we had into these songs. This album is our flesh and blood.”

Awake takes the name of an awakening. The awakening of a group that emerged from the Parisian jazz club scene, that innovates and makes its difference heard. The awakening of a sound that closely approximates song and melody, that asserts its sensitivity and its lyricism. Awake heralds the birth of a new generation of French jazz musicians.

Don't call it a comeback – sixteen years and a few hundred thousand sold copies after his internationally successful debut album "Newcomer", Llorca plants exciting new seeds with his soulful sophomore effort "The Garden". "The French Touch" excited listeners in the late Nineties and early Naughties. Combining influences from Soul, Jazz, Latin or African music with extremely elegant electronics, artists like St. Germain, Laurent Garnier, Daft Punk, or Llorca delivered their deep delights to sophisticated audiences in clubs and at parties around the world.

Jethro Tull’s tenth album was inspired by Ian Anderson’s departure to a more rural environment in a transition which bore clear influence on the writing and recording process, with the band notably doffing a cap to British folklore and countryside. Songs From The Wood is often referred to as one of the most commercially appealing Jethro Tull albums, containing elements of rock, prog and folk-rock. Although media reaction at the time divided opinion, the album has certainly developed a nostalgic rapport with fans through the years and it is perceived today as one of the band’s most popular albums. Drummer Barrie Barlow comments that it sounds “Fresh, unique, great textures, interesting and dynamic!”, while guitarist Martin Barre remembers that “It was a very tight band, one of the strongest line-ups Tull ever had… I think that Songs From The Wood and Heavy Horses [the follow up album] as a pair of albums are near the top of the tree”.

A l'instar des Corelli, Couperin ou Mondonville, Rameau reprenant ses pièces pour clavecin seul, à voulu dans ces transcriptions "en concerts" créer à partir d'un petit ensemble de chambre un effet chambriste, concertant, en tout cas, plus orchestral.

About the less than 40 extant compositions of father Antoine Forqueray (1672-1745) and his son Jean-Baptiste Antoine (1699-1782), scholars remain divided as to whom proper attribution belongs. One thing however, is certain: their music is of outstanding quality. Few others understood so well the expressive possibilities of the 7-string viol. The Forquerays, like all great artists, carry their music to the limit and explore all its facets. This is music that is, like all truly great music, completely "different"; an incomparable legacy dedicated to the expressivity of the viola da gamba.

Tous les plus grands succès des 'Enfoirés' revisités par la nouvelle génération. / All of the biggest hits of the 'Enfoirés' revisited by the new generation.

More than any question of instruments, strings, bows, tunings, or temperaments, the modern historical performance movement is about attitude—the desire to find in ancient music a living voice, filtered through vigorous scholarship, willing to experiment and push boundaries, and, most of all, capture the depths of emotion hidden in the score.

In September 1728, the Habsburg ruler Charles VI, Archduke of Austria, King of Germany, Hungary, Bohemia and Spain, Holy Roman Emperor etc etc, travelled to the Duchy of Carniola in order to inspect the port of Trieste. Antonio Vivaldi made the eighty-mile journey northeast of Venice to attend on him. It is not known whether the two men had met before, although the previous year Vivaldi had dedicated his twelve concertos Op.9, entitled La cetra (The Lyre), to Charles, suggesting they probably had met or at least corresponded.