Electronic Music from the Eighties and Nineties presents the soothing, hallucinatory side of Stone’s slow-evolving, time-bending composition. While we can’t always identify the source, we can hear that his sounds come from somewhere, and that there is a “correct” or “complete” version of them in theory; and so we can hear when they are being changed. What drives Stone’s music is the flow that he draws out of those differences: the way an Indonesian gamelan morphs into a chorus built from one female vocalist over the course of “Mae Yao”’s twenty-three minutes, the surprise emergence of a Mozart chorus out of the synths and skip-glitches of “Sonali,” or the slow, ambient evolution of “Banteay Srey”.

Haken are a full-fledged modern progressive rock band hailing from London, England. Their sound has evolved from the prog metal on 2010's Aquarius and 2011's Visions to a shapeshifting, kaleidoscopic amalgam of progressive metal, jazz syncopation, hooky electronic pop, and anthemic rock & roll as heard on their most mature statements The Mountain (2013) and Affinity (2016). Formed in 2007 by To-Mera guitarist and keyboardist Richard Henshall, Haken initially underwent a few line-up shuffles the group's personnel settled to include singer Ross Jennings, guitarist Charlie Griffiths (of Linear Sphere), keyboardist Diego Tejeida, bassist Thomas MacLean (also of To-Mera), and drummer Ray Hearne.

“Arise was the seed that exploded on Roots,” Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser thoughtfully notes. Those of you keeping score will note that this is Sepultura’s third dance with our Hall of Fame, a dB first. As for 1991’s Arise lighting the charge that blew five years and two albums later on Roots, well, you could interpret that in a variety of ways: vocalist/guitarist Max Cavalera was starting to test songwriting solitude; native Brazilian music and percussion was being explored and incorporated; the band transformed from “third world posse” into a finely honed professional machine. The commercial success of Arise not only made them darlings around the Roadrunner office, but presented them with a license to rewrite the rules.

Five years ago, after Dave Koz and Friends released Summer Horns—the GRAMMY-nominated album that paid tribute to classic songs featuring killer horn sections—all that the musicians could think about was how much fun they’d just had. They toured behind the album during the summer of 2013, then vowed to spend the following summer doing it all over again.

The legendary Belgian act, Soulwax, will release an album that was originally recorded for Pete Tongs BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix in May 2017 at the Dewaele brothers' studio in Ghent. They are the first artists to ever submit an entire hour's worth of original material for a BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix. Comprised of 12 tracks, named 'Essential One - 'Essential Twelve', each song on the album is based around the word 'essential' Recorded in just under two weeks, Essential was created using the gear they didn't use for their celebrated 2017 LP From Deewee, which was recorded with the band in one take.

Inspired by the mythology and pastoral beauty of his Czech homeland, Smetana's six tone poems that form Má vlast (My Fatherland) is one of the best examples of Nationalism in music. The stirring second movement depicts the river Vltava as it flows through the countryside and into Prague. Struck with deafness in 1874, Smetana would never hear a performance of what would become his most popular work.

When I was 16 years old, composer Jennifer Higdon was my imaginative, inspiring professor of twentieth-century music history at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She was also on her way to becoming one of the most-performed composers in America. A few years after graduation I participated in the premiere of Dark Wood, Jennifer’s bassoon quartet, and it went so well that we began talking about working together on a new violin sonata or concerto. But both of us were busy and years passed.

Robert Henry "Bobby" Timmons was an American jazz pianist and composer. He was a sideman in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers for two periods, between which he was part of Cannonball Adderley's band. Several of Timmons' compositions written when part of these bands – including "Moanin'", "Dat Dere", and "This Here" – enjoyed commercial success and brought him more attention. "This Here Is Bobby Timmons" is his debut album as leader, recorded in 1960 and originally released on the Riverside label.

A pair of groovy albums from Ray Conniff – both with a wonderful 70s vibe! "Alone Again Naturally" takes its title from the leadoff version of the great Gilbert O'Sullivan tune – and Ray conducts his group with a surprisingly bouncy vibe at times – mostly a sing-song mode that has the voices of the Conniff Singers hitting all their best bright modes. "Theme From The Godfather" has Ray Conniff taking on a host of mellow tunes from the mid 70s – mixing his full arrangements with a few electric touches, and really using the Ray Conniff Singers to their best effect! The whole thing has that subtle sensual quality that easy listening was hitting during the sexual revolution – quite a change from the Conniff groove of a generation before, and one that seems an even better fit for the vocals.