As menacing and unhinged as ever, the pride of Staten Island is back with their fifth full-length offering, V. Raw and absent of the modern technological trappings, the Budos pick up where they left off with 2014’s Burnt Offering, and finds the Budos expanding on the brooding, fuzz-fueled riffs, whilst harkening back to the Ethiopian inspired rhythms and percussive proclivity that put Budos Band on the map.

Nikoghayos Tigranian belongs to the first generation of composers and folk song collectors who laid the foundation of an Armenian national style. Tigranian’s piano transcriptions of folk dances is perhaps his most important legacy, emulating folk instruments and capturing and preserving colourful depictions of Armenian folk life that are simple in texture and rich with harmonic and melodic detail. His interest also extended to Persian improvisational vocal-instrumental poems or mugams; expressive pieces that influenced contemporaries and subsequent generations of composers.

This recording features two major works of the chamber repertoire – one by Antonín Dvořák, the other by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The two composers were contemporaries, born just a year apart: Tchaikovsky in 1840 and Dvořák in 1841. In the 1880s (Tchaikovsky’s Op.50 dates from 1881, Dvořák’s Op.65 from 1883), neither man was known for his chamber music – Tchaikovsky’s reputation was based on his opera and ballet scores (works such as Eugene Onegin and Swan Lake), while Dvořák had made his name with works influenced by Slavonic folk music (the Moravian Duets and Slavonic Dances). Each of these two piano trios therefore has its own unique character, and both works signal new directions in the style of their respective composers.

Over the past five years, pianist Anna Vinnitskaya has made three Alpha recordings dedicated to Shostakovitch, Brahms et Rachmaninov.

Chopin’s Piano Concertos are works of a twenty year old composer and ambitious soloist. Powerful and challenging, their romantic dimension also carries sensitive effusions. This duality is highlighted here by an interpretation on period instruments in a chamber version.

Recently described as a "new personality that truly stands out from the typical trends and artifices offered on the international scene…"

The second record of the 2018/2019 season is also dedicated to Ludwig van Beethoven.
Conductor Laurence Equilbey is fascinated and inspired by the unconventional, hybrid character of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Triple Concerto. She sees it as “the root of their originality, which gives them a special place in Beethoven’s output and in the history of music as a whole.” Their fusion of genres is reflected in performances that unite the period instruments of Equilbey’s Insula orchestra and soloists – pianists Bertrand Chamayou and David Kadouch, violinist Alexandra Conunova and cellist Natalie Clein – who are best known for playing modern instruments.

Robert Schumann’s talismanic song-cycle Dichterliebe has been recomposed by German composer and conductor Christian Jost. The results can now be heard on an album from Deutsche Grammophon which pairs the new score with recordings of Schumann’s Dichterliebe and the Liederkreis op.39 made by Jost’s wife, mezzo-soprano Stella Doufexis, a year before her tragic death from cancer. Jost’s reimagined Dichterliebe, performed by tenor Peter Lodahl and the Horenstein Ensemble, casts new light on the shifting moods of Schumann’s composition. Dichterliebe is set for worldwide release on April 12 via Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company.

"Loco Cello" is an ambitious musical adventure that forges close ties between classical music, jazz, and world music. Four musicians breathe together and reinvent the notion of string quartet by combining two guitars, a cello, and a double bass, around a melodic and swing air chamber music. A quartet composed of two duets, one rather classic, which combines the guitarist Samuel Strouk with the cellist François Salque. The other duet, between guitarist Adrien Moignard and bassist Jérémie Arranger, is much more jazz and swing. Loco Cello is a string quartet of modern times, an atypical quartet of chamber, where emotion, complicity and virtuosity go hand in hand.

Une nouvelle fois, M. Pokora voit les choses en grand. Il se retrouve donc au sommet d’une Pyramide depuis lequel il pratique une introspection brut de décoffrage.

Alive started out as an acoustic album, but little by little I realized that there was no way I could interpret all of the songs acoustically, so I gave into electricity! It was a very long time in the making. Some songs go back 30, 40, and even 50 years and some are brand new. There are lots of different kinds of songs. If there's one big theme it's that there's absolutely no theme. I wasn't listening to the radio or what was going on around me musically, I just recorded songs that I had wanted to do for a long time or now.

Live At The Observatory was recorded on 9/8/18 at the sold out kick-off show for the band’s Hypochondriac album tour. The San Diego based band will be supporting the live album with performances at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival (Indio, CA) in April, and additional tour dates to follow. The live record features tracks from the band’s entire catalog including five tracks from their 2018 album Hypochondriac. A must have any fan of The Frights!

LSD is the collaborative super group comprising Sia, Diplo and Labrinth. The group evolved as a natural kinship amongst artists, initiated by songwriters Labrinth and Sia who came together one night to write a song and quickly realised there were many more waiting to be penned. Their undeniable musical chemistry evolved and they were soon joined by Diplo, who rounded out the trio. This is their debut album release featuring the global hit single 'Thunderclouds'.

"If you stick to just what you know, your music, your art or whatever your situation is becomes stagnant", say Denmark's Lowly. "And we wouldn't like to miss out on anything, just because we felt too comfortable."A band unafraid to reach beyond their comfort zone, Lowly thrive on the embrace of doubt and curiosity. An inquisitive spirit drives the quintet's second album, which evolved from an open-ended process in large spaces, from lost factory halls to water towers. Released via Bella Union, Hifalutin brims with suggestive discoveries from its title onwards. Dictionary definitions include "pompous" and "larger than life"; the word is also antonymic with the word Lowly.

Following the release of singles “Rad Drugz” and “Temple Priest” (feat. Paul Wall and Kota the Friend) earlier this year, alt-electronica duo Missio have shared another new track, “I See You.” To date, much of Missio’s material – including their 2017 debut full-length album, Loner – has explored Matthew Brue’s struggles with addiction, alcoholism, and mental illness, but this time he’s turned his focus outward. On “I See You”, Brue turns to those who are “down and depressed, just a mess” to let them know they’re not alone. If you’ve ever felt like no one understands you, or like you’re completely alone.