Achim Reichels großer Wurf: "Blues in Blond" und der Super-Hit "Der Spieler". Nachdem Achim Reichel schon zuvor für "Ungeschminkt" (1980) mit einigen "Jungen Wilden" der deutschen Schriftstellergarde Songtexte geschrieben hatte, intensivierte er für "Blues in Blond" (1981) die Zusammenarbeit mit Jörg Fauser. In der Vorbereitungszeit setzten sich die beiden oft zusammen, entweder bei Fauser in Berlin oder bei Reichel am Großensee bei Hamburg, und legten gemeinsam Themen fest, zu denen Fauser dann die Texte verfasste. Die aus dem Album ausgekoppelte Single "Der Spieler" erwies sich als Super-Hit, brachte eine Einladung in die ZDF-Hitparade und erlangte Goldstatus.

Anamanaguchi is a four-piece band from New York and Los Angeles made up of Peter Berkman, Ary Warnaar,James DeVito, and Luke Silas. Their long-awaited album, [USA], will be released on Polyvinyl Record Co. in October 2019. "[USA] is the first Anamanaguchi album deliberately set in the real world." says Pete. "It's a kind of long-exposure photo that started when we chose the title in 2014." Ary says: "While fantasy can be an amazing way to experience beauty, happiness… feelings in general, it often stands tension with reality: in our interactions with other people and the world we live in. [USA] is inspired by the struggles of acknowledging the distinction between the two… a process so many of us seem to be undergoing.”

It has been just over two years since we received new material from PVRIS, but fear not! The trio are ready to present five smashing new tracks on the Hallucinations EP. Life has not been too shabby for Lowell, Massachusetts’ Electro-Pop Rockers PVRIS. Formed in 2012, the band made their epic debut in 2014 with White Noise. Media attention and a welcoming embrace from a growing legion of fans paved the way for their sophomore effort, All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell, which did wonders for the band. Awards and recognition poured in, allowing the eclectic PVRIS to share stages with everyone from Mayday Parade and States Champs to Pierce the Veil and Sleeping with Sirens, heavyweights Bring Me the Horizon, and Pop-Punk darlings Fall Out Boy.

Modern pop music never treated Katharine McPhee especially well. She hit the Billboard Top 40 only once, when her 2007 post-American Idol debut, "Over It," went to 29. Given this, a move to the Great American Songbook makes sense, and 2017's I Fall in Love Too Easily is indeed a classy affair. Produced by Don Was and recorded at Capitol Studios, the place where Frank Sinatra cut so many of his classic records, I Fall in Love Too Easily is a smoky, subdued set of standards. McPhee and Was don't opt for the unexpected, preferring songs that are well-known and sturdy, withstanding decades of renditions: "All the Way," "I'll Be Seeing You," "Night and Day," "I've Grown Accustomed to His Face."

This first Black Top release by honky tonker Bill Kirchen is an Americana roots-music vault of valuables. With plenty of traditional C&W riffs underscored by the brilliant pedal steel of one-time Ernest Tubb steel player Buddy Charleton and the powerful piano of Mitch Collins, this project is more than mere buried treasure that contemporary radio overlooked. Kirchen, a living legend of sorts, takes a very broad stance and combines the best elements of C&W, hillbilly, blues, rockabilly, and honky tonk music to come up with cuts like "Bottle Baby Boogie," a rip-it-up rockabilly tune that shows off Kirchen's guitar master skills, and "All Tore Up," another rocker. The Farrell-Preston song "Fool on a Stool" is given an outstanding retooling with plenty of steel that is true to the tenants of C&W music.

Visionary Italian composer and bass player Lorenzo Feliciati's new RareNoise release arises out of a long-sought after collaboration with Italian master percussionist and sound-designer Michele Rabbia. In Antikythera, named after the Greek 1st Century astronomical computation device discovered in a shipwreck early in the 20th Century, Feliciati and Rabbia coalesce studio improvisation with incredibly detailed post production work, to produce a 'musical mechanism' of rare elegance and precision, spanning a bridge between ecstatic electric jazz and exquisite soundscape design. Special guests on Antikythera include trumpeter Cuong Vu, saxophonist Andy Sheppard, Italian pianists Rita Marcotulli and Alessandro Gwis and Feliciati's Naked Truth and Mumpbeak bandmate, keyboardist Roy Powell.

'Short Stories' is the third album by ARQ, a renowned and widely celebrated jazz group led by bassist Alison Rayner. Their long list of accolades includes winning 'Ensemble Of The Year' award at the prestigious 2018 Parliamentary Jazz Awards and the People's Vote for 'Best Small Group' at the 2018 British Jazz Awards. ARQ's music combines richly nuanced compositions, rhythmic interplay and folk-tinged melodies. Along with their love of improvisation, this creates a compelling and coherent whole, creating a strong sense of narrative and cinematic quality. ARQ are known for their vibrant, communicative performances, so remaining accessible and appealing to those who appreciate a range of genres.

“Jan Willem de Vriend oversees a joyful account of Bach's festive music with light-footed responses to dance rhythms. I can whole heartedly commend this issue for its expressive warmth, its disciplined choral singing and its natural declamation.”

Featuring: Paul Brady, Tim Hart, Royston Wood
The Johnstons were a family folk group who were immensely popular in Ireland in the late 1960s. They recorded both traditional and contemporary folk material, some of the latter straying into folk-rock and pop-folk areas on occasion.

Essential: A masterpiece of Celtic-Folk music.
"Na Filí" terrific band! Within the musical simplicity of their three members: Irish flute, fiddle, uillean pipes and vocals.

Essential: A masterpiece of Celtic-Folk music.
Tomás Ó Canainn (1930 – 15 September 2013) was an Irish Uilleann piper, accordion player, singer, composer, researcher, writer and lecturer in both electrical engineering (principally control engineering) and music.

At a time when many aspiring musicians drew inspiration from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, these brothers set sail for Scotland in the hopes of making a name for themselves in Edinburgh’s burgeoning folk scene.

This double-LP is a very good introduction to the cream of Irish-Folk, but, as in any compilation some groups are missing and others are of lower rank.

Imelda May has found a new groove, exploring blues, soul, gospel, folk, rock, acoustic, cinematic drama and explosive balladry. She is setting a new course with a collection of the boldest, most personal and intimately autobiographical songs she has ever written. This is the album she’s always wanted to make.
“I’ve called it Life Love Flesh Blood because that encompasses everything,” says Imelda. “It’s all in there: birth, sex, love, divorce and death. It’s the story of my life.”