The quintessential American power pop band, Big Star remains one of the most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & roll. Originally led by the singing and songwriting duo of Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, the Memphis-based group fused the strongest elements of the British Invasion era – the melodic invention of the Beatles, the whiplash guitars of the Who, and the radiant harmonies of the Byrds – into a ramshackle but poignantly beautiful sound which recaptured the spirit of pop's past even as it pointed the way toward the music's future. Although creative tensions, haphazard distribution, and marketplace indifference conspired to ensure Big Star's brief existence and commercial failure, the group's three studio albums nevertheless remain unqualified classics, and their impact on subsequent generations of indie bands on both sides of the Atlantic is surpassed only by that of the Velvet Underground.

Richard Steven Valenzuela, known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was a Mexican American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. A Rock and Roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens' recording career lasted eight months, as it abruptly ended when he died in a plane crash. In 2001 he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Award-winning Trombonist-arranger-composer Rob McConnell and his Boss Brass big band was a fixture on the Canadian jazz scene. The group was composed of Canada’s premiere jazz musicians, and many of their over two dozen albums have become collectors’ items for big band enthusiasts world-wide. Tribute was the second of three albums released by MPS.

Late Canadian jazz musician Rob McConnell's talents as a bandleader, arranger and trombonist are spotlighted on the Juno Award-winning Present Perfect. Notably, on the standard Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, he plays an adventurously off-kilter lead-in to the melody and then delivers a brilliant valve trombone solo. McConnell and his 22-piece brass band (including rhythm and reed sections) recorded this album in 1979 in Toronto and mixed it in Germany.

While big bands seemed to be fading fast during the late '50s and early '60s, bandleader Si Zentner was one of the few to front a successful big band - enjoying both critical and commercial acclaim.

While big bands seemed to be fading fast during the late '50s and early '60s, bandleader Si Zentner was one of the few to front a successful big band - enjoying both critical and commercial acclaim.

For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night is the fifth studio album released by the Canterbury scene band Caravan. Richard Sinclair and Steve Miller left the band prior to the recording of this album. They were replaced by John G. Perry and the returning Dave Sinclair. Viola player Geoff Richardson was added to the band.

In the Land of Grey and Pink is considered by many to be a pinnacle release from Caravan. The album contains an undeniable and decidedly European sense of humor and charm. In addition, this would mark the end of the band's premiere lineup. Co-founder David Sinclair would leave Caravan to form Matching Mole with Soft Machine drummer and vocalist Robert Wyatt in August of 1971.

Pianist and composer Hiromi Uehara, whose passionate and incendiary keyboard work has been a shining light on the jazz landscape since her 2003 debut, believes that the voice that never speaks can sometimes be the most powerful of all. This recording, simply titled Voice, expresses a range of human emotions without the aid of a single lyric.

(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) is the debut album from American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released in 1973. The album features several of the band's most well-known songs, including "Gimme Three Steps", "Simple Man," "Tuesday's Gone" and "Free Bird", which launched the band to national stardom. The album was certified gold on December 18, 1974, platinum and double platinum on July 21, 1987, by the RIAA. The album also peaked at 27 in the Billboard 200 in 1975.

Second Helping is the second studio album by Lynyrd Skynyrd, released April 15, 1974. It featured the band's biggest hit single, "Sweet Home Alabama", an answer song to Neil Young's "Alabama" and "Southern Man". The song reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in August 1974. This L.P. was the last to feature Bob Burns on drums. The album reached #12 on the Billboard album charts. It was certified Gold on September 20, 1974, Platinum and 2x Platinum on July 21, 1987 by the RIAA.

Nuthin' Fancy is the third studio album by the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released in 1975. It was their first to reach the Top 10, peaking at #9 on the U.S. album chart. It was certified Gold on June 27, 1975 and Platinum on July 21, 1987 by the RIAA. This was the band's first record with new drummer Artimus Pyle. In late May, guitarist Ed King left the band in the middle of their “Torture Tour”.

One of the most welcome releases of the year is Nikolaus Harnoncourt's new "Messiah" with the Concentus Musicus Wien… what makes this recording so satisfying is the warmth, serenity and pliant lyricism of the performance. We have come to expect fleet tempos from the early-music movement. If anything, Mr. Harnoncourt's tempos, over all, are spacious. The sweet-voiced tenor Michael Schade is given such freedom to shape the phrases of the accompanied recitative "Comfort ye my people," that you listen to these words as if you had never heard them before…The soprano Christine Schäfer and the alto Anna Larsson also do radiant and affecting work. The chorus sings with impressive clarity and full-bodied yet unforced sound…Mr. Harnoncourt adheres to the manuscripts and editions of the work he deems the most reliable, especially with regard to the size of the string ensembles in the various movements. But you will not be thinking about scholarly matters while listening to this revelatory recording.

"Machine Messiah" is the fourteenth studio album by the Brazilian metal band Sepultura. The band recorded "Machine Messiah" in Sweden with producer Jens Bogren. Machine Messiah is the band's first studio album in over three years, marking the longest gap between two studio albums in their career. The band stated the concept of the album, saying, "The main inspiration around "Machine Messiah" is the robotization of our society nowadays. The concept of a God Machine who created humanity and now it seems that this cycle is closing itself, returning to the starting point. We came from machines and we are going back to where we came from. The messiah, when he returns, will be a robot, or an humanoid, our biomechanical savior".

The quintessential classic bolero trio, Los Panchos were formed in New York in 1944 by Mexicans Alfredo Bojalil Gil and Chucho Navarro and Puerto Rican Hernando Avilés. The trio's innovative format, which would become a standard of the genre, featured three voices and three guitars, as well as Gil's distinctive use of the Mexican requinto guitar, an instrument he created himself, for all the lead parts. Los Panchos became one of the most famous Latin American musical acts of the 20th century, making their name synonymous with the bolero and exporting the genre all over the world, selling million of records, and appearing in countless films.