No overdubs, no sweetening, in fact, no extra music to flesh out this relatively slim double disc (available at a single price) that clocks in at a combined total of only 96 minutes: Welcome to one full Walter Trout performance, complete with between song patter as well as every note – and there are a lot of them – the guitarist played at this March 2000 show. Filled with blistering, unrefined, and unadulterated blues-rock, Trout has been playing shows identical to this for years in Europe where he is a fairly major star. The accomplished guitar slinger unfailingly delivers the sizzling six-string goods, especially in concert with his gritty yet undistinguished voice and frenetic leads.

Electric bassist Jimmy Haslip hasn't had a prolific solo career, Nightfall being his third release in eighteen years, since his debut, Arc (GRP, 1993). Haslip's energy has mainly been devoted to the Yellowjackets, the band he co-founded with pianist/keyboardist Russell Ferrante thirty years ago—a milestone celebrated with the release of Timeline (Mack Avenue Records, 2011), which finds Haslip and the band in truly fine form. That the Yellowjackets has overshadowed Haslip's solo career is unsurprising, though Haslip has also distinguished himself in guitarist Robben Ford and Allan Holdsworth's bands, in addition to amassing numerous credits as a producer. Nightfall reunites Haslip with keyboardist/producer Joe Vannelli, who also collaborated on Haslip's Red Heat (Unitone, 2000), and explores rhythmic and melodic terrain quite distinct from the Yellowjackets.

Richard Wagner called Die Walküre the “first evening” of the Ring of the Nibelung; he called Das Rheingold the prologue or Vorabend. Musically and dramatically, we are introduced to a radically new and different world when the opening bars of Die Walküre resound. A fully developed orchestral palette of Leitmotivs paints a wild storm scene, and the curtain rises on a modest dwelling: a fully human scene that has nothing to do with the gods, dwarves and nymphs of Das Rheingold. At the same time, however, the way Die Walküre portrays radical beginnings reveals some telling reminiscences of the unfolding of Das Rheingold. Die Walküre is exciting and deeply feeling drama.

Toby Driver is the driving force behind sonic experimenters Kayo Dot, and his colleague on this outing is musician, writer, and filmmaker Nick Hudson. They got together in February in New York for an outing to see Mr Bungle, and decided to make full use of their time by booking some studio time with engineer/producer Marc Urselli. Black Feather Under Your Tongue is the result on 90 minutes of recording, with a deliberate aim for spacious minimalism, all totally improvised. Efficiency at work, I think!

The fourth album from the multitalented Terence Trent D’Arby, “Vibrator,” may just be his best. Accessible yet eclectic, the England-based D’Arby has managed to balance the crossover sound of his late-1980s debut with the self-conscious avant-gardism of its successor. Favoring themes of spirituality and love, the supple-voiced singer tackles rock, funk and more with startling vibrancy.

Saxophonist/clarinetist and composer Louis Sclavis has displayed a relentless pursuit of the unknown in his recordings for ECM in particular and in his long career in general. Take L'Imparfait des Langues, for instance, his 2007 outing for ECM. While he's never used two bands that were exactly the same on his recordings for the label, this one is easily his most adventurous. The only remaining member of his past ensembles is drummer par excellence Francois Merville. The other bandmembers – alto saxophonist Marc Baron; keyboardist, guitarist, and electronician Paul Brousseau; and guitarist Maxime Delpierre – are all younger musicians who have very diverse musical backgrounds.

Warner Brothers issued limited edition (5,000 copies) promo-only Live at the Roxy album comprising a December 20, 1978 concert given by Larson at the Sunset Boulevard nightclub.

Influenced by dance, theater, and the fine arts, composer/clarinetist Louis Sclavis once again illustrates his increasing relevance to modern music thanks to this impressive 2002 effort. With his fifth outing for ECM Records, Sclavis continues his path of artistic excellence. This is a soundtrack for a recently exhumed French silent movie, though viewing the film shouldn't necessarily be a prerequisite for letting one's imagination delve into the visual aspects of this reconditioned antique. On this release, the clarinetist utilizes a dual string section to complement accordionist Jean-Louis Matinier's Parisian cabaret-type musings amid the quintet's shrewd instillation of movement.

The second ECM album from Swiss/Italian trio Third Reel takes its open-plan music to another level. Emanuele Maniscalco, Nicolas Masson and Roberto Pianca all bring music into Third Reel, and each of them has his own distinct compositional signature, but from the outset their pieces are “always conceived as material for multiple, unpredictable developments,” as Maniscalco says. Compositional guidelines are like gateways into fields to explore. Masson’s elegant clarinet and lean-toned tenor are emphasized on this recording, Maniscalco floats between drums and piano, quietly lyrical on both instruments, and Pianca is most often a kind of real-time orchestrator, subtly enfolding the interaction with swelling sustained chords, or underlining it with thick drones.

Louis Sclavis’s band of the season is the Atlas Trio, an ensemble with a global reach of reference. Chamber-improvisation, polyrhythmic grooves, minimalistic pulse patterns, enveloping ambience, rhapsodic piano and funky Fender Rhodes, distorted guitar, clarinet soliloquies, contrapuntal themes, free group playing, a bit of everything. An open-form aesthetic applies in multi-facetted music simultaneously exploratory and involving. Recorded in the South of France last September, the album - Louis’s ninth for ECM – features a programme of new Sclavis compositions, and is issued in time for tour dates including a major showcase at the Europa Jazz Festival in Le Mans.

Soulside Journey is the first studio album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was released 13 January 1991 by Peaceville Records. It is notable as the band's only death metal album, before they became an integral part of the Norwegian black metal scene.