The resounding success Handel’s Messiah encountered the first time it was presented in Dublin in 1742 set the scene for its future. The oratorio depicts the Sacred History of Christ in three parts: the Nativity, Christ’s Passion and Resurrection and finally, Redemption. The alternance of airs and choirs is perfect and Handel’s musical knowledge infallible. Messiah quickly became the composer’s most successful work. It was played thirty-six times during his lifetime and has continued to be presented to modern day, embodying just how majestic and sublime music can be. During its première in London, King George II was so moved by the mythical Hallelujah! that he could not help but leap to his feet, with the entire audience following his lead. In the sumptuous Royal Chapel at Versailles, Hervé Niquet leads four impassioned soloists and a tremulous choir to the height of Handel’s most resplendent baroque edifice!

Roxette's 2011 comeback album, Charm School, was so successful – it hit number one in both Germany and Switzerland and was awarded gold certification in several countries and platinum status in Germany – that the band didn't wait too long before recording a new album. Released in March 2012, Travelling is the group's ninth album and a sequel of sorts to its 1992 album Tourism, sporting the same subtitle: Songs from Studios, Stages, Hotel Rooms and Other Strange Places…

Veteran Italian rock band Pooh formed in Bologna in 1966. During the late '60s, the band featured Roby Facchinetti, Valerio Negrini, Dodi Battaglia, and Riccardo Fogli, but after Negrini left in 1971, the band recruited guitarist, bassist, and vocalist Red Canzian plus drummer and percussionist Stefano D'Orazio, and began a long run as one of the best and most popular Italian rockers of their times. The band recorded for many labels, including CBS, Vedette, CGD (Compagnia Generale del Disco), and Warner Music Italy, selling over 100 million records in the process. Pooh continued to tour and record continually up into the 2010s, but in late 2016 they decided to call it quits by the end of the year, in order to complete their 50-year anniversary as a band. The concert album Pooh 50: L'Ultima Notte Insieme, recorded in mid-June at two shows in Milan, promptly hit number one in the Italian charts upon release in September.

Gama Bomb hail from Dublin, Ireland, where bandmembers Philly Byrne (vocals), Domo Dixon (lead guitar), Luke Graham (rhythm guitar), Joe McGuigan (bass and vocals), and Paul Caffrey (drums) were raised on a varied diet of video games, horror movies, comic books, and, most important of all, classic '80s thrash…

Honus Honus (aka Ryan Kattner) has devoted his career to exploring the uncertainty between life’s extremes: beauty and ugliness, order and chaos. The songs on Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between, Man Man’s first album in over six years and his Sub Pop debut, are as intimate, soulful, and timeless as they are audaciously inventive and daring.

Natural Selection is the highly-anticipated follow-up to drummer/ composer Dan Weiss’s 2018 release Starebaby, an unconventional compounding of doom metal, electronic music, and improvisation into a dark and mystic brew. The album was named to many best-of 2018 lists, including Rolling Stone, which described it as “an album that creates its own sonic cinematic reality,” while NPR called it “Astonishing… A true convergence of heavy trudge and spontaneous combustion.”

Years of apprenticeship with Albert Collins and John Mayall paid off handsomely for Montoya on this debut effort. Even with help from some famous friends (Debbie Davies, Al Kooper, Richie Hayward [Little Feat], and both former employers), Montoya asserts himself as the focal point. Sadly, this was one of Collins' last studio appearances before his death, playing on the Lowell Fulson-penned "Talking Woman Blues" (commonly known as "Honey Hush"). Although Montoya showcases his massive guitar muscle, it is merely a fraction of the power of his live performances.

About the new project, David told us, "'Workingman's Dead' was released when I was a teenager and was one of my first exposures to country and folk music. I tried to keep my performances in the spirit of the originals as much as possible — not so much re-invention, but simply enjoying those great feelings again from so long ago."

Four Tet has released a pair of new albums: Parallel and 871. The two albums follow Kieran Hebden’s most recent full-length Sixteen Oceans, which came out earlier this year. Hebden recently revealed that he and Madlib had finished work on the reclusive producer’s solo album Solo Ancestors, sharing the single “Road of the Lonely Ones.” He teamed with Thom Yorke and Burial for a pair of songs—“Her Revolution” and “His Rope”—earlier this month.

This Dutch band featured female vocalist Jerney Kaagman, twin brothers Chris and Gerard Koerts (Chris handled the guitars and Gerard handled the keyboards), bassist Hans Ziech, and drummer Ton v.d. Kleij. Earth & Fire had quite a few hits, like "Seasons" (1969), "Ruby is the One" (1970), "Wild & Exciting" (1970), "Invitation" (1971, released only as a single at that time), "Memories" (1972), and many more…

French pianist, composer, and bandleader Martial Solal's intuitive approach to improvisation has earned him an honored place among the greatest minds in all of jazz. Thoroughly versed in the tradition from New Orleans (he worked extensively with Sidney Bechet) to big-band swing to bop to post-bop and beyond, Solal has also composed chamber music, written scores for more than 20 films, and recorded more than 70 albums as soloist and leader. For more than 60 years, Solal has personified the cross-pollinated splendor of European jazz by utilizing styles and influences from both sides of the Atlantic to generate and sustain musical ideas that almost invariably come across as intelligent, pleasant, and gratifying.

Spiral Realms is the brainchild of legendary violinist Simon House of Third Ear Band, Hawkwind's finest era (In the Hall of the Mountain Grill, Warrior on the Edge of Time, Astounding Sounds, 25 Years On, Quark, Strangeness & Charm and PXR 5) and David Bowie fame. In 1995, he decided to take a brilliant track off Warrior called Spiral Galaxy 28948 (according to legend, his birth date!) and produce two albums of similarly spectacular, spacey, psychedelic and totally original electronic music of the highest caliber. The first one ,"Trip to G9" is a collaboration with American Len Del Rio (keyboardist with Nic Turner's Sphynx as well as Hawkwind side project Anubian Lights) and it is a most rewarding electronic symphony that owes a little to the Tangerine Dream/Klaus Schulze style but is way more violin driven which gives it a completely different aura…

With Joe Lynn Turner on board, Rainbow tried one crossover record and one no-frills hard rock record – which meant that Bent out of Shape, their third album with Turner, provided a fine opportunity to get a little arty. Not that the band has turned into Genesis or even returned to the mystical pretensions of its early work; they have merely broadened their horizons…

Chicago native and classically trained pianist Patricia Barber's sixth album is a collection of downtempo standards, perfect for a rainy day. Taking on classics like "Autumn Leaves," "I Fall in Love Too Easily," "Bye Bye Blackbird," or even "Alfie" is always a risk, but her confident vocals and interpretations eradicate any doubt that she is a master…

Obscure 90's Italian act apparently with a very short career. Pictures came from Torino and performed as a six-piece group with two guitarists, Lorenzo Ribola and Paolo Bonvicino, along with keyboardist Enrico Tumiati, drummer Roberto Pasquino, singer Livio Fazzalari and bassist Michele Maratea. Their first appearance comes on the 95' ''Molecole'' compilation of Kaliphonia label with the track ''Love Letters''. The group was lucky enough to have its sole album ''Painting the blue'' released on the major prog label Musea Records in 1997, after which Pictures' traces have been unfortunately lost.