This is classic Japanese progressive rock, circa 1989, when the genre was big over there. It’s of the keyboard laden multi-layered symphonic variety, akin to Mike Oldfield, with shades of Kitaro but with other instruments such as electric, acoustic, bass guitar and real drums. There are four tracks Highland (6:28), Nostalgia (5:50), Rogus (6:36) and the epic title track ‘Brilliant Streams’ (22:38). The music is pleasant late night, slightly new age, listening rather than the typical bombastic stuff British and American prog fans ears are tuned to, however that shouldn’t divert from the fact that this is a really good listen. Recommended for Fans of Mike Oldfield in particular!

During the late '80s, few metal bands were as controversial as Kingdom Come. With a Led Zeppelin resurgence in full bloom around this time but Page-Plant-Jones refusing to reunite for a tour, a void was created, and groups like Kingdom Come were more than happy to fill it. With a sound that was a carbon copy of the mighty Zep, Kingdom Come scored a hit with their 1988 self-titled debut, before sinking into obscurity shortly thereafter. But throughout the '90s and early 21st century, singer Lenny Wolf kept the group afloat – touring and issuing all-new studio albums (with a rotating cast of supporting players). And to show how extensive the "unplugged craze" of the '90s was, Kingdom Come even got in the act, issuing Live & Unplugged in 1996.

The pressure was on Kiss for their fifth release, and the band knew it. Their breakthrough, Alive!, was going to be hard to top, so instead of trying to recreate a concert setting in the studio, they went the opposite route. Destroyer is one of Kiss' most experimental studio albums, but also one of their strongest and most interesting. Alice Cooper/Pink Floyd producer Bob Ezrin was on hand, and he strongly encouraged the band to experiment – there's extensive use of sound effects (the album's untitled closing track), the appearance of a boy's choir ("Great Expectations"), and an orchestra-laden, heartfelt ballad ("Beth").

By sheer coincidence, this album was recorded a few months before and released just one month after the 1987 stock market crash; hence the upticking curve on the graph depicted on the jacket became a positive antidote of sorts to the financial screwups of the time. But without even seeing the jacket, one is always aware of the good vibes these tenor players generate in these small-combo contemporary swing sessions. Already in his 70s, Flip still plays with mature, husky soul, a slightly wailing upper register, and a feeling for space, while Hamilton's busier, directly booming tone becomes a neutral foil. Of the eight tunes, five of them are by Phillips, and the two rarely miss an opportunity to trade riffs good-naturedly in a friendly JATP manner. Good supporting cast, too, with guitarist Chris Flory making his mark as the ghost of Charlie Christian peers over the music stand.

The year 2017 marked the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love. On this occasion, many finds from the London Underground music scene found their way into the public ear again. Now, with a little delay, perhaps the most important rediscovery from the time of Swingin' London is available: Iapetus presents with this compilation for the first time a comprehensive review of the work of the legendary British band Banging Colours. During the short period of their existence in London from 1967 to 1969, Banging Colours around keyboarder and singer Manny Wolfe were considered one of the most important and influential bands of their time. Joint appearances with Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Pretty Things or Tomorrow consolidated this status as well as their innovative light show, which gave the band its name.

Peter Hammill has always had an abiding interest, it seems, in the blurred boundary between the mystical and the scientific, and between the rational and magical mind; this is certainly evident on the debut Van Der Graaf Generator album, even though Hammill had yet to really begin focusing himself on what it was that was driving him (despite the fact that the band's very name referenced a device that resembles a bastard mix of scientific apparatus and shamanic totem)…

"I'm not Bob Dylan, but I never miss a beat" sings Nils Lofgren on 1977's I Came to Dance, a very polished collection of nine songs produced by the guitar virtuoso and drummer Andy Newmark…

As the '50s drew to a close, so did Thelonious Monk's illustrious tenure on Riverside Records. In fact, the three dates needed for this title would be his penultimate for the label. The album's concept placed five Monk originals into a five-person (read: quintet) setting. Ironically, this was the first time that Monk had recorded with a lineup that so prominently displayed a "standard" bop rhythm section with both a trumpet and sax player. The quintet on 5 by Monk by 5 (1959) finds the pianist supported by Thad Jones (cornet), Sam Jones (bass), Art Taylor (drums), and Charlie Rouse (tenor sax) – who would continue working with the artist as Monk's (more or less) permanent tenor saxophonist for the majority of the '60s. In what had become somewhat of a tradition, the disc's program boasts several of Monk's more established melodies coupled with a few recent works.

Both of us have grown up with this music from the cradle of our earliest infancy; […] It is music that allowed us to become what we are, while at the same time encouraging us to question things constantly. […] Now, playing the music – because, as we all know, we play rather than make music – has become a part that each of us plays, played here as a double act. Each one for himself, with his instrument as a crucible, and at the same time each of us for the other, since after all we are engaged in a performance.

17 Track dutch compilation featuring Phil Collins, Carly Simon, Van Morrison, Simply Red & More.

Opa was a band formed in United States by uruguayan musicians: Hugo and George (Osvaldo) Fattoruso and Ringo Thielmann. Hugo and Osvaldo were playing since their childhood, formerly in the "Trio Fattoruso", together with their father, and later in the Hot Blowers in Uruguay (a Jazz Band), were also played Ringo. In the 60's, the Fattoruso brothers formed the successfull band "The Shakers", an Beatles-influenced band. It was after the split of The Shakers when the Fattoruso brothers moved to the United States, where they met again with Ringo Thielman, and started playing music in night clubs. They were "discovered" by Airto Moreira and invited to play with him, they were the band in Airto's Fingers LP from 1973, and played in the live show at Madison Square Garden with Airto in a show together with Eumir Deodato (later released as Deodato/Airto in Concert).

This thought-provoking, modern-day interpretation of Rossini’s “Mosè in Egitto” sets the scene for superior music-making at the prestigious Rossini Festival in Pesaro. For conductor Roberto Abbado, the transposition of the action to the present day releases the energy of Rossini’s music. At his disposal is a cast of top-quality vocalists such as the “refined bel canto artist” (Bresciaoggi) Sonia Ganassi as Elcia, and the “outstanding” Dmitry Korchak as the Pharaoh’s son, two lovers fatefully drawn into the political turmoil and catastrophes of their time. Also among the protagonists are the “thoroughly brilliant” (DeutschlandRadio Kultur) baritone Alex Esposito as Faraone and, in his Rossini Festival debut, young, full-bodied bass Riccardo Zanellato as Moses. Conductor Roberto Abbado “inspired his musicians to deliver a spectacular performance” (Salzburger Nachrichten).