Since Westminster Mass (2000) established Roxanna Panufnik’s firm place among today’sleading British composers, she has often been celebrated for her choral music. Her instrumental and chamber works, however, are equally striking, filled with dazzling imagination and poetic lightness of touch. Her latest album Heartfelt encompasses compassion, tragedy and irresistible humour, while demonstrating her passion for exploring diverse musical cultures, from East Sussex to Myanmar.

SOMM RECORDINGS is pleased to announce a celebration of Favourite Orchestral Classics by Iain Sutherland and the Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Recorded in Munich in 1988 and Hanover in 1992, these glorious recordings bear the unmistakable stamp of the Scottish maestro’s reputation for emotion, colour and drama.

Swedish post-metal heroes Cult Of Luna return, with a little help from Mark Lanegan…
Cult Of Luna don’t do anything by halves. From their breath-taking collaboration with Julie Christmas, Mariner, to the full-on industrial assault of Vertikal, when these Swedes put their mind to something the end result is always monstrously huge. It’s with this in mind that of course the first release from their brand new record label, Red Creek, would be their very own EP - aptly named The Raging River.
For those that remember the ferocious return to their post-hardcore roots that encompassed 2019’s A Dawn to Fear, this latest dispatch won’t feel too unfamiliar…

Après le come-back en scène, Sixun est retourné en studio ! Dix ans après "Nouvelle vague", leur dernier album studio, et trois ans après le mémorable concert d'anniversaire à la Cigale – dont témoigne un DVD – les six de Sixun remettent le couvert. Contrairement à ce qui arrive avec ce genre de réunion quand elle n'est dictée que par des visées commerciales, cette reformation ne sent pas le réchauffé. Bien au contraire, la joie des retrouvailles est évidente, et le plus célèbre des groupes de fusion français n'a rien perdu de l'énergie communicative qui a fait son succès. Mieux encore, sans rien perdre de son esprit initial, la musique de Sixun a gagné en profondeur, en épaisseur et en couleurs, en s'enrichissant des expériences diverses de ses cinq membres originaux.

Viola Space in Tokyo is one of the world’s most important musical festivals dedicated to the viola and the music composed for it. Founded by Nobuko Imai – well-known to BIS followers as well as to lovers of the viola – it celebrates its 10th anniversary, and BIS was invited to document some of the 150 works that have been performed over the years. The program spans over more than 70 years, and the list of composer includes Schnittke, Per Nørgård, Penderecki and Oedoen Partos. Nobuko Imai herself performs two of the most exciting works on the two discs: György Ligeti’s Sonata for Viola Solo and Toshio Hosokawa’s Voyage VI for Viola and Strings. This last piece was composed only last year, and is dedicated Nobuko Imai. It forms part of a series of concertos “in which the soloist symbolizes man while the ensemble represents the universe, nature and world that surrounds us within and without”, in the composer’s own description. Among these a modern classic such as György Kurtág’s Hommage à R. Sch. – in which violist Junji Suganuma is joined by a clarinet and a piano – may be mentioned, as well as Viola, Viola, a constantly surprising duo by George Benjamin.

GREGORIAN MYSTICS is a compilation of material by the band Magna Canta, who layer medieval chants over mellow dance beats. Double disc anthology of the group that puts a modern beat underneath liturgical classics for an uplifting, pleasant experience.

"Disco Lies" was released as a single on January 21, 2008. It was released in Europe as the first single from Last Night, and well as the United Kingdom as a remix version by Freemasons. This version of the single contains six versions of this song, plus track "Clef", in which the vocals are an unknown woman counting in German.

On Election Day 2015, a pint of milk mysteriously appears at the gates of Parliament. Set in the week running up to a UK general election, The Other Place tells the true story of two musicians from Devon (Billie Bottle & Martine as seen on BBC’s The Voice) as they make their way slowly to Westminster.

Quartet Records and Paramount Music present the exciting monstrous score composed by Marco Beltrami and Marcus Trumpp for Paramount's new fantasy, LOVE AND MONSTERS. The film is about Joe Dawson (Dylan O'Brien), who, seven years after the Monsterpocalypse, has been living underground (along with the rest of humanity) since giant creatures took control of the land. After reconnecting via radio with his high school girlfriend Aimee (Jessica Henwick), who is now 80 miles away at a coastal colony, Joel begins to fall for her again.

CMDSMFH sees principal songwriter Jasamine White-Gluz mining and exploring fresh avenues, bringing you an orchestral interpretation of choice tracks from Motherhood. Once again pulling sonically from every corner she's mastered before—such as nu metal, trip hop, and shoegaze—the 5-song EP shows White-Gluz settling No Joy into a strange and confident harmony.

I'm a singer, song writer, mother and wife. Started singing at 3 and writing songs at 8. My parents sang in a gospel choir and taught me to sing harmonies with them at a very young age. Music has always been one of my strongest passions. Although my day job was engineering, my sanity was music. Many different things inspire me to write music; beauty, sadness, humor and love.

For his 14th album as a leader, he is joined by three rather impressive musicians. Organist Carey Frank has performed regularly with the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Eric Marienthal, Jane Monheit, Bob Mintzer, the Phat Cat Swingers and several groups of his own. Drummer Ben Scholz has been in groups with such notables as the late Roy Hargrove, Esperanza Spalding, Buddy Guy, Bill Watrous and Aaron Neville.

The debut album of Joe Lovano’s Trio Tapestry was one of 2019’s most talked-about releases. The trio’s musical concept – the Boston Globe spoke of “utterances of hushed assurance, lyricism and suspense” - is taken to the next level on its second album, Garden of Expression, a recording distinguished by its intense focus. Lovano, a saxophonist whose reach extends across the history of modern jazz and beyond, plays with exceptional sensitivity in Trio Tapestry. And the music he writes for this group - tenderly melodic or declamatory, harmonically open, rhythmically free, and spiritually involving - encourages subtle and differentiated responses from his creative partners. Joe describes their interaction as “magical”. Carmen Castaldi’s space-conscious approach to drumming further refines an improvisational understanding that he and Lovano have shared since the 1970s.

Syrius was formed by Zsolt Baronits in 1962, Budapest, mainly to play beat music. The band profile changed in 1970 when they started playing progressive rock and jazz-rock fusion, when Jackie Orszaczky (bass, vocal), László Pataki (organ), Mihály Ráduly (saxophone, flute) and András Veszelinov (drums) joined the band. They got a contract in Australia where they recorded their most famous album called 'Devil's Masquerade'. There's that early 70s experimental feel to it as well - especially in some of the saxophone parts here, you get sudden bursts of unbridled free-jazz inching its way through the orchestrated wilderness. Still you never loose focus - you're still infatuated by warm and vibrant melody lines, that for some reason always seem a bit hidden beneath these mad interventions - either emanating from the aforementioned sax or an altogether preposterous sounding flute…

The Classics label's superb series of McKinney's Cotton Pickers releases continues with this set, which features recordings from the original group as well as performances from Don Redman's swing orchestra of the late 1930s.