Born in Tutwiler, Mississippi, the blues legend John Lee Hooker transferred the Delta Blues to his playing of the electric guitar. He developed his own style, which combined talking blues with an impulsive rhythm boogie style. Some of his most famous songs are "Boogie Chillen", "Crawling King Snake", "Hobo Blues" and the title track "Boom Boom". This compilation also includes a cover version of Eddie Boyd's “Five Long Years” as well as John Lee Hooker's 1949 chart single “Hobo Blues”. The album is digitally remastered and contains 44 recordings from 1949 to 1964.

Starting in the mid-'80s, guitarist Chieli Minucci and percussionist George Jinda co-led Special EFX, an unclassifiable group who combined together aspects of fusion, world music, rock, and pop in their own unique sound. Special EFX was a fixture on the GRP label during 1985-1993. This CD has 15 selections drawn from eight of their GRP sets and features the co-leaders (who take "Udu Voodoo" as a duo) joined by up to five other musicians, including several keyboardists, bassist Mark Egan, and drummer Dave Weckl. The melodic music (which often has electric keyboards as the lead along with Chielli's guitars) is full of complex pop rhythms, catchy themes, passionate solos, and subtle surprises. Although certainly not for jazz purists, Special EFX has their own interesting appeal and this sampler CD acts as an excellent introduction to their unusual and accessible music.

"Call Me" was a comeback record for the critically acclaimed female soul vocalist Ann Peebles, produced by Hi Records-production-genius Willie Mitchell and released on his own Waylo label.

While this first recording of 32 of Costanzo Festa’s 125 variations on the popular cantus firmus melody La Spagna is expertly performed and sounds terrific, this definitely is a disc that will appeal primarily to specialists and other devotees of 16th-century instrumental music. Listeners who appreciate such things will be fascinated with Festa’s imaginative and highly skilled treatment of the 37-note “theme”, which he preserves intact throughout each of his contrapunti, which employ varying numbers of parts, from three to 11. The latter, Contrapunto 125, which is “the last variation of the manuscript”, is grand and richly harmonious and Paul Van Nevel’s choice of instruments fully exploits these attributes.

The musical duo Perrey and Kingsley are pioneers in the field of electronic music. Before their collaboration, starting in 1965, electronic music was considered to be purely avant-garde. They were among the first to create electronic music for the general public.

10 Times Grammy Award winning artist Chaka Khan returns home to Chicago’s Harris Theatre to perform a selection of her greatest hits in front of an enthusiastic hometown audience. "Homecoming" features Chaka Khan and her 12-piece band performing hit songs from the span of her entire career.

In the original St. Petersburg version of 1862. Giuseppe Verdi’s drama of love and destiny in times of war remains one of the best–known operas by this Italian master. In the „Milan version“ of 1867, it has become an essential part of the repertoire of great opera houses, both in Europe and further afield. This DVD video recording, however, is quite distinct from the numerous other recordings currently available: the conductor Valery Gergiev has used the rarely–heard original 1862 version, composed for St. Petersburg, and containing wonderfully dramatic scenes and arias later deleted from the „Milan version“. And furthermore, the stage–set for this 1998 live recording in the Marinisiky Theatre recreates the original designs produced by Andreas Roller for the St. Petersburg premiere over 130 years ago.

The track list is designed for mainstream dance music fans, who love current club hits and dance anthems alike and trust MoS to curate the best playlists around - these will be the first two mixes on the album to help you Go Hard. Disc 3 however will be the latest commercial offering in chilled house - because if you do decide to Go Home, you can still have a little bit of a party (without rolling in the door at 7am).

This is an amazing double CD tribute compilation - to commemorate 40 years in the business, Kool & The Gang has teamed up and remade many of their top hits top to bottom featuring many of todays most up & coming vocalists and artists. I am quite surprised that this project has not made more of a splash in the states, yet…

The West Coast's answer to The Last Poets, The Watts Prophets played an integral part in the raising of black consciousness and laying the foundations for rap. Formed at the Watts Writer's Workshop, Anthony "Amde" Hamilton, Otis O'Solomon, and Richard Dedeaux began performing together as Watts Prophets, setting their socially and politically conscious poetry to spare, often jazzy musical backing. They made high-profile guest appearances on Stevie Wonder's Songs In The Key of Life and Quincy Jones' Mellow Madness. And were later the subject of an Emmy-nominated documentary, Victory Will Be My Moan. In 1969, the group debuted with The Black Voices: On the Streets in Watts and, two years later, followed with Rappin' Black in a White World, which featured accompaniment by ex-Motown songwriter/pianist DeeDee McNeil. The radical, incendiary tone of their work fit right in with the emerging black power movement and attracted unfavorable notice from the government, with the home of the Watts Writers Project being destroyed by fire in 1975 after having been infiltrated by an FBI informant. Throughout the years, they've remained sporadically active as performers, and were rediscovered by the hip-hop generation as their records were sampled frequently by many hip-hop artists including Ice Cube, Digable Planets, and Coolio. The Watts Prophets remain dedicated community activists today, promoting creative self-expression and the arts to young people around Southern California and beyond. Two bonus tracks. Deluxe Arigato Pak! Water Records. 2005.

Pink Floyd have surprised fans with the release of a dozen live albums documenting some of their gigs from the early ’70s.

Pink Floyd have surprised fans with the release of a dozen live albums documenting some of their gigs from the early ’70s.

Pink Floyd have surprised fans with the release of a dozen live albums documenting some of their gigs from the early ’70s.

Following the success of Thunderbirds, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson had proved they had hit upon a winning formula to wow audiences - their mixture of inventive special effects and puppetry. Supermarionation. First screened in 1967, Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons, was written as a more mature series, set against an ongoing war with a forboding unseen nemesis. Taking his lead from the series premise, Captain Scarlet inspired composer Barry Gray to explore an equally mature musical palette to what he had utilised for previous Supermarionation series. With subtle string arrangements replacing the bombast of Thunderbirds' urgency, the original music composed for Scarlet was suitably more atmospheric and at times more sober than its predecessors. The alien nature of the Mysterons themselves saw Gray return to the experimental electronic work he had composed for Fireball XL5 to create something suitably other worldly.

2021 instrumental album from the iconic guitarist and former Dokken member. The album features nine brand new tracks and three bonus tracks from Lynch who is backed by drummer Jimmy D'Anda and bassist Eric Loiselle. From the driving guitar riff of album opener "Quiver" to the haunting outro of album closer "Falling Apart," it is clear George Lynch was looking to explore his writing and love for the guitar. Songs like "Cola," "Sharks With Laser Beams," and "Supersonic Hypnotic Groove Thing" explore the various musical styles George likes to play while giving him room to experiment with new sounds alongside his signature tone. The album includes three bonus tracks that were added to the album after the extra tracks were presented to the label. "Blue Light Effect," House Of Eternal Return" and "The Weight" also show the musical diversity that only George Lynch as a trio can create.