The late 60s was a golden age for pop, bubblegum, psychedelia and lounge. The summer of love was in full swing, England had recently won the world cup, man was landing on the moon, people were starting to travel overseas and there was definitely something in the air. This soundtrack, hand-picked by Pete Lawrence reflects and revives that golden age, a superlative double CD set of tracks from the likes of The Mamas and Papas, The Cowsills, Thunderclap Newman, Traffic, Warm Sounds, The Box Tops and The Association. This music made a profound impression on Pete as a pre-teen adolescent and here, he re-assesses a golden age in music at a time when everything seemed that little bit more utopian and magical. The sentiments, inevitably about love, peace and nature, retain their relevance with an added resonance today, given the trajectory of the last 40 years and the adoption of many values from the hippy era by a large majority today, and the music, remastered here with love and care, sounds as vibrant and contemporary as anything else on offer at the moment. 40 years since `summer of love' - all tracks from around 1967 2-CD collection of sixties tracks - hits and rare gems, compiled by Pete Lawrence of the Big Chill.

With a title like 40 #1 Hits, it's easy to assume that the collection will contain nothing but number one hits, whether it's from the Billboard charts or Cash Box, and it's also easy to assume that it would contain all of an artist's number one hits. In the case of Merle Haggard's double-disc 2004 collection, neither is true. Using just the Billboard charts as a guide – which is an assumption, since the liner notes do not specify which charts are used, but Billboard is the standard-bearer – singles like "I'm Always on a Mountain When I Fall" and "If We're Not Back in Love by Monday" did not top the charts, and singles like "What Have You Got Planned Tonight Diana" that did reach number one are absent.

The ongoing cantata cycle of Masaaki Suzuki and his Bach Collegium Japan was initiated in 1995. The series has now reached its 40th volume, in the meantime receiving an astonishing number of distinctions from magazines and critics all over the world. But parallell to their cantata cycle, Suzuki and his Collegium have also recorded Bach’s larger-scaled choral works; recordings which have caught the imagination and attention of audiences and critics alike.

This set features every single (known) composition by the great Hungarian master Bela Bartok. From the orchestral works and the choral works to the piano works and the chamber works: Everything is here, including very rare works never before recorded.< Although there are certainly superior performances of singular works, the set, as a whole, is very near a definitive presentation of Bartok's output…

Gustav Leonhardt, one of the stalwarts of the "early music movement" has just passed a significant birthday and Sony has pulled together a representative 15 titles from his time with the label and put them in a clam-shell box.

Orrin Evans’ The Magic of Now, the 20th of the 46-year-old pianist-composer’s luminous career and recorded in the midst of the upheavals set in motion by the COVID-19 pandemic, this latest document of Evans’ kaleidoscopic artistic journey coincides with several self-generated sea changes in his life. Perhaps the most significant change being his decision to leave the popular trio The Bad Plus after three productive years in order to refocus his time and energy on his own multiple musical projects.

While the vinyl resurgence continues unabated, sales of Rodrigo y Gabriela on compact disc continue to be strong. Indeed, the recent release of their Jazz EP on limited edition vinyl (now sold out) prompted many Rod and Gab fans to ask their record label: "can I get this on CD?" The fans spoke, Rubyworks listened. This release brings together the shredded heat of their fiery heavy rock tribute - the Mettal EP - which includes blistering attacks on tracks by Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer and the aforementioned Jazz EP, which features stunning, cinematica reworkings of songs by Kamasi Washington, Snarky Puppy and Astor Piazzolla. Jazz and Metal, Heaven and Hell, Beauty and the beast. Both sides of Rodrigo y Gabriela on one six track CD.

Free-wheeling live improvisers Ill Considered open a new chapter with their first fully produced studio album on New Soil, Liminal Space, featuring Tamar Osborn, Sarathy Korwar, Theon Cross and more.

Show featured mostly hit singles; Paris features the songs that built their cult, including "Close to Me" and "Letter to Elise." Consequently, most fans will find this the more interesting of the two live albums, and, out of the two records, it is the more consistent and satisfying. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

This is The Sound and the Fury's second album with masses by Johannes Ockeghem. The composer develops his art from the contrast between different modes as well as the contrapuntal combination of identical melodies. Despite the complicated compositional techniques used, the overwhelmingly emotional experience of Ockeghem's music continues to fascinate even after 500 years. The Sound and the Fury was founded in 2005. An Anglo-German vocal group convening in Brixen and Vienna, the ensemble specializes entirely in performance of renaissance polyphony of the Franco-Flemish school.

Music is one of the most magical of all the arts. It can, by its mere sound, excite the body to such an extent that it leaps up and dances - in most cases instinctively; with eyes closed it can suggest a palette of a myriad colours; and by its sheer mystical nature music can heal the body and the mind of many ailments. Bobby Matos’ music does all of this and some more. It helps pay homage to the soul and the spirit. This is once again evident in the music of Mambo Jazz Dance. There is an inherent energy that converts musical notes here that drives the mind into a state of trance where it seems to become a kind of crucible into which the mambos and the boleros of Mr. Matos pour themselves, stirring the mind into an interminable dance. The exciting aspect of this musical unguent is that it is invisible and soon fills all parts of the body, awakening it and pushing it into an ebullient mambo, no less…

Le programme de cet album résulte de choix très personnels et est le fruit d’une passion ancienne : la plupart des pièces interprétées sur cet album m’accompagne depuis de nombreuses années, aussi bien en tant qu’interprète qu’en tant qu’auditrice. J’ai toujours été fascinée par la puissance se dégageant du grand répertoire d’orgue, découvert en même temps que l’accordéon de concert et ses nombreux possibles. J’ai donc voulu consacrer ce disque à des adaptations d’œuvres à l’origine composées et pensées pour orgue, lointain cousin de l’accordéon. En effet, l’accordéon de concert possède quelques 800 anches libres et 15 registres en main droite (combinaisons de 4 voix différentes réparties sur 3 octaves), qu’on peut apparenter aux jeux de l’orgue – en une version bien plus réduite : il est donc bien naturel de vouloir s’en inspirer ! J’ai choisi de proposer un parcours à travers différentes époques de l’histoire de la musique : du baroque au contemporain en passant par le romantisme, de Pachelbel à Escaich. Par ailleurs, ce disque révèle de multiples filiations entre les compositeurs, comme entre orgue et accordéon.

"When It Was Done" is an album by Brazilian keyboardist Walter Wanderley featuring performances recorded in 1968 and released on the CTI label.

While Moonkyte's sole album is slightly above-average early-'70s U.K. acid folk, it also gets a little tiresome in its limited melodic range and whimsical lyrical territory. The tunes are lilting and folky, and the words certainly enigmatic even by some acid folk standards - not only are they often impressionistic and nonlinear by pop measures, but at times they're pretty goofy, as on one of the better tracks, "Girl Who Came Out of My Head." Some quite pleasant, soothing background harmonies help normalize the proceedings a little, and aftershocks of the late-'60s psychedelic era are heard in the sitar on "Way Out Hermit"…

"That's the Stuff" is the 2nd album by the American melodic hard rock band Autograph. Released in 1985, the album featured the singles "That's The Stuff" and "Blondes In Black Cars." A different version of the album surfaced in 1986, featuring a blue cover with slightly different artwork. This version of the album featured a cover of Grand Funk Railroad's "We're an American Band" replacing "Six String Fever" as track 6.