In September, the band announced the new three-part opera, serving as a sequel to the band’s classic double records ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness’ (1995) and ‘Machina/The Machines Of God’ (2000). Frontman Billy Corgan told NME about the grand ambitions for the project, explaining: “Because there’s a lot of people who believe less is more these days. I’m on the opposite side – I actually think more is more!”

This is the first solo CD on the new straight strung grand piano after the Barenboim releases on DG. Belgian pianist Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort says of this recording: "I first heard of Chris Maene's promising project in 2013. Daniel Barenboim had commissioned Maene to construct a modern instrument that possessed the characteristics of the instruments that had given voice to the innermost feelings of Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Zigzag Manoeuvre might be the description of Ping in 2014, navigating their way out of the ashes of their studio/rehearsal room for thirteen years. When the dust had settled, most of the instruments were immolated, but crucially, all unpublished pieces of music survived. The song “A Hammer Falling from the Sky”, which can be heard on the album, was recorded just two days before the studio went up in flames. A long and arduous process later, with a slight change of personnel, Ping now re-emerges with a roller coaster record, destined to inspire or dull the masses. Expect hiccups and downs, mental order and disorientation, out-of-tune harmonics, as well as motivating and unsettling lyrics.

Live’ at the Village Vanguard , was Coltrane’s first official ‘live’ album…
This set documents all four-night stand by John Coltrane (sax) and his quintet at the Village Vanguard in New York City, November 1/5/1961. Eric Dolphy (alto sax/bass clarinet), Garvin Bushell (oboe/contrabassoon), Ahmed Abdul-Malik (oud), McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass), Reggie Workman (bass), Elvin Jones (drums), and Roy Haynes (drums). Their presence is as equally vital as Coltrane's - inspiring as well as informing the dimensions of improvisation. With the knowledge that the entire run was being documented to create some sort of retail document, Coltrane chose nine specific compositions to concentrate on.

The beauty of long musical relationships can be the culmination of many things. The familial bond that is created from sharing and living together, the influence of bandmates on one another and welcome surprises can keep these bonds fresh and enervating. Pianist Anat Fort and her trio mates have been making music together for twenty years and continue to grow and share in new ways, as is evinced on their new recording, Colour.

Haydn’s first 10 keyboard sonatas are unpretentious, inventive little gems. While they were written with the harpsichord in mind, Jeno Jando makes them sound perfectly pianistic without touching up the scores. On paper the left-hand parts don’t look terribly stimulating or special. Jando, however, shapes them in a way that articulates harmonic motion so that the steady rhythm never feels square. Fast movements are taken at dangerous clips, yet the scales and runs don’t smudge or misalign one iota. Add Naxos’ superlative engineering and you’ve got the finest volume so far in Jando’s Haydn cycle. Highly recommended.

A disc of duets and solo-voice cantatas by an obscure late-17th/early-18th century Italian singer/composer may not sound very enticing, but Francesco Antonio Pistocchi actually had a few good tunes in him and produced some works that at least will interest fans of vocal music of this period. It also offers a useful perspective for comparison with Pistocchi’s more esteemed contemporaries. As with many now-forgotten composers, there is documented evidence of his high regard during his lifetime, in this case by the Margrave and Electress of Brandenburg, for whom he worked as Kapellmeister at the Ansbach court.

Commemorating the 25th anniversary of Sir Georg Solti’s death (5 September), Decca Classics is proud to release a new high-definition transfer of the original master tapes of his most celebrated recording: the first stereo studio production of Wagner’s complete Ring Cycle, twice voted “The greatest recording of all time”. Recorded in Vienna between 1958 and 1965, and masterminded by Decca’s pioneering producer John Culshaw, this recording has always been regarded as the perfect marriage of art and technology and boasted a cast including Birgit Nilsson, Hans Hotter and Kirsten Flagstad. These new transfers of the 38 original stereo master tapes have been made at 24 bit/192kHz resolution, allowing greater detail and dynamic range than ever before.

The Avant Garde was a coffeehouse in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that played host to a variety of rock, blues, and folk performers in the '60s, and Windy City guitar wizard Magic Sam (aka Sam Maghett) rolled in to play a few sets in June 1968. A local kid with an interest in recording named Jim Charne showed up with a reel-to-reel machine and a couple of microphones, and he captured Magic Sam's show on tape; 45 years later, those tapes have finally been made public on the album Live at the Avant Garde, and given the relatively small amount of material that's surfaced on the late blues legend (who succumbed to a heart attack when he was just 32), this set is a very welcome find. Live at the Avant Garde has a decidedly different feel than Magic Sam Live, which preserved radio broadcasts from 1963 and 1964 and a 1969 appearance at the Ann Arbor Blues Festival; while those recordings blazed with intensity, this captures Magic Sam and his band in more laid-back form, playing a small, booze-free venue rather than a rowdy bar or a festival audience in the thousands.

Recorded as St. Etienne was on an extended hiatus, Sarah Cracknell's solo debut Lipslide is a breezy, endearing record that wears its lightweight aspirations proudly. Divided equally between Euro-dance and British Invasion pop, Lipslide is a triumph of style over substance, but its surfaces are so appealing that the uneven songwriting doesn't matter. And when Cracknell's writing does succeed, as on "Anymore," and "Ready or Not," Lipslide shines with both infectious, well-crafted melodies and sparkling, sunny charm.

2010 solo album from guitar-slinging Rock icon Slash (Guns n' Roses, Velvet Revolver). On this, his first solo album, Slash collaborates with a wide variety of vocalists and showcases his diverse, surprising and exciting personal side. Features appearances from Ozzy Osbourne, Ian Astbury, Fergie, Iggy Pop, Adam Levine, Chris Cornell, Dave Grohl and many others.

There are three Whispers albums: "One For The Money", "Open Up Your Love" and "Headlights" on a double CD Set. The "One For The Money" album was originally released in 1976 on the Soul Train Label, and featured the R&B Top Ten Hit of the same name and the follow up single 'Living Together (In Sin)', which just missed the R&B Top Twenty. This package also includes the 7" versions of the tracks 'You're Only As Good As You Think You Are' and 'Sounds Like A Love Song' as bonus tracks on disc two. Following up the "One For The Money" album was the 1977 release "Open Up Your Love", also released on the Soul Train label. It kicked off with a soulful cover of Bread's 'Make It With You', which gave the group another R&B Top Ten Hit. Other stand out tracks on "Open Up Your Love" are 'Chocolate Girl' and 'I Fell In Love Last Night (At The Disco)'..The third album in this package is "Headlights" originally released in 1978 this time on Solar Records, Again, the album included a R&B Top Ten Hit '(Let's Go) All The Way' and, just missing out on the Top Ten, '(Olivia) Lost And Turned Out'.

Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were remarkable craftsmen from the start, as Steely Dan's debut, Can't Buy a Thrill, illustrates. Each song is tightly constructed, with interlocking chords and gracefully interwoven melodies, buoyed by clever, cryptic lyrics. All of these are hallmarks of Steely Dan's signature sound, but what is most remarkable about the record is the way it differs from their later albums.

"Your Move" is the 11th studio album by American folk rock duo America, released by Capitol Records on June 3, 1983. In 1982, America experienced renewed commercial success with the hit album "View From The Ground". Two of the tracks on that album, including the Top 10 single "You Can Do Magic," were written and produced by Russ Ballard. Desiring to maintain their commercial momentum, Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell turned to Ballard once again, this time to produce their entire follow-up album. "The Border", featuring Bunnell's reworked lyrics, strings by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and an energetic saxophone solo by Raphael Ravenscroft, hit #33 on the Billboard singles chart - what would turn out to be America's last Top 40 pop hit to date. The single fared far better on adult contemporary radio, peaking at #4. This even bettered "You Can Do Magic," which had peaked at #5 on the adult contemporary charts the year before. However, lacking a major hit single, Your Move was unable to replicate the success of "View From The Ground", peaking at #81 on the Billboard album charts. With that, America's collaboration with Ballard came to an end.

The Festive season has long since been widely celebrated in song by Jamaica’s performers, with plethora of Christmas-related songs recorded by many of its best-loved singing stars over the past 5 decades.This is reflected in the 30 tracks gathered on this digital-only release, which comprises many of the world’s most popular Christmas songs, performed by an array of Jamaican talent, in a variety of styles, ranging from vintage ska to modern dancehall.