Golden Earring is a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as the Golden Earrings. They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on the Dutch charts, reached the top ten in the UK and went to number thirteen on the US charts, "Twilight Zone" in 1982, and "When the Lady Smiles" in 1984. During their career they had nearly 30 top-ten singles on the Dutch charts; over the years they produced 25 studio albums.

Manchester band whose blend of smooth jazz, sophisticated pop, and funk topped the British charts during the 1980s and '90s. At the beginning of their career, Level 42 was squarely a jazz-funk fusion band, contemporaries of fellow Brit funk groups like Atmosfear, Light of the World, Incognito, and Beggar & Co. By the end of the '80s, however, the band – whose music was instantly recognizable from Mark King's thumb-slap bass technique and associate member Wally Badarou's synthesizer flourishes – had crossed over to the point where they were often classified as sophisti-pop and dance-rock, equally likely to be placed in the context of Sade and the Style Council as any group that made polished, upbeat, danceable pop/rock. The band's commercial peak came with 1985's World Machine, but they continued to record and tour sporadically throughout the '90s and 2000s.

Still Loving You is a compilation album by the German hard rock band Scorpions. Subtitled More Gold Ballads, the record is a follow-up to the 1985 compilation Gold Ballads. Nine of the tracks were remixed for this album by Erwin Musper at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, the Netherlands. The song "Living for Tomorrow" appears here for the first time.

Kalevi Aho (b. 1949) has stated that his works have an "abstract plot" driving his music from behind the scenes. His series of (so far) eleven symphonies certainly testifies to this statement; each of his symphonies seems to set out from a fixed point, always to confront the impassable, and always trying to reconcile that conflict in the most poignant and personal of ways.

Toto has welcomed many different band members across their long career but in the early '90s they had a short period as a four-piece featuring Steve Lukather (guitar and lead vocals), David Paich (keyboards and vocals), Jeff Porcaro (drums and percussion) and Mike Porcaro (bass). The line-up, with some additional touring members, performed this concert at Montreux in July 1991 and would go on to make the Kingdom Of Desire album released in 1992, shortly after the tragic early death of drummer Jeff Porcaro. The Montreux show, now being released for the first time, combines then unreleased tracks from the Kingdom Of Desire album with classic hits and covers of songs by Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone. It is a perfect addition to any Toto fan's collection.

Two classic easy-listening albums by Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra, originally released in 1982 and 1983 on the Philips label, together on one CD and remastered from the original analogue stereo tapes for Vocalion's trademark crystal-clear sound. French composer/conductor Paul Mauriat is a classically trained musician who decided to pursue a career in popular music. His first major success came in 1962, as a co-writer of the European hit "Chariot." In 1963, the song was given English lyrics, renamed "I Will Follow Him," and became a number one American hit for Little Peggy March. Mauriat is best remembered for his 1968 worldwide smash "Love Is Blue."

It was not always easy in the 18th century for a composer to remain true to himself on compositional, aesthetic and formal grounds, while at the same time fulfilling the requirements of his position as a princely court musician. This can be seen in this comment by Bach: ”Because I have had to compose most of my works for specific individuals and for the public, I have always been more restrained in them than in the few pieces that I have written merely for myself” (The Autobiography, written for the German translation of Charles Burney’s The Present State of Music in Germany … London, 1773—see: Carl Burney, Tagebuch seiner musikalischen Reisen Vol. 3, Hamburg, 1773).

The acclaimed British pianist, Benjamin Grosvenor, still only 30 and yet a well-established favourite of critics and audiences around the globe, takes Robert Schumann’s haunting Kreisleriana as his starting point in his new album, Schumann & Brahms. This eight-movement work portrays the mercurial personality of the fictional Johannes Kreisler, created by E. T. A. Hoffmann: Kreisler’s highs and lows, and his dreamy nature, clearly mirror Schumann’s own tragic manic-depressive tendencies. Grosvenor responds to the composer’s autobiographical honesty with playing of sublime tenderness, dazzling variety, and imaginative empathy.

With tongue firmly in cheek, the Cardigans decided to play up the candyfloss arrangements of their debut for second album Life. Where Emmerdale studied an introverted melancholy, Life is undiminished in both its independent-minded exuberance ("Hey! Get Out of My Way") and zest to enjoy life with others ("Daddy's Car," "Gordon's Gardenparty"). The incredible production and quality of arrangement from the debut are here also, even more strikingly crisp and spot-on. (Over 50 instruments were used on the 14 songs included on the Minty Fresh American release.) Though the Cardigans planned Life as something of a joke, it became one of the finest pop albums of the '90s.

"Avalon is inspired by an ancient Celtic myth of an island in dense fog where the Holy Grail is said to be located, King Arthur is buried and where Excalibur is hidden. I use it as a metaphor for the present time in which we live in which it is not clear to anyone what the world will look like after the pandemic. The single Avalon is a dreamy piece of music that is also used for the exhibition in De Fundatie that will run until the spring of 2021."

‘The Siren’ is a fresh breath of air from Estonian singer, Susanna Aleksandra. Elegant songs celebrating the strength and charm of women, love’s infinite power to heal and accepting past errors, all infused with Susanna’s naturally warm vocals and inherent positivity. ‘The Siren’ features a wide range of original compositions, and two covers, Finnish folk song ‘A Rose of the Valley’ and the classic standard ‘Blame It On My Youth’.

This combination works quite well. Guitarist-singer Lonnie Johnson was just starting a successful comeback, and here he is teamed up with acoustic rhythm guitarist Elmer Snowden (who had not recorded since 1934) and bassist Wendell Marshall. Johnson sings smooth blues and sentimental ballads with equal skill, and both guitarists have opportunities to display their complementary but distinctive styles. This CD reissue is easily recommended, as is its more instrumental counterpart, Blues, Ballads, and Jumpin' Jazz, Vol. 2.

Saigon Supersound Continues to present more interesting tunes of a musical era that has long been obscured. With the well received Volume 1, we are very delighted to dig deeper and share with you the beautiful music of a short but significant period in Vietnam‘s history.