Pet Shop Boys resume their exceptional late-period run with Hotspot, their third in a series of high quality collaborations with producer/engineer Stuart Price. Recorded at Berlin's legendary Hansa Studios, the acclaimed duo's 14th album finds them firmly in their element, delivering crisp electro-pop invocations, wry dance bangers, and melodic gems both sunny and stormy. Still more or less in the self-described "electronic purist" mode of 2013's Electric and 2016's Super, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe make a few allowances here, particularly on the melancholic standout, "Beneath the Heather," which features some crafty psych-inspired guitar work from Suede guitarist Bernard Butler.

Herbert von Karajan was the most renowned conductor to emerge from Europe in the post-World War II era – and through fortuitous timing throughout his career, and in spite of controversy that dogged his early years, he was the most recorded conductor of the 20th century, and is likely to remain one of the most visible (and biggest-selling) conductors well into the 21st century.

Crest of a Knave is the sixteenth studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull, released in 1987. The album was recorded after a hiatus of three years occasioned by a throat infection of vocalist Ian Anderson. After the unsuccessful Under Wraps, the band returned to a more heavily blended electric with acoustic style of sound, one of the top characteristics of Jethro Tull. The album was their most successful since the 1970s, and the band enjoyed a resurgence on radio broadcasts, appearances in MTV specials, and the airing of music videos. It was also a critical favourite, winning the 1989 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental. The album was supported by "The Not Quite the World, More the Here and There Tour".

Greatest Hits is a fine overview of Fleetwood Mac's hitmaking years, containing the bulk of the group's Top 40 hits of the late '70s and '80s, including "Over My Head," "Rhiannon," "Say You Love Me," "Go Your Own Way," "Dreams," "Don't Stop," "Tusk," "Sara," "Hold Me," "Gypsy," and "Little Lies." Minor hits like "Think About Me," "Love in Store," and "Seven Wonders" are missing, making room for the new songs "As Long as You Follow" (which actually became a hit) and "No Questions Asked," but overall, Greatest Hits is an excellent choice for casual listeners. WEA released a version of Greatest Hits in 2006 that included the bonus track "Oh Diane".

The album "INTEGRAL LES McCANN 1959 - 1962" is a collection that highlights some of the best works from jazz pianist and vocalist Les McCann during the early years of his career. This remastered release from 2024 features McCann's soulful and groove-based style, combining elements of jazz, blues, and gospel, which helped him gain widespread recognition in the jazz scene of the 1960s.

There are few images as riveting as Roy Orbison standing completely motionless at the microphone in his trademark dark shades as he climbs the notes of one of his haunting, operatic pop songs, sounding for all the world like an angel stranded on earth and yearning to get back home. From his first recordings in the mid-'50s for Sun Records through his unlikely comeback in the late '80s, Orbison never lost an inch of his astounding vocal range or his knack for writing concise and emotionally nuanced pop ballads that seemed for all the world like mini-operas. This 14-track (there's a 15th CD-R track as well) offers key sides taken from all phases of his career, including samples from his brilliant '60s output ("Oh, Pretty Woman," "Only the Lonely," "Blue Bayou," "It's Over," "Crying") and cuts from his 1989 Mystery Girl album like the well-written and sung "She's a Mystery to Me."

Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London between June 1972 and January 1973. Limited edition crystal clear 2-LP, 180g. Featuring UV artwork printing on the non-groove side.

On their newest recording for Glossa, Graindelavoix and Bjorn Schmelzer present a fascinating array of Renaissance motets based on the theological concept of creatio ex nihilo, creation out of nothing, as exemplifed in the mystery of the Incarnation, the idea of God becoming a man. Well- known pieces like Josquin Desprez's Praeter rerum seriem are combined with less famous works by the same composer, and very fne contributions by Obrecht, Ockeghem, Ribera and Wert. Bjorn Schmelzer bases his intriguing approach to the performance of these pieces on a 1561 quote by the Flemish Protestant pedagogue Johannes Molanus: "[Mensural polyphony] is a singing without sense or content, in which the voices are resounding emptily in so-called proses, motets, and artifcial songs in foreign languages, ornamented for the delectation of the ears, which have no meaning that could be understood even by the singers themselves."

Not only do these players adopt some very deliberate tempos in movements such as “Sitio”, “Mulier, ecce filius tuus”, and “Consummatum est”, but they also include a quartet transcription of the wind-band introduction to Part 2 of the work’s oratorio version (my other preferred way to enjoy it). Strangely enough, though you might think that the last thing we need is yet another slow movement, it all works surprisingly well. Surely it helps that the group has taken care to compare the quartet arrangement with the orchestral original and to include some of the missing subsidiary musical lines otherwise assigned to the orchestra’s wind section, resulting in a slightly richer texture overall.

This is the second issue in the Chandos cycle of Parry's orchestral and choral works in which Matthias Bamert is conducting the London Philharmonic. It is splendid to hear this neglected music so sensitively and enthusiastically interpreted by a non-British conductor. Although two of the works on this disc—the Fifth Symphony and the Elegy for Brahms—have been previously recorded for EMI in 1978 by Boult with the same orchestra (11/87—nla), I have no hesitation in declaring that these are finer performances and interpretations. Boult loved Parry's music, but Bamert finds more passion and mystery in it. Sir Adrian seemed more concerned with its structure, trusting that the emotion would emerge of its own accord, as no doubt it would have done if he had been younger and fitter when he made his recording.

Mozart is on inspired form in these wonderful works, and so is Alfred Brendel.

After seven years, Japandroids have returned with Fate and Alcohol, their fourth and final full-length. Written in part while the Vancouver duo–guitarist-vocalist Brian King and drummer-vocalist David Prowse–were touring behind their 2017 ANTI- debut, Near to the Wild Heart of Life, the album is at once a return to form and a thrilling step forward, testament to the sort of chemistry that they've honed over the course of 18 years and hundreds of shows side-by-side.

Led by MC5 founding member Wayne Kramer and produced by the iconic Bob Ezrin, 'Heavy Lifting' signifies a momentous occasion - the release of new MC5 music, a staggering 53 years since their last album in 1971. The music community recently mourned the loss of MC5 founding member Wayne Kramer and Dennis 'Machine Gun' Thompson, the last members of the original MC5 lineup, accompanied by messages of love from the world's greatest rock stars. MC5's enduring influence and cultural significance are solidified by their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024. 'Heavy Lifting' features an all-star lineup of guest musicians including Slash, Tom Morello, William Duvall (Alice in Chains), Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Tim McIlrath (Rise Against), and many more.

Bach’s music has always attracted arrangers and orchestrators – such as Stokowski, Elgar and Busoni, to name just three. Regardless of its original version, Bach’s music has an expressive power, drama and architectural logic that lend themselves well to expanded orchestral sonorities. Bassoonist and conductor Robin O’Neill buried his head in the Goldberg Variations, which he had discovered through Glenn Gould’s recordings, during the first months of the Covid lockdown. Soon after that, the idea of making an arrangement for orchestra began to obsess him as he began hearing instrumental and orchestral sonorities in the keyboard work. Since the main challenge was to reclothe the music without damaging the subtle intricacy of the piece, and after much thought and experimentation, O’Neill chose instruments that Bach himself would have recognized for the solo parts. His reinterpretation of the Goldberg Variations offers a mixture of full orchestral variations interspersed with concertante ones involving two, three or four solo instruments, at times close to St Matthew Passion-style writing. Completed during a difficult period, this arrangement was made, in the words of O’Neill, in the hope that it expresses the joy and solace that Bach’s music gives both performer and listener.

Grunge pioneers who took the heavy sludge of '70s metal and infused it with the raw aesthetic of '80s punk to become an important band of the '90s. Collection includes: 'Louder Than Love' (1989); 'Badmotorfinger' (1991); 'Superunknown' (1994); 'Down On The Upside' (1996).