Now That’s What I Call Music continue that year-based CD collections of 1980s twelve-inch mixes with a new 4CD set: NOW 12″ 80s: Part One! 1984 was always going to be a great year for this series, even if we are by now very familiar with the songs of this spectacularly good 12-month period. Sony Music, Universal Music, Now Twic, EMI Records! The compilation starts with the hard-to-get-on-CD 12-inch version of Queen’s ‘I Want To Break Free’ before celebrating all that was great about 1984 with extended selections from Tina Turner (‘What’s Love Got To Do With It)’, Duran Duran (‘New Moon On Monday’), Alison Moyet (the Love Injected Mix of ‘Love Resurrection’, Ray Parker Jr. (have a guess?), Mathew Wilder (‘Break My Stride’), Thompson Twins (‘Doctor! Doctor!’), Howard Jones (‘What Is Love?’) and more.

Collection includes: Can't Buy A Thrill (1972); Countdown To Ecstasy (1973); Pretzel Logic (1974); Katy Lied (1975); The Royal Scam (1976); Aja (1977); Gaucho (1980).

Un rayon de soleil traverse l’azur du petit matin et réchauffe le cœur d’une douce caresse… Dès le premier mouvement (largo) du Trio en la Majeur, Sébastien Marq expose son jeu doux et velouté, léger et transcendant. Et l’on s’émerveille, béat, devant la beauté du son, la justesse des sentiments, et ce toucher si délicat qui vous berce et vous emmène dans un jardin d’Eden. Le voyage s’achève sur quatre mêmes notes, plus suaves et doucereuses que les précédentes.

Rafael Kubelik was one of the 20th century's most brilliant and charismatic conductors, yet under-appreciated because of his reluctance to embrace the "star" system. Here he is seen working with the great orchestras of Berlin, Vienna and Amsterdam, and featured in a bonus biographical documentary acclaimed for "stylish camera-work and a counterpoint of image, word and music reflecting Kubelik's spontaneity, exuberance, trust in emotion, and ability, even in tailcoat, to retain his warmth and humanity" (Süddeutsche Zeitung).

At the end of April 1791, Wolfgang Amadé Mozart applied for the position of second Kapellmeister at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, hoping to inherit the position from Leopold Hofmann, the incumbent Kapellmeister, the City Council of Vienna accepted Mozart’s petition in a strongly worded decree as a basis for the text in the vocal passages of his Sieben Klangräume accompanying the Unfinished Fragments of Mozart’s Requiem KV 626.

French Touch is soprano Petibon's 2003 release which features the works of such French composers for example Delibes, Massenet and Offenbach to mention a few. Petibon sings with much enthusiasm and joy which makes it a very enjoyable recording. Yves Abel leads the national orchestra and choir of Lyon. On track she sings duet with mezzo-soprano Karine Deshayes.

It's hard to believe that the Cure could release an album even more sparse than Three Imaginary Boys, but here's the proof. The lineup change that saw funkstery bassist Michael Dempsey squeezed out in favor of the more specific playing of (eventually the longest serving member outside Robert Smith) Simon Gallup, and the addition of keyboardist Mathieu Hartley resulted in the band becoming more rigid in sound, and more disciplined in attitude. While it is not the study in loss that Faith would become, or the descent into madness of Pornography, it is a perfect precursor to those collections. In a sense, Seventeen Seconds is the beginning of a trilogy of sorts, the emptiness that leads to the questioning and eventual madness of the subsequent work…

Lonnie Brooks in his jukebox bluesman mode, playing the hits of the day for an appreciative crowd at one of Chicago's legendary blues joints. First issued on the European Black Magic label, the set captures his showmanship effectively as he attacks "You Don't Have to Go," "Sweet Little Angel," "Hide Away," and Johnnie Taylor's soul workout "Who's Making Love." Even in 1968, he was stockpiling originals - a rocking "Shakin' Little Mama" and a distinctive "The Train & the Horse" are all his.

It's been four long years since British composer and saxophonist John Surman issued a new recording for his longtime home label, ECM. In a loose way, The Spaces in Between is the mirror image of 2003's Free and Equal, recorded with drummer Jack DeJohnette and the London Brass (though that record was a mirror of the first teaming of Surman with his longtime collaborator, double bassist Chris Laurence and the then-new Trans4mation String Quartet). Surman has been writing, arranging for, and performing with Trans4mation since that time. Whereas Coruscating was far more formal in structure, and its textures and colorings plotted in advance, here there are more opportunities for the strings to improvise and add more freely to the mix…

An all-instrumental group that mixed prog metal and jazz fusion with the more ethereal sounds of King Crimson, Gordian Knot was the project of bassist/stick player/keyboardist Sean Malone with several collaborators including guitarist Trey Gunn of King Crimson and former Cynic drummer Sean Reinert. Gordian Knot also included guitarists Ron Jarzombek and Glenn Snelwar. As well as playing atmospheric and heavy progressive music, the group also experimented on their eponymous debut with Eastern-influenced pieces. Malone soon began working on a sequel with a whole new roster of prog rock guests, including former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett and former Yes drummer Bill Bruford.

An acclaimed master of the synthesizer, a highly talented multi-instrumentalist and an innovative producer, Phil Thornton is very much a leading light amongst the futuristic and visionary musicians of the New Age. His adventurous and seductive compositions ring out with a tremendous 'journey' quality, evoking rich exotic soundscapes.
From Another Sky (1988). Phil's musical mastery evokes scenes and visions from another dimension, a world that combines a hypnotic equilibrium with unexpected glimpses of sheer beauty and revelation. From Another Sky is delightfully expressive and pleasurable, being at once tantalisingly sensual and intimately restful. Spirals of multi-layered musical textures of harp, oboes, guitar and keyboards subtly entrance the senses with their sparkling clarity. This is a genuinely unforgettable venture deep into the realm of spiritual beauty…

A singer with an exciting presence and a voice to immerse yourself in. A band that lit up with high wattage a repertoire including both standards and popular songs. A band leader who had his ensemble under control through proven discipline and could, when needed, take the lead as a soloist, but tended to hold back amidst his all-stars. The result a mixture that whisked the concert hall in Freiburg (Germany) for one evening in October 1959 into a wonderful world of successful jazz entertainment and sent the audience out into the night with an earworm.

Six CD set. First-ever complete anthology of early 70s UK progressive rock band notorious for occult- based lyrics and explicit stage act. Features their three CBS albums, demos, including an early demo version of 'Sacrifice', out- takes, live recordings and a pre-Black Widow LP as Pesky Gee! And their final unreleased album from 1972. Inspired by the popularity of Hammer Horror films and Dennis Wheatley novels, in 1969 Leicester progressive rockers Pesky Gee! Became Black Widow and immersed themselves in the occult. Sharing management with Black Sabbath, they signed to CBS and issued concept album 'Sacrifice', a Top 40 set that included their calling card, the demonic invocation 'Come To The Sabbat'. Also including two live sets from 1970-71 and all surviving tracks from an aborted 1971 solo LP by vocalist Kay Garrett on which she was backed by Black Widow (who also wrote the songs). Featuring a 40-page booklet that contains the band's full story with quotes and many rare photos/press clippings, 'Sabbat Days' is a must-have for fans of vintage UK progressive rock, and is a fascinating document of a time when rock music still had the power to offend mainstream society.

Good recordings of Vivaldi’s first printed opus are hard to come by. The set lacks the distinctive imprint of what we understand and recognize as Vivaldian, yet the pieces have great charm if handled sensitively and imaginatively. These have long been virtuous features in Monica Huggett’s playing: her gently inflected approach to the music, shared by the other members of Sonnerie, is a constant pleasure, and is heard to great advantage in the many beguiling slow movements of which the Largo and Sarabanda of Op. 1 No. 4 immediately spring to mind.

Pietro degli Antoni (1639-1720) was a founding member of the famous Accademia Filarmonica in his native Bologna, an institution bringing together professional musicians “so well united that they always play together, creating fine sound”. Many famous composers were member: Vitali, Tosi, Colonna, and later Corelli, Bononcini, Torelli and Bassani. Even Mozart, when visiting Bologna, became a member, being highly impressed by the sheer size and quality of the Accademia (..”the music was grave and majestic..” he wrote home).