When Bobby "Blue" Bland was recording for Malaco in the '80s and '90s, many blues experts asserted that he was past his prime - and they were right. Bland had done his best work for Duke in the '50s and '60s, and his voice wasn't what it once was. But the blues/soul singer was still capable of delivering a worthwhile album, and he still had a loyal fan base. In fact, the singer was a consistent seller for Malaco, which could generally be counted on to give him good or excellent material to work with. Recorded when Bland was in his late fifties, Midnight Run isn't remarkable but is generally decent. The production of Tommy Couch and Wolf Stephenson is rock solid, and Bland is soulful and satisfying on the amusing "Take off Your Shoes," the reggae-influenced title song, and arrangements of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" and the Mel & Tim hit "Starting All Over Again."

This groundbreaking jazz synthesizer record is really unlike any other Les McCann ever made. Aside from a three-man percussion section and electric bassist Jimmy Rowser, Layers is entirely electronic, one of the first jazz albums with such an emphasis. According to the liner notes, McCann's ambition was to be the entire orchestra he heard in his head, and to that end the record explores the sonic possibilities of the new ARP synthesizer in great detail, though McCann also overdubs himself on electric piano in spots. The variety of tones on the ARP gives McCann a lot to play with, and he mimics woodwinds, horns, strings, slapped bass, and even the intonations of human speech. McCann's kaleidoscopic array of tonal colors and contrasts gives the album a rich, full sound, as does the recording process - Layers was the first album ever to be recorded in 32-track format…

Second album from this overlooked band. Os Mundi was considered the first rock band from Berlin with lots of members moving in and out of the band. 43 Minuten marked a departure from their debut "A Latin Mass", finding the band with a stronger jazz rock element in their sound but still retaining the underground feel and sound courtesy of producer Conny Planck. Vocals move in and out of the mix but stay clear long enough for the jammed out guitar and flute breaks. The band gets into a groove and then blasts off. Perhaps a bit reminiscent of Out Of Focus. Killer krautrock!

Esoteric recordings are pleased to announce the release of a newly remastered and expanded edition of Tangerine Dream’s classic 1971 album "Alpha Centauri". Recorded at the Dierks Studio in Stommeln, the album featured a line up of Edgar Froese, Chris Franke and Steve Schroyder with guests Udo Dennebourg (flute) and Roland Pualyck (synthesiser). Released in Germany on the OHR label, the influence of the album was immense, with the band creating imaginative sound-scapes previously unheard on record. This Esoteric Reactive edition is newly re-mastered and includes three bonus tracks: ‘Oszillator Planet Concert’ has never been released on CD and was issued as part of the 1971 double album “Ossiach Live”. Also included are both sides of the classic ‘Ultima Thule’ single issued in Germany in 1971. The release fully restores the original album artwork and includes a lavishly illustrated booklet.

Released a year after Eat a Peach, Brothers and Sisters shows off a leaner brand of musicianship, which, coupled with a pair of serious crowd-pleasers, "Ramblin' Man" and "Jessica," helped drive it to the top of the charts for a month and a half and to platinum record sales. This was the first album to feature the group's new lineup, with Chuck Leavell on keyboards and Lamar Williams on bass, as well as Dickey Betts' emergence as a singer alongside Gregg Allman. The tracks appear on the album in the order in which they were recorded, and the first three, up through "Ramblin' Man," feature Berry Oakley – their sound is rock-hard and crisp.

The 1990 collection The Very Best of Elton John is an excellent 30-track summary of his peak years, running from "Your Song" to "You Gotta Love Someone." In a sense, it's the concise counterpart to the box set To Be Continued, released that same year but spanning four discs and filled with rarities. Although that set has several great songs that aren't here, this set has nothing extraneous – just the biggest hits from a time when John was hitting the U.S. and U.K. Top 40 every single year. There are no American collections that perform the same task, which is a shame because there isn't a better Elton John hits collection than this; if you're looking for all the biggest hits on one album, it's certainly worth the import prices.

Parry’s 1888 oratorio on the Apocryphal tale of an avenging Jewish widow emerges as a worthy successor to Mendelssohn’s Elijah in this gripping world premiere recording with Sarah Fox, Kathryn Rudge and Toby Spence.

This album is likely to make you catch your breath on first hearing. Here is a harpsichord player in full virtuosic flight, just as we imagine Handel to have been (who was after all one of the great performers of his day and prevailed in a contest with Domenico Scarlatti).

Was sophisticated music-making possible at the court of a minor German prince in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries? Yes, indeed! It happened in the Thuringian city of Rudolstadt where Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, the Kappellmeister to the High Count of Schwarzburg and Hohnstein, incorporated mainstream European music in his works even though he rarely travelled beyond his relatively small area in all those 35 years and never once did he venture beyond the German- speaking world. Come and learn and listen to this little known yet amazing composer who learned his craft from travelling musicians.