Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach first collaborated on "God Give Me Strength," a sweeping ballad that functioned as the centerpiece in Allison Anders' Grace of My Heart. It was a stunning song in the tradition of Bacharach's classic '60s work and it was successful enough that the composers decided to collaborate on a full album, Painted from Memory. Wisely, they chose to work within the stylistic parameters of Bacharach's '60s material, but Painted from Memory never sounds like a stylistic exercise. Instead, it's a return to form for both artists. Bacharach hasn't written such graceful, powerful melodies since his glory days, and Costello hasn't crafted such a fully realized album since King of America. It's a testament to both that even if the album is clearly in Bacharach's territory, it feels like a genuine collaboration.

Throughout his career, Fred Chapellier's live albums have become essential parts of his discography. This "Live in Paris" is no exception. Recorded at the Jazz Club Etoile, one of the capital's most famous roots venues, and accompanied by an impeccable horn section, Fred Chapellier gives free rein to his distinctive feel. There's clearly a Chapellier touch to this album.

GORGONE is a French progressive rock band founded in 2024 by Caroline and Alexandre Indjein. The vocal harmonies are honored and they evolve into a multidirectional music, with a fictional language.

Brilliant Trees is the first solo album by the British singer-songwriter David Sylvian, released in 1984. Produced by Sylvian with Steve Nye, it was his first full-length release after the break-up of his band Japan in December 1982 (though former Japan members Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri both appear on the album). AllMusic called the album "an eclectic affair fusing funk, jazz, and ambient." Additional musicians on the album included Danny Thompson on acoustic bass, Jon Hassell on trumpet, and Ryuichi Sakamoto on keyboards. Sylvian and Sakamoto had previously collaborated on the singles "Bamboo Houses" and "Forbidden Colours", and continued to collaborate at various points in their careers. The album peaked at no.4 in the UK, the highest chart position of Sylvian's career to date, and contains his biggest solo hit, "Red Guitar", which reached no.17 on the UK Singles Chart. In 1994, ten years after its release, the album was certified Gold.

The McCoys' first two albums, Hang on Sloopy and You Make Me Feel So Good, were combined on one CD by Repertoire Records in the early '90s. 30 tracks, both of their first two LPs plus five rare bonus cuts salted with the hits Hang on Sloopy; Fever, and You Make Me Feel So Good. The most comprehensive retrospective of one of the great American '60's Pop bands.

Handel's oratorio Alexander's Feast, composed in 1736, is English to the core, with its talky text by John Dryden and straightforward, clearly structured arias and choruses. The victory of Alexander the Great in the Persian city of Persepolis (an impressive ruin today) in 330 BCE was said to have been followed by a feast that gave Dryden the excuse for a sort of ode to the power of music (rendered in mixed language as "the power of musik" in the booklet of this German release), with arias illustrating the various affects. There isn't really any plot or action; the piece is more an extended secular cantata than an oratorio, especially inasmuch as the soloists (the soprano and the tenor are the prominent ones) do not represent characters in the story.

Soprano Jodie Devos, who has signed with Alpha for several recordings, here pays homage to Offenbach, whose bicentenary of his birth is celebrated in 2019. This programme shows Offenbach’s fascination with the vocal fireworks of coloratura divas. This kind of ‘lyric coloratura’ or ‘soprano leggero’ voice runs like a thread through most of the composer’s oeuvre, from his first pieces for two or three soloists to those grand frescoes of his maturity, La Vie parisienne, Robinson Crusoé, and Orphée aux Enfers.

The Masque of Alfred - apart of course from its finale "Rule Britannia" - has in the 1990s reached CD. Just two years ago a version was issued with the BBC Music Magazine and now we have this more complete account (though there were several variants in Arne's own day) from Nicholas McGegan, an experienced exponent of 18th Century music, recorded in America and using mainly American performers. And very welcome is it. If offers 76 minutes of music, 25 minutes more than the BBC CD and if the OAE's playing on the latter under Nicholas Kraemer often seems rather superior, the Philharmonic Baroque Orchestra are fully equal to Arne's demands which include often atmospheric parts for oboes, horns and flute as well as the basic strings. McGegan uses only four solo singers against the BBC's six.

It is inevitable to avoid comparisons with Opeth when talking about Novembre's music. Surely, the same qualities Opeth fans adore can be found in Novembre's music, Novembrine Waltz in particular. However, it would be rather ignorant to look up to this amazingly talented and overlooked Italian group as one of the countless Opeth followers. Novembre have been in it as long as the Swedes and were as much pioneers of the melodic, atmosphere kind of progressive death metal as the above-mentioned collective. If you are a fan of such groups as Anathema, Agalloch, early Opeth, this will quite possibly make the list of your best albums ever.

Hailed by the press as “the definitive video production” of Tchaikovsky’s music, this exceptional concert series, recorded live from the Alte Oper Frankfurt, features the leading Russian conductor Vladimir Fedoseyev and the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra. Fedoseyev’s perceptive reading of the works of his fellow countryman, the masterly playing of the orchestra and guest soloists combine to produce performances which are revelatory in their execution and understanding of Tchaikovsky’s music and the Russian heritage.

Bluesnik, Jackie McLean's seventh session as a leader for Blue Note Records, was one of only two recordings issued by McLean in 1961. With a lineup of trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Doug Watkins, pianist Kenny Drew, and drummer Pete La Roca, McLean laid down a hard blowing session of six tunes based completely on blues motifs. Many critics - as well as jazz fans - hold to the opinion that Bluesnik may be McLean's most accessible session for the label. That said, not all of these tunes are blues numbers strictly speaking. They use blues forms, but don't all fall into the conventional 12-bar structure, and therefore even move hard bop paradigms a bit. The title track opening the set is a prime example of this given that it quotes the theme in 12-bar but moves through a knotty ten-bar sequence before roaring into a furious but fluid cut time structure that allows for a maximum "stretching" of the changes by Drew…

Ralefun (1979). Italian outfit Antonius Rex was formed in 1974, following the cancellation of Bartocetti and Norton's previous band Jacula. "Ralefun" from 1979 was their third full album production, and 32 years after it's initial release it is reissued for the second time courtesy of Italian label Black Widow. The mystical musical journeys of the Italian band Antonius Rex tend to be of a nature that will ever so slightly intimidate on first encounter. "Ralefun" is the sole exception of the creations in their back catalogue, sporting lighter, mystical and even accessible escapades. A relatively gentle introduction to the dark universe explored by Bartoccetti and Norton, and perhaps an ever so slightly surprising experience for those who have discovered this act in the last decade or so and who haven't started to investigate its past. ..