After hearing the recent tribute compilation Total Lee! which is quite mesmerizing, I decided to pick up this CD to see what Hazlewood is doing today. For Every Solution is a little more country than I expected, but after a couple of listens, I started to enjoy it for what it is. I won't natter on about Lee's past accomplishments, they are well known. I will say that after more than 40 years in the business that he sounds great and that this CD stands tall among his best. (Kurt Harding)

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.