John Mellencamp has been in need of a thorough, career-spanning compilation for a while, and Island/UTV's 2004 release Words & Music: John Mellencamp's Greatest Hits finally fills that gap. His previous hits collection, 1997's The Best That I Could Do, was too short, since he had more hits than could fit on a brief 14-track disc. Words & Music doesn't have the problem of brevity. Spanning 37 songs over two discs, this has nearly all of his charting hits. Radio hits like "Justice and Independence '85" and "Rooty Toot Toot" may be absent, but they're not missed, since all the big hits are here, including "Pink Houses," "Lonely Ol' Night," "Paper in Fire," "Authority Song," "Crumblin' Down," "Small Town," "Hurts So Good," and "Jack & Diane," among many others (including two solid new songs).

Soprano Mary Bevan and pianist Jopseph Middleton perform a programme exploring the genius of Baudelaire and Goethe, and how texts by them unlocked very specific musical landscapes in settings by Debussy, Duparc, Chausson, de Bréville, Séverac, Fauré and Schubert.Praised by Opera for her “dramatic wit and vocal control” in stand out performances on opera and concert platforms, Mary Bevan is a winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist award and UK Critics’ Circle Award for Exceptional Young Talent in music. Pianist Joseph Middleton specialises in the art of song accompaniment and chamber music and has been highly acclaimed within this field. Described in the BBC Music Magazine as “one of the brightest stars in the world of song and Lieder”, he has also been labeled “the cream of the new generation” by The Times and “a perfect accompanist” by Opera Now

The 2nd symphony, Sibelius' most popular, is featured in this third volume of the series. Together with orchestral gems Tapiola and The Swan of Tuonela, the conductor and orchestra show their close, deep connection to the composer as they depict beautiful scenes of nature in the Nordic countries.

Matthias Goerne, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Mikko Franck continue their series of recordings of Shostakovich's symphonic works with baritone with the Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1974), and the symphonic poem October (1967). These are two very different works: the first is one of Shostakovich’s most deeply personal creations and has no connection to the ideological issues of Soviet power. The second was commissioned by the Soviet authorities to glorify the 1917 Revolution and is filled with irony. Goerne is the perfect interpreter for Shostakovich’s great cycle of settings of verses by Michelangelo, in which intimate moments where the voice is almost a cappella alternate with powerfully dramatic passages with full orchestra.

Miles Davis' concert of February 12, 1964, was divided into two LPs, with all of the ballads put on My Funny Valentine. These five lengthy tracks (specifically, "All of You," "Stella by Starlight," "All Blues," "I Thought About You," and the title cut) put the emphasis on the lyricism of Davis, along with some strong statements from tenor saxophonist George Coleman and freer moments from the young rhythm section of pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams. This hour-long LP complements the up-tempo romps of Four & More.

Sakamoto's all-star blend of Western and Eastern music styles is a triumphant success for the composer, and a consistently good listen. On the title track he takes a traditional Japanese folk song and blends it into a funk groove provided by Bootsy Collins, Bill Laswell, and Sly Dunbar. Unlike Byrne and Eno's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, this blend of cultures is coming from the opposing angle and stays truer to the source material. But that track is only one of Sakamoto's approaches, and on several other tracks he joins with Laswell to create a crisp, techno-cultural hybrid that sounds like nothing except like pure Sakamoto. On "Risky," a subdued Iggy Pop lends vocals and lyrics, and doesn't come across as an interloper. And on "Okinawa Song," Sakamoto seamlessly integrates the southern island culture into his grand scheme.

Looking at the selection of pieces on Playful Clarinet, one expects to hear a lot of lighthearted music played with a sense of whimsy, some indulgence, and fun. Clarinetist Ludmila Peterková doesn't quite manage to deliver, however. She's a very skillful player, with excellent intonation, but she's not yet in the same league with the likes of Sabine Meyer or Richard Stoltzman. In the quieter, softer moments of pieces like the Bach Air on the G String and La fille aux chevaux de lin, she has a wonderfully lyrical, warm tone. In other places, especially loud, high notes, her tone isn't nearly as likeable.

Haydn’s three authentic violin concertos fit ideally on a single disc and are an integral part of every aspiring fiddler’s arsenal. It’s easy to see why: even if they don’t display the virtuosity or depth of feeling of Mozart’s five, they nevertheless have challenges of their own, framed in music of effortless charm and Haydn’s own brand of earthy melodiousness. Lisa Jacobs fields a band of no more than 14 string players, with a very present harpsichord accompaniment. Ensemble and phrasing are ideal, and Jacobs’s own cadenzas are in keeping with their surroundings. Her tone is clear and consistent.

The best Summer anthology from a dance perspective. This gives the full view of Summer's best tunes the way they were played in the clubs; all the added loops, orchestrations, and extra production, plus her voice mixed to its fullest and even boosted. It covers 73 minutes, which is more than anyone except the disco junkies would ever need, and even has an extra cut on the cassette, rather than on the CD.

Recorded Live At Kosei- Nennkinn Kaikann, Tokyo, 1979-01-23 and 1980-01-27.

Like the artist himself, the music on this brilliant album defies all categories, embracing Terry Callier's wide range of influences and experiences. Callier's musical kaleidoscope is filled with funk, rock, folk, jazz, and even classical influences. "Dancing Girl" opens the album with Charles Stepney's majestic orchestration. This opus is the album's pinnacle, moving with soft intensity toward soul-stirring crescendos. Songs like "What Color Is Love" and "Ho Tsing Mee (A Song of the Sun)," an elegant antiwar prayer of confusion, somehow avoid clichés or take them to another level. "You Goin' to Miss Your Candyman" was made popular by Urban Species when they sampled it on "Listen" in the early '90s, and not surprisingly, it sounds better in its original form. No matter where you turn, Callier's passionate voice captures the sweeping drama of the human condition. A lost romantic amid "concrete front yards," this album is a must-have for any music connoisseur.

“Whoosh!” sees Deep Purple for the third time joining forces with producer Bob Ezrin, who invited the band to Nashville to write and record new songs. Together they created the most versatile album in their collaboration. Deep Purple “stretched out in all directions” without any limitation, letting their creativity go. “Deep Purple is putting the Deep back into Purple” was the half-joking motto in the studio after the first songs made it clear that Ezrin and Purple were on their path to creating an album pushing the boundaries of time, while voicing their resentment about the current situation of the world and addressing all generations. In recent years, Deep Purple has progressively moved into new areas, piquing the interest of fans who were not born when the mighty Purple machine ruled the music world.

A few disarming moments on Octahedron unfold slowly, with pockets of space and calm. Don’t be lured into trusting them. This album, the fifth studio release by the Mars Volta, employs stillness as a setup for all manner of disruption: sharply pealing riffs, phantasmagorical metaphors, convoluted song structures. In many ways it’s a typical effort from the guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and the vocalist Cedric Bixler Zavala, who make up the Mars Volta’s cunning and ever-agitated core. But that’s not to discredit the more measured side of Octahedron, a harbor for some of this psychedelic prog-rock band’s most alluring melodies and among its most coherent recordings. Presented as an eight-song suite, the album delivers a panoramic range of intensity, sliding along that range in ways both gradual and startling…

Organist Bill Doggett had a rare chance on this album to write swinging charts for a big band. Ella Fitzgerald is in the spotlight throughout, mostly singing swing-era songs along with a couple of newer pieces, such as "Hallelujah I Love Him So" and "No Moon at All." "I Can't Face the Music" is the longest performance at 5:01, and all but three of the other selections are under three minutes, so there is no real stretching out. However, Ella's voice was in its prime, and the charts are excellent.

The Alan Parsons Project is a "project" of acclaimed English producer Alan Parsons, best known for his works as an engineer with with names such as the Beatles (Abbey Road, the Get Back roofttop concert) and Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon, Atom Heart Mother). Along with songwriter Eric Woolfson, Parsons created a series of 10 (and counting) albums of progressive rock, employing a rotating cast of session musicians to do most of the performing (Parsons does play keyboard and sings on some tracks.). He creates the concept, writes some of the music and hires the artists, while Woolfson writes the lyrics, some of the music and sings on many tracks.
36 tracks are collected on this expansive compilation album from these prog rockers, which is a neat way to review their impressive career.