Rafał Blechacz has been deeply associated with the music of Fryderyk Chopin across his whole career. His devotion to the music of his great compatriot began long before 2005 when he won the Warsaw Chopin Competition. Blechacz complements the two large works with Chopin’s haunting F sharp minor Nocturne and his exquisite Barcarolle.
On the recording he has placed the Nocturne in F sharp minor op. 48/2 between the sonatas and added the Barcarolle to conclude the album. He points to a particular harmonic progression which is shared between the restless, foreboding Nocturne and a moment in the Sonata No. 2’s first movement (‘one bar is almost exactly the same,’ he says). As for the Sonata No. 3 and the Barcarolle, these share the powerful influence of Italian bel canto opera, which had been crucial to Chopin ever since his student days in Warsaw, when he fell in love with a young singer; he remained passionate about opera for the rest of his life.

Santana is the primary exponent of Latin-tinged rock, particularly due to its combination of Latin percussion (congas, timbales, etc.) with bandleader Carlos Santana's distinctive, high-pitched lead guitar playing. The group was the last major act to emerge from the psychedelic San Francisco music scene of the 1960s and it enjoyed massive success at the end of the decade and into the early '70s. The musical direction then changed to a more contemplative and jazzy style as the band's early personnel gradually departed, leaving the name in the hands of Carlos Santana, who guided the group to consistent commercial success over the next quarter-century.

Laura Ann Branigan was a Grammy Award-nominated American singer-songwriter and actress of Italian and Irish ancestry. She is best known in the United States for her 1982 Platinum-certified hit "Gloria" and in Europe for the number one single "Self Control". Branigan is also remembered for the Top 10 "Solitaire," and for the number one AC hit "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You." The Platinum Collection is the first greatest hits collection of singer Laura Branigan that was released posthmously. It was released only in the United Kingdom on July 24, 2006. The album is part of the Warner Platinum series released by Rhino Records. Out of the many Laura Branigan greatest hits collections released, this one contains the most hits with a track listing of eighteen.

Although John Wetton is at the helm throughout all of these tracks, King's Road, 1972-1980 is really a collaboration of progressive rock artists that have joined Wetton across each of the 13 songs. Wetton's renditions of songs by his former bands King Crimson and UK come off quite clean and refined, especially "As Long As You Want Me Here" from 1979's Night After Night Live album and the opening "Nothing to Lose" off Danger Money. While his efforts at singing the King Crimson tracks lack the magic and fullness they exhibit in their original form, they still maintain a slight electrified feel. The entire 12 minutes of "Starless" from the classic Red album makes for an excellent finishing track, brought marvelously back to life with the steady drumming of Bill Bruford and the sparkling keyboard work of Robert Fripp…

Switzerland-born singer Susanne Abbuehl studied with the influential vocalist Jeanne Lee (1939-2000) while attending the Royal Conservatory of the Hague, amidst her wholehearted interest in North Indian classical music. On her first release for ECM, Abbuehl and her fellow European musicians render an often thought-provoking program, augmented by the infamous "ECM aesthetic." However, the thrust of this outing emanates from the vocalist's incorporation of e.e. cummings' poems set to her music, while she appoints lyrics to a few Carla Bley compositions. Abbuehl possesses enticingly affectionate vocal attributes coupled with her soft incantations and atmospheric means of spinning a tale. Clarinetist Christof May serves as a near perfect foil for Abbuehl, as he frequently contrasts the singer's animated lyrical approach and tenderly stated choruses…

LIK - the modern-day purveyors of classic Swedish Death Metal - are back with a vengeance with their fourth album 'Necro'! Standing loud and proud above so many imitators, 'Necro' is the musical equivalent of a classic shock-horror film, drenched in blood and gore and packed with exaggerated extremities.
Looking beyond the zombie-fied cover art created by Stockholm-based tattooist and artist Jens Olsson (Ink Fanatics), 'Necro' serves as a reminder of just how special and exciting the genre is: packed with blood-curdling fantasy stories of war, death, zombies, world apocalypse, murder; and stacked with disgustingly good rotten riffs. Proudly staying true to the DNA and ethos of the music they've collectively loved since their teenage years, LIK go straight for the jugular in true quintessential death metal style…

Ex Vitae were a jazz group from Limoges that created their only album in 1978. Ex Vitae offers original and tempting themes. The album presents an interesting crossing of electric jazz and Progressive rock. You will remark a slight influence of Moving Gelatine Plates with regard to the construction of the themes and the use of a wide range of instruments.

After international success with "Tonight Josephine" Tape Five now steps forward with some 1940's inspired flavours! Tape Five with his pacifist attitude has always been inspired by the Great Big Bands from the 30's and 40's who entertained the troops with their unique, powerful and cleverly arranged swingin´sounds, put him right in the mood. For the "Swing Patrol", the fourth album by songwriter/producer Martin Strathausen and his Orchestra, he recruited singers and musicians from ten different countries - from California to Cameron via Brazil, England, Italy, Ukraine, Romania and of course his home base in Germany. With alliances around the world Tape Five is stationed on hundreds of music compilations. An ever expanding, swinging Universe.