The two main violin sonatas on this 2025 release share a grim quality that has perhaps resulted in their being less often performed among the chamber output of the two composers, Poulenc and Prokofiev. There is nothing in the music that explicitly refers to war, yet there is a tense quality, especially striking in the sonata of the normally gallant Poulenc, that surely marks their origin during World War II, and violinist Paul Huang ominously says that, in addition to the title of Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel, the music "is almost like a mirror image of the time we are living in now."

Sinfonia of London and John Wilson start a new series of recordings of works by Sir William Walton with this album featuring Charlie Lovell-Jones as soloist in the Violin Concerto. Lovell-Jones has soloed with major orchestras internationally, broadcasting on radio and television. As leader of the multi-award-winning Sinfonia of London, he has performed at the BBC Proms and recorded numerous albums, and is the winner of a number of significant international competitions. Commissioned by Jascha Heifetz, the Concerto was premiered in 1939, in America, and was enthusiastically received. Inspired by Walton's friend and lover Alice Wimborne, the work is extremely lyrical and passionate in nature, sporting a wild, virtuosic Tarantella as the second movement.

If you like your Shostakovich quartets big, brawny, and a bit brutal, you'll like the Emerson Quartet's Shostakovich quartets. The Allegros are muscular, with sharp attacks, strong sforzandos, and relentless rhythms. The Passacaglias are powerful, with massive sonorities, monumental structures, and inexorable tempos. And the Allegrettos are aggressive, with ironic accents, sarcastic tones, and mordent tempos.

Alison Krauss & Union Station continue their winning streak on the aptly titled Lonely Runs Both Ways. While they have in some part grown away from their earthy, rollicking bluegrass roots, they've been able to craft a really polished and honest-sounding brand of mid-American adult contemporary that never dips into the schlockiness of mainstream AC or the formula-driven sound of young country. Instead, Krauss, co-songwriter Dan Tyminski, and the Station dig deep into the classic themes of rural American music, polishing them with terrific production, the finest instrumentation, and two of the best voices around.

Occasional Rain, originally released in 1972, is the first of three albums, Chicago singer/songwriter Terry Callier cut for Cadet in the 1970s with producer Charles Stepney. Eight years earlier Callier, then a soulful blues and folk singer, cut an album of covers (as was par for the course in 1964 at the end of the folk revival, Bob Dylan was just getting his momentum) for Prestige, but it was shelved until 1968 and went nowhere. Callier spent the intervening time touring coffeehouses and small clubs around the country until he signed with Cadet. While the voice is most certainly the same, the nearly alchemical transformation of his sound via his own songwriting - and the way those songs were treated by Stepney - is still mind-boggling…

Another cinematic episode in the continuing Pirates of the Caribbean franchise means another Hans Zimmer soundtrack…right? Well, yes and no. It's true that Zimmer, with his trademarked European sense of flair, has scored Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides with his usual orchestra and choir, but there are a couple of twists to make things a tad more interesting. Zimmer, a longtime fan of virtuoso acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela from Mexico, decided to incorporate them into his score, which is rich in Latin and flamenco themes. They are prominently featured on no less than five cues here. In fact, it's more like the selections that include Rodrigo y Gabriela - "Angelica," "The Pirate That Should Not Be," "South of Heaven's Chanting Mermaids," "Palm Tree Escape," and "Angry and Dead Again" - feature their flashy, soulful guitar work in the foreground adorned by Zimmer's strings, voices, brass, and woodwind sections…

Third time up for sightless guitar wunderkid Jeff Healey and gang; Feel This offers the power trio's meatiest and most satisfying outing. JHB's brand of roadhouse rock can be somewhat bland on disc; here the group captures much more of its trademark live intensity than in the past. The unobtrusive addition of keyboards adds a more expansive dimension to several tracks. Boogie fans will want to check out the ZZ Top-like "Cruel Little Number"; blues-rockers will come away satisfied with the likes of "House That Love Built." Hip-hop connoisseurs, on the other hand, will likely want to avoid JHB's rap spoof on "If You Can't Feel Anything Else."

Nearly two years after the release of their latest studio album, XVI, the mighty Blindside Blues Band returns with Live From Satyrblues 2, a blistering live album from the Satyrblues Festival in Poland. The set, recorded on September 16, 2023, features longtime BBB leader Mike Onesko along with Martin Jepsen Andersen (Blindstone, Meridian, Crossroad Overdrive) on lead guitar and the killer rhythm section of Eric Kennedy on bass and Holden Szalek on drums. Highlights include Better Days, Journey to the Stars and Out on the Streets.

Soul Finger, released on Limelight in 1965, marks Lee Morgan's and Freddie Hubbard's final studio appearances as members of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Morgan had been an on-again-off-again member since the 1950s, but his tenure with Blakey through the early 1960s remained fairly constant. The set also includes a young John Hicks on piano, bassist Victor Sproles, and veteran saxophonist Lucky Thompson. While this set may lack the sheer high-energy crackle of some of the Jazz Messengers Blue Note dates, there is quite a bit to enjoy here. The title track kicks the joint off in bluesy style with the three-horn front line in a slightly dissonant intro before moving in a fingerpopping groover with some killer wood by Sproles used as fills between lines. The spunky Latin groove of "Buh's Bossa" offers Blakey's consummate chops accenting the knotty, sometimes snaky melody line with some excellent comp work by Hicks…

Triana is the most legendary progressive rockband in Spain. Formed in 1974, the band were known for blending elements of progressive rock and flamenco music to make a style known as Andalusian rock or flamenco rock. "Quiero Contarte" is a triple album paying homage to Triana featuring, on the one hand a selection of the most emblematic songs from the 7 recorded albums by the legendary Andalusian rock band on two of the CDs. On the other, a CD featuring the album "Tributo a Jesús de la Rosa". This CD, produced by Gonzalo García-Pelayo, features 17 cover versions of their songs and played by famous modern spanish musicians (andaluz bands Alameda & Medina Azahara among them).

Disco (1986). Released at the height of dance-pop in 1986, the Pet Shop Boys' remix album Disco defiantly asserted the roots of the current trend with the title. And with its long remixes, Disco is designed to be pumped at a dancefloor. As casual listening, it gets a bit tedious, but even at these extended lengths, the melodic craft of the Pet Shop Boys' material shines through.
Disco 2 (1994). On September 12, 1994, the Pet Shop Boys released Disco 2, a mid-priced sequel to their 1986 dance album Disco. Edited together by London DJ Danny Rampling, it is a continuous mix of dance versions of their six most recent singles (including “Absolutely fabulous”) and also incorporates “So hard” and the celebrated B-side of “Being boring”, “We all feel better in the dark”. “It’s really good for driving to, and getting ready to go out to,” says Neil…