As one of heavy metal's most popular subgenres, melodic death metal has seemingly had every possible angle covered, but Finland's Kalmah have arguably challenged that assumption with their late-‘00s efforts, after striking upon a style enhanced by an unconventional blend of serrated thrash riffing and swirling synthesizers. This blend is once again showcased in impressive fashion by the group's sixth full-length, 12 Gauge, which, if anything, is even more aggressive than its immediate predecessors, on the strength of raging moshers like "Bullets Are Blind," "Hook the Monster" and "Godeye"…

This 1996 CD compilation was the first one put out privately by the Zappa family following Frank Zappa's death in 1993 from prostate cancer. The music includes three new versions of familiar Zappa works, followed bytheir better-known counterparts that have previously appeared on both LPs and CDs. As Dweezil Zappa explains in his liner notes, this previously unreleased excerpt from "Black Napkins" is not yet fully formed; oddly enough, like the version that follows from Zoot Allures, the Napoleon Murphy Brock sax solo has been edited out. The new version of the next instrumental, "Zoot Allures," fares better in comparison to the well-known take from the Zoot Allures CD, in spite of some distortion inadvertently added by the Tokyo PA system during its recording.

The superb sound quality perfectly complements and supports Martzy's playing, which is thoroughly in the deep-and-involving end rather than the daring-and-scintillating end. There is not a sprung rhythm to be found. This is not Bach with a light touch. Vibrato is plentiful and beautiful. Movements end with "OK, I'm ending now!" ritardandos, which, however, are so well judged as to feel inevitable. Tone is gorgeous, technique assured to the point of transparency. The rhythms are 100% 1st-half-of-20th-century, and in that context are expressive and live.

2006 two CD compilation series from the team that brought you the Blue Series, the biggest selling Jazz series ever. These compilations will all cover distinct historical and stylistic phases of the label's history, gathering together tracks that are rarely anthologized alongside some of the more well known cuts. Each one will then be housed in a distinctive sleeve that looks like a Blue Note compilation that was done at the specific period covered by the release. Sharp Shades & Finger Snaps features 19 tracks including cuts from Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Hank Mobley, McCoy Tyner, Grant Green, Lee Morgan and others.

Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2014 Choral category winner! Purely on grounds of performance alone, this is one of the finest Mozart Requiems of recent years. John Butt brings to Mozart the microscopic care and musicological acumen that have made his Bach and Handel recordings so thought-provoking and satisfying.

Since 1991, a complete edition of all recordings in which Karlheinz Stockhausen has personally participated is being released on compact discs. Each CD in this series is identified by Stockhausen's signature followed by an encircled number. The numbers indicate the general historical order of the works. Stockhausen realised the electronic music and participated in these recordings as conductor, performer, sound projectionist, and musical director. He personally mixed down the recordings, mastered them for CDs, wrote the texts and drew the covers.

Now well into his eighth decade, Duane Eddy is still on the road and continues to make records with a new generation of players; these include Richard Hawley, who produced the 'Road Trip' album for him in 2011, the same year he played Glastonbury. Enjoy this unique individual back in his heyday with this 3CD set, and, as the opening track so eloquently puts it, dance with the guitar man!

Galaxy (Waniyetula) is german band who plays symphonic prog in mood of Genesis, Yes and in places from their country fellows Grobschnitt. Waniyetula (Galaxy) recorded this album album in 1975 and was only relesed in 1978 but with diffrent name - Galaxy - the american label who bought the rights of the album from the german one change their name in Galaxy, matter of marketing and because the name was better and more catchy than Waniyetula who sounded pretentions an unintristing. In fact is the same band but with diffrent name. About the music, is very ok with great time signatures, excellent shifts between guitar and keys, remind Genesis (Trick of the tail era), great musichianship all through the album…

Stevie B-Zet's brand of ambient-trance is somewhat commercial but still very original. On the one hand we get lush, soulful ambient/trance soundscapes like only B-Zet can do, and then suddenly the listener is whisked into pseudo soul/pop experiments with pompous diva vocals.

One of the most satisfying recordings to be released in 1980 (and since reissued on CD in the OJC series), this date by pianist George Cables (who contributed four of the six group originals) features trumpeter Freddie Hubbard (who brought in "Byrdlike") and tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts in fiery form; the two horn players took time off from their much more commercial efforts for other labels. Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson is also in the sextet/septet with bassist Tony Dumas, drummer Peter Erskine, and sometimes percussionist Vince Charles; the one departure is "The Stroll," which is an adventurous piano-vibes duet by Cables and Hutcherson. The solos overall are concise and make expert use of each note. Cables' tunes (including "Morning Song," "I Told You So," and "Inner Glow") are generally catchy and memorable while "Byrdlike" gives the virtuosos an up-tempo blues to romp through. This logically conceived and well-paced set is a gem that is highly recommended.

The cover image for Tensegridad, the second album from the Argentinian SLD Trio, looks like a dolmen and it fits the music that both feels ancient and modern. While some types of avant-garde music seek to re-invent the language of music to the point of total estrangement, the strength of the SLD Trio lies in its ability to make sounds, rhythms and melodies that are experimental and inventive and yet almost feel like old folksongs. A new inscription written on an old stone.

Iommi is Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi's first official solo album. He came close before. 1986's Seventh Star was supposed to be, but Warner Bros. insisted on calling it a Black Sabbath Featuring Tony Iommi record for marketing purposes. In a way, Iommi is nearly a Black Sabbath tribute album since its ten songs each feature an all-star guest vocalist…

Take one listen to Shawn James’ music and you can hear his roots in the Mississippi delta by way of growing up on the fabled South Side of Chicago, his authentic, gutbucket blend of blues, folk, and soul music running the gamut of ecstatic joy and painful anguish.

The sixth album from Animal Collective founding member Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear), Buoys, was co-produced and co-mixed by collaborator Rusty Santos in Lennox’s adopted home of Lisbon, Portugal. The album features Lennox’s bright, sincere voice along with his beatific approach to melodic structure and vocal phrasing, with miles of space surrounding it, a guitar and a few textured samples fleshing out the dubby sparseness and undercurrent of speaker-limit-pushing sub-bass low-end. Animated by their ongoing interest in contemporary music production techniques, Buoys retains a deep layer of experimentation coursing through its hyper-modern production – a hallmark of Panda Bear releases that will feel intimately familiar to fans of Lennox’s decade-plus body of work.

80 minutes of epic orchestral doom/ death metal from musicians known from such acts as Susperia, Dimmu Borgir, Sirenia and Funeral. Abyssic convey sombre funeral doom draped in Norwegian black metal majesty and sophisticated 70's progressive rock. Low-tuned sinister riffs and discerning orchestration for fans of Septic Flesh, My Dying Bride and Shape Of Despair.