Here are 3CDs of essential blues from the legendary artists who started it all, Featuring 60 classic recordings grom the likes of John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf, Lowell Fulson, Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington and many, many more.

The ultra-hip and sophisticated "cool jazz" that Chet Baker (trumpet/vocals) helped define in the early '50s matured rapidly under the tutelage of producer Dick Bock. This can be traced to Baker's earliest sides on Bock's L.A.-based Pacific Jazz label. This album is the result of Baker's first sessions for the independent Riverside label. The Chet Baker Quartet featured on Chet Baker Sings: It Could Happen to You includes Kenny Drew (piano), Sam Jones (bass), and Philly Joe Jones (drums). (Performances by bassist George Morrow and drummer Dannie Richmond are featured on a few cuts.) This results in the successful combination of Baker's fluid and nonchalant West Coast delivery with the tight swinging accuracy of drummer Jones and pianist Drew. Nowhere is this balance better displayed than the opening and closing sides on the original album, "Do It the Hard Way" and "Old Devil Moon," respectively…

Emerson, Lake & Palmer's 1970 eponymous LP was only a rehearsal. It hit hard because of the novelty of the act (allegedly the first supergroup in rock history), but felt more like a collection of individual efforts and ideas than a collective work. All doubts were dissipated by the release of Tarkus in 1971. Side one of the original LP is occupied by the 21-minute title epic track, beating both Genesis' "Supper's Ready" and Yes' "Close to the Edge" by a year. Unlike the latter group's cut-and-paste technique to obtain long suites, "Tarkus" is a thoroughly written, focused piece of music. It remains among the Top Ten classic tracks in progressive rock history. Because of the strength of side one, the material on the album's second half has been quickly forgotten - with one good reason: it doesn't match the strength of its counterpart - but "Bitches Crystal" and "A Time and a Place" make two good prog rock tracks, the latter being particularly rocking…

Recorded in 1976 - after Brian Eno had proclaimed them one of the best groups around - but for whatever reason not released until 20 years later, Tracks & Traces is a fascinating release not merely for Eno's participation but for the hints of music that would become mainstream in the future. Indeed, opening cut "Vamos Companeros" has an intense guitar line from Rother that in its nervous, choppy way suggests everything from Wire to Bauhaus, not to mention Eno's own noted production clients, U2. Having already created two excellent albums, the core Harmonia trio was easily placed to whip up a third, with Eno the wild-card factor who turned out to be a perfect addition. While contributing some lyrics and singing at a time when he was steering away firmly from both in his own solo work, most of the time Eno lets the band speak for itself musically, most notably adding snaky, quietly threatening basslines…

If you were donning your baggies and wallet chains to rock out with Papa Roach in 2000 you probably didn’t think you’d still be doing so 22 years later. Certainly not with bigger names like Slipknot and Linkin Park coming to prominence at the same time. Well, how wrong can you be? For Papa Roach are not only still with us, but they’re an infinitely more challenging, diverse and simply better band than the one that recorded breakthrough album Infest. New offering Ego Trip rips up any semblance of a rule book, rapping it up and rocking it out with the fervour of any of music’s bright young things.
Swerve pairs frontman Jacoby Shaddix with Fever 333’s Jason Aalon Butler in a state-of-the-nation rock meets hip-hop grind that even includes blasts of sax…

The Polydor Years is an eight-disc box set that gathers up all of the classic rock legends' output for the label that was released between 1986 and 1992. Included are the studio albums The Other Side of Life, Sur La Mer, and Keys to the Kingdom (all of which have been remastered and stocked with bonus material), as well as a previously unissued live show from 1986, 1993's Night at Red Rocks with the Colorado Symphony parts one and two, and a pair of DVDs that chronicle the aforementioned Red Rocks show.

Hard bopper Carmell Jones is in fine form on this 1965 outing, Jay Hawk Talk. Together with tenor Jimmy Heath, pianist Barry Harris, bassist George Tucker, and drummer Roger Humphries, Jones confidently tackles a half-dozen tunes. From the piano/bass riff at the beginning of "Jay Hawk Talk" to the Parker-esque kickoff of "Beepdurple," the band holds a steady, driving groove. Both of those instrumentals, plus "Dance of the Night Child," were written by Jones and stand comfortably beside the other selections on this album. Tucker kicks off a particularly affecting version of "Willow Weep for Me," with a simple descending bass run. Jones enters with a full and rich tone for a beautiful, extended solo, and is followed by Harris, who emphasizes the bluesy, late-night feel of the piece…

Abandoning the lovely soundscapes of Snow Goose, Camel delved into layered guitar and synthesizers similar to those of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here on the impressive Moonmadness. Part of the reason behind the shift in musical direction was the label's insistence that Camel venture into more commercial territory after the experimental Snow Goose, and it is true that the music on Moonmadness is more akin to traditional English progressive rock, even though it does occasionally dip into jazz-fusion territory with syncopated rhythms and shimmering keyboards. Furthermore, the songs are a little more concise and accessible than those of its predecessor. That doesn't mean Camel has abandoned art. Moonmadness is indeed a concept album, based loosely on the personalities of each member - "Chord Change" is Peter Bardens, "Air Born" is Andy Latimer, "Lunar Sea" is Andy Ward and "Another Night" is Doug Ferguson…

This double CD from Schütze maintains the high standards of previous releases, with one disc tending toward a kind of delicate techno jazz, and the other moving into a twilight ambient world of slow-motion musical gestures and elusive melodic fragments. Schütze's prior experience as a film composer serves him well; he is a master at creating moods, and rather exceptional in his use of musical resources, refusing to limit himself to a particular instrumental palette or style. On the more ambient disc of the two, one of the four pieces is firmly in the Brian Eno/Steve Roach mode (and as lovely as anything produced by those two artists), while another piece is much closer to the industrial genre, with an austere combination of both organic and machine-like drones, and delicate, random chime tones with occasional clicking sounds…

Alice Cooper wasted little time following up the breakthrough success of Love It to Death with another album released the same year, Killer. Again, producer Bob Ezrin was on board and helps the group solidify their heavy rock (yet wide-ranging) style even further. The band's stage show dealt with the macabre, and such disturbing tracks as "Dead Babies" and the title track fit in perfectly. Other songs were even more exceptional, such as the perennial barnstorming concert standard "Under My Wheels," the melodic yet gritty "Be My Lover," and the tribute to their fallen friend Jim Morrison, "Desperado." The long and winding "Halo of Flies" correctly hinted that the band would be tackling more complex song structures on future albums, while "You Drive Me Nervous" and "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" showed that Alice Cooper hadn't completely abandoned their early garage rock direction…

The mysterious Seasick Steve does indeed offer a brand of "cheap" juke joint blues on this album. Not that it's badly recorded at all; it's just rather skeletal and rough, Steve fronting a core trio of himself on electric guitar, "Mr. Joe H." on stand-up bass, and "Mr. Kai C." on drums. In the 1990s and early 21st century, this is the kind of raw juke joint stuff that underwent a revival, or at least was recorded far more often than it had been, both by oldsters and youngsters. Seasick Steve's somewhere in the middle of that age range, and while what he devises is acceptable and certainly gritty, it would have been more ear-catching had it come out ten years or so earlier, before other people did similar stuff (and sometimes did it better). The songs are basic, repetitive, and slightly grungy, Steve singing in a lived-in, scratchy, at times mumbly voice that might slightly remind you of Tom Waits and Dr. John at times…

When this album was recorded in February of 1961, it had been more than year since the Portrait in Jazz was issued, the disc that won the critics over. By the time of this issue, Evans had released four albums in six years, a pace unheard of during that time. Most musicians were issuing two, three, and even four records a year during the same era. Many speculate on Evans' personal problems at the time, but the truth of the matter lies in the recordings themselves, and Explorations proves that the artist was worth waiting for no matter what else was going on out there. Evans, with Paul Motian and Scott LaFaro, was onto something as a trio, exploring the undersides of melodic and rhythmic constructions that had never been considered by most. For one thing, Evans resurrects a number of tunes that had been considered hopelessly played out, and literally reinvents them - "How Deep Is the Ocean" and "Sweet and Lovely"…

This is a recording from an historical event. On May 14th 1977 there was a Gong festival in the Hippodrome in Paris. 14 hours of Gong in several line-ups and several related bands. Among the bands appearing most notably one named Strontium 90, consisting of Andy Summers (lead guitar), Sting (vocals and rhythm guitar), Stewart Copeland (drums) and Mike Howlett (bass). If someone says "wait a moment, that's Police", yes, you are right. The roots of police stem from this band. A fact hardly anyone knows. Some of the band members had played in several other line-ups of Gong or in solo acts before this final Gong concert, and this can most notably be heard in the performance of Pieere Moerlen on drums. Not that he is bad, but one has heard more lively drumming of him.This is especially notable on "Master Builder"…

For the third time, Blank & Jones take a journey to the depths of the archives of the '80 and offer up a tracklist full of surprises and exclusives. This triple CD deluxe set is a virtual non-stop mix featuring remastered and uncut rare mixes and extended versions. The booklet contains commentary from Blank & Jones on all of the tracks plus pictures of the original 12" single sleeves. Features tracks from INXS, Visage, Duran Duran, OMD, the Cure, Billy Idol, Simple Minds, Real Life and many others.

French metalcore titans LANDMVRKS have officially released their long-awaited new album, The Darkest Place I've Ever Been, out now everywhere via Arising Empire. The record delivers a crushing blend of raw emotion and relentless energy, marking the band’s darkest and most personal chapter to date.
The album explores themes of loss, inner turmoil, and existential struggle - all wrapped in LANDMVRKS’ signature mix of metalcore, hardcore, and post-metal influences.