A selection of monumental Roman works from the Cappella Sistina music manuscripts in the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana dating from the time of popes Julius II, Leo X, and Clement VII (1503-1534). This CD, recorded for Pure Classics/Glissando, was produced to be sold at the exhibition titled "Hochrenaissance im Vatikan (1503-1534). Kunst und Kultur im Rom der Päpste I" shown at the Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Bonn, Germany, in the year 1998. It is Pomerium's most popular recording. Includes such classic's of Renaissance sacred music as Josquin's Benedicta es, celorum regina and Virgo salutiferi, Mouton's Tua est potentia, Carpentras's Lamentationes Jeremie, and Willaert's Enixa est puerpera.

For Gustav Mahler, composing his early symphonies meant „building a world”. His Ninth, however, seems more concerned with the deconstruction of this world – a look back, a long farewell. In the draft of his score, he noted words like „O youth! Vanished! O love! Blown away!“. In 1909, his idyllic world was destroyed, having been diagnosed with a heart valve defect two years earlier – a disease that would ultimately lead to his death.

The solo violin pieces of the Baroque period are not just limited to the sonatas and partitas of Johann Sebastian Bach, although these certainly represented its highpoint. Other violinist/composers in Germany sought to translate their polyphonic tradition to this four-stringed instrument, exceeding the instrument’s apparent limitations.

None of the Band's previous work gave much of a clue about how they would sound when they released their first album in July 1968. As it was, Music from Big Pink came as a surprise. At first blush, the group seemed to affect the sound of a loose jam session, alternating emphasis on different instruments, while the lead and harmony vocals passed back and forth as if the singers were making up their blend on the spot. In retrospect, especially as the lyrics sank in, the arrangements seemed far more considered and crafted to support a group of songs that took family, faith, and rural life as their subjects and proceeded to imbue their values with uncertainty.

Big Time is an 18-track live album running nearly 68 minutes, its material drawn mostly from Tom Waits' trio of recent studio albums, Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs, and Franks Wild Years. (One track, "Falling Down," is a previously unissued studio recording. The performance of "Strange Weather" marks Waits' first recording of a song he and his wife, Kathleen Brennan, wrote for Marianne Faithfull.) It's challenging music, made somewhat more accessible in a live context. Waits' performances tended to be somewhat over the top on the studio versions of these songs, but before a live audience his theatrics seem more appropriate, and he even includes a mini-set of piano ballads. Still, it takes him until the seventh tune, "Way Down in the Hole," to bring the audience to life, and he rarely speaks, in marked contrast to the earlier live-in-the-studio album Nighthawks at the Diner…

After two years of relentless touring and festival appearances, Finnish melodic death metal force Suotana returns with their most ambitious album to date: "Ounas II", set for release on August 29, 2025. As the epic sequel to 2023’s "Ounas I", this album elevates the band's signature frosty sound to new heights, delivering icy yet soaring melodic death anthems that will redefine the genre. Following the success of their previous album, Suotana embarked on an Asian tour with Kalmah and on a European tour with Finntroll in early 2024, bringing their energetic and atmospheric sound to new audiences. The band also solidified their reputation as a force to be reckoned with through performances at major festivals, including Summer Breeze, Ragnarök Festival, Nummirock, Tuska, and Hellsinki Metal Festival…

This record features beautifully understated arrangements by Joao Donato, Don Sebesky, and Claus Ogerman - and the instrumentation is a haunting mix of bossa rhythms with darker orchestrations that bring out an emotional side of Astrud that you don't always get on other LPs. The track list is excellent, and includes some of her best tracks for Verve, like "Non Stop To Brazil", "Fly Me To The Moon", "O Ganso", and "Aruanda".

Soft Machine's revolving door of personnel changes continued with 1973's Seven, the last Softs album with a numbered title and also the last released by Columbia. Bassist Hugh Hopper was gone, replaced by Roy Babbington, a guest musician on 1971's Fourth who had played bass with Nucleus. Two other Nucleus alumni, keyboardist/reedman Karl Jenkins and drummer John Marshall, were on board as well, and since keyboardist/composer Mike Ratledge was now the band's only founding member (actually, Hopper wasn't an original member either, having replaced Kevin Ayers for Volume Two), the group's links to their early years seemed increasingly tenuous – and would become more so.

Written in the mid-1300s by Italian writer and poet Giovanni Boccaccio, the Decameron is a classic literary work of 100 tales told by seven women and three men over a period of ten days after fleeing the Black Death in Florence. Marco Bernard (The Samurai Of Prog) began publishing Colossus magazine in 1996 and the Colossus Project has been dedicated to bringing musicians from around the globe united for a common cause; the celebration and promotion of progressive rock.
Decameron - Ten days in 100 novellas - Part III is the third and final set of the trilogy. The set is an elaborate four CD production with a substantial booklet containing amazing artwork by Ed Unitsky and a wealth of information. There are no less than thirty-six songs put forth from different bands spanning the globe…