David Bowie One of the greatest stars of the rock & roll era, David Bowie evaded easy categorization throughout his career, operating as the artiest rocker within the mainstream and the most accessible musician on the fringe. Bowie may have trafficked in ideas cultivated in the underground, but he was never quite an outsider as far as rock & roll was concerned. From the outset of his career in the 1960s, he attempted to break into the Top 40, playing British blues, mod rock & roll, and ornate pop before finally hitting paydirt as a hippie singer/songwriter. "Space Oddity" gave Bowie his breakthrough in the U.K., reaching the Top Ten in the summer of 1969 – the summer of Apollo 11 – and it belatedly performed a similar feat in America, giving him his first Top 20 hit early in 1973. By that point, Bowie had traded his folkie persona for the glam-rock alien Ziggy Stardust, one of the many shifts of sound and image that came to define his career.

The first thing that comes to mind when evoking French singer/songwriter Véronique Sanson is her voice. A warm, passionate, soothing voice, both uplifting and deep, coupled with fine piano playing, a combination that summons comparison with the likes of Carole King, Laura Nyro, or Janis Ian. Yet even though she was immensely talented and encountered wide success both inside and outside of France, she revealed herself best under the influence of the ones she loved and admired.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is the seventh studio album by Elton John, first released in 1973 as a double LP. It was the second of his two studio albums released in the same year of 1973 (first one was Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player released 9 months earlier). The album has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and is widely regarded as John's best. Among the 17 tracks, the album contains the hits "Candle in the Wind", "Bennie and the Jets", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" plus live favorites "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" and "Harmony". In 2003, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The album was ranked number 91 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and number 59 in Channel 4's 2009 list of 100 Greatest Albums. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

This album was unusual on several counts. For starters, it was a soundtrack (for Sam Peckinpah's movie of the same title), a first venture of its kind for Bob Dylan. For another, it was Dylan's first new LP in three years – he hadn't been heard from in any form other than the single "George Jackson," his appearance at the Bangladesh benefit concert in 1971, in all of that time. Finally, it came out at an odd moment of juxtaposition in pop culture history, appearing in July 1973 on the same date as the release of Paul McCartney's own first prominent venture into film music, on the Live and Let Die soundtrack (the Beatles bassist had previously scored The Family Way, a British project overlooked amid the frenzy of the Beatles' success).

To celebrate the 130th anniversary of Chaplin’s birth, we are excited to announce our collaboration with [PIAS] on a new double CD set of extracts from the film soundtracks in the Chaplin archives, out on April 12th 2019.
The Charlie Chaplin Film Music Anthology, compiled by the Chaplin Office, retraces many of the milestones in Chaplin’s music-composing career, from City Lights (1931), the first film he released with a score of his own creation, to the 1976 re-release of A Woman of Paris with a new score composed by Chaplin at the age of 86, not to mention extracts from Modern Times, The Great Dictator, Limelight, The Kid and more. The release includes a well-documented 20-page booklet that we scrupulously put together, illustrated with archival photographs.

This quote, which accompanies a vintage photograph of three African American women lifting their hands heavenward, is not only featured prominently in Put the Whole Armour On, a two-CD tribute to 1940s and 1950s female gospel artists, but it serves as an apt prelude to the collection. That is, notwithstanding the prominence of women in African American churches, most denominations did not allow women to become pastors. In response, some females became evangelists, saving souls through street corner oratory as well as gospel music. The 54 selections curated for this collection cover some of the most popular gospel singers of the golden era like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Clara Ward, and Mahalia Jackson. Included is Jackson’s initial and unsuccessful but plaintively rendered Apollo Records release “I’m Going to Tell God.” The package also introduces lesser-known figures such as Madam Ernestin Martin, Mary Frazier, and Mari Brown, whose lilting voice delicately delivers “Did You Stop to Pray This Morning” with R&B pioneers the Johnny Moore Trio.

Passion Jaroussky marks 20 years since Philippe Jaroussky made his professional debut and commenced his rapid ascent to stardom. As the French countertenor says, “Even after all these years, my passion for music is undimmed.” Ranging musically from the 16th to the 21st century, the triple album comprises both new recordings and highlights from recent albums, and it also showcases Jaroussky’s collaborations with a host of major singers – from the worlds of both classical music and pop – instrumentalists, conductors and orchestras.

The chamber music of Clérambault has been a real voyage of discovery for The Bach Players. We mostly know Clérambault as the composer of many wonderful Cantatas. His chamber music is written in a very different style. Here he joins Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre and François Couperin in experimenting with the Italian style that gradually gained popularity in France. None of these works were published during his lifetime. We owe it to the good taste of Sébastien de Brossard, who copied these scores, that this wonderfully expressive music was preserved for us to enjoy today.

I have always viewed Dr. Weigl as one of the best composers of the old generation; one of those continuing the illustrious Viennese tradition' – Arnold Schönberg. This statement indicated that Weigl remained faithful to the late-Romantic aesthetic and use of tonality, shunning the more progressive contemporary trends being explored at the turn of the 20th century, as might be found in the music of Zemlinsky, Reznicek or Franz Schmidt. Weigl's style is well reflected in this programme that pairs the first of his six symphonies (written in 1908) with Pictures and Tales, a suite for small orchestra written in 1922.

Biopic The Dirt tells the story of Mötley Crüe's wild ride through their time as one of the most popular and most debaucherous bands of the metal years. During a blistering run that lasted the entirety of the '80s, the L.A. band sold millions of records, toured the world, and challenged death constantly with reckless behavior, substance abuse, and the kind of mayhem that sometimes seems like it only existed in the time when hair metal reigned. Some of these misadventures were collected in the 2001 book The Dirt, and the 2019 film adaptation of the book further dramatizes some of the group's already unbelievable antics, as well as getting into the music that made it all happen. The soundtrack to the film is made up entirely of music by Mötley Crüe, but in addition to 14 selections from their early catalog, they recorded four entirely new tracks in 2018 especially for inclusion in the film…

The J.S. Bach Foundation has embarked on a remarkable undertaking: over a period of some 25 years, the Foundation will perform the complete vocal works by Johann Sebastian Bach (16851750). Each month, one of the over 200 Bach cantatas is performed in the idyllic town of Trogen in Appenzell, Switzerland. With a rhythm of 12 cantatas per year, the project is estimated to conclude in the year 2030. All introductory workshops, concerts and reflection lectures on the cantata texts are recorded; the texts of the lectures are published in a continually expanding Bach Anthology. The main aim of the J.S. Bach Foundation's ambitious project is to provide a living Bach experience for today's listeners and to deepen our understanding of the great composer's works. The artistic director of the foundation is Rudolf Lutz, who rehearses and conducts all performances with the choir, orchestra and solo vocalists.

SUPERB PERFORMANCE FROM PETER GABRIEL AT THE 1994 WOODSTOCK FESTIVAL Peter Gabriel released his seventh studio album Us in 1992. Co-produced by Gabriel with Daniel Lanois, on the record he explored the pain of recent personal problems; his failed first marriage, his relationship with actress Rosanna Arquette and the growing distance between his first daughter and himself. The result was one of Gabriel's most personal albums. It met with less success than its predecessor So, but still reached No. 2 in the album chart on both sides of the Atlantic; Gabriel also achieved modest chart success with the singles Digging in the Dirt , and Steam . Peter Gabriel followed the release of the album with a world tour and an accompanying double CD and DVD release, Secret World Live in 1994. The final date of the tour was Peter Gabriel s performance at the 1994 Woodstock Festival, in Saugerties, NY on 14th August 1994. One of the best shows on the tour, the entire set - and indeed much of the festival - was broadcast on both TV, and across FM Radio. Previously unreleased, the full set Gabriel and band played on the 25th anniversary of the original 1969 Woodstock Festival is now available in superb quality on this CD.

Rainbow The brainchild of former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, Rainbow quickly developed into one of the '70s most successful heavy metal bands behind charismatic frontman Ronnie James Dio. Together, the duo would produce a string of acclaimed albums which are still considered classics of the genre. But the group would change their musical approach numerous times following the singer's departure, eventually confusing and alienating much of their audience. Releasing eight albums during its decade-long run, the band finally came to an end when Blackmore departed to rejoin his old Deep Purple comrades in a full-fledged reunion in 1984. And while the impact of Rainbow's influence has faded with the intervening decades, theirs was a crucial chapter in the development of heavy metal and hard rock.

Between the Earth and the Stars is the seventeenth studio album by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, released on 15 March 2019 by earMUSIC. The album was produced by David Mackay. Following the release of Rocks and Honey in 2013, Tyler remarked to Kiss FM that she expected it to be her last. In 2017, she announced that she had been inspired to record another album after hearing "fantastic new songs" written for her by Kevin Dunne, who played bass guitar in her first band in the early 1970s. In December 2016, she visited the Cash Cabin Studios in Nashville to commence recording with John Carter Cash. In 2018, Tyler announced that she would instead be working with David Mackay, who co-produced her first two albums, The World Starts Tonight (1977) and Natural Force (1978).

Two-Piers, the label that brought you ‘Pop Psychédélique (The Best of French Psychedelic Pop 1964-2019)’ bring you the second instalment in the series ‘Garage Psychédélique (The Best of Garage Psych and Pzyk Rock 1965-2019)’. A thrill a minute dive into the crazy awesome world of Garage Psychedelic Rock. From the Psych sound explosion onto the Underground club scene in the US and UK in the mid 1960s, its discovery by a wider audience via the exceptional Nuggets and Pebbles compilation series in the 1970-1980s. Through its mainstream revival with the Garage sound of the late 1990- early 2000s, to the current crop of exceptional bands flying the Garage Psych flag today, ‘Garage Psychédélique’ takes you on a journey and gives you a little taste of some of the finest music from the scene and the bands that blazed a trail for others to follow…..Sit back and enjoy the ride!