An obscure footnote of early-'70s British art rock, Khan featured guitarist Steve Hillage, keyboardist Dave Stewart, and ex-Crazy World of Arthur Brown bassist Nick Greenwood. Their sole album from 1972 was dominated by Hillage's lengthy, ambitious compositions and Stewart's organ, which owed much to the Canterbury Scene of British prog rock. The group didn't offer much to distinguish themselves from the many other British outfits exploring similar territory, and disbanded after one LP. Hillage went on to join Kevin Ayers and Gong before establishing a solo career; Stewart played with Hatfield & the North and National Health.

Alpha is the second studio album by British rock band Asia, released in 1983. It was certified platinum in the United States, eventually selling close to two million copies. Released one year before the departure of guitarist Steve Howe, Alpha was the last album with the band's original line-up until 2008's Phoenix, after the original members reunited in 2006, and the last album with Howe until Aqua in 1992. Alpha was written by the songwriting tandem of John Wetton and Geoff Downes, with the exception of "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes", which was written by Wetton alone. Alpha was recorded during the spring of 1983 at Le Studio in Morin Heights, Quebec and Manta Sound in Toronto.

I Can See Your House from Here is the seventh studio album by English progressive rock band Camel. Released in 1979, a new line up was introduced with founding members Andrew Latimer (guitar) and Andy Ward (drums) joined by bassist Colin Bass (to replace Richard Sinclair) and keyboardists Jan Schelhaas (who joined in 1978 for the Breathless tour) and Kit Watkins (ex-Happy The Man) who replaced Dave Sinclair. At one point, the album was going to be called Endangered Species.

Like Chopin’s Barcarolle, Fauré’s work shows equal measures of limpidity and gravity, brightness and great depth. Finding the right words to describe music such as this, which is not at all descriptive, is far from easy, and it puts us on unsafe ground. In answer to a lady who asked him in what sunny climes he had written his Sixth Nocturne, the composer replied ‘In the Simplon tunnel’. An apt quip! But we are touched by this music, which is very secretive, yet very human, because of its élan, its aspiration to something vast, and at the same time its inner poetry. Not a single page of the thirteen Barcarolles is lacking in that inspiration, which so movingly brings them together as a set of thirteen poems.

Modest Mouse create a sonic world that balances jagged chaos with haunting beauty, making them one of the most influential indie rock bands of the last 30 years. ‘An Eraser And A Maze’ is the first new studio album from the band since 2021’s ‘The Golden Casket’. A physics theory says past, present and future coexist - and that’s the best lens for ‘An Eraser And A Maze’, which feels like every era of Modest Mouse happening at once. Guided by Isaac Brock’s instinct-first process, the album is both familiar and alien, warm and cold. It stretches across the band’s sonic history, from propulsive classics to stripped, raw moments, while carrying an undercurrent of mortality and loss that refuses easy optimism.

British prog rock act Skin Alley were a farsighted collaboration between Thomas Crimble (keyboards/bass/vocals), Alvin Pope (drums), Krzysztof Henryk Justkiewicz (keyboards), and Bob James (sax/guitar). Formed in the late '60s, they made inroads quickly and found themselves signed to CBS for their self-titled debut in 1969. That album, and its 1970 follow-up, To Pagham & Beyond, saw the band in top prog form – a pastiche of folk, jazz, and rock that, although well traveled by this time, managed to delight more than a few critics with its freshness and vitality. Crimble and Pope moved on later that year and were replaced by Nick Graham (formerly of Atomic Rooster) and Tony Knight (ex-Bronx Cheer), respectively. With new members in place, Skin Alley's sound took on a more polished, mainstream approach and began prominently featuring the complex string, woodwind, and brass arrangements of Graham. Their jazz-rock fusion sound was still there, but with decidedly more polish and sophistication.

Spirogyra were a British folk rock/prog band that released three albums between 1971 and 1973. The group's most well-known members are co-founder, songwriter, and guitarist Martin Cockerham and singer Barbara Gaskin. Their sound has been described as "whimsically English" and their third album, Bells, Boots and Shambles, has come to be regarded as "a lost masterpiece". A later incarnation of the band was formed in the early 2000s, with further studio albums in 2009 and 2011. The band conclusively ceased to exist with Martin Cockerham's 2018 death. Their debut album, St Radigunds, was recorded at Sound Techniques studio, produced by Robert Kirby and engineered by Jerry Boys. Named after the Canterbury street on which the members lived, its lyrics express the anti-capitalistic, anti-materialistic orientation of the band and of the broader Canterbury scene. The album has been described as "effectively a document of Spirogyra's well-honed live set". Released in September 1971, it received positive reviews in NME and other rock publications, and was supported by a 24-date tour of the United Kingdom.

The fruitful collaboration of French-born saxophonist-clarinetist Robin Fincker and British pianist Kit Downes goes back decades. Their life paths have taken them from London to two different countries in Europe, and they met again five years ago when they teamed up with Irish singer Lauren Kinsella to set traditional songs and contemporary poetry to music. Their internationally acclaimed first album, Ombres (released on BMC Records in 2024) combined folk and contemporary music in the spirit of European jazz, resulting in a musical world that is sometimes magically beautiful, sometimes surprisingly rough. Two Minds follows a similar concept, but with a more polished sound that relies even more heavily on improvisation. Shadowlands thus continues its journey between old and new music, shedding light on the unheard corners of past songs whilst unfolding its own version of contemporary folk music. This new repertoire features traditional Sean Os songs alongside original compositions, completed by works of numerous poets – both men and women – from the 19th century to the present day.

Vollständigkeit ist nicht immer eine Tugend, wie dieses aus drei CDs bestehende Set beweist. Es trägt alles zusammen, was David Bowie in den Jahren, die im Titel erwähnt werden, für die BBC aufgenommen hat. Hinzu kommt die dritte CD, die im Juni 2000 für die Rundfunkstation in London aufgezeichnet wurde. Nehmen Sie sich zuerst die zweite Platte vor, die sich auf Bowies Neu-Aufnahmen im Studio mit Material aus Hunky Dory und Ziggy Stardust, konzentriert. Staunen Sie über das Glam-Rockabilly-Temperament, das von Bowies Spiders from Mars entfacht wird. Im Vergleich hierzu sind die beiden anderen Platten eine Enttäuschung: Die erste zeigt ein musikalisches Chamäleon, das unwillig seine Farben wechselt, vom Music-Hall-Entertainer zum Free-Festival-Folksänger und zur Weisheit eines Dylan-Jüngers. Die dritte und letzte Platte verrät ein anderes Problem: Im Jahr 2000 war Bowie endgültig zu einem äußerst geschniegelten Entertainer mutiert. Seine Darbietungen, besonders die Sachen neueren Datums wie "I'm Afraid Of Americans" und "This Is Not America" sind technisch gelungen, aber ein wenig blutleer – leider nur allzu menschlich anstatt ein wunderbarer Alien zu werden. –Keith Moerer

Sweetback are an English band composed of members from the band Sade, excluding the frontwoman, Sade Adu. They are a jazz/funk band with R&B overtones. Membership includes Stuart Matthewman, Paul Denman, and Andrew Hale. The group was formed in 1994 at the conclusion of Sade’s Love Deluxe World Tour. They released two studio albums: Sweetback (1996) and Stage 2 (2004). Their albums feature a host of guest vocalists, such as Leroy Osbourne, Amel Larrieux, Maxwell, Aya (Lysa Aya Trenier), Bahamadia, Chocolate Genius and El DeBarge. Their first album was re-released on vinyl in 2016.

The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Netherlands Radio Choir, under Chief Conductor Karina Canellakis, present Rachmaninoff: The Bells & Symphonic Dances, a powerful and deeply expressive interpretation of these late masterpieces by Sergei Rachmaninoff. In The Bells, radiant choral textures and richly coloured orchestration trace a journey from youthful shimmer and lyrical warmth to ominous tolling, overwhelming drama and a final vision of serene transcendence.

British pop/rock singer, musician, songwriter, and actor.Born: 8 January 1947 in Brixton, London, England, UK.
Died: 10 January 2016 in Manhattan, New York City, USA (aged 69).Bowie is recognized as one of the most respected contemporary musicians of his period. He was a leading figure in the music industry and is considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.Inducted into Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

Blues legend John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers (Buddy Whittington/Guitar, John Paulus/Bass, Joe Yuele/Drums) perform live in Houston, TX! Recorded in 1998 at Billy Blues and Rockeferrs, the set includes "White Line Fever," "A Hard Road," "Voodoo Music" and other classics from this legendary Blues frontman!

Haydn composed the three symphonies in this volume during the mid-1780s in a spirit of triumph. Though still employed by the Esterházy family, he had recently been allowed to publish his music himself and to accept outside commissions. A number of symphonies were duly commissioned by a new, large ensemble recently established in Paris. Superficially similar, they reveal Haydn’s inexhaustible creativity whether in the astonishingly colourful introduction to No. 84, the rustic interludes in the trio section of No. 85 – a favourite of Marie Antoinette, or in the greatest of the Paris symphonies, No. 86, where the transition from the slow introduction to the main section is unequalled in his music.

The Suicide Handbook is Ryan Adams’ most elusive and mythic recordings. The album is a raw and intimate collection of songs that captures the songwriter at his most unguarded. Recorded at the beginning of his solo career and long circulating only through bootlegs, the album has earned a legendary status among die-hard fans and fans of the americana genre alike for its stark stripped-back beauty.