Minimum Vital is certainly amongst the most original bands from the Eighties Progressive rock scene: twin brothers Thierry & Jean-Luc Payssan mix art-rock influences from Yes, guitar parts as fluid as Mike Oldfield's, an amazing virtuosity coming from jazz-rock fusion, many innovations and a deep mark from medieval and southern European traditional musics. This French band has built its own style, marked by a huge identity and originality, and is now recognized as a reference in itself.
2025 release Le Royaume is highly regarded as a mature return to their signature progressive folk-medieval style. It merges complex, energetic, and melodic symphonic prog with virtuoso fusion elements and lush arrangements, earning praise for its thematic depth and technical precision.

A much-needed look at an overlooked side of the genius of Quincy Jones – not his jazz work, not his productions for famous soul artists, but instead his huge legacy of soundtrack material – a part of Q's career that really took off in the 60s! By the time he started working in films, Jones had already had a decade under his belt as one of the hippest arrangers, leaders, and composers in jazz – and the film business really respected those talents, and allowed Quincy to bring some really fresh styles into play – modes that really opened up the vibe of American cinema, and also paved the way for the funky styles of the 70s! As that decade approached, Jones left behind the cinema to take on some more higher-profile records of his own – but all the charms of those great albums can be found here at their roots – in this stunning collection of soundtrack material, some of which has never been on CD. The package is way more than just a sampler – and includes an album's worth of material from the films The Pawnbroker, Slender Thread, Mirage, The Deadly Affair, In The Heat Of The Night, In Cold Blood, Walk Don't Run, The Italian Job, Lost Man, and John & Mary – plus two versions of the love theme from The Getaway, and a bonus CD with 18 tracks – titled Q's highlights, and featuring tracks from his Mercury records – plus more by Billy Preston, Arthur Prysock, Bill Cosby, Shirley Horn, Letta Mbulu, Toots Thielemans, and others. Even features the "Sanford & Son" and "Ironside" themes!

Marie Laforêt was a French singer and actress, particularly well known for her work during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1978, she moved to Geneva, and acquired Swiss citizenship.

Édith Giovanna Gassion, known as Édith Piaf, was a French singer and lyricist. She is regarded as France's greatest popular singer and one of the most celebrated performers in the world. She is best known for performing songs in the cabaret and modern chanson genres.

The famous Crypto label, led by great producer Jean-Claude Pognant, contributed in discovering French bands as essential as Ange. Among these, a special one: Carpe Diem. Led by Claude-Marius David (Saxophone & flute), this band from Nice gave birth to two splendid albums: "En Regardant Passer Le Temps" (1975) and "Cueille Le Jour" (1977). Their refined Progressive rock includes rare vocal parts, instrumental intensity and beauty, with sophisticated songwriting and structures. Musical themes are gracious, worked-out, perfectly developed and arranged. Fluid organ reworked sounds are beautifully combined with lyrical flute parts or airy guitars, to create a dreamlike chamber rock, suggestive, full of freshness and subtlety. The music can be brought near Caravan or Fruupp, with some Van Der Graaf Generator remembrances.

Self-taught guitarist that played a few years on the local Quebec scene in various line-ups, sharing stages with Octobre, Maneige, etc. Jacques Blais became one of Quebec's best guitarists (along with Frank Marino) and his reputation grew to the point of playing prestigious shows without having recorded an album (yet). Late 74, despite having his own and upon hearing Contraction's second album La Bourse Ou La vie, he asked the group's bassist Yves Laferrière to produce his first album, and soon enough most of the band was backing Blais, not only in the studio, but in the next few months' following its release in 1975. Contraction's influence is all over the music. Nonetheless, all writing credits are given to Blais, who plays acoustic and electric guitar in addition to singing…

UK three CD collection from the influential Jazz vocalist. While her life may have been tragic, her music has remained an integral part of American Jazz history and is constantly discovered by a new generation or rediscovered year after a year. This three CD collection features 78 tracks including 'God Bless the Child', 'Pennies from Heaven', 'Gloomy Sunday' and many others.

Mieux qu'ici-bas is francophone Canadian pop singer Isabelle Boulay's third studio album, released in September 2000. It was led by the hit single "Parle-moi" which was released about the same time. The album achieved a great success in Belgium (Wallonia) and France, where it reached the top ten and stayed on the chart for about two years.

Tombé sous le charme du dernier recueil poétique de Michel Houellebecq en allant chercher sa ration de clopes (dixit l'intéressé), Jean-Louis Aubert s'est mis en tête de mettre en musique seize passages de Configuration du dernier rivage, publié en 2013. Aidé du producteur Jean Lamoot, connu pour avoir officié aux côtés de Bashung, Noir Désir ou Raphaël et monté le projet pop world Rivière Noire, l'ancien chanteur de Téléphone a donné une seconde vie à ces Parages du vide après leur composition dans un état de fièvre, en une dizaine de jours.

Olivia Ruiz est de retour ! Ce nouveau disque, son quatrième, est son disque. Celui qu'elle a pensé, celui qu'elle a rêvé, celui sur lequel elle a travaillé, seule dans l'écriture et la composition, tout au long de ces derniers mois alternant les hauts et les bas, le jour et la nuit, le noir, le blanc et les couleurs, l'alternatif comme le continu. Entre le calme et les tempêtes. « Le calme et la tempête », une évidence donc. Entre profondeur des mots et profondeur des sons, jamais elle n'avait donné cette impression de puiser si loin en elle pour trouver la source de ses chansons.

Au moment d'être à vous est le second album live de la chanteuse canadienne francophone Isabelle Boulay, sorti en septembre 2002. Celui-ci a connu un grand succès en Belgique, en France et en Suisse où il a atteint le top 10. Il est resté 57 semaines durant dans le classement des ventes d'album en France et a reçu un disque de platine SNEP.

The years have seen Pierre Boulez record for CBS, Erato, EMI, and Philips, among other labels, but his most consistent and critically praised work has appeared on Deutsche Grammophon, where he has conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, and his own Ensemble InterContemporain in many successful performances. These ensembles are heard on this trimline, six-CD box set of Igor Stravinsky's major works, which brings together Boulez's recordings of L'oiseau de feu, Petrushka, Le Sacre du printemps, L'histoire du Soldat, the symphonies, concertos, and other works, recorded between 1980 and 1996. As one of the leading champions of modernism, first as a composer and essayist, then as a prominent conductor, Boulez is regarded as an authority on Stravinsky's oeuvre, and it is difficult to imagine many conductors who have a better understanding of the technical and stylistic issues that affect performances. Boulez is also famous for his precision and meticulousness, which make the details stand out clearly in the rhythmically complex and texturally dense orchestral scores of the ballets, and yet seem so delicate and exact in the concertos and pieces for smaller ensembles.

The Gipsy Kings are a group of flamenco, salsa and pop musicians from Arles and Montpellier in the south of France, who perform in the Spanish language with an Andalusian accent. Although group members were born in France, their parents were mostly gitanos, Berber-Moroccan and Spanish gypsies who fled Catalonia during the 1930s Spanish Civil War. They are known for bringing Catalan rumba, a pop-oriented music distantly derived from traditional flamenco music, to worldwide audiences. The group originally called itself Los Reyes. Their music has a particular rumba flamenca style, with pop influences; many songs of the Gipsy Kings fit social dances, such as salsa and rumba. Their music has been described as a place where "Spanish flamenco and gypsy rhapsody meet salsa funk". Collection includes: Allegria (1982); Luna de Fuego (1983); Gipsy Kings (1987); Mosaïque (1989); Este Mundo (1991); Love & Liberté (1993); Estrellas (1995); Compas (1997); Rare & Unplugged (2003); Roots (2004); The Real… Gipsy Kings, The Ultimate Collection (2014) 3CD.

Despite the fact that there are multiple recordings of Shostakovich's deeply moving Symphony No. 14, this rather old but remastered recording is unique in the quality of performance: Bernard Haitink conducts his Concertgebouw Orchestra and elected to use non-Slavic singers Julia Varady and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau who in turn sing the poems in their original languages rather than the Russian translations used in the original premiere. The effect is staggeringly beautiful and if one must choose a single recording of this symphony, this would be the one that captures the essence of Shostakovich's vision.

André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry was the greatest French composer of opéra-comique in the eighteenth century. His librettist for Le Magnifique, Jean-Michel Sedaine, took a tale by La Fontaine and fashioned it into a compelling libretto. Grétry responded with an outstanding score, including one of the first programmatic overtures in musical history. His expressive love music, and extended preludes and postludes, add to the theatrical variety of this important and varied opera.