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The "Serenissima" referred to in the title of this release is the Republic of Venice itself, La Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia, as it was known in Vivaldi's time and would be until its fall early in the Napoleonic era. Croatian countertenor Max Emanual Cencic gets some nice shots in the graphics, but no biographical information about either him or the curiously named orchestra Il Pomo d'oro under Riccardo Minasi is included. Instead, the intent seems to be to present some lesser-known Venetian operas from during and slightly before Vivaldi...

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Ziggy Stardust wrote the blueprint for David Bowie's hard-rocking glam, and Aladdin Sane essentially follows the pattern, for both better and worse. A lighter affair than Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane is actually a stranger album than its predecessor, buoyed by bizarre lounge-jazz flourishes from pianist Mick Garson and a handful of winding, vaguely experimental songs. For all the pleasures on Aladdin Sane, there's no distinctive sound or theme to make the album cohesive; it's Bowie riding the wake of Ziggy Stardust, which means there's a wealth of classic material here, but not enough focus to make the album itself a classic.

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After busy months of recording, producing and mixing in JKB Studios Helsinki (all of this done by the band members themselves – mastering was done by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios) BATTLE BEAST’s eponymous sophomore release “Battle Beast” (info | shop) will strike the scene like a lightning on May 17, 2013, consisting of the Finns’ trademark mixture of extremely catchy choruses, epic heavy metal anthems, heavenly vocals and solos to die for - brought to a new level of intensity and sound quality. With new astonishing lead vocalist Noora on board and a record in their hands that literally is strong as “steel“, BATTLE BEAST are facing a future brighter than a thousand suns. Beware: The Beasts are back!!!

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Recorded and mixed at Electric Lady Studios, New York, except track 10 recorded live at Merlyn's, Madison, Wisconsin; Shade Tree Resort Studio, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York.

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Ornithos is one of the most pleasent and solid prog rock bands coming from Italy in last years. With members from another well known prog band from Italy Il Bacio Della Medusa, Ornithos manage to create a very enjoyble and full of memorable passages. La Trasfigurazione is a diverse record, more adventurous even with a looser sound which touches on jazz, heavy rock, prog, the occasional 60's psych flavour and mellower acoustic touches. It's an album more in favour of extended instrumental workouts than vocal led parts, effective though they are when present. You can imagine in a live setting these songs going on indefinitely as the band jam away...

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Music for the Masses is the sixth studio album by Depeche Mode. It was released by Mute Records on 28 September 1987. The album became the band's highest-charting in the US upon its release, reaching #35 on the Billboard 200. It also contained more hit singles than any of their previous releases. While there was no extremely popular single from the album ("People Are People" from Some Great Reward reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100), the three singles that were released all made it onto the Hot 100, a feat that hadn't been achieved by any Depeche Mode single after those from Some Great Reward. Moreover, all three singles achieved modest success on the chart.

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Basically, this is a searing 2003 live date from Canadian (Cape Breton to be precise) blues guitarist John Campbelljohn, who specializes in the lap slide mode of playing though he is also an acoustic guitarist of startling ability, and has great emotional depth as a songwriter when he wants to. He and his rhythm section roar through 11 originals and a stomping read of Muddy Waters' "Rollin' and Tumblin'." This is stripped to the bone, walking-on-the-wire, hardcore, rollicking electric blues.....

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This recording has a less-than-stellar reputation, principally because it was done so late in McTell's career, and it is true that he lacks some of the edge, especially in his singing, that he showed on his other postwar recordings. On the other hand, his 12-string playing is about as nimble as ever and a real treat. McTell cut these sides for record store owner Ed Rhodes, who had begun taping local bluesmen at his shop in Atlanta in the hope of releasing some of it.....

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As we all learned from watching There Will Be Blood, ambition can be a good thing and a bad thing. On her fourth solo album, Carnival, Kasey Chambers seemed determined to move past the country influences that dominated her earlier work, and while she proved more than worthy to the task, the album also upped the creative ante in a way that raised unspoken questions about what Chambers would or could do for an encore. So the surprise is that for album number five, Chambers has seemingly taken a step back -- Rattlin' Bones is a spare, primarily acoustic set she wrote and recorded in collaboration with former Pretty Violet Stain vocalist Shane Nicholson (who also happens to be Chambers' husband)......

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From the introductory notes to Vol. ii by David Butchart: "This second volume of Music... The Universal Language (Musik - Sprache der Welt) presents another series of landmark sessions from Deutsche Grammophon's uniquely rich archive. As with Volume I, this set includes important recordings of conerstone composers such as Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Dvorák and Grieg; however, it also takes in "modern" composers such as Stravinsky and Falla. And more modern still, from DG's remarkable initiative Musica Nova, a series which championed postwar German composers, come selections of works by Karl Amadeus Hartmann and Karl Höller. Both were closely associated with their respective conductors (Fricsay and Jochum). Franz Konwitschny and Otmar Suitner join the roster of conductors, while the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the Dresden Staatskapelle appear for the first time. Also, a significant number of CD premières is included."

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Sunset Over London album by Jools Holland was released Nov 12, 1999 on the Warner Music label. Sunset Over London features the big-band soul music of Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. This 17-track album was recorded at various locations, including Holland's studio, Helicon Mountain, and BBC Maida Vale. Recorded At Jool's Studio, Helicon Mountain, As Well As BBC Maida Vale & Whitfield Street Over The Last 18 Months, Sunset Over London Includes All The Hallmarks Of Jool's Traditional Big Band, R&B Feel.

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Complete Collection is a six-disc, U.K.-only set celebrating the breadth and depth of Lisa Stansfield's extensive and impressive career. It includes her five studio albums -- Affection; Real Love; So Natural; Lisa Stansfield; and Face Up -- as well as an exclusive sixth disc, with recordings from a 1992 Wembley date, club mixes (including a great Massive Attack version of "Live Together"), B-sides, and three songs from Stansfield's Blue Zone days. Not enough? Each studio album is augmented with at least two bonus tracks. Complete Collection is definitely the most comprehensive Lisa Stansfield retrospective; it borders on overkill. But since it's only available in the U.K. -- and is also quite pricey -- the single-disc Biography is perfectly acceptable for the casual Stansfield fan.

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The year is 1989. Thrash is starting to die. Metallica's "...And Justice For All" is being heralded as a masterpiece despite actually being over an hour of ongoing, bass-free dreck. We need some true thrash. WE NEED OVERKILL! Riding in from Hell a year after the uneventful "Under The Influence", Overkill unleashes "The Years of Decay", oft considered the band's end-all album and a monolith in tech-thrash...

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...In 2008 Mayall disbanded the Bluesbreakers line-up, releasing Buddy to further his solo career and... “The Buddy Whittington Band” was born. "This album was recorded live in the studio over two days at the end of the band’s May and November UK tours. Many of the songs included are by popular demand from our live repertoire, along with some new Blues... What initially started off as a record for us is now ‘A Bag Full Of Blues’ for you…"

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This is one of bassist Eberhard Weber's more stimulating ECM releases, due in part to his colorful sidemen: guitarist Bill Frisell, pianist Lyle Mays (in a rare vacation from Pat Metheny), Paul McCandless (switching between soprano, oboe, English horn and bass clarinet) and drummer Michael DiPasqua. The quintet plays four of Weber's originals (including the 16-minute "Death in the Car Wash") and, although the music is sometimes introspective and full of space, Frisell largely keeps the proceedings unpredictable and adds some fire and otherworldly sounds.

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