The sleepy, ambient pop of Brooklyn's Cigarettes After Sex found an unexpected flush of viral success in 2016 when the group's already four-year-old song, "Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby," started putting up massive eight-digit streaming numbers on YouTube. The project of Texas native Greg Gonzalez, Cigarettes After Sex's noir-ish imagery and languid odes to romantic obsession made them seem like unlikely candidates for such contemporary pop culture peaks, but the song and subsequent 2017 debut album nonetheless found a very receptive audience. Although the band's roots stretch back to 2008, their follow-up, Cry, is only their second full-length release and more or less follows the faded glamor of its predecessor.

Soundboard recording recorded live at the Rulsrock Festival, Turku, Finland 8/22/70. Includes 5 soundboard bonus tracks recorded live on BBC ‘Sounds Of The Seventies” at BBC Studios, London, UK 3/31/70 and live on Top Gear at BBC Studios, London, UK 6/30/69. All were radio broadcasts.

Lenny Kravitz is still obsessed with the '70s, and for good reason: he's found endless inspiration in the work of Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder, and a decade's worth of soul men. Kravitz hasn't lost the funk on 5, but the sound here drifts dangerously close to the Me decade's shallowest end, when disco seemed to rob R&B of its soul. So the passion Kravitz has shown on early albums is strangely diluted (aside from the album-closing epic "Can We Find a Reason?"). 5 is the singer's first foray into digital technology, but despite a few modern effects at the edges, he's doing essentially the same as before–only colder.

Mike Tramp, the unmistakable voice and principal songwriter of White Lion, concludes his heartfelt trilogy with 'Songs of White Lion Vol. III' - a powerful and deeply personal tribute to one of the most iconic bands of the 1980s melodic hard rock scene. In this final installment, Tramp revisits and reimagines ten more essential songs from the White Lion catalog, bringing them back to life with the passion, perspective, and authenticity that only decades of experience can deliver. Songs of White Lion is a trilogy of albums by Mike Tramp's White Lion featuring new re-recorded versions of White Lion songs, released via Frontiers Music.

With his Sam Cooke phrasing and rough-as-sandpaper voice, Rod Stewart has been both brilliant ("Maggie May") and shameless ("Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?") during his four-decade career, and if he now seems well past his sell-by date, there's no denying that his distinctive voice is a pop culture wonder. This uneven best-of collection drawn from Stewart's often striking Mercury Records era (1969 to 1972) lacks key tracks like the epic "Every Picture Tells a Story," although it does have Stewart's wise cover of Tim Hardin's "Reason to Believe," the wonderfully ragged "Cut Across Shorty," and, of course, "Maggie May." This will do for casual fans, perhaps, but why not just go ahead and get his four Mercury albums in their entirety for even more fun?

The Reverb Syndicate is an almost exclusively instrumental "Spy-Fi" surf band from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada who have been playing since 2006. Their music is of "soundtracks to 1960s spy films that don’t exist". They toured England and Scotland in 2008 and again in 2012, and have played at the 2007 and 2010 Ottawa Bluesfest. They have released four studio albums; Operation: Jet Set! (2006), Sputnik A-Go-Go (2007), Mondo Cacti (2011) and Odyssey (2015).

After an eight-year hiatus from new releases, the internationally acclaimed Italian artist Pupo returns with his highly anticipated new album, Insieme. The title track, released on January 17th, offers a promising first taste of the upcoming musical masterpiece, which is already generating considerable excitement. Insieme features not only brand-new compositions but also beautifully reinterpreted Italian versions of classics by his longtime producer, David Brandes. These re-recordings blend the magic of bygone eras with modern, fresh sounds, creating a unique listening experience that will delight both loyal fans and new listeners alike.

Opening with Mike Hugg's title track, which builds on Mick Rogers' intense riffing and the killer vocals of Vicki Brown, Judith Powell, Liza Strike, and Ruby James, Messin' is pretty intense and involving from its very first bars. It's also damned topical and serious, for all of the free-wheeling rock & roll spirits and the progressive rock complexities that go into the playing. And the result is a spellbinding whole, featuring some astonishing keyboard flourishes by Manfred Mann himself (who ventures into Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson territory on "Buddah," even as the rest of the band seems to be emulating Deep Purple) and killer guitar from Mick Rogers, while Colin Pattenden and Chris Slade lay down the rhythm section like a pair of articulate pile-drivers.

Touted as a personally curated compilation by Paul McCartney, Pure McCartney is the first McCartney compilation since 2001's Wingspan: Hits and History. A full 15 years separated this and Wingspan, longer than the span between that double-disc set and 1987's All the Best, but the 2001 set also stopped cold in 1984, leaving over 30 years of solo McCartney recordings uncompiled on hits collections. In both its standard two-CD and deluxe four-disc incarnations, Pure McCartney attempts to rectify this, going so far as to include "Hope for the Future," his song for the 2014 video game Destiny. A fair chunk of the compilation rests upon songs heard on Wings Greatest, All the Best, and Wingspan – "Jet," "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey," "Another Day," "Mull of Kintyre," "Let Em In," "Band on the Run," "No More Lonely Nights," "Live and Let Die," "Say Say Say," "Listen to What the Man Said," and "Silly Love Songs" are all de rigueur – so the interesting things lie in the margins, or in the music made since 1984.

October 16th sees the release of an expanded version of Tom Petty’s seminal album Wildflowers. The 4 CD deluxe edition of Wildflowers contains 54 tracks, 8 unreleased songs, and 24 unreleased alternate versions. In addition to the 15 track original album (remastered), the deluxe edition contains the album All The Rest (10 songs from the original Wildflowers sessions), a full CD of 15 solo demos recorded by Petty at his home studio, and a disc of 14 live versions of Wildflowers songs recorded from 1995 – 2017.

In the ever-evolving landscape of progressive music, certain artists stand out for their rare ability to transcend genre boundaries while maintaining a distinctive sonic identity. Shmulikraut is one such artistic force, crafting music that seamlessly intertwines the Experimental strands of Avant-Garde Jazz and Progressive Rock influences into a cohesive and captivating narrative. “Guts Voyage” stands as a testament to their creative vision—a meticulously constructed journey through intricate musical territories that rewards both casual listeners and seasoned Progressive purists alike.

Gary Moore might just be the greatest guitar hero America's never heard of, probably because only his recent blues recordings have benefited from proper distribution stateside. In fact, Moore has worn so many hats during his near 30-year career that the words eclectic and unfocused immediately come to mind. Victims of the Future arrived in the middle of the most consistent phase of his career – that of a heavy metal guitar slinger. Between the epic cold war-inspired title track and the massive riffing of "Murder in the Skies" (written about the Korean airliner shot own by Russian fighter jets), Moore assaults the listener with more guitar notes than appear in most careers. These are great songs though, and his powerful vocals are also very effective, especially on the hit ballad "Empty Rooms." None of Moore's recordings are very easy to find in America, but make sure this is the first one you look for.

The Cream of Eric Clapton is a strong collection that provides an excellent overview of one of rock music's premier performers. Though the title might imply that the selections here are from Clapton's recordings as a part of the British supergroup Cream, the range is much broader, beginning with Clapton's earliest professional work with the Yardbirds and concluding with many of his most popular solo hits. There's an excellent historical perspective in the choices included, and this is an excellent introduction to Clapton's career. Of particular historical interest are "Crossroads," "I Shot the Sheriff," and "Behind the Mask," which showcase the eclectic influences that form Clapton's career. Much of the increased mainstream interest in traditional blues, reggae, and electronica can be credited to these cover versions, which introduced the works of Robert Johnson and Bob Marley to a wider audience.

No one expected the success of Dream Weaver when it was released, but it sailed to the top of the charts, and with good reason. Backed with only drums and a wide assortment of keyboards, Gary Wright crafted instantly recognizable tunes such as the title cut and "Love Is Alive," which caught on and remain staples of classic rock stations around the U.S. All very revolutionary and new at the time, Dream Weaver hasn't lost any of its magic over time.

The relationship between Harry Nilsson and John Lennon is legendary. They were notorious booze hounds and carousers, getting kicked out of clubs for misbehavior and generally terrorizing L.A. during Lennon's "lost weekend" of 1974. They wanted to make an album together – hell, anyone working at such a peak would – and the result was Pussy Cats, a Nilsson album produced by Lennon. Almost immediately, Nilsson got sick, resulting in a ruptured vocal cord. Not wanting Lennon to stop the sessions, Nilsson never told his friend, stubbornly working his way through the sessions until he lost his voice entirely. These are the sessions that make up Pussy Cats, an utterly bewildering record that's more baffling than entertaining. Like many superstar projects of its time, this is studded with contributions from friends and studio musicians, all intent on having a good time in the studio – which usually means hammering out rock & roll oldies.