One of the most legendary bands from the 90s Swedish progressive scene is finally back with a new album, 17 years since the last full-length. Ritual has often been a band with a concept, and their music has often been inspired by Tove Jansson’s novels about the Moomins. On their return, we’re invited into the strange story of the mysterious Mr. Bogd. And this fifth studio album is only part 1 of the story!

Tap dancer Melinda Sullivan and pianist and composer Larry Goldings started collaborating in 2019—they met when they were both working on a musical about Margaret Sanger. Sullivan asked Goldings to help her record a retirement video for her father-in-law (who’s a fan of Goldings), of “Somewhere,” from “West Side Story,” and it was during this session that they bonded over a common love of musical theater. They enjoyed this first collaboration so much—Goldings on piano and Sullivan tap dancing on a little wooden square—that they kept doing it. Through the pandemic they would meet up and record new covers and improvisations and post them to Instagram and elsewhere, and, when venues opened back up, they started to play out live. They recorded their debut album, “Big Foot,” with Pete Min for Colorfield Records, and brought in guests like Steve Gadd, Sam Gendel, and CJ Camerieri, among others.

Sax-Star Bill Evans, who recorded with Miles Davis and Mick Jagger, features Max Mutzke, Till Brönner, Nils Landgren, Bela Fleck, Victor Wooten and Jerry Douglas on “Who I Am”.

Tommy Boy reissues exclusive limited edition pressing of Afrika Bambatta & Soulsonic Force's "Planet Rock"
Considered one of founding fathers of rap, Afrika Bambaataa has long been considered a revolutionary, both within the music business and beyond. Raised in the South Bronx, Afrika Bambaataa made his name as a DJ, rapper and songwriter, eventually becoming the foremost DJ, event organizer and promoter of the large block parties that rocked the neighbourhood during the mid-to-late 70's. Leading into the 80's, Bambaataa had found acclaim for releasing countless genre-defining tracks, infusing Hip Hop and Electronic elements into a sound that would influence other artists for years to come.

Vomitorium' is the new album from ever-evolving Eindhoven band Radar Men From The Moon. Due out August 16th on Fuzz Club, it's an eight-track collection of abrasive experimental punk that unleashes their latest line-up and musical incarnation in typically confrontational form. Revelling in cathartic excess and a bludgeoning intensity, they power through 90s industrial electronics, discordant noise-rock and the darkest post-punk extremes.

Featuring two additional tracks, Grace And Gratitude (Deluxe Edition) celebrates relaxation through the healing power of music. Co-written by the album's producer, Amy Sky, Olivia Newton-John created this lyrical journey inspired by the chakras of the body, each track reflecting a different aspect of one's emotional and spiritual self. In celebration of Olivia and John's wedding anniversary, this collection of songs holds a special place in the hearts of fans.

Nottingham, UK band The Soundcarriers have announced their fifth album, Through Other Reflections, which will be out August 16 via the band’s own Phosphonic label. Their last album was 2022’s great Wilds. “It almost comes across like a story in some ways”, says the group’s Adam Cann of the album, “the music is quite sectional with elements of exotica and cinematic type layers, it’s a good balance of grooves, tunes and weirdness.” Cann adds, the songs “follow that folk-song tradition of wanting to escape to an imagined time, but here it’s more urban than pastoral.”

Beneath the steel strings and steely demeanor exemplifying the spirit of bluegrass lies the heart of a wanderer: the heartbroken rambler looking for the next big break and the next story to tell. The Po' Rambin' Boys' 'Wanderers Like Me' is a quintessential bluegrass record, full of melodies that burst with energy and emotion and music driven by melancholy but refusing to succumb to it. They confront their losses with original songs that resonate poignantly across the hills and hollers where bluegrass was born. For The Po' Ramblin' Boys wandering is anything but aimless: they ramble not to escape the past but to experience the future.

Zorn’s lush and seductive compositions for the magical trio of Frisell-Lage-Riley are some of his most beautiful 21st century creations, and this seventh CD in their ever-expanding series is their best yet.

Arriving just in time for the 10-year anniversary of her diamond-certified hit 'All About That Bass', 'Timeless' is a celebration of Meghan Trainor's growth as an artist over the last decade. On it, she approaches themes of self-love and empowerment with more confidence than ever before, brought to life through her smart lyricism and signature production. This autumn, Meghan will be making her long-awaited return to stages nationwide for the 25-show 'Timeless' tour, including stops at Madison Square Garden in New York and the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. On the new album, Meghan explains, 'I cannot believe it has been 10 years since this all began, I have never been more grateful for this life that my incredible Megatronz have gifted me with. This new album and tour are all for them and my beautiful family'.

The album's repertoire explores music for two guitars written by Italian composers over the last 50 years. Thepeculiarity of this program lies in it's eclectic variety, which ranges from more traditional influences, rooted inthe past, to distinctly contemporary expressions, exploring in which ways the guitar duo has been approachedby different authors.

In popular mythology Haydn’s name is far less closely associated with the piano sonata than with the string quartet or symphony. Though a more than competent pianist (one writer in London described his playing of the brilliant fortepiano solo in the Symphony No 98 as ‘neat and distinct’), he was by his own admission no ‘wizard’ on the keyboard, and unlike Mozart and Beethoven never wrote sonatas for his own performance. Yet the keyboard remained central to Haydn’s creative process. His morning routine would invariably begin with him trying out ideas, for whatever medium, on the clavichord, the harpsichord or, from the 1780s, the fortepiano; and he composed prolifically for keyboard through most of his adult life, beginning with the harpsichord works he produced for aristocratic pupils during his ‘galley years’ in Vienna and culminating in the three great sonatas (Nos 50–52 in Hoboken’s catalogue) inspired by the sonorous Broadwood instruments he encountered on his London visits.

“All Of the Colours Are Singing” is a musical parallel to the state of flux and massive transitions in my life during the past three years.

Nineteen eighty was a high-intensity news year. In December, John Lennon was shot. The month before, President Jimmy Carter, who had announced the United States’ boycott of the Olympics in Moscow and who was struggling with the Iranian hostage situation, lost the election to former actor Ronald Reagan. Earlier in the year, Mayor Edward I.

SOMM Recordings is pleased to release this set of delightful never-before-released recordings of the music of Gustav Holst in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Here are works of grand and intimate scale, for orchestral and chamber forces, with and without singers, offering a vivid sampling of his oeuvre in meticulous restorations of recorded live performances given in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Chronologically, the earliest recordings are those on Disc 2, curated by Producer Lani Spahr. The live performances of The Perfect Fool suite and The Planets were recorded from New York’s Radio City Studio in 1945 and Boston’s Symphony Hall in 1946, respectively, with British conductors leading orchestras from “across the pond”, where Holst had devoted much time in his later years conducting, lecturing and teaching.