Includes tracks by Patti Drew, Bobby Bryant, Groove Holmes, Candido, Bobby Womack, Les McCann, Norman Connos, Gerald Wilson and Lou Rawls.

Subtitled "A Voluptuous Journey Through '70s French Erotic Cinema", this compilation sounds precisely as you would imagine, and for some that'll be a very good thing, but those of you looking for something beyond the vintage euro-funk fromage-athon might be a tad disappointed. So many European B-movies and exploitation flicks from the 1970s have yielded unfeasibly brilliant soundtracks, and while there's nothing at all wrong with any of the material compiled here, there's seldom anything beyond the usual easy listening sample-baiting silliness to arouse your excitement. Having said that, when this compilation scores, it scores big: Piierre Bachelat's soundtrack for Histoires d'O is a psychedelic synth standout, while his visionary 'Motel Show' from Le Dernier Amant Romantique' is as good an Italo disco find as has surfaced in recent times. A special mention should be granted to one of the pieces lifted from the Emmanuelle 4 OST: the rather distressing 'Bach Anal', which has to be one of the most outstandingly insidious puns in the history of word play. In its own Moog-fuelled, breathy chanteuse-fronted way it does sound a bit like J. S. Bach though, which is to its credit I suppose.

We all need calm sometimes. Coping with the pace of life today the body is constantly required to produce high levels of adrenalin - for both good and bad reasons. The human body needs to re-balance itself in order to operate at its best levels - too much adrenalin with no re-balancing can actually do us harm. We call that harm stress. Stress can only be harnessed by bringing the natural balance back through relaxation.

Playing a brilliant modern trumpet, Alison Balsom engages in an adventurous and thrilling dialogue with an ensemble of period instruments as she performs six virtuoso concertos of the baroque era, originally composed for violin or oboe by Handel, Vivaldi, Telemann, Albinoni and Marcello. She collaborates with Director Trevor Pinnock – the musician who originally inspired her discovery of baroque music as a child – and a specially assembled instrumental group, Pinnock’s Players. Seeing this pioneering album as “a delicious colliding of the two worlds” – baroque and modern – Alison Balsom explores the possibilities of the piccolo trumpet while savouring the sonorities of period instruments and their “compelling authenticity and ability to reveal the composer's intentions”.

Van Halen has sold more than 80 million worldwide and is tied for the most multi-platinum albums by an American band. This is a collection that spans multiple decades and features both David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar on vocals. Eddie Van Halen is regarded as one of the greatest guitar players in rock history and was well known for popularizing the tapping guitar solo technique. Eddie died of cancer in 2020, this is the end of the band, as his son Wolfgang stated: “You can’t have Van Halen without Eddie Van Halen.”

Tug of War is the third solo studio album by the English musician Paul McCartney, released on 26 April 1982. It is his 11th album overall following the break up of the Beatles in 1970, his first album released after the dissolution of his band Wings the previous year, and his first album following the murder of his former songwriting partner John Lennon. The cover features an abstract oil painting by the artist Brian Clarke, a frequent McCartney collaborator, incorporating an overpainted transparency of a portrait of Paul taken by Linda McCartney. Tug of War was produced by former Beatles producer George Martin and was a number-one hit in many countries, selling over one million copies in the United States in the year of its release. Some critics hailed it as a 'return to form' for McCartney, with Far Out Magazine declaring it his strongest work in 2022.

Over the past decade, The Velvet Underground’s live archive has been raided with increasing frequency. First we got the official release of a long-bootlegged 1966 Columbus, Ohio gig as a part of the “super-deluxe” edition of The Velvet Underground & Nico. And in 2013, the 1967 Gymnasium gig (which had only circulated amongst collectors for a few years), showed up on the similarly super deluxe White Light/White Heat box set. At this point, there’s very little live material left from the John Cale-era of the group, at least that anyone knows about. But one of the strangest, most fascinating treasures of Cale’s time with the Velvets still remains in the hands of bootleggers: “Sweet Sister Ray.”

Mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozená's collection of vocal solos (plus a few instrumental tracks) from the early Baroque, Lettere Amorose, "Love Letters," is a delight. The recital includes some familiar pieces like d'India's Cruda Amarilli, Monteverdi's Sì dolce è il tormento, and Sanz's giddy dance, Canarios, but consists largely of repertoire that's more obscure but no less engaging. Merula's lullaby chaconne Hor ch'è tempo di dormire is a jewel, gorgeously idiosyncratic and deeply emotional. Caccini's erotic Odi, Euterpe, 'I dolce canto could be mistaken for mature Monteverdi at his most mischievous, but it dates from 1601 or 1602, when Monteverdi was at an early stage in his career. A real standout of the album is Strozzi's L'Eraclito amoroso: Udite amanti, which alternates sections of extravagantly expressive recitative with a ravishingly lyrical chaconne. Kozená easily has the technique to make the music glow and the dramatic gifts to bring it movingly to life. Her sharply characterized interpretations of the songs make each of them seem as fully realized and potent as a short operatic scene. Her voice has the burnished warmth of a mezzo, but can gleam when she soars into her upper register, and throughout she maintains an exquisite purity.

Fabrizio Bosso, Paola Folli and Lorenzo Cimino are the special guests of the fourth album - also on vinyl - of the Milanese quartet, the flagship of Luminol Records. A spiritual journey through progressive, jazz and fusion for a band with an international scope, which relaunches the idea of ​​music as an antidote to homologation Delta: freedom of expression and great music for Ujig!

4CD Box Set. 72 tracks featuring Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Claude Thornhill, Nat King Cole, Charles Mingus, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Lester Young, Louis Armstrong, Eartha Kitt, Julie London, Art Pepper and many, many more…

Altoist Art Pepper, in the midst of a successful comeback, recorded this excellent set (also included in full in his massive Galaxy box set) for Galaxy. With pianist Stanley Cowell, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Roy Haynes, Pepper performs a definitive version of his intense ballad "Patricia"; other highlights include "Miss Who," "Lover Come Back to Me" and "Chris' Blues." The CD reissue also has a second alternate version of "These Foolish Things".

Hayden Pedigo: man, myth, master of disguise; un-picker, finger-picker, absurdist, perfectionist. The unorthodox contender for Amarillo City Council, subject of the film Kid Candidate, and creator of the acclaimed Letting Go (2021) and The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored (2023) now embarks upon the release of his new album I’ll Be Waving as You Drive Away. An innovator of the instrumental genre, challenger of the stereotypical, son of a truck-stop preacher, he backs up a cherry red Silverado under his own smiling, Brylcreemed and Nudie-Suited billboard. His foot hesitates above the gas pedal as a cloud of dust rises. Where between beaming advert and disillusioned entertainer might his truest self lie? On this intentionally maximalist, genre-resistant work of warped instrumental Americana — an exclamation point at the end of an accidental trilogy of records — we, and Hayden, might just be about to find out.

The mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately and pianist Edwige Herchenroder present a Programme of French melodies from a range of composers, all based in Paris at the turn of the twentieth century. This was an exciting and stimulating time in the city, when the country was experiencing a surge of national confidence and creativity, and events such as the 1889 Exposition Universelle, broadened both geographical and cultural horizons. The women's movement flourished concurrently, ushering in new - if still unequal - educational and professional opportunities.

This release is the second of three major recordings featuring LPO Principal Conductor Edward Gardner during the period of marking 20 years of the Orchestra's acclaimed record label. Dvorák's Symphony No.7 was commissioned by the London Philharmonic Society in 1884. It may not be his most popular symphony, but it's arguably the best. It combines dramatic, dark and flawless structure with radiant melodies cutting through it's intensity. In contrast, Schumann's Symphony No.2 is a deeply personal work, written during the time of his struggles with depression. The melodies blend restless energy with transcendent lyricism, culminating in a cathartic finale. Captured live in concert at London's Royal Festival Hall, these recordings are a testament to the emotional depth and refined artistry of the LPO under Gardner's dynamic leadership.

In spring 2022, Sankt Otten released their album “Symmetrie und Wahnsinn”, and now the next record is ready to enlighten our maltreated minds. “Tote Winkel” (Blind spots) is once again part of an album series with a geometric context, both creatively and musically.