Given Anathema's gradual transformation from doom metal merchants to sophisticated prog rockers over the course of many personnel changes since the mid-'90s, an album like Falling Deeper was a logical conceit. The band first revisited select moments from its catalog on the unplugged offering Hindsight in 2008. For some, it foretold the end. Then the band surprised many by returning in 2010 with new ideas and a renewed sense of purpose on the musically and sonically expansive - yet utterly accessible - We're Here Because We're Here, which drew raves from critics and fans alike. But digging into their oeuvre was an unsatisfied hunger for Anathema's founding brothers, Daniel and Vincent Cavanagh (who are in the company of Jamie Cavanagh and John and Lee Helen Douglas here)…

"Solar Heat" featured the vibraphonist and bandleader in a stellar group with conguero Ray Barretto, João Donato on organ, Michael Abene on harpsichord and Fender Rhodes, both McFarland (who arranged this recording) and Tjader on vibes, percussionist Orestes Vilató, and bassists Bobby Rodriguez and Chuck Rainey. It's a killer program of pop tunes like "La Bamba," and "Never My Love," as well as killer McFarland originals such as "Fried Bananas." Track list notwithstanding, this is one of Tjader's finest moments on record. His soloing and melodic invention is delightfully showcased as the logical center between Donato's brilliant organ playing and the crystalline arrangements.

The second album by Dracma contains an excellent collection of modern Progressive rock music, between MarIllion, Genesis and especially IQ. This Spanish band knows how to recreate in its climates and lyrics the tumultuous and meditative feeling of Peter Nicholls' band. The alternation of very quiet acoustic tracks and heavier or floating sequences allows the band to show its full talent.

A good 1988 compilation of past Abercrombie selections on various ECM releases, spotlighting his versatility and proficiency. Songs featuring his fluid guitar in introspective, mainstream, and free contexts, as well as playing everything from New Age-tinged originals to covers of standards, are presented.

Destination Docklands was an event consisting of two concerts by musician Jean Michel Jarre on the Royal Victoria Docks, Docklands, London on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9 October 1988, to coincide with the release of Jarre's new album Revolutions. The concerts were attended by 100,000 people on each night. Accompanied by fireworks and a light show, the concert also featured The Shadows guitarist Hank Marvin who joined Jarre on the tracks "London Kid" and "Fourth Rendez-Vous". The Saturday performance was broadcast on BBC Radio One. The Sunday show, during which it rained heavily, was recorded for a live album and VHS released in 1989. The Sunday show was also recorded for TV and shown on C4 some weeks or months later.

Front Page Review rubbed shoulders with bands like Eden's Children, Beacon Street Union and Strawberry Alarm Clock. With legendary producer Alan Lorber behind the controls, they recorded in 1968 a whole album for MGM which was never released at the time. Mystic Soldiers is a prime example of late '60s U.S. psychedelic rock, featuring a young Steve Cataldo (Saint Steven, Nervous Eaters) on songwriting/vocals. All the right ingredients are featured here: wah-fuzz guitars, organ, phasing, effects.

Kent’s blend of traditional Delta and classic ’50s Chicago blues stylings have made him a very in-demand performer in Chicago and all over the world. His highly emotive, unrestrained vocals are reminiscent of Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. Long Way To Ol’ Miss contains eight Willie Kent originals and two originals by guest guitarist James Wheeler, while a “new kid on the block” is guitarist Chico Banks, who will make you take notice.

Special edition with two bonus tracks. Steve Hackett has spent the last few years carrying the Genesis torch across the globe, seemingly reminding anyone who may gave forgotten that he had a lot to do with the much heralded Genesis 70’s period. But never wanting to stay the same for too long, Hackett continues to explore new territory both physically and musically, as is evident on his new collection. An avid traveler and explorer, Hackett lends his experiences to his music by incorporating different styles and instruments, thus creating one of the most inspired albums of his career in Wolflight, his first album of new material since 2011’s Beyond The Shrouded Horizon.

With the frenzied knocking of what sounds like a clock shop gone berserk, Crossings takes the Herbie Hancock Sextet even further into the electric avant-garde, creating its own idiom. Now, however, the sextet has become a septet with the addition of Dr. Patrick Gleeson on Moog synthesizer, whose electronic decorations, pitchless and not, give the band an even spacier edge. Again, there are only three tracks - the centerpiece being Hancock's multi-faceted, open-structured suite in five parts called "Sleeping Giant." Nearly 25 minutes long yet amazingly cohesive, "Sleeping Giant" gathers a lot of its strength from a series of funky grooves - the most potent of which explodes at the tail-end of Part Two - and Hancock's on-edge Fender Rhodes electric piano solos anticipate his funk adventures later in the '70s…

Klaus Wiese: "Ambient music is - in my view - a kind of diving into the uncharted, in terms of the time-map as well as the melodic landscapes. It is much about an expression of the in-between of certain atmospheres and of ambiguity. This album plays with common notions of obvious melodic structures on the outside, but it points at something else behind. In this context, sequence and abrupt change into the essential are as important as the dosis of the unknown. This makes it similar to a perfume-code and its calligraphy. So I chose the direct title Perfume for this album. May the listener decide about the choice of flavours."

Recorded in the midst of Robert Smith's tenuous tenure with Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Top is arguably the most hedonistic record the Cure ever produced. Essentially Smith and Lol Tolhurst working with studio musicians (this being the period when the Cure's lineup was never assured), it's an album obviously recorded under stress, drink, and drugs. More wildly experimental musically than anything before it, it laid the foundations for the Cure's pattern of unpigeonholable albums that were to erase their reputation built by Pornography and eventually culminating in Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. That said, it's still very much a Cure record. Heavy on the percussion and quaint keyboard effects that were so big in the '80s, the melodies ("The Caterpillar," "Shake Dog Shake") are unmistakably Robert Smith…

Hailed by many as the heir to Opeth's melodeath throne, In Mourning was formed in the Swedish woods in the year 2000. Since then the band has evolved over the years, striving to refine its sound to what it is today. Musically, the group blends a broad spectrum of influences into a foundation of melodic death metal. Thrusting from doomy metal-riffs, blasting drumbeats and deep growling vocals to calm breezes of clean flowing melodies and harmonies.
"Shrouded Divine" (2008) is their debut studio album.

The Roland Kovac New Set released several instrumental LPs on the Selected Sound label from Hamburg, the second and third of which, "The master said" (1971) and "Love that" (1972), are good progressive rock with a clear emphasis on jazz. The line-up on "The master said" consisted of top musicians: Master Roland Kovac himself had obtained his doctorate in music as early as 1952 and written numerous classical works and soundtracks. Guitarist Siegfried Schwab had just become famous at that time by working with Et Cetera and other groups and shows his brilliance on this LP with his fuzz guitar. Drummer Charly Antolini ("Knock out") had already been in business for many years and is still first choice on the jazz scene today. The fourth member was Franz Löffler on bass, who had already released several guitar LPs in the 1960s.

In concert, the Charles Lloyd Quartet took care of business, so it's fortunate to have this reissue bringing back two of the group's live recordings: a 1968 date from Town Hall in New York and a 1967 concert from a jazz festival in Estonia. The two dates flow together as a unified document of the quartet in its prime. Soundtrack opens with "Sombrero Sam," an expansive piece of soul-jazz with a Keith Jarrett deconstruction of a Joe Zawinul-style line (circa Zawinul's time with Cannonball Adderley). This sets up the leader for a funky excursion on flute. A breathy falsetto soliloquy from Lloyd on tenor then segues perfectly into a dynamic performance of his "Forest Flower." "Voice in the Night" from the original Atlantic release is not included on the reissue…

Thierry David is a French composer and producer releasing albums of new age, ambient-electronic, world, lounge music since more than two decades. The world of this legendary producer is a mysterious one. Subtly developing keyboard motifs, trip-hop and downtempo electronic grooves take you on a journey toward inner peace. Hidden within this slowly unfolding, deeply evocative record lies Thierry David's secret world, waiting to be discovered…