A relatively standard release from Clifton Chenier, the then reigning king of zydeco. The music bumps and grooves in all the ways it's supposed to. One of the songs dates the album a bit ("Zydeco Disco"), but aside from that one, the rest of the album is pretty much straightforward zydeco and blues. In spots it delves a little into jazz, but only in spots. In and of itself, delving into jazz wouldn't be such a bad thing, but this band's form of the genre tends to be a bit sloppy. When it comes to zydeco, there's no stopping them, but elsewhere they're more stoppable.

An unmissable event for French and international artists, the NRJ MUSIC AWARDS once again confirm their place among the most important musical television ceremonies on a global scale. The official compilation of the ceremony and best-seller of the year, returns in 2024 with all your favorite hits. Between revelations, national stars and international phenomena, this edition brings together all the leading NRJ artists and the hits that marked the year in an exceptional 5 CD digipack.

Substance is a double-disc set collecting New Order's singles, including several songs that were never available on the group's albums, at least in these versions. While there are a couple of re-recordings of earlier singles, most of Substance consists of 12" single mixes designed for danceclub play. Arguably, these 12" mixes represent New Order's most groundbreaking and successful work, since they expanded the notion of what a rock & roll band, particularly an indie rock band, could do. Substance collects the best of their remixes, and in the process it showcases not only the group's musical innovations, but also their songwriting prowess - "Temptation," "Blue Monday," "Bizarre Love Triangle," and "True Faith" are some of the finest pop songs of the '80s. Although it is a double-disc set, Substance isn't overly long. Instead it offers a perfect introduction to New Order, while providing collectors with an invaluable collection of singles.

GNX is the sixth studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released as a surprise album through PGLang and Interscope Records on November 22, 2024. Titled after the Buick Regal model, and a follow-up to Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022), GNX is Lamar's first album after his departure from Top Dawg Entertainment and Aftermath Entertainment. Lamar and Dave Free executive produced the album, which features uncredited appearances from AzChike, Deyra Barrera, Dody6, Hitta J3, Ink, Kamasi Washington, Peysoh, Roddy Ricch, Sam Dew, Siete, SZA, Wallie the Sensei, and YoungThreat.

The Grand Scheme of Things is a 1993 solo album by Yes guitarist Steve Howe. The album features seven vocal tracks and nine instrumental tracks using instruments including dobro, steel guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, keyboards, organ, Spanish guitar and anvil. The album reached No. 15 in the Billboard Top New Age Albums charts. Steve Howe is an English musician, songwriter and producer, best known as the guitarist in the progressive rock band Yes across three stints since 1970. Howe helped to change the band's musical direction, leading to more commercial and critical success. Many of their best-known songs were co-written by Howe, who remained with the band until they briefly disbanded in 1981. Howe returned to the group in 1990 for two years and has remained a full-time member since 1995.

January 2nd, 2023. Aside from being the second of a new year, it was a pretty ordinary night at ETA in Los Angeles, where guitarist Jeff Parker - alongside his ETA IVtet with saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Jay Bellerose - had been holding down a regular Monday gig since 2016. At the time, nobody knew it was the first gig of the last year that ETA would be open for business. Over seven years of holding down that residency, Parker’s ETA ensemble evolved from a band that played mostly standards into a group known for its transcendent, long-form (sometimes stretching out for 45 minutes or more) journeys into innovative, often uncharted territories of groove-oriented, painterly, polyrhythmic, minimalist and mantric improvised music. With that musical growth, the crowds for Parker and his band at ETA grew across the years too. What started as a sparse gathering of weeknight drinkers, friends, family, and Chicago expats (coming to get a shot of nostalgia for the atmospheres Parker used to create at Rodan across the ‘00s and early ‘10s) grew into a Los Angeles nightlife staple with a packed house and a line down the block for every show.

The Best of Sophie B. Hawkins is the first retrospective on the adult alternative singer/songwriter, and it's not without its quirks – which might be appropriate for this particular singer/songwriter. The biggest quirk is that even though it contains all of her hits – "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover," "Right Beside You," "As I Lay Me Down," "Only Love (The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty)" – it completely overlooks her third album, Timbre, which is a bit odd, especially since it contains two new songs in "California Here I Come" and a cover of the Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," not to mention the Butcher Brothers' remix of "As I Lay Me Down." This is a problem, but it's not a major one, since Tongues & Tails (represented with five tracks) and Whaler (represented with six) are her two most popular albums, and they make for good companions, particularly since the best moments are distilled here, making it both a good summary and introduction to a singer/songwriter who often gets overlooked because she's too mainstream for alternative and too unusual for the mainstream.

The Hoochie Coochie Men, named after the Willie Dixon song "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man", were Bob Daisley (Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Uriah Heep) on bass, Tim Gaze on lead vocals and guitar, Rob Grosser on drums and Jim Conway on harmonica The band's life changed drastically when legendary founder member of DEEP PURPLE, Jon Lord decided to join them for a concert at the famous "Basement Club" in Sidney just after a few hours rehearsal. All musicians loved playing together and remained in contact. Many journalists and fans have already said the HOOCHIE COOCHIE MEN is Jon Lord's return to rock music and thanks to the distinctive presence of his Hammond organ; louder and cooler than ever. Live At The Basement is documenting the show that started the Hoochie Coochie Men project feat. Jon Lord.

Produced by Jack Richardson, So Long, Bannatyne was recorded by the Guess Who in a two-week stint in June of 1971. With guitarists Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw on board, the album opened well with “Rain Dance” and the perceptive “She Might Have Been a Nice Girl,” but then fell into a kind of disjointed, dispirited, and rather exhausted-sounding mishmash of underdeveloped songs. . The album was reissued in the digital era with the March 1971 single “Albert Flasher” b/w “Broken” included as bonus tracks, which lifted things considerably, allowing the sequence to end as strongly as it begins. In retrospect, So Long, Bannatyne wasn’t a disaster, but it didn’t move the band forward either, and it still seems, all these years later, like an underrealized release that’s short on memorable songs.

Two Against Nature is the eighth studio album by American rock band Steely Dan. Their first studio album in 20 years, it was recorded from 1997 to 1999 and released on February 29, 2000, by Giant Records. A critical success, Two Against Nature won the group four Grammy Awards: Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Engineered Album – Non-Classical, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (for the single "Cousin Dupree"). Commercially, it peaked at number six on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and sold more than one million copies, earning a Platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.

Gesualdo is now known to have composed some of the most intensely expressive music ever written – and is also known for the lurid details of his private life. The French ensemble A Sei Voci has rich-toned voices which illuminate this extraordinary music; this release is among the ‘second generation’ of Gesualdo recordings following the pioneering work of the Deller Consort in the 1970s. Their success paved the way for a wider recognition of Gesualdo’s genius in the 1990s.

The Mozart sonatas for fortepiano and violin, as they are accurately called, represented a genre that was beginning to become old-fashioned in Mozart's own time, with the piano the dominant instrument and the violin, during Mozart's youth at least, an almost optional accompaniment. They aren't played as often as Mozart's other chamber music, but there are many ways to play them. It is good to have a spate of new recordings oriented toward historical performance; these put the listener closer to Mozart's experimental frame of mind in this genre.

Rokoko is Croatian counter tenor Max Emanuel Cencic's 2014 release on Decca, in which he explores the elaborate and emotionally stirring arias of Johann Adolf Hasse, one of the neglected masters of 18th century opera. These 11 vocal selections reflect the popular taste of the period, oriented as it was to the extraordinary abilities of the great castrati. Supported by George Petrou and the period instruments group Armonia Atenea, which plays with authentic rococo sonorities, rhythmic vigor, and precision, Cencic displays astonishing virtuosity and power in the arias taken from Hasse's long forgotten operas, Arminio, Il Siroe, Tito Vespasiano, L'Olimpiade, Ipermestra, Il Trionfo di Clelia, La Spartana Generosa, and Tigrane, as well as an aria from the oratorio, Il Cantico de’ Tre Fanciulli.

NOW Music is proud to present the third instalment in our 12” 80s series – ‘Remixed’.
44 tracks across 4 CDs, featuring an amazing selection of the original 12” versions that represent the era – from huge pop chart hits to dancefloor classics, including some rare tracks on CD. The superb synth-pop of ‘Love Kills’ from Freddie Mercury opens the album, followed by the special dance mix of Eurythmics’ ‘There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)’. The Police’s remix of ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’, alongside perfect pop from a-ha, Holly Johnson, Kim Wilde, Red Box, and the Latin Rascals remix of Duran Duran’s ‘Notorious’, all feature on disc 1. The majestic extended mix of Womack & Womack’s ‘Love Wars’ is included, along with two tracks – ‘Wrap Her Up’ from Elton John in its over 10-minute extended remix, and Jellybean’s dance remix of ‘Jive Talkin’’ from Boogie Box High – both featuring vocal contributions from George Michael.

'Break Every Rule' was Tina's follow-up album to the hugely successful comeback album 'Private Dancer' (1984). The first single 'Typical Male' was a big chart success. 'Back Where You Started' earned Tina another Grammy for best rock vocal performance, female in 1987. The album included several star-studded guest performances and songwriting from David Bowie, Mark Knopfler, Bryan Adams, Phil Collins, Steve Winwood and many more. It also saw the return of Terry Britten and Graham Lyle's songwriting partnership, penning the first five tracks of the album. The expanded 2CD edition contains the contents of the first 2CDs from the 3CD/2DVD deluxe edition. The first CD features the original album fully remastered for the first time, with the second CD containing a collection of B-sides, remixes and live performances.