Jansons embraces Rachmaninoff’s riveting, turbulent Second Symphony in this sympathetic interpretation. Although written during the composer’s three-year stay in Germany, the symphony conjures the blustery winters and frenzied urban life of St. Petersburg, where it was premiered in 1908. Containing the charm and emotional depth of the composer’s finest large-scale movements, the “Allegro molto” sounds stunningly fresh, especially under the fingers of the exceptionally inspired, almost possessed, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The Adagio is ecstatically romantic, emblematic of Rachmaninoff’s profoundly saccharine style.

The music of the Mediterranean Deconstruction Ensemble led by Moscow-based pianist Gregory Sandomirsky follows a twofold formula. It could be described as a continuation and further development of what he was doing with Lampa Ladino and is still doing with Goat’s Notes, two other bands he had co-founded: reimagining the traditional music of Sephardi Jews and free improvisation, respectively. On this album, it barely takes three minutes for the deconstruction to begin: the Sephardi tune literally crumbles, or is smashed, into pieces, only to reassemble for a melodious comeback in a matter of another couple of minutes. In the end, however, Mediterranean slightly beats deconstruction. For the most part, elements of free improvisation only serve to enhance and adorn the smooth flow of these compositions. Sandomirsky and his teammates have apparently reached a level of freedom where they can rein back their anarchic instincts if necessary.

Erasure put out, World Be Gone, their 17th studio effort last May. Now, the London synthpop veterans are prepping to release an alternate, post-classical version of that LP on March 9th, re-dubbed World Beyond.

Recorded in 1989 and re-released on Original Jazz Classics in 2003, Sail Away is a fine outing by trumpeter Tom Harrell. He's joined by pianist James Williams, bassist Ray Drummond, and drummer Adam Nussbaum. A handful of guests – flutist Cheryl Pyle, guitarist John Abercrombie, tenor Joe Lovano, and soprano Dave Liebman – fill out the arrangements on ten instrumentals (two are bonus cuts from Visions). Together, Harrell and company add a contemporary spin to mainstream jazz. The ten-minute track "Dream in June" takes a number of adventurous flights of fancy without ever losing track of its base. Both Harrell and Abercrombie's solos build complex, forceful ideas against a backdrop of Nussbaum's powerful drumming, creating a dense sound that belies predictability.

As he set to work on Monuments to an Elegy, the second "album within an album" within the larger Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project, Billy Corgan slowly whittled down Smashing Pumpkins to himself and guitarist Jeff Schroeder. This narrowing of the group – the duo is supported by the hired hand of Mötley Crüe's drummer Tommy Lee – ultimately doesn't matter much because ever since the Pumpkins' 2007 comeback, the secret of Corgan's complete control of the group was out in the open. …

Perfection Kills is the ninth release from South African blues-rock guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist, Dan Patlansky. Picking up right where his 2017 Introvertigo left off, Perfection Kills proves Patlansky is a guitar slayer, a killer vocalist, and now, a sharpshooter behind the mixing console…

Timothy Lee Miller presents SOMETHING MORE, eight original jazz compositions that explore the unique relationships that the composer has with his family. Expanding upon something as simple as a photograph or a memory, Miller's noir-influenced jazz expands his reflections beyond words, and instead creates story through moods. The album features both contemporary compositions, as late as 2017, as well as some that Miller had written back in the 1980s.

The pioneering classical percussionist Colin Currie launches his own record label with a recording of Steve Reich’s iconic Drumming, performed by the Colin Currie Group and released in March 2018. Colin Currie Records is a platform for the soloist’s diverse projects, celebrating the extraordinary developments for percussion music over the past century.

Baby mine is a wonderful collection of lullabies from your favourite childhood films. Performed by Irish soprano, and rising star, Máire Flavin, together with the phenomenal RTE National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Oliver Gooch, this disc combines playful numbers with luscious cradle songs to gently send you off to sleep.

During the 90’s and into the 2000’s one of the major discussion points within the heavy rock fraternity surrounded the perceived lack of UK bands. Whilst that may have rang true from an industry perspective, it would have been difficult to really ascertain due to the lack of any kind of network. Obviously now, we have a much more open system of not just social media and blogs, but also the ability to market the music for yourself. That perceived lack of UK heavy rock bands suddenly opened up to a whole new world when Bandcamp et al. came on the scene. Now there are umpteen bands, although arguably the industry may still perceive there to be a lack, but that’s their mistake now.

Andy Susemihl is a German guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He began his career in the 1980s and gained international success since 1987 in hard rock bands such as U.D.O. and Sinner…