Cactology is the definitive collection of music from one of the most underrated and overlooked hard rock bands of the '70s. From the opening notes of Howlin' Wolf's "Evil" (cast by Cactus as a Black Sabbath/Led Zeppelin-type monster riff sludge rocker), the listener is swept into a dark world of beer-swilling, testosterone-fueled stud boogie. On the CD's second track, the band gives Mose Allison's lightly swinging jazz/blues classic "Parchman Farm" a hyper-speed freight train treatment that shames even the Who's thunderous Live at Leeds version of Allison's "Young Man." All the while, bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice (both of whom are better-known for their work with Vanilla Fudge and Jeff Beck) add a thunderous, chops-heavy bottom end…

Not even Tiamat's previous achievements and accelerated evolutionary pace could have prepared fans and critics for the unbelievable sounds contained in the band's fourth album, 1994's groundbreaking Wildhoney. The album elevated the group's combination of lingering death metal roots and ambient soundscapes to unparalleled heights of invention. Not necessarily a concept album in the lyrical sense, the record still operates as a virtually seamless aural experience, as tracks are often grouped into extended suites…

After picking up a batch of folk awards, this Scottish five-piece have been touring the world with impressive results. Astar is Scottish Gaelic for “journey”, and this classy travelogue is remarkable for its variety of collaborations. The band is best known for featuring highland bagpipes along with fiddle, guitar, whistles and double bass, but this is Scottish-influenced global fusion. The bravest track, The White Sands of Jervis Bay, starts with a powerful ceremonial song from the Australian Aboriginal singer Yirrmal Marika from the Black Arm Band, backed by yidaki didgeridoo, then segues into a lament from fiddler Megan Henderson. On Muriwai, a jaunty pipe tune eases into a gutsy New Zealand Maori haka from Scott Morrison, while elsewhere there’s Quebecois fiddle from Olivier Demers and Norwegian hardanger fiddle from Olav Luksengård Mjelva, who contributes to an emotional treatment of Dick Gaughan’s on-the-road ballad Outlaws and Dreamers.

"Double-tracked with a ghostly haze of background fuzz, Hedvig’s lightning-rod guitar blazes a trail that comes in the wake of the heaviest guitar giants – there’s Hendrix, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Led Zep’s Jimmy Page swirling around the cauldron, but also the exploratory, disciplined freeplay of Pete Cosey, John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana buzzing out of her fingertips. Born in the Norwegian town of Ålesund in the early 80s, Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen has been steeped in the guitar since fooling around with her mother’s nylon-strung acoustic at the age of ten."

Her is a French soul band from Rennes. Formed in 2015, it is composed of Simon Carpentier and Victor Solf. The name of the group, which means "to herself" in English , was chosen by her two members to represent the cause of women and feminism.

Multi-instrumentalist and visual artist Sarah Mary Chadwick is not a new face to Melbourne's music community. After moving to Australia from her native New Zealand to pursue a career in music, Sarah spent a decade fronting the grunge band Batrider. Eventually becoming tired of the collaborative requirements intrinsic to band life, Sarah shifted her focus to songwriting independently, drawing inspiration from “weird old New Zealand musicians” like Peter Jefferies, Chris Knox, and Australia’s Pip Proud and the way they tinker away and work for decades for “little to no commercial success.” This inspiration is obvious in Sarah’s performance as she simultaneously savors and mocks the pedestal that her creativity affords her, acknowledging that “it's a position of power being on a microphone” and how “it's a desperate demand to be seen. It's funny and really sad.”

Formed in 2010, The Cosmic Dead are a quartet from Glasgow, Scotland who share their music through good vibes and better vibrations. Known for their improv, chaos strewn, Buckfast smashed against the wall take on space music, they have roamed from Roadburn to Las Vegas, Dundee to Bangalore with each album offering a meditative window into a certain time and space. 'Psych Is Dead' is the sixth full length album from the band, the glowing embers of a a few days spent recording in a sweaty Sardinian kitchen overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Soon to be available on LP and CD via Riot Season Records, 'Psych Is Dead' is an aural exploration of their tumultuous universe.

That Which Is Not Said is an album about learning to accept oneself within, and accept the reality of all that comes from without. It’s an eponymous abstract exposition on navigating the realms of intimacy that the living world inevitably unveils and their equally inevitable fallout, the panic of abandonment and the loss of desire, and dragging oneself back up the hill once the lonely valleys lose their allure. Written and recorded over the course of two years in TWINS home studio in Atlanta with various synths, samplers, drum machines, and his very own flesh-and-muscle vocals, That Which Is Not Said is the result of countless studio sessions and experiments that were refined and distilled into the songs presented here, rigorously worked out through live performances and repeated critical overhaul.

he biggest female vocalists of today including Fiona Apple, Patty Griffith and Nikka Costa, come together to pay tribute to the legendary, Cy Coleman. Cy Coleman's work encompasses countless Broadway hits as well as standards performed by iconic artists such as Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Lucille Ball and Tony Bennett. A career spanning well over four decades, Cy Coleman left us with an extensive collection of truly timeless hits. The album peaked at number 32 of Billboard's Jazz Albums chart.

Leading young Canadian composer Brian Current, recipient of numerous distinguished international prizes, has collaborated with award-winning writer Anton Piatigorsky in an exciting work for voice and accompanying ensemble. Airline Icarus is set aboard an airliner in which, taking the myth of Icarus as the central image, the composer “explores themes of hubris mixed with technology”. The result is a powerful, resonant work which won Current the Italian Premio Fedora Award in 2011.

One Little Indian release a brand new CD boxset dedicated to the wonderful Black Box Recorder. The package includes previously unreleased material and a DVD containing live footage and official music videos. Sleeve note writers include John Moore, Sarah Nixey and Luke Haines. It includes the albums England Made Me, Facts of Life, Passionoia and a 16 Track Bonus CD of Unreleased material, BBC Sessions, Single versions, remixes etc plus DVD with Live The Forum on 27 October 2008 and 5 Videos.

To celebrate his first arena rock tour since 2005, Universal Music Australia released an Australian Exclusive album from multi-Grammy Award winning artist, Bryan Adams. ‘Australian Tour Edition 2013’ is a double album of Bryan’s most popular tracks with Australian audiences. The 2CD features hits such as ‘Summer of ’69,’ ‘(Everything I Do) I Do it for You’ and ‘Heaven’ as well as previously unreleased tracks from Bryan’s personal archives, including performances recorded live at the Sydney Opera House. ‘Australian Tour Edition 2013’ was released on April 19, 2013.