A 4-CD + 7" collection showcasing Fania's era-defining output of Latin soul and boogaloo spanning 1965-1975. The set compiles single versions of 89 tracks from such best-selling artists as Ray Barretto, Joe Bataan, Bobby Valent¡n, Ralfi Pagan and Larry Harlow, plus rarities and B-sides, housed in a 60-page hardcover book with liner notes by producer Dean Rudland. The bonus 7" includes rare 1967 promo cuts for WEVD NYC's Symphony Sid radio show. Mastered by GRAMMY-winning engineer Paul B.

Released in celebration of what would have been Ray Charles' 90th birthday, True Genius is a deluxe 6CD box set, released with the participation and support of the Ray Charles Foundation, containing 90 of Ray Charles' biggest hits, containing music from every album he released from 1960 on, and a previously unreleased concert from 1972. The 44 page book which accompanies the music has liner notes written by Quincy Jones, Valerine Ervin (President of the Ray Charles Foundation) and A. Scott Galloway.

In 1998, after Island Records released the compilation, Beautiful Maladies: The Island Years, Tom Waits left the label for ANTI- , whose president, Andy Kaulkin, said the label was "blown away that Tom would even consider us. We are huge fans." Waits himself was full of praise, saying "Epitaph is rare for being owned and operated by musicians. They have good taste and a load of enthusiasm, plus they're nice people. And they gave me a brand-new Cadillac, of course." Waits' first album for his new label, Mule Variations, was issued in April 1999. Billboard described the album as musically melding "backwoods blues, skewed gospel, and unruly art stomp into a sublime piece of junkyard sound sculpture. The record was Waits' first release to feature a turntablist, and it won a Grammy in 2000; as an indicator of how difficult it was by then to classify Waits' music, he was nominated simultaneously for Best Contemporary Folk Album (which he won) and Best Male Rock Vocal Performance (for the song Hold On ), both different from the genre for which he won his previous Grammy.

Collaborations between John Hiatt and Nick Lowe began long before Lowe contributed to Hiatt’s Bring The Family album in 1987, and participated - alongside Ry Cooder and Jim Keltner - in the short-lived super-group Little Village. Indeed, Lowe produced, played bass and provided backing vocals for the second side of Hiatt’s 1983 album Riding With The King. Lowe’s then touring and studio band The Cowboy Outfit were bought in to back Hiatt, and it just so happened that the legendary (even by then) Paul Carrack was a member of the mighty Outfit and thus played his inimitable keyboards on the album too. But that’s not all; when it was time for John Hiatt to take his new record on the road, he didn’t hog the limelight; instead, he invited Lowe and Carrack along, gave them equal billing to himself, and all three got a hand in formulating the set lists; each of the trio featured songs of their own - or ones with which they were notably connected.

According to this set's annotator, Mike Hennessey, and Stan Getz's biographer, Donald Maggin, the circumstances surrounding the making of these 1983 recordings was unpleasant in the extreme. For various reasons, Getz was unhappy to be concertizing with Baker and forced him out before the 35-date tour was halfway finished. Before Baker left, however, the men played a pair of concerts in Stockholm, which were fortunately recorded for posterity. Fortunately not because Getz and Baker shared any special rapport that led to a classic performance, but because the resulting album gives listeners another example of how wonderful a player Chet Baker was, even after years of drug addiction and general dissolution. Getz is his typical self – lyrical, facile almost to the point of glibness, but musical nevertheless. Baker, on the other hand, is as he ever was – one of the most spontaneously creative, emotionally compelling voices in jazz. The band is good if unspectacular; drummer Victor Lewis was a particularly nice choice in that he could drive a band like this without overwhelming the rather brittle lead voices. And Getz is excellent; if you're a Getz fan, he's in fine form here, so you won't be disappointed. Baker, on the other hand, is superb; it's his inimitable musicality that ultimately makes this rather pricey three-disc set a bargain.

Feast, the 14th album from thrash veterans Annihilator, finds the stalwart band sticking to what they do best with an album of driving and slickly produced classic metal. Much like their contemporaries Overkill, Annihilator have found solace in staying the course, refining their sound, waiting out the storm, and honing their craft while giants like Metallica fall flat while taking risks. However, while Overkill have been in the midst of a career revival, putting out some of their best work yet, Feast feels more like a reminder, letting fans know that they're still alive and kicking. And while what they do is still solid, there's a sense of vitality missing. Sure, there's plenty of aggressive and intense thrash to be found on the album, but it doesn't feel as though Annihilator are really pushing themselves very hard, giving the impression that they're reluctant to really put the pedal to the metal despite having plenty of fuel in the tank…

NOW Music proudly presents 57 more essential singles from the iconic year of Pop that was 1993.
CD1 sets the stage with a blend of classic hits across multiple genres. Pet Shop Boys kick off with "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing," followed by New Order with "Ruined In A Day" and Duran Duran’s "Too Much Information." Next come the powerful vocals of Annie Lennox with "Little Bird" followed by classics from defining albums: Sting with "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You” from ‘Ten Summoner’s Tales’ and R.E.M.'s "Nightswimming" from ‘Automatic For The People’. Up next are a stellar run of beautiful songs from Saint Etienne, Sade, Go West and Sananda Maitreya. SNAP! and M People scored huge Pop-Dance hits, and Heaven 17 and Visage saw remixed versions of their classics become hits once again. The first disc draws to a close with a great collaboration between David Sylvian and Robert Fripp plus Suzanne Vega, Chris Rea, and finishing with Elton John’s “Simple Life”.

The collection of sixteen songs shares its name with the current exhibition at the Country Music Hall of Fame, Bill Anderson: As Far As I Can See, and comes from the opening line of one of the first songs he ever wrote, “City Lights,” the country classic that was a hit for Ray Price in 1958 In addition to such beloved songs as “City Lights,” “Still,” Po’ Folks,” The Tip Of My Fingers,” and “Sometimes,” the album features a new song with country icon Dolly Parton, “Someday It’ll All Make Sense.” The newly recorded duet is joined by Anderson and Parton’s first-ever collaboration, an incredibly rare demo of “If It Is All The Same To You,” recorded in 1964 and eventually released as a duet with Jan Howard on Anderson’s chart-topping 1969 album of the same name. As Far As I Can See: The Best Of, is being released by MCA Nashville/UMe, which has been Anderson’s label home for most of his seven-decade long career.

Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals), and Pick Withers (drums and percussion). They were active from 1977 to 1988 and again from 1991 to 1995. The band became one of the world's best-selling music artists, with album sales of over 100 million. Dire Straits won four Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards (Best British Group twice), two MTV Video Music Awards, and various other awards. The band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

Although the Finnish composer Kalevi Aho is best known as a symphonist, his constantly expanding catalogue includes numerous concertos as well as countless chamber works and arrangements of works by other composers. This disc brings together works from these three genres. The Guitar Concerto, dedicated to Ismo Eskelinen, posed many challenges for Aho, who is not a guitarist himself. It is a seven-movement work exploring the different ways the guitar can be used - sometimes with far from traditional techniques -and exploring its sonic possibilities.

Paavo Berglund (1929-2012) recorded the complete symphonies of his great compatriot Sibelius no fewer than three times. This set, central in every respect, was made in the 1980s with the Helsinki Philharmonic. Berglund, a former music director of the Helsinki Philharmonic, was renowned internationally as a master interpreter of Sibelius’s extraordinary music. In Gramophone’s words, he conducted it “with an unhurried, controlled inevitability that allows the music to unfold in its own time without any loss of tension or excitement”.

Sir Rod Stewart (knighted in 2016) celebrates 50 years as a solo artist with a brand new album 'You're In My Heart: Rod Stewart with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra'. The leg-endary singer-songwriter is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with more than 250 million records sold worldwide during a stellar career. The 2CD Deluxe Edition includes 7 additional tracks. Recorded at Abbey Road Studio One and Produced by Trevor Horn, the album combines classic vocals with newly recorded arrangements by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Includes new orchestral versions of Sir Rod Stewart’s classic hits: “Sailing,” “I Don’t Want To Talk About It,” “The First Cut Is The Deepest,” “You’re In My Heart,” “Maggie May,” “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright)” and “Handbags and Gladrags”. Features “It Takes Two” a new duet with Robbie Williams, previously recorded by Rod Stewart with Tina Turner in 1991, this brand new version features newly recorded vocals from both Robbie and Rod. Plus a brand new previously unreleased song “Stop Loving Her Today”.

If you want to play games with your music-loving friends, put on this recording of the Octet and tell them it's a newly discovered work by Beethoven. Eventually they may catch on, but maybe not. Although Reicha's development is a bit more discursive than Beethoven's, the quality of this piece is amazingly high. The Quintet is on a smaller scale and a little more lightweight, but it's still a fine piece. For lovers of music in the late-classical style, this disc is a real find, and the Ensemble Carl Stamitz performs with a proper sense of its worth. A real sleeper.

Starting with the Canzon XVII of 1615 in 12 parts, involving three choirs of instruments, Eric Crees and his brilliant players from the brass section of the LSO demonstrate at once what variety of tone they can produce, with the finest shading of timbre and texture. In the great Sonata pian’ e forte of 1597 in eight parts and the even more striking Double Echo Canzon in 12 Parts, the playing is remarkable as much for its restraint and point as for its dramatic impact. Beautiful sound, both clear and atmospheric, not aggressive.

Humble Pie, known as boogie hammerheads, at least once achieved American popularity in the mid-'70s. Its origins were quite different, however, and its debut album, As Safe as Yesterday Is, is a visionary blend of hard blues, crushing rock, pastoral folk, and post-mod pop. It would be even more impressive if the group had written songs to support its sound, but it seemed to have overlooked that element of the equation. Still, there's no denying that the sound of the band isn't just good, it's quite engaging, as the band bring disparate elements together, letting them bump up against each other, forming a wildly rich blend of hippie folk and deeply sexy blues.