Andreas Staier’s informed and inspired interpretations have left their mark on the discography of both the harpsichord and the fortepiano and have enabled us to see Bach, Mozart and Schubert in a completely new light. This is Staier’s first solo album of a projected series for Alpha Classics, in which he also presents his own compositions for the first time.

After a recording of Book II of The Well-Tempered Clavier that earned unanimous acclaim from the press, Andreas Staier now gives us an equally poetic and flamboyant interpretation of the first book. At once architect and colourist, he constantly varies the atmospheres, unfolding an infinite palette of musical landscapes. Under his fingers, this immense cathedral in sound is revealed in all its thrilling diversity. An exhilarating experience!

With the two books of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Johann Sebastian Bach left posterity one of the most dazzling masterpieces in the history of music. Formal rigour and musical emotion meet in perfect communion. Following several outstanding recordings of other works by Bach, Andreas Staier invites us to climb this Everest once again, but starting, as it were, with the north face, the second book, and revealing its poetry, its sensibility and its daunting architecture with the utmost naturalness.

When Paco de Lucía made the groundbreaking Almoraima, he was just 28 years old. Already established as a prodigious talent, he used to opportunity to expand the possibilities of the flamenco music he loved so much. It wasn't so much the addition of bass and congas (he'd employed them before) as his entire rethinking of what constituted flamenco. The title cut, which opened the album, emphasized the Moorish influence, not only in the presence of the lute-like oud, but in its melody, which borrows from Arab maqams, or modes. "Rio Ancho" transports the rhumba rhythm to Brazil, melding it to a feel taken from bossa nova, which makes it all the more sinuous and sensual.

Jennifer Vyvyan was one of the most revered sopranos of her generation. Her career was particularly associated with Britten operas, for which she premiered many roles. But the scope of her talent was particularly wide, and she also excelled in early music and sacred works. Here she is featured in the rare Magnificat of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach conducted by Geraint Jones.

No Question About It is the first solo album by flutist Kent Jordan. It was released in 1984 on Columbia Records and produced by Stanley Clarke.

Stereolab took an unprecedented two years between 1997's Dots & Loops and 1999's Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night, as they tended to personal matters. During those two years, Stereolab's brand of sophisticated, experimental post-rock didn't evolve too much, even as colleagues like Tortoise, Jim O'Rourke, and the High Llamas tried other things. Since each Stereolab album offered a significant progression from the next, it would have been fair to assume that when they returned, it would be with a leap forward, especially since Tortoise's John McEntire and O'Rourke were co-producers. Perhaps that's the reason that the album feels slightly disappointing. The group has absorbed McEntire's jazz-fusion leanings – "Fuses" kicks off the album in compelling, free-jazz style – and the music continually bears O'Rourke's attention to detail, but it winds up sounding like O'Hagan's increasing tendency of making music that's simply sound for sound's sake.

Big Bill Broonzy was viewed as a beloved country blues player when he died in 1958, a master of raw and authentic-sounding folk-blues. But this public image, although Broonzy worked hard to maintain it in his later years, does him a bit of a disservice. He was much more than a rustic relic, however well he played the part. Broonzy was an excellent and even sophisticated guitarist, starting out in the '30s as a rag and hokum player but he was versatile enough to work with jazz and R&B combos, and his guitar approach was instrumental in the early formation of the Chicago blues sound. He was also a crafty songwriter, who managed to write blues pieces that bridged the line between traditional blues themes and modern structure. This 21-track collection focuses mostly on his early solo acoustic material, although there are some band pieces included as well toward the end of the sequence.

Grammy-nominated extreme power metal pioneers DragonForce will release their monumental new album and Napalm Records debut, Warp Speed Warriors, on March 15, 2024! The iconic unit is known for their masterful, unparalleled and lightning-fast signature guitar solos that influenced a whole genre. The band around virtuoso guitarists and founding members Herman Li and Sam Totman are highly inspired by a myriad of heavy metal styles, fantasy realms and video games.
Warp Speed Warriors, produced by Herman Li, Sam Totman and Damien Rainaud - and mixed and mastered by the latter - is a matchless, innovative listening experience that continues the band's legacy with songs that will, without a shadow of a doubt, become instant classics in and beyond the DragonForce canon.

Hooking up with regular Madonna collaborator Patrick Leonard as the co-producer of this album proved to be just the trick for Ferry. Bete Noire sparkles as the highlight of Ferry's post-Roxy solo career, adding enough energy to make it more than Boys and Girls part two. Here, his trademark well-polished heartache strikes a fine balance between mysterious moodiness and dancefloor energy, and Leonard adds more than a few tricks that keep the pep up. Five out of the nine songs are Ferry/Leonard collaborations; all succeed, from "Limbo"'s opening punch and flow to the cinematic (and unsurprisingly French-tinged) feeling of the title track. The atmospheric, almost chilling "Zamba"'s minimal, buried drums, soft synths and doomy piano, make it the best of that bunch. Ferry's best moment here is all his own, though – the great single "Kiss and Tell," with a steady, bold bassline leading the way for his slightly dissolute portrayal of mating rituals and all they entail. Like Boys and Girls, the album's supporting cast mixes a lengthy list of session pros with a few guest stars.

THIS MONTH’S COVERMOUNT CD is The North Will Rise Again: 15 killer tracks from Manchester and environs. Stars The Fall, James, Black Grape, Magazine, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, A Guy Called Gerald and more.

The band Karthago received the Péter Máté award last year in recognition of its work, and after receiving it, band leader Ferenc Szigeti came up with the idea to pay tribute to Péter Máté's exceptional life work and his huge musical legacy by covering an entire album of songs. In addition, the fact that in 1979 Karthago worked together on two LPs recorded by Péter Máté, they took part in the recordings of various music TV shows together, and a few years later they asked him to arrange their song Requiem in a big orchestra gave an additional "boost" to the actual implementation. - with which they won the 1983 International Dance Song Festival in Villach - so not only a working but also a friendly relationship developed between them over the years, thus making the current movement much more personal.

When Charlie Byrd recorded Byrd in the Wind in 1959, he was still two years away from discovering bossa nova. The guitarist had yet to interact with Astrud and João Gilberto or record anything by Antonio Carlos Jobim, and he had yet to become a major player in the Brazilian jazz field. Nonetheless, Byrd was an impressive jazzman even before he discovered bossa nova. Byrd (who sticks to the acoustic guitar on this album) already had a recognizably melodic sound - one that underscored his appreciation of Django Reinhardt as well as Andrés Segovia and the Spanish school of classical guitar - and he would have left behind a worthwhile catalog even if he had retired in 1960. The guitarist's classical leanings are hard to miss on Byrd in the Wind, especially when he employs woodwind players (all of them members of the National Symphony Orchestra) on some of the selections…

It Was the Best of Times is the third live album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in April 1999. The album was recorded in September 1997 at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England, UK during the "It's About Time" tour (set up in support of the Some Things Never Change studio album). The band includes vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Mark Hart performing songs originally sung by Roger Hodgson. Supertramp are also augmented by additional players added for this album and tour which later would also take part in the recording of Slow Motion, the follow-up studio album released in 2002.