Paul Dunmall's dynamic Birmingham quintet's release Yes Tomorrow was a Discus highlight of 2022. We enjoyed the release so much that we took the unusual step of suggesting he add Julie and Charlotte to the group to make a second release. Paul embraced the idea with enthusiasm, and came up with this suite for the expanded group. The result is a freewheeling set with a great "live gig" feel, which gives plenty of space for each player to shine, and which mixes some tight compositions with open ended improvisation sections.

OUA's 6th album collides a studio session of bass driven rhythms with a marathon free improvisation session - combined, sculpted and arranged into an ever morphing tapestry of new sounds from leftfield progressive music. Fans of Soft Machine, Magma, Pink Floyd, Henry Cow, Sun Ra will enjoy this too.

The award-winning Greenwich Trio, comprising Slovenian violinist Lana Trotovšek, Canadian cellist Heather Tuach and Japanese pianist Yoko Misumi, makes its debut on Linn with a recording of Brahms Piano Trios. Pairing Op. 36 with Op. 87, this is the first instalment in a complete trios cycle. Although a string sextet in its original Brahmsian guise, Op. 36 was brilliantly arranged for piano trio by Theodor Kirchner, a contemporary and friend of Johannes. The second of Brahms’s three trios, Op. 87 is a mature work which sees the composer at the height of his compositional writing. Its highly Romantic leaning combined with its Classical structure calls for the sort of sharp skills the Greenwich Trio has in abundance. Having delighted audiences throughout Europe (Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, London’s Kings Place, Rheingau Musik Festival, among others) this debut is eagerly-awaited.

Interscope Records has announced the cast album for the 2023 revival of Parade–Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown’s award-winning musical, which opened on March 16 at New York’s Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre to rave reviews.
Parade (2023 Broadway Cast Recording) features the vocal talents of Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award winner Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond, and is conducted by three-time Tony Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown, and will be released on March 23.

Bruce Springsteen once said he intended to make an album with words like Bob Dylan that sounded like Phil Spector where he sang like Roy Orbison, a nifty summary of many, but not all, of his artistic ambitions and a key to his appeal. Unlike any other singer/songwriters saddled with the appellation of "the new Dylan" in the early '70s, Springsteen never hid how he was raised on '60s AM radio.

Bruce Springsteen once said he intended to make an album with words like Bob Dylan that sounded like Phil Spector where he sang like Roy Orbison, a nifty summary of many, but not all, of his artistic ambitions and a key to his appeal. Unlike any other singer/songwriters saddled with the appellation of "the new Dylan" in the early '70s, Springsteen never hid how he was raised on '60s AM radio.

This recording is dedicated to German Renaissance composer Ludwig Daser. Paul Van Nevel and the Huelgas Ensemble have recorded two polyphonic masses by the Munich-born composer, who was a contemporary of famous composers such as Orlando di Lasso and Cipriano di Rore. Ludwig Daser came from a wealthy Munich family. His composition teacher was to be the then famous Ludwig Senfl.

After several challenging years, marked by the pandemic and a harsh political climate, we fortunately have musical treasures we can unearth. This is precisely what the Norwegian Wind Ensemble has done. This spring, they present two masterful pieces of music that deserve the full attention of an interested listener.

"If There Are Mountains" is the first album by Dave Douglas and Elan Mehler as co-leaders, setting poetry and specifically haiku within the context of improvising music.

London 1982. As the new romantic youthquake of 1981/1982 faded, and after what felt like a lifetime since punk’s last gasp, a tiny nightclub opened its doors in London’s Soho. Drawing to it a new generation of misfits and miscreants with a penchant for polysexual hedonism, for dressing up and showing out, The Batcave became the dark heart of alternative club culture, just like The Roxy and The Blitz before it.Art school students, ex-punks and psychobillys, boys and girls, gays, straights, don’t-knows and don’t-cares, Camden and Kensington Market stallholders, professional squatters, kids on the dole, kids in bands, nocturnal music journalists, edgy fashionistas, androgynous randoms and even a smattering of bona fide popstars – from Nick Cave to Siouxsie Sioux, Marc Almond, Robert Smith, Killing Joke and Sigue Sigue Sputnik. All were welcome to pile in, gawp at the hair, ripped, torn, bleached and rubberised fashions, and death-mask make-up and take in the dancefloor’s heady musical mix of beats-heavy post-punk pioneers, outsider icons like Wayne County and The Cramps, and a teetering pile of lusty glam rock singles from the likes of T. Rex and The Sweet.

Universounds, HMV Record Shop and 180g team up for an exceptional release: from blazing hard bop to free jazz, to introspective saxophone solos and massive big band sounds, renowned Japanese jazz expert Yusuke Ogawa presents an essential 14 track collection of “WaJazz” music taken from the Nippon Columbia vaults. Featuring Jiro Inagaki, Minoru Muraoka, Hiroshi Suzuki, Hozan Yamamoto, Count Buffalo, Takeshi Inomata, and much more!

American violinist and violist Miranda Cuckson has established a reputation for her work in the field of new music, especially for her ability to learn difficult pieces quickly and for championing the music of contemporary composers. She was born in Sydney, Australia, but was trained at the Juilliard School from the age of nine until she earned her bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. Cuckson has devoted herself to performing chamber works and solo compositions, and she has given recitals in a variety of venues, including universities, schools, art galleries, and novel concert spaces.

"“Composers have been setting the Requiem texts to music since the late Middle Ages, and it was to these early settings that I was drawn when writing my own offering: with simple, flowing melodic threads combined to create a richer fabric. My thanks to Rupert Gough and the vibrant young voices of the Choir of Royal Holloway for taking those threads and weaving them into such dazzling tapestries of harmony - adorned with the warmth of Southern Sinfonia’s gorgeous strings, and the lyrical song of Maxim Calver’s soaring cello.” Matthew Coleridge"

Texas blues/rock guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Ally Venable is pleased to announce that she will release Real Gone!, her latest solo effort, on March 24th via Ruf Records.

Inspired by the great Romantic works of the piano trio repertoire, the Nebelmeer Trio – named after the emblematic painting by Caspar David Friedrich – embark on a joint exploration of a turmoiled romanticism. Composed ten years apart by two composers with a 20 year age difference, the trios for piano, violin and cello featuring in this album epitomize the quintessence of French Romantic music of the late 19th century.