14 Minutes From Earth (2016)

People, Hell & Angels is a new album of twelve never before released Jimi Hendrix studio recordings. This special album showcases the legendary guitarist working outside of the original Jimi Hendrix Experience trio. Beginning in 1968, Jimi Hendrix grew restless, eager to develop new material with old friends and new ensembles. Outside the view of a massive audience that had established the Experience as rock’s largest grossing concert act and simultaneously placed two of his albums together in the US Top 10 sales chart, Jimi was busy working behind the scenes to craft his next musical statement.

A collection of beautiful baroque and renaissance love songs that reflect the versatility of love – passionate, dramatic and addictive by the most popular composers of this time, from Monteverdi, Purcell, Cesti to Merula and Dowland. The arrangement, cast of instruments, and recording set up is as such that the “pop song” quality, the contemporary and eternal spirit, the immediacy of these compositions is revealed. All sung with the unique legato, pure, and silver quality that makes Simone Kermes' voice so special. This is Simone Kermes' most intimate and personal album yet.

South African lyric soprano Pumeza Matshikiza is one of today’s rising opera stars. An exclusive Decca Classics recording artist, her debut album ‘Voice of Hope’ was released in 2014. Her second album ‘Arias’ released in May 2016 showcasing her operatic roles from Purcell to Puccini and newly arranged art songs by Faure, Hahn and Tosti.

The transcendent glory of Handel's beloved classic Messiah is taken to new heights on Sir Andrew Davis’s majestic, must-hear rendition, recorded live in December 2015. Davis and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra make use of all the colours available from the modern orchestra to underline the mood and meaning of the individual movements, sung here by an acclaimed cast of soloists. Without detracting from the innate power of the original, the conductor’s score calls for moments of drama, pathos and even, sometimes, whimsy.

The German soprano Anna Prohaska joins Alpha Classics for several recording projects. Her first recital brings together two superb African queens - Dido & Cleopatra - and follows them all over Europe during the first century of opera, from the 1640s to 1740. A firework display of arias, virtuosic and tragic by turns, written by the leading personalities of Baroque music (Cavalli, Handel, Purcell, Hasse) and composers still awaiting rediscovery such as Sartorio, Graupner and the Venetian Castrovillari.

Grapefruit’s landmark 100th release
A definitive overview of the British psychedelic scene, an epic five-CD/book set that includes more than 50 minutes ofpreviously unreleased music from the halcyon period 1966-68. Including the major acts of the era (The Who, Traffic, Small Faces, The Move, Procol Harum, Incredible String Band, Family, Crazy World of Arthur Brown etc), ‘Think I’m Going Weird: Original Artefacts From The British Psychedelic Scene 1966-68’ features many bands who also played London’s underground dungeons during the Summer Of Love. Featuring studio demos from the likes of Tintern Abbey, The Soft Machine, Mabel Greer’s Toyshop, Genesis, Mandrake Paddle Steamer, Dantalian’s Chariot and others plus numerous cult 45s (July, Caleb, Vamp, Blossom Toes, Sweet Feeling, etc) and fascinating album cuts from such scene stalwarts as Tomorrow, Fairport Convention, Kaleidoscope, The Deviants and Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera.

Time and Again: The Ultimate a-ha is a greatest hits compilation album by the Norwegian band a-ha. Given how hugely successful the Norwegian trio remains around the world, it’s always a little amusing to think about how many Americans still view them as only having a couple of hits. In fact, the band just celebrated their 30th anniversary last year, releasing a new album, Cast in Steel, their 10th full-length studio effort to date.

Always forward-looking, always prolific, Clark left behind a rich legacy of professionally recorded music both released and unreleased. This album introduces previously unreleased studio sessions from Clark's pre-Byrds days in 1964, to his 1982 reunion with former bandmates, Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke, as Nyteflyte. Since his passing in 1991, many of Gene Clark's home demo recordings and various live recordings have been released. Actual studio recording sessions were rare and their existence was more rumor than fact until now! This collection of "lost" studio recordings has been lovingly restored by Sierra Records to ensure the best possible sound quality and is presented here for the very first time. This is essentially an alternate history of Gene Clark's most productive years as a songwriter. To call them revelatory would be to understate their importance.