45 2006

One of the first of the blissed-out rave acts to storm the charts, and also one of the longest lasting, the Future Sound of London deserved a good singles compilation, and fortunately they get one with the Virgin retrospective Teachings from the Electronic Brain. Their highest moments were virtually always their singles, and short-form tracks offer a much easier path to understanding the music of Brian Dougans and Garry Cobain than their occasionally bloated LPs. Teachings from the Electronic Brain neglects nothing of real value, beginning with their first chart hit ("Papua New Guinea") and grabbing the best tracks from their albums Accelerator ("Expander"), Lifeforms (the title track), the live-in-the-studio ISDN ("Far-Out Son of Lung and the Ramblings of a Madman," "Smokin' Japanese Babe"), and Dead Cities ("We Have Explosive"). Best of all, licensing requirements prevented the addition of material from 2002's half-baked The Isness.

Hook-laden tunes transformed Salisbury, Wiltshire, England-based quintet Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich into one the United Kingdom's top pop bands of the mid-'60s. Performing songs by their managers Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, the group scored with such Top Ten U.K. hits as "Hold Tight," "Hideaway," "Bend It," "Save Me," "Okay," "Zabadak," "Last Night in Soho," and the chart-topper, "Legend of Xanadu." Formed as Dave Dee & the Bostons, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich were led by vocalist Dee (born: David Harman), an ex-policeman who had been at the scene of the automobile accident that took the life of American rocker Eddie Cochran and injured Gene Vincent in April 1960. Dee had taken Cochran's guitar from the accident and held it until it could be returned to his family.

Whips and Roses is a collection of previously unreleased material from the 1975 rock album Teaser by Tommy Bolin. Released on April 25, 2006, it features newly discovered takes from songs found on Teaser as well as several instrumental jams heard for the first time on this album. Several songs on Whips and Roses were originally released on the album Teaser. These versions are remixed from alternate takes remaining from the Teaser sessions. Many of these new renditions feature extended arrangements and radically alternate guitar solos from the original album.

Judas Maccabaeus (HWV 63) is an oratorio in three acts composed in 1746 by George Frideric Handel based on a libretto written by Thomas Morell. The oratorio was devised as a compliment to the victorious Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland upon his return from the Battle of Culloden (16 April 1746).

The remarkable thing about this volume is not that it's the 13th installment in the extremely popular Cafe Del Mar series but that they've managed to maintain the quality control and this is just as good as any of the first 12! Cafe del Mar is the perfect scenery to enjoy an exclusive fusion of light, water and sound; the primary icon of the cult of sunset, without any doubts, one of the most wonderful and incredible existing in the planet. With the first Volume, thirteen years ago, Cafe del Mar began to put music to sunset. Cafe del Mar's spirit has reached all the corners of the world.

Sony's The Essential Judas Priest collection is the perfect middle ground for those who found 2004's four-disc Metalogy box a bit too daunting. Each and every one of the 34 tracks is indispensable, chronicling the group's rise from Queen-worshipping debutantes to revolutionary metal gods. It's often the case that when career retrospectives take a non-linear approach to their sequencing, the resulting play list becomes a mess of clashing recording techniques and jarring style changes, but Priest has always held true to its vision, experimenting early on with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal in ways that seamlessly bridged the gap between their Gull and Columbia years. From the opening avatar scream of 2005's comeback single "Judas Rising" to the introductory guitar swells of Screaming for Vengeance's "The Hellion/Electric Eye" - no live cuts or Tim "Ripper" Owens-era tracks were included - this is one compilation that's worthy of its moniker.

For Al Stewart fans who can't afford the five-CD set Just Yesterday, this 30-song double-disc collection is a fair – but only a fair – alternative. It is lacking a few items, however, that would make it more satisfying. For starters, the studio renditions of "Roads to Moscow" and "Nostradamus" are nowhere to be found, and then there's the absence of Stewart's debut single, "The Elf."…