American Conjuring (2016)

The early-2000s renaissance of Marcos Valle was a delight for his fans, especially those who had long held onto hopes that they'd hear more to rival his late-'60s and early-'70s prime. Curiously quiet after a 2005 live album, though, it seemed that Valle had gone back into hibernation. He returned with a bang, however, on 2010's Estática, which is nearly everything his fans had been looking for. The songwriting is bright and memorable, the production style unifies the best of his sunny late-'60s style and his innovative early-'70s prime, and Valle's strong personality is at the center of it all. (The latter is especially welcome, since he'd seemed relatively detached on some of his 2000s records.)

Frontiers managed to give Journey four Top 40 hits, with "After the Fall" and "Send Her My Love" both reaching number 23, "Faithfully" at number 12, and "Separate Ways" peaking at number eight – the same amount that 1981's Escape brandished. While they tried to use the same musical recipe as Escape, Frontiers comes up a little short, mainly because the keyboards seem to overtake both Schon's guitar playing and Steve Perry's strong singing. An overabundance of Jonathan Cain's synth work cloaks the quicker tunes and seeps into the ballads, slightly widening the strong partnership of Perry and Schon.

Edsel is proud to present 07-11, a new collection of recordings by legendary American singer-songwriter Black Francis. Best known as the frontman of iconic alternative rock band Pixies, Black Francis' music has inspired generations of musicians from Nirvana to Radiohead. Compiled with the assistance of Black Francis himself, 07-11 gathers together eight albums from one of the most prolific periods of his career. This expansive new boxset features 129 tracks across nine CDs including five studio albums - 'Bluefinger' (2007), 'Sv n F ng rs' (2008), 'The Golem' (2010), 'NonStopErotik' (2010), and 'Paley & Francis' (2011). Plus, 'Abbabubba', a collection of B-sides, rarities and remixes, as well as two live albums 'Live In Nijmegen' and 'Live At The Hotel Utah Saloon' (which is released on CD for the very first time). All eight albums have been newly mastered for this release by Phil Kinrade at Alchemy Mastering at AIR.