Applemagazine From 3 June 2016

Theatre Music - the dialogue in the service of great poetry - is the focus of this recording. We have already been able to perform Egmont with several renowned actors. That the part of the narrator is here taken by Herbert Föttinger, currently the director of the theatre for which Beethoven himself wrote music, is beautifully fitting. Christopher Hampton has modeled the combined texts of Goethe and Grillparzer into his poetic English translation. It fills us with great joy and gratitude that John Malkovich - with whom we have already had the pleasure of collaborating for several years - has taken on the part of the narrator in the English version.

The Zombies: BBC Radio Sessions: two-CD set is the first complete collection of the Zombies BBC Radio broadcasts ever released on CD. The album includes five previously unreleased tracks that were not included on the limited edition vinyl album issued in 2015…

The Russian composer Elena Langer, now resident in Britain, draws on influences from her native country (Shostakovich, especially in the chamber orchestration of these songs), from Britain (from Britten to Thomas Adès), and from continental Europe. As a song composer she is able to convey lightness even when dealing with serious material such as the title song cycle setting poems by Lee Harwood (most of the songs on the album are in English). These songs subtly depict love triangles, some of them with both straight and gay elements. Even better are the genuinely playful pieces.

Released in time for the 21st anniversary of the Rolling Stones' 1995 live album Stripped, Eagle Rock's Totally Stripped package focuses on the visual element. At its simplest, it's a CD/DVD set, with the DVD containing a documentary following the Stones through studio sessions and rehearsals for their club shows in London, Amsterdam, and Paris, while a super deluxe set contains Blu-rays of the full concerts of each of these gigs. In each incarnation, the CD cherry-picks highlights from these live shows, presenting 13 previously unheard performances plus recycling a "Street Fighting Man" initially released on Stripped.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of C86, we’re now proud to announce a sequel, in the shape of C87! Imagine if the NME had reconvened a year on from their original compilation? Well, that’s the inspiration for another 70+ tracks, ranging from well-known Indie names to obscurities making their debut on CD.