Best of British October 2018

This CD showcases Maggie Reilly's silky, melancholy voice through several genres in the last two decades. Notably, "Every Time we Touch" is a much different arrangement than the previous album or single versions. Those familiar with her singing for Mike Oldfield will find her rendition of "To France" a fresh interpretation, more evocative of the Scottish highlands than Mike Oldfield's original arrangement.

The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society 50th anniversary editions are out on 26 October 2018. 2CD deluxe ‘art of the album’ features the stereo and mono remasters and bonus tracks (49 tracks in total). The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society somewhat overlooked upon its release in November 1968, The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society is now seen as one of the best British albums ever recorded.

The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society 50th anniversary editions are out on 26 October 2018. 2CD deluxe ‘art of the album’ features the stereo and mono remasters and bonus tracks (49 tracks in total). The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society somewhat overlooked upon its release in November 1968, The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society is now seen as one of the best British albums ever recorded.

Chloë Hanslip and Danny Driver are approaching the culmination of a complete Beethoven Violin Sonata cycle where each concert is both broadcast live by the BBC on Radio 3, and recorded by Andrew Keener and Phil Rowlands for Rubicon. Beethoven’s ten violin sonatas represent the supreme challenge for a violin and piano duo, and the drama, visceral excitement and many intimate moments of these masterpieces is superbly captured in these live performances.

Listening to this, it's easy to believe that June Tabor was made to sing these old border ballads, tales of the uneasy coexistence of families in the marches between England and Scotland. Her dark voice is well-suited to the texts, which are often bloody and vengeful, and quite certainly epic – in some respects, the very essence of British balladry, whether it's "The Battle of Otterburn," with its gloriously textured Kathryn Tickell arrangement, or the demanding "The Duke of Athole's Nurse," where Martin Simpson is reunited with Tabor, his guitar offering shining counterpoint to her voice. The songs, tried and tested over the centuries, are wonderful in themselves, but Tabor's presentation of them brings them fully to life, like "The Cruel Mother." Harrowing at the best of times, it becomes pure torment in her hands. And her "Sir Patrick Spens" makes the old Fairport Convention version sound like a playground romp. Intensity has always been one of Tabor's fortes, and here she takes full advantage of the opportunity to indulge it.