Frommer's New Orleans 2011, 4 Edition

Some albums are so obvious it’s a wonder they didn’t exist before, and so it is with Chris Isaak's Beyond the Sun, a salute to the classic rock & roll label Sun Records. Ever since his first album, Isaak has exhibited an enormous debt to the titans who recorded at Sun, particularly Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley, whose work is showcased heavily here. Isaak doesn’t stick strictly to songs released on Sun – he covers “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” which Presley did not release during his time on Sun – but he doesn’t stick to the obvious, either, finding excellent songs from the likes of Warren Smith. Still, Elvis rules the roost, not only in terms of songs covered, but in approach.

Highly successful Dutch vocalist whose music straddles the line between jazz and contemporary pop.
Dutch vocalist Trijntje Oosterhuis (aka Traincha) is a popular singer with a global fanbase whose music touches upon jazz, standards and contemporary pop/rock. Born in Amsterdam on February 5, 1973, Oosterhuis is the daughter of a theologian (Huub Oosterhuis) and a musician (Jozefien Melief, flutist for the Amsterdam Promenada Orchestra). Brought up in a culturally rich, supportive household, by the time she was 17, Oosterhuis had formed a group with her brother Tjeerd called Total Touch. Together the siblings performed consistently, even entering the Grote Prijs van Nederland, an important amateur music competition…

Being in the game for more than 20 years successful melancholic dark rock/metal masters AMORPHIS still manage to surprise, to delight and to step up to their status. With their tenth studio album »The Beginning Of Times« these Finns prove once more that there is no other band if it comes to amazing, natural sounding melodies, deep emotions and a bit of unique sonic darkness - powerfully performed with some more really heavy parts this time around. This album will be your soundtrack for both cosy summer nights as well as the following fall and winter season! The central character of the new songs is the iconic hero of Finnish mythology, Väinämöinen, whose tale has been masterfully retold by lyricist Pekka Kainulainen. The new album definitely marks AMORPHIS' most challenging release so far in terms of both music and lyrics. It comprises 12 songs with a total length of 54 minutes. In addition, the first edition digipack will include the bonus track „Heart's Song“.

Loud is the fifth studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on November 12, 2010, by Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records. It was recorded between February and August 2010, during the singer's Last Girl on Earth Tour and the filming of her first feature film Battleship. The record features several guest vocalists, including rappers Drake, Nicki Minaj and Eminem, who is featured on the sequel to "Love the Way You Lie", titled "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)".

Loud is the fifth studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on November 12, 2010, by Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records. It was recorded between February and August 2010, during the singer's Last Girl on Earth Tour and the filming of her first feature film Battleship. The record features several guest vocalists, including rappers Drake, Nicki Minaj and Eminem, who is featured on the sequel to "Love the Way You Lie", titled "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)".

You’d be forgiven if you thought Selena Gomez & the Scene’s third album in three years, 2011's When the Sun Goes Down, might show signs of a dip in quality control due to cranking out albums so quickly. You’d be wrong, though, because When the Sun Goes Down is actually an improvement over 2010's Year Without Rain. Where that record tried to position Gomez as a more serious and adult artist with varying levels of success, here she’s back to mostly being a young and breezy, happy-go-lucky pop singer. With a couple exceptions, the songs are sassier, lighter, and more fun. Her vocals are more spirited, the arrangements less reliant on heavy synths, and overall, there’s a more playful feeling to the record that’s more in keeping with her first album.

This is Tom Principato’s first recording with Powerhouse, his legendary horn-driven band from Boston, now available on CD for the first time anywhere. This 2-for-1 CD contains the complete Powerhouse LP Night Life along with Lovin’ Machine, a collection of unreleased and live tracks. The 1970's were exciting times for live music. Regional bands from all over the country were melding blues, rock and R&B influences into a style that would bring many to national prominence. In the Northeast, the Boston-based Powerhouse was a standard bearer for this hard drivin' soulful sound. Powerhouse endlessly toured the club and college circuit before finally disbanding in 1977.

Addressing the effect that technological advances have had on society during the past 100 years, British prog rock outfit the Tangent's sixth studio album, Comm, shows that the band's ever-changing lineups haven't diluted their epic prog rock ambitions. Their first release since guitarist Luke Machin and drummer Tony Latham joined bassist Jonathan Barrett, saxophonist Theo Travis, and ever-present frontman Andy Tillison may only feature five tracks, but clocking in at nearly an hour, doesn't exactly suffer from a shortage of ideas. The cleverly titled opener, "The Wiki Man," is a sprawling 20-minute fusion of '70s proggy synths, vintage winding guitar solos, and dial-up modem bleeps, complete with several instrumental breakdowns, that highlights the pros and cons of the Internet age, while the equally lavish closer, "Titanic Calls Carpathia," is a 16-minute cinematic symphony…