G. G. Love

1985's Love displayed a marked improvement over the Cult's early material, and though it remains underappreciated in America (worldwide it was a smash), this exceptional record has actually aged better than the band's more notorious (and equally important) releases: Electric and Sonic Temple. Equal parts psychedelic hard rock and new wave goth, the songs on Love emanate a bright guitar sheen, tight arrangements, crisp drumming, and a command performance from vocalist Ian Astbury, who as usual says a lot more with less than most singers…

Singer Jean Carne's career has had various incarnations, as well as a slight name change similar to Dionne Warwick's (adding an "e" to the end of her last name as Warwick did for a short time). Born Sarah Jean Perkins in Columbus, GA, she was raised in Atlanta. She began singing gospel music in the church choir at age four; she also took piano lessons and learned the clarinet and bassoon. Carne won a music scholarship to Morris Brown College and began her recording career in 1969 with her husband, keyboardist Doug Carn, on the Black Jazz label, where she was one of the last vocalists to work with jazz legend Duke Ellington before his death.

The group Der Rote Bereich was founded in 1992 in Nuremberg by guitarist Frank Möbus along with bass clarinetist Rudi Mahall, and almost immediately acquired cult status among jazz cognoscenti. The Rote Bereich has since gone through several transformations before settling in Berlin as a trio with drummer John Schröder.
The three have impressive credentials. Frank Möbus studied at the renowned Berklee School of Music in Boston. He has since played with the likes of Kenny Wheeler, Ray Anderson, Maria Joao, Herb Robertson, and drummer Jim Black. Rudi Mahall is one who has absorbed the music of Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman, and Eric Dolphy. He plays with pianist Aki Takasi in a duo which concentrates on Dolphy’s music, and works with Alexander von Schlippenbach, Paul Lovens, and Conny Bauer…

Vocalist Will Downing has a tale of love to tell. It may or may not be based on a true story, but it's one that we've all lived through at one time or another. Downing's version, Lust, Love and Lies (An Audio Novel) - which he fondly calls "an audio soap opera," complete with intermittent vignettes of intimate conversations that help move the story along - includes elements of comedy, tragedy and all the subtle shades in between.

Son of French icons Jacques Dutronc and Françoise Hardy, Thomas Dutronc fell in love with Gypsy jazz music during his teenage years, starting with Django Reinhardt's works. Gifted with impressive learning capacities, he began studying Gypsy guitar at the age of 18 and has since collaborated with a wide range of artists, from the jazz community with the likes of Bireli Lagrene but also including his father, mother, and Henri Salvador from the pop world. In 2007 he released his own LP of songs penned with both wit and humor, displaying a gentle voice (very close to his father's) and his many talents as both a songwriter and guitarist, achieving a refreshing blend that quickly found an audience and earned strong record sales that same year. In 2009, Dutronc won the Victoires de la Musique for original song of the year with "Comme un Manouche Sans Guitare" before releasing his second album, Demain!, in 2011. (Olivier Duboc, AMG)

Like any Ryan Adams album, Love Is Hell comes with a back-story, one that is carefully calculated to construct the enfant terrible's self-myth. Love Is Hell was intended to be the official follow-up to 2001's Gold – the album that was not a collection of demos (that was 2002's Demolition), or the recorded-but-shelved albums 48 Hours or The Suicide Handbook, or even his alleged song-by-song cover of the Strokes' Is This It…

Sounds Of Universal Love” is a top of the range collection of quality S.O.U.L. from the finest musical champions of the genre. The album is compiled and presented by The Soul Survivors, a publication that since 2006 has featured all the artists selected on this 16 track CD, interviewed by Fitzroy facey (Da Buzzboy). The primary audience for this collection is those in their formative teenage years when artists like Earth Wind & Fire, The Gap Band and Cameo were in their prime. Album also features contemporary artists Omar, Amp Fiddler, Kenny Wellington (from Beggar & Co), Incognito (with a special ‘Latin Remix’), and Personal Life with a mix EXCLUSIVE to this CD. Tracks appearing for the first time on CD are courtesy of Brass Contraction, Steve Arrington and Linda Clifford. An amazing selection of music, as you would expect from Expansion.