Karpfen From März April 2016

Two years in the making, Close To The Noise Floor is a 4CD, 60-track set exploring the origins of electronica in the UK. Featuring tracks from key figures on the cassette label underground alongside early releases by future stars of the movement, this is part primitive rave, part synthesiser porn and part history lesson.

As a unit, this must be one of the best piano trios ever, and certainly as instantly recognisable as any of its great predecessors. Charlap’s touch on the keyboard is light, almost stealthy, even when playing full chords, but always firm, clear and beautifully articulated. With the spirited support of bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington (famously unrelated), the total effect is just perfect. As always, Charlap’s playing provides convincing proof that it is still possible to create fresh but pertinent treatments of well-known standard songs. The son of a songwriter and a singer, he has an instinctive feel for the idiom. His versions here of I’ll Remember April and A Sleepin’ Bee are masterly.

There is no question that Benjamin Biolay is heir to Serge Gainsbourg's nouvelle chanson throne. Five of his previous six albums have re-created it in his own image, using everything from canny angular pop, punk, and skittering Euro funk to electro, Saravah soul, cafe jazz, and ye-ye while remaining devoted to the sophisticated gospel of Gainsbourg. Palermo Hollywood is a trademark Biolay album, chock-full of his irony, wicked wit, offbeat sensuality, and irresistible, catchy melodies and arrangements. But it is also something other. Most of it was cut in the Buenos Aires district the album was titled after, a haunt for many ex-pat Europeans amid glorious old world architecture and subterranean street life. Biolay has a small apartment there. Using Argentine musicians as well as his usual stable in France, he delivers many of these songs with a new array of rhythms that include cumbia and tango.

This 60th Anniversary 60-CD Deluxe Edition celebrates RCA Victor's signing of Elvis Presley-The King of rock 'n' roll. Features all of the albums Elvis recorded and RCA released in his lifetime: studio, soundtrack, and live. It also includes compilations released that featured unreleased songs or songs new to the LP format.

Formed in 2006 as an audio accompaniment to Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries, hard rock band Sixx: A.M. feature the talents of Sixx, vocalist James Michael, and DJ Ashba. The 13 tracks that make up The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack, the group's 2007 debut, coincide with the book's chapters, painting a surreal musical portrait that utilizes the over-the-top theatrics of '80s hair metal, spoken word pieces, electro-industrial beats, and the occasional burst of circus music to tell the tale of Sixx's rise to stardom and legendary fall from grace. The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack was released on Eleven Seven Records in August of 2007, spawning a gold-selling hit single with "Life Is Beautiful"…

There is no country more famous for its Black Metal than Norway. Yet it's sad that so often when thinking of this legacy, people dwell on the leviathans of the genre, often overlooking the lesser known bands who are no less competent. And one such underrated band is RAGNAROK, who are back this year with their eighth full-length album “Psychopathology”, four years after its predecessor “Malediction”…

TWET - a music album recorded by Polish jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stańko and accompanying musicians. LP TWET (a title probably formed from the first letters of the names of the performers) is an album belonging to the free jazz trend. The American bassist, Peter Warren, played with three musicians who collaborated constantly: Tomasz Stanka, Tomasz Szukalski and Finnish drummer Edward Vesala. All songs are joint compositions of the participants of the recording session. The recordings were made on April 2, 1974 in the PWSM hall in Warsaw. The album was included in the Polish Jazz series (vol. 39).

The leap from 1970's Benefit to the following year's Aqualung is one of the most astonishing progressions in rock history. In the space of one album, Tull went from relatively unassuming electrified folk-rock to larger-than-life conceptual rock full of sophisticated compositions and complex, intellectual, lyrical constructs. While the leap to full-blown prog rock wouldn't be taken until a year later on Thick as a Brick, the degree to which Tull upped the ante here is remarkable. The lyrical concept – the hypocrisy of Christianity in England – is stronger than on most other '70s conceptual efforts, but it's ultimately the music that makes it worthy of praise. Tull's winning way with a riff was never so arresting as on the chugging "Locomotive Breath," or on the character studies "Cross Eyed Mary" and "Aqualung," which portray believably seedy participants in Ian Anderson's story.

2002’s ‘Testify’ remains his most recent album of original material. Perhaps his most low-key and reflective work as demonstrated with ‘This Love This Heart’ and ‘You Touch My Heart, ‘Testify’ nonetheless moves confidently into other territory with the escalating beats and rhythms of ‘Driving Me Crazy’ and the gospel-tinged title track. The album’s lead single, an interpretation of Leo Sayer’s ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ demonstrated Collins’ continuing ability to create hits, as it topped Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. 2CD deluxe edtion includes rareties previously unavaible on cd.

Digitally remastered and expanded two CD edition includes a bonus disc containing live and demo recordings. Released in 1985, Collins' third album No Jacket Required topped the charts in the UK, US, and numerous other countries all over the world on a journey that would result in three Grammy Awards (for Best Album, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, and Producer of the Year for Collins and co-producer Hugh Padgham) and over 20 million sales.