Magical 秘部痺れ Hibushibire

In September 1967, The Beatles loaded a film crew onto a bus along with friends, family and cast and headed west on the A30 out of London to make their third film, this time conceived and directed by The Beatles themselves. “Paul said ‘Look I’ve got this idea’ and we said ‘great!’ and all he had was this circle and a little dot on the top – that’s where we started,” explains Ringo. “It wasn’t the kind of thing where you could say ‘ladies and gentlemen, what you are about to see is the product of our imaginations and believe me, at this point they are quite vivid,’” says Paul. The film follows a loose narrative and showcased six new songs: “Magical Mystery Tour,” “The Fool On The Hill,” “I Am The Walrus,” “Flying,” “Blue Jay Way,” and “Your Mother Should Know.”

Seven years and three albums on from their debut (not counting the older tapes dusted off and given belated release as 3 and 3 Quarters), Radio Moscow haven't changed a whole lot - these guys still sound like they've passed through a time portal en route to a gig at some psychedelic ballroom in 1969, and after warming up their amps and burning down some weed, they're ready to bring the rock to the people. Radio Moscow have once again put their allegiance to the high life front and center, with a large psychoactive mushroom towering over the horizon under a giant rainbow on the front cover of 2014's Magical Dirt. However, Radio Moscow have made one fairly important upgrade with Magical Dirt - instead of bandleader Parker Griggs handling both guitar and drums in the studio through the magic of multi-tracking, as he's done on their previous albums…

The pan flutes (also known as panpipes) are a group of musical instruments based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of panflutes have long been popular as folk instruments.

The album feels even more like a collection of singles (instead of an actual movie soundtrack) than Help! or A Hard Day's Night, but maybe that's because every song sounds like it could have been a hit single–with the natural exception of the goofy/weird instrumental "Flying." Even George's "Blue Jay Way" paints a vivid sound-portrait in fascinating detail. (I consider Joni Mitchell's "Car on the Hill" from Court and Spark to be a companion piece about sitting in the Hollywood Hills, waiting for somebody to show up.) And although the goofy TV movie may have been mostly Paul's baby, this album features the two 45 rpm masterpieces that sum up the quintessential best of Lennon and McCartney at this stage of their development: Paul's "Penny Lane" and John's "I Am the Walrus." –Jim Emerson

Recently named by legendary broadcaster Art Good as his 'debut artist of the year,' Swedish-American composer and keyboard player Jonathan Fritzen is back, and then some, with his latest CD, the appropriately titled Magical. With featured performances from Boney James, Paul Brown, Jackiem Joyner, Darren Rahn and Vincent Ingala, Magical is Fritzen's fourth solo release and follows the highly acclaimed Diamonds which enabled him to reach #1 on both the Billboard airplay charts and the Amazon.com sales charts. Now Magical seems certain to cement his position as the master of delightfully accessible contemporary jazz.

Walking through nature, letting your mind wander, building an awareness of all things supporting life; and at the same time going with the rhythm of modern life, keeping up with the pace of cultural progress. It’s that old dichotomy which is displayed in the selection of Cubic Nomad’s fourth of his albums outside the club continuum (and sixth in total). Appearing more introvert than ever, there are two main storylines that alternate along the walk: Lost-in-reverie ambient pieces reflecting nature and sullen downbeat electronica with prominent shuffling rhythms. Throw in a couple of bemused piano instrumentals and new mixes of the two most recent adult pop tunes with vocalist Emma Susanne, and you sure will enjoy this 70 minutes magical walk…