Richard Campbell – Frankenstein 2012

After Jeff and Steven McDonald reconvened Redd Kross in 2006 (with the late-'80s line-up of guitarist Robert Hecker and drummer Roy McDonald), they seemed content to play the occasional festival show or short tour. For Redd Kross fans waiting for more music, it looked like 1997's Show World might be it as far as new albums went. The brothers had a trick up their sleeve, though, and in 2012 they released Researching the Blues, a self-produced album that not only continues their stellar recorded legacy but gives it an electric boost…

Spider Eating Preacher is 2012 album by Chicago blues legend Eddie C. Campbell and it's a family affair. Eddie & Barbara's musical partnership is in full blossom as Barbara plays bass on 6 songs. Barbara learned the authentic Chicago blues bass 'bump' from Eddie! Spider Eating Preacher features 12 compositions, including the title track, a song about Barbara's blindness. Their son, David, plays violin on two songs. This is the first time Eddie has played with his godson, Lurrie Bell, since the title track on Eddie's classic 1977 album King of the Jungle. This album is the follow-up to Tear This World Up (Delmard 799), a finalist for Album of the Year in the 2010 Blues Music Awards.

Back by popular demand, The Toscanini Collection is a reissue of RCA's 1992 compendium that encompassed all of the recordings Toscanini made with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and NBC Symphony. A new addition to this amazing collection is his approved recordings with the BBC Symphony from the 1930s that were not included in the 1992 edition.

For the first time, this collection brings together the complete woodwind chamber music of France's leading composers in the medium: Debussy, Saint-Saëns, Ravel and Poulenc. In a set which evinces the now familiar Cala hallmark of creatively combining established treasures with enticing discoveries, including here four world première recordings. Volume One presents the works of Debussy and Saint-Saëns and Volume Two those of Ravel and Poulenc. Each volume contains two full-length CDs (well over two hours of music) for the price of one.

El-P, aka El Producto, is one of hip-hop's most obstinate and adventurous pioneers, combining a lo-fi old-school aesthetic with a progressive rock musician's inclination to push boundaries. He has never succumbed to the demands of corporate rap, instead choosing to pursue his own decidedly non-commercial direction. In the mid-'90s, he developed a strong reputation with the groundbreaking trio Company Flow, a band whose achievements include El-P-produced LP Funcrusher Plus on Rawkus Records, a label considered by many one of the best for intelligent hip-hop. Over the group's auspicious stint together, he proved he was himself capable of intense lyricism as well as sonic production so powerful it could stand on its own.

Filmed in January 2011 at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow as part of the annual Celtic Connections festival, this superb performance by The Richard Thompson Band marks their first live concert Blu-Ray release for five years…

Janis Joplin’s final studio album ‘Pearl’ is getting the special treatment this spring when Legacy Recordings issue the ‘Pearl Sessions’ on April 1. Legacy is known for taking classic records and re-issuing them with additional rare tracks that are often new to even the biggest of fans and the label will continue that momentum with ‘Pearl Sessions,’ which debut newly discovered outtakes, previously unheard studio banter and other rarities from the “Queen Of Rock.”

Back by popular demand, The Toscanini Collection is a reissue of RCA's 1992 compendium that encompassed all of the recordings Toscanini made with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and NBC Symphony. A new addition to this amazing collection is his approved recordings with the BBC Symphony from the 1930s that were not included in the 1992 edition.

Lounge music is a type of easy listening music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It may be meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place, usually with a tranquil theme, such as a jungle, an island paradise or outer space. The range of lounge music encompasses beautiful music-influenced instrumentals, modern electronica (with chillout, and downtempo influences), while remaining thematically focused on its retro-space-age cultural elements.