The Rapeman 2 (1994)

Marianne Faithfull doing Melanie Safka doing Marianne Faithfull is what you get when Mick Jagger's ex-girlfriend performs on a majestic version of "Ruby Tuesday" backed up by the London Symphony Orchestra. It's a reunion of sorts for Jagger and Faithfull, as the lead singer of the Rolling Stones follows his ex with a similar version of "Angie," with deeper textures than the original pop hit. This release is a worthwhile addition to the Rolling Stones' catalog of music. Sure there are "symphonic" albums of music by Creed, the Beatles, Depeche Mode, heck, even Symphonic Star Trek, but this package, all in black with silver ink, of course, is something special. "Angie" is downright eerie. Perhaps the late Michael Hutchence wasn't the best choice to open up the voices, beginning with his rendition of "Under My Thumb," but at least he's not awful…

Chaz Bundick Meets the Mattson 2 is the collab project between Toro Y Moi and Mattson 2. This album follows Toro Y Mois live album "Live from Trona" which came out earlier this year. The project announced the album along with the title track as a single. The album will be out March 31st 2017 via Chaz's label Company Records.

In 1949, producer Norman Granz released a remarkable album of 78s that consisted of a dozen selections (many of them specially recorded for the occasion) that perfectly summed up the modern jazz scene of the time. The deluxe set consisted of two Duke Ellington features for baritonist Harry Carney with strings, a pair of complex Neal Hefti arrangements, small-group sides by Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, and altoist Willie Smith, Machito's "Tanga," major works by arrangers Ralph Burns and George Handy and, the piece de resistance, Coleman Hawkins' pioneering unaccompanied tenor solo "Picasso."

A characteristically humongous (8-CD) box set from the wonderful obsessive-compulsives at Bear Family, documenting the Killer's '60s tenure at Smash Records. Lewis made consistently good music during this period, but the combination of his personal scandals and the British Invasion made him a pariah to radio programmers until mid-decade, when he returned to his country roots. Highlights of the set include the entirety of a Texas live show, with Lewis and his crack band rendering various early rock standards at dangerously high (i.e., proto punk) speed, some excellent duets with his (then) wife Linda Gail, and gorgeous renditions of standards like Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away" and Merle Haggard's "Lonesome Fugitive." Lewis fans with deep pockets should grab this one immediately…

On the Road 1982 features the band's tenth anniversary tour performance from The Hague, Netherlands. Unfortunately, as the liner notes explain, the original tapes were lost, and the recording presented here draws from the version that passed through the mixing desk. While the end result is still better than your garden-variety bootleg, the sound of the "Camel Live" ladle scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel is inescapable. Camel was promoting The Single Factor at the time (no wonder they called it the tenth anniversary tour), with a cast that bore little resemblance to any popular incarnation of the band.