The Big Fat Surprise

Berio had an abiding fascination with reconciling the past and the present, which can be seen in his orchestral realisations of works by Mahler and Brahms, and most notably, in Rendering (1990), his typically creative completion of unfinished symphonic sketches by Schubert.

By 1976, the glam rock that had made Suzi Quatro famous was on its last legs as disco overtook the airwaves and punk rock festered in the clubs. However, Quatro was not going to give up the fight easily, as proven by Aggro-Phobia. This set, produced by British pop mastermind Mickie Most, is a lightweight but tuneful collection of pop/rock. Nothing here hits the manic heights of "Can the Can" or "Devil Gate Drive," but all the songs are solid and listenable. The big surprise this time out is the strong country-rock feel to a number of the songs: the cover of Steve Harley's "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" places barnstorming acoustic guitar hooks where fat power chords once existed on Quatro's past hits, and "American Lady" soulfully combines organ and acoustic guitar riffs in a manner reminiscent of Rod Stewart's earthy early hits.

"Wyndorfian" is the only appropriate phrase to use when describing the rawk machine that is Monster Magnet. Yes, lead Magneteer Dave Wyndorf is worthy of his own descriptive, his impeccable songwriting skills truly standing on their own crater-pecked asteroid in the music-biz cosmos. So it goes with Monolithic Baby!, which marks a couple of superficial transitions for Monster Magnet – off a major and back to an indie; new rhythm section (Jim Baglino on bass and Bob Pantella on drums) – but still upholds Wyndorf's highly entertaining mass of contradictions and vices. Simultaneously whip-smart and cementhead-stupid, smirking and sincere, he can challenge your intellect with an inspired arrangement or pseudo-political left-field lyric, then bash you over the head with a fat, greasy guitar riff; such is his genius.

Grammy Nominated singer/songwriter Beth Hart treats fans to an intimate performance at New York's Iridium in this special episode of Front & Center. She first rose to fame in 1999 with her single "L.A. Song (Out of This Town)". Hart performs some material from her latest album, Fire On the Floor, including "Jazz Man," "Let's Get Together," and "Fat Man." On Friday April 13, 2018 Beth Hart will release "Front and Center - Live From New York" on Mascot Label Group/Provogue. It features a 15 track live CD and the Front and Center broadcast on DVD with an in-depth interview, 3 full band songs and 3 acoustic songs as bonus material.

By 1993's major label debut Pure Guava, Ween had distilled their unique mix of eclectic pop and crazed humor to its essence. GodWeenSatan: The Oneness and The Pod were fascinating, but occasionally frustrating albums; at 19 songs, Pure Guava is more polished and concise, but it's still sprawling and occasionally sick, featuring the fuzzed-out "Touch My Tooter" and the five-minute noise-burst "Mourning Glory," a tale of pumpkin-smoking gone horribly awry…

One Shot was created in 1999 by keyboarder Emmanuel Borghi and guitarist James McGaw, both Ex-Magma musicians. The original duo was completed by bassist Philippe Bussonnet and drummer Daniel Jeand'heur for their first self-titled record, released in 1999…