David Sprintzen Camus

This delightful and lighthearted album features virtuoso clarinetist David Shifrin performing Carl Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto in a newly arranged accompaniment for chamber orchestra. The dramatic work unfolds unpredictably in short, contrasting episodes that allow the soloist to explore a range of moods and colours.

By the time of David Gilmour's solo debut, he had not only established himself several times over as an underrated, powerful guitarist in Pink Floyd, but as a remarkably emotional singer, his soothing approach perfectly suited to such songs as "Wish You Were Here." The self-titled album, recorded with journeyman bassist Rick Wills and Sutherland Brothers drummer Willie Wilson, later to be part of the touring Floyd lineup for its Wall dates, isn't a deathless collection of music in comparison to Gilmour's group heights, but is a reasonably pleasant listen nonetheless. Certainly it's much more approachable than Animals, released earlier that year, eschewing epics for relatively shorter, reflective numbers. While Gilmour wrote the vast majority of the songs himself, the most successful number was co-written with Unicorn member Ken Baker: "There's No Way Out of Here," an agreeably dreamy, wistful song…

One of the greatest performances to ever go down at Glastonbury is heading to your living room: Yes, David Bowie’s legendary, epic, and timeless 2000 headlining set is finally making its way on to every preferable format you could ever want.

It's never easy to be the sibling of a star when you're active in the same profession - ask Joey Travolta or Frank Stallone, and try to find out what happened to John Murray, one of Bill's brothers. Similarly, David Knopfler, younger brother of Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler, has often remained in his brother's shadow, unfairly remaining a footnote in the famous British band's history and not always gaining much recognition for his solo work - provided people know he's remained active in music at all. The comparison to the abovementioned actors is misleading, however, since they all possess little of their siblings' talent, whereas David Knopfler has proven himself to be a talented musician with considerable songwriting skills of his own and several strong solo releases under his belt…

The late songwriter David Ackles used his third album to further separate himself from the California tunesmith Cosa Nostra. Ackles was always a horse of a different color anyway. While comparisons to Randy Newman are natural and, in places even valid, they fall short of the mark. Ackles' music is much darker, already deeply entrenched in the American Gothic his fourth album would be named after. While the post-Tin Pan Alley stylings of Newman are evident here, Ackles' inspiration is in the original texts and not his Cali counterparts. Other sides of Ackles come from John Stewart and the folk revival, and no less than Scott Walker's early work and Jacques Brel. Subway to the Country portends itself a rootsier record, but it is rooted only in the tradition of American song itself. From the bleak vaudevillian cabaret of "Main Street Saloon" to the shimmering string arrangements and chamber textures in "That's No Reason to Cry" to the surreal muted winds and brass in "Woman River," Ackles is like a Western Kurt Weill. His knowledge of song form and nuance is encyclopedic, and his command over his singing voice is total. He can rumble smooth, swinging blues in the lower register as he does on the latter track, or shift it into loopy swirls and theatrical splashes as he does on "Inmates of the Institution."