Elbow

Rock Werchter, one of the greatest festivals in the world. What once started as a little one day festival in 1975 in Werchter Belgium in a tent, has now become very big, and lasts four days; with multiple podia. This CD is a compilation of the countless groups that since 1975 have visited the festival, although some names are missing, despite the fact that they made the festival what it is today. To name but a few of the better known names : U 2, Metallica, maybe this has to do with royalties but also bands like Midnight Oil and the long forgotten The Alarm are missing.

It was a sad day for cool jazz when Lennie Niehaus made film music - not jazz - his primary focus. From a jazz standpoint, the Los Angeles resident had so much going for him. Niehaus had an attractive tone along the lines of Lee Konitz and early Bud Shank, and he was a talented arranger to boot. Produced by Lester Koenig in L.A. in 1956, Lennie Niehaus, Vol. 5: The Sextet is quite representative of Niehaus' Contemporary output of the 1950s. This album, which Fantasy reissued on CD on its Original Jazz Classics imprint in 2001, finds Niehaus leading a sextet that boasts Bill Perkins on tenor sax and flute, Jimmy Giuffre on baritone sax, Stu Williamson on trumpet and valve trombone, Buddy Clark on upright bass, and Shelly Manne on drums - in other words, the cream of the southern California crop…

This compilation of 39 tracks, rather arrogantly titled The Album, offers a good mix of current guitar-based pop, rock and indie with the bonus of Fatboy Slim's housey "Star 69" and Roni Size's "Dirty Beats" tacked on the end. This is the sort of album you could expect to hear down the student union bar with a range of songs to cover all bases for even the most fussy of compilation critics. CD2 holds the indie-rock lighter in the air with Coldplay's "Trouble" and David Gray's "Late Night Radio" sandwiched between tracks by likely lads Supergrass ("Movin'") and Blur ("Coffee & TV"). Less obvious inclusions are alt.country masters Grandaddy ("The Crystal Lake") and gentle folkies the Kings of Convenience ("Toxic Girl"). CD1 is the less easy-listening of the two with some rock guitar riffing from the Manics ("You Stole The Sun…"), JJ72 ("Oxygen") and perfectly hip Placebo's "Taste In Men". If you're not into dance and the latest compilation from clubland isn't your cup of tea, then this could well be The Album before a good night out.

The Kinks are an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, in 1964 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm and blues and Merseybeat, and were briefly part of the British Invasion of the United States until their touring ban in 1965 (as a result of constant fighting between the brothers). Their third single, the Ray Davies-penned "You Really Got Me", became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States…

TopPop was the first regular dedicated pop music television series in the Dutch language area. The Netherlands broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly, from September 22, 1970, to June 27, 1988…

In a tumultuous 2020, the re-emergence of Doves with new music has provided a shaft of light in an otherwise brooding sky, finally landing their fifth album, 'The Universal Want', after an eleven-year artistic break. Buoyed by refreshed chemistry, restless studio creativity and public reaction to their return, the album's release is preceded by the single 'Prisoners'. Refusing once more to fall into predictable, guitar-bass-drums, 'plug in and play' dynamics, 'The Universal Want''s overwhelming sense of intrigue owes everything to Doves' three decades experience at the wheel of their band (a lifespan going back to their time as dance band, Sub Sub), and an autobiographical trip through the sounds of their own lives.

Duke Ellington's very busy year of 1938 resulted in enough music (counting small group dates led by his sidemen) to fill up more than three CDs. This disc has big-band dates plus outings headed by Cootie Williams and Johnny Hodges. Although 1939-1942 is often thought of as the peak of Ellington's career, his output from 1938 was very impressive too. Among the high points of the sessions on this CD (which feature such soloists as trumpeter Cootie Williams, cornetist Rex Stewart, trombonists Lawrence Brown and Tricky Sam Nanton, altoist Johnny Hodges, clarinetist Barney Bigard, baritonist Harry Carney, and Duke on piano) are "Love in Swingtime," "Prelude to a Kiss," "The Jeep Is Jumpin'," "Mighty Like the Blues," "Battle of Swing," and "Hodge Podge."