Goddess 2018

No, not *that* Nirvana… long before Kurt and Courtney were more than a glint in their parents’ eyes, there was a psychedelic British band of the same name. Their first two albums will be re-released, with a wealth of unreleased material, in a new double-set Rainbow Chasers: The ’60s Recordings (The Island Years) on 18 May.

The first 2 albums from the UK's psychedelic trailblazers Nirvana reissued together in a 2CD package, featuring 52 tracks with 27 previously unreleased outtakes, demos and alternative versions. This is an essential package for fans of 60s psych with a 5000 word sleeve-note from Total Rock's Malcolm Dome.

By the end of the 1970s, the original triumvirate of hard rock heroes Zeppelin, Purple and Sabbath had either graduated to the arenas of the world, or even split up, whilst the second wave of British heavy rockers, including UFO, Motörhead and Judas Priest, were beginning to fill theatres across the land. Punk exploded in 1976 and 1977, and the DIY ethos that sprang up in its wake soon influenced the grassroots metal bands who had yet to leave their local bars and clubs. Often independently released, some of the bands in this set never made more than one now highly prized and collectable 45 or one-off EP.

Anomaly is a smart album, in large part because it insists on being so. Saxophonist Aaron Burnett has assembled an impressive group, most notably drummer Tyshawn Sorey, whose mentoring influence in the avant-garde certainly is apparent. But this is an album that constantly see-saws between the experimental and bop, working to balance ideas soundly, still trying to sift through countless ideas. These lengthy compositions surely convey grand concepts about the movement from bebop to post-bop and into the contemporary realm, and have no qualms about accessibility.

Dame Sarah Connolly’s exceptional nocturnally inspired recital spans over 120 years of British song from Stanford to Turnage, and includes world premieres of two songs by Benjamin Britten. Marking Sarah Connolly’s Proms recital debut, the centenary of Sir Hubert Parry’s death, and British composers in general, who studied or taught at the Royal College of Music, this album is an astonishing collection not to be missed.