Happiness 2016

“Avant garde got soul too” - so opined drummer Charles Moffett with some amount of amusement through a composition title on album for Savoy in 1969. The controversial observation was likely shared if unstated by William Hooker, a generation younger and just getting his start in so-called fire music after an apprenticeship in soul jazz. Light directs an edifying and expansive beam on these efforts, bringing into focus a cache of recordings that trace the drummer’s development from journeyman to self-styled Griot. Adding up to well over four hours of music, the bulk of it is previously unreleased.

Steven Wilson's 4½ is a six-track (+ bonus track for Japan) stopgap mini album between 2015's Hand. Cannot. Erase. and whatever full-length comes next. Four tunes have origins in the previous album's sessions; another dates back to those from 2013's The Raven That Refused to Sing and Other Stories. There is also a re-recording of "Don't Hate Me" that first appeared on Porcupine Tree's 1998 offering, Stupid Dream. The players are by now familiar: Wilson's current working band comprises Guthrie Govan, Adam Holzman, Nick Beggs, Dave Kilminster, Craig Blundell, Marco Minnemann, Chad Wackerman, and Theo Travis. Opener "My Book of Regrets" is a nine-plus-minute exercise that commences with a seductive pop melody, and offers a hooky chorus and syncopated dynamics. It evolves into spiraling prog rock courtesy of Beggs' front-line Chris Squire-esque bassline, fueling Govan and Wilson's spiky…

Female singers duet with a grizzled songwriting great on this winning set from the 70-year-old Prine. His voice is scarred, but that only makes the bruised tenderness in each country and bluegrass tune more real. Nothing beats the sublime simplicity of “My Happiness,” sung with Fiona Whelan, Prine’s Irish-born wife of 20 years.

“Another Word For Joy” is an uplifting experimental album that combines elements of dance, electronics, punk, rock and pop to create a uniquely expressive and original album. Enjoy is a one of a kind that with time should reach the forefront of the musical landscape.

These Dreams Will Never Sleep: The Best Of Graham Parker 1976-2015 includes 90 tracks across six CDs, a compilation live DVD, a 36-page hardcover book featuring a new interview with Parker and an overview written by Holly A. Hughes, plus a poster and three postcards.. These Dreams Will Never Sleep, The Best Of, 1976-2015 celebrates the incredible 40 year career of one of Britain's most seminal songwriters - Graham Parker. The 124 track box consists of three anthology discs with some of Graham's best loved recorded work as a solo artist and with The Rumour - one of the UK's pioneering pre-punk bands. The Live At The BBC 19 track disc includes very rare, choice picks from Graham Parker & The Rumour's 1979 Live At Hammersmith Odeon show, and Live From BBC Sight and Sound in 1977. Discs five and six are Live From The London Forum, these never before heard recordings are taken from Graham Parker & The Rumour's last ever live show in 2015, and also feature the legendary Rumour Brass Section for the first time since 1980.