Japanese Editions

Genesis (1968). The Gods' debut album was the sound of a band capturing the transition of British psychedelia into more ostentatious progressive hard rock. Ken Hensley's heavy Hammond organ was the center of their sound, and both that and the sometimes overbearing vibrato vocals pointed toward the less psychedelic sounds he and drummer Lee Kerslake would pursue in Uriah Heep. Genesis is undoubtedly lighter than Uriah Heep, though, often employing characteristically late-'60s British vocal harmonies. Some tunes, like "Candles Getting Shorter" and "Radio Show," even skirt a pop-soul sensibility. But the songs weren't terribly memorable, though they were segued together by brief odd'n'goofy instrumental bits at the end of tracks in keeping with the modus operandi of the psychedelic era…

Robyn Rihanna Fenty, known professionally as Rihanna, is a Barbadian singer, actress, and fashion designer. Both her debut album, Music of the Sun (2005) and its follow-up A Girl Like Me (2006) peaked in the top ten on the US Billboard 200; the former featured the commercially successful song "Pon de Replay" while the latter produced her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, "SOS". Rihanna has sold over 41 million albums and 150 million songs worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists of all time. She has achieved thirteen number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the youngest and fastest solo artist to accomplish this record. Billboard named her the Digital Songs Artist of the 2000s decade and the top Hot 100 artist of the 2010s decade.

A collection of previously unreleased materials by the Kenny Drew Trio, originally recorded for Japanese labels Baystate and Alpha beween 1978 and 1992, now released to commemmorate the 20th anniversary of his passing. A rich trove of superb piano trio performances!
American pianist Kenny Drew (1928-1993) moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1964. Although he may have somewhat faded from the radar of American jazz fans, he had a fantastic career in Denmark and was beloved by European and Japanese jazz fans. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Drew's popularity in Japan grew to incredible heights when he began recording for Japanese labels such as Baystate and Alpha under a partnership with Japanese producer Makoto Kimata…

Spurred on by Robert Fripp's innovative guitar work, arguably the definitive exponents of British progressive rock.
If there is one group that embodies progressive rock, it is King Crimson. Led by guitar/Mellotron virtuoso Robert Fripp, during its first five years of existence the band stretched both the language and structure of rock into realms of jazz and classical music, all the while avoiding pop and psychedelic sensibilities. The absence of mainstream compromises and the lack of an overt sense of humor ultimately doomed the group to nothing more than a large cult following, but made their albums among the most enduring and respectable of the prog rock era.

Founded in Toronto, Canada in 1976 - Disbanded in 1989 - Reformed in 1994-1996, 2006 and again since 2011.
This trio came from Toronto around the end of the 70's but got slightly over-shadowed by the profusion of bands exploding all over the album charts, with Rush, Triumph, Saga, Max Webster etc.. It is no wonder some could not get their share of sunlight, among which Goddo, Moxy, Zon, Santers and most certainly FM. Their first LP full of a weird sort of hard rock with strange studio tampering alerted most potential fans that this was a very particular band with their lead violinist Nash The Slash playing as a mummy and Martin Deller at the drum seat as well as Cameron Hawkins on bass…

Friend Of Mine (1976). Recorded in the wake of the collapse of Stax Records in 1976, Friend of Mine brushed up against a long fallow period in Little Milton's recorded output, and was also unavailable for many years, thus making it one of his least-known albums. Produced by Milton for Henry Stone's TK Records and issued on the Glades Records imprint, this is a soulful blues workout drenched in sweaty vocals and long, sustained performances, of which perhaps the best is the five-and-a-half-minute "You're Gonna Make Me Cry," which also includes some impressive guitar. The record's strongest body of songs are the smooth soul ballads such as "Baby It Ain't No Way," the rousing "Don't Turn Away" (a song that one wishes Elvis Presley could have discovered and considered covering)…

Royal Hunt is a progressive metal band based in Denmark, founded in 1989 by keyboardist Andre Andersen. The band is known for creating melodic music with a progressive and symphonic flair. They made a huge success during mid-90s with vocalist D.C. Cooper on their classic albums "Moving Target" and "Paradox", mainly in Japan and Europe.
With Andre Andersen on keyboards, singer Henrik Brockmann, bassist Steen Mogensen, drummer Kenneth Olson and session musicians playing guitar, Royal Hunt was set to record their first album, "Land of Broken Hearts". This was a basic rock set featuring Andre's classically influenced melodies…

Whereas the likes of La Roux, Ladyhawke, and Little Boots have found both commercial and critical success with their retro brand of '80s synth pop, their male counterparts have struggled to connect with audiences in the same way. Frankmusik's online buzz failed to translate into record sales while Dan Black and Ali Love's careers stuttered before they really started. However, Manchester duo Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson, aka Hurts, could well be the act to buck the trend. With influences stretching far beyond the usual Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys, their debut album, Happiness, has reference points that also appear to include the gothic balladry of Sisters of Mercy ("Evelyn"), the polished electro of a-ha ("Better Than Love"), and even the glossy new wave of Johnny Hates Jazz ("Blood, Tears and Gold").

A fluent and skilled musician, famous in his native country as a classical Spanish guitar player, Almeida went to the USA in the 40s to work in film and television studios. His jazz work was first widely exposed during a spell with Stan Kenton in the late 40s. Although continuing his film and television work, Almeida also took many opportunities to play jazz, joining forces with bass player Harry Babasin, altoist Bud Shank and drummer Roy Harte in 1953. The work of this group anticipated many of the hallmarks of the bossa nova craze that came a few years later. During his career Almeida won Grammy awards in 1959 for his performance on Danzas, and the following year for The Spanish Guitars Of Laurindo Almeida and Conversations With The Guitar…

This came as a side project from Belgian avant-gardism group Univers Zero. As guitarist Roger Trigaux left that band, he got help from drummer Daniel Denis, A-M Polaris on vocals and Rochette on bass. Their music is incredibly somber (sinister is also appropriate) as it was on U Z but here the music is electrified, more energetic and more constructed, as there is "normal song construction" if that ever meant anything to those musicians. After two albums came a period were no albums came out for ten years, the band resuming activity in 95 with a live album. In the meantime Roger had released under that name a record where he duets with his son, and he would place in the group after along with the collaboration of Dave Kerman (5UU'S). Present's music is really hard to categorize and to give names of bands to tell you the sound would be misleading you.