Joyful Sorrow

Composer, poet and folk fiddler, Wiljami Niittykoski (1895–1985) came from the Kaustinen village of Salonkylä in Western Finland, a region renowned for its lively folk music tradition. With the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival first held in the 1960s and the new folk music era he came to be an artist famous and popular the length and breadth of Finland. As a young man, he initially made a living as a joiner, then by tending the farm hacked out of the wilds by his parents where he spent his whole long life.

Limited Deluxe two CD edition includes bonus disc of rarities & live tracks. 2023 studio release from the Britpop band. Given encouragement by the tremendous reception of last year's live return and first album in more than two decades, the three-piece return with Eight. Marking perhaps their busiest ever year in 2023, the band makes up for lost time having been missing from the musical map since 1998 prior to reforming in 2021 and releasing their seventh album, Keep On With Falling, last March. Where last year's album, joyful in tone yet brooding with heavyweight lyrical themes, came together as an exploration of the isolated ideas of each member, Eight is, according to vocalist and co-songwriter, Sice formed of songs recorded "purposefully to appear together on an album." Before adding, "There is also a greater depth of integration, which means that it's more difficult to tell which member of the band the song originated with." Reflecting on Seeker, the new album's opening track, written about leaning on those we trust to share life's highs and lows, bassist and co-songwriter, Tim Brown says: "This song started out as a three-chord synth pop tune and mutated into a brassy bop courtesy of trumpeter, Nick Etwell. The electric guitar flourishes were added by Louis Smith before Sice added layers of backing vocals which help drive the song along and bring it to it's joyful conclusion."

The Boo Radleys release a brand-new studio album, as well as the 30th Anniversary reissue of their lauded, landmark 1993 album, Giant Steps. Given encouragement by the tremendous reception of last year’s live return and first album in more than two decades, the three-piece return quickly to release Seeker, the first cut from June’s new long-player, Eight.

"Sing It Loud" is the thirteenth studio album by k.d. lang and was released on April 1, 2011. It is her first collection of original material since 2008's "Watershed".

In life it's like music: some people think that in the past everything would have been better. Others say the best is yet to come. It works in both cases and the same for everyone: Only here, only now. "Every moment is of infinite value, for it is the representative of a whole eternity," it says in a Goethe aphorism. When Nils Wülker calls his beautiful seventh album "Just Here, Just Now", it has less to do with philosophy and nothing at all with esotericism.

The voice and violin duo Duo della Luna (Susan Botti and Airi Yoshioka, respectively) brings a remarkable versatility and integrated ensemble approach to a rarefied instrumental combination. Both musicians take advantage of their impressive range to broaden the scope of expressive possibilities within this duo formation.