Kazakstan 1993 2000

Disky boils down the wild and varied career of Willy DeVille and concentrates on his legendary New York band, Mink DeVille, and their brand of no-nonsense, razor-blade Spanish stroll Jersey soul; it was a musical blend that had more in common with Phil Spector's 1960s than the CBGB '70s, but that's where it came from and it connected with the punks big time. This is roots rock with soul, swagger, and slither; it's a combination of catchy hooks, sweeping early rock crescendos, and DeVille's in-the-cut vocals that could melt the pants off a teenage girl at 50 paces – well, at least back in the day they could…

Here's a taste of what the jazz scene was like in San Antonio, Texas during the mid-'30s. Clifford "Boots" Douglas (born in Temple, Texas September 7, 1908) led his 12- piece band from behind the drums, playing for dancers and leaving behind a trail of tasty Bluebird 78 rpm recordings. This is the second of two volumes containing all of this band's known works. The instrumentalists are barely remembered nowadays, even such powerful participants as trumpeter L.D. Harris, an extraordinary tenor man named Baker Millian, and an alto player with the unenviable nickname "Wee Wee." Boots became increasingly peculiar in his choice of altered and abbreviated song titles…

Despite their legendary status, the Police only released five albums during their brief reign from 1978-1983. In addition, the trio had amassed a healthy amount of both studio and live B-sides, plus songs that only appeared on soundtracks. For the 1993 four-CD box set Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings, every single song the Police ever recorded is included. All the tracks were digitally remastered for the project, sounding superior to the original CD versions of the single albums. Also included is a 68-page booklet that includes an interesting (and often humorous) biography, a time line, and notes from all three bandmembers regarding the rarities that appear for the first time on compact disc here. But of course, the real charm of the box set is the music - album tracks ("Hole in My Life," "It's Alright for You," "Driven to Tears"), hits ("Message in a Bottle," "Can't Stand Losing You," "Spirits in the Material World"), and rarities…

For this Christmas jazz album, Harry Connick, Jr. emphasizes his vocals (his piano playing is quite secondary) as he sings ten familiar Christmas songs plus four of his originals while joined by a big band, a string section, and background singers.
It is among the most popular holiday collections of the past two decades in the United States. The album proved to be the best-selling holiday album in the U.S. of 1993.

Norway is not precisely the cradle of Progressive Rock, but a band formed in 1969 when the genre was still on diapers, a group of musicians from Oslo, decided to form a Hard Rock band inspired in legends such as LED ZEPPELIN and DEEP PURPLE, but gave a step forward and created a unique sound that blended all this influences with our beloved genre and a strong Psychedelic element…

Hopefully this reissue of Chapman's 1993 disc will find a wider audience than it managed the first time around. For those who love his late-'60s work, there's a real harking back to the classic Rainmaker in the title, and even a new version of one of his best-known songs, "Postcards of Scarborough." Doing everything himself, Chapman melds his gritty voice with thoughtful lyrics and rippling guitar work, although he does cut loose on a couple of occasions, on the instrumentals "Akublu" and "Elinkine," while his non-vocal take on "She Moves Through the Fair" glides with an almost ethereal grace. He can still write some stunning, insightful songs, like "Fool in the Night," with its remorse, or the wistful "Falling from Grace."