Michael McDonald, Soul Speak
On this evidence his voice still has more than enough authority to carry it off.
Duffy, Rockferry
After three years of musical growth, Duffy has found her voice - now it?s time to enrich it by living.
Ashford & Simpson, The Warner Bros. Years: Hits, Remixes & Rarities
For rare groove aficionados it doesn?t get any better than this...
David Migden And The Dirty Words, Second Hand Tattoo
Listen to this now. See him when you can.
Erykah Badu, New Amerykah: Part One (4th World War)
Badu is back and still balancing the retro/progressive contradiction better than anyone.
Joe Higgs, Life Of Contradiction
A work of astonishing depths and bruised, aching humanity.
Christine Perfect, The Complete Blue Horizons Sessions
Although hardly essential, a very welcome listen.
Triston Palma, Joker Smoker
A perfect example of what was, in reality, a high point in reggae's golden age.
Bushman, Get It In Your Mind
Get It In Your Mind is Bushman's strongest album for a while.
Various Artists, Greensleeves Spring Sampler
With tunes this good, it's a welcome re-addition to Greensleeves' regular release roster.
Alex O'Neal, Alex Loves
One to avoid like a cold sore on Valentine?s Day.
Mary J Blige, Growing Pains
One thing's for sure, Mary's still keeping it real.
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Friends, Solos Sessions & Encores
Solos Sessions and Encores gives us a perfect opportunity to reappraise the blistering talent of Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Luciano, Jah Is My Navigator
Jah Is My Navigator is a return to form, and a good indication of what the fuss is about.
Tom Baxter, Skybound
You could do far, far worse than this generally lovely album.
Domu Presents Pete Simpson, Look A Little Further
The ethic here is to retain a sense of realness, both vocally and instrumentally.
Dion, Son Of Skip James
Son Of Skip James is one for both longtime fans AND blues afficianados alike?
Boyz II Men, Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
Comparisons to the originals will always be made and are often less than complimentary.
Toots and the Maytals, Light Your Light
Toots' voice sounds just as captivating as it did in the 60s.
Kenny 'Babyface' Edmonds, Playlist
A pleasant, deceptively unchallenging listen.
BB King, Live At The BBC
Neither ropey nor exceptional, this collection inhabits the sturdy middle ground between these extremes.
Donna Summer, Crayons
Donna Summer returns with an album that truly is a fine encapsulation of her career to date.
Various Artists, Every Mouth Must Be Fed
A rewarding collection of foundational roots, pitch-perfect in mood for its summer release.
Al Green, Lay it Down
On this showing Al Green will still be knocking 'em dead both in the chapel and the concert halls for a long time to come yet.
Ponto De Equilibrio , Abre La Janela
Abre a Janela is a good inroad to reggae from the less conservative end of the 'world' music scene.
James Hunter, The Hard Way
More blues, maybe? More twanging rock'n'roll, perchance?
Jamie Lidell, Jim
If you've had enough of the girls crowding the field, and you need a feel-good piece of plastic to either shake your booty to or romance your significant other, Jim's got it all.
Jazzie B, Presents School Days: Life Changing Tracks From The Trojan Archive
The charm of this compilation comes from its rosy glow of musical nostalgia.
Sizzla, Journey: Very Best Of
The idiosyncratic and mercurial Bobo sing-jay Sizzla Kalonji is well overdue another retrospective.
The Isley Brothers, 3 + 3 / Go For Your Guns
This 2 on 1 set is genius writ large.
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Lili Marléne
?Ci faceci mają papiery na granie i powinni to bezwzględnie wykorzystać? powiedział Piotr Stelmach, a Anna Gacek dodaje: ?Tam, gdzie melancholia spotyka się z żalem, a z mnogości odgłosów wyłania się idealny dźwięk, tam odnajdziesz Lili Marléne?. ...
Sizzla, Journey: Very Best Of
The idiosyncratic and mercurial Bobo sing-jay Sizzla Kalonji is well overdue another retrospective.
Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
Artist: Black Kids Review: It's true: Black Kids know how to get down. The interracial crew's "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You" was last year's hottest indie-rock tail-wagger — a campy mix of pillow-fight synth-pop and B-52s giddiness. Rerecorded versions of "Boyfriend" and other songs from the band's 2007 EP, Wizard of Ahhhs, make up the best moments of their sugary debut LP — which is a tad worrying. But with Brit-pop vet Bernard Butler behind the decks, these Floridians still toss... Rating: 3.5 Stars
Arthur Russell - Love Is Overtaking Me
Artist: Arthur Russell Review: Arthur Russell was the secret link between New York music scenes of the Seventies and Eighties — an experimental composer, a pathbreaking disco producer, a rocker in Talking Heads' orbit, a wildly original singer. His downfall, though, was a perfectionism that kept him from finishing his recordings. Culled from his ample archives, this set collects unheard pop songs from 1973 to 1991, a year before his death from AIDS-related complications. Russell's lighter-than-air voice, murmuring about... Rating: 3.5 Stars
Jonas Brothers - A Little Bit Longer
Artist: Jonas Brothers Review: History teaches us not to dismiss kiddie pop. Stevie Wonder was once Little Stevie Wonder, just as Lil Wayne was once little Lil Wayne, child gangsta rapper. And let's not forget ex-Mouseketeers Britney and Justin. Purists disdain teenybopper music as cynical pap, foisted on the young by Svengalis who lurk in the shadows, counting money. But bubblegum can be a great farm system, honing skills that pay dividends in later life. Lately, Disney's kiddie pop has been plenty profitable, with High... Rating: 4 Stars
Roy Orbison - The Soul of Rock and Roll
Artist: Roy Orbison Review: Roy Orbison was a superhero of song. Unassuming in appearance, he became someone extraordinary when his weeping tenor took flight, rising from deep, dark places on anguished ballads like "Only the Lonely" and "Crying." Orbison rebuilt the stark balladry of Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" as a jukebox opera house, expanded rock's arrangement limitations, and opened a door to Phil Spector and Freddie Mercury alike. This 107-track box captures Orbison's Fifties rockabilly beginnings on its first... Rating: 5 Stars
Various Artists - Nobody Knows Anything - DFA presents Supersoul Recordings
Artist: Various Artists Review: Having built the most reliable brand in freakably fusion-minded dance music with artists like LCD Soundsystem and the Rapture, DFA Records has decided to globalize. The debut release on its international Death From Abroad imprint collects tracks from Supersoul, a two-year-old Berlin label whose bastardized beats flaunt the same formal disregard that makes DFA so great. Because the material is from a German operation, there are minimalist 4/4 techno rhythms (Mogg and Naudascher's "Moon Unit Pt.... Rating: 3 Stars
Luciano, Jah Is My Navigator
Jah Is My Navigator is a return to form, and a good indication of what the fuss is about.
Various Artists - Everything that Happens Will Happen Today
Artist: Various Artists Review: David Byrne and Brian Eno retreated to pop's periphery years ago, but their influence is suddenly front and center. There are echoes of Byrne's old band, Talking Heads, in the avant-funk of LCD Soundsystem and other dance-rock bands, and you can hear the singer's workaday hysteria in the cadences of Arcade Fire's Win Butler and Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock. Coldplay sought producer Eno to help them make Viva la Vida, a record that recalls another album with Eno's mark, U2's The Joshua Tree.... Rating: 4 Stars
Lloyd - Lessons In Love
Artist: Lloyd Review: Lloyd Harlin Polite Jr. isn't your average R&B smoothie — he's much hornier. On his third album, the 22-year-old New Orleans native trains his high croon on titles like "Have My Baby" and "Sex Education," coming off like a pop-wise lothario or a slightly less-weird version of R. Kelly. With help from producers like Eric Hudson and Polow Da Don, Lloyd keeps it brightly tuneful over an Eric B. and Rakim sample and other pricey beats outfitted with electro squiggles. Between its love for inte... Rating: 3 Stars
Cage The Elephant, Cage The Elephant
If you want to release some good time rock 'n' roll, listen to this album.
Simone Nina
Historia Niny Simone to przede wszystkim historia Afroamerykanki, kobiety, artystki, pianistki i wokalistki, której publiczność nadała tytuł "dr". ...
FlyKKiller
Świerk. Instytut Problemów Jądrowych. To tutaj w 2006 roku powstaje kolejny instytut ? FlyKKiller Research....
Eagles Of Death Metal - Heart-On
Artist: Eagles Of Death Metal Review: There are more important rock groups than Eagles of Death Metal, but are any of them this much fun? Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme are essentially a comedy act, sending up and celebrating that high-Seventies hybrid of garage, glam and ZZ Top: scuzz rock. On their third album, the duo are as danceable as ever, but they've tiptoed away from straight musical pastiche, crudding up their blues boogie with low-fi fuzziness and oddball percussion. Much of the fun is in the lyrics, which revel in AM-rock-r... Rating: 4 Stars
Fashion, The
W duńskim Svendborg w 1995 roku, spotkało się trzech facetów: wokalista Jakob Printzlau, basista Christian Lignell B?kholm i gitarzysta Anders Find Axelsen. Dopiero siedem lat później dobrali sobie dwóch kolejnych członków i nazwali się The Fashion....
The Doors - Live at the Matrix
Artist: The Doors Review: The Doors were still a club band in the late winter and spring of 1967 — not yet stars, not quite spectacle, reliant on blues and R&B covers to get through a whole evening on the bandstand. Stuck in a long limbo between the January release of their debut album, The Doors, and the summertime explosion of their second single, "Light My Fire," the group played discothèques in Los Angeles and New York and, during a legendary engagement that March, more than a dozen sets over five nights... Rating: 4 Stars
Hot Club De Paris, Live At Dead Lake
Liverpool trio Hot Club de Paris' second album trails adolescent awkwardness.
Geppert Edyta
Wydała 13 płyt i z pewnością na tym nie koniec jej płytoteki. Współpracowała z kabaretami Wojciecha Młynarskiego i Jana Pietrzaka. Śpiewa nie tylko w języku ojczystym, ale również po hiszpańsku i angielsku....
Marika
Choć ukazująca się właśnie płyta "Plenty" jest fonograficznym debiutem Mariki jako solistki, wokalistka aktywnie działa na polskim rynku już od kilku lat. ...
John Matthias, Stories From The Watercooler
What Matthias conveys in electronically-tinged folk-rock feels more sad and reflective than seething or abstract.