Opus Dei, the band’s first album for Mute, was mixed by Rico Conning (Wire, Pere Ubu, Swans, William Orbit) and the band’s classic Laibachian interpretations of Opus’ ‘Live Is Life’ (here presented in English as ‘Opus Dei’ and in German as ‘Leben heisst Leben’) and Queen’s ‘One Vision’ (reworked as ‘Geburt Einer Nation’) soon saw them emerge from the shadows as they garnered support from the likes of MTV and ITV’s The Chart Show. This mainstream spotlight, coupled with memorable features in the music press, opened up opportunities for the Slovenian collective that included their first world tour. Performances from the tour from London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, San Francisco, Berlin, Paris and “somewhere in Europe” make up the second CD of the expanded remastered edition.

Opus Dei, the band’s first album for Mute, was mixed by Rico Conning (Wire, Pere Ubu, Swans, William Orbit) and the band’s classic Laibachian interpretations of Opus’ ‘Live Is Life’ (here presented in English as ‘Opus Dei’ and in German as ‘Leben heisst Leben’) and Queen’s ‘One Vision’ (reworked as ‘Geburt Einer Nation’) soon saw them emerge from the shadows as they garnered support from the likes of MTV and ITV’s The Chart Show. This mainstream spotlight, coupled with memorable features in the music press, opened up opportunities for the Slovenian collective that included their first world tour. Performances from the tour from London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, San Francisco, Berlin, Paris and “somewhere in Europe” make up the second CD of the expanded remastered edition.

The Seminal 1986 Album Revisited And Expanded. Curated, Remastered And Re-Designed By The Laibach Organisation. Complete With 2 X Cds Of Live Versions Of 'Nova Akropola' Songs From The Band's Own Archive. Vital Sleevenotes By Alexei Monroe. Few bands stand apart from the crowd as distinctly as Laibach. Their idiosyncratic outlook and philosophy were formed against the backdrop of post-Soviet socialism in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and the band has continued to follow an individual, often controversial path for over forty years, taking them into places few other artists dare to go. Originally released by Cherry Red in 1986, 'Nova Akropola' ('The New Acropolis') remains a masterpiece of politically-informed industrial expression, and signalled the beginning of Laibach's breakthrough onto the international scene, at a time when restrictions imposed on them in their homeland were beginning to be lifted. Curated, remastered and designed by the band and their organisation, this new 3CD edition includes two discs of vital live recordings of 'Nova Akropola' songs spanning the years 1985 to 2021, captured in England, Slovenia, Serbia and Macedonia. Packaged in new artwork and accompanied by brilliant sleevenotes from cultural theorist Alexei Monroe, author of 'Interrogation Machine' and associate of the band, this new edition demonstrates the longevity of both the songs and the philosophy behind them, and is a vital new addition to Laibach's catalogue.

'Live Forever: The Complete Show - Berlin 1986' contains the full Berlin concert of Falco's 'Emotional' world tour in September 1986. At this time he was at the peak of his career: 'Emotional' reached #1 in Germany and Austria, he had superstar status in German-speaking countries and most of Europe, and with the single 'Rock Me Amadeus' from his previous album 'Falco 3' he'd even reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts (the only artist ever to achieve this historic feat in the US with a song in German). The now found tapes contain the remaining six tracks of the 'Emotional' album as well as three additional songs. The release follows the 2021 remastered deluxe edition of Falco's studio album 'Emotional' (which saw the album return to the official album charts after 35 years, reaching #28 in Germany and #7 in Austria), followed by deluxe editions of his fifth and sixth studio albums, 'Wiener Blut' (1988) (re-entering at #13 on the German album chart and #4 in Austria), and 'Data De Groove' (1990) (#15 on the German album chart and #5 in Austria).

Mit dieser CD gelangen Reinhard Goebel und seinem Ensemble Musica Antiqua Köln 1986 eine der besten Aufnahmen Alter Musik überhaupt: Eine herausragende Mischung aus höchster musikalischer Intensität und Perfektion mit einem bis dahin quasi unbekannten Repertoire und einer Emotionalität, die fast physisch greifbar zu sein scheint.

This is the second of Herbert von Karajan's three versions of this symphony for Deutsche Grammophon, and it's a very nice one. Karajan always did well by the orchestral portions of this symphony, playing them sort of like proto-Bruckner. In the finale, as in his 1963 recording, he seems to prefer a very light, backward-balanced choral sound that will not appeal to those who believe that Beethoven meant the words to be heard. That reservation aside, this performance can be recommended as typical of Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in top form.

Despite the fact that there are multiple recordings of Shostakovich's deeply moving Symphony No. 14, this rather old but remastered recording is unique in the quality of performance: Bernard Haitink conducts his Concertgebouw Orchestra and elected to use non-Slavic singers Julia Varady and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau who in turn sing the poems in their original languages rather than the Russian translations used in the original premiere. The effect is staggeringly beautiful and if one must choose a single recording of this symphony, this would be the one that captures the essence of Shostakovich's vision.

This is a real treat, a live in the studio session by Gunther Schickert and Axel Struck on guitars with Michael Leske on drums. A powerful trio of mindexpanding krautrock sounds formed in 1973, they recorded their first sessions in 1976, improvising directly to tape in Schickert’s basement - but these weren’t released until 1986, originally in cassette format - reissued some years later on CD. Three long tracks, it sounds like a cross between the 1st Ash Ra Tempel album and Gunther's two solo albums. Powerful music propelled along by dual guitars and driving percussion, the sound literally takes off into cosmic space.