Drop everything: it's here! For once, a reissue-plus-rarities set that's worth all the time you have. Revolver, the Beatles' seventh studio album originally issued on August 5,1966, is widely celebrated as the greatest single album of the rock era. It brought psychedelic invention paired with impeccable melodies to the entire world. That first, wildly inventive release remains beyond stunning, and this is not meant to supplant it in any way. The expanded reissue of Revolver shows us the most successful band in the world at the top of their powers, in love with possibility (each song is a different template for sonic possibilities, from blue-eyed soul to avant-garde pop to beautiful melancholic dream music), and still absolutely in love with being a band. The unabashed, youthful enthusiasm for using the studio as an instrument, which would be their path forward as they no longer toured after the release of Revolver, is on special display in all of the outtakes.You likely know the original inside and out, so be prepared. The new mixes by Giles Martin and Sam Okell are truly high fidelity. As you might have read, Martin (son to George) and Okell employ a "de-mixing" technology recently developed by Emile de la Rey and others for the Peter Jackson Get Back documentary project. New details emerge, and the voice separation is spectacular. We're not saying that it's like you are hearing it for the first time, but you will discern new elements in a way that enhances and never detracts. This is so difficult to not only accomplish, but to do well. We've all fallen for reissues that don't live up to the hype. Some grand sonic experiments with reissuing can take years to realize. Perhaps they didn't need to lop off half of the sonic information on the 1990s era Robert Johnson reissues in order to present the music without the crackles and pops of the original 78s. This new de-mix (get it?) is surely a new standard. Hundreds of hours of expert care went into this release. If you haven't listened in a while, the same questions remain, such as why begin their biggest leap forward with a song as lurching and "meh" as "Taxman?" Aside from that song being merely good and not mind-blowing, the only quibble is that the release's track listing presents different outtakes and demos of the same track end to end. One does see them flower and fracture by doing this, but after the first listens, it might be repetitive. This ahead-of-its-time full-length is so close to perfect.Beatlemaniacs and newborn fans alike must consider this the new reference, the new source. As the band infamously sing on "Tomorrow Never Knows" (which has the most revelatory demos of all on this set), invoking both Eastern thought and contemporary enthusiasts of the psychedelic revolution, "Lay down all thoughts, surrender to the void; it is shining, it is shining." © Mike McGonigal/Qobuz

Sonny & Cher, Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg, Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood, Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris, Les Paul & Mary Ford, She & Him... The history of popular music is full of mythical mixed duos. And here, a new tandem makes an entry greeted by a Qobuzissime! On one side, a gold-plated rock icon who occasionally comes out of his lair: Paul Simonon, ex-bassist of the Clash (that's him on the cover of London Calling!) and more recently member of The Good, The Bad And The Queen with Damon Albarn and the late Tony Allen. On the other, the folkeuse Galen Ayers, daughter of Kevin Ayers, the eccentric British co-founder of Soft Machine.The album that these two have just recorded is however light years away from their history-laden resumes. From the very first notes of Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day?, Galen & Paul play the troubadour card, the simple—not simplistic—walk between styles, landscapes and territories. Viscerally cosmopolitan and even European (they sing in English and Spanish, and talk about Paris), these ten tracks play it nonchalant with a street singer side. Mariachi fragrances, reggae sounds, the carefree Italian and French variety of the '60s—the concept of Galen & Paul is retro without being old-fashioned, funny without being potache, poetic without being cliché.The duo is supported by impeccable musicians (guitarist Simon Tong—another one of Simonon's The Good… bandmates, jazz drummer Seb Rochford and Dan Donovan on keyboards), and by Tony Visconti, Bowie's producer who is more used to "big sound" records. And then there is Damon Albarn who comes to blow in his melodica on some tracks. In 38 minutes, Galen & Paul take us around the world, a warm, benevolent, nostalgic elsewhere that feels good. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Her self-titled debut LP (later retitled Ain't No Mountain High Enough after the single became a hit) was arguably her finest solo work at Motown and perhaps her best ever; it was certainly among her most stunning. Everyone who doubted whether Diana Ross could sustain a career outside the Supremes found out immediately that she would be a star. The single "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" remains a staple in her shows, and is still her finest message track.© Ron Wynn /TiVo

Everyone has their favorite Beatles record, but Revolver will always be a truly pivotal point, one of the most influential (THE most?) albums in the history of rock. This seventh studio recording, which was released in August 1966, waves goodbye to the friendly and playful image of the Fab Four from Liverpool in order for them to become the architects of a total pop revolution. With Revolver, backed by the indispensable production of George Martin, the group embarks on some of the wildest experiments in the service of creating their most fascinating material ever. They tinker with their sound and explore new territory once again, they thrive on prohibited substances (also evoked in their lyrics), introduce an impressive range of instruments (harpsichord, trumpet, sitar, organ...) and strengthen their writing, once so carefree in the infancy of their careers. Notably, the Fab Four then decided not to perform on stage again, preferring to use the recording studio as an instrument in itself, if not sometimes as an additional member. For the rest, the simple song titles written in procession is apt conclusion: Tomorrow Never Knows, Eleanor Rigby, I'm Only Sleeping, Got To Get You Into My Life, Taxman... ©MZ/Qobuz, Translation/BM

Recorded at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California, Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles finds singer/songwriter and guitarist John Mayer performing in three different band settings: acoustic trio, electric trio, and large ensemble. As such, the evening works as a nice representation of Mayer's work beginning with the 2003 album Heavier Things and continuing through his creative reinvention as a modern electric blues artist with 2005's Try! John Mayer Trio Live in Concert and finally his smash Grammy-winning 2006 effort, Continuum. Essentially, the concert is designed to showcase Mayer's ability to move from melodic soft rock and pop to folky solo numbers and rockin' blues. Generally, the conceit works and the concert does shine a light, so to speak, on Mayer's virtuosic musical chops. However, segmenting this concert into such specific aesthetic sounds loses some of the diverse flow a Mayer concert usually has. It should be noted that the concert is also available on DVD and Blu-ray, where you get see each band and appreciate the diversity among the ensembles. That said, for fans of Mayer the songwriter, you really can't lose, as the guy is hard-pressed to come up with a bad song, and tracks like the fan favorite "Daughters" and the bittersweet "Stop This Train" really benefit from the acoustic reading Mayer gives them here. Similarly, by putting "'Who Do You Think I Was," "Vultures," and his inspired take on Jimi Hendrix's "Bold as Love" in the middle electric trio section, Mayer builds the energy of the concert, perfectly setting up the pop/blues cornucopia of the final large ensemble set. Beginning with the hit "'Waiting on the World to Change," Mayer's last set (on disc two) is really the set most fans will gravitate toward, as it finds Mayer and his backing group of stellar sideman diving headlong into such soulful numbers as "Why Georgia" and "I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)," while also making room for such bluesy nuggets as his Stevie Ray Vaughan-inspired reworking of the Ray Charles hit "I Don't Need No Doctor" (a number heard on John Scofield's That's What I Say with Mayer as guest). Admittedly sprawling and ambitious, Where the Light Is is nonetheless a dynamic showcase for Mayer, who never fails to shine.© Matt Collar /TiVo

Billed as both a Barbra Streisand album and as an original motion picture soundtrack, Yentl contains the songs, sung by Streisand and written by Michel Legrand and Alan and Marilyn Bergman, that the character played by Streisand sings as internal monologues in the film, sometimes with spoken dialogue interspersed. (The album is filled out by "studio versions" of two of the songs, "The Way He Makes Me Feel" and "No Matter What Happens," played on contemporary electronic instruments, rather than in the orchestral settings used for the rest of the songs.) With such a thematic base, the music has an unusual consistency, and written specifically for Streisand, it makes use of her emotional expressiveness, phrasing, and timing as a singer. But it was also written as a complement to the film and on its own comes across as a group of isolated musical plot highlights rather than as a coherent song cycle. (Yentl won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score.)© William Ruhlmann /TiVo

Roundly regarded as Squeeze's grand masterpiece, in its planned incarnation East Side Story was going to be much grander: it was designed as a double-album with each side produced by a different musician, all a forefather of a different aspect of Squeeze. Dave Edmunds and his Rockpile cohort Nick Lowe were both contracted, as was Lowe's main producing success story Elvis Costello, and then Paul McCartney was slated for a side, but as the sessions started all but Elvis and Edmunds pulled out, with Dave only contributing one track. Costello was enough to make a big, big difference, helping to highlight a band in flux. Jools Holland left the group after Argybargy, taking with him a penchant for boogie-woogie novelty tunes. His replacement was Paul Carrack, veteran of pub rockers Ace who gave Squeeze another lead singer with true commercial potential -- something that Costello exploited by having Carrack sing lead for the brilliant piece of blue-eyed soul, "Tempted" (Costello and Glenn Tilbrook sneak in for the second verse). "Tempted" was a misleading hit -- at least it was a hit in America, where it turned into a '80s standard -- in that it suggested Carrack was a larger presence in the band than he really was, yet it also suggested the richness of East Side Story, and in how the band's music deepened and found a sympathetic producer in Costello. Far from reprising his skeletal, nervy production for The Specials, Costello smoothes out the lingering rough edges in the band, giving them a hint of gloss that has more to do with its new wave era than commercial considerations. One thing that is missing is the frenzied beat that had been Squeeze's signature throughout their first three albums: despite the echoey rockabilly of "Messed Around" -- if you didn't check the credits, you'd be sure this is Edmunds' production, but he was responsible for tightening up the almost ideal opener "In Quintessence," which strangely enough sounds like Costello's 1981 album, Trust (it really was an incestuous scene) -- this isn't a rock & roll album, it's a pop album through and through, from its sounds to its songs. It's bright, colorful, immediate even when things get ambitious, as they do on the dense, grandly psychedelic "F-Hole," which is cleverly deflated -- musically and lyrically -- by its juxtaposition with "Labelled with Love," a lazy country-rock stroll that doesn't seem out of place among the rest of the clever, immaculately constructed pop songs. Instead, it acts as further proof that Difford and Tilbrook could write and play almost anything at this point: they perfected their barbed, bouncy pop -- best heard on the single "Is That Love," but also "Someone Else's Heart" and terrific, percolating "Piccadilly" -- but they also slowed down to a hazy crawl on "There's No Tomorrow," turned intimate and sensitive on the jangly "Woman's World," and crafted the remarkably fragile, Baroque "Vanity Fair." All this variety gave East Side Story the feel of the double-album it was originally intended to be and it stands as Squeeze's tour de force, the best pop band of their time stretching every one of its muscles. [The 1998 U.K. reissue contained two bonus tracks: "The Axe Has Now Fallen," whose bright beat can't mask its bitterness, and a pretty good cover of the pop-soul standard "Looking for a Love"].© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Dead Club City is the fourth studio album from British outfit Nothing But Thieves and follows 2020's Moral Panic. Produced by the band's own Dominic Craik along with Jonathan Gilmore (the 1975, Rina Sawayama), the album sees the group adding a new dimension to their rock sound, adding elements of pop and electronica. The tracks "Welcome to the DCC" and "Overcome" are included.© Rich Wilson /TiVo

French hip-hop producer and cinephile Wax Tailor conceptualised his sixth album with a phrase by Orson Welles. The Citizen Kane director regularly stated that his role was to ‘preside over’ the accidents that occurred during the making of a film. For Wax Tailor, it’s also a question of ‘knowing how to capture them in order to make the accident an artistic intention. I decided not to follow a well-established concept but this more instinctive guideline and to go fishing for accidents’. The result is this series of happy accidents, punctuated by samples that always cut to the chase. While rap has undergone major evolutions both stylistically and in terms of its audience, Wax Tailor hasn’t budged an inch, sticking to the abstract hip-hop style originally conceived by DJ Shadow, DJ Krush and DJ Cam. He continues to create cinematic art, making music videos with a retro charm for both his solo tracks and those made with collaborators from diverse stylistic backgrounds. The album is bursting with great songs, such as the beautiful ‘Shaman in Your Arms’, featuring Jennifer Charles (from Elysian Fields), ‘Freaky Circus’ and its golden age boom bap (featuring Mr Lif and Napoleon da Legend), and the incredible ‘Come With Me’, which features his inspiring new muse, Victoria Bigelow © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

This is a most unusual Ella Fitzgerald recording. Recorded around the time when she performed some of these songs for the film Let No Man Write My Epitaph, the masterful singer is heard in duets with pianist Paul Smith interpreting 13 songs (even "I Cried for You," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," and "Who's Sorry Now?") at slow expressive tempos. Listeners who feel that Ella Fitzgerald was mostly a scat singer who had trouble giving the proper emotional intensity to lyrics will be surprised by this sensitive and often-haunting set.© Scott Yanow /TiVo

On the inaugural episode of Elvis Costello’s talk show Spectacle in 2008, Elton John -- who just happened to be a producer on the show -- rhapsodized at length about Leon Russell, hauling out a note-perfect impression of Russell’s piano style and Oklahoma drawl. It was enough of a tease to whet the appetite for more but nothing suggested something like The Union, a full-fledged duet album with Russell designed to raise the profile of the rock & roll maverick. Like all lifers, Russell never disappeared -- he just faded, playing small clubs throughout the U.S., spitting out bewildering self-released albums of MIDI-synth boogie, never quite connecting with the spirit of his wonderful early-‘70s albums for his Shelter label. The Union quite deliberately evokes the spirit of 1970, splicing Russell’s terrific eponymous LP with Elton’s own self-titled record and Tumbleweed Connection. In that sense, it’s a kissing cousin to John’s last album, 2006’s The Captain and the Kid, which was designed as an explicit sequel to 1975’s golden era-capping Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, but thanks to producer T-Bone Burnett, The Union dials down Bernie Taupin’s inherent pomp and ratchets up the roots. Burnett had John and Russell record live in the studio, trading verses and solos, letting the supporting band breathe and follow their loping lead. This relaxed, natural interplay cuts through the soft haze of Burnett’s analog impressionism, giving the record a foundation of true grit. If there are no immediate knockouts among this collection of 14 original songs, the tunes are slow, steady growers, taking root with repeated spins, with the sound of John and Russell’s piano-and-voice duets providing ample reason to return to The Union after its first play. And even once the songs take hold, what lingers with The Union is that natural interplay, how John and Russell easily connect with their past without painstakingly re-creating it. Surely, it’s a revival for Leon Russell, who has spent decades in the wilderness, but it’s not a stretch to say The Union revitalizes Elton John just as much as it does his idol: he hasn’t sounded this soulful in years.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Post-rock/electronic act 65daysofstatic present their original soundtrack for the recent PS4 exclusive game No Man's Sky. Subtitled Music for an Infinite Universe, the soundtrack comprises space-age soundscapes that perfectly suit the sense of exploration and the vast possibilities of the game in question. © Liam Martin /TiVo