One of the most recognisable voices to have emerged from the UK garage scene in the nineties and noughties, The Streets frontman Mike Skinner's last decade or so has been marked by ups and downs. A six-year drought followed the band's fifth—and at the time, final—album, Computers and Blues (2011), after which the project was revived as something of a legacy act, releasing only the occasional single or collaboration, and one full-length: the None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive (2020) mixtape. In 2023, the result of Skinner's silent labors have at last seen the light of day, via The Darker The Shadow The Brighter The Light, an album and identically titled indie film-noir and murder mystery musical. Where many fall victim to the routine inertia which comes with writing an album, touring it, and eventually tiring of it, this new, hybrid release represents far more than a mere snapshot of a couple of years of creativity. It is the culmination of seven or more years of hard graft, which saw Skinner take on the role of producer, rapper, director, actor, screenwriter—everything necessary to bring the album and its accompanying film into being … and all in the absence of external funding. "It's been an obsession ... I kind of did everything myself so it just didn't stop, really. The tunnel was very long, very dark, and there was no light—apart from a train, maybe," he has shared.As far as the format goes, there's nothing new under the sun here. Indeed, the filmic aspect should come as no surprise to Streets fans given the conceptual similarity to A Grand Don't Come For Free (2004), an album which also flirted with portraying a movie-like narrative over its course. What stands out with this project is Skinner's unrelenting commitment to seeing through his highly ambitious artistic designs, no matter the cost or consequence. His instinct for storytelling and nose for excitement in the seemingly everyday both resonate across the fifteen tracks, the sound of which picks up right where the band left off: garage, bassline, and drum and bass beats set the pace for characteristically unfussy, in-your-face riffs and Skinner's dry, Brummie delivery.The Darker The Shadow The Brighter The Light exceeds even the most daring aspirations of its creator, and will surely go down as a fan favourite in the band's discography. Have a break, Mike—you've definitely earned it this time. © Finn Kverndal/Qobuz

Unlike many other American expatriates living in Europe, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon always managed to play and record with the top musicians while overseas. This excellent sextet session (with trombonist Slide Hampton, trumpeter Dizzy Reece, pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Niels Pedersen and drummer Art Taylor) finds him exploring three Slide Hampton compositions and a trio of standard ballads. The other soloists are fine but Gordon easily dominates the set, playing his brand of hard-driving bop.© Scott Yanow /TiVo

Will to Power is the tenth studio album from Swedish power metal outfit Arch Enemy. Produced by bandmembers Michael Amott and Daniel Erlandsson, the five-piece deliver a selection of brutal, riff-heavy metal tracks with vocalist Alissa White-Gluz's uncompromising guttural growl.© Rich Wilson /TiVo

Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett comes a live album recorded at Birmingham's Symphony Hall in 2017. Hackett embarked on a tour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his former band's Wind & Wuthering record, which was also his last album with Genesis. Alongside his solo work, the performance features fan favorites from the album including "One for the Vine," "Eleventh Earl of Mar," and "Afterglow." Wuthering Nights: Live in Birmingham is available on DVD/CD, Blu-Ray, and digital platforms.© Bekki Bemrose /TiVo

The System Has Failed marks a return from the dead for Megadeth -- and quite a glorious return, it must be said. When bandleader Dave Mustaine was diagnosed in early 2002 with radial neuropathy -- strained nerves in his left arm and hand -- the snarling guitar shredder was forced to disband his once groundbreaking group after nearly two decades of activity. Granted, it wasn't that big of a loss at the time, chiefly so because Megadeth had long passed its prime. The band's key recordings date back to the speed metal era, from 1986 (the year of Peace Sells, Reign in Blood, and Master of Puppets) to 1992 (the year Megadeth, like Metallica a year earlier, made a distinct, more commercial shift, releasing Countdown to Extinction -- to the dismay of many longtime fans). Following Countdown, Megadeth struggled. The band continued to release albums, but they weren't well received and, very sadly, one of metal's once preeminent acts became a bitter has-been. So after Mustaine's injury, the disbanding of Megadeth didn't seem all that unfortunate at the time -- it seemed overdue, some would argue. Then in 2004, shortly after an exemplary reissue campaign, Mustaine resurrected Megadeth for The System Has Failed. And frankly, the band hasn't sounded this vital since Countdown to Extinction, if not Rust in Peace (to risk overstating just how much of a return to glory this album is). Mustaine is joined on guitar by Chris Poland, the very talented guitarist whom he'd fired after the masterful Peace Sells album back in the day. It's a surprise return, and no doubt a very exciting one for fans of Peace Sells (note the shred-fest "Kick the Chair" in particular). That re-pairing of Mustaine and Poland alone makes The System Has Failed worthwhile, but there are also the songs themselves. Put simply, they're ferocious! No, this isn't a good old-fashioned thrash album, but you can tell Mustaine is going for that vibe, especially on songs like "Back in the Day," one in particular that should give dyed-in-the-wool headbangers a giddy sense of déjà vu. The System Has Failed is actually more of a synthesis, taking the reckless abandon of pre-Countdown Megadeth and infusing it with the melodic songwriting of latter-day diamonds in the rough like "Symphony of Destruction" and "A Tout le Monde." Add to this some especially thoughtful lyrics (archly political, nakedly personal, and shamelessly mature), and you have the recipe for an excellent, damn near perfect Megadeth album, up there with Peace Sells, Rust in Peace, and Countdown -- as unlikely as that may seem. Regardless of where The System Has Failed ranks alongside Megadeth's other standout albums, however, it most certainly blows away practically every other aboveground metal album of 2004. No joke. This is the sort of latter-day masterpiece Metallica struggled in vain for a decade-plus to record to no avail.© Jason Birchmeier /TiVo

It's easy to confuse this triple-disc Essential Alan Parsons Project with the double-disc Essential Alan Parsons Project. After all, it not only has the same name, it has the same cover art and a sequencing so similar to the double that it takes some close inspection to realize that they are two different beasts -- and that's even with a whole extra disc here! That extra disc worth of material, of course, is what really separates the two compilations, and it's what makes the three-CD set the province of serious listeners since it digs deeper and presents plenty of album tracks, instrumentals, even suites. So, for the fan who wants an exhaustive Alan Parsons Project compilation, this three-disc set is surely the one to get even though it must be asked, if you're such a big fan of the Project that you need three jam-packed discs worth of music, why not just choose the original concept albums which, after all, were meant to be listened to in their entirety?© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Arizona native turned Los Angeles denizen Zella Day is a soulful if fairy-like singer/songwriter who anoints her poetic, bohemian anthems with boombastic drops of indie electronica, folk, and bluesy, symphonic balladry. Day's full-length debut, 2015's Kicker, is a rootsy and engaging showcase for her pop theatricality, taking equal parts inspiration from Britney Spears and Florence + the Machine. With her dusty coo of a voice and her Keira Knightley-at-Bonnaroo style, Day sometimes feels more like a fashion model turned singer -- not a bad thing. There's a fine tradition of hippie-esque models and actresses proving themselves adept at the art of pop songcraft, or at least singing catchy pop aperitifs. Jane Birkin, Marianne Faithfull, and Nico all fit the description and certainly come to mind while listening to Kicker. Or course, so do many of Day's similarly inclined contemporaries including Ellie Goulding, Lorde, and Lana Del Rey. Helping flesh out the proceedings are producers Wally Gagel and Xandy Barry (aka Wax LTD.), who frame Day's voice with gigantic, Florence Welch-style kickdrum and snare beats, Teutonic synths, and flagrantly cinematic orchestral backdrops. Subsequently, tracks like the yearning "Jerome" and the icy "Ace of Hearts" both drip with an infectious, hooky energy. If there's a through-line with all these artists, from Birkin to Welch to Del Rey to Day, it's the lyrical allusions to pop iconography and the reappropriation of rock and R&B swagger by such fatalistic ingenues. Icons factor heavily in Day's music, and cuts like "East of Eden," "The Outlaw Josey Wales," and "Sweet Ophelia" find her hanging her lyrical hooks on several well-known historical figures, both real and fictional. Elsewhere, Day borrows the operatic thrill of Kate Bush on "High" and recalls Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle" on the campy, hip-hop-informed "Hypnotic." Ultimately, whether drawing upon icons of the past or present, Day remains the center of attention with Kicker.© Matt Collar /TiVo

For her second Verve LP, Astrud Gilberto expanded her range from a raft of Gilberto/Jobim standards to embrace the large and obviously daunting catalogue of classic American pop. With arrangements by Don Sebesky and Claus Ogerman (as well as two by country-mate João Donato), The Shadow of Your Smile can't help but shine a bright spotlight on Gilberto's weak voice, especially when she's singing material previously enlightened by singers with the weight of Frank Sinatra or Sarah Vaughan. Even the intimate, understated arrangements on songs like "Day by Day," the title track, and "Fly Me to the Moon" overshadow the chanteuse's limited range. Brazilian material like the five songs by Luiz Bonfá make for better listening, though the preponderance of flutes, strings, and muted trumpet in the arrangements is very mid-'60s, for better and worse. (And the notes' description of "O Ganso" as an "exercise in vocalise based on bah and dah sounds" is being more than generous.) Certainly, no American vocalist could hope to equal the tortured syntax and somehow endearing performances on these songs; still, Verve did much better by Gilberto later on when they gave her good-time Brazilian songs to sing and didn't attempt to force comparison with standard jazz/pop vocalists.© John Bush /TiVo

The first in a series of three double-CD sets of previously unreleased and rare Beatles material, released in conjunction with the mammoth Anthology video documentary. This covers the late '50s to the end of 1964, mixing studio outtakes, live performances, primitive recordings from the Quarrymen/Silver Beatles days, excerpts from the famous 1962 Decca audition, the most notable 1961 Tony Sheridan-era recordings, and brief spoken bits from interviews. Although this material is undeniably of vast historical importance, it can't be placed in the same company as the Beatles' proper albums, in either cohesion or quality. While the studio outtakes (many never even heard on bootleg) are the most enticing items, these are almost exclusively alternate versions of songs they placed on their official releases (the most notable exceptions being the 1964 R&B cover "Leave My Kitten Alone," the 1962 demo "How Do You Do It," and the unimpressive 1964 Harrison original "You Know What to Do"). Sometimes the differences are quite interesting (a much more electric-oriented version of "And I Love Her," for example), but the alternates also illustrate how the group were virtually unerring in selecting the best arrangement and take of their songs for the final versions. The pre-1962 items are sometimes taken from private rehearsal tapes of primitive fidelity and are really of archival value only. One could go on at great length about the many curiosities and finds unearthed by this compilation, but for most general consumers, two observations may suffice. It does not stand up to the Beatles' fully conceived albums (even Live at the BBC), but the Beatles' scraps and leavings are more interesting than over 95 percent of other performers' best work. By that standard, this must be judged a worthwhile collection, especially (but not solely) for dedicated Beatles fans.© Richie Unterberger /TiVo

Taking the listener on a smoother, rather than bumpier, ride down the moonlight highway of jazz is Wes Montgomery, a chief architect of the world's guitar virtuoso scene. Not only is his brilliant command of the six-string present here, so is the vivid color tones of notes and blue notes played between. Backed up by a hauntingly beautiful and mesmerizing orchestra conducted and arranged by Don Sebesky, the music almost lifts the listener off his feet into a dreamy, water-like landscape. The atmosphere is serene and enchanting, such as a romantic evening for two under starlight, and certainly a romantic eve merits the accompaniment of this record. The sounds are soft, smooth, and silky, and Montgomery addresses full leadership of his graceful melodic style, fronting close to 20 members of a orchestra perhaps best described resonant and sweeping. So too are the sweeping note flows of Montgomery's guitar, and his surprising fluidness towards the art of comping, a necessary trait of the jazz guitar virtuoso. Even the unforgettable Jim Hall can be tickled and intrigued through a listen of these influential records, as for all amateur and professional guitar musicians. "A Quiet Thing" is perhaps the most somber, peaceful, and smooth piece on the record, demonstrating Montgomery's love of quiet, and how much the idea of not playing at all brings music to the listeners. The charming sounds of orchestral violas, violins, cellos, and harp are sent ablaze to create a pleasant atmosphere, either for a quick morning get up, get ready for work, or evening dining setting. "Here's That Rainy Day" is an up-tempo bossa nova tune that resonates with Montgomery's enticing chordal changes and blissful phrasing, not to mention the blend of harp and strings lays the groundwork for a perfect rainy day inside, with drops pattering at the windows and fires aglow. The recording engineer did a wonderful job with this album. The sound quality is clear and lush, and, overall, this collection of mid-'60s cool jazz is a delight to listen too, once and again.© Shawn M. Haney /TiVo

By the time the Damned found themselves on a major label after nine years of ups, downs, and all-arounds, a big change had taken place: Captain Sensible, with both his own solo successes and other pressures coming to bear, decided to depart. Keyboardist Roman Jugg took over the guitar, while Bryn Merrick remained on bass and Vanian and Scabies continued doing their thing. The first fruit of this new Damned, Phantasmagoria, doesn't match up to the excellent variety and performance level on Strawberries, but still has a lot to show while at the same time exploring new territory for the group. The cover and artwork seem to ally the Damned even more closely with goth rock than before, but Vanian thankfully has never seen fit to simply ape those clichés, steering his own powerful path. Similarly, the music can be moody but never without its own distinct energy and fire -- more a Cramps sense (if not sound) of loving the dark than anything, but with a clean, modern sheen and just enough Hammer horror. "Street of Dreams" makes for a powerful, anthemic opener, with some fine Scabies drumming. "Is It a Dream," the one song with a Sensible co-writing credit, is yet another fantastic Vanian vocal showcase in a career of many. The really killer tracks include "Shadow of Love," a semi-Morricone-style mood-out quick shuffle with haunting guitar from Jugg, and "Grimly Fiendish," a funny bit of spooky psychedelia not all that far off from where the Dukes of Stratosphear would end up a couple of years later. Phantasmagoria concludes with the surging instrumental "Trojans," a strong number that showed the Damned had lots of life in them yet.© Ned Raggett /TiVo