You’ll never be left waiting too long between two King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard releases. And you'll be all the better for it. Celebrating a ten-year career just last year, with a total of 24 albums under their belt, the wizards are consolidating their status as one of the most prolific groups in history. Their breakneck pace, including five releases in 2017 and 2022 alone, does not give pause to their creativity, as they take their sound to the extreme fringes of rick, from psyche to boogie via garage. Certainly, they remain far behind other compulsive geniuses or mad scientists with ultra-eclectic and avant-garde tastes, such as Buckethead (more than 290) and Frank Zappa (more than 60), but PetroDragonic Apocalypse manages to touch those ineffable musical domains inhabited by them. If we strip the extended title down to its bare essentials, it is the dark side of two opposing styles, like yin and yang, which will soon be completed by the brightness of their 25th album (which is almost ready to be released). The singles Dragon and Gila Monster preceded it; the quintet’s three metalheads, guitarists Stu McKenzie and Joey Walker, and drummer, Michael Cavanagh, fully embrace their teenage love for trash, doom, and heavy metal, clearly evident in the single, Infest The Rats' Nest (2019). They recorded this single together and it is clearly influenced by Black Sabbath, Slayer, Overkill, Sodom, Motörhead and even Kreator. Here, the Australians line up tracks which last for over nine minutes, and completely let loose with creepy and hollow vocals, incisive heavy riffs, and urgent and motorik rhythms that place the drums centre-stage. They also take us to the depths of Hell with their apocalyptic sci-fi mythology, in which witches and dragons collide."We worked on this album in the same way we started Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms And Lava last year," Stu explains. We wrote one song a day and came to rehearsals without any riffs or melodies and no initial ideas of what we were looking to achieve. In essence, we were starting from scratch. We jammed, we recorded everything and then put together the songs from there. I sketched out the story the songs were going to tell, and broke it down into seven tracks, with a short paragraph about what would happen in each song. In a way, I think we did the album backwards. The writing of the lyrics then continues collectively and ends up combining into a whole which, as always in subtext, serves the same purpose: to raise awareness about the critical state of our planet. The most trash metal record of their large and eclectic discography, the excellent PetroDragonic Apocalypse will whip fans up into a frenzy. © Charlotte Saintoin/Qobuz

One of the best recordings for Keith Jarrett's mid-'70s American quartet (whose style differed sharply from its European doppelgänger), The Survivors' Suite opens with Jarrett's aching, breathy sigh on the bass recorder, evoking the sound of a horn somewhere across a great expanse of fog. Percussion soon punctuates the melodic line to give the opening a more spiritual, ritualistic feel, which is only the first of many mutations that this album will go through. Divided into two parts, entitled "Beginning" and "Conclusion," this suite effortlessly flows between its movements which range from fiery free jazz to open, meditative atmospheric pieces showing heavy input from indigenous musics to instrumental solos that owe a sylistic debt to the music of the previous decade. Jarrett has strong solos in both the first and second track, but his performances rise to the surface frequently to add warmth to the suite. The greatest contribution that he makes on this album, however, is as a composer, as its complex components seem to nestle together seamlessly again and again, even if the solos occasionally rapidly expand and contract with kinetic energy. As strong a hand as Jarrett has in this album, however, he definitely owes a debt to his supporting players, especially the passionate Dewey Redman and skilled Paul Motian, but Charlie Haden plays an important role in the execution of the suite as well, even if only to provide a skeleton to hang the more fluid elements on. Like other albums of its time, this was beginning to show the brightness, lightness, and soft edges of contemporary jazz, but the solidness of Haden's bass helps keep it rooted and earthbound.© Stacia Proefrock /TiVo

Saxophonist and clarinetist Shabaka Hutchings is a real connoisseur of sounds and fusions, and a true explorer. Each of his new musical expeditions pushes him further towards the top of today’s jazz scene… Born in London in 1984, he grew up under the Barbadian sun before moving back to England in 1999 where he joined the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Here, he caught the attention of saxophonist Soweto Kinch and started hanging out with big names like Courtney Pine and Jerry Dammers from the Specials. In 2011, Shabaka launched Sons of Kemet, a surprising quartet featuring a tuba and two drums. A complete oddity, halfway between a marching band and a chamber orchestra, that blends jazz, Caribbean and African music, Egyptian influences, and flavours from New Orleans and Ethiopia. The aptly titled The Comet Is Coming – no relations to Sons Of Kemet – is another adaptation of jazz language. But does it still qualify as jazz? It doesn’t really matter. As a sort of electro-drip-fed Sun Ra of the third millennium, Shabaka Hutchings – who calls himself King Shabaka here – is supported by a duo composed of Danalogue on the keyboards and Betamax on drums and percussions. It’s a rather avant-garde programme set to overpowered percussive rhythmic and hypnotising brass improvisations. Sun Ra, as we said… It’s hard not to mention him who was idolised (or hated) for his lengthy compositions and mind-blowing, almost psychedelic performances as well as for the odd cosmic philosophy he preached. The Comet is Coming’s second album, Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery, remains profoundly attached to its time, in which Shabaka injects his philosophy with contemporary elements far removed from master Ra’s semantic like when he hands over the microphone to rapper/spoken-word performer Kate Tempest on Blood Of The Past. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

As much as jazz musicians love to do it, the Christmas album exercise can quickly turn stale. Especially when you opt for a repertoire essentially composed of hits like Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Oh Christmas Tree, Il est né le divin enfant, Petit Papa Noël, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow, Silent Night and Jingle Bells. But here, Ibrahim Maalouf has managed to create an impeccable record that gives his trumpet an even better showcase than usual. The starting point of the project is a set of very personal values. "It's an album of 25 great Christmas standards and 3 new songs that I wrote to celebrate both my son's very first Christmas and my grandmother Odette's very last one last year. My memories of Christmas are full of wonderful moments and I wanted to record the album in a way that would capture the magic of those moments.“For this classical, touching effort, Maalouf brought in three friends: guitarist François Delporte, pianist Frank Woeste and choir director Sofi Jeannin, who has selected eight singers with angelic voices. The whole group met in two different recording locations: Armand Amar's Babel studios in Montreuil, where Ibrahim Maalouf worked on his first albums, and the Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre church, the oldest church in Paris, a few metres from Notre-Dame, where his father was sacristan in the 1960s; it was also where the trumpeter got engaged and married...Bolstered by all these strong symbols, First Noël moves forward with simplicity and humility, emphasising the melodies above all, without any kind of Hollywood arrangements. "After having recorded so many albums, I felt that the time had come to set down my version of these great Christmas classics, giving them a less childish, more musical dimension, and a more spiritual aspect as well: but at the same time preserving their necessary and subtle fragility as music for children, and as great classics known and sung worldwide.” The end result is a soothing, dreamlike, fraternal and universal journey. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

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This 2019 collection reimagines some of Bing Crosby's best-loved holiday favorites. Using the original vocal takes, the album features newly recorded and scored music by the London Symphony Orchestra, bringing a fresh take on these classic Christmas songs.© Rich Wilson /TiVo

Christmas is vocalist Michael Bublé's first full-length holiday-themed album since his 2003 EP Let It Snow. As with that album, Christmas features Bublé backed by small ensembles as well as his big band and orchestra, and includes a handful of classic Christmas songs. In that sense, the album is a rather old-school affair, with Bublé in prime Bing Crosby-meets-Dean Martin vocal style tackling such chestnuts as "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," "Silent Night," and "I'll Be Home for Christmas." There are also some fine, contemporary, if still retro-sounding, pop moments here including Bublé's duet with the British female pop trio the Puppini Sisters on "Jingle Bells," and his inspired, slightly melancholy reworking of Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Ultimately, Christmas is a warm and inviting album that showcases Bublé's impeccable vocal chops.© Matt Collar /TiVo

Thirty years later and the musical talent and inspiration is still as impressive as ever. Dream Theater release not a mere 13th album in a glorious career, but a real rock opera - and in two acts! A mammoth project called The Astonishing comes into being as James LaBrie (vocals), John Petrucci (guitar), Jordan Rudess (keyboards), John Myung (bass) and Mike Mangini (drums and percussion) take up their instruments in this tribute to rock. The score is an impressive masterpiece, with instrumental virtuosity managing. Untouchable masters of progressive metal, the Boston gang recorded these 34 titles in Cove City Sound Studios, Long Island, with Petrucci as producer and the participation of sound engineer Richard Chycki (Aerosmith, Rush) - combine this with the input of legendary arranger, composer and Canadian conductor David Campbell (also Beck's father), and you've got yourself a seriously impressive team. The Astonishing tells the story of a post-apocalyptic retro-futuristic dystopia... need we say more? © CM / Qobuz

Just as White Zombie was on the verge of becoming the most popular metal band in the land, Rob Zombie decided he was an auteur. Stopping short of breaking up the band, Zombie set out to make sure everyone know that he was the main force in the band, as if there were any doubt in the first place. He did extracurricular animation, managed a band, started a record label, drew a sequence in Beavis & Butt-Head Do America, appeared in films, wrote the script for The Crow 3 (which he planned to direct), and most tellingly of all, he recorded a solo album, Hellbilly Deluxe. Since White Zombie was always his baby, it seems a little strange that he had the need to break away from the group, especially since the album sounds exactly like a White Zombie record, complete with thunderous industrial rhythms, drilling metal guitars, and B-movie obsessions. For most listeners, it doesn't matter if Hellbilly Deluxe is technically a White Zombie or Rob Zombie album, since it delivers the goods, arguably even better than Astro-Creep: 2000. To outsiders, the entire schlock enterprise may seem ridiculous or sound monotonous, but even the weak cuts here hit hard and give fans exactly what they want.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Upon first release, the Velvet Underground's self-titled third album must have surprised their fans nearly as much as their first two albums shocked the few mainstream music fans who heard them. After testing the limits of how musically and thematically challenging rock could be on Velvet Underground & Nico and White Light/White Heat, this 1969 release sounded spare, quiet, and contemplative, as if the previous albums documented some manic, speed-fueled party and this was the subdued morning after. (The album's relative calm has often been attributed to the departure of the band's most committed avant-gardist, John Cale, in the fall of 1968; the arrival of new bassist Doug Yule; and the theft of the band's amplifiers shortly before they began recording.) But Lou Reed's lyrical exploration of the demimonde is as keen here as on any album he ever made, while displaying a warmth and compassion he sometimes denied his characters. "Candy Says," "Pale Blue Eyes," and "I'm Set Free" may be more muted in approach than what the band had done in the past, but "What Goes On" and "Beginning to See the Light" made it clear the VU still loved rock & roll, and "The Murder Mystery" (which mixes and matches four separate poetic narratives) is as brave and uncompromising as anything on White Light/White Heat. This album sounds less like the Velvet Underground than any of their studio albums, but it's as personal, honest, and moving as anything Lou Reed ever committed to tape.© Mark Deming /TiVo

The Official Archive Series, Vol. 2 captures Status Quo on their Quo Festive tour at London's O2 in December 2012. Featuring the lineup of Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Andrew Bown, John Edwards, and Matt Letley, the set saw the band work through a barrage of classic Quo hits while also performing a medley of Christmas-themed songs, including "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree."© Rich Wilson /TiVo