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Review: Mark Knopfler's 2023 album, One Deep River, is a written diary through the heartland of Americana. Demonstrating his mastery of storytelling, Knopfler intricately weaves tales of life's trials and triumphs, evoking a poignant reflection on the human experience. Each track showcases Knopfler's signature guitar work and soulful vocals, transporting listeners to dusty highways and riverbanks at twilight. From the introspective 'Beneath a Prairie Moon' to the bluesy swagger of 'Ride On Across,' Knopfler's ability to paint vivid landscapes through music is unparalleled. 'One Deep River' resonates with timeless allure, embodying Knopfler's status as a guitar troubadour of the modern era.

Review: Mark Knopfler's One Deep River delivers a steady stream of timeless classics, featuring his signature blend of poetic lyricism and exquisite guitar work. As the tenth solo album released on his own label, British Grove via EMI, Knopfler continues to captivate with his warm vocals and masterful compositions. The album's lead single, 'Ahead Of The Game,' sets the tone with a melancholic narrative, possibly autobiographical, over a classic Knopfler riff. Title track 'One Deep River' taps into Knopfler's emotional ties to his hometown of Newcastle, particularly the Tyne River. This connection to childhood memories imbues the album with a sense of nostalgia and introspection, echoed in each meticulously crafted song. Produced alongside longtime collaborator Guy Fletcher, the album exudes sophistication and depth, with Knopfler's guitar textures and evocative storytelling taking center stage.

Review: Bad Boy Troy is the musical moniker of one Troy Tipton, whose ambition to make rollicking guitar music extends back to the age of six, at which point he began to take after famous guitarists such as Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck and Paul Rogers. A lifelong stint of touring with the likes of Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, Whitesnake and Ozark Mountain Daredevils has led up to this moment, at which the headstock heartthrob now releases this globetrotting new album on CD. Huge guitar sludge-waves are heard in full swing on cover versions like 'Another Brick In The Wall' (Pink Floyd) and 'Bad Ass Boy', as the seasoned axe daredevil swears his dread oath to never sleeping, always shredding.

Review: It's fairly bold to call your album The Legendary Sessions but few could argue that this album certainly does capture some legendary sessions. They are previously unreleased recordings that stem from the iconic Jimi Hendrix and Traffic becoming friends in 1967. They were both innovates, both technical, and both progressive with what they did and that bares out across this fascinating album. It was captured between 1968 and 1970 and is full of freeform jams with atonal structures and shifting tempos as well as great complementary interplay between Jimi and Chris Wood.

Review: Tropical rock and "Island escapism" hero Jimmy Buffett passed away in September, a few weeks after finishing recording on Equal Strain on All Parts, his 32nd and final studio album. As final hurrahs go, it's quietly impressive, with the American singer-songwriter - backed by the Coral Reefer Band and a smattering of high-profile guest performers - delivering a jaunty, All-American blend of horn-sporting blues-rock, psych-country, semi-acoustic sing-alongs and tropical swamp-funk. Highlights include the humid, steel pan-sporting dance-rock of 'My Gummie Just Kicked In' (featuring fellow celebrity stoner and all-round legend Paul McCartney on bass), the fiddle-sporting hoedown that is 'Close Calls', the cheery 'Like My Dog' and Emylou Harris collaboration 'Mozambique'.

Review: The Rolling Stones is the band that never dies, seemingly. All the members are truly ancient by now but - Charlie Watts aside - they keep on keeping on and after 18 years since the last they recently announced their new album. Hackney Diamonds came with its own playful viral marketing campaign and lead single 'Angry' which won plenty of plaudits. The full album is now here on CD with a note from front man Mick Jagger who said "we wouldn't have put this record out if we hadn't really liked it." It's a full on album full of very Rolling Stones sounding cuts that will get you up and playing along to the huge riffs.

Review: Peter Gabriel's i/o is an album that took shape over a fairly long period of time and it involves a wide and long list of cast members. It is packed with plenty of moments of vocal beauty and gravity, with Gabriel's iconic song writing abilities front and centre as he tackles a rich array of tough provoking subjects that confront us all. Moods range from hopefully and optimistic, to more gloomy and despondent with top contributions from Richard Russell, pianist Tom Cawley, trumpeters Josh Shpak and Paolo Fresu, cellist Linnea Olsson and keyboard player Don E.

Review: John Luongo is a Bostonian disco legend and although his contributions to the proliferation of the sound are more than noted within the industry, his recognition among regular old music fans seems, as his own estate puts it, "to have slipped through the cracks of dance history." Demon hopes to change all that with this new multi-format box set of his music, which aims to memorialize him as one of the most influential DJs and mixers of his day. Luongo's many credits include remixes of Jackie Moore's 'This Time Baby', 'Vertigo / Relight My Fire' by Dan Hartman and Patti Labelle's 'Music Is My Way Of Life'. Luongo also went on to establish a production career in his own right, and his legacy is more than cemented here. This box set compiles his most striking tracks in a 4xCD compilation, as well as many other trinkets and rarities including a 32-page booklet and an in-depth essay from Alexis Petridis.

Review: As we travel back through Prince's monumental legacy from album to album, the abundant revelations contained within the deluxe editions take us deeper into his genius than any fan dared to dream. Now it's the turn of Diamonds & Pearls, the 1991 opus which brought us such massive hits as the title track, 'Cream' and 'Gett Off'. There's not a single miss on the original album which fills out disc one of this double CD version, while disc two takes us on a wild ride through extended versions, B-sides and remixes aplenty. It's the sound of Prince fully embracing the 90s, from guest raps to house beats and beyond, but as ever it could only come from the mind of one particularly purple man.