Focus Music Notes. "Out of the Blues". Popular music through the decades

Since the fantastic response to his special release last month (Love for $ale Feat Roots Manuva), Jamie Cullum is pleased to announce the full details of his sixth studio album, ‘Momentum’, released on 20th May 2013 via his new record label Island Records . Having sold over ten million records worldwide, performing to sold out tours across the globe, working on a variety of unique projects that have seen him collaborate with a range of artists from Stevie Wonder, Pharrell, Sander Kleinenberg, Rizzle Kicks to The Roots, Jamie continues to enjoy an incredible creative roll. The album, titled ‘Momentum’ for good reason, is bursting with ideas and inspirations which almost have a life of their own. Indeed, Jamie approached this record in a completely different way to his previous LPs, for the first time using DIY home demos as a blueprint for the majority of its tracks… and for a while, using everything from iPhone apps, charity shop keyboards and cassette recorders as his ‘go-to’ instr...

DJ Shadow, rightly regarded as one of the most influential and consistently innovative artists to emerge from music in the last 20 years, has four collections of his finest recordings released on September 3rd via Island Records. “Reconstructed: The Best Of DJ Shadow” will be released on one single CD and double vinyl, while “Reconstructed: The Definitive DJ Shadow” will be issued as a multi-disc box set. Limited to 500 copies worldwide, each set will be individually signed by DJ Shadow and will include 8 discs, 1 x 12” vinyl record, as well as a booklet, featuring an essay by acclaimed music writer Dave Tompkins, and numerous photo. With stunning artwork and design by Trevor Jackson, the box set is the most ambitious and comprehensive retrospective ever assembled to represent Shadow’s output. “It’s never an easy task to sum up a career in one release,” says Shadow, “but this box comes pretty close. This is the definitive, final document of the sound I’m most known for.” The box w...