Here are our top ten classical CDs of the year, voted for by Readings’ staff. Displayed in no particular order.

Max Richter: The Blue Notebooks by Max Richter

The Blue Notebooks, a tenth anniversary rerelease of Max Richter’s second album, is breathtaking. Richter cites Sigur Rós as an influence, evident in the meditative ‘Horizon Variations’. This, along with tracks such as ‘Written on the Sky’, will similarly appeal to Arvo Pärt fans for its elegance and simplicity. The Blue…

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Our head book buyer Alison Huber recommends six terrific non-fiction books about music.

How to Write About Music: Excerpts from the 33 1/3 Series, Magazines, Books and Blogs with Advice from Industry-Leading Writers edited by Marc Woodworth and Ally Jane Grossan

This is an invaluable text for all those who have ever dreamed of getting their music writing published and a pleasure for everyone who loves to read about music. Selections from the critically-acclaimed 33 1/3 series appear alongside new…

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Resurface Noise is a new column from our music specialist Roland Bisshop, dedicated to new vinyl reissues and first time on vinyl releases.

And don’t forget that for the month of April, we’re offering 20% off vinyl. Please note, the offer only applies to vinyl currently in stock in our shops, and is not available online.

The World Circuit label has the distinct honour of having on its roster, the biggest-selling world music title of all time in the Buena…

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This Saturday 18 April is Record Store Day. Here, we share a selection of terrific music that our staff are listening to right now.

Emily Harms recommends Vulnicura by Björk

I am loving listening to Björk’s recent release. The album is loosely arranged around the chronology of a relationship break up following hers with artist, Matthew Barney. Vulnicura documents the period before the breakup as well as the dazed and confused moments after, right through until the painful and slow…

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We’d love you to come help us celebrate Record Store Day this Saturday 18 April!

We’re offering 20% off all vinyl until the end of April. Please note, the offer only applies to vinyl currently in stock in our shops, and is not available online.

If you have young vinyl lovers in your family, our St Kilda shop is hosting a special music-themed story time this Saturday morning at 10.30am. Bring the kids (aged 2-7) along for a rollicking reading…

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Valentine’s Day has never meant much to me and as an adult I’ve always had partners who’ve agreed it’s far too commercial. We have consciously avoided ‘the day’ and instead, unconsciously done special things for each other during the year. As a teenager though, I do remember sending a Valentine to a boy I fancied in the trumpet section of a band I was playing in. I got a secret thrill wondering if he’d received it and hoping he knew…

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Here are our 25 bestselling albums from the past year.

Our top sellers for music features a diverse range of talent – from Australian C.W. Stoneking’s ‘scintillating gumbo brew of delta blues and old time Dixieland jazz’ (Gon’ Boogaloo), to a new exciting collaboration between the Coen Brothers and T. Bone Burnett (Inside Llewyn Davis (Soundtrack)).

Of the following albums listed 10 are from Australian musicians including some great compilations. (When The Sun Sets Over) Carlton…

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Our staff share their favourite – and sometimes their least favourite – songs on the radio at Christmas time.

I love really old carols that lean more towards the amusingly dramatic than the soppy – ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’, ‘We Three Kings’ and so on. I’m not sure why, I think perhaps they feel more festive than songs like ‘Grown-Up Christmas List’, which is like nails careening down a blackboard for me. Or maybe it is because they lend…

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Congratulations to the winners of the 2014 ARIA Awards!

Here is the full list of winners:

Sia,
Album of the year
Best female artist
Best pop release
Best video for Chandelier (Directed by Sia and Daniel Askill)

Chet Faker,
Best male artist
Best independent release

Sheppard,
Best group

Iggy Azalea,
Breakthrough artist

5 Seconds of Summer, She Looks So Perfect
Song of the year

Neil Finn and Paul Kelly,
Best adult contemporary album

John Butler Trio,
Best blues and roots…

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Here are our top ten classical CDs of the year, as chosen by our classical music specialists Kate Rockstrom and Alexandra Mathew. Displayed in no particular order.

Prayer by Sol Gabetta

Ernesto Bloch has been following me in the last six months. I’ve been performing, listening and teaching his repertoire, which has made me wonder why he’s not more popular. Sol Gabetta takes two of his works and through her cello sings the praises of Bloch, along with Shostakovich and…

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Here are our top ten pop CDs of the year, voted for by Readings’ music specialists. Displayed in no particular order.

Lost in the Dream by The War On Drugs

This album has been a staff favourite since it was released back in March. The Philadelphia group really struck gold with their third album and we have enjoyed listening to it over and over again. Sonically uplifting and spiritually nurturing, it takes inspiration from classic ’70s rock.

Warpaint by Warpaint

…

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Hello. I am a Taylor Swift fan and I spent last night listening to her new album. Now I am here to make some unscientific, non-expert snap judgements about her music. (To be fair and equal, I am only considering those songs that appear on both the standard and deluxe edition of the album).

Here is every song on 1989, ranked in order from best to worst:

Wildest Dreams: I may be alone in my love for this…

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This Saturday 19 April is Record Store Day and to celebrate we’re offering Here’s a selection of music our staff are listening to.

Chris is listening to Pavement

Pavement are maybe the best band to listen to if you want to become bored with every garbage decision you’ve made in your life. They make me wish I was cooler in high-school. They sound like they’re having the most fun ever. Start with their first album then listen to the rest…

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I grew up mocking my father’s penchant for country and bluegrass music. Why would anyone choose to listen to twangy voices singing of honkytonk angels and men done and gone? What was with the screeching fiddles, noodling guitars and high lonesome mandolins? I preferred the smooth pop melodies of Paula Abdul or the self-indulgent rage of the Beastie Boys.

Still, I listened closely on car rides, if purely for the purpose of making fun. Dolly Parton was a favourite, though…

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Saturday 19 April is Record Store Day and we’ve decided this occasion is worthy of a month-long celebration. Visit our Carlton, St Kilda or Hawthorn shops in April and you’ll receive 20% of all vinyl!

Hand-picked by our passionate music team, our vinyl collection includes old favourites alongside terrific new releases. Come on down to chat with our specialists in person and complete your own collection.

We’re also delighted that on the day itself (Saturday 19 April), Australian musician…

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In Bully for Them, twenty-two Australians share their own experiences of being bullied, revealing that not only did they survive the ordeal but also, that their experiences helped shape them into the remarkable individuals they are today.

Today is the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence and we’re sharing a piece from the book by musician Missy Higgins.

Sensitive, shy, and skittish when it comes to attention, Melissa ‘Missy’ Morrison Higgins is no likely candidate for pop…

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Here are our 10 bestselling CDs from the past year.

The release of Malik Bendjelloul’s Oscar-winning documentary Searching For Sugar Man plunged the musician Rodriguez straight into the spotlight and three of his albums were bestsellers in 2013. Our list also includes some amazing Australian music-makers: the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Paul Kelly.

10. The Next Day by David Bowie
9. Old Yellow Moon by Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell
8. Hush Collection Volume…

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Here, Classical Music Specialist Phil Richards shares his top ten Classical CDs from 2013 - in no particular order.

Philip Glass: Metamorphosis & The Hours by Lavinia Meijer

Philip Glass is without a doubt one of the great American composers and this CD, from harpist Lavinia Meijer, is superb. Glass’ piano compositions have always had a hypnotic beauty in their original form and here, played on the classical harp, they have that and so much more.

Piazzolla: 4 Buenos Aires…

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Here, we share our top ten picks for pop CDs released the past year, voted for and loved by Readings staff. Displayed here in no particular order.

Trouble Will Find Me by The National

Powered by Matt Berninger’s deceptively everyman voice that resonates like a conversation held by torchlight under the covers, The National have created an album full of ache and hope, told through sublime orchestration. Tracks like the masterfully off-kilter ‘Demons’ may take more than one listen to…

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Brett Dean received the $60,000 Melbourne Prize for Music 2013, while Stephen Magnusson was awarded the $30,000 Outstanding Musicians Award 2013 and Kate Kelsey-Sugg the $13,000 Development Award 2013.

The judges wrote:

The diversity of the 2103 finalists is testimony to the abundant music talent and spectrum of genres we have in Victoria. The three recipients inform a diversity and richness of achievement in each of their genres and the individual musicians commitment to their professional music careers. The recipients…

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Chris Somerville talks about some of his music highlights in the television drama,

Currently I’m trying to catch up on Breaking Bad before the season ends and everyone talks about it on social media. I realise, of course, that this is entirely my own fault, and that I’ve had ample time to catch up. Even so it irked me when recently a woman sitting next to me on a plane saw me watching the show on my laptop, identified the…

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A year before Born To Run came out, music critic Jon Landau saw a performance where many of the as yet unreleased songs were performed and wrote: “I saw rock and roll’s future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen. And on a night when I needed to feel young, he made me feel like I was hearing music for the very first time.“

Those words describe the exact feeling that surges through my body every time I hear this album.

…

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I was 15 and growing up in London at a time in the early 80s when your attire was a direct indication of the music you were listening to. I had already gone through a ‘Rude Boy’ and a ‘Mod’ phase, then a ‘Futurist’ phase in quick succession. (I was able to do this because my older brother had a pretty broad taste in music.) It was a time when you could wear make up to school and no one…

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My childhood was a fairly strict Catholic one and rock ‘n’ roll was frowned upon with a muscular brow. Mix-tapes were exchanged in shadowy corridors of the high school, to be auditioned privately with the aid of headphones and it was in this way that I first heard The Stooges’ Fun House - a record which for me, even to this day, serves as the benchmark for rock ‘n’ roll. Like a dog finally breaking through the bone to the…

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In anticipation of Clare’s appearance at the

You’ve previously said that Leonard Cohen ‘inspired you to choose a new path’. Would you be able to tell us more about this?

Really, it was just the pleasure of watching a master musician decades into his career and being at the absolute top of his game. Leonard’s whole life reminds us of the fact that if you keep at it, you just keep getting better.

He ALSO reminded me of what I…

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Hariklia Heristanidis

I have about a shelf and a half of records. It’s not a huge collection, say, in comparison to the sort of guys (and they are usually guys) who have custom built shelves that line the walls of their houses, but I am loyal, like an addict who knows what they need. In the mid-80s when a lot of my friends got rid of their records, or at least put them into storage and embraced the CD, I…

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