Lila Downs

“En Paris o Live Á Fip”
Music Compass

Born to a Mexican-Indian mother and Scottish-American father in the U.S., singer-songwriter Lila Downs is quite mysterious in that she taps into both Mexican traditional music and pop. The 42-year-old mestizo’s latest album “En Paris o Live Á Fip” collects her songs performed for France’s FIP radio station in 2009. Songs like “La Cucarach” and “La Llorona” show indigenous Mexican influences. Others like “Minimum Wage” and “Justicia” delivers strong social messages as well. While the 15-track album encompasses her representative songs covered in the past 10 years, the track No. 5 “Paloma Negra” and the No. 14 “La Llorona” were featured in the film “Frida.”


Jasmine Choi

“Fantasy”
Sony Classical Music

Flutist Jasmine Choi’s new recording with Sony Classical Music has been released. Five years after her Mozart concerto album, she recorded her favorite fantasy pieces including Francis Borne’s “Carmen Fantasy,” Cecile Chaminade’s Concertino Op. 107, Albert Franz Doppler’s “Fantasie Pastorale Hongroise Op. 26” and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Flight of the Bumble Bee.” Choi was appointed associate principal flute of the Cincinnati Symphony under the music director Paavo Jarvi at age 22 and became the first Korean woodwind player to hold a post with a major orchestra in the United States. The Gramophone Korea praised her virtuosity, saying she “unites perfect technique and astounding musicianship.”


Iron Maiden

“From Fear to Eternity”
EMI Music

British metal band Iron Maiden released a new compilation album “From Fear to Eternity: The Best Of 1990-2010” on June 6. The double-CD set spans 20 years of the band’s history. The tracks include “The Wicker Man,” originally appearing on the 2000 album “Brave New World” and “The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg” from the 2006 album “A Matter Of Life And Death.” Others songs were featured in Maiden’s current “The Final Frontier World Tour” set list; tracks such as “Fear Of The Dark,” “Blood Brothers” and “Dance Of Death.” Iron Maiden have just completed the first leg of their 2011 World Tour, which included concerts in Singapore, Korea and Indonesia.