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Theatre of Voices, Paul Hillier – Stories: Berio And Friends (2011)
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 3,50 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 1,04 GB | Full Artwork | 3% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Harmonia Mundi USA # HMU 807527 | Country/Year: Europe 2011
Genre: Classical | Style: Contemporary, Experimental
This collection of works for unaccompanied voices is bookended by works by singer Cathy Berberian and composer Luciano Berio, who were once married to each other. John Cage’s Story is a movement of his percussion quartet Living Room Music, while Young Turtle Asymmetries is by Cage’s pupil Jackson Mac Low and Roger Marsh’s Not a Soul But Ourselves is set to a text by James Joyce. Usually done solo, Berberian’s Stripsody, with its score consisting solely of cartoons, is sung here by a trio and must be heard to be believed.
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The Hold Steady – Almost Killed Me (Deluxe Version) (2004/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:00:20 minutes | 727 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Frenchkiss Records
After Lifter Puller, the long-running indie rock band he fronted, broke up, Craig Finn took his vocal declarations and lyrical twists and started the Hold Steady. He was joined by old bandmate Tad Kubler on lead guitar plus a crew of hard rocking, bar hopping dudes intent on taking the rambling indie rock of Lifter Puller and replacing it with scuffed-up AOR and swaggering hard rock. Their 2004 debut album, Almost Killed Me, sounds like the E Street Band after they slipped into the gutter, Thin Lizzy if they got fat and American, and a hundred other bands from Southside Johnny to the early-’70s Kinks that liked to party, but did it with the occasional tear-filled eyes and desperate hearts. Like the best of these classic rock staples, the Hold Steady can flat out rock. Kubler can rip off a fret-searing solo with bullfighter style, which he does quite frequently, and the rhythm section has enough muscle power to stop a speeding locomotive. On top of this vintage rock chassis, the band drop Finn’s vocals and vision. Without him, the music is straightforward enough to appeal to the AOR masses and backstreet fanatics; with him they are far too weird and wild. His pop culture name-drops, knowing references to obscure musicians like Andre Cymone, real-sounding tales of the streets, and flights of knuckle-busting anger are far out in left field, and his bracing, eye-bulging delivery of said lyrics pushes it even further over the top. It’s a high-wire balancing act of sorts, and it would be easy for the band to topple over into boring mainstream rock cliches or veer into embarrassing drunken poetry territory but it never happens, not even once. The group plays with intense energy at all times, propping Finn up and giving his words the dramatic backdrop they deserve. Finn holds up his end of the bargain by being hilarious and oddly touching as he rambles, coughs, and shouts his way through what sounds like a lifetime of journal entries, inside jokes, and record store soliloquies. Tracks like “The Swish” and “Knuckles” are endlessly quotable, the story songs don’t wear out after repeated listens, and at times, the words and music combine in such a thrilling manner that the Hold Steady feel like the best, most alive band in the world. It’s a brilliant debut, and the sense that Finn and friends viewed Almost Killed Me as a renewed lease on musical life is tangible throughout. The last-chance desperation and burning desire bleed out through the grooves and it’s impossible not to get swept up in the flood right along with them.
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GewandhausChor, Gregor Meyer, Tobias Berndt, Heidi Steger and Uwe Steger – Schubert: Winterreise (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:12:24 minutes | 1,35 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Genuin
From the first notes, the snowy steps of “Fremd bin ich eingezogen” (As a stranger I arrived), the new recording of Schubert’s “Winterreise” by the GewandhausChor makes one sit up and take notice: Choirmaster Gregor Meyer has arranged one of the most paramount lieder cycles for his “instrument”, the choir, and makes virtuosic use of the possibilities offered by the ensemble’s polyphony and sonority. Meyer has split the original piano part between two accordions, played here by Heidi and Uwe Steger. Their instruments are astonishingly close to the human voice, breathing, shouting, whispering, and singing. Tobias Berndt, an accomplished lied singer, takes on the baritone solo part in this recording with the choir of one of the most renowned concert halls.
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Collegium Vocale Gent & Philippe Herreweghe – J.S. Bach: Secular Cantatas (Remastered) (2004/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 56:08 minutes | 992 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi
“Sound, ye drums! Ring out, ye trumpets!” In his Leipzig years, Bach liked to remind people that he was not only Kantor of St Thomas’s, but also the city’s director of music. It was in this capacity that he wrote these sumptuous secular cantatas, in honour respectively of the university professor Kortte (BWV 207, 1726) and of Queen Maria Josepha (BWV 214, 1733). Allegorical figures such as Industry, Fortune, Honour and Gratitude take it in turns to sing of the learning and the merits of the recipients, borrowing material from one of the Brandenburg Concertos or ‘quoting’ some of the finest music from the Christmas Oratorio, not yet composed…
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Clément Janinet – Woodlands (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 39:02 minutes | 404 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BMC Records
Clément Janinet, einer der renommiertesten französischen Geiger seiner Generation, kennt sich nicht nur im Jazz aus, sondern liebt es auch, die Welt der zeitgenössischen und der traditionellen Musik zu erkunden. La Litanie des Cimes ist seine dritte Jazz-Band, die im Katalog von BMC Records erscheint. Janinets breit gefächerte Interessen werden auch auf diesem Album deutlich: In die Musik von Woodlands fließen die amerikanische Minimal Music und der Blues ebenso ein wie die Stimmen afrikanischer Griots und französischer Folklore. Seine Formation La Litanie des Cimes spielt Kammerjazz auf akustischen Instrumenten, die aus der klassischen Musik bekannt sind.
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Elena Toponogova – Fairy Tales (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 58:05 minutes | 1,95 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Quartz Music
We have been playing together since 2016 and it has always been a great pleasure to perform as a duo and being able to share music with people. Since the start of pandemic it has been a difficult time for us as musicians as we‘ve lost a significant amount of our performing work. But we still have a big dream to happen and that gives us hope and something to look forward to.
The dream is recording our debut CD with some truly wonderful and rarely performed Norwegian and Russian music that we love and want to share with more people all over the world. We believe the music deserves to be heard and it will bring joy that is so needed.
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The Friends Of Distinction – Friends & People (1971/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 48:47 minutes | 2,08 GB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RCA – Legacy
The Friends of Distinction were an American vocal group best known for their late 1960s hits, “Grazing in the Grass”, “Love or Let Me Be Lonely”, and “Going in Circles”. Founded by Harry Elston and Floyd Butler, The Friends of Distinction also included Jessica Cleaves and Barbara Jean Love, who was replaced by Charlene Gibson during her pregnancy.
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Bill Evans Trio – Sunday At The Village Vanguard (Remastered) (1961/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 42:18 minutes | 1,76 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Craft Recordings
The first of two albums recorded at the legendary final appearance of the Bill Evans Trio at the Village Vanguard, these recordings have long been recognized as capturing the unique interaction that characterized the trio of Evans, LaFaro and Motian. This new edition of Sunday at the Village Vanguard is released as part of the OJC Series and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI with all-analog mastering from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. It is presented in a Tip-On Jacket. This reissue features remastered audio from the original master tapes and also is available on 192/24 hi res digital.
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The Harden Trio – Columbia Singles (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 31:39 minutes | 355 MB | Genre: Country, Oldies
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia – Legacy
Sibling act the Harden Trio was basically a one hit wonder, but they spent many years at the Grand Ole Opry. Robbie, Arleen, and Bobby Harden were all born in England, Arkansas, an area of the Ozarks noted for its rich musical heritage. They teamed as teens and performed locally, first gaining professional notice when they joined Barnyard Frolics in Little Rock. They became popular and joined the Ozark Mountain Jubilee in Springfield, Missouri, and Louisiana Hayride. Their success led them to Nashville, where they appeared on WSM’s Opry Almanac.
In 1965, they made their recording debut with “Poor Boy,” which did nothing on the charts. Their second single, “Tippy Toeing,” was their biggest; it hit number three on the country charts, crossed over to the pop Top 50, and earned the group a spot on the Opry. In 1967, Arleen and Robbie left the group to go solo. Bobby tried to keep the band going with Karen Wheeler and Shirley Michaels, but the trio broke up in 1968, and Bobby went solo as well. Arleen, who changed her name to Arlene, did have some success as a singer, making the charts 16 times over the six years she spent with Columbia. In 1968, she and Bobby had success with a duet, “Who Loves You.” In 1974, she changed her name back and scored one minor hit, her version of Helen Reddy’s “Leave Me Alone (Little Ruby Red Dress).” Meanwhile, Bobby found his calling as a successful songwriter.
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The Franklin Electric – This Time I See It (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 38:42 minutes | 450 MB | Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Nettwerk Music Group
The Montreal-based collective founded and fronted by Jon Matte transforms experiences into anthems and has done so since emerging on the 2014 debut, This Is How I Let You Down. Logging nearly 400 shows, they canvased the world alongside everyone from Mumford & Sons, Ben Howard to Edward Sharpe, City and Colour an Half Moon Run. Along the way, 2017’s Blue Ceilings marked a major milestone. Not only did the record produce favourites such as “I Know The Feeling” and “Someone Just Like You,” but it also led to a nomination at the 2018 JUNO® awards in the category of Breakthrough Group of the Year. The latter experience set the stage for his next evolution. In Vancouver for the ceremony, Jon identified an endless wellspring of inspiration from the mountains and landscapes of the Canadian West Coast. So, he holed up in Vancouver to write what would become the 2019 EP, In Your Head (Nettwerk)— and more forthcoming tunes. During 2019, he took those ideas and images to several Vancouver studios and cut the five tracks comprising In Your Head. As a producer, Jon added electronics and programming from his home studio. Given the personal nature of his journey, he tried to translate normal and honest everyday feelings to his songwriting.
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The Foreign Resort – Outnumbered (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 44:52 minutes | 517 MB | Genre: Post Punk, New Wave, Shoegaze
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Artoffact Records
Formed in 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Foreign Resort has spent 10 years creating and honing an explosive yet melancholy post-punk sound that is as rich as it is exciting, and as immediate as it is dark and deep. The new album Outnumbered is no exception, supported by N. American and European tours, a stellar video premiered by Decibel, and a sound that will infest your ears!
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The Hagaw Assoziation – Happy Hagaw (1969/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 33:03 minutes | 622 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © MPS
How to describe this Polish band, this music? Bandleader Grzegorz Brudko explains, “You simply can’t call our music ‘traditional’. We play in Hagaw style”. Call it trad, old-time, swing; it’s irreverent, comedic, with musical antics that straddle the line between party music and German cabaret. There is music in their madness, however.
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Carlo Alberto Bacchi – Clementi: Sonatas, Op. 1 & Op. 1A (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:12:10 minutes | 1,08 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Piano Classics
While Clementi’s sparkling music has been recorded by many celebrated pianists such as Arturo Benedetti MIchelangeli, few of them have paid much attention to the composer’s first published collection. This new recording by Carlo Alberto Bacchi is all the more welcome for being informed by his study of the composer’s complete oeuvre as part of the ‘Clementi Project’ which sees him performing many of the sonatas in concert as well as recording them for Piano Classics.
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Alan Cumming, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, John Mauceri – Tchaikovsky by Arrangement (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:15:11 minutes | 2,60 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Toccata Classics
Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, which has its origins in a novella by E. T. A. Hoffmann, contains some of the best-loved music ever written. But its composer wasn’t very happy with it, perhaps because the plot he was given to work with allowed him to present only a series of dances, losing the moral basis of Hoffman’s surprisingly modern tale, with its messages of inclusivity and what is now called ‘women’s agency’ – here it is the little girl who saves the prince. Hoffmann’s aspirational story continues well after the ballet ends, with the little girl, now grown up, marrying the prince, who is now king. John Mauceri has brought the ballet back to its inspiration, calling on music from elsewhere in Tchaikovsky’s orchestral output to fashion this ‘re-telling’, marrying Hoffmann’s text and Tchaikovsky’s music for the first time.
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