SACD / DSD

Cannonball Adderly with Bill Evans – Know What I Mean (1961) [Analogue Productions 2002] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · November 11, 2022 · Comments off

What’s better than a Bill Evans Trio album? How about a Bill Evans trio album on which the bassist is Percy Heath, the drummer is Connie Kay, and the leader is not Evans but alto sax god Cannonball Adderley, making the group actually a quartet? It’s a different sort of ensemble, to be sure, and the musical results are marvelous. Adderley’s playing on “Waltz for Debby” is both muscular and sensitive, as it is on the other Evans composition here, a modal ballad called “Know What I Mean?” Other treats include the sprightly “Toy” and two takes of the Gershwin classic “Who Cares?” The focus here is, of course, on Adderley’s excellent post-bop stylings, but it’s also interesting to hear Evans playing with a rhythm section as staid and conservative as Kay and Heath (both charter members of the Modern Jazz Quartet). It’s hard to imagine any fan of mainstream jazz not finding much to love on this very fine recording.

(more…)

Candido & Graciela – Inolvidable (2004) [Reissue 2005] MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · November 9, 2022 · Comments off

In Spanish, the word “inolvidable” means “unforgettable.” A title as lofty as Inolvidable would, in many cases, be an example of excessive hype, but when the artists in question are percussionist Candido Camero and singer Graciela Perez, the word “unforgettable” is definitely appropriate — their contributions to Afro-Cuban jazz music are exactly that. Camero and Perez go back a long way; they first met in the ’40s, when Perez was a featured vocalist for Machito’s band (a gig that lasted into the ’70s). Perez retired from performing in 1993, but Camero managed to lure her back into the studio for this 2004 release. Both of them were octogenarians when Inolvidable came out; Camero was 82, while Perez was 88. Produced by Nelson Gonzalez and David Chesky (with Charles Carlini serving as associate producer), Inolvidable finds Camero and Perez turning their attention to classic Latin gems like “Cesar Portillo de la Luz,” “Tu Mi Delirio” and Rafael Hernandez’ “Desvelo” — and the octogenarians happily recreate the spirit of jazz-influenced Afro-Cuban dance music as it sounded in the ’40s and ’50s (but with the digital technology of the 21st century). Despite Perez’ physical limitations — she has been plagued by debilitating arthritis — the veteran singer brings a great deal of enthusiasm to this project. And for 88, Perez still sounds surprisingly good; she doesn’t have the vocal stamina of her youth, but she gets her points across nonetheless — and being reunited with Camero seems to really inspire her on the album’s up-tempo selections as well as romantic boleros such as Hernandez’ “Amor Ciego,” and Arsenio Rodriguez’ “La Vida Es Un Sueño.” For Afro-Cuban enthusiasts, a Camero/Perez reunion is truly an historic event — one that yields consistently enjoyable results on Inolvidable.

(more…)

Anna Malikova, WDR-Sinfonieorchester Köln, Thomas Sanderling – Camille Saint-Saëns – Piano Concertos Nos. 3 & 5 (2007) MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · November 9, 2022 · Comments off

Anna Malikova, WDR-Sinfonieorchester Köln, Thomas Sanderling – Camille Saint-Saëns – Piano Concertos Nos. 3 & 5 (2007)
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 2,75 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 941 MB | Full Artwork
Label/Cat#: Audite # aud 10.012 | Country/Year: Germany 2007 | Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic

The five piano concertos of St.-Saens are not frequently heard and that is a shame in view of the endless repeats of the Tchaikovsky, Grieg and Schumann warhorses. They are all well-composed examples of the best of French instrumental music of the later 19th century and full of lovely melodies that would appeal greatly to concert audiences. I hadn’t enjoyed any of them for some time and it was a pleasure to have these two concertos in enveloping hi-res surround. I don’t know how we missed out on Vol. I but plan to check into that.

Brian Bloom talks in his Denon receiver review this issue about the people who often prefer the stereo mix on SACDs to the multichannel. I admit I seldom check either the CD or stereo options anymore because I always hear about the same thing in comparison. I really can’t imagine why anyone with five properly matched and located speakers would prefer the stereo mix to the multichannel mix! On these concertos the two-channel option is excellent and there is little one would miss. However, when switching to the multichannel option the soundstage takes on a depth and breadth it didn’t have, and the piano is better separated from the sound of the orchestra. There’s much more “air” around everything. The piano still sounds too wide but that’s a given.

The first movement of the Third Concerto is so bombastic one might almost think the composer was humorously depicting a lion or elephant from his Carnival of the Animals. It’s slow movement is rather brooding, but the finale is a colorful showpiece for the soloist. The Fifth Concerto is sometimes subtitled “Egyptian Concerto” because that is where it was composed. St.-Saens frequently spent time in North Africa, which had started when he was a child with a medical problems. He indicated the middle movement was a sort of tour of the Orient. One theme in it is a Nubian love song which the composer had heard boatmen on the Nile sing. The opening and closing movements are however thoroughly French. Orchestration is very colorful, with solos originating in the winds and strings. 4/5 ~audiophile-audition

(more…)

Cameron Carpenter – Revolutionary (2008) MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · November 9, 2022 · Comments off

Cameron Carpenter has been lauded as “the Maverick organist”, “madly original”, and “a superstar of the 21st-century organ”. His debut recording, Revolutionary, showcases an artist who is not only breaking new ground, but who runs a musical gamut that any musician would be extremely hard-pressed to match. This album made Carpenter the first organist ever to receive a Grammy nomination in the category ‘Best Solo Instrumental Performance’ (without orchestra) for a solo album.

(more…)

Camel – Music Inspired by The Snow Goose (1975) [SHM-SACD 2011] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · November 9, 2022 · Comments off

Camel’s classic period started with The Snow Goose, an instrumental concept album based on a novella by Paul Gallico. Although there are no lyrics on the album — two songs feature wordless vocals — the music follows the emotional arc of the novella’s story, which is about a lonely man named Rhayader who helps nurse a wounded snow goose back to health with the help of a young girl called Fritha he recently befriended. Once the goose is healed, it is set free, but Fritha no longer visits the man because the goose is gone. Later, Rhayader is killed in battle during the evacuation of Dunkirk. The goose returned during the battle, and it is then named La Princesse Perdue, symbolizing the hopes that can still survive even during the evils of war. With such a complex fable to tell, it is no surprise that Camel keep their improvisational tendencies reigned in, deciding to concentrate on surging, intricate soundscapes that telegraph the emotion of the piece without a single word. And even though The Snow Goose is an instrumental album, it is far more accessible than some of Camel’s later work, since it relies on beautiful sonic textures instead of musical experimentation.

(more…)

Camel – The Snow Goose (1975) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2016] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · November 9, 2022 · Comments off

Camel – The Snow Goose (1975) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2016]
Camel – The Snow Goose (1975) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2016 # UIGY-15035]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 48:49 minutes | Scans included | 1,97 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 979 MB
Bonus Track Edition – Universal Japan # UIGY-15035

Camel’s classic period started with The Snow Goose, an instrumental concept album based on a novella by Paul Gallico. Although there are no lyrics on the album – two songs feature wordless vocals – the music follows the emotional arc of the novella’s story, which is about a lonely man named Rhayader who helps nurse a wounded snow goose back to health with the help of a young girl called Fritha he recently befriended. Once the goose is healed, it is set free, but Fritha no longer visits the man because the goose is gone. Later, Rhayader is killed in battle during the evacuation of Dunkirk. The goose returned during the battle, and it is then named La Princesse Perdue, symbolizing the hopes that can still survive even during the evils of war. With such a complex fable to tell, it is no surprise that Camel keep their improvisational tendencies reigned in, deciding to concentrate on surging, intricate soundscapes that telegraph the emotion of the piece without a single word. And even though The Snow Goose is an instrumental album, it is far more accessible than some of Camel’s later work, since it relies on beautiful sonic textures instead of musical experimentation.

(more…)

Camel – Rain Dances (1977) [Japanese SHM-SACD 2014] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · November 9, 2022 · Comments off

The band’s fifth release, Rain Dances is Camel at its best, offering the most consistent and representative package in their saga. The addition of Caravan-cofounder Richard Sinclair proves profitable, as do a few colorist touches by Brian Eno on “Elke.” Mel Collins’ woodwinds are among the highlights, especially on “Tell Me” and the title track. From beginning to end, this project flows gracefully.

(more…)

Camel – Moonmadness (1976) [Japanese SHM-SACD 2014] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · November 9, 2022 · Comments off

Abandoning the lovely soundscapes of Snow Goose, Camel delved into layered guitar and synthesizers similar to those of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here on the impressive Moonmadness. Part of the reason behind the shift in musical direction was the label’s insistence that Camel venture into more commercial territory after the experimental Snow Goose, and it is true that the music on Moonmadness is more akin to traditional English progressive rock, even though it does occasionally dip into jazz-fusion territory with syncopated rhythms and shimmering keyboards. Furthermore, the songs are a little more concise and accessible than those of its predecessor. That doesn’t mean Camel has abandoned art. Moonmadness is indeed a concept album, based loosely on the personalities of each member — “Chord Change” is Peter Bardens, “Air Born” is Andy Latimer, “Lunar Sea” is Andy Ward and “Another Night” is Doug Ferguson. Certainly, it’s a concept that is considerably less defined than that of Snow Goose, and the music isn’t quite as challenging, yet that doesn’t mean that Moonmadness is devoid of pleasure. In fact, with its long stretches of atmospheric instrumentals and spacy solos, it’s quite rewarding.

(more…)

Caetano Veloso – A Foreign Sound (2004) MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · November 9, 2022 · Comments off

When an international artist records an English-language album, crossover is usually in the cards. For Caetano Veloso, however, it’s an entirely different matter. The statesman of Brazilian pop, a musical giant who is on track to record more in his fifth decade of artistic striving than in any other (not to mention his accompanying exploits in literature), Veloso has no need to begin an American campaign. He also has shown no wish to. Caetano Veloso has never courted an American audience, though he has drawn a sizeable one because of his prescient, emotionally charged songwriting and a performance style that can be studied or unhinged depending on the circumstances required. A Foreign Sound is not only an English-language album but an American songbook, one that explores Veloso’s long fascination with the greatest composers in American history. It began when he was a child in the ’40s and ’50s enamored of American culture, was strengthened when his hero João Gilberto began championing the great American songbook, and has remained steady if not continuous through his artistic career. The record is perhaps his most ambitious project ever, a 22-song album that ranges for its material from emperors of Broadway to the denizens of folk music, from the cultured (Rodgers & Hart’s “Manhattan”) to the torchy (Jerome Kern’s “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”) to the gritty (Nirvana’s “Come as You Are”). Veloso’s high tenor has only strengthened 30 years after his other English-language record — an eponymous 1971 LP, recorded in London as a forlorn postcard to the country he had been forcibly removed from by Brazil’s fascist-leaning government. Although few recordings in his discography (or any other’s) can rival that one’s emotional power, A Foreign Sound comes very close. Veloso transforms these standards by a clever combination of his subtle interpretive gifts, his precise, literate delivery, and his ability to frame each song with an arrangement that fits perfectly (usually either a small group led by his acoustic guitar or a small string group, though “Love for Sale” is given a spine-tingling a cappella treatment). Out of 22 songs, only Bob Dylan’s “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” sounds like a mistake; every other performance here is nearly irresistible, the perfect valentine to a country with a strong songwriting tradition that Veloso unites and celebrates with this album.

(more…)

Celine Dion – All The Way… A Decade Of Song (1999) [Reissue 2001] MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · November 9, 2022 · Comments off

There aren’t a lot of greatest-hits albums with seven new songs, which is exactly what All the Way: A Decade of Song is. There are just nine hits on this hits collection, and of those, only a handful — “If You Asked Me To,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Power of Love,” “Because You Loved Me,” “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” and “My Heart Will Go On” — were huge hits in the U.S. Her first American hit, “Where Does My Heart Beat Now,” isn’t here, nor is her duet with Barbra Streisand, “Tell Him.” Naturally, this means it’s not a definitive collection, but rather an unsatisfying album that feels suspiciously like a piece of product. The best of the hits, like the Meat Loaf-ian epic “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” and “My Heart Will Go On,” are certainly among the best adult contemporary songs of the decade, and the new stuff would pale in comparison, even if it was very good — which, by and large, it is not. Two numbers, the danceable “That’s the Way it Is” and the pretty ballad “If Walls Could Talk,” work, but the cover of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” falls flat and “All the Way,” complete with old vocals from Sinatra, is a disaster. The remaining three aren’t bad, but they’re not particularly memorable, especially compared to the hits. And that’s the problem with All the Way — if it had been a straight hits collection, with “That’s the Way it Is” and “If Walls Could Talk” added to the end, it would have been fine, but padding it with nearly a full album worth of new material hurts it.

(more…)

Celine Dion – Falling Into You (1996) [Reissue 2015] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · November 9, 2022 · Comments off

Celine Dion’s Falling into You returned the Canadian vocalist to the top of the American charts, and for good reason. Although the album is formulaic, it’s a well-executed, stylish, and catchy formula, accentuating her natural vocal charm. Dion shines on ballads like “Because You Love Me” and mock epics like Jim Steinman’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.” Between those two peaks, she tackles dance-pop and love songs with grace; that effortless elegance saves the mediocre material on the album from being tedious. Though there are a couple of weak tracks, Falling into You is a remarkably well-crafted set of adult contemporary pop and Dion’s best album.

(more…)

Celine Dion – The Essential Celine Dion (2011) [3xSACD] FLAC 24bit/88.2kHz

SACD / DSD By admin · November 9, 2022 · Comments off

Following the first Celine Dion collection, All the Way: A Decade of Song, by roughly a decade, The Essential Celine Dion doubles almost everything about the initial collection: it covers two decades instead of one and has three discs, not one. It’s almost an overcompensation for how All the Way concentrated on newer recordings at the expense of hits, but then again, Celine has had more hits in the ten years since All the Way, so it makes sense that Essential is a bigger, grander collection. The problem is, apart from her cover of Roy Orbison’s “I Drove All Night,” almost none of her new-millennium hits are as memorable as her singles from the ’90s, so this triple CD doesn’t offer too much of an enticement for fans to replace 1999’s single-disc set. But for those listeners who are looking for an overview of Celine Dion’s two decades as an international superstar, Essential fits the bill well as it has all her big adult contemporary hits — “Where Does My Heart Beat Now,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “If You Asked Me To,” “Because You Loved Me,” “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” and “My Heart Will Go On” — all sequenced chronologically. –Stephen Thomas Erlewine (more…)

Cowboy Junkies – Whites Off Earth Now (1986) [MFSL 2006] MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · November 8, 2022 · Comments off

Although it didn’t originally have anything to do with their sound, the Cowboy Junkies’ name wound up seeming pretty accurate: their music was grounded in traditional country, blues, and folk, yet drifted along in a sleepy, narcotic haze that clearly bore the stamp of the Velvet Underground.

(more…)

Cowboy Junkies – The Trinity Session (1988) [Analogue Productions 2016] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · November 8, 2022 · Comments off

Who says you can’t make a great record in one day — or night, as the case may be? The Trinity Session was recorded in one night using one microphone, a DAT recorder, and the wonderful acoustics of the Holy Trinity in Toronto. Interestingly, it’s the album that broke the Cowboy Junkies in the United States for their version of “Sweet Jane,” which included the lost verse. It’s far from the best cut here, though. There are other covers, such as Margo Timmins’ a cappella read of the traditional “Mining for Gold,” a heroin-slow version of Hank Williams’ classic “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Dreaming My Dreams With You” (canonized by Waylon Jennings), and a radical take of the Patsy Cline classic “Walkin’ After Midnight” that closes the disc. Those few who had heard the band’s previous album, Whites Off Earth Now!!, were aware that, along with Low, the Cowboy Junkies were the only band at the time capable of playing slower than Neil Young and Crazy Horse — and without the ear-threatening volume. The Timmins family — Margo, guitarist and songwriter Michael, drummer Peter, and backing vocalist and guitarist John — along with bassist Alan Anton and a few pals playing pedal steel, accordion, and harmonica, paced everything to crawl.

(more…)

Cowboy Junkies – Open (2001) [Reissue 2002] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · November 8, 2022 · Comments off

Cowboy Junkies have a sound, a vibe. There’s no denying it. You can tell it’s them within a few notes and each successive record seems to pick up right where the last one left off. Some, like The Trinity Sessions, are dark, moody, and mellow, like being coated in honey and draped in velvet. Others, take Pale Sun, Crescent Moon for example, seem downright energetic in comparison. Open is more in line with the first batch, though it has moments of near-enthusiastic revelry. With Alan Anton’s plump (rather than phat) basslines, Peter Timmins’ laid-back drumming, and Michael Timmins’ dirty guitars to ride on, Margo Timmins contributes her trademark sensual, yet understated vocal performances. The whole gang sounds as good as ever. And, although he may be called a songwriter, Michael Timmins is more a true poet with musical inclinations. Full of wonder and romance, fear and passion, Open is simply the next chapter in his sublime book of heartfelt verse. The compassionate tenderness of “Thousand Year Prayer” contrasts nicely with the harmonica and feedback duel of “Dragging Hooks.” And darn if “I’m So Open” doesn’t bounce right along on a little groove. They’ve got it all here. If nothing else, this band is one of the most consistent around. Though album sales may not always reflect it, they continually deliver strong records that refuse to be faulted for anything other than being non-mainstream.

(more…)