Paul Weller – Studio 150 (2004)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 45:49 minutes | Scans included | 3,02 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 909 MB
Features 2.0 Stereo & 5.1 multichannel Surround sound
For Studio 150, his seventh solo studio album, Paul Weller delivers his first official covers album. Not that he’s been reluctant to cover other songwriters, of course. Throughout his career, he’s made covers a staple of his records and concerts. In fact, he cut so many as B-sides in the ’90s that his 2003 B-sides and rarities compilation Fly on the Wall had a whole disc devoted to material from other songwriters. Studio 150 feels like a sister album to that disc, and not just because it shares a similar sensibility and has songs by both Tim Hardin and Neil Young. Musically, Studio 150 sounds as if it could have been recorded in 1995 as the missing link between Stanley Road and Heavy Soul, containing the swinging mod vibe of the former with the tough, muscular punch of the latter. While it could be argued that Weller is treading water, or even retreating after the subtle shifts forward on Illumination, it’s almost a moot point since the band sounds terrific and he’s in fine voice. Plus, this is a covers album and innovation isn’t exactly expected on covers albums. What is expected is that the artist puts his own signature on songs from another writer, and Weller does that. True, as a whole Studio 150 doesn’t sound all that different from other records in his catalog, but he’s managed to find new spins on perennials like “Close to You” and “All Along the Watchtower,” interpretations that fit within his signature blend of ’70s soul, mod pop, and singer/songwriter introspection. Not surprisingly, the bulk of the album consists of songs from the late ’60s and ’70s, with selections from singer/songwriters like Tim Hardin, Gil Scott-Heron, Gordon Lightfoot, and Neil Young sitting comfortably next to relatively obscure soul and disco singles (with a previously unrecorded song from Weller disciple Noel Gallagher blending into the surroundings nicely). Some of these songs are familiar, but these arrangements are distinctly Weller’s own, and it makes for an effective listen — maybe not a major effort from the Modfather, but an enjoyable one all the same.
Read morePaul Stephenson – Mother Nature’s Rules (2018)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 49:49 minutes | Scans NOT included | 2,0 GB
or FLAC (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/48 kHz | Front, Scans NOT included | 595 MB
Stockfisch Records # SFR # 357.4082.2 | Genre: Pop, Folk, Acoustic
Paul Stephenson is not only a very delicate and refined guitar stylist but also a genuine poet. These songs bring to mind a time when Simon & Garfunkel songs received regular air-play on the radio. Lyrics remind us to appreciate the life we’ve been given be grateful for people in our lives. Intricate, finely crafted and sensitive to life’s mutability, the songs are performed with understated passion and tenderness.
Read morePaul Stephenson – Girl With A Mirror (2014)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 57:22 minutes | Scans included | 2,36 GB
or FLAC (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/48 kHz | Basic Scans included | 714 MB
Stockfisch Records # SFR # 357.4069.2 | Genre: Folk
A decade of life with all its peaks and troughs in roughly one nanosecond. Qantum physics? Sorcery? Not quite: You can always count on a man – Paul Stephenson! No, his new Album is NOT Light Green Ball – it’s GIRL WITH A MIRROR.
Read morePaul Revere and The Raiders – Hard ‘N’ Heavy & Indian Reservation (1969 & 1971) [Reissue 2019]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 69:06 minutes | Front, Scans NOT included | 3,25 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | 72:07m | Scans NOT included | 1,6 GB
2 LP on 1 SACD | Features Stereo and Quadrophonic Surround Sound | Vocalion # CDSML 8563
Paul Revere & the Raiders were hard-working American Rock & Roll band of the 1960s who gained plenty of hits but suffered in comparison with their flashier British counterparts. One of the most popular and entertaining rock groups of the 1960s, Paul Revere & the Raiders enjoyed seven years of serious chart action, and during their three biggest years (1966-1969), sold records in numbers behind only the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. This Dutton Vocalion’s reissue combines pair of the band’s albums – “Hard ‘n’ Heavy (with Marshmallow)” from 1969 and “Indian Reservation” from 1971, which features their first U.S. number one single (Indian Reservation).
Read morePaul Mauriat – Penelope & Holidays (1972/1973) [Reissue 2017]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 79:28 minutess | Scans included | 3,2 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 1,37 GB
Features Stereo and Multichannel surround sound | Label: Vocalion # CDLK 4607
Two early 70s gems from French Easy Listening maestro Paul Mauriat – both from a time when he was at the height of his powers! “Penelope” has a sexy lady on the front cover, and a sound that definitely matches that mood too – although Mauriat also manages to bring up some funky strings at a few points too – maybe giving the music more of a special sort of soundtrack mix than some of his earlier records! The sound is bright, but never too polished. “Holidays” is a sweet set that serves up easy instrumental versions of European and American pop hits from the late 60s and early 70s – all done with that spacious blend of strings, piano, and electric bottom bass that always made Paul Mauriat one of the sexier, slinkier easy listening artists of his time!
Read morePaul Mauriat – En Espana & Michele (1975/1976) [Reissue 2019]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 78:46 minutess | Scans included | 1,25 GB
or FLAC 2.0 (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Full Scans included | 1,75 GB
Vocalion’s Reissue of Paul Mauriat’s “En España” & “Michèle”. Both are remastered by Michael J. Dutton and expanded with some bonus tracks from “Mon Amour Je Viens Du Bout Du Monde/Lili Marlene” LP. This time in Stereo only.
Read morePaul Mauriat – Emmanuelle & Fantastic 4 Channel (1976+73) [Reissue 2020]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 73:53 minutes | Front/Rear Covers | 3,31 GB
or DSD64 2.0 Stereo (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Front/Rear Covers | 2,95 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | F/R Covers | 1,57 GB
2 LP on 1 SACD | Features Stereo and Quadrophonic Surround Sound | Vocalion # CDLK 4634
Two slinky 70s classics from French maestro Paul Mauriat – still doing great at this point in his career. Emmanuelle is a record that has Mauriat taking on the lead theme of the 70s erotic film at the start – then moving into a whole host of 70s covers, too – all done with Mauriat’s trademark sense of timing alongside swirling strings – a bit of bass at the bottom, some well-paced arrangements on the top – occasionally nodding to a bit of the disco of the generation, but never too much overall. Titles include “Emmanuelle”, “Angie Baby”, “Mandy”, “Oumparere”, “Have You Never Been Mellow”, and “Rock The Boat”. Fantastic 4 Channel is a record that Paul Mauriat created for the Quad generation – and as such, it’s got a very nice mix of tracks from previous recordings, but recast for the four-speaker mode – which means even more dynamic sound than before! Titles include “Anonimo Veneziano”, “Colombe Ivre”, “Un Banc Un Abre Un Rue”, “L’Amerique”, “Tombe La Negie”, and “Love Story”.
Read morePaul Mauriat – El Bimbo & Toccata (1975,1973) [SACD 2019]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 (4.0) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 01:10:42, 01:11:01 minutes | 3,25 GB
Genre: Jazz, Easy Listening | Scans included | Label: Vocalion
Vocalion favourite Paul Mauriat makes a welcome return with a further two albums, El Bimbo (1975) and Toccata (1973), which presented the complete original stereo and quadraphonic mixes of 24 titles culled from his back catalogue. Originally produced for the Japanese 4DX series, this reissue makes them widely available for the first time.
Read morePaul Chambers – Whims Of Chambers (1956) [APO Remaster 2010]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 38:17 minutes | Scans included | 1,58 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 704 MB
Of the seven songs on this Blue Note date, four are more common than the other three because they contain solos by tenor saxophonist John Coltrane and have therefore been reissued more often. Actually there are quite a few solos in the all-star sextet (which includes the bassist-leader, Coltrane, trumpeter Donald Byrd, guitarist Kenny Burrell, pianist Horace Silver, and drummer Philly Joe Jones) and all of the players get their chances to shine on this fairly spontaneous hard bop set. Coltrane’s two obscure compositions (“Nita” and “Just for the Love”) are among the more memorable tunes and are worth reviving. “Tale of the Fingers” features the quintet without Coltrane, the rhythm section stretches out on “Whims of Chambers,” and “Tale of the Fingers” is a showcase for Chambers’ bowed bass. This is a fine effort and would be worth picking up by straight-ahead jazz fans even if John Coltrane had not participated.
Read morePaul Bley with Masahiko Togashi – Echo (1999)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 60:55 minutes | Front/Rear Covers | 2,5 GB
or DSD64 Stereo (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Front/Rear Covers | 2,46 GB
or FLAC (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Front/Rear Covers | 0,99 GB
Certainly, Paul Bley is no stranger to jazz fans, but he is more closely associated with the avant garde than with the mainstream, and this title is among his more abstract dates. Many fans of Bley maintain that he is best heard solo, and this 1999 recording comes pretty close – Bley’s free improvisations are accompanied sparingly by the intelligent percussion of Togashi.
Read morePaul O’Brien – Long May You Sing (2013)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 54:33 minutes | Basic Covers included | 2,19 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Basic Covers included | 1,02 GB
He is a songwriter with deep roots and broad horizons. An English-born child of Irish immigrants now living in British Columbia, he cut his teeth on Irish music. A natural story teller, Paul O’Brien has developed an eclectic folk style that is broadly appealing and not easily categorized. This is his second album for Stockfisch Records. On this album Paul is joined (among others) by master Canadian guitar player and composer Don Ross. On the album there are songs written by Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchel, Neil Young, and Leonard Cohen to name but a few.
Read morePatsy Cline – Patsy Cline’s Greatest Hits (1967) [Analogue Productions Remaster 2013]
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DSD64 Stereo > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 33:07 minutes | Scans included | 1012 MB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 698 MB
Four years after her tragic death in a place crash at the age of 30, Patsy Cline was still one of the best-loved female vocalists in country music, and in 1967 Decca Records, the label that released the bulk of her hits, responded with this album, a collection of 12 of her most popular songs. There isn’t anything particularly artful about the way this album was compiled or designed, but Patsy Cline’s Greatest Hits certainly delivers what its title promises: these were most certainly the most popular tunes Cline cut during her tenure with Decca, and every one is a stunner, with Cline’s rich, powerful voice gliding over the polished and evocative production by Owen Bradley. Cline and Bradley didn’t invent “countrypolitan,” but precious few artists managed to meld the sophistication of pop and the emotional honesty of country as brilliantly as this music accomplishes with seemingly effortless grace, and these songs still sound fresh and brilliantly crafted decades after the fact. This isn’t the most thorough of the literally dozens of Patsy Cline collections on the market, and it isn’t the best, but this was one of the first efforts to sum up her career in the years after her passing, and in 33 minutes it makes an airtight case that Cline was one of the finest and most versatile singers to ever step before a microphone. No small accomplishment, that.
Read morePatrick Zimmerli – Phoenix (2005)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 64:03 minutes | Scans included | 3,18 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 1,15 GB
Features Stereo and Multichannel surround sound | Songlines Recordings # SGL SA1548-2
Phoenix, the sixth album by Patrick Zimmerli and his fourth on Songlines, finds the New York-based composer/saxophonist investigating new avenues of expression. The record integrates saxophone and jazz instruments with electronics and strings to create an appealing hybrid sound. It draws on Zimmerli’s wealth of experience in jazz, classical, and electronic/popular and film music. Sonically lush, beautifully recorded, and creatively mixed in 5.0 surround sound, Phoenix offers a varied set of responses to contemporary life that is both aesthetically intriguing and immediately approachable.
Read more