Trio con Brio Copenhagen – Poul Ruders: Piano Trio (World Premiere Recording) (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 21:32 minutes | 769 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © OUR Recordings
There are some musical forms that that have been so defined within the classical canon that any new work seeking admission faces a formidable challenge. Take for example string quartets, a genre univer- sally recognized as the acid test of a composer’s mettle, Likewise, the Piano Trio, a form whose roots nominally go back as far as the Baroque, would become one of the preeminent musical genres of the Romantic era. And yet, many of the greatest additions to the repertoire are one-offs, with often no more than one or two within a composer’s oeuvre.
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Tony Arnold, William Sharp, Seth Knopp – Eric Nathan: Some Favored Nook (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 45:51 minutes | 768 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © New Focus Recordings
Eric Nathan’s Some Favored Nook goes far beyond a setting of texts by Emily Dickinson and abolitionist and essayist Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Nathan’s piece is a dramatization of the relationship between these two historical figures, incorporating text settings of Dickinson’s poetry as well as a libretto by Mark Campbell that is woven from their correspondence. Nathan’s curation of that correspondence focused on themes related to slavery and the American Civil War. The result, performed here by soprano Tony Arnold, baritone William Sharp, and pianist Seth Knopp, is a poignant and intimate work that explores a friendship within the context of a nation in turmoil, ideologically and on the literal battlefield. Some Favored Nook allows the listener to reflect on another fraught time in the history of the United States, as we live through our own era of conflict.
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Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Daníel Bjarnason – A Prayer To The Dynamo / Suites from Sicario & The Theory of Everything (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:00:46 minutes | 1,06 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
Deutsche Grammophon is proud to release the world premiere recording of Jóhann Jóhannsson’s A Prayer to the Dynamo. This major orchestral work was inspired in general by the composer’s fascination with technology, and in particular by field recordings he made at Iceland’s Elliðaár power plant and the writings of Henry Adams.
It is paired on this new album with two suites compiled and arranged by the composer from existing material drawn from his Academy Award-nominated scores for Sicario and The Theory of Everything, also recorded here for the first time.
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Hansjörg Albrecht – The Bruckner Symphonies, Vol. 7 – Organ Transcriptions (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:13:55 minutes | 1,12 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Oehms Classics
This series marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Anton Bruckner, which falls in 2024. It’s dedicated to Bruckner’s symphonies, most of them recorded in new transcriptions for organ by Hansjörg Albrecht. The 8th recording was made on the organ at Gewandhaus in Leipzig with the transcription of Bruckner’s 7th Symphony by Erwin Horn.
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Summer Camp – Bad Love (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 38:51 minutes | 483 MB | Genre: Indie Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Moshi Moshi
After one album that was stuck in the ’80s and one that tipped too far in the direction of slick radio pop, Summer Camp’s third album, and first to be self-produced, shows the band finally starting to forge some kind of unique identity. Bad Love starts off with a four-song segment that downplays their love of ’80s pop, adds some ’90s grit, and has a tougher, more exciting sound, bringing in fuzzy shoegaze guitars, punchy tempos, and impassioned vocals. It’s a bracing start and at least one of the songs, the opening “Bad Love,” sounds like a sure-fire hit single. The others get the arrangements just right and have cute little bits that stand out like shards of glass on a sidewalk; the vocal counterpoint between Elizabeth Sankey and Jeremy Warmsley on the dramatic “Beautiful” and the keening guitar lead on “Sleepwalking” are two fine examples. They sound like a totally revitalized group, brushing away the gauzy haze of previous efforts with a forceful wave of their hands. Unfortunately, they can’t quite keep it up and the record gets a little soft around the middle. The loping “Horizon” is some fluffy singer/songwriter pop that would be good for a Voice audition; “Run Away” is glossy, HAIM-lite balladry that’s so slight it barely registers; and “Angela” is drippy soft rock that’s bland and forgettable. This sudden lurch into over-produced, undercooked pop is a shock and a shame. The nostalgic “Drive Past Your House” isn’t half bad though, and suddenly some hope creeps in that maybe the ship will right itself. Amazingly, it does! “If You Hate Me” provides a boost of energy, with Sankey pushing her vocals past her usual sweetness into something more urgent and Warmsley’s guitars diving back into shoegaze territory. “Keep Up” displays some fine urgency too, with the tempo positively jumping, the hooks slashing, and the words tumbling out in a welcome rush of emotion. Here’s the thing though. Between these two great songs, they manage to squeeze in the album’s worst song by far. The gratingly sappy “Everlasting” aims to be a big ’80s ballad that comes complete with gated tom-toms, programmed tambourine hits, and oversaturated, syrupy backing vocals. That three-song section is the album in a nutshell. It’s half the work of a band looking for new way to move ahead, half the work of a band giving in to the overdone, mannered mistakes that made its previous album so spotty. The most frustrating aspect of the record is that they are obviously trying hard to find their own sound and they almost get there. Certainly on “Bad Love” they do; a few other times as well. Maybe next time they’ll figure it out. Until then, a little careful curating and the listener should be able to make a pretty great EP out of this almost-there album. ~ Tim Sendra
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SUMAC – May You Be Held (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 59:47 minutes | 653 MB | Genre: Metal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Thrill Jockey Records
“As an artist in this time of significant upheaval, society seemingly having reached the end of its current iteration, it’s of critical importance to absorb and interpret this process of dissolution – and of the transformation that hopefully follows it” says Aaron Turner, guitarist and vocalist for the expressionistic metal ensemble SUMAC. “While I don’t believe we’re on the brink of collective destruction precisely now, this is clearly a pivotal stage in the story of humankind – and there is something that feels right about this music at this exact and very uncertain moment.” In this case, the music in discussion is May You Be Held, the latest album for the American-Canadian trio. Picking up where the band left off with 2018’s Love in Shadow, SUMAC push further into the extreme polarity of their sound with their latest collection of long-form composition and free-form exploration. Meticulously detailed and complex one moment, rudimentary and repetitive the next, and completely untethered and unscripted at seemingly random intervals—it’s an album that fluctuates between extreme discipline and control on one end and an almost feral energy on the other.
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Sultans Of String – Subcontinental Drift (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 45:44 minutes | 944 MB | Genre: World
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © McKhool
2015 JUNO Award Nominees and SiriusXM Award Winners Sultans of String, serve up a smorgasbord of ragas, reels and rumbas in their fifth album. This special collaborative release, ‘Subcontinental Drift’, was recorded with sitar master Anwar Khurshid, famous for performing on soundtracks of Oscar winning Life of Pi, Love Guru, as well as with many artists such as Jesse Cook’s new CD “One World”. ‘Subcontinental Drift’ is more than a global sonic tapestry. It is a musical promise that embraces differences while finding common ground across culture, land, and time. Indeed, while the album treks across all kinds of musical terrain, the fertile soil beneath each track is fed by hope unhindered and freedom found. At the core of the band’s sound is McKhool’s (Jesse Cook, Pavlo) bold and fiery fiddle, melded seamlessly with founding guitarist Kevin Laliberté’s (Jesse Cook) rumba rhythm – together their musical synergy created Sultans of String’s signature sound – the intimate and playful relationship between violin and guitar. Added to this rich foundation are bass master Drew Birston (Chantal Kreviazuk), guitar wizard Eddie Paton, Cuban percussion master Rosendo Chendy Leon (Alex Cuba) as well as very special guest Khurshid.
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Stéphane de Carvalho – Cathédrales (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:10:12 minutes | 1,16 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Paraty
An invitation to journey through the South American continent, where the learned is nourished by the popular, and the popular becomes learned.The music of Villa-Lobos symbolizes this fusion of Brazilian rhythms and European musical influences: Prelude No. 2 draws on the Choro musical genre, whereas No. 3 is a tribute to Bach and No. 5 is reminiscent of the waltzes danced by the high aristocracy in Europe.Léo Brouwer creates a most colourful style thanks to the mixture of popular elements and the African rhythms of Cuban folklore, framed by neo-romantic form and avant-garde techniques. His music is suggestive of Scriabin’s modal writing, Pasquini’s baroque motifs, not to mention echos of Beethoven’s Pastoral.The Argentine Astor Piazzolla pays homage to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, while also dealing in fugal counterpoint, especially in Primavera Porteña, which allows him to construct his New Tango.Le Porro, by the Columbian Montaña, and Los Caujaritos, by the Venezuelan Figueiredo, reveal the lightness of a Caribbean dance and the colours of the Venezuelan harp from the Los Llanos region.La Catedral, by the Paraguayan Barrios, punctuates this journey in the spirit of a pilgrimage. Motivated by a divine inspiration during his visit to the Montevideo Cathedral, the composer invites us to meditate.
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Sublime With Rome – Sirens (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 33:57 minutes | 424 MB | Genre: Rock, Reggae, Ska
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Vagrant Records
Originally formed by Sublime members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh, along with singer/songwriter Rome Ramirez, Sublime with Rome have lost Gaugh, who has been replaced by Vandals, Devo, and even Guns N’ Roses drummer Josh Freese. So why not Sublime with Rome & Josh? Actually, reviving the Long Beach All-Stars name from Wilson’s post-Sublime career would be a better idea, as the free-flowing membership is more like a “project” than a band. All that said, there’s certainly a band “feel” on this second Sublime with Rome effort. Sirens is a step up from their debut, surprising returning fans by opening with a heavily produced, Dirty Heads feature that’s quite good before sliding into the young and organic California rock-reggae that defined their mothership act. “Wherever You Go” skillfully flirts with pop-punk, “House Party” is smooth, jam-band chillin’ with no worries, and then a ripping version of Fishbone’s classic “Skankin'” brings it all home with a song from one of the original act’s influences. Freese is an excellent edition, a musician’s musician who pushes Wilson back into deep bass grooves, while Ramirez’s voice is still big, powerful, and persuasive. Problem is, that band name is more arguable than ever, and yet Sirens proves that some kind of Wilson and Ramirez project would benefit the stoned-and-sandals set, so recommend this one to every Rebelution, Pepper, or Slightly Stoopid fan you see. ~ David Jeffries
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Tasmin Little, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner – Szymanowski, Karłowicz: Violin Concertos (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:13:13 minutes | 1,22 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Chandos
It follows performances that The Guardian described as ‘a thrilling show of ferocity and feistiness’, given by the same forces in January at the Barbican. After widely acclaimed recordings of Walton’s and Lutosławski’s violin concertos, Tasmin Little again joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner, in intensely expressive interpretations of the concertos by the Polish composers Karłowicz and Szymanowski.
All were written within the space of a generation (1902, 1916, and 1933), and yet they belong to quite different worlds. One was composed at a time of national occupation, another in the throes of wartime, and yet another at a time of national renewal. The first inhabits the lyrical tradition developed by Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky, the second escapes towards Debussy and the exoticism of Mediterranean influences, while the third is imbued with the folk culture of the Tatra Mountains.
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Synergy Vocals – John Luther Adams: Arctic Dreams (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 43:47 minutes | 468 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Cold Blue Music
Composer John Luther Adams created and honed a distinctively American, rather Ivesian brand of minimalism, with a strong environmentalist bent. Arctic Dreams offers an ideal introduction to his work. It’s in seven movements, all but the last for voices and an ensemble of four string players, retuned and manipulated by electronic delay effects that make them sound like a much larger ensemble. The seven movements depict places and sensations experienced in the Arctic, where Adams spent some years as an environmental researcher, and they’ll be strikingly evocative even for listeners who don’t normally cotton to these kinds of textures. The most minimalist music is reserved for the haunting third movement, “The Circle of Suns and Moons,” which cannot help but bring a picture of the solstices of the far north to the listener’s mind but works equally well as an abstract composition. The four voices intone only intermittently intelligible names of places, plants, birds, weather, and seasons, in Alaskan Native languages, and they have to master non-sung effects that bring quite a bit of difficulty. Synergy Vocals, which has previously specialized in vocal music of Steve Reich, is ideal for this task, and the various engineering layers are cleanly fused by the Cold Blue Music label’s Nathaniel Reichman. Those already attuned to Adams’ unique world will have been awaiting this release; those new to him are recommended to check it out.
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Stuff Smith – Violin Summit (1966/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 40:53 minutes | 791 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © MPS
Stuff Smith, born as Hezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith in 1909 passed away in 1967, one year after this unique recording session. “Violin Summit” featured Stuff Smith, Stephane Grappelli, Svend Asmussen and Jean Luc-Ponty (with pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, drummer Alex Riel) in concert on September 30, 1966. It was an unique opportunity to have four of the best violin players together in one concert. The music came off quite well, in large part probably because the four violinists were paired in different sets with all four actually featured together on only one take, “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing”.
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