Swans – Great Annihilator (Remastered 2017) (1995/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:14:09 minutes | 499 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mute
SWANS have announced a remastered reissue of their ninth studio album, The Great Annihilator on Mute.
The album was entirely remastered by Doug Henderson, but only after Bill Rieflin (“honorary Swan“a revelation of great sonic effect”. Talking about the recording, Gira said “I lived in a tent in a mosquito infested studio right next to Cabrini Green in Chicago for what (?) something like 3 months, rarely leaving. Band members and Jarboe and Bill Rieflin etc came and went, and somehow we crafted this thing into what it became.”
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Swans – Children of God (1987/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:11:09 minutes | 879 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mute
SWANS have announced a remastered reissue of Children of God on 13 November 2020 via Mute / Young God Records. The album, originally released on Product Inc. (a subsidiary of Mute) in 1987 will be available on vinyl in its original packaging for the first time since that release and both the CD and vinyl issues will include the live album, Feel Good Now, recorded on the 1987 Children of God European tour.
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Sviatoslav Richter – Sviatoslav Richter at Carnegie Hall, New York City, December 23, 1960 (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:46:23 minutes | 2,13 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical
GREAT MOMENTS AT CARNEGIE HALL :: Ever since its opening night in May 1891 Carnegie Hall has held sway as the undisputed shrine of classical music in America. It was and remains the essential venue for all great artists. To celebrate Carnegie Hall’s 125th anniversary Sony Classical in cooperation with Carnegie Hall is proud to present an extraordinary new 43-CD box set of treasures from the RCA and Columbia archives featuring live recordings from many of the world’s greatest musicians. This unique deluxe edition contains a complete previously unreleased piano recital by Sviatoslav Richter and is accompanied by a 104-pages coffee table book which contains notes by Carnegie Hall archivist Gino Francesconi as well as many facsimile documents and photographs.
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Stile Antico – From the Imperial Court: Music for the House of Hapsburg (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:11:05 minutes | 1,23 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi
The 16 voices of the British choir Stile Antico have a reputation for perfect blend and for programs that go beyond the favorites generally essayed by the similarly sized British choir the Sixteen. That’s what’s in this collection of motets (and the chanson Mille regretz) united by their connection to the Hapsburg court. It may be surprising to see Thomas Tallis under that rubric, but as the informative booklet points out, he makes the cut due to the marriage of Philip II of Spain to Mary Tudor. As that suggests, and as might be expected from a collection of pieces spanning a century, the Hapsburg factor does little to unite these pieces, even if the Emperor Maximilian does get name-checked at one point. Instead, this is simply a collection of intriguing Renaissance works that are generally beyond the ones normally heard. In the Tallis and several other pieces, the singers do an especially nice job with the striking dissonances that sometimes appear in music of the earlier Renaissance; they neither gloss over the dissonances nor overemphasize them. Big pieces like Heinrich Isaac’s Virgo prudentissima contrast nicely with the the soberer idiom of the likes of Morales. In short, a very well recorded Renaissance a cappella program, marred by a needlessly confusing listing on the outer packaging that does not reflect the actual ordering of the music.
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Sverre Gjørvad – Elegy of Skies (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 39:48 minutes | 441 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Losen Records
“Elegy of Skies” is his 4th album continuing his reflections on the whereabouts in the high north of Norway.
Compared to the 2019 album “Voi River”, the music is more open, letting the band go wider in exploring the musical terrain of the compositions. Besides the original music, the album also include Paddy McAloons “Mercy”, first released on Prefab Sprouts’ album “Jordan, The Comeback”.
Svenja Van Driessche & Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort – Naissance (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:03:33 minutes | 1,14 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Antarctica Records
Two belgian talents – Svenja Van Driessche on violin, and Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort on piano, join forces to record three of their favourite pieces.
It includes two pieces that are rarely recorded and lesser known to the public. The first one is the violin sonata by Francis Poulenc. The second one is Poème by Ernest Chausson. Most of the time this piece is performed with an orchestra. This version, on violin and piano, is far more intimate, a “hidden gem”.
The disc concludes with the famous César Franck’s Sonata for violin and piano.
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Svein Finnerud Trio – Plastic Sun – Remastered (1970/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 34:44 minutes | 718 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ODIN
A Norwegian Avant-Garde Classic. Svein Finnerud Trio was one of the strongest voices in the Norwegian avant-garde of the late ‘60s/early ‘70s. Unknown outside the country, the trio pioneered forms of musical expression that later found an international audience through the ECM albums of Jan Garbarek, Arild Andersen, and Terje Rypdal. In this context, Plastic Sun is a statement as essential as any other of the period. Now finally available in a remastered edition on CD and in a 180g audiophile LP pressing. The second half of the ‘60s and the first part of the ‘70s was defined by Bitches Brew, Joy, and Afric Pepperbird; Ornette Coleman, Paul Bley Trio, and Charles Lloyd Quartet with the young Keith Jarrett, and a list of innovators much longer than this. During this period, in which cold and hot wars gave rise to rebellion, experimentation, and demand for the transformation of stagnant political, social, and cultural conventions, including musical conventions, Svein Finnerud Trio represented a vital and complex voice in the Norwegian general public. When Plastic Sun was released in the summer of 1970, it was the second album from pianist Svein Finnerud (1945-2000), bassist Bjørnar Andresen (1945-2004), and drummer Espen Rud (b. 1948), and the fact that they completed the recording in one day says something about the trio’s familiarity with playful, spontaneous musicianship and finely-tuned intercommunication. The album presents a large, thoroughly contrasting stylistic range, from funky soul/R&B-like bass grooves and cheerful piano harmonies in a Jarrett-esque gospel/folk terrain, via meditative sections to sheer free improvisation and contemporary music beyond time and tonality, and the trio went a long way in dissolving the traditional distribution of roles between soloist and accompaniment in favour of collective improvisation.
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Suzy Wallis – RCA Singles (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 19:12 minutes | 234 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RCA – Legacy
Suzy Wallis started her career in television doing Suzy’s Playroom in Saint Louis MO. I must say an amazing venture for a young girl of maybe 1o or 11. Suzy’s Playroom lead her into the mid 60’s and folk music, new rock, and a 13 year old girl gifted with a magnetic voice, and a nack for playing guitar. Suzanne Wallach, her real name, grew up in Saint Louis MO, and did a great deal of variety shows, television, and started to play folk music. She met Loren Greene from Bonanza fame, who was also a singer. He heard her at a Variety Club telethon, took her to Las Vegas, and put her to work, as one of his opening acts. Suzy Wallis was born there, and then the chance to lay down some great studio tracks with some of the best grl writers in the business. Be My Man, Little Things like That, NuNaNeeNaw and Kisses on Paper. Her voice style was a beautiful, powerful mixture of soul, pop, and one could not imagine her not being a black girl. She was a white Jewish chick who has a set of pipes…incredible. Suzanne has backed with The Beach Boys, Sergio Mendes, and others. Check her out. She is amazing. I wish we could hear more of her. Suzanne just missed the big time, with the Nyro, Mitchell, Ronstandt, King genre.
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Suzie Ungerleider – My Name Is Suzie Ungerleider (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 37:30 minutes | 385 MB | Genre: Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Female Vocal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © MVKA
Perhaps better known under her previous guise as Oh Susanna, My Name Is Suzie Ungerleider marks the tenth solo studio album by the Vancouver based singer-songwriter and the first since announcing she would record and perform under her birth name.
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Suzanne Vega – Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 36:43 minutes | 424 MB | Genre: Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Cooking Vinyl
Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles is singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega’s eighth studio album, and her first new release in seven years. It features contributions from Larry Campbell, Peter Gabriel, and Tony Levin (bass, King Crimson).
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Suzanne Vega – Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson Mccullers (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 33:06 minutes | 343 MB | Genre: Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Cooking Vinyl
“Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers” is the ninth studio album by the American singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega. The album is based on a play Carson McCullers Talks About Love about the life of the writer Carson McCullers, written and performed by Vega, which premiered in 2011.
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Suzanne Vega – An Evening of New York Songs and Stories (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:03:15 minutes | 687 MB | Genre: Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Cooking Vinyl Limited
On An Evening of New York Songs and Stories, Vega revisits some of the most iconic songs in her repertoire as well as more hidden gems in a stunning live recording on which she is backed by longtime guitarist, Gerry Leonard, bassist Jeff Allen and keyboardist Jamie Edwards. The album was produced by Gerry Leonard, mixed by Grammy Award winning engineer Kevin Killen and mastered by Grammy Award winner, Bob Ludwig.
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Sueye Park & Love Derwinger – Salut d’amour (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 58:43 minutes | 1,12 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS
Sueye Park introduced herself to the general public in 2017 with no less a calling-card than Paganini’s 24 Caprices for solo violin. On the present disc, the South-Korean violinist (born in 2000) has a pianist on her side, namely Love Derwinger, himself known from a number of recordings. The repertoire is also a more varied offering this time, with violin favourites such as Elgar’s tender Salut d’amour and Tchaikovsky’s Mélodie, as well as more virtuosic fare, for instance in the fireworks of Wieniawski’s Scherzo-Tarantelle. Sueye also includes two solo works on the disc: Ernst’s much-loved Last Rose and – in a nod to her previous disc – Paganiniana, Nathan Milstein’s fantasy on themes by Paganini. Performed with equal measures of poetic sensitivity and effortless virtuosity, this is a recital to dip into as well as to listen to from start to finish – from the fiery passion of Pablo de Sarasate’s Introduction et Tarantelle to Contemplation, Heifetz’ transcription of Brahms’s song Wie Melodien zieht es mir.
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Sonny Stitt – Blows The Blues (1960/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 36:48 minutes | 1,52 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Verve Reissues
This album came out of a series of three recording sessions by Sonny Stitt toward the end of 1959, and sees the jazz saxophonist delve into the world of blues.The album blends powerful original songs written by Stitt with a couple of standards that get new life breathed into them. Stitt plays alto sax exclusively on this release, which led to unfair comparisons at the time to Charlie Parker. This album has been out-of-print and almost impossible to find for many years, until now.
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Sue Foley – The Ice Queen (Deluxe Edition) (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:08:21 minutes | 776 MB | Genre: Blues
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Stony Plain Records
Canadian blues girl Sue Foley has been hiding herself well since her 2006 solo album, New Used Car. But her twelve-year hibernation seems only to have intensified the singer’s talent. With The Ice Queen, she surrounds herself with the cream of the crop. The first guest to engage with the Queen on Come to Me is guitarist Charlie Sexton. It’s a bluesy rock with a catchy chorus where the guitars are rather heavy and electric, contrasting with Foley’s raspy voice. Then, to pay tribute to the city of Austin, Jimmie Vaughan steps up and combines with Foley for a duet on The Lucky Oneswith Mike Flanigin’s organ backing them up. Billy Gibbons gives a brilliant performance on the harmonica on Fool’s Gold and stays true to the Sue Foley style rather than his band ZZ Top’s style. Modern and punchy, The Ice Queen also surprises with its more acoustic and intense second half. The Canadian’s voice surfs on southern soul on If I Have Forsaken You before moving onto some covers. From blues queen Bessie Smith (Send Me to the’Lectric Chair) to the Carter Family (Cannonball Blues), Foley is bold and impressive. Alone or accompanied, she certainly knows how to attract the spotlight, ending on a high with stunning tex-mex guitars (The Dance – Duo Version). – Anna Coluthe
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