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Tony Fontane – An Evening Concert by Tony Fontane (1965/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 00:38:57 minutes | 802 MB | Genre: Gospel, Soul, Folk
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: Q0buz | Front Cover | © RCA Records
Tony Fontane was born Anthony Trankina on Sept. 18, 1925, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After a stint in the Coast Guard during World War II, he hit the nightclub circuits in New York and Chicago hoping for a break as a singer. Using the stage name Tony Fontane, he won the Major Bowes Amateur Hour, which started him on a career as a popular singer. He recorded for Mercury Records, with his biggest hits being “The Syncopated Clock” and “Cold, Cold Heart,” which sold 1.4 million records in 1950. He toured Australia in two shows, and made several hit records in that country. In 1957, back in the United States, Fontane was involved in a car crash that put him in a coma for more than a month and severely threatened his life. After recovering, he devoted his life solely to Christian music and, by the 1960s, was one of the most famous gospel singers in the world. A recording contract with RCA produced 20 or more very successful gospel albums. On June 30, 1974, Fontane died at the age of 48. His funeral at Forest Lawn Memorial Park was attended by an estimated 10,000 people. (more…)
Read moreThe Sisters Of Mercy – First and Last and Always (1985/2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]
The Sisters Of Mercy – First and Last and Always (1985/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96kHz | Time – 01:21:02 minutes | 1,7 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: AcousticSounds | © Warner Music UK
With the band itself falling to bits shortly after the March 1985 debut of First and Last and Always, the album’s place in the skewed history of the rise of goth rock would, on one hand, be permanently linked with that discord but, on the other, not impacted in the slightest, leaving the fractious set’s success and structure to become a blueprint for an entire generation of up-and-comers. With static drumbeats and jangle-angled guitars backing Andrew Eldritch’s atonic, graveyard vocals, the songs on First and Last and Always paid to play alongside the ghosts of myriad forgotten post-punkers as well as the band’s own goth forebears. From the opening air-fire claustrophobia of “Black Planet” to the melancholy “No Time to Cry,” Eldritch continually assured listeners that “everything’s gonna be alright” — but, really, coming out of that mouth, did anyone actually believe him? Even on the occasional wobbly patches imbedded in the now classic “Marian” and the title track, where the song threatens to dissolve into irrelevance despite Eldritch’s chirky vocal, they pull up wonderfully on the bass-driven, bee-stung guitar gem “Possession” and the closing “Some Kind of Stranger,” an untouchable epic that, clocking in at over seven minutes, is the best of its kind from any time — period. “Some Kind of Stranger” not only became a love song for the doom and gloom crowd, but was also an anthemic, anemic declaration of intent laid bare in a haze of sonic smoke and mirrors. Copied to death, its brilliance has never been replicated. Indeed, the entire album remains unequaled in the genre, permanently granted top place on a pedestal from which it cannot be toppled. (more…)
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Tony Bennett – Snowfall: The Tony Bennett Christmas Album (1968/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 29:07 minutes | 608 MB | Genre: Holiday
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | © Columbia/Legacy
Snowfall is Tony Bennett’s 1968 Christmas album. Arranged and conducted by Robert Farnon, the album was Tony Bennett’s first Christmas album. Bennett and Farnon had been friends since the early 1950s but had not worked together before recording this album, which included arrangements by Don Costa, Marion Evans, and Torrie Zito. (more…)
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Tony Bennett – I Left My Heart In San Francisco (1962/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 32:18 minutes | 685 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | © Columbia
I Left My Heart in San Francisco is revered vocalist Tony Bennett’s 1962 album. The record peaked at number 5 on the Billboard pop charts and is one of Bennett’s best selling albums. The record features the popular title track, along with “Smile”, “Love for Sale”, “The Best Is Yet to Come” and more! (more…)
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Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap – The Silver Lining: The Songs Of Jerome Kern (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 47:01 minutes | 894 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | © Columbia Records
Tony Bennett is joined by pianist Bill Charlap in The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern. Including popular tunes “The Way You Look Tonight”, “I Won’t Dance” and many more! (more…)
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Stevie Wonder – Innervisions (1973/2000)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 44:12 minutes | 993 MB | Genre: R&B
Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks.com | Digital Booklet | © Motown
The landmark 1973 release from one of the most iconic figures in music history, Innervisions is a testament to Wonder’s musicality and brilliance. The soulful concept album encompasses themes of social and urban issues performed, produced, written and arranged by Wonder. Wonder’s expressive and charming funk is showcased on the chart-topping hits “Higher Ground,” “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing” and Living for the City.” The album swings between fanciful and spacious ballads, Latin-tinged hits and full-blown Gospel numbers. The songs themselves are in such contrast that it’s hard to believe they all occur on the same album. This monumental works is now available as a pristine high resolution download.
Innervisions was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. (more…)
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Seth MacFarlane – No One Ever Tells You (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:05:19 minutes | 1,29 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | © Republic Records
The creator and multi-voice talent of Family Guy (among other shows) returns for his third album of American Songbook era classics, showcasing that his voice can do anything!
“There was a time during the mid-1950s and early 1960s when popular song was stretching its creative boundaries, experimenting with more ambitious structures and tones. During this period, a song set out to really tell a story: not just with the lyric and the vocal, but with the arrangements and orchestral interpretations. The songs on this record attempt to do just that.” –Seth MacFarlane (more…)
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Motorhead – Bad Magic (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time –42:48 minutes | 558 MB | Genre: Metal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks.com | © UDR
The immortal Motörhead (Lemmy, Phil Campbell and Mickey Dee) are still going strong with their 2015 release, Bad Magic. This is their 22nd studio album! (more…)
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Sonny Clark – Cool Struttin’ (1958/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 00:37:23 minutes | 1,23 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Source: acousticsounds.com | Artwork: Front cover | © Blue Note Records
Recorded: January 5, 1958 at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey.
“With the single exception of Kind of Blue, Sonny Clark’s Cool Struttin’ is almost certainly the coolest jazz album of all time.” –100 Greatest Jazz Albums
Cool Struttin’ features a constellation of jazz greats: Jackie McLean on alto sax, Art Farmer on trumpet, and two members of Miles Davis’ Quintet (Philly Joe Jones on drums and Paul Chambers on bass). While Kind of Blue focused on modal jazz, Cool Struttin’ takes its soul from the heart of the blues. (more…)
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Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker (2000) [Deluxe Eition 2016]
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 2:09:00 minutes | 2,64 GB | Genre: Rock, Alternative
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | Artwork: Front cover | © Pax Americana
Ryan Adams’ debut solo album and modern classic, Heartbreaker. Originally released in 2000, this new Deluxe edition contains newly released outtakes and demo versions. (more…)
Read moreRory Block – Hard Luck Child: A Tribute To Skip James (2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]
Rory Block – Hard Luck Child: A Tribute To Skip James (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 45:35 minutes | 886 MB | Genre: Blues
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Front cover | Source: HDTracks | © Stony Plain Records
Rory Block is the most celebrated living female acoustic blues artist. On her fifth release in the acclaimed ‘Mentor Series’ on Stony Plain, Rory pays tribute to Skip James, one of the most important country blues artists in history. Rory actively tours internationally and each new release is a high profile occasion in the blues community. “Today, she is regarded as the top female interpreter and authority on traditional blues worldwide”. (more…)
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Keith Sweat – Dress To Impress (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 1:06:19 minutes | 783 MB | Genre: Funk, Soul
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: 7digital | © RAL/Sony Music
Keith Sweat’s first studio album since 2011 arrived as the singer’s syndicated radio program, The Sweat Hotel, was approaching its tenth year. It could be deduced that the gig has sharpened Sweat’s ears and pen, as Dress to Impress features his best round of songs in well over a decade. Beside a small cast of writing and production associates that includes Wirlie Morris and Derek Allen, Sweat focuses on romance and emotional connection. The album sounds fresh while drawing from numerous eras, just as the Sweat Hotel playlist roams from decade to decade. (more…)
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Michael Jackson – Dangerous (1991/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:17:05 minutes | 1,6 GB | Genre: Pop, R&B
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Source: Qobuz | Label: © Epic/Legacy
Despite the success of Bad, it was hard not to view it as a bit of a letdown, since it presented a cleaner, colder, calculated version of Thriller — something that delivered what it should on the surface, but wound up offering less in the long run. So, it was time for a change-up, something even a superstar as huge as Michael Jackson realized, so he left Quincy Jones behind, hired Guy mastermind Teddy Riley as the main producer, and worked with a variety of other producers, arrangers, and writers, most notably Bruce Swedien and Bill Bottrell. The end result of this is a much sharper, harder, riskier album than Bad, one that has its eyes on the street, even if its heart gets middle-class soft on “Heal the World.” The shift in direction and change of collaborators has liberated Jackson, and he’s written a set of songs that is considerably stronger than Bad, often approaching the consistency of Off the Wall and Thriller. If it is hardly as effervescent or joyous as either of those records, chalk it up to his suffocating stardom, which results in a set of songs without much real emotional center, either in their substance or performance. But, there’s a lot to be said for professional craftsmanship at its peak, and Dangerous has plenty of that, not just on such fine singles as “In the Closet,” “Remember the Time,” or the blistering “Jam,” but on album tracks like “Why You Wanna Trip on Me.” No, it’s not perfect — it has a terrible cover, a couple of slow spots, and suffers from CD-era ailments of the early ’90s, such as its overly long running time and its deadening Q Sound production, which sounds like somebody forgot to take the Surround Sound button off. Even so, Dangerous captures Jackson at a near-peak, delivering an album that would have ruled the pop charts surely and smoothly if it had arrived just a year earlier. But it didn’t — it arrived along with grunge, which changed the rules of the game nearly as much as Thriller itself. Consequently, it’s the rare multi-platinum, number one album that qualifies as a nearly forgotten, underappreciated record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine (more…)
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The Accidentals – Odyssey (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 48:59 minutes | 565 MB | Genre: Alternative, Indie
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | Booklet, Front Cover | © Masterworks
Named among Yahoo Music’s Top 10 Bands to Watch in 2017, The Accidentals new album, ODYSSEY, affirms the band’s place among contemporary music’s most original and adventurous new bands. Multi-instrumentalists Sav Buist and Katie Larson joined on stage and in the studio by drummer Michael Dause have crafted a genre all their own, fueled by their uniquely limitless approach to musicality and songcraft. Lyrically powerful songs like Earthbound and the potent title track see the band embracing their choice to lead an unconventional life with all its many surprising twists and turns.
The Accidentals adventure began in their hometown of Traverse City, MI, when Larson, a sophomore cellist, and Buist, a junior violinist, were paired for a high school orchestra event. The gifted young musicians became fast friends and before long, bandmates. Having both grown up in musical families with professional pianists for fathers and vocalists for mothers, their shared influences bounced between classical, jazz, bluegrass, country, alt-rock, and the obscure.
Co-produced by Buist, Larson, and Dause with engineer Jason Lehning (Mat Kearney, Guster, George Jones, Alison Krauss), ODYSSEY sees The Accidentals joined by such friends and fans as acoustic guitar maestra Kaki King, bassist and fellow Michigander Dominic John Davis (Jack White, Beck), Carbon Leaf guitarist Carter Gravatt, Keller Williams and The Decemberists Jenny Conlee, who spent three days in the studio alongside the band, lending her distinctive organ to a number of the album’s key tracks.
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Nina Simone – High Priestess Of Soul (1967/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/192 kHz | Time – 35:50 minutes | 1,61 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: PonoMusic | © Verve Music
Nina Simone is accompanied on this classic 1967 release by a large orchestra, arranged and led by Hal Mooney. Neither strictly jazz nor soul, the material here is eclectic as Simone interprets these covers in her inimitable style. The album also includes two original songs, the sparse and intimate Come Ye featuring Simone accompanied by nothing but percussion and the centerpiece track, Take Me To The Water. (more…)
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