Mighty Sam McClain – Blues for the Soul (2000/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 53:51 minutes | 1,69 GB | Genre: Blues
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Telarc
New Telarc signing Mighty Sam McClain is considered by many to be our greatest living soul singer. The story of his rise from years of obscurity to his triumphant return to the top tier of soul blues performers is the stuff of legend. Featuring a powerhouse horn section, Blues for the Soul, is a showcase for the Mighty One’s ever-evolving vocal and songwriting talents, and is sure to be considered one of his most masterful recordings.
Produced by McClain’s longtime producer Joe Harley (whose Telarc resume includes discs with Terry Evans and Ronnie Earl), Blues for the Soul spotlights 12 original compositions. Mighty Sam enjoys solid support from his working band (these days its members include three horn players), plus the ever-dependable keyboardist Bruce Katz and trumpeter Joe Casano.
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Mighty Oaks – Mexico (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 39:39 minutes | 425 MB | Genre: Indie Folk, Indie Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Music – Howl Records
Mighty Oaks make no apology for their new song being uplifting and even somewhat escapist. Sometimes it’s just necessary to say “life is disappointing – forget it!” Or, as Mighty Oaks have it: “2020 brought out the best in some, and the worst in others. People across America (and across the world for that matter) stockpiled guns and ammunition, threw punches over toilet paper, pushed racist bigots and ideologies in politics, and put a “me first” attitude on full display. While we firmly believe that turning away from problems does not at all help to get at the root of solving them, this song is a sort of mental escape when things heavy.”
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Mighty Oaks – All Things Go (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 36:48 minutes | 771 MB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BMG Rights Management GmbH
With their new song ‘All Things Go’ Mighty Oaks announce their third album, set for release in 2020. The first single of the new longplayer bridges the gap between their last acoustic EP and the new chapter in their band history. A history that the Berlin based indie-folk trio comprised of Ian Hooper (US), Claudio Donzelli (Italy) and Craig Saunders (UK) began over ten years ago in a living room in the German capital and that has lead to two records (2014: Howl, 2017: Dreamers), hundreds of gigs across the world, and shared stages with the likes of Kings of Leon, The Lumineers and Chvrches.
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Mieneke van der Velden, Wieland Kuijken, Fred Jacobs – Marais: Dialogues (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 57:53 minutes | 1,06 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Ramée
A noteworthy fact: Marais, in his five books of Pièces de viole, published only two suites for two viols and continuo. Aside from the two suites for three viols (Book IV), all the other pieces are intended for the solo instrument with accompaniment of harpsichord, theorbo or a second viol in different combinations.
These two particular suites are both found in Book I (1686). The addition of a second solo viol reinforces the character of the various parts: especially in the slow sections, Marais ideally emphasizes the sound of the two viols with long sostenuto lines and poignant dissonances. The Tombeau pour Mr. Meliton constitutes the absolute height of this. After Mieneke van der Velden’s recordings Hommages and Images, Dialogues completes the picture of the imposing sound world of Marin Marais’s music, magnified by the collaboration with the master Wieland Kuijken.
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Mieczysław Weinberg – Light in Darkness (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:02:49 minutes | 1,14 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Evil Penguin Classic
Linus Roth first encountered the music of Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996) in 2010 when he was scheduled to play his Piano Trio at a chamber music festival. After the first rehearsal, Roth was shocked and moved by the intensity and energy of the music and touched by the beauty of this composition, which was new to him. Not only were the characteristics of the inner turmoil obvious – , the deep abysses and darkness in this music – but also those of the hope contained therein, which repeatedly shone through. At the time Roth knew almost nothing about Weinberg’s biography or any of his other works, so he left the festival in the hope that Weinberg may have composed something else for violin.
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Mie Miki – Das Wohltemperierte Akkordeon (0101)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:06:20 minutes | 1,15 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS
Bach’s Das Wohltemperierte Klavier has been called ‘The Old Testament’ of the piano literature and presents, in more ways than one, a pinnacle to be climbed by pianists and harpsichordists alike. As a leading accordion player with an astonishingly wide-ranging repertoire, Mie Miki has now accepted the challenge, selecting twelve of the 48 pairs of preludes and fugues.
For BIS Mie Miki has previously recorded Bach’s Italian Concerto, and as she did then, she performs the music from the original keyboard score without making any alterations to facilitate the transition to the accordion. The result is ear-opening – the accordion’s capacity for sustained notes brings out Bach’s fugal counterpoint, while the fast and light action of the instrument lends a particular fleetness to the preludes.
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Midori, Martin Grubinger, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, Peter Eötvös – Eötvös: DoReMi, Speaking Drums & Cello concerto grosso (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:11:02 minutes | 720 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alpha Classics
In November 2014, Radio France inaugurated its new auditorium with a programme giving carte blanche to one of the most eminent composers of our time, Peter Eötvös, who was then celebrating his seventieth birthday. On this occasion, three of his concertos were given their world premiere recordings under his direction with three soloists of the front rank. The violin concerto DoReMi, played here by its dedicatee Midori, is followed by Cello Concerto Grosso, a triangular dialogue between the solo cello, the cello section, and the full orchestra. The spectacular Speaking Drums concludes the programme on a highpoint: the orchestra (around forty musicians) prolongs the performance – theatrical as much as musical – of the percussionist, who declaims texts by the poets Sándor Weöres (in Hungarian) and Jayadeva (in Sanskrit) and moves from point to point on the platform, thus creating links with various instruments of the orchestra. The stunning Martin Grubinger lends his voice and his percussion playing to this piece, which ends in highly virtuosic polyrhythm.
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Midori – Beethoven: Violin Concerto & Romances Nos 1 & 2 (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 56:08 minutes | 1006 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics
The violinist Midori has been a celebrated performer for more than 35 years, this recording of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, complemented by his two Romances for violin and orchestra, marks the composer’s 250th birthday in December 2020. Midori plays with the Lucerne Festival Strings in a recording made in Switzerland shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic had caused the cancellation of a planned concert performance and international tour. “Beethoven guided my colleagues and me,” says Midori, “his work focusing and inspiring us, our concentrations heightened, enveloped together in our musical efforts … I am reminded that he was a man of strong beliefs … who took firm stands on many major issues of his day … Beethoven’s determination still provides a model for humankind.”
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Midnight Skyracer – Shadows On The Moon (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 46:16 minutes | 537 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal-Island Records Ltd.
Midnight Skyracer, the first Bluegrass band ever to be signed to a major UK label. In a triple first, not only are Midnight Skyracer the first Bluegrass band to be signed to a major label, but also the first all-female and UK/Irish Bluegrass band (featuring no Americans) ever to sign to a major UK label.
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Midnight Sister – Painting the Roses (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 42:28 minutes | 857 MB | Genre: Alternative Rock, Indie Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Jagjaguwar
As Midnight Sister, multi-disciplinary LA artists Juliana Giraffe and Ari Balouzian make motion pictures. Yes, sometimes with moving images — but most often only with the music they create together. Balouzian’s serpentine, string compositions are movie scenes that allow Giraffe, a brilliant character actor, to cloak herself in a new roles and voices. A bit of Jon Brion’s score work; some old Hollywood strings; a solid dose of glam and outsider disco from 70s independent cinema. Any perceived artifice is always matched by an indelible human fingerprint, something perfectly off. Giraffe and Balouzian’s respective work in fashion, visual art, video and film scoring — along with the gang of virtuosos with which they surround themselves — all wonderfully coalesce as Midnight Sister. And if 2017’s ‘Saturn Over Sunset’ was their collection of short films about outcast life in The San Fernando Valley, then their new album ‘Paining the Roses’ is the inventive, meta motion picture that cements them as auteurs.
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Midnight Oil – The Makarrata Project (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 33:35 minutes | 730 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Music Entertainment
It’s been almost 20 years since Midnight Oil unveiled a new longform release. That wait will finally be over on October 30 when their seven song mini-album, THE MAKARRATA PROJECT collaborators features a wide cross section of prominent First Nations’ artists; from Jessica Mauboy, Alice Skye and Tasman Keith through established talents such as Leah Flanagan and Troy Cassar-Daley to revered elders Kev Carmody, Sammy Butcher and Frank Yamma.
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Midnight North – End of the Night (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 41:40 minutes | 504 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Trazmick Recordings
Midnight North is the creation of Grahame Lesh, son of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh that updates and continues the Grateful Dead sound for a new generation. With the addition of Elliot Peck as songwriter/singer, Midnight North moves beyond the Grateful Dead sound with a female vocalist additing a new color and vibrancy to the sound while keeping the acid country rock rhythms of of the Dead alive and grooving. Based at Phil Lesh’s venue , Terrapin Crossroads in the northern California country seat of San Rafael California, Midnight North is ready to go national.
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Midland – The Sonic Ranch (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 42:02 minutes | 919 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Big Machine Records, LLC
ACM Award-winning country band Midland is giving fans an intimate look at their formation and earliest sessions in a new documentary, Midland: The Sonic Ranch, and an accompanying soundtrack, The Sonic Ranch Sessions.
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Midland – Live From The Palomino (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 37:00 minutes | 812 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Big Machine Records, LLC
Midland have revealed their new live album project. The band performed at legendary Hollywood venue the Palomino last year and recorded the event for a new record, set to debut on Big Machine Records on Feb. 28. The release will feature 10 recordings from their exclusive concert.
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Midland – Let It Roll (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 51:44 minutes | 639 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Big Machine Records, LLC
Double GRAMMY® nominees Midland return with Let It Roll, their second critically lauded project. The hard-working trio recorded the album in four different cities in the throes of “a tour that will never end.” Lead singer/guitarist Mark Wystrach, lead guitarist/vocalist Jess Carson and bassist/vocalist Cameron Duddy are just doing what they know. Having again teamed with the esteemed production superteam of Dann Huff, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, Let It Roll may be the understatement of the year. At a time when country seems to be leaning back into its ‘70s and ‘90s roots, Midland continues deeper onto the path they’ve blazed since dropping “Drinkin’ Problem.” They’ve just leaned even deeper into the kind of classic Country themes that embrace moral weakness, carnal pleasure and the way nothing soothes a rubbed raw reckoning like a jukebox song.
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