The Gene Rains Group – Rains in the Tropics (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 35:42 minutes | 362 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Medsan Copyrights
A really wonderful album from the height of the exotica years – but a set that’s got a fair bit more jazz in the mix than most from that generation too! Gene Rains plays vibes – and moves between moodier moments, ala Martin Denny/Arthur Lyman, and more straightforward jazz styles – which often have some great modal elements in the mix! The Rains group played hotels in Hawaii during the late 50s and early 60s – but are maybe more like a Pacific take on territory of the Quartette Tres Bien, thanks to strong work from Allen Watanabe on drums, Archie Grant on bass, and Byron Peterson on piano. Titles include “Mapuana”, “Bancock Cock Fight”, “Tiki”, “Off Shore”, “Shadow Of Love”, “Jasmine & Jade”, and “Lonely Winter”
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The Flight & Christoph Bauschinger – Lockwood & Co.: Season 1 (Soundtrack from the Netflix Series) (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:05:38 minutes | 687 MB | Genre: Soundtrack
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Netflix Music, LLC
Lockwood & Co. is a British detective thriller television series developed by Joe Cornish for Netflix based on Jonathan Stroud’s book series of the same name. Consisting of eight episodes, it premiered on 27 January 2023. It follows the plot of the first two books, The Screaming Staircase and The Whispering Skull.
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The Arcs – Electrophonic Chronic (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 38:49 minutes | 464 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Easy Eye Sound
Eight years after their debut album, The Arcs present their second long player with “Electrophonic Chronic”.
For independent newcomer bands such a long break directly after the first sign of life would probably be unfortunate to deadly. But The Arcs are not a “regular” new band, but consist of The Black Keys band boss Dan Auerbach and various protagonists of the retro-soul scene around the New York label Daptone Records.
Together they already made highly pleasing psych-pop with elements of garage rock and 60s soul on “Yours, Dreamily”. Thanks to Dan Auerbach’s voice and his production not too far away from his main band. Just thanks to broader instrumentation even more varied in the sound picture.
This has not changed on “Electrophonic Chronic”, which is not surprising, since all songs and recordings come from the same extensive sessions from 2015. It pays off when three of five band members run their own studio and together you can record every idea professionally for eternity.
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Steve Vai – Vai/Gash (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 29:30 minutes | 683 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Favored Nations
Vai shares, This record was written and recorded in somewhat of a stream of consciousness in 1991 within perhaps a 2-week period as an answer to my desire to have a particular kind of music to listen to when I was riding my Harley Davison Motorcycle with my friends. It s reminiscent of a certain type of rock music I enjoyed as a teenager in the 1970 s. These recordings sat on the shelf for over 30 years and are being released now in 2023. Here s the story.
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Stefano Zanchetta – Mieczyslaw Weinberg: Complete Violin Sonatas (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:06:38 minutes | 1,15 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Da Vinci Classics
The composer Mieczysław Weinberg was born in Poland but spent most of his life in the Soviet Union, where he was actively supported by Shostakovich. His rediscovery is still in full swing. As recently as 2015, violinist Linus Roth founded the International Mieczysław Weinberg Society together with conductor Michael Sanderling. The violinist Gidon Kremer has increasingly been playing pieces by Weinberg in recent years. Now the Venetian violinist Stefano Zanchetta, who studied with Sándor Végh and the Quartetto Italiano, among others, presents a new recording of the three sonatas for solo violin.
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SG Lewis – AudioLust & HigherLove (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:02:30 minutes | 1,30 GB | Genre: Electronic
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © EMI
London-based singer-songwriter, producer and DJ, SG Lewis, releases his second studio album AudioLust and HigherLove. Highlights include the album’s euphoric opening track, ‘Infatuation’ and ‘Vibe Like This’, featuring Grammy-award nominated powerhouse Ty Dolla $ign and Grammy-award winning rising star Lucky Daye. The singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer builds on the kaleidoscopic future-disco of his debut album times, in an expansive and ambitious record made of two halves: on one end of the spectrum, he crafts the kind of nocturnal bangers that dancefloors, underground raves, pool parties, and festivals subsist on. On the other end, he accesses a higher level of timeless pop ecstasy anchored by just the right amount of breezy hook-laden rock, organic instrumentation, and vocal eloquence. He suits one mood to the adrenaline rush of your wildest night out, and he tailors another to the blissful ride home at sunrise. It’s a diverse collection of classic but deeply contemporary cuts from one of the richest production talents of the last decade and includes a blockbuster collection of guests, alongside SG’s own vocals which are featured more prominently than ever before.
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Sebastian Stanley – Albéniz: Suite Española, Op. 47 & 97, Suite Ancienne No.3 (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:04:40 minutes | 1,09 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Piano Classics
The first volume of Sebastian Stanley’s Albéniz survey was greeted with enthusiasm for the repertoire and praise for the interpretations in the pages of Fanfare and elsewhere: ‘He is tender and sentimental in the lyrical moments, animated and energetic in his attack elsewhere. He clearly loves the music, and dispatches it with unapologetic flair.’
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Sarah McCoy – High Priestess (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 38:46 minutes | 394 MB | Genre: Alternative
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Gentle Threat LTD
Sarah McCoy’s second album produced by Renaud Letang with Chilly Gonzales.
“High Priestess” compositions dig deeper and deeper into «the dissection and questioning of self and mental health with a painful but gentle musical knife», to reveal an artist in constant evolution. It’s a «thermonuclear» album, Sarah says, with deep, bubbling bass, synths, beats, dark piano and, of course, her ever-haunting vocal incantation that challenges the so-called certainties of reality and gives post-apocalyptic textures to the whole. Includes a poem dedicated to Sarah’s mentor, Chilly Gonzales.
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Sam Smith – Gloria (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 33:10 minutes | 398 MB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © EMI
Following the global success of the unstoppable single ‘Unholy’ featuring pop diva Kim Petras, Sam Smith released fourth studio album ‘Gloria’ on 27th January 2023. Multi-Platinum, Grammy, BRIT, Golden Globe and Academy Award winning artist/songwriter Sam Smith is one of the most celebrated musical artists to emerge in recent history and holds a collection of remarkable successes. ‘Gloria’ is Sam’s fourth studio album and will build on the success of their critically acclaimed 2020 predecessor, ‘Love Goes’. This is Sam’s boldest statement to date and comes off the back of an undeniable run of success with the lead single from the album.
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Genre: Classical
Year of publication: 2013
Duration: 1:13:44
Quality: Blu-ray Disc
Container: BDMV
Video Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Audio Codec: LPCM | DTS-HD Master Audio | Dolby TrueHD
Herbert von Karajan conducts the Berlin Philharmonic for this recording of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony.
Music, at last, has a high quality audio format, a must-have for any connoisseur of high quality audio.
Audio is taken from the original master tapes and delivered in 24bit/96 khz with 3 choices of sound format: PSM, Dolby True HD or DTS – enjoy music as it was meant to be heard in the studio.
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Genre: Classical
Year of publication: 2014
Duration: 1:21:10
Quality: Blu-ray Disc
Container: BDMV
Video Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Audio Codec: LPCM | DTS-HD Master Audio | Dolby TrueHD
Zubin Mehta conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker performing Mahler’s Symphony No.2.
“The singing of the Vienna State Opera Chorus is beautifully controlled.” -Gramophone
Music, at last, has a high quality audio format, a must-have for any connoisseur of high quality audio.
Audio is taken from the original master tapes and delivered in 24bit/96 khz with 3 choices of sound format: PSM, Dolby True HD or DTS – enjoy music as it was meant to be heard in the studio.
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Genre: Classical
Year of publication: 2012
Duration: 00:58:37
Quality: Blu-ray Disc
Container: BDMV
Video codec: MPEG-2
Audio Codec: DTS-HD Master Audio | LPCM
George Gershwin’s Concerto in F was a response to demands for a ‘proper concerto’ after the success of Rhapsody in Blue, avoiding programmatic content while providing a feast of tunes both uplifting and nostalgic. Originally intended as music for a film, his up-beat Rhapsody No 2 describes the bustling Manhattan cityscape while under construction. Sourced from his hit musical Girl Crazy, I Got Rhythm Variations was Gershwin’s last full score. Pianist Orion Weiss is one of the most sought-after soloists and collaborators of his generation of young American musicians.
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Guitar Shorty – My Way Or The Highway (1991) [Reissue 2004]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 57:30 minutes | Scans included | 4,04 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 1,26 GB
Features Stereo & Multichannel Surround Sound | Genre: Blues
Here we have a team; Shorty with his prodigious talents was the perfect centerpiece, Otis Grand with his guitar playing and production and band leading skills is simply beyond ‘world class’. Add a superb band and a really good studio and you’re in business. The album won a Handy Award. Further JSP collaborations with Otis Grand followed, resulting in stone classic albums with Phillip Walker, Joe Louis Walker and Joe Houston.
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Edward Gardner, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Choirs, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet – Grieg: Piano Concerto & Incidental Music to ‘Peer Gynt’ (2018)
SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 01:22:56 minutes | 3,7 GB | Genre: Classical | © Chandos
This much awaited recording offers keenly idiomatic performances of the most famous works by Grieg, played by the composer’s own orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic, and its Chief Conductor, Edward Gardner. The drama and passion of such favourite pieces as the incidental music to Peer Gynt and the Piano Concerto are superbly captured in surround-sound with exemplary Chandos sound quality. Unlike most existing recordings, offering only the orchestral suites, this disc presents numerous extra excerpts from Peer Gynt, which follow the sequence of Henrik Ibsen‘s dramatic poem, including sections for the unique Norwegian ‘Hardanger Fiddle’. Having collaborated with the orchestra on several occasions, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet is the soloist in the Piano Concerto, a piece that stands out as a shining example of a single great thought captured and expressed in music. The power of this conception is evident throughout the concerto in the pianist’s faithful, yet highly romantic interpretation.
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Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead (1970) [MFSL 2014]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 36:01 minutes | Scans included | 1,45 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 670 MB
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab # 2137
As the ’60s drew to a close, it was a heavy time for the quickly crumbling hippie movement that had reached its apex just a few years earlier in 1967’s Summer of Love. Death and violence were pervasive in the form of the Manson murders, fatalities at the Altamont concert, and the ongoing loss of young lives in Vietnam despite the best efforts of anti-war activists and peace-seeking protesters. Difficult times were also upon the Grateful Dead, unofficial house band of San Francisco’s Summer of Love festivities and outspoken advocates of psychedelic experimentation both musical and chemical. The excessive studio experimentation that resulted in their trippy but disorienting third album, Aoxomoxoa, had left the band in considerable debt to their record label, and their stress wasn’t helped at all by a drug bust that had members of the band facing jail time. The rough road the Dead were traveling down seemed congruent with the hard changes faced by the youth counterculture that birthed them. Fourth studio album Workingman’s Dead reflects both the looming darkness of its time, and the endless hope and openness to possibility that would become emblematic of the Dead as their legacy grew. For a group already established as exploratory free-form rockers of the highest acclaim, Workingman’s Dead’s eight tunes threw off almost all improvisatory tendencies in favor of spare, thoughtful looks at folk, country, and American roots music with more subdued sounds than the band had managed up until then. The songs also focused more than ever before on singing and vocal harmonies, influenced in no small way by a growing friendship with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The band embraced complex vocal arrangements with campfire-suited folk on “Uncle John’s Band” and the psychedelic cowboy blues of “High Time”.
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