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Eric Bachmann – No Recover (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 34:40 minutes | 405 MB | Genre: Alternative, Indie
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Merge Records
There was something sinister about Crooked Fingers, both the name of the project and the music that Eric Bachmann wrote at the helm of its ever-shifting lineups over 15 years. He retired the moniker a couple of years ago, but with his third album under his own name, the transformation feels gorgeous and final and irreversible: No Recover.The drunken louts and red devil dawns are a thing of the past now, monuments to a different time. Bachmann, husband and recent father, has some new lenses through which to view the world. But while No Recover is decidedly mellow and reflective, do not mistake it for the work of a relaxed, satisfied songwriter, sitting on some Georgia porch with a stalk of wheat between his lips, gently rocking a cradle with his foot and whistling an old tune. No, the Eric Bachmann of 2018 seems to view life with a sort of disgruntled maturity and righteous resignation. No Recover is both harrowing and beautiful, and its mellowness can be deceiving. The album is mostly just him, a classical guitar, some treated rhythm tracks, and otherworldly drop-ins from singer Avery Leigh Draut and guitarist Eric Johnson, Bachmann’s old pal from their Archers of Loaf days. He’s got a lot on his mind, only some of it pretty. The sunset on the album’s cover might be the end of a cruel world for the duo in Jaded Lover, Shady Drifter, who introduce No Recover; they feel like flip-side lovers, both sonically and lyrically, of the couple at the center of Bring On the Snakes’ The Rotting Strip. But that dark sentiment is quickly reversed with Daylight, one of Bachmann’s most stunning vocal performances ever: For a guy who earned his stripes by shredding his vocal cords in the ’90s, he sure can croon. And though the words cast some shadows—“fight for your life,” he implores—ultimately there is hope. “If you try, you can be loved.” Same goes, to a less direct degree, for Waylaid, the record’s jauntiest song, and a meditation on failure and love that leaves room for Johnson’s bright-but-mournful electric guitar to take center stage. But leave it to Bachmann to save the best for last: No Recover ends with one song for his wife and another for his son. Wild Azalea, for Liz Durrett—who also makes a brief appearance earlier in the album—is pure ’70s AM gold, including the tinge of sadness that the best of that era embraced. And Dead and Gone offers wistful, Bachmann-style comfort to a child. It’s vulnerable and giving, a lifetime promise that somehow intertwines regret and hopefulness.
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Eric Andersen – Be True to You (1975/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 43:35 minutes | 861 MB | Genre: Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Arista – Legacy
In the early 1960s, Eric Andersen was part of the Greenwich Village folk scene in New York. His best-known songs from that time are “Violets of Dawn”, “Come to My Bedside”, and “Thirsty Boots” (the latter recorded by Judy Collins and Bob Dylan, among others). The folk singer/songwriter’s 1975 album for RCA features 10 tracks including the tender title track and the epic “Time Run Like A Freight Train”.
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Eric & Ulrika Bibb – Pray Sing Love (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 41:07 minutes | 429 MB | Genre: Blues, Folk, Singer-Songwriter
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Dixiefrog
Like Josh White, Jr. son of folksinger Josh White singer, songwriter, and guitarist Eric Bibb was raised in the folk tradition, the son of folksinger Leon Bibb. Bibb’s uncle was the world-famous jazz pianist and composer John Lewis, part of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Bibb was raised in a music-filled household, and family friends in the ’50s and ’60s included Pete Seeger, Odetta, Bob Dylan, and the late Paul Robeson, who was named Eric’s godfather. Dixiefrog Records presents new album Eric & Ulrika Bibb – Pray Sing Love.
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Eric Alexander – Song of No Regrets (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 55:07 minutes | 628 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © HighNote Records
Hearing tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander is one of the great treats in jazz. There are few artists on stage today who combine chops, imagination and technique with a fluidity of ideas as he does. This imposing improviser is reunited here with pianist David Hazeltine and they’re joined by another jazz great , the always daring trumpeter Jon Faddis on a couple of the tracks. Add in the swing engendered by bassist John Webber and drummer Joe Farnsworth and you have a formula for excellence, if ever there was one. Alexander produced the session and there is a strong latin feel throughout thanks to the contributions of vibrant percussionist Alex Diaz spurring the band on with a whole trunk load of Latin percussion instruments. In addition to the Sergio Mendes & Brazil ’66 title tune, the set-list features a satisfying mix of originals and covers all given the patented Alexander treatment.
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Eric Alexander – Second Impression (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 54:49 minutes | 1,11 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © HighNote Records
It can be argued with some validity that one’s overall movement through life is reflected in his creative endeavor, and Eric Alexander’s strength and versatility on the saxophone can be viewed from this perspective. At this point in his career, Eric has certainly covered a lot of territory, both literally and figuratively. He himself has lost count of how many albums feature his playing; our guess is 100 or more. While he has garnered critical acclaim from every corner, what has mattered most has been to establish his own voice within the illustrious bop-based jazz tradition which is exactly what he does on his latest HighNote release. The close-knit ensemble of a band of regular buddies, coupled with the bass-clef contributions of the extraordinary Bob Cranshaw, make for a listening experience not soon forgotten.
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Eric Alexander – Eric Alexander with Strings (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 36:29 minutes | 678 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © HighNote Records
Eric Alexander’s prowess on the tenor saxophone, his unimpeachable virtuosity and technical skill, is obvious to anyone who has paid attention to his fluent and stirring work over the past three decades.
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Erdődy Chamber Orchestra & Zsolt Szefcsik – Laks, Rózsa, Orbán & Kilar: Orchestral Works (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:04:11 minutes | 1,19 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © DUX
The Erdody Chamber Orchestra’s third album includes works by both Polish and Hungarian composers active in the 20th century including Laks, Rozsa, Orban and Kilar. In 1994, Zsolt Szefcsik founded the Erdody Chamber Orchestra in Budapest to promote the Hungarian musical heritage and present achievements of contemporary composers. Over 25 years, the ensemble, using Hungarian manuscript collections, has presented over one hundred forgotten pieces. Thanks to this fact, it has become an orchestra with currently the most extensive repertoire of Hungarian music. A large group of works by composers operating in the 18th and 19th centuries has become available only thanks to the concerts of the Erdody Chamber Orchestra.
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Erdem Misirlioglu – Poulenc, Franck: Cello Sonatas – Dutilleux: Trois Strophes (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:04:48 minutes | 1,09 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RUBICON
The three works that make up this highly attractive programme span a century: Franck’s Sonata in its officially sanctioned transcription for cello was taken from his popular Violin Sonata of 1886. It was composed as a wedding present for the violinist Ysaÿe. Dutilleux’s Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher was composed for Paul Sacher’s birthday and given its premiere by Rostropovich with the composer at the piano. Composition was spread over a decade, having started in 1976. Poulenc’s Cello Sonata was dedicated to Pierre Fournier and completed in 1948. Michael Petrov and Erden Misirlioğlu are members of the acclaimed Trio Isimsiz.
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Erato Alakiozidou, Lutoslawski Quartet – Light Over Darkness (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 55:08 minutes | 469 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Odradek Records
Greek pianist Erato Alakiozidou and the Lutoslawski Quartet perform works by Alfred Schnittke and Giya Kancheli, which combine the contemporary expressive vocabulary of postmodernism, with the historical narrative of the last three centuries of Western Music. Moments of amazing tension are juxtaposed with passages of fragile introspection.
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Erato Alakiozidou – In Blue and White (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:19:18 minutes | 1,03 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Odradek Records
The music chosen by pianist Erato Alakiozidou for her new album, In Blue and White, represents a spiritual journey of self-discovery.
Alakiozidou has arranged these works by Greek composers to create a musical and emotional journey for the listener. The works range from the abstract, such as the Piano Pieces by Anastassis Philippakopoulos, to the metaphysical, in the dream-pieces of Stathis Gyftakis and the evocative, with Mediterranean flora and fauna conjured up in Mediterranean Desert by Giorgos Koumendakis.
Erato Alakiozidou was born in Greece and, from her home in Thessaloniki, has been active in commissioning, promoting and performing Greek contemporary music for 20 years. She believes passionately in the capacity for Greek music in all its quality and variety to find a wider international audience.
Erasure – World Beyond (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 40:11 minutes | 436 MB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mute
Following its antecedent by less than a year, World Beyond is a track-by-track orchestrated version of Erasure’s 2017 album, World Be Gone. The band last did something like this in 1987 on a handful of tracks from The Two Ring Circus, a companion LP to their second album, The Circus. A re-recording more than a “reimagining,” it captures Andy Bell back in the studio for fresh vocal takes, this time with the Belgian chamber ensemble Echo Collective. Given that Erasure’s other half, synth pop icon Vince Clarke, would seem to be excluded from such an endeavor, it may surprise some to learn that he was the one who came up with the idea, for a single. (He’s credited with “bright idea” in the liner notes.) As the project expanded, Clarke was heavily involved in planning with Echo Collective, though it should be noted that members of the septet did the arrangements, and Echo Collective received the sole producer credit. With some of its songs addressing anxieties resulting from election outcomes in 2016, it’s one of the duo’s melancholier releases, and the material lends itself well to these sparer, warmer arrangements. Having said that, the band’s own tendencies already lend themselves to this treatment, including their dramatic melodies, solid rhythmic and harmonic foundations, and general poignancy, even on many of their more uptempo dance hits. A track like “Sweet Summer Loving” implies electronics with twinkling mallet percussion, ornamental touches by piano and strings, and a literal bassline. Elsewhere, the keyboard ballad “Still It’s Not Over” is stripped to bare-bones piano, strings, and percussion. Helped by the fact that there isn’t a genuine club banger on World Be Gone, the rearrangements are often surprisingly seamless, especially considering that Erasure have such a trademark electronic sound. Through its similarities, World Beyond amplifies how efficient Erasure’s own arrangements are, while at the same time giving Bell more space to command the room, which he does, with nuanced performances. – Marcy Donelson
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Erasure – World Be Live (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:36:24 minutes | 1,18 GB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mute
After more than thirty years, Erasure is still filling up the Apollo Hammersmith, in London. The British synth-pop duo holds an endless supply of hit songs, sign of their power. Things come in threes: following World Be Gone in 2017 and World Beyond in 2018, Andy Bell and Vince Clarke complete their trilogy with World Be Live. Twenty-four titles to walk you through their entire career. An electro pop that puts emphasis on love, choirs that harmonise with Bell’s vocals, and a crowd in complete harmony. Right from the show’s opening with the disco anthem Oh L’Amour, the listener is blissfully thrown right back in the 1990s. Over an hour and a half of roller coasters between electro ballads and dance pop, effortlessly switching between Blue Savannah and a cover of Blondie’s Atomic. Getting to Stop, Erasure merge with their audience who sing at the top of their voice for each chorus. Nothing here is ironic. The irregular and unusual beats, the beauty of arrangements and the ability to simulate the presence of an orchestra on stage all turn this timeless duo into an inimitable band. – Anna Coluthe
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Erasure – The Violet Flame (3CD Deluxe Version) (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 02:16:28 minutes | 1,56 GB | Genre: Synthpop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mute
Erasure are back with their 16th studio album, The Violet Flame, an emotionally-charged electro-pop album with euphoric, synth-fuelled melodies that strike instantly into the heart. “The Violet Flame” Deluxe Boxset is available for Pledge Music customers only, and includes the album on CD and 24bit FLAC download, plus two bonus CDs: “Live at The Short Circuit Festival”, and “The Violet Flame Remixed” which is exclusive to the box-set and will not be available anywhere else.
The theme of transformation and new beginnings is captured in the album’s title, a literal spiritual term meaning the transformation of negative energy into positive energy, freedom and forgiveness. Erasure enlisted the production expertise of Richard X after their successful collaboration on Snow Globe, and the tracks were recorded between his London studio The Toyshop and by Clarke in his Brooklyn studio.
Erasure – The Neon Remixed (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:52:55 minutes | 1,25 GB | Genre: Electronic, Synth-pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mute Records
On 30 July 2021, Erasure released a companion album, a deluxe edition called The Neon Remixed, a double disc of remixes constructed by Octo Octa, Paul Humphries, Gareth Jones and others. A new single was also contained within the album titled “Secrets”. The album was released on CD and a limited edition coloured vinyl.
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Erasure – The Neon (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 37:14 minutes | 801 MB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mute
Erasure to the rescue once more. Stuck in lockdown, barricaded in our homes, fearful of contact with strangers, every expedition to the grocery or drug store an exercise in fear and caution, mask politics emerging as the touchstone for a world already gone to hell in a handbasket in so many ways. It’s been a rough six months. And with surges re-surging, lockdowns rising and falling like the swing of a pendulum, and now election season descending upon the US (with the world looking grimly on), don’t we, at last, deserve a break?
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