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Sergei Prokofiev, Maurice Ravel – Piano Concertos – Martha Argerich, Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado (1967/75/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 1:10:51 minutes | 1,27 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Source: HDTracks | @ Deutsche Grammophon
Recorded: #1-6: June 1967, Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin, Germany; #7-9: November 1974, Studio Lankwitz, Berlin, Germany
This is the original Prokofiev/Ravel concerto coupling as it appeared on LP; the Prokofiev has also been coupled with the Tchaikovsky First Concerto. I prefer this edition since superb performances of the Ravel are less common. The young (1967) Martha Argerich plays the Prokofiev for maximum brilliance but leavens the Ravel with the composer’s ironic lyricism. It’s very effective. The bonus is one of the greatest performances of the Ravel piano suite ever recorded, but it leaves me wondering what will happen to the remainder of the original LP. All those solo Ravel pieces should be in the catalog; as Argerich plays them, they offer a primer on what keyboard color is all about.
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Piotr Anderszewski – Bach. English Suites Nos.1,3,5 (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 66:46 minutes | 1,17 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Source: Qobuz | @ Warner Classics
With this recording, Piotr Anderszewski returns to Bach’s English Suites after more than 10 years. In 2002, when Virgin Classics (now Warner Classics/Erato) released his interpretations of Suites 1, 3 and 6, The Sunday Times spoke of “Bach playing of the highest order,” enthusing that: “His playing throughout is wonderful, laying out Bach’s contrapuntal writing with a clarity and subtlety of touch that removes these works far from the realms of technical exercises. His fingers dance in the Courantes and Allemandes, and positively sing the melodies of the sublime Sarabandes”. (more…)
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Nils Okland Band – Kjolvatn (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 49:23 minutes | 539 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Source: highresaudio.com | @ ECM Records GmbH
Recorded: June 2012, Hoff Church Østre Toten, Norway
Hard on the heels of his critically-lauded – and distortion-saturated – collaboration with rock players in ‘lumen drones’ comes the next fine album from norway’s hardanger fiddle master.
The idiosyncratic Norwegian musician Nils Økland (fiddle / violin / viola d’amore) has had a diverse career. On this sixth album ‘Kjølvatn’ he has put together a brand new band consisting of some of the leading musicians in Norway: Rolf-Erik Nystrom (saxophone), Sigbjørn Apeland (harmonium), Håkon Mørch Stene (percussion), Mats Eilertsen (double bass).
Økland has played as a solist with several major orchestras, written music for London Sinfonietta, film, ballet and theater and played on records with Christian Wallumrød, Arve Henriksen, Åsne Valland Nordli and Bjørnar Andresen, to mention a few. He has previously published solo album ‘Monograph’ and the duo ‘Lysøen’ along with Sigbjørn Apeland on ECM. Before this he released the albums ‘Bris’ and ‘Straum’ on Rune Grammofon and the self published debut ‘Blå Harding’. Nils plays in rock trio Lumen Drones (ECM), who released a critically acclaimed debut album last October and in the improvisation band 1982. Both as a performer and composer he has built bridges between folk, Jazz and improvised music.
Økland himself describes the music on ‘Kjølvatn’ this way: ‘In my work as a professional violinist in the last 30 years, I have moved between a wide wide range of genres from classical violin to Balkan folk, rock and punk, jazz and free improvisation, to Norwegian folk music. I’ve always composed my own material inspired by all these expressions; a hybrid between folk music poetry and punk energy. In early baroque music – another musical style I let myself be inspired by – it was common to have sketches as the basis for making music. In this band we work with methods that are inspired by this.’
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Morton Feldman – Violin And Orchestra – Carolin Widmann, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Emilio Pomarico (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44.1 kHz | Time – 50:39 minutes | 444 MB | Genre: Classical, Avant-Garde
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Source: highresaudio.com | @ ECM Records GmbH
Recorded: October 2009 at Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks, Frankfurt
For all practical purposes, Morton Feldman’s Violin and Orchestra resembles an anti-concerto, insofar as the soloist’s role is minimized and frequently buried within the heavy textures of the orchestra, rather than featured prominently before it. The violin part consists almost entirely of static, minimal gestures, and short groups of pitches, offering neither displays of technical virtuosity nor soaring melodies in the manner of traditional concertos. Yet despite its apparent lack of any themes and severely restricted activity, it is nonetheless the focus of this piece, and Feldman’s thick and often dark orchestral textures are given a rarefied quality through the violin’s fluctuating presence. Violinist Carolin Widmann demonstrates great stamina and patience in this 50-minute work, and it seems to hang together largely through the strength of her playing. The Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, led by Emilio Pomàrico, produces a full, rich sound and seems well-rehearsed, though Feldman’s writing is desultory and disconnected from the violin part, so there is a kind of built-in looseness that will frustrate the goal-oriented listener. However, this piece is like many other compositions by Feldman, requiring suspension of expectations to let it flow by and create its fleeting impressions. ECM’s reproduction is clear and palpably close, so everything can be heard clearly at a high enough volume, though because this is a Feldman work, a low setting might contribute to its effectiveness. –AllMusic Review by Blair Sanderson
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Minoritenkonvent – Manuscript XIV 726 – Stephanie Paulet, Elisabeth Geiger (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 1:12:32 minutes | 1,35 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Source: Qobuz | @ Muso
Recorded: at the Eglise Sainte-Madeleine in Strasbourg (France) from 31 July to 3 August 2014
Stéphanie Paulet once more scores a hit with this project that reveals the flourishing violin activity in the late 17th century to the North of the Alps. Accompanied by a ‘positive’ organ of exceptional sound quality, her violin sings, leaps and makes us vibrate through the aural beauty of this disc, enhanced as it is by quite simply magnificent sound engineering.
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Gustav Mahler – Symphony No.9 – Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly (2004)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:29:57 minutes | 1,72 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Source: Qobuz | @ Decca
Recorded: June 2004, Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Mahler’s final completed symphony provides both a fitting conclusion to Chailly’s highly acclaimed cycle and a valediction after his decade and a half at the helm of the magnificent Concertgebouw Orchestra. It was the last work Chailly conducted as the orchestra’s music director, and he made this disc directly after that final concert. The work’s four movements are an epic 90 minutes of tumultuous emotions dominated by the motif of Death (by the time Mahler began composing the work in 1909 he knew that he had only a short time to live). The two outer movements, each lasting roughly half an hour, are concerned with calm resignation and the agony of farewell; the two central movements, a gruesome Scherzo and a dissonant ‘Rondo-Burleske’, are ruled by the demonic element of Death.
The Ninth is generally reckoned to be the most difficult of all Mahler’s symphonies to bring off, equally demanding for the performers and for the listener, and Chailly’s realization is as gripping as it is disturbing. The balance and clarity of orchestral detail, from the frenzy of the Rondo to the almost imperceptible closing bars of the final Adagio, is brilliantly captured.
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Lianne La Havas – Blood (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44.1 kHz | Time – 40:38 minutes | 442 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Source: HDTracks | @ Nonesuch / Warner Music UK
Blood is Lianne La Havas’s new album released on Nonesuch Records. La Havas’s 2012 debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough?, was “wonderfully refreshing,” says NPR’s Tom Moon. And on the new album, she’s created songs like the single “What You Don’t Do,” which features “the kind of stunning, kinetic performance we rarely hear on the radio these days.” (more…)
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Hilary Duff – Breathe In. Breathe Out. (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 42:18 minutes | 523 MB | Genre: Pop
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Source: HDTracks | @RCA Records
After an eight-year absence from the music industry, actress and singer Hilary Duff released her fifth studio album “Breathe In. Breathe Out”, an upbeat dance album that touches on themes of self discovery, romance and failed love. (more…)
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Hank Mobley – The Turnaround! (1965/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 40:31 minutes | 1,39 GB | Genre: Jazz
Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks.com | Digital Booklet | @ Blue Note Records
Recorded March 7, 1963 and February 5, 1965 at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
The Turnaround! is jazz tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley’s 1965 Blue Note release. The hard bop, soul jazz instrumentalist and composer collaborated with some of the ’60s most proficient jazz musicians on this release, including Herbie Hancock, Philly Joe Jones, Paul Chambers, Freddie Hubbard and Donald Byrd, among others.
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Title: U.D.O. feat. The Marinemusikkorps Nordsee – Navy Metal Night
Release Date: 2015
Genre: Rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Director: Oliver “Bomber” Barth
Artist: Udo Dirkschneider – Vocals; Kasperi Heikkinen – Guitar; Andrey Smirnov – Guitar; Fitty Wienhold – Bass; Jonas Dungs – Bass; Francesco Jovino – Drums; Corvin Bahn – Keyboards; Nathanael Fuchsloch – Sax (Tenor); Desiree Giese – Soprano; Ernst Gross – Leitung, Sax (Tenor); Andrea Had – Alto; Michael Had – Bass; Kasperi Heikkinen – Guitar; Kira Heiter – Soprano; Leonie Heiter – Alto; The Marinemusikkorps Nordsee
Production/Label: AFM Records/Soulfood Music Distribution GmbH
Duration: 01:40:28
Quality: Blu-ray
Container: BDMV
Video codec: AVC
Audio codec: DTS, AC-3, PCM
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 20998 kbps / 1920*1080i / 25 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: DTS-HD MA 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4974 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit / DN -1dB)
Audio#2: Dolby Digital 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -1dB
Audio#3: LPCM 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
In February 2014, U.D.O. played a very special sold out show, accompanied by a German navy orchestra (Marinemusikkorps Nordsee). The symphonic sound of the orchestra and the choir merged with the songs of U.D.O. and made the evening a unique unforgettable.
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Kenny Barron & Mark Sherman – Interplay (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/192 kHz | Time – 1:13:26 minutes | 2,4 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Source: HDTracks | @ Chesky Records
Recorded: Novermber 28th 2014 at the Hirsch Center, Brooklyn New York
A premiere duo binaural release featuring jazz aficionados Mark Sherman and Kenny Barron (the tenth in the illustrious career of Kenny Barron and Mark Sherman’s second with Chesky Records), Interplay is the blending of two generations of musical practitioners of the highest caliber. Lending their own unique verve and ingenuity to nine jazz standards and two original pieces, Sherman and Barron, both professors at Juilliard, teach us all a thing or two about the genre we call Jazz.
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June Tabor, Iain Ballamy, Huw Warren – Quercus (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44.1 kHz | Time – 59:31 minutes | 556 MB | Genre: Jazz
Official Digital Download – Source: highresaudio.com | @ ECM Records GmbH
Recorded: March 2006 by Paul Sparrow. Mixed at Rainbow Studio by Jan Erik Kongshaug and Manfred Eicher
‘Quercus’ means ‘oak’ in Latin and the roots of this particular tree dig deep into British folk music, while leaves and branches reach upward to embrace jazz-inspired lyrical improvising. The trio features the venerable English singer June Tabor whose dark voice has an uncanny ability to underscore the emotional essence of a ballad: “As I get older, I understand more the depths of sorrow and joy that made the song”, she has said. Tabor, who was recently voted BBC Folk Awards Singer Of The Year, is joined in the Quercus project by Welsh jazz pianist and composer Huw Warren, and by English saxophonist Iain Ballamy, well-known to ECM listeners as co-leader of the band Food. This is the first Quercus album but the trio has existed already for seven years, patiently developing its unique idiomatic blend.
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Julia Hulsmann Quartet & Theo Bleckmann – A Clear Midnight / Kurt Weill And America (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:07:58 minutes | 1,39 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Source: Qobuz | @ ECM Records GmbH
Recorded: June 2014 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo
Pianist Julia Hülsmann and singer Theo Bleckmann, in a first – and long-awaited – collaborative recording, celebrate the “unsung Weill” alongside the master’s best-loved works including “Mack The Knife”, “Speak Low” and “September Song”, adding also Julia’s settings of Walt Whitman, with whom Kurt Weill felt an affinity. The project came together at the instigation of the Kurt Weill Festival in Dessau in 2013 and since then has gained new life on the road and been fine-tuned in this studio recording made in Oslo in June 2014 with Manfred Eicher as producer. It marks a musical advance for the Hülsmann group at a number of levels, and these recastings of Weill open up new imaginative possibilities for the players. English trumpeter and flugelhornist Tom Arthurs, who made his debut with Hülsmann on In Full View is fully integrated on A Clear Midnight. Often his trumpet doubles or underpins Bleckmann’s singing, giving a new colour to the vocals. As for Theo Bleckmann, this is the sensitive vocalist’s first ECM appearance as a jazz singer, although he has recorded twice for the label as a member of the Meredith Monk ensemble on “Mercy” and “Impermanence”.
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Jokleba – Outland (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time –00:47:29 minutes | 820 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Source: Qobuz | @ ECM Records GmbH
Recorded: May 2014, Madstun, Fall / Rainbow Studio, Oslo
The Norwegian trio Jøkleba was formed in 1990, establishing itself as one of the most unpredictable groups on the Scandinavian scene. The present disc – the fifth Jøkleba album, but the first for ECM – finds old friends Jørgensen, Balke and Kleive working with pulse and colour and texture in collective music-making, emphasizing electronics, trumpet and voice, in freely created pieces which hint at relationships between inspiration and instability. Track titles make reference to writings by Sylvia Plath, Laura Restrepo, Sadegh Hedayat, Guy de Maupassant and Ken Kesey, in particular to their descriptions of the disintegration of identity, “the human mind when it gets lost”, as Jon Balke puts it. All three musicians have recorded prolifically for ECM in a wide variety of contexts, but the particular chemistry of Jøkleba is unique unto itself.
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Jimmy Somerville – Homage (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44.1 kHz | Time – 00:48:48 minutes | 594 MB | Genre: Pop, Electronic, Soul, Disco
Official Digital Download – Source: ProStudioMasters | @ Membran
Iconic vocalist Jimmy Somerville, lead singer of Bronski Beat and The Communards, pays tribute to his roots in dance music on Homage, a collection of 12 original disco tracks. While working with his friend and the record’s producer John Winfield, Somerville was inspired to turn all the songs they were writing into disco. Famous for reimagining disco classics as his own, such as You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), Never Can Say Goodbye? and Don’t Leave Me This Way, to name but a few, Homage is a logical next step in Somerville‘s career, one at which he can only excel considering his background, passion and distinctive vocal talent.
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