Narciso Yepes – Francisco Tárrega
Vinyl | LP Cover (1:1) | FLAC + cue | 24bit/96kHz | 819 mb
Label: Deutsche Grammophon/410 655-1 | Release: 1983 | Genre: Classical-Guitar
Yepes was born into a family of humble origin in Lorca, Region of Murcia. His father gave him his first guitar when he was four years old, and brought the boy five miles on a donkey to and from lessons three days a week. He took his first lessons from Jesus Guevara, in Lorca. Later his family moved to Valencia when the Spanish Civil War started in 1936.
When he was 13, he was accepted to study at the Conservatorio de Valencia with the pianist and composer Vicente Asencio. Here he followed courses in harmony, composition, and performance. Yepes is credited by many with developing the A-M-I technique of playing notes with the ring (Anular), middle (Medio), and index (Indice) fingers of the right hand.[1] Guitar teachers traditionally taught their students to play by alternating the index and middle fingers, or I-M. However, since Yepes studied under teachers who were not guitarists, they pushed him to expand on the traditional technique. According to Yepes, Asencio “was a pianist who loathed the guitar because a guitarist couldn’t play scales very fast and very legato, as on a piano or a violin. ‘If you can’t play like that,’ he told me, ‘you must take up another instrument.'” Through practice and improvement in his technique, Yepes could match Asencio’s piano scales on the guitar. “‘So,’ he [Asencio] said, ‘it’s possible on the guitar. Now play that fast in thirds, then in chromatic thirds.'”[2] Allan Kozinn observed that, “Thanks to Mr. Asencio’s goading, Mr. Yepes learned “to play music the way I want, not the way the guitar wants.”[3] Similarly, the composer, violinist, and pianist George Enescu would also push Yepes to improve his technique, which also allowed him to play with greater speed.[4]
On 16 December 1947 he made his Madrid début, performing Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with Ataúlfo Argenta conducting the Spanish National Orchestra. The overwhelming success of this performance brought him renown from critics and public alike. Soon afterwards, he began to tour with Argenta, visiting Switzerland, Italy, Germany and France. During this time he was largely responsible for the growing popularity of the Concierto de Aranjuez, and made two early recordings, both with Argenta[5] – one in mono with the Madrid Chamber Orchestra (released between 1953 and 1955),[6] and the second in stereo with the Orquesta Nacional de España (recorded in 1957 and released in 1959).[7]
In 1950, after performing in Paris, he spent a year studying interpretation under the violinist George Enescu, and the pianist Walter Gieseking. He also studied informally with Nadia Boulanger. This was followed by a long period in Italy where he profited from contact with artists of every kind.
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Mona Lisa – L’Escapade
Vinyl | LP Cover (1:1) | FLAC + cue | 24bit/96kHz | 908 mb
Label: Arcane /87015 | Release: 1974 | Genre: Progressive-Rock
Formed in 1970, it was only in 1974 that French band Mona Lisa could perpetrate their debut album and start to bring their contribution to their country’s progressive rock arena and deliver one of the most accomplished expressions of theater rock. This band pursued a development through the paths of art-rock opened years earlier by Ange and was more than willing to leave a solid trademark on this specific road. In fact, this album received a noticeable heritage from the dark playfulness that inundated Ange’s first two studio efforts, and what’s more, Ange’s guitarist Mr. Brezovar was himself in charge of the production duties for “L’Escapade”, although the result of this first attempt of his turned out to be only partially credible. Anyway, through the limited range of sonic sources, the incomplete elaboration of the interplaying arrangements and the not-so-perfect sound production, you can tell that Mona Lisa had a voice of its own in terms of composition and musical expression right from the beginning. The album kicks off with a pastoral prelude entitled ‘Prelude A L’Escapade’, a lovely sketch of early Baroque moods dominated by classical guitar and flute and ended with a cymbal beat. Then, the sound of a cold wind and the distant melody of a bagpipe playing ‘Amazing Grace’ sets the opening stages of ‘Le Fantome de Galashiels’, a song signaled by somber moods and solemn dramatics, which makes it a perfect manifesto of what the whole album is all about. There is much intensity in this performance, but there is also a sense of constrain that properly highlights the mysterious aura that the track is intended to portray. The intensity level goes up quite a bit with the next two pieces, con ‘Voyage per l’Infini’ and ‘Les Vielles Pierres’ ? the former is a catchy mid-tempo prog rocker that raises the Ange reference quite vividly, while the latter explores an artsy dynamics with more power and fruition, abundantly bringing images of spacey Pink Floyd-meets-creepy Procol Harum-meets “Trespass” Genesis. A special mention goes to the lovely intro of a musical box playing ‘Pour Elise’: this melody can never seem to be a failure. IMHO, the last two songs capture the best part of “L’Escapade”, since they develop and schematize the most ambitious levels of expression and musicality that the band was capable of at the time. ‘Le Colporteur’ and ‘Petit Homme de la Terre’ are just great, clear signs that this band had enough artistic and intellectual sources to rival (or even surpass) any other compatriot band of the rock theater area. The Musea edition adds two bonus tracks: a demo version of ‘Les Vielles Pierres’ and a previously unreleased song, ‘Diableries’, which delivers a similar aura to that of ‘Le Colporteur’ only with a bit less of muscle. This is a great opening for a rock career destined to generate artistic glory for French progressive rock in the 70s, all specific faults aside: I grant a 3.60 star grade for Mona Lisa’s debut album since it is excellent in exclusively artistic terms.
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Led Zeppelin – Through The Out Door (1979)
Vinyl rip in 24 Bit/96 kHz | FLAC | Artwork HR | 936 Mb
Swan Song – SS 16002 (US, Presswell, 1979) | Rock
Cover ‘E’ Variation
Mastered At – Strawberry Mastering
Pressed By – Presswell
Matrix / Runout (Runout A): ST-SS-794345-M STRAWBERRY (PR) P
Matrix / Runout (Runout B): ST-SS-794346-M STRAWBERRY (PR) P
Tracklist
A1 In The Evening 6:48
A2 South Bound Suarez 4:11
A3 Fool In The Rain 6:08
A4 Hot Dog 3:15
B1 Carouselambra 10:28
B2 All My Love 5:51
B3 I’m Gonna Crawl 5:28
Led Zeppelin
John Bonham – drums
John Paul Jones – bass guitar, mandolin, keyboards, synthesizer, piano
Jimmy Page – electric & acoustic guitars, Gizmotron
Robert Plant – lead vocals
José Cid - 10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus E Marte (1978) [PE 180g Pressing] {Vinyl Rip 24Bit/96khz}
José Cid - 10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus E Marte
Vinyl | LP Cover (1:1) | FLAC + cue | 24bit/96kHz | 1,14 GB
Label: Virrey/OR-FPAT 6001 | Release: 1978 | This Issue: 2014 | Genre: Progressive-Rock
An all- time classic of 70s progressive rock!!! Released in Portugal in 1978, this is a spacey symphonic rock trip into outer space, dominated by mellotron, string synth and other synthetizers, with the addition of guitars, bass and drums. Unanimously rated as one of the best progressive albums of the 70s worldwide, it’s musically close to the French take on symphonic rock, though logically sung in Portuguese. Echoes of psychedelic Pink Floyd and the Moody Blues are obvious. Very limited reissue of 300 copies, South American pressing, super nice gatefold cover and a reproduction of the 6- sided poster as well, and one bonus track, “Vidas”!!!!
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John Lennon – Imagine (1971)
Vinyl rip in 24 bit/96 kHz | FLAC tracks | Artwork | 856 Mb
Apple Records – EAS-80705 (Japan Reissue, 1977) | Rock
Tracklist
Side One
1 Imagine
2 Crippled Inside
3 Jealous Guy
4 It’s So Hard
5 I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier Mama
Side two
6 Gimme Some Truth
7 Oh My Love
8 How Do You Sleep?
9 How?
10 Oh Yoko!
Personnel
John Lennon – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, piano, harmonica (10), whistling (3)
George Harrison – electric guitar (6, 7), slide guitar (5, 6, 8), dobro (2)
Klaus Voormann – bass (all except 2), upright bass (2)
Nicky Hopkins – piano (all except 1, 4, 7), electric piano (7)
Alan White – drums (1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10), Tibetan cymbals (7), vibraphone (3)
Jim Keltner – drums (2, 3, 5)
Jim Gordon – drums (4)
John Barham – harmonium (3), vibraphone (9)
King Curtis – saxophone (4, 5)
Joey Molland – acoustic guitar (5)
Tom Evans – acoustic guitar (5)
John Tout – acoustic guitar (2), piano (uncredited originally)
Ted Turner – acoustic guitar (2)
Rod Linton – acoustic guitar (2, 6, 10)
Andy Davis – acoustic guitar (6, 10)
The New York Philharmonic (credited as “The Flux Fiddlers”) – orchestral strings
Phil Spector – backing vocals (10)
Michael Pinder – tambourine (5)
Steve Brendell – upright bass (2), maracas (5)
John Lennon – Imagine (1971)
Vinyl rip in 24 bit/96 kHz | FLAC tracks | Artwork | 820 Mb
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab – MFSL 1-277 (2000) (US Remastered) | Rock
Tracklist
Side One
1 Imagine
2 Crippled Inside
3 Jealous Guy
4 It’s So Hard
5 I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier Mama
Side two
6 Gimme Some Truth
7 Oh My Love
8 How Do You Sleep?
9 How?
10 Oh Yoko!
Personnel
John Lennon – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, piano, harmonica (10), whistling (3)
George Harrison – electric guitar (6, 7), slide guitar (5, 6, 8), dobro (2)
Klaus Voormann – bass (all except 2), upright bass (2)
Nicky Hopkins – piano (all except 1, 4, 7), electric piano (7)
Alan White – drums (1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10), Tibetan cymbals (7), vibraphone (3)
Jim Keltner – drums (2, 3, 5)
Jim Gordon – drums (4)
John Barham – harmonium (3), vibraphone (9)
King Curtis – saxophone (4, 5)
Joey Molland – acoustic guitar (5)
Tom Evans – acoustic guitar (5)
John Tout – acoustic guitar (2), piano (uncredited originally)
Ted Turner – acoustic guitar (2)
Rod Linton – acoustic guitar (2, 6, 10)
Andy Davis – acoustic guitar (6, 10)
The New York Philharmonic (credited as “The Flux Fiddlers”) – orchestral strings
Phil Spector – backing vocals (10)
Michael Pinder – tambourine (5)
Steve Brendell – upright bass (2), maracas (5)
Joe Satriani - Surfing With The Alien
Label: Relativity/88561-8193-1 | Release: 1987 | Genre: Hard-Rock
Mastered By Bernie Grundman
Vinyl | LP Cover (1:1) | FLAC | 24bit/96kHz | 890 MB
Surfing with the Alien belongs to its era like Are You Experienced? belongs to its own — perhaps it doesn’t transcend its time the way the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s 1967 debut does, but Joe Satriani’s 1987 breakthrough can be seen as the gold standard for guitar playing of the mid- to late ’80s, an album that captures everything that was good about the glory days of shred. Certainly, Satriani was unique among his peers in that his playing was so fluid that his technical skills never seemed like showboating — something that was somewhat true of his 1986 debut, Not of This Earth, but on Surfing with the Alien he married this dexterity to a true sense of melodic songcraft, a gift that helped him be that rare thing: a guitar virtuoso who ordinary listeners enjoyed.
Nowhere is this more true than on “Always with Me, Always with You,” a genuine ballad — not beefed up with muscular power chords but rather sighing gently with its melody — but this knack was also evident on the ZZ Top homage “Satch Boogie” and the title track itself, both of which turned into rock radio hits. This melodic facility, plus his fondness for a good old-fashioned three-chord rock, separated Satriani from his shredding peers in 1987, many of whom were quite literally his students. But he was no throwback: he equaled his former students Steve Vai and Kirk Hammett in sweep picking and fretboard acrobatics and he had a sparkling, spacy quality to some of his songs — particularly the closing stretch of the Middle Eastern-flavored “Lords of Karma,” the twinkling “Midnight,” and “Echo” — that was thoroughly modern for 1987. The production of Surfing with the Alien is also thoroughly of its year — stiff drumbeats, sparkling productions — so much so that it can seem a bit like a relic from another era, but it’s fine that it doesn’t transcend its time: it captures the best of its era and is still impressive in that regard.
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com
Jane - Lady
Vinyl | LP Cover (1:1) | FLAC + cue | 24bit/96kHz | 945mb
Label: Brain/Brain 1066| Release: 1975 | Genre: Progressive-Rock
Jane’s well composed heavy-prog was never accompanied by great vocalists, as this album, ‘Lady’, can attest to. The music here is very, very good indeed, but lead vocalist Gottfried Janko sounds kind of like a gruff blues singer who’s hit ‘rock bottom’ – but man, he surely makes up for it with his driving keyboard work, particularly on the Hammond Organ. He also uses a synthesizer to good effect. This time around all tracks were composed by lead guitarist Klaus Hess (who also sings lead on ‘Music Machine’), and this actually shows – the songs sound more focused and tight, and quite ‘complete’. The tracks are enthusiastically performed, many tempo changes, interesting arrangements and addictive melodies. The only thing they’ve done wrong here was give Gottfried a microphone, but the more you listen to the album, the less ‘offensive’ his voice is – it almosts sounds like he sports some sort of profound innocence – he can be really passionate.
Top marks go to : ‘Music Machine’, ‘Lord Love’ (Gott’s vocals actually work perfectly in this tune) and ‘Midnight Mover’ – the latter being a classic space-rock ramble, with swooping synths and hard-core jammin’. Once the taste has been acquired for the vox, the entire affair is an excellent listen. After this album, Jane released a fine slew of excellent albums, reminiscent of Floyd and Eloy (comparisons are inevitable – apologies to those who disagree). I rate ‘Lady’ as a 4, just.
Review by Tom Ozric, progarchives.com (more…)
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Icehouse - Measure For Measure
Vinyl | LP Cover (1:1) | FLAC + cue | 24bit/96kHz | 963mb
Mastered At Sterling Sound
Label: Chrysalis/BFV 41527 | Release: 1986 | Genre: Pop-Rock
Based on the principles of balance, Measure for Measure is half-produced by David Lord, half by Rhett Davies. American and European editions benefit from a better track list, which opens with the Davies-produced “No Promises.” A little too close to Bowie and Metheny’s “This Is Not America,” perhaps, but very nice all the same. “Cross the Border” resembles and continues the close relationship with Simple Minds, and features a strong Brian Eno back vocal motif. Another of the RD-produced pieces, “The Flame,” although about the struggles in South Africa, opens with a watery, orient-like synth treatment before a strong beat, courtesy of Steve Jansen, and a Talk Talk-sounding synth take charge. Newer realms are visited by Spanish guitar on “Angel Street,” but the Bowie references can’t be shaken, with much of the later part relying on squally glam rock (“Regular Boys” and the career-reviving “Baby You’re So Strange”). Had the color of bonus CD cuts “Too Late Now” (a definitive Icehouse sound) and “Into the Wild” been included, how different things might have been. A few blocks up from the bland Sidewalk but a few buildings short of Man of Colours.
Review by Kelvin Hayes, allmusic.com (more…)
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Horslips – The Book Of Invasions (1976)
Vinyl rip in 24 bit/96 kHz | FLAC tracks | Artwork | 889 Mb
DJM Records – DJF 20498 (Original UK, 1976) | Folk Rock
Tracklist
First Movement – Geantraí
A1 Daybreak
A2 March Into Trouble
A3 Trouble With A Capital ‘T’
A4 The Power And The Glory
A5 The Rocks Remain
A6 Dusk
A7 Sword Of Light
A8 Dark
2nd Movement – Goltraí
B1 Warm Sweet Breath Of Love
B2 Fantasia – My Lagan Love
B3 King Of Morning, Queen Of Day
3rd Movement – Suantraí
B4 Sideways To The Sun
B5 Drive The Cold Winter Away
B6 Ride To Hell
Bass, Vocals – Barry Devlin
Drums, Percussion – Eamon Carr
Fiddle, Mandolin, Concertina, Vocals – Charles O’Connor
Guitar, Vocals – John Fean
Keyboards, Flute, Whistle – Jim Lockhart
The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest musical event. The contest took place in Vienna, Austria, following Conchita Wurst’s victory in the 2014 edition with her song “Rise Like a Phoenix”. This was the second time that Austria hosted the contest after holding its 1967 edition also in Vienna. The contest consisted of two semi-finals, which took place on 19 and 21 May, and a final, held on 23 May 2015. The shows were presented by Mirjam Weichselbraun, Alice Tumler and Arabella Kiesbauer while Conchita Wurst was hosting the green room.
Forty countries were participating in the contest, with Australia making its first appearance, and Cyprus, the Czech Republic, and Serbia returning. Ukraine, however, announced their withdrawal due to financial and political reasons around the Ukrainian crisis.
Sweden won the contest with Måns Zelmerlöw’s “Heroes”. Italy won the viewers’ vote with Russia in second place, but Sweden’s win among the jury groups was enough to overturn the viewers’ preference This was Sweden’s second win in three years and sixth overall. For the very first time, top 3 of the contest all scored 280 points or better, Russia’s entry “A Million Voices” became the first non-winning Eurovision song to score over 300 points and Italy’s entry “Grande amore” became the first song to achieve top three with no English lyrics since 2012. Also, Austria and Germany became the first countries since 2003 to score nul points at the final. Austria is also the first host country to score nul points, and the first host and previous winner to come last since 1958.
Heart – The Essential Heart (2008) [3xSACD]
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88.2kHz | Time – 03:07:10 minutes | 4,06 GB | Genre: Rock
Source: ISO SACD | © Legacy | Recorded: 1975 – 1995
The Essential Heart is a greatest hits compilation album released by the American rock band Heart in 2002, part of Sony BMG’s The Essential series. The album was officially certified gold and platinum by the RIAA on June 11, 2011. The collection spans the band’s history from 1975 through 1995 and the package includes two compact discs. In 2008, the album was re-released as part of the Limited Edition 3.0 series which added a third bonus disc of songs. The track list is arranged in chronological order.
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Grobschnitt - Grobschnitt
Vinyl | LP Cover (1:1) | FLAC + cue | 24bit/96kHz | 934 mb
Label: Metronome/0060.401 | Release: 1972 | Genre: Progressive-Rock
Right from the first Teutonic Wagner-like singing until the end of the album (excluding the Live bonus track), you know you will be in for quite a ride. These guys were extra crazy/special and developed in the late 70’s a extensive live show that is one of my great regrets never to have seen. As we open up the album with Symphony, one is confronted by a relatively subdued zaniness, having a fun time keeping track of all the musical events succeeding rapidly. If you can picture vocals sounding like Chris Farlowe (yes, almost that good!) with a Santana -sounding guitar on top of superb organs and a very dynamic rhythm section (Eroc, the drummer is the leader of this group and the second drummer Harlos will leave after this album), you can see how much fun this album can be. This double drummer thing coupled with that guitar sound can remind you also of the absolute masterpiece Caravanserai of Santana but nothing to disturb you. Travelling is also quite fine but the well-named first track of side 2 is totally overshadowed by the others. Side 2 is an almost-side-long suite with many great events throughout its almost 18 mins. This of course is another highlight.
The Repertoire reissue contains a 29 min+ bonus track that represents a first try at their future Solar Music. A great bonus!!! There is this great side of Grobschnitt showing their improvisation skills this sounding once more very Santana but the middle section is relatively less interesting due to different solos and actually a drum DUET (some five years before Collins/Bruford). Grobschnitt is definitely a more of a live band as we will see in Solar Music Live.
By the time they got this album released, Grobschnitt was not yet the popular machine it became by Rockpommel’s Land but man is this a great start , foreseeing the future.
You might want to forget the review posted just after mine. Just one thing, Prog-zilla: Nektar was an English band but living in Germany, because that was where they had most success! And the rest of his review is really un-clever almost slandering from someone jumping to conclusion after too few listening of this album.
Highly recommended!!!!!
Review by Sean Trane, progarchives.com (more…)
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Genesis - Live
Vinyl | LP Cover (1:1) | FLAC + cue | 24bit/96kHz | 1.0 GB
Label: Charisma/9279 530 | Release: 1973 | Genre: Symphonic-Rock
At the age of 13 prog rock was too complex for me, I couldn’t bear the sound of YES, ELP and KING CRIMSON that I heard from the older brothers of some friends. But at the age of 15 I listened to “Live” from GENESIS and then I got interested. I was mesmerized by the cover picture with the dark figure wearing a strange red box on his head. It matched with the mythical music in all those compelling and alternating compositions on the album “Live”, what a great and unique sound: warm 12-string acoustic guitars, fiery, Fripp-inspired electric guitar, mighty waves of the Mellotron, powerful Hammond runs, dynamic and inventive drumming and, last but not least, the wonderful vocals by Peter GABRIEL, from warm and fragile to aggressive and dramatic, his contributions lifts every song to a higher level. It’s very hard to choose a favourite GENESIS album but in my opinion this LP was sensational in ’73 because of the unique blend of folk, rock and classic. This band could let their audience dream away but also shock the crowd with heavy and bombastic outbursts. Timeless music like the best of Bach, Beethoven and Vivaldi!
Review by erik neuteboom, progarchives.com (more…)
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Freedoms Children - Galactic Vibes
Vinyl | LP Cover (1:1) | FLAC + cue | 24bit/96kHz | 906 mb
Label: Shadoks Music/SHADOKS 102 | Release: 1971 | This Issue: 2007 | Genre: Heavy-Progressive
Freedom’s Children biography
This band reflects a tiny but fascinating and oft-forgotten scene of South African progressive rock, regularly omitted from prog annals and denied their part in music history. But in their time, FREEDOM’S CHILDREN were no less innovative than ATOMIC ROOSTER, EGG or COLOSSEUM and their 1970 release “Astra” was an extremely important if completely missed record. Luckily it was re-issued in 1990 and again several times. The original band included Julian Laxton’s lead guitar (and inventor of his ‘black box’, a much mythologized sound-producing device), Nic Martens on organ, bassist/lyricist Ramsay MacKay, Brian Davidson’s voice, drummer Colin Pratley, Harry Poulos on organ and vocals and Gerard Nel’s piano. Many well-known musicians have played in the band over the years including Trevor Rabin, Mick Jade and Ken E. Henson.
Unable to legally work in certain places due to issues surrounding Apartheid, the band found it difficult to break through, especially outside their country but continued making strides in the 1970s. Undoubtedly their most important work and finest effort is “Astra”, a spicy and exciting blend of heavy prog with plenty of psych and blues. The disc has been re-released as many as six times in varying degrees of quality, the last in 2004.
FREEDOM”S CHILDREN is one of the best of the hard-edged prog bands and a jewel in the South African prog crown, and is highly recommended to fans of the earlier, more intense heavy art bands.
Atavachron (David), progarchives.com (more…)
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