[share_ebook] Private Special Edition Magazine #14

Accidental Records is re-issuing Matthew Herbert’s The Horse album (originally published last year via Modern Recordings /BMG) as a Special Edition with unreleased remixes and versions. The album in its original version has been awarded Best Large Ensemble Composition at The Ivors Classical Awards this November 12th. Based around a full-size horse skeleton and working alongside the London Contemporary Orchestra and an expansive cast of special collaborators, Herbert is here in full flight, restlessly curious and culminating in starkly original, ritualistic music loaded with intent.

Accidental Records is re-issuing Matthew Herbert’s The Horse album (originally published last year via Modern Recordings /BMG) as a Special Edition with unreleased remixes and versions. The album in its original version has been awarded Best Large Ensemble Composition at The Ivors Classical Awards this November 12th. Based around a full-size horse skeleton and working alongside the London Contemporary Orchestra and an expansive cast of special collaborators, Herbert is here in full flight, restlessly curious and culminating in starkly original, ritualistic music loaded with intent.

The 1994 sequel to her mainstream country breakthrough on Come on Come On further underscores Mary Chapin Carpenter's true identity, more Ivy League folk rocker than new country cowgirl. Her coolly delivered, deeply felt songs include meditations on family, community, and social injustice without rant or cant, never more so than on the gently incisive midlife reflections of the title song, which filters historic milestones and childhood lessons through its delicate verses. Elsewhere, she sketches a heart-breaking, restrained speculation on the inner life of a blind, deaf mystery man ("John Doe No. 24") with the economy and detail of good short story. The set's many love songs are no less intelligent, emotionally authentic, or moving. Chapin Carpenter's elegant yet earthy alto is beautifully framed in the settings, coproduced with longtime collaborator John Jennings, that balance jangling guitars, rippling piano, occasional fiddle and crisp rhythm sections closer to the best of L.A. country rock than what normally emanates from Nashville. –Sam Sutherland

'Liquid Spirit' marks Gregory Porter’s Blue Note Records debut, which arrives on the heels of two critically acclaimed indie label albums that quickly propelled Porter to the upper echelon of contemporary male jazz singers and earned him two GRAMMY nominations. Don Was, President of Blue Note, encouraged Porter to stay true to his artistic vision. “I firmly consider myself a jazz singer but I enjoy blues, southern soul, and gospel,” Porter says, “Those elements make their way inside my music. And I’ve always heard them in jazz.”

When Belinda Carlisle pursued a solo career, she took more than her share of criticism from rock critics who complained that slick pop/rock collections like Belinda and Heaven on Earth lacked the bite of her work with the Go-Go's. But while nothing here packs quite the punch that "How Much More," "We Got the Beat," and "Turn to You" did, such memorable songs as "Heaven Is a Place on Earth," "Should I Let You In?," and "I Get Weak" show that the Angelino still had plenty of spirit. "Circle in the Sand" is in fact a gem a haunting Shangri-Las-like song with an early-to-mid-'60s-ish quality that makes you wish you were back in the Summer of '64 on your way to the beach. If one were to own only one solo effort from Carlisle's MCA years, this would be the best choice.

Next to the United States, England is the world's largest market for R&B. From Motown in the 1960s to urban contemporary in the 1980s and 1990s, plenty of R&B has been sold in cities like London, Manchester, and Birmingham. A lot of well known urban artists came out of England in the 1980s, including Soul II Soul, Sade, Junior, Billy Ocean, Five Star, and Loose Ends. Another British R&B artist who was active during that decade was former Osibisa singer Princess, who had a hit in 1986 with the sleek "Say I'm Your Number One."

Aladdin: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack for the 1992 Disney animated feature film, Aladdin. The album was released by Walt Disney Records on CD and cassette tape on October 27, 1992. The soundtrack was intertwined with demos, work tapes and unreleased masters, as well as original scores in 1994 in a four-disc box set entitled The Music Behind the Magic: The Musical Artistry of Alan Menken, Howard Ashman & Tim Rice. A remastered reissue with altered lyrics and new artwork was released in 2001. A special edition reissue featuring two previously released demos and new artwork was released in 2004.