Arch Echo

In the world of progressive instrumental acts, following the trend set by Animals as Leaders, there is a lot of genuine quality and creativity but few bands actually separate themselves from the crowd. It’s a difficult genre to listen to with a very intellectual feel that doesn’t easily appeal to random metal heads. Nashville’s Arch Echo is a band that escaped the rat race (cover artwork pun intended) and they do this by ditching the rather pretentious attitude that often surrounds instrumental music especially when tapping into those intellectual jazz and avant-garde influences. They do it at the same level of quality but instead of giving you a musical physics lesson they actually make it fun…

Ralph Burns And His Ensemble - Bijou (1955) {2014 Japanese Bethlehem Album Collection 1000 CDSOL-613}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 142 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 103 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 209 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1955, 2014 Solid Records / Bethlehem | CDSOL-6137 | LP BCP-68
Jazz / Bop / Piano

Amazing small group work from Ralph Burns – a real standout, given the amount of his larger ensemble sessions in the 50s! The album features Burns on piano – overdubbed on some tracks – working with a combo that includes Jimmy Raney on guitar, Clyde Lombardi on bass, and Osie Johnson on drums – all gently modern players who fit perfectly with Ralph's vision for the record. Things aren't as dark or as arch as on some of Burns' bigger dates of the decade – almost a bit warm at times, especially thanks to Ralph's piano lines. Titles include "Autobahn Blues", "Echo Of Spring", "Spring Sequence", "Spring", "Spring Is Here", and "Gina".

Bill Nelson - Trial By Intimacy (The Book Of Splendours) (2012) {4CD Box Set Esoteric Recordings COCD 4007 rec 1984}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 969 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 421 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 1.02 Gb | 5% repair rar
© 1984, 2012 Esoteric Recordings / Bill Nelson / Cocteau Discs / Cherry Red | COCD 4007
Rock / Alternative / Art Rock / Ambient

Esoteric Recordings announce a new release on their recently launched Cocteau Discs imprint, a limited edition reissue of BILL NELSON’s classic 4 disc ambient boxed set "TRIAL BY INTIMACY (The Book of Splendours)”. The set was originally released on Bill’s Cocteau Records label in October 1984 and comprised recordings made by Bill at his Echo Observatory home studio. Comprising some eighty pieces of music, the set was a fine example of Bill Nelson’s grasp of Ambient music and has subsequently been hailed as a ground-breaking work. Long deleted, the set is made available once more with this newly re-mastered Cocteau Discs edition. The new release fully restores the original elements of the "TRIAL BY INTIMACY” box and is an exact facsimile, reproducing a 32 page book and eight art postcards that featured in the original set.