Intimacy (2011)

Pianist and contemporary jazz icon Ramsey Lewis revisits his classic 1974 electric jazz-funk album Sun Goddess for 2011's Ramsey, Taking Another Look. Featuring a newly minted lineup of his '70s electric band, Taking Another Look features keyboardist Mike Logan, guitarist Henry Johnson, bassist Joshua Ramos, and drummer Charles Heath, all of whom reveal a knack for the funky, soulful jazz Lewis is reinvestigating here. Included are reworkings such classic '70s tracks as "Tambura," "Love Song," and "Jungle Strut." These are dance-oriented jazz-funk cuts with an organic, groove-oriented vibe that stick closely to the original '70s conception. In fact, the original version of Lewis' hit "Sun Goddess" is included and rounds out the album nicely…

Warm Winter is an epic Art Rock album by Tim Bowness (No-Man) and Giancarlo Erra (Nosound). While occasionally drawing on the atmospheric nature of their main bands, MoM carves out a unique space for itself with an emphasis placed on direct songwriting and powerful instrumental arrangements as much as on mood.
Warm Winter includes stellar guest contributions from the likes of Peter Hammill (Van Der Graaf Generator), Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree), Robert Fripp (King Crimson), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Julianne Regan (All About Eve), Jim Matheos (OSI/Fates Warning) and Ricard Huxflux Nettermalm (Paatos)…

Joan Wasser's first Joan as Police Woman album, Real Life, mourned the loss of her lover, Jeff Buckley, while her second, To Survive, mourned the loss of her mother. The Deep Field, however, finds her alone but not lonely, still searching for something and finding beauty and even happiness, if not answers. Wasser reunited with producer Bryce Goggin for this set of songs, but the guests that popped up on her previous albums are notably absent, as is much of the sadness that made Real Life and To Survive as wrenching as they were compelling. Not that The Deep Field is entirely clear sailing: on “Nervous,” she’s shaken precisely because things are going so well with a new love, while on “Run for Love,” she cautions, “I don’t wanna talk on the future with you” even as she revels in togetherness. Here, her highs are as stratospheric as her lows were deep before; “The Action Man” starts as a spin around the dancefloor and ends with Wasser losing track of time and space. These unique twists she puts on happiness keep the album fresh, even when its second half ventures into the smoothest musical territory Wasser has yet explored.

Danish composer Niels Wilhelm Gade is the sole composer on this album by the Århus Chamber Orchestra (Århus Kammerorkester), conducted by Ove Vedsten Larsen. Just two pieces are featured on the album: the Novellette No. 1 in F, Op. 53, and the Novellette No. 2 in E, Op. 58, yet each is a charming work, made of four movements, unto itself. Novellette No. 1 commences with lush strings performing richly textured music. While all of the instruments are unarguably strong, the sweeping cellos truly stand out.

Bibio's Stephen Wilkinson had such a major breakthrough with Ambivalence Avenue that anticipation about whether or not he could maintain such a breakneck pace of innovation was palpable. Mind Bokeh - whose title was inspired by the photography term for the way a lens renders out-of-focus points of light - is true to its name and Wilkinson’s hyperactive creativity, but not in obvious ways. Though the title track dapples sparkling electronics over a luminous haze of distant nature samples, the rest of the album isn’t exactly blurry. In fact, its sounds are often surprisingly hard-edged and chilly, especially compared to Ambivalence Avenue’s summery vibe. Yet Wilkinson's meticulous way of layering these crisp, immediate sounds with half-heard atmospheres is fascinating (especially under headphones), suggesting the intertwining of the present with dreams and memories, and the external world with the internal one…

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.

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.