Kurt Vile B'lieve I'm Goin Down... (2015)

Philadelphia singer/songwriter Kurt Vile returns with his second proper album (2008's Childish Prodigy was a compendium of sorts). Smoke Ring For My Halo is a gorgeously layered record. Ranging from the tender breezy folk in "Jesus Fever" to the tuff urban guitar riff of "Puppet To The Man," Vile's distinctive Philly-accented vocal ties together a sweeping & evocative project - a true American psychedelic folk album.

The 14th installment of Dave's Picks is devoted to another 1972 show, this one taken from an appearance at New York's Academy of Music on March 26, 1972 - i.e. before the Dead headed across the Atlantic for their legendary series of European shows. Generally, it's a pretty muscular performance, getting off the ground with a driving "Greatest Story Ever Told" and featuring a hefty dose of Pigpen in the first set, including "Mr. Charlie" and the one-two punch of "Big Railroad Blues" and "Big Boss Man." Here, his blues leanings seem of piece with the other roots the Dead lay down early - Jerry Garcia sings Hank Williams' "You Win Again," Bob Weir turns Marty Robbins' "El Paso" into one of his signature cowboy rambles - but by the time Pigpen surfaces toward the end singing the crawling "The Stranger (Two Souls in Communion)"…

Eric Clapton - Forever Man (2015) [3CD] {Reprise Deluxe Edition}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.57 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 546 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 47 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2015 Reprise Records / Warner | 9362-49278-9
Rock / Blue Rock / British Blues / Guitar

Legendary songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and 19-time Grammy Award-winner Eric Clapton will release a brand-new ‘Best Of' compilation, entitled Forever Man, via Reprise Records on April 28th in the U.S. Featuring 51 tracks over three CDs, Forever Man spans three decades of Clapton's Reprise Records years and features classic studio tracks and a Blues-themed disc. The collection traces much of Clapton's career featuring the Grammy Award-winning tracks "Change The World", "Tears In Heaven", "Bad Love" and including materials from Eric's Grammy Award-winning albums From The Cradle and Unplugged. Guest performers include B.B. King and J.J. Cale.

Calvin Jackson (1961-2015) was an American drummer from north Mississippi. He is considered an innovator in the Hill country blues style of drumming, having incorporated elements of the regional Fife and drum bands style in the blues band setting.
In 1999 he released the only album under his own name, Calvin Jackson & Mississippi Bound's Goin' Down South. For this effort Jackson covered songs by such obvious influences as Mississippi Fred McDowell plus added his original complaints to this whining, fussing genre such as "Hard to Get Along" and "It's Gonna Rain". The album was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the category of "Best New Artist Debut".

Calvin Jackson (1961-2015) was an American drummer from north Mississippi. He is considered an innovator in the Hill country blues style of drumming, having incorporated elements of the regional Fife and drum bands style in the blues band setting.
In 1999 he released the only album under his own name, Calvin Jackson & Mississippi Bound's Goin' Down South. For this effort Jackson covered songs by such obvious influences as Mississippi Fred McDowell plus added his original complaints to this whining, fussing genre such as "Hard to Get Along" and "It's Gonna Rain". The album was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the category of "Best New Artist Debut".

The ongoing Dave's Picks archival series takes on the lifelong challenge of presenting some of the best of the Grateful Dead's endless back catalog of live sets, cherry-picking recordings from nearly four decades and literally thousands of gigs and revisiting them with refurbished sound and meticulously detailed presentation. Vol. 13 of the series presents the full three-set performance from the band's February 24, 1974 date, the third of three nights at San Francisco's Winterland Arena. This date finds the band in fantastic form, using a sound system that predated their famous "wall of sound" amplifier system by just a month, and spinning their cosmic wheels through a spirited first set of rockers like "U.S. Blues," "Candyman," and "China Cat Sunflower" before relaxing into more wide-reaching territory in the second and third sets on extensive jams like "Weather Report Suite"…

Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks Vol. 13 (2015) [3CD] {Winterland, San Francisco 2-24-74}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.21 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 509 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 385 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2015 Rhino / GD Prod. | R2-547316
Rock / Psychedelic / Folk Rock / Jam Band

We're heeding the call for more of the majestic early 70s! No doubt, this was a time of great exploration and innovation for the Grateful Dead, one of their peaks… And so it is with great pleasure, that we are proud to present the official release of Winterland, February 24, 1974. On the fertile grounds of their home turf and on the edge of what would become the Wall of Sound era, the Dead embarked upon a tremendous three-night run at Winterland. On this particular night, the last in the run, they warmed up the crowd with stellar new tracks "U.S. Blues" (previously known as "Wave That Flag"), "Ship of Fools," and "It Must Have Been The Roses."

Oden offers ten of his own compositions on his first full-length album session, with low-key backing from a full band (Robert Banks' piano is especially prominent). He's a serviceable though not outstanding vocalist, and offers his tales with a sort of good-natured fatalism, the most celebrated number being the title track. While he was an outstanding songwriter, it may have been best that Oden's compositions are primarily known through the interpretations of others. On this recording at least, the arrangements could really benefit from less uniformity, the tempo rarely escaping a pace somewhere between slow and medium.